Hi Sunshine-girl! The story of “Banting” is the beginning chapter of one of my favorite “companion” books to the BSD — Gary Taubes “Good Calories Bad Calories” — that book, along with his “Why WeGet Fat and What To Do About It” have been my reads/re-reads/re-read again books for over two years now and were the books I used to inform myself about the number of carbohydrates that I should eat.
My favorite point is that scientists were ON the road to figuring out how to avoid getting fat (restrict carbs) but got sidetracked with the whole “low fat” thing in the 1950’s/1960’s. The research up until WW2 was moving in the direction of recognizing carbohydrate as “uniquely fattening” — but we somehow lost our way and the rest is (bad) history.
I’m glad to hear people are talking about Banting again! It should lead them in the right direction!

Hi sunshine-girl just dipping my toes in and out of the water at the moment! I will get back into the swing of things soon, probably when the next challenge starts.

Had a quick look at Banting but it definitely deserves a ‘proper’ read.

Have a lovely holiday Sunny B! 😎

Well, my mantra is now ” keep on keeping on…” It’s saving me from buying anything dairy. I have said in another post I tried hard with the Atkins Diet as it included dairy but I lost….nothing, even though I kept carbs really low. But reading up of this Banting Diet ( I watched The Chase as well ) I see that some people are sensitive to the lactose in dairy and more readily convert it to sugar than other people. So, much as I adore anything dairy, I have avoided it since embarking on the BSD and it seems to be working.
Something else that surprised me – I felt really sluggish and bloated yesterday. I took my measurements as an experiment – a day earlier than my weekly check, and saw that I was a good few centimeters up on the previous check. Hell NO, thinks me – no dairy, no pasta/bread/potato’s/rice etc. How could this be happening? But what I DID eat the previous evening were two small apples!
My weekly measurements today were better than last weeks – so the apples must have been the culprits. Also, the whale-weigh station reveals another 2lb loss. Not as much as I had hoped, given what rubbish I used to eat.
My lovely daughter today discovered that a certain supermarket was advertising Terry’s Chocolate Orange, buy 1 get 2 free. So I now have a stack of them, winking at me from the dining room table, as she’s bought them as stocking fillers….Funnily enough I’m not even tempted. I have discovered however, for anyone who likes an occasional choc treat – the Co-op sell an 85% 40g bar which contains 251 cals and 10g carbs a bar, so 2 squares are 83.6 calories, and 3.3 carbs. And very satisfying given the cocoa content.
As it’s Saturday, and ‘treat night’ I shall imbibe a couple of glasses of wine, and look forward to another week of healthy eating, and speaking again to a lovely group of BSD er’s.

Hi, everyone!

I just am dropping by to agree with Californiagirl’s post regarding
the work of Gary Taubes. I read his first book, Good Calories, Bad
Calories when it first was published @ 8 years ago. It changed the
way I’ve thought about food from that day forward. I lost 140+ lbs
in 10 months, and have been successfully maintaining for 5 months.
I highly recommend both of these publications. Isn’t it a terrible
shame that the flawed research of Ancel Keyes led us all off in the
wrong direction with his low fat hypothesis?
Wishing you all well!
Allie

alliecat – I wholeheartedly agree with you about this Ancel Keyes. I am reading a popular womans magazine, this weeks publication. An article on so called ‘ nutrition ‘ states that missing breakfast can have serious health consequences including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, poor nutrition and diabetes??? How are they allowed to publish such total rubbish! And then goes on to advertise ‘ low fat ‘Skinny Bakery’ products – 30g carbs per bloody serving for a SNACK!! ‘ Heavens to Murgatroyd – my blood pressure has indeed risen.

Hi all,

Cooper the labradoodle is home, after round trip for us of 6hrs. What an affable little chap he is! My husband and the dog are snoozing now, which could mean a restless night for all I guess!?

