I’m going to set this up and hope I have time to contribute a bit more . I have had to digest a few disappointments . My parcel did not arrive in time for my son’s 30th birthday yesterday but the family sent lots of video messages and we were able to catch up on Whatsapp video messaging too . It’s been an emotional time for sure but lots of people are struggling and we just have to stay positive , despite the knock backs .

I am sorry I have not been replying individually as I like to do but wishing you all a positive week and sending hugs to anyone stuck in lockdown ( again )
I know you are in good hands and Sunny and SG are absolute gems . Thank you so much for keeping the thread going with your characteristic good sense and empathy . I will check and update the list of contributors before I send it .
Take good care everyone xx
Wendy xx

Glad to have you taking the lead on our weekly thread again, Wendy… and thank you for looking at updating the contributors list.
I know everyone will be pleased to have you around again, so hope you’ll be popping in when you can during the coming week. We have lots of regular posters though, who keep the weekly thread lively and relevant, so I hope they’ll be joining us for another week.
Happy to say that I’ve made a little progress during the past week, so am the closest to my target weight that I’ve been since last September. Not counting chickens, but am hoping to build on that in the coming week.
Finally, quick call out to people who haven’t posted for awhile, we’d love to have you back. And if you are new but hesitant about posting, just jump in … you’ll get a warm welcome … we’re always glad to have newcomers join our merry band. Anyway, looking forward to sharing another week with our BSD friends, so please, get posting!

RubyG and hubby are still here 🙂
We attended a wedding over the weekend, available food was not BSD friendly, but we limited the damage by avoiding some options and eating small portions of others. Sunday we kept really low carb, and had a good low carb and 800cal yesterday, and the scales have shown a small gain of less than 1lb for us both (from Friday’s weight), so we are OK with that.
The rest of the week should go to plan, there is nothing currently on the horizon to derail that.
Keep on keeping on everyone and here’s to a good week!

Just checked last week’s thread and I have added ellie666 to the list . Welcome Elllie !

wendleg, Sunny B, sunshine girl
JGwen
sixturkeys
Starina
Verano
ADD6605 ( Dawn)
Riccoh
Russianroulade
Tulip1 ( Clare)
Mifoz
MerryMelba
Maryanne Carlos-Mascarenhas
WindyJulz
articfox
Olive1
lauraknits
Marsie (Marilyn)
EllieAllegra
EC:Erin
Hello66
Jordana
Alipetunia/Alison
RubyG and hubby
Ditchedthemet
Dizzychicken
SlinkyTinks
LonelyAdipose
Emzijw
Barefoot girl
Life Diet
allicat1A ( Allie, formerly alliecat !)
RedRooster
nhatha3432
sprox
skittle
Daisybean
workingfromthe fridge
Bombalone
PSL68
ScottM
florobo85/Lauren
Tamara1
MillieMoo/Claire
SummerTwinkles/ Summer
Sheila Canning
JustKeepFasting
Bryla
kiltgirl
Deb2003
Donnadoobie
HappiR
WilLuck
PaulaZ
Faithlyn67
Onetowatch
nicnocgee
Smead01 ( Samantha)
Goforgoal
Britta
Mokovex
DebOflo
Riverrock
HopefulinOz/Donna
Quetzal
Onnipinoy
Magicbean
Pashasmum
avisamuelgrey
scotsgirl57
Annamarieboo
peanutbutty
erinmc82
Kat2020
xx1flump1xx
Ncij678
LizzieTOFI
Jeremy Fisher
Green and White
Garmmcns
Chrissybabe63
Reuby19
Elle-Mae
Bissell
Puddingtoast
Steph2
Antigone
LifeUniverseEverything
ellie666

Some really great , inspiring successes being recorded. Well done everyone .

I consider it a victory that I no longer turn to food when s**t happens . In the past I would have probably stuffed my face and my emotions with ‘comforting’ carbs, any doughy , sugary processed rubbish . There has definitely been a massive mind shift and I know that turning to sugar really is not the solution and will ultimately make me feel a lot worse .

As it’s high summer here we have loads of courgettes, aubergines, green beans, salads etc and I love all that . Trying to mix things up a bit to plan more exciting recipes with this abundant summer produce.
I am still including a weekly fast which tends to run from Sunday dinner to Tuesday lunch and I honestly manage that without any huge sensations of hunger . I still have to keep an eye on the snacking ( nuts, cheese, seeds) as I know I can kid myself that my snacks are ‘healthy’ so OK . I am resisting changing that mind set .
I admit to finding a little Vinted bargain for a bit of retail therapy though !

It’s not as intensely hot here at the moment and as all our visitors have had to cancel because of quarantine requirements on return to the UK ( what a mess!!!) , we are looking to have a few days away in France when it’s quieter. When I was working I always dreamed of going away in September . The weather is still good but places are nowhere near as busy . Dare not look any further afield at the moment .

Quetzal I spent my first year abroad as a languages student in Rennes, Brittany and I loved it .

