oh collie – I wish I could learn to smile and say nothing – but no – I gob on – and its not at all helpful to people with eating disorders!! why cant I shut it? but I care about them, they care about me
but you are right – I was like them, I STILL am like them, its just that for the moment I have some control

as I walk down the street and see people eating junk food, or watch the piles of crap people put in their trolleys in Tesco – I want to shout from the roof tops
but I AM that person – the one who buys/bought her binge foods in secret – who eats in hiding – who is bitterly ashamed and only lets people see the ok side of her eating habits, who hides food around the house so they are not seen

I don’t want to be like that any more

Starcyl – thank you for your reply also – I was a similar size to you – was wearing 20’s but lots were too tight
– now they are loose but don’t seem to have fallen off yet
I wonder how I managed to walk around like that, but I did,

it is very humbling to hear that you think of me as inspirational, although I don’t feel like that at all, but thank you

and I have no doubt YOU will do it too, you will keep going, and pick yourself when you fall

xx

Keeptrying i have just read this entire thread and I have to say I’m so impressed with you for sticking to things. 2 1/2 stone is fantastic well done. Like you I have been struggling with the carbs(today i would have done literally anything for a slice of bread) but I am in this for the long haul just like you and I decided that my health the most important thing. I totally understand that urge to binge on everything that is bad for you and the fact that you made the choice not to is something to be truly proud of. I hope I can be as strong as you and make the healthy choices.
Like everyone else has said please don’t ever feel you are alone-that’s why this forum is here-so we can all support each other when it’s needed.
Keep going and be proud of your fantastic achievement!!

thank you Jess J your support is very much appreciated

well this is end of week 9 on bsd and another 2 3/4 lb down so pleased with that
as now my weight is starting with a 12 🙂

if I can stick to it, then I could possibly be out of the ‘obese’ category in a few weeks, that would be nice

well I am having a rethink

last week – after finding out my cholesterol had gone up – my commitment went down
I binged
I knew I would
not badly, but nevertheless I failed
and as a consequence lost nothing

and the inches – even on ‘loss’ weeks are hardly moving
so I have decided I am going to ATTEMPT to count calories and keep to under 800
not sure I can, as my head is still screaming at me for more more more
but I will try and see if that helps
I am getting so impatient with it all

I have considered fd’s but don’t really want to face more months of throat issues

I tend to eat only between 8am and 6pm, but that clearly has no affect at all

sick and tired of being tired

at no point since going low carb have I had the fantastic energy other people seem to get
sometimes I wonder if I am not human as I seem to react the opposite to other people

i try to walk each day now but when i get home i just start to fall asleep
i honestly think my body is not capable of adapting to burning fat
the only time in the last few weeks i had bags of energy was after bingeing on chocolate

i keep on and on sticking to low carbs and avoiding so much
but i literally can barely stay awake after about 8pm and often doze off in the afternoon if i sit still

i am not expecting an answer because i don’t think there is one – except go back to carbs

fed up today
and the ‘messages’ telling my brain they don’t want food/carbs – don’t seem to be happening

I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with the low carbohydrate side of the BSD diet. This may be a bit different to the usual advice but since you are not diabetic have you heard of the Sirt foods diet? I am actually trying to incorporate several Sirt foods as well as doing the Med style diet with 5:2 so I have stayed higher in carbs than most Fast 800 dieters. SIRT rich carbohydrates include dark chocolate, buckwheat, strawberries, red grapes and medjool dates, and they have a beneficial effect on your metabolism due to the presence in them of Sirtuin activators, which means that you still lose weight. I have a list of beneficial foods at work but not here unfortunately. I found some buckwheat porridge in Waitrose and have a portion of this made with whole milk or almond milk for the slow release similarly to the way I previously used porridge oats. I also occasionally have a hot chocolate which I make out of whole milk or almond milk, with two medjool dates blended in for sweetness and unsweetened cocoa powder. This tends to be only on non 800 days though.

thank you for responding
that is really interesting
I do wonder if my body just hates being so low carb

I think I still need to avoid the dark chocolate as unfortunately have found I can binge on that and it has unpleasant side effects!!
I will consider the other things you mention though – and I already have strawberries for breakfast and occasionally an extra one or two when I feel desperate

I will give you some more suggestions when I get back into work. I also note that low carbohydrate generally is considered to be less than 130 g a day on a normal number of calories, usually 2000 a day. I have had a couple of days where I stray up over 100 on my 1600 calories days and it feels like such a lot now. I try to keep the percentage of calories obtained from carbs to an average of 25% while allowing myself greater freedom on individual days. You certainly don’t want to be made ill and tired by a diet, so don’t look at it as failing, just as adapting it to your own individual requirements. That is what I am doing.

