Hello everyone, I’m sorry I’ve been poor at keeping up, I had a blip a couple of weeks ago and consequently put back on a couple of pounds. My usual habit when this happens is to back off from showing anyone my weakness. However I got back on track after a few days and although I’m still ( just) stuck in the 13stones (13st 1lb) I know that I can stick to this. 13 st was exactly the time I fell off the wagon last year and that time I relapsed completely so I’m really pleased that I managed to stop the slide and get back on. However long it takes to shed the 2nd half of the amount I need to loose, I’ll get there, I know that now.

I’m doing OK, was tempted by emotional eating yesterday but decided to put my energy in cooking a chickpea and vegetable tagine instead. It was wonderful and we’ll have it with fish tonight. In addition to daily walks, I’m doing 20 minutes of upper body weight training 3-4 times a week, followed by pilates, and it’s really paying off in terms of my body shape. Highly recommend doing this if you don’t do it already.

Puddy, I’m no stranger to ups and downs in my weight and I’ve tracked my weight on and off on Myfitnesspal over the last 6 years. It’s hard to see how much weight I gained (and sometimes lost) over time, feeling a mix of shame and guilt. What I do is search for photos of myself when I was at a lower weight. It’s very motivating, actually, much better than shaming yourself by focusing on what you were like at your higher/highest weight.

Another thing is that I tried a 16-hour fasting window today. I ate quite late to manage this properly (only 19.30) so this morning was a stretch. I don’t think it’s for me, so I’ll stick with 12-14 hours, and 2-3 meals a day. I think it’s useful to experiment a bit to see what works for you (or doesn’t!). The section in the Fast800 book where Michael Mosley explains why eating late isn’t recommended made a big impression on me and that’s what I’ve been able to keep up.

Something I’ve been thinking about: Am I right that the protein recommendation (is it 60 grams?) is grams of protein, not grams of e.g meat?

Zuzuvela on the fasting, a lot of people have really good results with it, but its not for everyone. I have an eating disorder which makes fasting a big no and I do fine without it. Having said that I eat dinner quite early (I have small children), around 5.30 – 6.30 so I quite often end up ‘fasting’ for up to 15 hours anyway.

Hi All
I’m back, although probably briefly, lockdown has been a huge amount of work and my time is ever short. Good to see everyone keeping on. Keep going, it really is worth it in the end. If it is too hard at the moment, don’t beat yourself up, we all have our demons.

I thought I would share my story so far, pics included if you can stomach it :). At Christmas I had a BMI of 29 and heading upwards, I felt my eating was out of control and was feeling low about it, and worried about the future. My kids were beginning to worry about my weight, which is never a good thing. I re-read the BSD book (I ran a mile the first time I read it, 800 calories a day….) and decided to give it a go. As those of you who were here at the start of the year know, I used the forum as motivation and support, and I will be ever grateful. Over the course of 8 weeks, I got my BMI down to 24 for a family wedding. Then the lockdown happened and my nice routine was completely broken, I wasn’t able to get the foods to keep on with the WOE and feed the family, so ended up eating a lot more carbs than I was. Thankfully, due to the nice weather, I have managed to do a huge amount of cycling, but even so over the following two months I put on a couple of kilos. When I hit a BMI of 25 I didn’t panic, but did manage to get access to the right foods again and used what I had learned to return back to where I was in March in a week and a half. I still have some way to go to hit my overall target, but I am happy to take the long view and will keep on, keeping on.

My wife found a photo from my daughter’s birthday in December, and we were all amazed at the change. So I chopped it together with another photo from last week (I happen to be wearing the same T-shirt), along with a weekly chart of my weight over the last 5/6 months. Hopefully it provides motivation for someone, if they are wondering if this way of eating works, or results are not happening as quickly as you would like. Here you go: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wqDc2z34DeERLGsT8
*Don’t judge the background, we’re in lockdown and waiting for builders to restart 🙂

Thank you everyone that helped, and I’ll try to drop in now and again.

It seems like everyone has had a testing week, well done for sticking in and making it through. I can relate to everyone’s stories.
I’ve stuck to good BSD friendly food but have been 100-200 calories over all week so relieved and pleased to have lost 1lb today taking me to a full 1st loss since I started on 21 April. It’s actually motivated me to bash on and sort myself out to have a strong week this week. I just need to make it through Saturday night family dinner without too much booze and loss of determination. It’s all planned and if I can stick to the plan I’ll be about 950 calories for Saturday which is better than average. I’ve done a wee 4K run and a 4K walk home in preparation. Away to ride a horse or two as well.