I hope those who have been absent for a while are coping ? Thinking of Lauren and Clare . HopefulinOz, I hope you are managing lockdown there with all the challenges of kids, work etc and look forward to seeing you back here .
I always wonder how EC /Erin is too , in Tasmania .
Merry, thanks for the wave ! How are you doing ?

I am going to be as positive as I can that we can all come through this mess . I struggle a bit at times when we seem to be taking a step backwards My neighbour told me yesterday that her little granddaughter had been tested positive for Covid after a raging temperature, head aches etc. She is only 5 ! She is better now after a rough few days and a very worrying time for the parents .
If anyone has any interesting recipes with courgettes, let me know . I often do a low carb gratin, a tray of roasted Mediterranean veg and yesterday made a massive pot of courgette soup. It goes really creamy when it is blended .
Take care everyone and all the very best for this week .Just do your best xx

Something I forgot to mention . I love sparkling water, Badoit, Perrier, San Pellegrino etc but that’s a lot of plastic bottles . I invested in a Soda stream and even though the bottles are not that big and need refilling regularly, I think it’s a good alternative . At this time of year there is a lot of thyme, rosemary, lemon balm / verbena in the garden so I make up a jug with lots of sprigs and a bit of lemon, lime ang ginger .

Hi all,
Thought i would say hi, i do tend to hover a lot on here but just haven’t posted in a while.
So I’m back following the principles of this WOE after a bit of a health scare earlier in the year. Liver was starting to struggle with my diet, being overweight and drinking too much during lockdown. The battle has commenced, my liver function is now back to normal and I have cut down on both food and drink.
This weekend I took a long weekend off work, I was meant to be in Rome but that has been delayed so I just enjoyed a couple of days of nice food and wine with my family but I am now really feeling it after following this again for a while and frankly I didn’t even really fancy my lunch and I just feel so sluggish!!

I am 39, 5ft 3, I was 15stone 6 back in October and lost a few lbs simply by doing sober for October!! I then stayed at around 15st 1 for a long time. I am now 13st13 as of this morning, a couple of lbs up after the weekend but that will soon go i’m sure…! I am now a size 16 where some of my clothes had become a size 20 so I am really pleased with how it’s going. I am looking forward to the next few weeks and feeling the benefit of this WOE, especially after a weekend off!!

Hope everyone is ok and having a good week so far. Nice to see some names that i recognise from a few years ago when i was introduced to this WOE.

Fish for tea tonight – yummy!

Sending hugs,
Rebecca xxx

Hi all,
Apologies if I’m posting this on the wrong place. This is my third attempt at fast 800- it did work before but I just couldn’t stick to it. Does anyone have any tips for sticking to the diet? Eg would cheat days help to add a bit of variety?
I put on a good couple of stone in lockdown 😔 really want to shift it!!

Hi all, I might be a bit quiet this week as I am feeling quite down due to not being where I am supposed to be today. That is England with my daughter and our 2 grandsons. I know a lot of people are missing family and we will get to see them eventually, just not this week.

Welcome to all and new, get on here and lets hear from you – all welcome.

Buffylover, hi there and welcome back. Glad you have your liver problems under control. I am sure you know the low carb aspect of this diet is great for digestive problems and I too have regained liver health even though I wasnt drinking. Certain foods can cause non alcoholic liver problems but we are not told about these. Once I started on the diet my cholesterol and triglicerides went back into the normal range, both an indication of how the liver is working. Keep going.

Stilltrying, you have done this before and it worked so you are right to come back here. I dont know how cheat days are going to help. If you are going low carb a carb cheat will make you feel terrible, bloated etc and when you try to get back into it you will suffer the withdrawal you usually get when you give up carbs. I was never bored or felt deprived by the food plan as I ate such a variety of meals and kept it really interesting. Do you have one of the recipe books. What are you eating now, what do you miss. Chat with us so we can get to know you and help out where we can.

Im sure more of you will be along soon and can give your experiences too.

Sending you big hugs sunshine-girl, not seen my son for 2 years and daughter for 18 months they are both in England.

BuffyLover, welcome back and congrats on those great results … very impressive. I’m sure that small gain will melt away now you are back on track. Please keep us posted on progress.
Stilltrying, this is absolutely the right place to be, glad to have you with us. SG is right, cheat days really aren’t helpful, as they confuse the body and stop it getting in to fat burning mode, which is the aim of the game on BSD. Perhaps think about flavours that you like and look to include them in your menus. Make herbs and spices your friends, as they add so much variety and interest. My fav spice mix at the moment is equal parts ground tellycherry black pepper, ground cardamom and ground mace …. great on meats, nuts, cauliflower (especially when roasting) etc …. and that is just one example.
SG, it’s hard not being able to see loved ones and to have expected get togethers thwarted, must feel better unfair. Take things gently, make you your priority and don’t worry about us here …. we’ll be here when you feel able to post.

Thank you Sunshine girl and Sunny B. I know deep down cheat days wont work, but can’t say im not missing my carbs!! I eat a lot of fish but it’s getting very samey…I think a lot of it is emotional with me. On a weekend I’m just so tempted to treat myself with nandos and a bottle of wine😔. I have the first fast 800 book, cooked a few recipes but I’m not great in the kitchen tbh and not keen on many of the ingredients eg peppers etc.

