Hello weekly threaded… amazingly we have slipped into another week, somebody us with losses to be celebrated and some of us still struggling. Whatever is happening with you, know you CAN do this and stick with us.
Wendy has had an arduous day, hence my stepping on with setting up the new weekly thread, but she will be with us again tomorrow. Meanwhile, please start to share your news here, whether you are a regular poster, a ‘lurker’ or a new comer …. all are welcome to join in.

Hi all,

Brand new to this thread and Fast 800!
Had major abdominal surgery over a year ago and although I am all better I have put on quite a bit of weight. My stomach muscles also never knitted back together properly due to the new weight despite exercise and physio.
Been doing 5:2 500 Kcal for a few weeks now and lost 2.8kg however I have just found this site and am on day 2 of Fast 800.
Hoping to do 8 weeks and would like to eventually loose ~15kg (or a bit less having put on some muscle).
The two challenges I am most worried about are that I am the only one in my family doing this diet and that 1 week in 3 I work nights. (5:2 diet on nights was tough enough)
Anyone have tips on snacks for my work break? I currently mostly have an apple.

Hi Handles and welcome

I can’t help with the nights question – although you could have a handful or nuts or small square of cheese – more satiating than an apple anyway. When are you eating the rest of your meals that week if you are on nights? Could you just treat the night like it’s a “day” and just eat your meals?

Re the others at home not doing it – a lot of us are in the same position, it’s a relatively easy fix – cook meals that can have carbs easily added in – bolognese sauce or chilli or chicken in a sauce or just meat and veg that you can just add extra green veg or cauliflower rice etc. And just cook the potatoes, rice or pasta for everyone else – I have a carb fiend fiancé who is thin as a rake and we eat like that most nights, I just sub the carbs for green vegetables.

Hi everyone else, I can’t believe where the last week went!! I’ve had a super stressful week (no Wendy, the workload has not improved!!) but I have to say I’ve been feeling quite smug reading everyone’s stories of unsupportive partners, my other half tells me I’m beautiful every day (even today when he came home and I’d been properly ugly crying after a horrible meeting), is completely supportive of my weight loss/health goals, but also never makes me feel bad or anything for a slip up. I’m very lucky! Anyway, I’m not in any position to judge anyone else’s lives, but I just wanted to send out massive hugs and love and positive energy to anyone who needs it, and remember you are all beautiful and amazing xx

Tulip I hope you’re coming out of your bad time now, I’m not in a great place mentally but to be honest I’ve not had that much time to think about it but I’m just taking things one day at a time

Onwards everyone x

Lauren xx

Hi. Amz here. I’m joining in again. I’ll post a longer report tomorrow after I weigh in.

Hello! I’m new here, started Fast 800 today. A little about myself, I was diagnosed diabetic a few years ago but up until last year had been controlled through diet and exercise. My gym shutting down, a complete lack of motivation and eating everything to cross my path changed that. Now I’m on meds and trying to get off them. I found this site in the course of my internet research, and I’m glad I did! I have about 30 pounds to lose, and my doctor recommended the Mediterranean diet, so here I am. I am in the states, please forgive my units. 🙂 Looking forward to this journey!

Hello! Internet has been down for soo long but we have a temporary fix for now. Hope everyone is OK..I have a lot of reading to do to catch up with you all… I have a question about weighing scales. I have an old mechanical scale that I bought for less than 5£ in a Sainsbury sale years ago..I don’t think it is working accurately but put that down to me wishing for better results (blame the scale) lol! So my question is what scales would you recommend?

Hi all, RubyG and hubby still plodding along – a 2lb gain for us both over a 3-day festival weekend which involved alcohol 🙂 so back on the veggie soup for lunch and low carb low cal suppers for the week.
We saw some mates for the first time in 13 months (last saw them before starting the BSD) and they didn’t recognise hubby at first!!!! He is now costing us lots of money though, as his previously “too small” winter coats and lined trousers are now hanging off him and he has needed new ones – it’s a good problem to have!
Have a good week all.