Not counting today, but fairly restrained. Breakfast and lunch but not dinner today. As of this morning I am 9kg down. Next mini goal(s) to be 67kg flat, then 64kg, then 60kg. And then I’ll be done, and hopefully start reintroducing some veg I’ve cut out during weight loss. I do like my veg! But in smaller quantities in future than I used to, I hope!

Good to read all your posts, keep up the good work xx

As a quick ps: I miss my cats, they won’t come in and usually I spend the evening with one on my lap. I hope they get over this quickly. Have added extra goodies to their dinner to keep them vaguely interested. Does that make me a feeder?!

Jackie- Cooper sounds adorable! Hope the cats soon come home- cats aren’t daft, they know when they’re on to a good thing. Hope you don’t have a bad night with your new resident. My cat, Big Bob has just come in from patrolling his patch and has plonked on my lap – he is a massive rescue cat and a great friend with a rather sad story to tell!

I’ve had a good day post fast today- I had two eggs for lunch and paneer and spinach curry with cauliflower rice for my tea. Weight today is 137.8 lb. Goal is 133 lb so am nearly there.

Hi all, I’ve had a very quiet weekend for a change apart from a Friday night party when there was probably too much champagne and was good all last week so was dismayed to find a 1.2kg gain yesterday to put me way above what I was at the start of this challenge. Delayed weight gain after the wedding week?

Following the example of some here I did a24 hour fast, easier than I thought, and today back to 65kg, 700g off overnight. I don’t know if it’s possible to get back to my lowest ever (only 10 days ago) as it would mean 1.2 kg over the next week but that’s my aim.

I was reading over the Clever Guts book yesterday and adapted my shopping list to try to encourage my biome to work with me on this so fingers crossed. In the interests of variety in my diet I’ve got a slew of vegetables I’ve never eaten before so some experimenting in my kitchen this week ☺ Also kombucha; fermented foods have never been a drawcord for me. But then I thought I didn’t like spinach and now I find I adore it. Never too old to try new things!

morning all
apologies…have been a very infrequent poster n this site (though I “see” some of you one another as well)

My scales have also seen a slight upward movement after my loss the other week with the fmd…..but not much, and have decided that it was probably the red wine I imbibed after a pretty big fall last week when i fractured a rib…..so no exercise either!
NSVs have been frequent though and the wardrobe sort and clearance continues (sold a whole lot of too-big but good clothes the other day as well)

Mariet…my favourite biome (and BSD) friendly food is miso soup! I make my own and add some tahini at the end with the miso paste to…dashi (Japanese stock), spring onions, wakame (seaweed) shitake mushrooms and some green veg…then when cooked: mix miso paste (and tahini if you want for good fats) with a bit of broth in a bowl…then add the rest! (plus some Japanese pepper, if like me, you like most things spicy. Its a great meal if you’re feeling poorly
wishing you all a wonderful run to the next challenge!

Morning All,

Today -0.2lb 🙂

JackieM – How is little Cooper doing? Is he chewy? Sounds totally adorable.

Alliecat – I really love reading about your weightloss and particularly about your maintaining, (I do read your posts on other groups too). I remember starting a paleo w.o.e. many many years ago which is when I first came across Ancel Keys, I was gobsmacked at the time but what is interesting is how understanding about the effects of insulin on weight gain/loss has changed. When I tried to explain Keys research and the basis of the low-fat trend to friends at that time, they looked at me skeptically, clearly thinking I had been reading some ‘out there’ barely credible research. Utterly dismissive. Now, I am broadly saying the same things but the credibility level has increased as the paradigm is shifting. Whilst still a very long way to go, when I now talk about Keys’ work, people are gobsmacked and horrified right along with me.

I also once met a descendent of William Banting.

Go well.

Last weigh in before I go away today and my weight was 136.0 so I’ve lost 3.8 lb since the start of this challenge. The 42 hour fast at the end of last week secured a bit of that loss. Am off for a week now so will be back on the scales next Tuesday for the final weigh in of this challenge. With my metabolism anything could happen this week but I will be keeping off the refined carbs that’s for sure. Have a great week everyone and looking forward to the next challenge when hopefully I will be able to shout out hallelujah! I will have access to my iPad so will be keeping up with everyone’s posts.