Like you Stilltrying, I don’t eat peppers as they repeat on me, so just swap things around and leave out the stuff you don’t like and substitute if you can. Like I said, use herbs and spices to keep things varied, today you could have fish with a pesto dressing, tomorrow with a dusting of italian herbs or a tarragon. My policy since embarking on this WoE, has always been to keep things simple, most evenings dinner is prepped and cooked in little more than 30mins, but I look to keep the flavours interesting.
Once you get the carb monster into a box, things will be much easier.

Hi everyone,
I’m back for another week. I am really trying to give it a good go, as diet is so important to preventing progression and complications from lipedema, if that is what I have (and I really believe that it is). Someone on the Advancing into Autumn thread posted a link to Drs. Xand and Chris van Tulleken’s new podcast. Wow, what a wake up moment for me in the episode where they talk to the psychologist. I’ve realized that since my accident in 2018, I have definitely been in victim mode, and that tends to drive my reward eating. I feel like life is being very hard on me and therefore I deserve to overeat and eat junk. I think I have to start challenging that thinking and realizing that eating healthily is a far better reward.
I’m finally on rest days after working on wildfire response. Getting caught up in the garden and on jobs around the property. I am fire-smarting around the house. There are big fires all around us, but luckily none very close at the moment. It is very smoky today and lots of ash falling on everything, but we are safe for now. A military helicopter just flew over my house, and I see the bucket helicopters going to and from one of the fires to the north of me every morning and evening, so lots of people working hard to try and get these fires under control in extremely challenging conditions.
Thanks so much for the courgette ideas, s-g. I tried making the grated courgette pancakes and they were very tasty, and quick as well, which is very important for me right now when I am so busy. I am going to grate some of the extra courgette to freeze to have in the winter. With the extreme drought, we are expecting vegetables to be very expensive this winter, so best to get things into the freezer while we have the chance. I am looking forward to green and purple and wax beans being ready in the next week or so. Those are always nice to freeze as well. Sorry to hear that your plans to visit the U.K. have gone awry once again.
Wendy, good to hear from you. Our case counts have been going up as well since restrictions were lifted on July 1st, and it is very concerning considering how many people we have on evacuation right now, and not able to shelter in their own homes. I don’t have any aubergine’s in my garden yet, but the plants are loving the heat, so hopefully will have some soon as I have 9 plants! I was tying up the tomatoes this morning. I didn’t intend to grow so many tomatoes, but a lot of plants didn’t sell very well in my spring plant sale, so I just ended up planting the extras.
Well, I’m off back outside into the smoke to get another hour or so of work done. I have to wear an N95 respirator so as not to trigger my asthma, and it gets very hot, so best to work in short stints. The one good thing about the smoke is that it is keeping the temperature a bit cooler than it would be otherwise. KOKO everyone.

Afternoon all. I apologise for having been so absent. Between lockdown, schooling the kids from home, and both hubby and I trying to work from home during a very stressful time in our work positions, I haven’t caught up on the forum from last week at all. All is fine (really), but at this point just coming on here to take some big breaths and touch base with everyone.
Wendy – I’m so sorry to hear your parcel didn’t arrive for your sons birthday. I have no doubt that it will be just as meaningful and special to him when it does arrive, and will be something that he treasures always. It sounds to me like he is very lucky to have such a loving Mum.
The past few weeks have been fairly successful for me diet-wise. I am currently weighing in at my lowest weight ever, and with a BMI of 22.8. I still have a kg or 2 to drop to get to my ‘dream weight’, but am feeling really happy with how my body feels and functions at this point. That said, I recently had a bunch of blood tests the doctor recommended as I am at the stage of peri-menopause. Was thrilled to see that blood glucose levels etc all came back as excellent…..except for cholesterol which measured really high. That was quite a shock. I have done more reading since and am satisfied that my ‘Triglycerides to HDL Ratio’ is low, but am still concerned with the higher reading. I am eating really healthily. Has anyone else found this? I do need to do more research (couldn’t believe the doctor was already talking about statins – I know enough to know that I definitely want to avoid those!). I have read “The Cholesterol Myth”, but if anyone has any other suggested readings I would love to hear about them.
I truly hope you are all doing well, and hope to be more active on the forum in the coming weeks xx

HopefulinOz – how fantastic that you’re in the middle of the healthy BMI. Congratulations on that!
With regard to the cholesterol, is it just your LDL that came back high? If so, maybe try not to worry too much about it. If your triglycerides are low and your HDL high, then the risk of high LDL is likely not so bad. The test for LDL does not tell you what type of LDL is causing the high reading, and there is one type that is very bad and one type that is just fine.
I had a gp tell me to clean up my diet once when I was just over the ‘healthy limit’, and when I tried to tell him what I was eating and how it was all healthy, unprocessed, real food, he yelled at me and threatened to put me on statins. I immediately gave him the boot. But it has made me very wary of having my cholesterol checked with other gp’s now. So given that I usually am having other tests done at the same time as when they want to check my cholesterol, and I don’t want them to be distracted from things that could really be wrong, I just cheat the test now. Basically it involves eating nothing but vegetables for several days before I have the blood drawn. Three meals a day, no fasting, and then only fasting 10 hours before the blood is drawn, no more. If you fast for too long before the test it can give you a false high reading as your body starts to mobilize your fat stores for energy, and so of course you will have more LDL circulating under those circumstances. Anyway, that is what I do, and it seems to work. My LDL has been within normal range ever since I started to do this, and the gp’s don’t start panicking and threatening me with statins anymore.