Hello everyone
I have lost the weight I put on over last weekend whilst visiting my daughter. 😁 Been to see the nurse for blood tests this morning have to wait on blood tests coming back. Blood pressure still to high, they may have to adjust meds 154/82 sigh. Got to go back on Thursday for height, weight and feet checks. It was a different nurse and she thought I should have been put into metformin straight after diagnosis. Let’s hope the HbA1c shows different.

Hi Antigone
I have been using the RENPHO Body Fat Scale for the last few weeks. It is usually between £25-30 on Amazon and I like the fact it gives you an indicator of body fat % etc as well as weight. I also like the fact it trends it all over time so if I have a bad weigh in I can see I’m still making progress. When I first started I used the posh Body Fat Scale in my doctors and the readings I got off this one seemed to match.

Hello. Amz here. Starting this week at 231.2 (starting weight:243).
After our discussions in hair loss. I went back and checked my protein intake. I get about 70g a day (plus or minus), which seems a good amount using the formula someone posted of .5-1.5g protein for every kilo of goal weight. My goal is 150, which is 68kg. But I’ve adjusted my macros to boost my protein to 80g, which lowers my fat to 44g. My carbs stay resolutely at 20g or lower. I’ll try this for a bit to see if the hair loss slows.
I’ve properly planned out my meals for the week and I’ll continue the low impact exercise program on fitness blender. It was only got 4 weeks, so when i finish it next week, I’ll start the FB Fit program.
I think I’ll take the time to take measurements this week too.

Thanks Handles. Useful info.
I’ve always been a bit scared of ‘smart’ scales in case someone saw my weight on them ( may have to hide them lol) I think it’s time to invest!

OrangePandaMomma & Sunshine girl – have a look at the long, long post I wrote re. hair loss in last weeks posts.

Florob85 – It’s so good to see you back on here. Guess we’re the lucky ones with our OH’s but I sometimes wonder how the heck he puts up with me, poor devil. He still thinks I’m wonderful even when I get in a right strop. lol We all missed you so stay with us. Remain strong girl & believe in yourself Lauren – you’ve accomplished SO much in your life & things can only get better.

Keep on keeping on peeps. In 6 months – after 3 months on the BSD & then sort of going on a 5:2 diet or maybe 4:3 – keeping carbs low but not to 20 as on the BSD I lost 38ibs & put my HBA1c from 68 to an amazing 34. We still do the 16:8 fasting. I’m now in diabetes remission, Doc said I could come off my Victoza injections & am now on just 1gm of metformin. My BP is Normal. Have to have another HBA1c in just under 3 months & maybe she’ll take me off diabetic & BP meds. YAY! Unfortunately the diet didn’t do anything for my thyroid so far. I dose myself for that as I can’t tolerate levothyroxine at all so have gone onto Pigs Thyroid. My BMI has gone down from 33.9 to 27. Visceral fat from 15 to 10. I want to get down another stone but we’ve decided to just eat the way we are at the moment. Upping protein as hubby has a really nasty leg after a very bad fall & has been told to up his protein to help it heal. We also eat a bit more fruit as we were missing those.

Antigone – another one here who LOVES the Renpho weighing scales. It just gives you SO much info & the graphs on the app are really useful to map your progress. Also I like the breathe testing instead of those awful pee sticks. We’re still in Ketosis & have been from day 3 on this WOE.
Keep on keeping on peeps.
Linda XXX

Day in the office yesterday, just had veggie soup and some milk kefir for lunch, no snacks, and a low carb (if not exactly low cal) melanzane for supper.
Hubby was out early for work this morning, with his packed lunch, so I’ve taken the opportunity to do a 16:8 today, and will have my first meal at midday today.
ODAAT!