Well done ClarinetCathy! 😊

Well done Cathy, that’s a great loss. Enjoy your break.

I’m on a 40 hour fast atm – nearly 20 hours in so far. I’ve had one double espresso this morning, but apart from that, only water. Hoping by tomorrow’s weigh in that I’ll have regained a bit more wriggle room (only got 2lbs atm😢)

Looking forward to everyone’s interim results tomorrow.

Hi everyone, well done Cathy. Still maintaining (sounds better than stuck) at 76kg. BG is steady at 4.7 although I got a bit of a shock this morning when I did my reading and it said 2.1 (48) I quickly did another and it was more normal, these machines can play up.

Just reading about someone does the 5:2 herself, who has a café and she has a web site that gives recipes for the fast days on the 5:2, if you are interested take a look at ellypears.com.

See you all tomorrow for the weigh in.

Hello Challenge buddies

Good luck all for tomorrow – I fasted for 26.5 hours today (from 1:30 yesterday to 4:00 this afternoon) and I felt OK. Hope it affects weigh in tomorrow in a positive way!

TC x

Bah, this week has been a bit of a dead loss (and not in the good way) for me with far too many processed carbs, and a couple of what I can only describe as binges. It started okay with a second 42 hour fast on Monday, before Tuesday weigh in, but all of my good intentions flew away, culminating in a weekend away and far too many treats. Today’s weigh in is thus back to 4 pounds over the top of my range, and while today’s fast should hopefully bring my weight down to near the range again, the trend is looking slightly up, with me a pound higher than last Monday morning. Of course TOTM which started today could also bear some of the blame, so I will see how next week goes. The dinner is on Friday night, and I can still fit into my dress though, so I am looking forward to that.

Well done Cathy and enjoy your week away. 3.8lb is a fantastic result in 3 weeks.

EC, thanks for the miso soup suggestion, I’ve never tried it so something else to put on my list now that I’m trying to be a little more adventurous. I thought I was trying kombucha but on checking the container this morning it’s not, it’s kimchi. Probably very different but both start with ‘k’! I’m having a serving each day and I must say it’s like someone’s having a party deep inside. Either the bad bugs complaining or the good bugs celebrating. Actually it’s more like a long-suffering host trying to evict resisting guests after a party. Hopefully that gets better if I persevere.

Yesterday I tried making flatbreads. I’m no cook and they were nothing like what I expected- coconut flour is very loosely named! It either made a paste or with more water it made a suspension from which the ‘flour’ settled like a sediment. Did I do something wrong? I ended up adding an egg and a few drops of oil but the resulting mess was more reminiscent of a flat, friable scramble egg that broke up when I tried to turn it and didn’t taste all that enticing either. Is gram flour easier to work with? Does it actually act like flour?

Weigh day today, 600g down from last Tuesday, dunno how that happened, the scales have fluctuated by 2.3kg on various days so I expect tomorrow it’s going to shoot up again. Total since the start of the challenge is 1.6kg (3.5lb) which in all is ok. Onward & downward, best of luck for the coming week.

Doing well Mariet. Good loss. I now love kimchi and sauerkraut, but particularly of a local W.A. small kitchen. Might be an idea to check kombucha for sugar content, I understand.

It’s sometimes hard to maintain focus, Mixnmatch, I do understand. We need to hang in. Good luck with today’s weigh-in.

63.9kg for me this morning, 200gms less than last week. Must make a big push from now as we have an important function coming up on Oct 28th, lots of photos.