It’s definitely hard to keep motivation up and to keep optimistic every day, we will, I guess, all have down days where we feel hard done to for not being able to eat freely and be slim. Some folk can, life is not fair, but I’m starting to accept that, I just have some sad days where it’s tough.

I quite like a 16hr fast and find it helps control calories too. But I can see it’s not for everyone, and it’s especially hard if you are a creature of habit and used to breakfast – there’s no way my hubby would do it.

I think there are great principles in this way of eating but we do just need to find what works for us as individuals.
This week I have learned that I just need to stick to food routines and not get to adventurous with looking at recipes – it makes me hungry and focus on food all day which makes me sad. I need to plan, know what’s coming and when, and then just forget about food and get on with life. Otherwise I obsess.

Just sharing and thinking out loud in case it help others…. and it’s certainly therapeutic from my end.
Have a great weekend.

Hi PhoenixBurns, Thank you for the motivating post. You must have been so pleased to see the difference in the two photos.

Britta, the FatSecret measurement of mince looks about right. I use SparkPeople, who give 150g of minced beef as 338 cals, 24g fat and 30g protein. No doubt water makes up most of the rest of it.

Puddy, good for you in getting back on the wagon. You can do it! It is worth remembering to take measurements too, so that if the scales don’t move, you can still be reassured of progress.

Wendleg, I hope you are still managing to cope with the complications of distance/mixed teaching. A hell of a way to round off your career! Wishing you lots of energy and perseverance. C

Hi everyone. Welcome to our newcomers! Definitely a good idea to get rid of all the non-BSD friendly temptations before starting in earnest.

I’m maintaining, though discarded another pound this week, so happy enough with that. I have been really fed up over the last week, after remaining pretty positive throughout lockdown. Only natural to be tested by all the uncertainty, I think. And for me, feeling quite isolated is taking a bit of a toll. However, one thing I am feeling good about is this way of eating. It really does feel natural, and even easy, at this point and I am grateful every day for feeling healthier for it! Most importantly I’m not turning to food for comfort at the moment.

On the fasting topic, I can happily go dinner to dinner, but haven’t tried any longer. I would like to give it a go as and when life is more rewardingly busy as it was BC. At least one tasty meal is too much of a pleasure and source of happy anticipation to miss for me at the moment!

Britta, I think exact weight of protein depends on your target weight, if you’re going into detail. But yes, it will be the protein, not the weight of the meat, otherwise you wouldn’t be accounting for the fat and water weight involved.

Best wishes to everyone.

hello all and hope you’re having a great weekend
and also hope that those struggling with lockdown, especially with kids at home, get a break soon!-and Puddy well done for jumping back in!
Our house back onto a walking track and it’s amazing how many people are out walking and cycling during isolation (I have to admit that I frequently miss my quieter, almost solo walks!!)
We are just back from a 2.5 walk up the mountain though (and before anything other than two cups of tea) so a good start to our Sunday-
…and small NSV! I got out my down jackets yesterday as the weather cools and both are zipping up markedly easier!

zuzuvela your chickpea and veg dish tagine sounds wonderful….I have a few standard tagine recipes and absolutely love them!
However, my partner who works in health is keen to try a proper ketogenic diet so I may be going without my beloved legumes for a few weeks! -it will be interesting to see how I can manage that amount of fat under 800 calories!-reports coming!

Hi everyone!
I don’t know what’s happened over the last week and a half, I’m feeling increasingly more and more depressed (I live alone). My eating is all over the place, sometimes easy and sometimes challenging. My appetite is all over the place. I’m not even sure how many calories I’ve really been having as since I downloaded the Fatsecret app yesterday I had no idea how wrong the calorie counts are in Michael Mosley’s books. I am quite outraged!
I really want this WOE to work for me but it feels chaotic and I don’t feel like I can trust myself. I have been having severe cravings for chocolate brownies for 2 days since I saw someone eating them on a sit com. The power of TV….
I have to go shopping today and my child minding shifts resume tomorrow, these times are when I am most vulnerable. I don’t want to undo the work I’ve put in so far. I’m thinking I will do 2 strict 800 days this week and double up for the other 5 in the hope that I can realign myself.
Exercise is difficult, every time I go for a walk the wound on my foot weeps and gets sore.
I’m very demotivated, I don’t want to work on my allotment which is not helped by the fact that the ground has baked solid without any much needed rain. It’s on a private site attached to our houses and my neighbours have decided that they’re not happy with my friend coming to help due to the virus. Which is easy for them to say as they have husbands and children to help them. Yes, I am feeling a little bitter about this!
Well, that is me right now, open and honest and trying not to be apologetic about it!!
Love reading all your posts, as always.
Have a good day and keep up the good work, 🌹🍏