Wow. We had an earthquake here this morning. Relatively unheard of in this part of the world so it gave everyone a shakeup. Strongest ever recorded here, but would probably be commonplace in NZ or California. Anyway, it got the day off to an interesting start – and we are still in lockdown – and led to a day of food grazing in my part. Not good! But will be more focused tomorrow.
Good to read everyone’s news. 🌼🌺🌸

Wow Merry hope everyone is ok X
I am now 5lbs from target and starting to think about how to maintain. I could gradually increase calories by 50 a day upping it once a week, to see where my tipping point is or try 5:2 what do people recommend and if so how much to eat or not 😁 on the 5 days?
I ordered size 10 jeans which have arrived today and fit!!!! Snug but new jeans always are till they give (mold to your body)
Wishing everyone well x
Elle

Welcome to Handles and l rockandrolltofu …. glad you found us and hope you will stick around and share your stories. Glad to see others have offered some solid advice, but if you still have questions, shout out and someone will respond.
Glad to see some of our usual contributes joining in again for this week. Merry, scary stuff, hope there wasn’t any damage or injuries. Elle, great news on the jeans. Personally, I have always found it difficult doing the 5:2, as I found I invariably operate on the ‘normal’ days, so for maintenance my preference was to opt for the slow increase of calories.

Currently having a good week, 24 hour fast Monday and approaching 30 hours today …. longest I’ve ever done. If I can hold out to normal evening meal time, it will be 33 hours … wish me luck. But whatever I manage now is a bonus, so not going to stress about it.

Not sure when we’ll see Wendy, as her stresses from Monday have not yet abated, but I know she’ll post as soon as she’s able. I will do an update on the contributors list and post it soon. Keep going everyone … you’ve got this.

As promised, here us the updated contributors list … if I’ve missed anyone, please shout out.
Wendleg /Wendy
SunnyB
Sunshine girl/Denise
Florab85 /Lauren
Onestep
Elle-mae
Orange Panda Momma/Amz
RubyG and hubby
Windyjulz
Antigone
Tulip/Clare
Arcticfox
JGwen
California girl/Julia
Caronl
Merry melba
AlysJ
Stresseatingpro
CurryTruck
Iggyboo
LindaandHubby
Annie W
Handles 
Rockandrolltofu

HI everyone, well done Elle-Mae, nearly there.

Managed 16:8 yesterday but can only do it when my morning bloods are at a reasonable level. 100 this morning so no need to rush to eat. Dont know what is happening here. Yesterday wore a jumper to go out (haircut day) and socks in bed. Today 26 degrees and was sweating in the supermarket. I looked for the Ordinary recommended by someone but cant get it here or on Amazon. However, my hairdresser says it is not as drastic as it looks as I already have very thick hair and a lot of it could be breakage. Cut it about 2 to 3 inches shorter and it feels better. It could be down to keto and low carb but I do get enough protein as I usually snack on roast chicken or ham. Also get plenty of selenium and other good stuff from nuts and olive and lots of veg. Probably just a phase but didnt get a colour and streaks this time.

Got a mammogram tomorrow. One of my most hated medical visits. Big boobs being stretched out on the plate and squashed. Hey ho, it has to be done.

Have a great week.

Hi everyone,

Great the read everyone’s news as always, Melba how awful I hope everyone is ok. Ella how fantastic size 10s! Eugh sunshine mammograms, hope it goes well.

Had a reasonable week, first time ever I wandered off woe on Monday, regretted it Tuesday and back on it, however didn’t put anything on which was good news. Busy and find myself forgetting things so really must get myself more organised, think that was part of my downfall on Monday but we can’t always be spot on all the time so live and learn.

Anyway, hope you all have a good week xx

Thank you, SunnyB! I have a lot of reading and learning to do still. And it’s only been a few days, but I feel like I’m doing well adjusting to the 800 calories. This surprises me as I was averaging about 1800 calories previously.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Thank you for all you well wishes re: the quake. I should have said that no one was injured and very little damage done. It was just the strangeness of it – feeling the shaking which “never” happens in Melbourne. Never say never 😁😁
Glorious Spring day here – the equinox – and beautiful full moon last night.
I hope the mammagram isn’t to excruciating sunshine-girl – I loath them too! If men had to have such a thing I bet they would have invented a more comfortable machine.
Good to see everyone going so well.
And hugs to Wendy – take care of yourself. 🌻🌻🌻

Hi All,

I accidentally blocked BSD emails halfway thru last week so didn’t get any notifications for a while….did think it was unusually quiet 😂😂
I’ve just caught up on last week’s and this week’s news…..
I hope everyone struggling gets some let up soon and there’s been some real deep thinking fabulous advice (SG, Amz and others)…Lauren, hope your work lets up soon! And Wendy, hope things settle for you too.