HI all.well done to all the loosers.Im having mixed results.l ast week I did well getting down to an all time low of 81.1kg.on thutsday but I did it by forgetting to drink.result was a severe constipation and discomfort.
.so after drinking a spicy vegies soup for a day and eating out with friends .I have no idea how to track the foods served at dim sum lunch.I had a day off .lost the plot completely to enjoy some bread with a hearty chicken stew.
result today.
81.8 Kg back on track and motivated to get to 80kg asap.I hope you are all drinking plenty of fluids if not your body will punish you.keep on keeping on as always cheers Lynne

Morning all,

Start – 145.5lb
Week 1 …. 144.5 (-1lb)
Week 2…..143.2 (-1.3lb)
Today…….141.1 (-2.1lb)

A total of 4.4lb off 🙂 Really happy about that, although the 130s are so tantalisingly close it feels as if they are taunting me.

Hoping for a lovely holiday for you Cathy. Well done on your loss. Enjoy it! Looking forward to seeing more results on here throughout today.

My husband is monetising his loss and today we should find out by how much. Not sure if you have heard of a site called diet bet? Basically you have various challenges (like this one) into which a group of people pay a set sum, I think he picked the ‘lose 4% of bodyweight’ challenge. The pot then gets divided among those who successfully complete it. We came across it some time ago but because his loss on this w.o.e has been sooo good it was really easy.

I look at my 4.4lb loss and it in no way encapsulates what has happened to my body over these past weeks. Today is day 8 of no migraine meds. NONE! I have had 2 constant headaches for about 4 years, Migraine and chronic tension headache. The migraines have reduced in frequency and I haven’t had one now for about 10 days (usually 3 -4 a week). My chronic daily headache has reduced in intensity to a pain level that doesn’t require medication and without the migraine ramping things up and forcing me into survival mode, I am now in a position to actually tackle the cause of the tension. I can’t even begin to describe how different life feels and the joy it brings to see my kids not worrying that I am about to be sick or need to find a dark room, they have their mum back :-).

Go well.

Good morning all!

A reasonable loss this week!
1/9 14 4.5
8/9 13 12
11/9 13 11
12/9 13 10.5
19/9 13 9
26/9 13 7

Is there really only one week left – goodness knows where the time goes!

Wow Mokovex, what an amazing turn of events for you. It must be such a relief to finally find something that helps the headaches in that way. I’m so pleased for you!! Weight loss ain’t bad either. Hopefully you will succumb to the call of the 130’s very shortly!!

I’ve stayed the same, again, this week, which makes it 5 weeks in a row now. My weight does fluctuate considerably during the week but as Tuesday is the only official weight that I take it’s a maintain…which would be brilliant if I wanted to maintain!!! But i want to lose and my holiday starts Saturday. I won’t be able to weigh next week so will have to finish this challenge on Friday. It’s all a bit late in the day but I sticking to it until then in the hope that a couple of pounds might see their way out – so I fasted 26 hours yesterday – had dinner which was 560 calories and 16g carbs and am now fasting until tomorrow morning (42 hours). Will weigh again then and then will not worry about it until after I get back and will join the next challenge as I have a feeling I might need it!!

Some great successes are happening on this four weeker – keep it up everyone, and if you happen to read news articles about a beached whale in a bikini in Cyprus next week…that’ll be me lol

TC xxx

Well some pretty good interim results so very well done all of you.

Mokovex, how wonderful that your constant debilitating headaches seem to be becoming a thing of the past. Now if that isn’t a NSV then I don’t know what is. So pleased for you.

TC well done on the fasting and have a wonderful time in Cyprus – we all know there won’t be any whales, beached or otherwise, after all your hard work😉

My results make pretty boring reading – still managing to maintain – but I’m thrilled. Week 21 of maintenance and still in fast mode atm, 41 hours in so far, but will have some yoghurt after walking the dogs (about 11 am) weighed in this morning at 8st 3lbs (51.1kg) so I have 4lbs of wriggle room.😀

Looking forward to lots more positive results from our challenge buddies still to post.