Hi everyone
Buffy and Stilltrying, you are on the list and welcome (back !) I understand about things feeling a bit samey after a while but I think the key is to find simple recipes that work and that means a bit of research ? Check out the dietdoctor website and Melissa Sevigny ( I breathe I’m hungry ) ? Meals don’t have to be complicated but if you are bored you are more likely to grab something unsuitable . I wouldn’t advise cheat days either … can’t see the point really . Maybe make a conscious effort to remove all processed foods as these are the ones that do most damage and muck up your system .
Well done Buffy on tackling that liver issue . Brilliant.
Stilltrying , would it help you to plan ahead, say a week at a time ? Short term goals so you don’t get overwhelmed and discouraged ? I have a notebook which suits me but there are lots of apps if you prefer . Again plan ahead for meals you look forward to ….shout out if you need a few recipe ideas. I am happy with prawns in a stir fry, grilled fish(tuna, salmon) and steamed veg for a quick meal.

Crikey arcticfox, that sounds scary . Take care . I do remember you talking about your accident and it was very traumatic. I think you have been incredible in the way you have dealt with it . I understand your response to want to ‘reward’ yourself after a tough episode . I used to come home after a trying day and a little voice used to tell me I * deserved* that bar of choc (or 3) Sugar would no longer comfort me but it has taken a while to break that insidious addiction . I don’t know much about lipedema but I know you will research it and make sure you do everything you can to manage it .

Oh Elle Mae, SG, we are the MISSING OUR KIDS CLUB and I feel for you. Totally understand about feeling down. I just had to give in to it, have a good cry , let a bit of anger and a lot of sadness out, not doing anything too challenging and accepting finally that I have little control over the situation.
It’s ok to be a bit quiet, SG XX

I am trying to plan things to look forward to, a few days out and a longer stay in a gite or an airbnb later in September . It’s tough but I must stay hopeful . My lovely brother tells me ‘ Don’t let anything take your joy away, that’s your superpower ‘ , bless him xx

Well done on your great results Hopeful ! You are coping really well with all the challenges . I’m glad we can provide a space for a breather . I always knew that even though I needed a bit of time to digest and manage my sadness and disappointments, there would always be a kind, supportive space to come back to on here .

I do remember that high cholesterol was frequently an issue with low carb and like you mine was a bit high despite everything else being fine . My doc was not worried because my triglycerides were fine. No way would I ever consider statins and it has never been mentioned . Yes there are books and I think there are youtube videos too which I must look up .

Here we are, one about improved LDL on low carb

https://youtu.be/HpCY7OhWDJw

This one from David Unwin

https://youtu.be/x3EyZk_wIv4

https://youtu.be/VmcmAM9xEcc

Another video on cholesterol by Dr Eric Westman

Interesting videos Wendleg, I can’t think too much about my high blood pressure, although it has come down from stage 2 hypertension to stage 1 or sometimes elevated and my cholesterol which I was told was too high but not given a number, was put on statins by the hospital after the stroke and not ready to read bad stuff about them yet. I am just concentrating on the diabetes 800 diet and weight loss , another 1lb gone 😁, 11lb in all. Just hope that this will be doing all the other things good🤞.
A course I went on many years ago can’t even remember what it was for but one of the things suggested was to have Magic Moments small things each day that make you happy. For me one of those is when I finally get my breakfast
Due to my back issues I put ice on my back/hip in 3 places for 20 mins on each place every morning before getting up which takes an hour, followed by my physio exercises which result in breakfast not being until 11.30 onwards. Which also results in fasting from dinner the night before around 7-8 pm without having to try very hard.

Hi there, just popping in to say big big hugs to arcticfox, puts my worries into perspective.
Hopefulinoz – my cholesterol story is well documented here and I used to be on very high dose of statins but they did nothing. This diet did it for me without doing anything other than going low carb low cal, never eating low fat artificial foods (I believe them to be the main problem), actually eating full fat but within reason. If I wasnt having bread or potatoes or things I would traditionally put butter on then it was okay to use a bit of butter to cook an omelette. Not allowed too much cheese so it was nice to enjoy the full fat, full taste real thing. I have recently given advice to my husband and brother, both diagnoses with HC. My advice is as previously said, cut out carbs, dont eat anything advertised as low fat and look for foods that are either natural fats like olive oil, rapeseed, butter, cheese etc and include some good fats in the diet like avocado, walnuts, lots of veg etc – just google foods to bring down cholesterol. Within 3 weeks my brother has excellent blood results – he is a gym fanatic and lives in Thailand so was carbing up for his sessions and living on rice and pasta. He now eats boiled eggs (another food we have been lied about) or nuts before a workout. Hubby waited for his 3 month check up and both cholesterol and triglycerides are back in normal range. Hope this helps. Should finally say I dont need statins anymore but take a mini dose as I have lots of other risk factors. My cholesterol was 8.2 and now is 3.7.