… ok, been thinking! In the 4 week period where I have been focusing on my WOE, I have
1. Stopped eating sugar, pasta, rice, potatoes, starchy vegetables, too much fruit etc.
2. I have lost 10 pounds.
3. I drink 2 litres of water a day.
4. I have drunk hot beverages without milk.
5. I have only had 2 major carby snaxidents!
6. I have planned meals and shopped accordingly.
7. I have joined a forum.
8. I have improved my health.
9.I have renovate someone else’s allotment.
10. I have maintained my recovery from drug addiction.
Etc etc. 🌹🍏

Hi RosyA. Another big virtual hug coming your way. I mentioned yesterday that I am struggling a bit (well a lot) at the moment too with feeling down and I’m extremely demotivated for pretty much everything. But I know we, and anyone else in our boat, will come out the other side if we are kind to ourselves and work through the challenges. I’m so sorry about your neighbours inventing their own seemingly unreasonable extra rules about the allotment. They must be incredibly fearful. Natural to feel some resentment. I’m sure many, many of us who live alone are now really starting to struggle with the feelings of isolation, however stoic we have been for a couple of months

If your foot is still weeping at this point, would you consider giving your GP surgery a ring? If it’s not healing well you don’t want to end up with an infection. I had to go to the GP last week and apart from Covid screening questions over the phone and some extra hoops to jump through it was a completely normal experience and they stressed how pleased they were for people to ask for help as normal. Physical discomfort drags us down like emotional discomfort does.

Now you have FatSecret, the power is in your hands! It really doesn’t matter at all whether you’ve been bang on the calories and macros up until now because the changes you’ve made have been working for you! Progress, not perfection. Try to keep the basic principles in mind – no chaos there. Most of us can’t trust ourselves to eat on instinct- that’s what has brought us all here.

RosyA, i’m not sure what you mean about doubling up on the other 5 days? Are you thinking in terms of the 5:2? Nothing wrong with that at all, but perhaps be really clear with yourself about what approach you are going to follow so you don’t end up tricking yourself into bending the rules and then feeling disappointed. The battle for all of us is with ourselves, not the WOE. You have done so very well so far and we’re with you all the way! I promise the brownie cravings will subside.

Hi Rosy just to echo everything Bryla has said and hope that things look up for both of you very soon.

Just a quick post to say that a friend mentioned on another forum the chocolate beetroot brownies in the Fast 800 recipe book and says they are delicious. I’ve not tried them but here’s the recipe if you want to give them a try? May help the cravings!

https://thefast800.com/chocolate-beetroot-brownies/

Bryla, thanks for your reply, I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling also.
You’re right, my neighbours are fearful 😦
As for my foot, it is healing slowly, it’s just when I walk any distance that it opens up, the wound is partially in the crease under my little toe. I will be vigilant and call the doctor if it doesn’t improve in a day or two.
I’m going to do the 5:2 this week and buy myself some time and give myself a break as I already have meals and shopping list planned. I would like to do the 800cal WOE from next week as I want to see better results. I’ve just found it all a bit confusing what with the calorie counts being out in the books. I’m going to do some more research. Any tips gratefully received.
I’d be interested in what kinds of things you are all eating. 😊
Dreamscometrue, thanks! I’ve had a look at the recipe and I shall look forward to making it sometime when I can share the brownies with others!
Lotsa love 🌹🍏

It seems many of us are currently struggling on various fronts – isolation, BSD, motivation, low mood etc. I too hit a bit of a brick wall yesterday …. feeling physically under par, very low mood, no motivation and complete disinterest in everything. Glad to say physically feeling better this morning and mentally/emotionally in a better headspace too.