Mmmmm, well, I am still really struggling with sticking to it and that is reflected in very little weight loss….I will continue to do my best! I know I have it in me, but occurrences such as unexpected cake and lack of willpower are sabotaging my good efforts- each day starts well!! I think also I am tired and busy which is a definite danger zone for me……. Sooooo, I really want to give today a good low cal effort! Breakfast was good, sensible lunch planned… .casserole leftovers from yesterday….so, no random snacks required!!!! All advice welcome.
Love to all, Tulip1 xxxxx

Sunshine girl – here’s the link to the french The Ordinary
https://deciem.com/en-fr/theordinary/mas-rdn-multi-peptide-serum-for-hair-density.html
https://deciem.com/en-fr/theordinary/mas-rdn-100pct-plant-derived-hemi-squalane.html
https://deciem.com/en-fr/theordinary/mas-rdn-serum-foundation-eu.html?dwvar_mas-rdn-serum-foundation-eu_size=30ml&quantity=1

Hubbys hair seems to be growing faster. I just cut it today & I can see SO many baby hairs starting to grow. He doesn’t get another B12 injection until mid October. I still love the serum foundation. Goes on easily & quickly with fingers & it just makes your skin feel good & at the price it’s a steal. I used to use Lancome primarily BUT always bought in the US. I have NO idea of what shade I need in the UK & every time I’ve gone to the only shop that sells Lancome within 15 miles the Lancome girl is never there, apparently no-one else can give me a sample or try shades out on me. The serum is not too heavy & you can use a few shades. It also makes your skin feel & look good.

Hello. Amz here. Yesterday i read everyone’s posts bit i wasn’t feeling well so i never got around to checking in myself. Today, i already know I’ll probably be off plan. My daughter and i are going to a botanical garden to walk around and then after that I’m taking her to an Asian ice parlor that just opened. I plan to fast until we pop over to the dessert place. Depending on how I’m feeling, I’ll have a sensible dinner when i get home or if my stomach is hurting, I’ll fast til the following day.

Hi all,
Four days away at my father-in-law’s in the NE.
He was very anxious about what to feed us! We sorted out our own breakfasts (‘chopped up pear with cottage cheese and chopped mixed nuts’ twice and ‘grilled mushroom, tomatoes and poached eggs’ once) and told him to cook as usual but no potatoes for us. Worked a treat.
Back home now and got on the scales to find another 2.5kg gone!! I’m really pleased with that. In old money I’ve gone from 13.5 stone to 12.5. In less than 3 weeks.
Don’t think I’ve craved anything particular either. Well, maybe a beer once or twice!!

Will be interesting to see what scales say on Monday which is three weeks from start.
Keep at it. You can do it.
CurryTruck

I looked at the RENPHO scales too. Then Amazon kindly suggested a set by KAMTRONSS which look pretty much identical (bar the branding) and they are £12.99.
I’ve ordered the cheaper set!
They use the same phone app so my guess is the internals are the same.
I’ll report back in a week or so but tbh that’s not going to say much more than ‘they work’.

That sounds like a bargain CurryTruck. Hope they work for you. The app is fairly straight forward.
I’m on day 6 now any yesterday was the toughest yet. I felt cold, shaky, brain fog and stomach pains. Probably went over by about 100Kcal by adding extra blue Stilton to my omelet (wow it tasted good). Anyway first weigh in today and I have lost just over 2kg this week which is good but the smart scales are saying half a kilo of that is muscle loss (not so good) and bone mass is also dropping a bit which is a little concerning. Think I am going to have to up my resistance exercise.
The strawberry shake arrived today so I will be trying that for breakfast tomorrow. I’m not expecting to like it.
Have a great weekend all.