So Elle-May hopefully you have read the above, but dont worry about taking the statins, in your case they might be necessary and not just being doled out for no reason as they are in some cases. But be assured you can get your cholesterol down with this diet too.

I said I was going to be quiet but helping out others gives me something to focus on and, not only that, I am too nosey to stay away for long and still read all your posts.

Morning everyone 🙂
Arcticfox, Wendy and Sunshine-girl, thank you so much for your valuable advice and resources offered. I spent last night watching the videos, and then a number of others. My Total cholesterol was 8.0 (Recommendation is less than 5.6). HDL was fine (1.5, recommendation is more than 1), but LDL was seen as problematic at 6.1 when it should be less than 2.5. Triglycerides were good at 0.8 (recommendation is less than 2).
The videos and reading explained that high LDL is quite common on those with a low carb diet – but the particle size is more likely to be large and fluffy, and therefore should not be problematic. People who do low carb often see an increase in LDL and Total Cholesterol, usually a reduction in Triglycerides and increase in HDL. Dr Eric Westman and Prof. Ken Sikaris stated that if the Triglyceride/HDL Ratio is about 1, or if the HDL number is greater than the triglycerides, this is an excellent metabolic situation, so I am feeling a bit more confident about it now. Dr Westman also explained that it isn’t a good idea to test for cholesterol if somebody is in the process of weight loss (again, that’s me). Thank you for all of the food and testing advice also – so much great knowledge and I really appreciate it. My diet has been so clean lately. I have noticed through this journey that my off-plan choices are less and less…..I mostly eat really healthy protein (salmon, chicken, beef, eggs), lots of baby spinach leaves, asparagus, mushrooms, cheese, butter, olive oil and snack on celery if I really need to nibble something. Sometimes I have konjac noodles which are great for filling me up and for added fibre. I haven’t been craving anything sweet lately, and find that I am much more likely to crave one of my on-plan meals. Anyway, enough about me.
Arcticfox, you have certainly been living in some fairly stressful circumstances of late. You amaze me with your strength, resilience and energy levels. My husband grows lots of courgettes as well, and I love to panfry them sliced up with some garlic and butter, and then crumble some nice feta cheese on them just before serving (sometimes pine nuts also). Whenever I have done this at a BBQ or dinner party the plate is cleared very quickly 🙂
Thank you again wonderful friends – how amazing you all are 🙂 xx

Wendleg – I invested in a Sodastream last year and it’s been one of the best things I bought! A little fizzy water, ice, a few drops of angostura bitters and some lemon slices – perfect evening drink. Makes you not miss booze one bit (that said, I do have the diet tonic water syrups in for when I do fancy a gin).

Thanks to all who wished me better last week, I’m feeling much better this week. Monday started with another 2lbs drop and I’m only 1lb away from my next goal (I have lots of little goals to keep me motivated). This is week 5 and it’s definitely starting to feel like just a way of life now, which I think is a good news.

I’m off to get pampered this weekend; hair, nails, the lot. I’ll emerge next week feeling like a new woman.

Morning all (or evening, wherever you are!) Can I ask how people tend to manage the weekends? Eg feel like treating themselves/eating something completely different? I’m finding this easy to stick to Monday- Friday, but come Saturday I feel I need to mark the weekend with a treat of some sort, especially after a stressful week at work. Any advice would be much appreciated !

sunshine-girl thank you for your advice, I won’t worry about the statins, just swallow them 😉 they have to be taken at bedtime, so just go to sleep. On another note the soap in the bed has stopped the leg cramp for both myself and OH how very weird that it works, wonder why. Take care everyone.

Hi all, still around. We have an estate agent coming round tomorrow so that is something else to be sad about. I really am not ready to move back to UK but it is just for a valuation so we know what we would be able to afford if we did move. Although I dont want to move back I was saying to hubby that France doesnt have that same feeling any more. Maybe it is the whole covid situation and not seeing anyone for nearly 2 years – except a quick hi over the gate. To me France was my peaceful place where I felt a l’aise (totally at ease) as soon as we step foot on French land. Not feeling that anymore and sometimes cant even be bothered to go for a swim. What is the point of having a lovely 4 bedroomed villa style house with lots of land and a swimming pool if there is no one to share it with. Oh poor me, I know, but sometimes family mean so much more. If they could just get out here for a couple of weeks so I could get fed up of having them around and glad to get back to my piece and quiet – hey ho. 🙂