We really do need to be gentle with ourselves right now. When I was reading you first post Rosy, I wanted to hug you and tell you to breathe. Then I read your second post with all your recent achievements and was happy to see you had done just that …. taken a few moments to review and acknowledge how far you’ve come. Would love you to post that list on the Positives thread, it is just the sort of thing we should all be reading and emulating.

With regard to chocolate brownies, here’s a link to a chocolate cake recipe made with beans instead of flour, which I posted on the BSD site many moons ago. Thought I’d flag it as the end result is quite dence, not as fudgy as brownies, but not a bad substitute. Please be aware that the cal/carb calculation might not be bang on though.
https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/chocolate-and-bean-cake/

To anyone struggling, please hang in there, come and share or vent here if it helps and someone will do their best to offer some support.

We will all come through this, we just need to accept not everything is on our control and there will be days when we find coping a really tough ask. All we can do is our best, remembering why we are on the BSD path and then do whatever we are able to copy with each day.

EC – congrats on your NSV… they are all worth celebrating.

Wendleg, I loved your post from September 2019, your list “what I have learnt ” I have written my own version of some, well most of those on the list to inspire me! 🌹🍏

Hi all,
Was great to see your list of positives Rosy.
I had a bad day of eating yesterday, starting with a piece of toast in the morning, and ending with rhubarb crumble in the evening. It is that time of the month and I was in such a bad mood all day – my poor family!
But I didn’t go completely overboard, had just a little.
The mantra I keep coming back to is “how can I make this sustainable in the long run?”. It’s not like I’m never going to be tempted by toast and crumble again in my life. I don’t like the thought that anything is forbidden – I want to be in control to sometimes say yes, but mostly say no to the temptations.
If I have cravings a also try to up the fat content of what I eat, and closely monitor the carbs. Usually this helps.
Take care all!

Oh Rosyapple, hang on in there, I really feel for you but very heartened that you found all your achievements yourself. You have made a massive lifestyle change and you are doing amazingly.
I’ve been struggling too. Planned and made a 3 course dinner last night, slightly over calories but all good BSD friendly food. Hoped not to drink but (its not an excuse) my 84yo dad really enjoys when we have a drink with him, I even considered pretending I had gin in my soda but ended up having a few proper ones. Result was after a filling dinner and doing the horses for the night I came back in craving salty snax and promptly eat far too many Pringles. I need to find a way round this next Saturday.
Anyway, I’m over it, it’s done and I am hoping I can really get myself together this week and smash it.
I’ve got some of the Fast800 shakes and I like them with frozen berries and crushed ice so my plan is to have that for lunch and a salad for dinner until next Saturday. The controlled portions, lack of decision making, lack of need to look up recipes (and therefore see and imagine so many ‘nice’ temptations) really helps me. I know shakes aren’t the way for life but for now it keeps me on track. So I’m going back to that – last week was far more varied and I was over calories, hungry, anxious and sad for it.
The fight is an internal one…. as said above – we need to conquer ourselves. It’s hard.
You are not on your own, wish we could help more than offer words, you’ve done great. Stay here, stay honest and you will get there.
Take care.

Interesting to hear your thoughts about fasting! We had a slow start today so it happened to be another 16 hours. I’m quite happy with my weight loss so far but I might try to build in longer windows up to 16 whenever it’s practical. The evidence for this is convincing.

EC – I’m not counting my carbs at the moment, but according to Myfitnesspal they’re under control, so I include oats, beans and lentils in my diet at the moment – not every day though! I think you can easily make the tagine without chickpeas. I added a shallot, garlic, a carrot, red pepper, fennel and mushrooms.

RosyA – I think it’s helpful to start with 5:2 to get used to portion sizes and the types of meals/recipes you can eat, moving to 800 calories when you’re ready. I also thought I would mix and match (5 days on, 2 days off), but I find it easier to stick with 12 weeks on 800 calories. In my case my appetite and sense of fullness have really reduced, which makes it easier to stick with it.

Hi everyone ! It really would be so much easier if I was going into school.Right now I feel like I never really switch off ..oh well.
Yes, caronl, it really is a strange way to end my teaching career !

It’s reassuring as Sunny says to see that the thread basically takes care of itself when I am less available , and never loses momentum. Thank you everyone.