hello – i did wonder where my email notifications were from you all! I’ve been off forum only because GPsent me to A&E on 14/9/21 due to ight chest and have been dealing with that for a few weeks, Is anyone doing 16/8 intermittent fasting? I’m still on it and now have lost 18lbs I have been listening to Michael’s 15 min podcast ‘just one thing’ I listen with my son and he is more inclined to take some advice from Michael such as video games are good!, eat dark chocolate but also exercise snacking. Hope you all have a great weekend xxx

I have just had my GP on the phone with my blood test results. HbA1c is down from 71 in early June to 48, cholesterol is down from 5.8 to 4.6 and LDL is 2.6. She also wants to cut my stations by half from 80 mg to 40 mg. Think I shall dance about the room. Sciatica pain allowing 😁😁😁

Statins not stations lol

Enjoy the dancing Elle-Mae!! Fantastic results for you. So rewarding. Dance dance dance 💃💃💃

Elle-Mae,
Wow!! Those results 😀
x

Hi All, question- did any of you alter your diet in any way when you were getting vaccinated? As in, increased calories or anything to keep energy up? This afternoon I am getting my covid booster (already double vaccinated and 2nd shot was 6m+ ago) plus the flu jab…..The last 2 times I had the covid jab I was really rough the following day (dizzy and puking etc) and could just about manage something like crackers and cheese by about midday as gives me a lot of nausea……sooo, just wondering, any advice on what to eat today or tomorrow? xxx

Morning everyone. Just finished my favourite meal of the week – Sunday brunch. Today it was grilled mushrooms, bacon, black pudding, fried egg and canned tomatoes and I allow myself the smallest amount of bread which is the size of a cracker and made with quinoa and flax seeds, so no wheat.

Shammy, I havent seen the MM podcasts – do you pay for them – where do you find them.

Linda, thanks for the link. I wont be buying the product as it says in all the reviews that it gives the ‘appearance’ of thicker hair and doesnt actually cause regrowth. Thanks again as I would have tried it were it not for the fact that having quite a chunch cut off my hair has almost stopped the loss. Maybe it was dead and broken hairs coming out rather than actual loss from the scalp. My hairdresser told me to take the hair from the brush and wind it into as small a ball as possible. Do that everytime I brush and line them up next to each other to see if it is more or less. Well, I did it when I washed my hair the other day but not had any to wind up since. Going to wash again today (keeping it to twice a week) and see how that goes.

Elle-mae, I am joining you dancing around. That is what I do every time I get great results. You are doing fantastic. 80mg was an extremely high dose of statins and 40 is obviously better. You will be fine.

Tulip1, I cant think of there being any connection between calories and vaccinations. I have had 2 jabs so far with no effects although I know some people can be a bit under the weather. I have my booster tomorrow and wont be changing my diet. If you are feeling unwell then of course you have to look after yourself and if it is something like nausea there can be no harm with a cracker although the cheese wont help. Have you tried ginger tea, it is very good for nausea and you can make your own with either a lump of fresh ginger or some powdered sort.

All quiet here in SW France. The pool is pretty cold and I very much doubt I will be going in again this year. Might start going to the local pool, at least it is heated and they do a morning session for the over 60’s so not packed with kids or fit people – although some of the oldies are fit too. Just under 2 weeks to our trip and I am keeping my weight at the same level. Hope for a further kilo down but not putting on any pressure.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great week. New week, new start new goals.

thanks SG…..
worst is passed now (the jab always makes me fluey, nauseous, then I am sick, and it’s better after that)….but it also makes me really fatigued and weak for a couple of days and generally not able to exercise for a week. Can’t help feel it’s just the way my body reacts to covid (flu jab is fine) as when I had it March- April 2020 it was just awful; I was thankful to just about stay out of hospital. 1st 3 weeks were the worst but it was 3 months before I felt properly well and able to start exercising again.
Just thought more cals might help when the body is fighting infection, but really no basis for that 🤷‍♀️

xx

Tulip if you are really feeling so bad then having a bit of what you fancy (as they used to say) will help you feel better although. Not sure if you are saying the jab made you so ill or that you actually had covid. On both counts you should not be having a booster. Did you tell anyone about this (doctor). Anyway, glad you are feeling better and over the worst.