Stilltrying – weekends were sent to really annoy us. I dont even go to work any more but I feel like the weekend should be different with maybe a treat. If you read my post on my 5 years BSD Blog you will see that for the first 8 weeks I never waivered from the diet, not one single treat, not one alcoholic drink – nothing. My motivation to improve my health played a big part and it didnt seem worth it to ruin the diet and be back to square one with my health. It might be the same for your weightloss journey. Try to think of the weekend as just 2 more days and treat yourself in non-food (or alcohol in my case) ways. Buy yourself a small treat as you lose the weight, a lipstick or a scarf, just something small. Pig out on BSD friendly foods, buy your favourite expensive food like for me that would be avocados or strawberriies. Remember, unless you are diabetic, this is not forever. The more you cheat the longer this will take and the longer you will have to be fighting the cravings and temptations and feeling deprived. We had a massive celebration on my very first diet day – daughter moved into her own house after leaving her husband – and hubby had champagne in the fridge. I totally refused it as it seemed so stupid to ruin the diet before I had even started. And no, tomorrow never comes so dont keep thinking you can start again properly tomorrow, or the next day or after the weekend or whatever. I know that is a lot to take in but it shows we have been there and know exactly how you are feeling. Give it a few weeks and if you feel you still want a treat then have a very small one but try to get to the end of the 8 weeks first – or whatever your planned diet time is

Elle-Mae, so glad the soap in the bed trick helped – statins can cause cramps. I dont know how it works but it is something about legs being enclosed in bedding and no air and a change to the atmosphere making it static. The soap is supposed to break up the static. If you ask the scientific community they will tell you it works but they have no idea how.

Weight still steady at 74kg – still 1kg lighter than at my last doctors appointment. BG was okay at 85 today but I did try to drop the insulin from 15 to 14 and BG went up to around 106 / 108 for a couple of days so I have put it back up to 15. I am having a meal out on Saturday.

Have a good end of week and weekend everyone.

Thanks for your advice Sunshinegirl, you’re right, it’s not forever. Completely understand your feelings about living in France- I had a stint in Australia and America, but I just missed family and friends so much. I hope your home gets a good evaluation. Must say I’m jealous you have a swimming pool though!

If not for covid we would all want to come and stay with you sunshine-girl. Stilltrying I know how you feel it was very difficult when I first moved to Northern Ireland, every face was a stranger. I have been here 10 years now and got used to it, but have no close friends. You can’t replace the people you have known your whole life. I live in a small village and once I have walked to the end of my road, a matter of 3 houses I am in the countryside, so I am off for my walk up the lane now and hope for no splashes from tractors 😂.

Sounds lovely Elle Mae! I’m in the middle of london so no country walks for me 🙁 Enjoy your walk 🙂

Stilltrying you could go in history walks in London.

Wowsers…soo much going on – I had to make notes!
WENDLEG- missing parcel is annoying but it may still turn up. I’m in Brittany ( about 40mins from Rennes in fact) and sometimes our parcels go astray but arrive eventually. OH received his fathers day card this morning that had been posted in plenty of time! The things I crave wshf are wine and maybe chocolate. When it’s hot I miss icecream!
RUBYG- you have great tenacity and will soon be back on track.
HOPEFUL- It sucks to be in lockdown but, as they say ‘all things must pass’ ( wish my excess kilos knew that!). Here in France they’ve just brought in a ‘health pass’ which will make things difficult for many businesses who will have to turn away customers without a valid pass – after last year, it’s going to be hard.
LUE- I have a sodastream somewhere, I will dig it out. I think its tucked away with my juicer that hasn’t been used in a while!
BUFFY- brilliant achievement. I have stayed the same size from the waist down with all my excess weight on the top half! I had to buy larger tops so I chose simple shapes that I can take in when I am slim ( positive thinking there!)
STILLTRYING- you could maybe make Nando’s work with some tweaking..its chicken after all? I’m with you on the wine though..so tempting!
ARCTICFOX-those fires must be scary. Good you can keep busy in the garden – we just cut our first aubergine of the season. Our sweet potatoes have gone crazy this year – do you grow them?
ELLEMAI-I like your late breakfast/fast routine..i shall try something similar.
SG- Iam defo MISSING MY KIDS too- but hoping to get a visit before September 🙂 Weve been here 12 years and all the English people we were friends with at the beginning have returned to UK – every one! I do understand but the lifestyle here is so lovely.
I learn so much from your posts – I bought the ‘What Makes Us Sick’ book that someone mentioned and that was amazing! Type 3 diabetes..who knew!
Good luck everyone..its only the bloomin’ weekend again!