No loss for me this week, I’m right back where I started the challenge at 9st 5! Oh dear 🙁

Mokovex, although I’ve never seen any links written between sugar and migraines I discovered it by chance for myself.
I didn’t ever have a migraine until my late thirties, early forties, and then eventually there was a three month period when I had one each month. It was so debilitating and I thought, I can’t go on like this, I can’t afford to lose two/three working days every month!
I don’t like taking medication so rather than go to the doctors I thought I’d try to improve my diet and the main way I could see to do that was to almost cut out sugar, which I did. I never had a migraine since. Although there have been slip ups of course by way of eating sugar over the last two years I haven’t had any migraines at all. I’m sure they’ll discover a major link there one day!

Maisemouse, I’m sure you are right and that refined sugars are responsible for so many of our ills.

Just thought I’d pop back in to correct my maths!😡 In my earlier post I stated that I was 41 hours into my fast, which was twaddle 😳 I was only actually 39 hours in. However I am now about 41 hours in and, having just returned from a 5 miles dog walk which started in autumnal mists and finished in brilliant sunshine, I am now looking forward to breaking fast with fage yoghurt and blueberries and a double espresso. Yum😃

Morning everyone, well done to the losers, Mokovex i’m sure that 139 will soon appear and soapbox you are both on a roll. On the subject of healings you might have seen on another post I wrote that putting a piece of soap in the bed can cure cramps. Well I have been doing it for about 3 weeks now and I havent had one incidence of cramp whereas I usually have it every night, if I go through the night with no cramp I usually get a bout when I stretch and get out of bed. Who knew a small piece of soap could stop all that pain.

My weight this morning is still 76kg which is 1kg down from after my friends visiting but 1kg up from the start of this challenge so for the next week I want to lose that kilo. I now have 3 weeks before I go visit my daughter when I want to be at least down to 74kg – 2kg to go (4.5 lbs) it can be done. BG is still good so that is my main aim.

Another week to go so lets make the best job we can and keep on keeping on…

Sunshine girl – that is very helpful re the nighttime cramps.

I have tried a cork under the pillow, following recommendations elsewhere but that didn’t really work.

I shall try the soap trick instead.

I only really suffer if I have sneaked a glass of wine in, so it has been useful in keeping that in check as the pain was not worth the wine!

Another trick I read about (life hacks) is to keep fruit fresh you put a cork cut in half into the bowl, it soaks up moisture. A friend of mine designed the banana bag for Lakeland and told me to wrap them in bubble wrap (that’s what is inside the bags) or to just wrap the stalk in cling film – and finally, to keep celery firm and crisp wrap it in tin foil and keep in the fridge – stops it from going all soft and floppy. Anymore real tips that work.

Mokovex, what wonderful non-scale-victories for you, diminishing your debilitating headaches. So happy for you. MaisieMouse, good for you too. I do wish “they” would take notice of empirical evidence like this. Maybe more people could then be helped, sooner rather than later.
Soap, s-g? Who would have thought… I use one of those yellow banana bags, swear by it, and did work out that bubble wrap was the hidden gem. What a clever clogs your friend is. And I’ve used the foil trick for celery in the fridge for years now. Keeps the celery crisp for ages. One of my other fridge tips is for mushrooms: I double brown bag them (preferably using the heavier brown bags we use for potatoes) and store on a middle shelf, not in the veg crispers. They don’t go slimy. I’ve occasionally found one or two unused for longer than usual and although dried somewhat seemed perfectly ok to use in a casserole or soup.

Well done to all the losers today. Keep on keeping on for the last week of this challenge. Who will be the first to propose a title for our next challenge, I wonder?

Eating clean for Halloween – 4 week challenge ending 31 October???

Woohoo, topcac, that is a beauty!!! 🙂

Okay, file this week’s maintenance plan under ‘Well that didn’t work’ and try something new. Net increase today from last Tuesday 2.4 pounds, still some water hanging around judging by my ankles so not all bad, and maybe still TOTM affected so not panicking. I didn’t make the fast stick either, although so far this week I have been very low carb apart from an apple and some grapes. Too much cheese though, and cream in drinks to be very low calorie, though so will have to watch that. Staying low carb/high hydration all the way until Friday when I am at the Changing lifestyles dinner in the evening and then will allow myself some freedom from control for the weekend. If it was easy then everyone could do it! Next challenge I will have to do my best to get back down to the lower end of my comfort zone and then to try to relax a bit going forwards.