no, no…..the jabs (3 now with the booster) made me ill for a couple of days and then just a bit under the weather for a week (which falls under a normal immune response so is fine)-

yes, I meant that I had covid way back before the vaccinations, that was what took so long to recover from…..so, I think it’s a bug I don’t react well to….I am super pro-vaccination to avoid that again!!! Sorry for the confusion.

xxx

I’m quite well now, altho still on more inhalers than pre-covid (the bug, not the vaccine), but my eldest, who is 16, is really debilitated with long covid unfortunately xx

Hi All,

Hope you are all well…
Sooooo….I need to reboot (again!!)….I tried to be mostly good in a BSD way, but essentially I am not losing weight consistently (I think because I am not being consistent with the WOE). In fact, the weight is slowly increasing. So, I need to be proper BSD 800 cals per day, the full whatnot, I think for at least 2 weeks to get things going before even considering 5:2 or anything like that….well, I was reading a couple of articles by MM that came up on my news feed, and that’s what he was saying, but I reckon the BSD book says 3 weeks to start with so I think that would be better…
Tulip xxx

Hi all, Just popping in to say hugs to Wendy, and hope the source of stress is abating.

My reboot has been very patchy so far – really good on the wine front, with no alcohol in three weeks. Not that I was drinking very much, but it was becoming an evening feature that I can do without. I need to do a lot better on the carbs front, and portion control and reduce the snacking on dark chocolate and nuts. So I shall have a better go in the coming week. JGwen will you join me?? We started together so maybe we can finish too…..

Good luck with the house sale, s-g, your place looks very tempting! After our recent foray to France, we are already planning the next trip. Love to all and best wishes for the new week.

Hi everyone, had a little blip over the weekend. The problem was my BG has dropped so low I have had to increase what I eat and my body isnt used to it so just a couple of hundred extra calories seem to make a difference. Anyway, had a bit of an episode at lunchtime. Funny thing is I was actually eating and I just knew something was wrong. I felt fazed out like I wasnt there and had pins and needles in my fingers. I did a blood test which was drastically low and hubby almost forced me to have a liqueur chocolate from my Christmas stash – yes I still have chocolate from Christmas. I am going to have to reduce insulin quite a bit or cut out one of my other meds.

Phone call from hospital this morning cancelling our booster jabs. Reschedules for Wednesday so not too bad.

Thank you for the comment on my house. I know we wont get anything like this in the UK but we are going back for family reasons and will have to accept a downsize. We would have to do it some time just because of our age although I dont feel old, hubby says he does. Will be looking at houses when we are over next month for a couple of weeks. So many friends on Facebook are telling us not to do it and watching the UK news we are wondering what the hell we are doing. We may change our minds when we get over and see for ourselves. Hey ho. More stress.

Have a good week everyone.

To be honest, my weekend was horrible, food wise. I’m not sure what got in to me. I just felt crappy since Friday night and took the lazy way of eating what’s there instead of getting up to cook myself.
Today I’m planning a fast to recharge my enthusiasm and remind myself what hunger feels like. Tomorrow, when i make my meals, I’ll put a portion in the freezer to keep for days when my pain is worse than usual.
The scale showed a 5 lb jump from Thursday’s weight, but slowly and steadily i know it will continue down if i continue my efforts.

Thanks everyone . Just to reassure you , I am ok . This issue is impacting me indirectly as I strive to help a friend find a suitable outcome for his son and doors are closing . This is causing immense stress on a 14 year old which came to ahead this weekend . I can’t say more than that but I am aware it is all consuming and I do need to stand back a bit . I just don’t know how !!

So I didn’ t even have time to read the thread last week but I will try to remedy that this week . I actually feel bad not being around to respond quickly to queries but I am eternally grateful to Sunny and Sunshine girl who step in so generously .

So I am off to set up the new thread right now xx