Hi everyone,
Had a bit of a hard day today. I’m tired from work, and also the smoke is starting to get to me, so I just felt like I was dragging all day. No energy at all, and now I’m getting a bit headachy. We do have 5mm of rain in the forecast for tomorrow though. If it materializes, it may be enough to slightly clear some of the smoke. For anyone interested, you can see our fires on this webpage:
https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:2021-07-31..2021-08-01,2021-07-31;@-118.8,50.3,7z
I’m pretty close to the centre of that ring of fire.
Anyway, I’m even more overrun with courgette than I was before, so still trying new ways of preparing it. HopefulinOz – I tried your method of garlic and butter with feta cheese. It was good and definitely worth trying again. Tonight I grated a couple of smaller ones, and then fried them in a pan with some olive oil until they were fairly dry and then added some eggs in a sort of frittata style and had a bit of chevre on top. I think that one is worth doing again as well.
Antigone – I want to try sweet potatoes. We have the heat here in summer to grow them, but our season is very short. I want to try some of the short season varieties that have been developed for our climate, but it is very difficult to get the slips. There is one supplier in North Carolina, but they can’t ship them out west until June or they risk getting frozen in transport. I may order a few for next year though. I have toyed with the idea of starting a sweet potato nursery where I produce the slips for this region. That would help create a more local industry. I need to have at least a large polytunnel to do it, if not a greenhouse, so definitely something that would need some planning.
Anyway, I need a bit of an early night. I have fencing to get done tomorrow as well as getting a start on cleaning over 200 bulbs of garlic that I harvested a couple of weeks ago and has been curing in my shed.

ARCTICFOX-I looked at the fire map..is it worse than usual this year? I believe it’s a regular thing in Oz but looks like a massive area. I like your sweet potato idea – sounds like a winner. We are having our first runner beans for lunch which is very exciting lol! Having fresh garden veg is very helpful with the plan dont you think? Bon courage 🙂

Antigone – this will probably be our worst fire year on record. We’ve already had over 5000 square kilometres burn, and we’re only halfway through the fire season. Due to the extreme drought that we’re in, the fire season could be extended too. Our air quality is among the worst in the world right now. Just to the south of me, people are being evacuated tonight due to an absolute beast of a fire that jumped the fire guards last night. It is getting frighteningly close to town. We’ve already lost one whole small town this fire season to a different fire further to the west. Luckily we’ve had some fire crews from Mexico and Australia arrive in the last week, so that should help. The smoke is so thick that the planes and helicopters can’t fly to drop water on the fires though.
Anyway, it definitely does help to have a garden. This is my first year with anything larger than some pots on a balcony and it is going reasonably well. Today I harvested beetroot and took it over to my parents place and we pickled it. I have some pickling cucumbers that are starting to be of a harvestable size, so we may make dill pickles next weekend. The green beans are coming along now too. I will put some of those in the freezer. Veg will likely be very expensive here this winter because of the drought, so good to get as much preserved for winter as we can, while we can. I would like to start some winter veg too because last winter I managed to keep them going all through the winter in my polytunnel, even through -20 C. I don’t think it is worth starting them though until I know if we are going to get rain so that they will stay watered while they are establishing.

I was a little unwell at the end of this week so allowed myself carbs for 2 days. And the weight piled on! 2.5lbs in total. I suspect most of this is just water gain, and this does show me that really, ignoring water I’ve only lost 4.5lbs of fat, which is a bit depressing after 10 weeks! I’m sure the scales will be favourable this week as the water leaves my body so that’s something to look forward to even if it’s not real weight loss.

And I did start exercising again, as promised. 2 runs this week. Glad to have got back to that.

—————
Summary
—————
Weeks 1-3: A bit of a false start – one good week and 2 bad and lost 1lb overall
Weeks 4-6: Started intermittent fasting. Difficult at first with a lot of brain fog. Limited weight loss of just 1lb. Total loss: 2lbs
Weeks 7-9: Added low carb to 2-3 fasts each week. Much better progress and lost a further 5lbs. Total loss: 7lbs
Week 10: 2 fast days, but 2 days of high carb (while ill) caused a weight gain of 2.5lbs. Total loss: 4.5lbs.

Hello all
My name is Lynda I live in sussex in U.K. I would like to join your group if that’s ok 😊I have done the 800 sugar diet about 3 years ago and had great success also tried the fast 800 but with lockdown I have put all my weight back on and some more!!!😢 I feel I have to try again as. Feel horrible in myself cannot find anything to fit and I am getting really depressed I joined a gym yesterday mainly to do aqua fit 3 times a week as I hate gym also tai chi which helped me last time I live by the sea so have no excuse will try and walk more each day I feel if I can have support from this group it will keep me going !!! I love cooking and have all the recipe books for the 800
Look forward to hearing from you all
Thankyou Lynda xx😊

Hi All,
(Wendy thank you for the shout out)- I have been absent due to mental health issues (ended up off sick from work for a week) and then a holiday week….Wendy, SG, I feel for you with all those cancelled plans! Well done for focussing on the positives.

I have literally just read the start of this thread and need to head off to work now, so will read the rest later.

I did relax the WOE somewhat on holiday as we were doing lots of hiking, using a lot of energy, so went for quick and easy, so aiming to be stricter now I am back.

Love to all,
Clare xx.

Welcome Nokie/Lynda …. good to have you aboard. A new weekly thread will kick off this evening, so look out for that one and jump in. Seems like you have the exercise sorted, now you just need a bit of focus of the food front. You know what needs to happen, but shout out for advice and support as needed.
Jeremy, don’t stress, that small gain will soon be despatched again.
Tulip, sorry you have has some mental health issues and glad you have had a holiday, but good to see you back posting. Will look forward to seeing more from you in due course.
Arcticfox, sounds like a nightmare situation, but pleased your garden is being productive and giving you some rewards.
I’m mid-way through a week with youngest granddaughter and focus has not been on my WoE, consequently small blip up on scales AGAIN, but not stressing ….. I’m confident I can achieve my goal with a little more focus, oncevtime is my own again.
Hoe you’ve all had a good weekend and are ready to tackle a new week on the BSD.