For a dark chocolate style reward I have been adding the unsweetened cocoa powder to Fage yoghurt or fromage frais along with a few cocoa nibs, this gives the Sirt benefits and the BSD friendly fat/protein in a very tasty way. This is my new favourite breakfast 😊

oooo really couldn’t do ‘raw’ cocoa
the darkest I can tolerate has been 90% and that left a horrible taste in my mouth

I think my body has been used to a LOT of carbs for a long time (not the last 3 months though)
I really mostly miss my oat cereal, and maybe rice occasionally but the rest – cakes/ biscuits
are just too dangerous for me – I miss them a lot but
I can limit them for perhaps one/two occasions and then bang, its all blown apart

You may be surprised, I don’t find it bitter at all, although I would avoid the cocoa nibs if that is the case, as they can be. Try to find some of the buckwheat porridge ‘oats’ if you can if you are missing that style of breakfast, I find them even nicer than real oats. Raw cocoa can be used in savoury dishes as well. It is probably my favourite Sirt ingredient.

still so tired
at times can hardly keep eyes open

so when is the great energy boost going to happen?

I tried going even lower carb, higher fat – but had spells where I felt so appalling I thought I might be heading to hospital!! and I had daily stomach upset

so I have pulled carbs back up to 30 – 50g

but still no energy 🙁

So sorry, keep trying , how many weeks are you in, now?

I have been doing this woe since the second week of May
and have cut the carbs below 50 and calories to 800-900 for the last 4/5 weeks
before that I still had some chocolate/apples/pears – and didn’t count calories at all, although it wouldn’t have been very much higher

Is the weight carrying on going down, albeit slowly, keep trying? And how are the measurements doing? ANY light anywhere?

So sorry it’s been such a struggle for you.

Just to check, you are doing the water intake, are you? If you are, have you tried drinking even more? I found when I went up to 3 litres per day it did help.

yes I drink plenty

people on mfp keep saying its electrolytes – salt/potassium/magnesium etc but I really don’t see how a healthy diet should need to take a tonne of supplements!!
I don’t want to
I do put a bit more salt on my food, but I have no way of measuring my intake accurately

i have lost a bit more weight and (annoyingly) the measure seems to be going down especially on chest 🙁

goodness knows

maybe its just my mental health issues – which are significant – that affect it all

The diet itself drains the body of sodium and therefore you do definitely need more salt.

I have been reading up on this only today and it is backed up by various medical studies. One thing suggested is to make a drink of a stock cube with hot water or have miso soup.

It’s worth trying?

Hi – I agree with Igor, you do need salt!
In around week three, I realised that I was getting very little salt from what I was eating – if you cut out all processed foods, and don’t add any salt, the diet can be a bit deficient.
I keep an eye on it through MFP, and add some to vegetables on days when its looking a bit low (days when I have smoked salmon, or as today, bacon, my salt intake is dramatically higher).
As Igor says, a stock cube is a significant boost – the first time I added one to a recipe (a low salt one!!) I was amazed at the amount of salt in it.
You do need to be a bit careful with MFP – because its crowd sourced data, you might find salt missed completely, or incorrect because people mixed up grams and milligrams.

thanks
yes I realise the data on mfp is very ‘assorted’!!

and I was just thinking about how I must have dramatically reduced my salt just from no longer having cereal or bread

I do add a little salt to the things I cook, and like you say bacon is salty and I sometimes have a few salted peanuts or a lump of cheddar

I guess I am wary because of decades of ‘salt is bad for you’ – even though I KNOW low salt is bad too

I now use rock salt as I think it is better re. minerals and also has a higher % of sodium than some cheap cooking salts

I was looking at electrolyte drinks, or making my own, but they all seem to contain sugar/honey etc which will shoot up the carbs
but then would I rather have some natural honey or some nasty chemical fake sugar?