Phoenixburns ! Good to see you posting and yes, I fully understand you are very busy right now ! I hope teachers are grateful !! Your photo is a great testament to your determination. The difference is obvious ! Well done and please check in when you can .
I like the idea of posting photos occasionally too !! Taking the long view is defiinitely a good plan !

There seems to be a theme of general lockdown lassitude right now and that is absolutely normal. It’s tough not being able to have the freedom to live our lives as we would wish and being ‘all over the place’ is understandable. Don’t be too hard on yourselves, folks.

Very wise words, Bryla …the battle is with ourselves , not this WOE.I totally agree and that is what we have to tackle.It definitely is easier some days than others .Well done for staying determined and I do hope your mood lifts this week..

So yes Rosy, hang on in there, trust yourself, believe that you will find a routine that works for you and stay with us ! I am slightly concerned you might get a bit confused changing your approach before the end of your 8 weeks but I do understand you have to find a routine you can manage right now and 5 :2 worked well for you in the past I do hope the foot injury gets sorted . I am glad my September post was helpful. You will be soon be adding to your own list , ( lots of victories there by the way !!) To be honest I doubt I will add anything more in September 2020 .

That leads me to Olive’s mantra about how to make this woe sustainanble in the long run. You are absolutely right …you should not feel that any food is ‘forbidden’ but rather that you can readily choose not to eat it. That is having control. It does happen. You are not depriving yourself and resisting temptations, you would just rather eat something else. I honestly believe the longer you go without high carb foods, the less palatable they become. I think if I had ‘allowed’ more carbs in the early stages it would have taken me much longer to be free of them as the cravings are persistent and tenacious.

You will get there too Julz and if the shakes help you in the short term, then why not ?
It’s been said before but we do have to find a strategy that works best for us and not get too despondent if we have a more difficult week. These are unsettling times and it’s no mean feat to be addressing weight and radically changing eating habits as well as all the other things we have to juggle !!

There is so much good advice being shared , so much encouragement and so we will just keep going !

EC I bet that mountain walk was wonderful.I will always remember the spectacular views !! You live in a truly beautiful place.

So..tomorrow is a new day !! Ready for a new week, fresh start for some, but that’s ok !!!

I saw that Greengal posted on the Positives Thread about fermenting so I thought I would just reply quickly before I turn in.
I am no way an expert. It took me a while to get started as I initially thought fermenting would be difficult and involve expensive equipment.
It really doesn’t. I would recommend reading ‘Fermenting Vegetables’ by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey. This book is THE reference and was first recommended by Esnecca and she knows what she is talking about !
I have to adapt the US measurements ( gallons, quarts etc !!) but the book is really practical.It clearly explains the various stages of fermentation with lots of pictures and takes the fear out of it !
What I really appreciate too is that the book is organised alphabetically by each vegetable so it is easy to find a recipe accordng to the veg you have available.
So far I have made
Sauerkraut with white and red cabbage
Lemon and mint sauerkraut
Carrot with ginger
Carrot with carway seeds
A South American curtido with cabbage, carrot, onion, chili and oregano
My next one will be Fennel Kraut with white cabbage and a Lemon Dill Kraut.
I have only used 2 veg at any one time with a couple of spices and I haven’t tried kimchi yet.
Lockdown has turned me into a Forager and a Fermenter !!!

Hi Everyone ,I’m back to start again.I’m a serial restarter. I’m not sure when I fell of the wagon but this time was more of a jump than a ‘fall’ .Like a lot of others ,lock down, gym closures and all things corona have led to a very serious increase in my weight and my pre diabetes markers are up, my clothes are uncomfortable, ‘Im not working which is good as my uniform wont fit. Yesterday I weighed in at my all time heaviest 92.3kg .My first successful BSD was 3 years ago when I made it to 80.2Kg.
I live in Perth, West Australia and we are very lucky to have no community transmission of the virus.Mostly because we are a long way from most places and we had early border controls .Community is reopening with “physical distance’ rules.schools are open now waiting for the gym to open. I saw a TV program about ” the new normal” and how we need to take the best from this recent time and create a new way of living . So, I’m locked in again, as a major storm is raging outside.Planning my new normal starting with getting back on track with healthy eating. First big challenge NOT MORE BREAD.I did not eat bread for 2 years and now I’m really addicted again so I’m expecting carb flu. I have decided to remove all emotion from eating, its just fuel for the body. There is no need to enjoy eating that will be a bonus.All eating must be at the table no more couch snacking.Drink more water.hopefully by setting 3 things to change each week I will see steady progress.I hope everyone is safe and well