Hi everyone, back for another week (and the new thread tomorrow). I had the weekend off plan with some wine and a wonderful meal out. They served mini rolls with meal but the funny thing is the only carbs in the appetizer, started and main were some small circle discs of celeriac. Obviously the dessert was sweet but mainly fruit based – pineapple, mango and passionfruit – so not exactly on plan. While we were out eating our daughter and family were having a big birthday bash for her finance’s 40th (wish I knew how to do accents). We should have been there but maybe another time and we got to face time with some of the guests and my brother.

Welcome to Nokie, you should be okay as you know the diet from your past attempt. SunnyB, I so envy you spending time with your granddaughter. My boys are growing so fast at 13 and 15, the 15 year old has a little beard and looks like Shaggy from Scoobie Doo and they are both getting so tall. I am missing all of this.

We had the estate agent round and had a valuation which was smack bang on what I said it would be worth. Hubby has now got cold feet and is refusing to put it on the market. Says we have to go back to UK first to have a look around but it wont change anything. We are in a position where we can go back and live with our daughter while we look at our own pace, so not rushed to get something straight away. Neither of us want to move back. England is a foreign country to us now but Im not sure if I want to spend another lonely winter here, Covid has changed everything. I think it was Antigone saying most of the friends she made have gone back to the UK – well it is the same here.

Mustnt dwell on it as it just makes me sad. See you all on next weeks thread and I will try to cheer up by then.

Welcome Nokie.
Sunshine-girl whereabouts in the UK will you be looking to move to? Had a little giggle at your discription of your 15 yr old.
Tulip hope you are starting to feel better. Antigone and Articfox keep safe with the 🔥. Your gardening sounds great.
I have lost another 1lb, waist down another inch and BMI 25.5. Have just booked going to visit my daughter in September, 1st time seeing her since before she got married about a year ago and will see her new house.

Thankyou all for your good wishes this sounds like a great forum I am glad I found you all😊
I have one question 🙋‍♀️ I have the 800 fast shakes which are 239 calories with almond milk as a meal replacement
I had these when i did the fast 800 loved them!!
Just wondering if I can have this for breakfast or lunch still??
Take care everyone
Lv Lynda xx😘

Nokie/Lynda …. how you want to use your calories is entirely your decision and should suit your lifestyle. I know some people use shakes in the early stages, as it helps them manage their intake and others as they are ideal for a ‘grab and go’ meal. However there is much to be said for using real food on this WoE, as it teaches us to recognise what appropriate/proper portion sizes look like and which are the best foods for sating hunger, maintaining a feeling of fullness and of course nutrition.

Thankyou Sunny b

I agree with you I think 🤔 I will use them if I get stuck any day thanks for your reply
😊lynda

Hi everyone ! New thread time !

Elle-Mae, daughter lives in Solihull near Birmingham. It is very expensive and she wants us within half a mile from her but I cant see our budget stretching to that which is why I want to go back and have plenty of time to look around. Did I get the right name for my grandson, Shaggie – I mean the tall, gangly lad in Scoobie Doo.

Nokia, that sounds like a sensible approach, giving you some flexibility. Hope to see you on the new thread.
SG, yes, I’m very lucky to be able to spend time with my grandchildren. Can understand you wanting to be closer to your family, but a tough decision to make.

Good morning all
I wondered if anyone u suffering from cramp? Is it because I am having not do many carbs and I am cutting our sugar?? I keep waking up in the night with terrible cramp in my 🦵 leg
I cooked a lovely Thai chicken dish from the recipe book last night my husband really liked it and lunch had the mackerel pate with cucumber delicious 😋
Have a good day all
Lynda x

Hi Lynda,

The new weekly thread has started, with 3rd Aug in the title.
But to answer your question, muscle cramps are common, and a little salt added to your diet is the usual recommendation.

Glad you’re finding food you like to eat, that’s always a good start!

sunshine-girl yes it’s Shaggy from Scoobie Doo. Hope you can get sorted with house hunting. Nokie try the very weird soap trick. Put a bar of soap near your feet in bed, for some strange reason it stops the night leg cramps. Have been doing it for 2 weeks now successfully. I have loved all of the meals I have tried from the 800 sugar diet book so far, I’m sure that’s why I have found it easy to stick with.

Hello All. This is the start of week 4 for me…I didnt weigh until the end of last week because I didnt feel any lighter ( and I’d had a few slip ups!) BUT I have lost 5k! Very pleased with that..although I dont feel any different at all. I’m having to bake cakes to use up eggs as our hens are going gangbusters atm! But I will not be tempted💪 I haven’t told anyone I’m doing this so you folks are the only ones I can tell!