Keeping the momentum going

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  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Hi

    This is my first post ever, on any forum, but have decided to take the plunge! I’ve read so many of the threads and followed so many success stories, and struggles, that I’m sure I’d feel even more motivated if I actually joined in instead of lurking.

    A bit about me: I’m 58, retired (on health grounds), and about 4 stone heavier than I’d like to be. I was pre-diabetic last year but managed to bring my blood sugars down into the healthy range using the 5:2 fasting diet. But CFS/ ME and fibromyalgia make it difficult to exercise and my weight is a constant worry. I’ve tried pretty much every diet going, but have stuck with the 5:2 diet longer than any other, and really enjoyed it. So when I found the BSD book it felt like a natural progression and I started it at the end of July.

    My starting weight was 189.2lbs (I’m 5ft 4″), and my BMI was 32.3. Although I had an initial loss of 6lbs in the first week, it seems to have been slow and steady since then, averaging a lb or two a week. But after 5 weeks I’ve actually achieved a loss of just over 1stone (down to 174.8) which I’m absolutely thrilled about, and I’m now officially overweight rather than obese, as my BMI is down to 29.8.

    Ideally I’d like to initially get down to 11stone / 154 lbs, which I realise is still high, but feels more realistic at this stage than anything more drastic. But the doubts are already starting to creep in about whether I have the willpower to lose at least another 20lbs. I’m in awe of some of the posters on here who have lost vast amounts, and also those who can walk miles a day, or count their steps in the thousands rather than the hundreds! I suppose I’m hoping that by actively joining in, rather than reading from the sidelines, I might maintain my momentum and keep my motivation going.

    We have a big holiday coming up in the next few weeks and it feels pretty much inevitable that a significant proportion of the weight may well go back on. But I’ve read so many other’s stories where a return to this WOE after a holiday/ relapse has put them back on track pretty quickly, so I’m hoping that’s the case with me. I just need to make sure I don’t begin the usual cycle of losing, gaining, losing gaining, and I’m trying to convince myself I can break through that barrier this time.

    Anyway, enough from me! I’m looking forward to making this a more focused and disciplined journey, and picking up all the hints and tips I can along the way!

  • posted by Californiagirl
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    Welcome NB59!! Of COURSE you can do this!! Your goal is very manageable — you are going to impress yourself as you learn how to follow this way of eating — if ever there was a new way to think of food, this is it. You can stop gaining and losing and just eat right for your body — and the wonder is that you can eat a lot of food and you will not be hungry — it is such a revelation and very liberating!
    I will look for your posts!

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Thanks so much Californiagirl for such a lovely welcome, and such an upbeat response.

    It was perfectly timed as I was just sitting here struggling with food cravings, so you saved me from a late night fridge raid! I think I’ve noticed the hunger far more today because we had friends round for dinner last night and, although I did really well to keep my calories to around the 1000 mark, my carbs jumped up to 80+. It’s scary the impact it has on your appetite!

    Anyway, the main tips I seem to have picked up from the various threads are:

    Aswell as aiming for less than 800 cals /50g carbs per day, the lower the carbs the better. On average I’m managing around 35g.
    It’s essential to drink more water than I’ve ever drunk before!
    Meal planning is the key to success.
    Incorporating a16/8 fast might speed up weight loss.
    Expect plateaus / times of minimal loss or even gains but keep plugging away!

    I’ve tried adopting these as I’ve gone along, but I do think one of the things that’s helped me most has been reading other posts and following other people’s journeys. Instead of feeling like a failure when real life gets in the way, it’s reassuring to see its the same for everyone, but just some people are strong enough to keep going rather than give in. I think that’s got to be my motto!

  • posted by Esnecca
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    I gained 2 pounds in the last two days. As always, I made no changes to my diet, cleaved religiously to the 800 calorie limit, ate no blacklisted foods and my carb intake for days in a row has been in the single digits. Any downward movement is bliss. Revel in every fraction of a pound you shave off because the memory of that happiness will sustain you when the scale is not so cooperative.