right its bacon for lunch I think
oh but now they say we shouldn’t eat too much bacon
for goodness sake

my legs hurt most days now and I even have to take painkillers in the night as they are aching so much

just sipping a cup of veg. bouillon water
hmmm, its ok
would prefer salty and sweet, but needs must
I have the swiss veg. bouillon powder which is quite handy for this as I can just use how much I want
as I just realised how my berry, yog and walnut breakfast is probably almost devoid of salt

well the leg pain isn’t going, its not actual cramp, it is stiffness and aching in the tops of both legs, hips and low back

I now drink broth twice a day, and there is no difference

I am at a loss
and of course the more stressed I get about it the worse it all feels

my whole body is begging for carbs I think and soon I will be caving
the low carb/ketosis, does not burn up tonnes of fat for me
I do not have loads of energy

maybe, just maybe, some people are not made to function like this

trouble is it does help with some of the bingeing, and returning to carbs certainly WONT

at a loss

Hello keeptrying,
Isn’t it trying that we’re all so different no one thing is right for everyone. So we have to find the answers.
Do you like black coffee? I find it helps hunger cravings. Even if I sip it a bit and throw the rest away. But I have to be careful – I have such a peculiar stomach and some coffee beans don’t agree with me, leave me feeling ill for days!
How much weight have you lost since you started?

Hi Keeptrying
I just made a typo & nearly started keep prying!

It sounds like things are very frustrating for you at the moment – are you still losing weight, or on a bit of a plateau?
Also, how many carbs are you aiming for daily? there’s quite a big range among posters – if you’re currently doing very low carb, would it work to increase it a bit, but still cutting out the big carby food groups?

I did have a few days of my legs being really painful a few weeks ago, and took ibuprofen for a couple of days – I usually avoid painkillers and meds when I can, but found it really helped (along with hot baths), and have been fine since then – apart from a bit hobbly yesterday evening after mammoth walk on Monday.

Hope that things start getting better for you soon

The other thing, keeptrying, which might make a difference, is slow release magnesium. These definitely help with cramps, or at least did with mine

ah replies, thank you all

coffee – sorry never drink it, am having to stem food urges with coconut flatbreads, but didn’t have any yesterday

re. plateau – hope not, was still losing, bit by bit (away atm so cant tell on mum’s scales)

I agree though, that I think the carbs got too low – got to below 20g, but then that was one long tummy upset so pulled it up to 30-50g but today think I will just not bother counting as long as I keep away from the really carby foods like you say
I had one glucose tablet this morning (just found it in bag and thought I would see) – then forgot about it but within about half an hour I had noticeably more energy

brother suggested indulging in 1 porridge oat lol

re. magnesium, yes I remembered it helped with muscle aches, I have some Epsom salts to bath in at home, but not keen on taking it as I have SO many tummy upsets anyway I don’t really want to encourage more

still trying to get through to gp to discuss it, but without success at the moment

I am going back to more carbs
have seen dr and my last bloods all the electrolytes were totally fine so it was not that causing pain/tiredness
I CANNOT lose weight on this diet at the rate others seem to
and it is leaving me tired and depressed even after 3 1/2 months
I will still try to avoid sweet/bad foods
but I just cant do this anymore

I am glad it works so well for some of you
but it doesn’t for me

sorry it’s not working for you. Maybe you should try the Mediterranean diet where you can eat pretty much as many calories as you like (within reason) but stick to the low carb principle. Good luck with whatever you try.

I have just been reading through as much of this thread as I have time to trying to get 2 little boys to bed. You have done brilliant and lost quite a lot of weight. I am a slow loser and have only lost 8 lbs in 8 weeks but for me, as a diabetic, it has been about getting my b.g under control and it has done that for me and reduced my cholesterol. All the best.

Hi KEEPTRYING ive only read this latest page..so forgivme if this has been covered on previous pages..but could you just be unwell from perhaps an underactive thyroid? If so, you wd feel a lot better once you were checked out and given an adequate daily dose of thyroxine.xx i hope you get sorted out as yr situation is a bit miserable at the moment. Have you lost weight while attempting bsd? X

We all are just a bunch of LOSERS! 🙂 Hey, now I can defend that insult in my childhood as a compliment. You may be losing a bit here and there. Yet, you are winning by losing! What a tongue twister!

We all are fighting a war against Mr. Goodbar, Kool Aid Man, and Pillsbury Doughboy! Please do not let us down in are battles! We all need each other’ support!

If only it was as easy as Eddie Murphy’s hilarious character:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F01j4WWOLnA

Live Long And Prosper!

PrincetonianStud