Morning all 🌞
I’ve lost another pound, that’s 11 in 4 weeks feeling my way through! I’m trying a couple of days strictly 800cal to get a better feel for it. I am a bit all over the place with it but meal times are fairly regularly spaced. I’m going to plan for next week a true 800cal 7 days now I’ve got the hang of the calorie thing. It’s taken a while but I am still pleased with the results so far.
Thanks for your words of wisdom and kindness.
Have a great day everyone 🌹🍏

Oh fab, well done Rosyapple! You’ve done really well, there is so much learning to be done, go you!!

Welcome back Butterlover (I say that like I’m an old timer – I’m new – 5 weeks in!) but whoop for you getting back in the game and sounding positively determined!

Having had a naughty Saturday night but a good day yesterday I thought i would stand on the scales this morning – I shouldnt have, its annoyed me – 1lbs up from saturday – but thats maybe the kick i need to get it together over the weekend! If i hadnt have had a dring or 4 on saturday night i could have been down another pound instead of up 2……and it means im going to have to work hard to see a discard come saturday for my weekly weigh in – Motivation is go!

Have a good monday everyone

Morning everyone

I weighed myself this morning. I decided that once a week would be the best for me. After last weeks disappointment I got right back on track as so was extremely disappointed to see that the scales had gone up by another 4lb this morning. I had little cry in the shower! I seem to be torturing myself week in and week out and things just are not working for me at the moment. I am goIng to have a think about things and what i can do differently. I am grateful for my health and am going to look at the positives in my life and put my increasing weight on the back burner for a little while. I had hoped to see at least a 2lb loss this week as I have been ridiculously strict! Maybe the lentil gratin I made for my tea last night weighed 4lb! I am so disappointed! I didn’t even have my Friday night G&T this week! My husband was SHOCKED when I told him I’d put on 4lb. He has seen my intake this week for himself as we are both at home together now.

I know from reading the thread that others have struggled this week but some have been fortunate enough to have had a loss. We are in strange times and maybe the stress of lockdown is affecting us more than we think. I know that stress affects our cortisol levels. Anyway, I know I’ve not cheated. I had soup for lunch yesterday and my husband had crusty bread with his and I had none!!

Good luck for the week ahead everyone.

Hi Rosyapple,

With your foot can I suggest that you try soaking you foot in a solution of cider vinegar to help with the healing process. – It can be a weak solution 1 cup to a gallon is the normal ratio I use when soaking a horses hoof. – Cider vinegar changes the PH so the bad bacteria are not able to thrive, but unlike a lot of other wound creams it doesn’t harm any healthy cells.

Its a great trick to enable wounds to heal as quickly as possible especially when they are in a difficult location.

Cathy – my heart ached reading your obvious upset at your scales result today. Big hugs to you 🤗🤗 Please, take a deep breath and let’s look at this calmly.
Firstly, it is likely that if your carbs were up yesterday (lentil gratin) they are probably hanging on to some water, accounting at least in part to the shock reading this morning. Also as you know, weight will fluctuate day to day for a miriade of reasons and by quite some margin too, so it might just be that a number of those reason have conspired, resulting in this undesired reading on what happens to be your weekly weigh-in day.
Secondly, you KNOW you can do this AND that it works. And also that there are unexpected blips along the way, which sneak up on us. What’s important is not to allow them to bury us.

My advice is to dust yourself off, take stock and perhaps double check daily carb levels, hydration etc. Maybe try doing a little meditation to help with the stress levels too.

Please don’t give up though, eating healthily is more important now than even and this WOE provides us with just that.

Finally I have EVERY confidence you can do this Cathy. Give yourself a day or two to regroup, to find those positives and your reasons why for continuing and we’ll be right here when you’re ready.

Another close encounter with emotional eating yesterday. The only thing I had was a big bowl of dressed salad, so I ate all of that… Not too bad after all. I grew up in a northwest European country but my parents were always into Mediterranean and French food. We had a bowl of salad after dinner (French style!) every day and I loved and even craved this as a child. We also regularly had grated carrot salad and coleslaw with a vinaigrette (without mayonnaise). I think I need to get some inspiration from my youth, clearly!