    Feed your friends what you eat. Other than offering bread on the table, I serve the same dishes to friends that I eat on my own or make for my OH. So far nobody has complained to the manager of this establishment. The fact that I am the manager of this establishment has nothing to do with it, I’m sure. 😉

    The cycle of blood sugars rising leading to insulin levels rising leading to fat storage instead of fat burning is what has made it so hard for you to lose weight in the past. The BSD can fix that, but it’ll be a lot slower and a lot harder on you if you keep that cycle fed with flour, cereals, grains, sugar and starchy veg. Imagine a life in which you are not constantly beset my cravings and ravenous hunger that have nothing to do with the need for food and everything to do with your body’s addiction to sugar. That is totally attainable for you. It has happened to a lot of us on this diet and it is so liberating.

    Good luck, Newbeginnings59! Keep your eyes on the prize.

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Thanks Esnecca, that makes so much sense.

    I think I definitely need to focus on significantly reducing the carbs this week to claw back my “overspend” on Saturday. If I can get anywhere near single figures I’ll be very proud!

    We’ve never done weekly meal plans before and it’s been a revelation. I feel much more in control, and I like the discipline of that approach and the removal of indecision. I record everything on MFP at the start of each day and that seems to work for me.

    What I’ve really been impressed with is the variety and range of foods, and we’ve had some truly delicious meals. Although hubby isn’t following it as rigidly, he’s fully supportive of me, and we’ve rediscovered the art of cooking together, and sitting down to all meals at the table. I realise this is easier for us because we’re both retired, but it’s helped to reinforce that this is a complete lifestyle change rather than just a temporary fix. We’ve also just discovered lavash bread!!

    Feeling much more motivated today, so thanks for the boost.

  • posted by SunnyB
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    Hate to say it NB59, but if you want to pull those carbs down drastically, think the lavash bread might have to be avoided too. It sounds to me though, like you have an excellent handle on the whole BSD thing and you have certainly been making great progress. I’m confident you can maintain momentum and keep going – why not join our next four week challenge on the ‘Keep on Keeping on ….’ thread. The challenges are to break the standard eight weeks, down into two four week periods, which makes it a bit less daunting. Lots of lovely folks on there urging each other along. You’d be very welcome, so do take a look.

    My advice for holiday, is not let go of the BSD reigns completely while you’re away. Try to stick to the BSD principles as much as possible, whilst allowing yourself a little lea way for an occasional glass of wine, ice cream or dessert, but bear in mind if you revert totally to your old pattern of eating, there will be something of a backlash. As long as you largely go for the low carb options, you should find that there is not too much of a gain while you are away, leaving you in strong position for getting back to the weight loss on your return.

    Best of luck to you for continued success and we’ll be looking forward to reading more positive results from you soon.

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Thanks SunnyB, I’ll take a look at the other thread and hopefully start joining in on the forums now I’ve dipped my toe in the water!

    I’d never heard of lavash bread until I read about it on a thread here a few weeks ago, so I gave it a try for the first time yesterday. I can take or leave pizza, but tried a version with this and it worked really well, and at 8g pr serving it felt manageable. But I’d probably use it for say a monthly treat rather than use it more often.

    My bigger downfall is fruit; our preferred breakfast is 50g full fat yoghurt with nuts and a few berries but I still use up 9 g of carbs on that, so I’m going to have to come up with better alternatives. A couple of days a week we have scrambled egg and bacon or an omelette, but it feels a bit much to have that every day. Maybe time for a rethink. I don’t eat mushrooms but I’m sure I can be a bit more experimental with eggs!

    One thing that’s occurred to me is how much money we must be saving. As well as spending loads on rubbish snacks like crisps, crackers, chocolate and biscuits, we love our speciality breads and could spend a small fortune on those a couple of times a week. Plus we’re obviously not buying anything like as much fruit. We’ve always bought good quality meat and fish, so that hasn’t changed, but it’s recently dawned on me that our grocery bill must be shrinking! More funds for the new wardrobe maybe!

  • posted by SunnyB
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    Wise to keep the lavash for an occasional treat, rather than a daily item. Eggs are brilliantly versatile and give lots of options – savoury pancakes, poached eggs and smoked fish (haddock, mackeral, salmon, trout), veggie patties using whatever veg you have to hand etc. My suggestion for improving your carb intake with your yogurt combo, is to up the amount of yogurt and decrease the nuts and berries.