MnM I gained as well this week, 800g or 1.75lb.
I’m hardly surprised though – it’s been a very social Week with my birthday and some work events – 1 morning tea, 2 dinners and 4 lunches out to be exact – combined with a few (well ok more than a few!) drinks on my birthday…
So this means I know have 1.4kg to lose in the next week to get to my challenge goal weight. Guess it’s back to basics for me this week then!
And Topcac I LOVE your suggestion for the next challenge name.
Time does fly…every time we get to Week 3 in these challenges I can hardly believe it, feels like we barely start and then the end is approaching!
Well done to all of you who lost this week – and let’s all Keep on keeping on for this final challenge week 🙂

Just remembered a food tip I wanted to share – I find avocado keeps better (once cut open) if you leave the stone in the unused half (or portion) and cover the unused half with the skin of the used half.

Oh well, another post from me which has ‘got lost’. I spent an hour getting the tone right, but it was obviously not good enough. Wishing you people well.

Morning all, just got back from a 75 minute brisk walk. I was with 3 other ladies 2 of them much older than me and frankly it wears me out. Give me a pool and I can swim for ages without stopping but walking is another thing.

Bluebell, what sometimes happens is when you submit your post you hit the back arrow to go back to the forum list. This takes you back to where you were before you posted, so no post. Instead go to the top of the page Forums, click on the drop down and go to All Recent Topics and it will take you back to the full list of threads.

Woke up early and felt my midriff and thought I had definitely lost weight – my midriff is the first place it goes – jumped on the scales and I have gained .3 of a kilo – how come when I have been strict and felt slimmer. Oh well, it will come off at some point so not to worry.

Have a good day.

Oh Bluebell – don’t be blue – I’m sure it was amazing and I hope you’re having a successful week. Sunshine Girl is right – I did that numerous times before I cottoned on – we have a saying at work – PICNIC – Problem in Char not in Computer – maybe there’s a bit of that but sorry you put in so much work in vain – we are all interested in what you have to say so don’t be disheartened xxx

I’m still fasting but don’t think it’s really having the desired effect. I have to be honest, I haven’t done the 42 hours I was hoping. I was only about 18 hours in yesterday when I felt terrible so I had something at about 2pm – 19 hours in. It was about 600 cals and 14 g carbs and then I have had nothing since. So…since 1pm on Sunday I have had 1200 calories and approx 30g carbs…in 68 hours.

I’ve lost precisely nothing and I feel bloated – not hungry though. I’m drinking about 4 litres of water a day, including the odd tea but nothing else. Is there any advice that anyone can give about what else I could / should be doing / trying? I’m not wedded to the idea of fasting but it does sound a good thing to do once a week and I know others have success with it.

Thanks in advance
TC xxx

You might try a broth fast, topcac. It’s not a pure fast because you do ingest calories, but it might help you keep you on an even keel. Bone broth is considered the equivalent of water because there are no veggies in it so no calories. It does have nutrients from the bones. What it doesn’t have is flavor. I’d much rather take the small caloric intake from a really great chicken broth (the best I’ve ever had was a halal product made from roasted chicken, so flavorful, zero carbs, 20 calories a cup) than sip endlessly on water with a hint of meat flavor. A dusting of finely grated parmesan — a single gram will more than suffice — can flesh it out even further if you still feel peaky. Oh, and add salt and freshly ground pepper. It feels much more substantial and satisfying when it’s tasty.