After all that Pilates, I decided to see if I could do a plank. I managed 30 seconds, which seems to be a great start and I’ll try to do this regularly.

First ten days back on BSD has been OK – took me a few days to get down to 800 calories – now between 750-850 daily over the last week, and I’ve lost 2.5kg.
I’ve started intermittent fasting, the first time I’ve tried it.
I’m actually finding that surprisingly easy – in some ways it helps, as it stops me snacking in the evening. (Slip up last night with a square of dark chocolate at midnight, but works most of the time!)
Also drinking daily glass of lemon juice with ginger – now down to NO added stevia to sweeten it now..
Big hurdle will be shopping less – quite a lot of waste this week.

Wow PhoenixBurns – what an amazing difference in six months – very inspiring!

Zuzu – well done for avoiding emotional eating and those salads sound yummy. Don’t worry about that square of dark chocolate, was only a very small transgression and won’t impact I’m sure.
Frog – good to see you posting again and congrats on results so far. Seems you are focused and making great progress. It can be easy to over shop, so maybe a little menu planning would help.
Keep on keeping on folks….

Hi ClarinetCathy,
Please keep going! I really do feel for you, I know exactly the feeling when the scales tell you a different story than you expect. Very demotivating.
SunnyB has already given some good advice. I would also think it is the lentils from last night + some retained water may be behind it. You may see a difference tomorrow already.
Did you take your measurements? Sometimes the cm go before the kg.
Have you thought about changing the day you get yourself weighed? Monday is also my official weighing day, and I often find that there is a small blipp after the weekend. My best day would be Friday morning, as I find it a lot easier to keep focused during the week.
This may sound silly, but do you need to change batteries in your scales? I’ve seen over the years that mine starts to be inaccurate when the batteries are going down.
Big virtual hugs! 🤗

Wendy has been away from home today and asked that I start the next weekly thread off, which I have just done. We really hope you will all be joining us there, otherwise it’s going to get really lonely!

Hi CC,

Sorry to hear of your upsetting reading. – I have noticed that the atmosphere in my bathroom effects the reading on the scales. – For example if its raining outside, or if the shower is running and I step on the scales just before getting into the shower it reads higher than it does on a dry day, and no shower.

Remember domestic scales are just based on the movement of a metal strip, there are lots of reasons that they can give different readings.

I came across this YouTube video the other day which has set me thinking. and I may try a few. – I tried for a few months to buy one off plan item a week, as part of seeing if I could move towards maintenance. Its not working, and I have had to go strict again to discard the gains made. I have come to the conclusion that I am still IR. 🙁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwdEcbZ0-zI&t=560s&fbclid=IwAR00rQHTm6mehd_Ruu5kNYQpcwbDvywnFsBOsAwQz2LLEJbII98CGa1t-nQ

Hey CC,
Oh I really feel for you.. there’s nothing worse than trying your hardest and the scales registering nothing let alone going in the opposite direction. Hang in there though.. as others have mentioned there may be another explanation..
Although others on the forum have so much more experience and tips to share about this WOE and as to the whys and wherefore’s. All I can do is add a bit of ‘’hang in there, you got this, good ole encouragement to keep going”.
I am a bit of a one for quotes and reading self-help books about positive thinking as way to combat the negative feelings that come along with unexpected problems or perceived failures. I have the type of personality where if I come across a bump/ diversion in the road and it gets tough I start to self-defeat…but I have realised that so many times I have been SO CLOSE….
“Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” Napoleon Hill
Over the next few days your body may kick into action, reset and shed those pounds or water and you can continue forward on your journey.. keep going Cathy we are all routing for you, especially as you sacrificed your weekly G&T… that’s real commitment! GreenGal 🥦

Rosy Apple! So nice to hear about the good result.. a real ray of sunshine! 🌞
Hello Butterlover, I am a serial re-starter too, but winners never quit right, we just keep on getting up dusting ourselves off and starting again.. looking forward to reading your posts and achieving some goals together!
Hi Frog, nice job on the intermittent fasting, it suits me too and as I am also trying to start again on this WOE it is helping me keep the carbs/cals down to the right levels. Nice to have you here!
Wendleg, thanks for the tips on the fermenting and the time taken to reply. All your recipes sound good especially the curtido..I am looking forward to starting a batch of something tasty this week. Will keep you posted on how it goes.. thanks so much! Onwards and across to the new thread…🥦🥦🥦