    Keep going and you’ll soon be at target weight and need that new wardrobe!!

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Quick question!

    For those who log food intake on MFP or similar, do you still record everything if you have a special event / non BSD day? We ate out yesterday as a belated birthday treat, but at a “fine dining restaurant” where there were so many tiny, obscure elements to each dish I wouldn’t have a clue how to record them. It’s easy to record everything at home when I’m in charge of the ingredients, but just don’t know whether to skip MFP altogether on occasional events like these?

  • posted by Mixnmatch
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    I tended to pick a pre-made dish from the list with similar ingredients and call it a job. So if my meal was a curry, and tikka masala was all I could find in the list I would use that and then attempt to estimate any extra ingredients I could identify. I was never totally comfortable just not logging it. My only recent gourmet meal I did attempt to guess the ingredients but only because it was so wonderful I wanted to make it myself 😁

  • posted by Angie TW
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    I went on the BSD after trying numerous slimming clubs – weight watchers, Slimming World etc with no success but lost 1 and a half stone on this diet.
    I stuck to it rigidly for the 8 weeks and even now hardly eat carbs or sugar. This diet works just stick with it and use this blog to get inspiration and guidance from others.

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Thanks Mixnmatch, I know what you mean about not being comfortable if you don’t record at least something on MFP ; think I’ll log the nearest dish I can find. It only takes one or two days of not logging for it to become a bit too easy to slip into that routine.

    Well done Angie TW on a brilliant result, you must be thrilled! I’ve lost just over a stone so far in five weeks, and I’m really happy with that. My next weigh in is Friday, but I’m preparing myself for little, if any, loss after yesterday’s non BSD day.

    My problem has been that I was so keen to start the BSD diet I chose to start it when I knew I didn’t have the full 8 weeks before my holidays, but thought I’d see what I could manage anyway. I also had a few social events already booked in, but other than yesterday I’ve managed to stay on track.

    I’m loving the food and trying new recipes, and my taste buds have changed completely, so I can take or leave chocolate and cakes but I am missing crusty bread and a good old bacon butty!! Our forthcoming holiday is a real foody paradise, but I’ve already been checking out restaurant menus for suitable options. I’m determined not to blow what I’ve already achieved!

  • posted by bloke41
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    Gday Newbeginnings59, great to see you participating in these forums. For me consistancy is key, though l do have my occassional treat to keep me sane. Good luck in your journey, im sure you can do it. Comming from a former foodaholic anything is possible when you put your mind to it, just getting there is the tough bit and just remember one thing, never bloody give up!

  • posted by SunnyB
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    Hi nb59, you absolutely did the right thing making a start, rather than procrastinating until the ‘right time’, when enthusiasm and motivation might well have dipped. You have been doing amazingly well and I doubt that you non-BSD day did much real damage. If you are back on track again, any weight increase will be dealt with promptly and almost not register on the scales at all.

    If you try your best to stick mainly to BSD friendly food/drink choices while you are away, you will keep any impact to a minimum and any small gain can be quickly dealt with once you are back. But life happens and holidays are meant to be enjoyed, so don’t be scared to have the occasional little ‘treat’, as long as these don’t become your mainstay there’s no real danger in relaxing the rules while you are away.

    Have a wonderful holiday and come back ready to get back on track with the BSD again.

  • posted by Newbeginnings59
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    Thanks bloke41, I’m with you on the consistency thing; I seem to feel much more in control with a set routine. I like the safety and predictability of planning menus and sticking to a consistent plan, rather than be constantly trying to “make good” any slip ups.

    Hi SunnyB, I’m so pleased I started when I did. It’s given me a brilliant pre-holiday boost and I know I’ll be itching to get back to it properly when our holiday’s over. I’ve had quite a few episodes of “why on earth didn’t I start this earlier” but beating myself up is a pointless exercise; the important thing is to plan a whole future that includes this WOE rather than think it’s a short term fix.

    Must admit I’m quite proud of myself today. We had overseas visitors arriving this morning straight from the airport, and I prepared brunch for them and other family members. There was fresh fruit salad, croissants, sausage baps and bacon rolls, and it would have been so easy to tuck in. But I had a sausage and small piece of fruit. Hee hee, how good am I!!

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