Hello topcac. I recently posted about how I gained a few centimetres and felt sluggish and bloated. I examined what I’d eaten and drunk and it would appear that 2 small apples were the culprit. A day later I was back on track – indeed lost weight and 4cm above and beyond my expectations. I think we all have that little denomic trait which is not of our choosing and our bodies repel certain foods and aren’t in too much of a hurry to excrete. You are really very well versed on the BSD ( and I’ve learned a lot from your posts – thank you ) and I can only suggest that you re-examine anything different from your normal, daily intake. Tomorrow is a brighter day xx

hi all, been a bit awol – have had some carby loaded days – i feel like the turning weather is making things tough. i want to try the diet bet site as i reckon i need deadlines or motives outside myself! am maintaining though so please with that – very impressed with everyones result.

Topcac – just to say, when i did my back to back fasts, the large amounts of water didnt make it look like much- i cut the water down – apparently 1 litre i 1kg and down it went my weight – so you may find that the increase in water during a fast is reflected in weight seeming to be the same. to get to fighting weight for my referral i cut out water altogether for 18 hours and ‘lost’ 3 kilos but only temporarily and i dont recommend it as it was only because i needed to show a certain figure on the scales.

I bought kombucha ‘people’ ( what we called the culture) online via amazon and made our own at home – they go vinegary if you dont feed them enough but its delicious when it works!

Hope that helps.

Talking about fasts, following my fast from Sunday evening until yesterday, I have had another enforced one today and rather a stressful day all round. I got a call this morning to say my 92 year old mother, who lives alone and is totally independent, had had a nasty fall. So I was at A&E at 7.30 this morning and have literally just got home at half past midnight. So I guess technically it was yesterday. Now just winding down a bit before hitting the sack, totally exhausted.

Anyway, she had a head and an arm injury. Concerned about a bleed into the brain as she is on Warfarin, but thank goodness all the head scans came back clear, phew, though she is black and blue with a 2″ gash on her temple. Sadly, not so the dozens of shoulder xrays and scans. She’d dislocated her shoulder, and smashed the head of her humurus, so it didn’t make for an easy reduction of the dislocation. Anyway, all done now and she is “comfortable” as they say, though dosed to the eyeballs! Upshot was that I have lived on coffee and nothing else all day (really didn’t want the pappy white bread sandwiches I was offered, and wouldn’t leave mum to go in search of anything healthier). Now I’m home and too exhausted to eat, so am making do with a cup of black tea and half a dozen Brazil nuts.😨 So it’s been another 30 hour fast! Oh well, just think of the autophagy😉

Back to hospital tomorrow, but hopefully not til after I’ve grabbed some breakfast.

Morning all,

today +0.3lb 🙁 no idea why!!!

Theodora, you poor thing. So very glad your mum isn’t as badly injured as she might have been. Really hoping for a speedy recovery and today brings better news.

x

Cooper the dog is keeping me busy, and I have changed my sleep patterns, so I have definitely been eating more than I meant to but still low carb. This morning I was 67.6kg so mini-goal achieved, with lots of stalking/maintenance.

Weird thing is today I feel FAT. Despite being lighter than I have been in 5 years. So that’s kind of good as I am now going to try and reduce calories again. Maybe it’s because I’ve skipped exercise this week to tend to the dog, maybe it’s because I was mainlining cream yesterday …

Hope you are all doing OK, whatever circumstances you find yourselves in, and I don’t just mean diet wise xxx

Hello everyone, still swithering around 76kg – I was 75kg when I started this challenge and want to be at least that next week. Good news is that my BG is right down again to 4.6 so will be able to reduce insulin again. Thought – having increased my insulin over the last 4 weeks might be stopping from losing weight as my body has been used to less – that is called clutching at straws.

Theodora hope your mum is feeling much better today. It is not just the actually injuries but can be quite a shock – to you both.

Although my scales are showing me bigger my clothes seem to be loser on me, especially my trousers – might just be because they are getting old and baggy.

Have a good day everyone and keep on keeping on…

Theodora, your poor Mum. Very frightening for her, along with the actual injuries. Can remember the effect of falls on both parents, their self-sufficiency and self-confidence seemed reduced in the aftermath. Both in themselves and for us watching on. Hope she is well soon and that you are ok.

I’ve been reading the posts on extended fasting, and the enthusiasm for it. I admit to being a little concerned for your health Theodora and others on the longer fasts, forgive me please (only through caring, I promise). I didn’t know the word “autophagy”, so did some searching. I haven’t been successful in fasting, frightened of it, I suppose, but this reading may be the impetus I need.

Of particular interest was an informative article on the Diet Doctor website, titled:

“How to Renew Your Body: Fasting and Autophagy
October 5 2016 by Dr. Jason Fung, M.D. in Intermittent fasting”

……..final para pasted below………
“There is a balance here, of course. You get sick from too much autophagy as well as too little. Which gets us back to
the natural cycle of life – feast and fast. Not constant dieting. This allows for cell growth during eating, and cellular
cleansing during fasting – balance. Life is all about balance. – Jason Fung”

I kept reading, and found some discussion on “The Fast Diet” forum directly relating to 24-40hr fasting, with interesting references.

So, I’ll review my reluctance, gird my loins, and (not being diabetic) see if this is the spur I need towards my healthy goal.

Theodora – so sorry to hear your mum had such a bad fall. So horrible for her and stressful for you – but you did so well to avoid the rubbish food at the hospital.

Thank you for your concern, Marsie, and I’m glad you have done some research and are reconsidering your understandable doubts. In normal circumstances I would only embark on an extended water only fast once or twice a month tops, though very happy to do a 24 hour one weekly if it maintains my weight – IMO it has got to be healthier to fast occasionally than to carry large amounts of excess weight.

This week however, through force of circumstances, I have only actually had 2 meals, plus half a dozen Brazil nuts, since Sunday, and feel none the worse for it, though I was really ready for my breakfast today at 11 am. The unintended result was a loss of 5.5lbs since Sunday. This gives me almost 8lbs ( and into the 7s, my lowest weight since in my 20s) wriggle room which, whilst inadvertent, will be quite useful as tomorrow we are going to see my son receive his MBA (with Distinction) The Uni is laying on a buffet, and then we are going out for a slap up celebration dinner in the evening. Now I will be able to allow myself some extra treats – a couple of glasses of champagne etc.😜

Thank you all for your kind wishes about my mother. She is now home and, funnily enough, her shoulder is not bothering her at all, although it is immobilised. Her wrist however is causing pain as the shoulder reduction was very complicated due to the added break, and was both more violent and took much longer than normal (about 10 mins). This has resulted in the wrist injury. 😢 But hey, it had to be done! And fortunately there does not appear to be any nerve damage. She is feeling a bit fed up and very frustrated, particularly as she feels her planned holiday in 2 weeks may now be in jeopardy. 😢 Hopefully not, although she will almost inevitably still be in a sling.

Keep on keeping on everybody, whatever your goal.

Theo x

Good Morning all,

Today -0.6lb 🙂 but -0.4lb from previous lightest weight.

Only 0.6lb to go to be in the 130s

Sunshine-girl, how marvellous to be able to reduce your insulin. That must feel pretty good, to have such clear feedback from your body that you are giving it what it needs to be well.

Marsie, have you seen MM’s horizon documentary from 2012, ‘Eat, fast and live longer’? It is the programme that kicked off the 5:2 and popularised intermittent fasting. A really helpful programme to understand the rationale behind the practice of fasting.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms
Not sure if you can access this but a quick google should turn it up if not.

I am currently loving the fact that my children think their parents have gone out and bought a whole new wardrobe (they haven’t, they are just taking the old ones out of mothballs). They are enjoying saying, “oh I haven’t seen that before” or “is that new?”

What is also funny is that only one person has said to me, ‘oh, you’ve lost weight’ – (18lb off since July), I hugged her. My husband has lost 25lb and NOBODY has commented on it to him. Neither of us was very big to start with so it DOES show. Is this just British reserve?

Go well today everyone.