It’s good to hear from you, Avisa! You may feel that you’re in a motivational stall at the moment, but you are
learning valuable lessons about maintenance. Knowing the number of carbs it is necessary to stay below each
day, is the the essential information we must absorb, and that is different for each one of us 🙂 When you are
ready to resume the Fast800, we are here for you. Glad that you are still reading along with all of us!

Allie

Pasta “Mugshots” had passed me by…Just googled to see how much they cost (out of interest – not to go on my shopping list; 50p a go), and saw one reviewer on Amazon bemoaned the lack of taste, but suggested a quick hack: add “good quality blue cheese or Gruyere…”. Which apparently improves the taste no end. Why said reviewer has not thought about actually cooking some pasta and just adding seasoning and his/her good quality cheese to that is a mystery. Avisamuelgrey, dropping two dress sizes is fantastic – and your goldfish sound beautiful – I agree they are so calming to watch!

Kafin – that’s brilliant that you’ve had 5 good days and have gained control over the binging. I’ve always been surprised at how fast that behaviour resolves for me when I ditch the carbs. Now that I’m wearing a continuous glucose monitor, I do wonder if low blood glucose was actually responsible for precipitating a binge. Likely an emotional eating component as well, but I’m also starting to realize that my emotional issues are easier to manage when there isn’t anything physical wrong.
Scottishgal – like Wendy says, don’t take refuge in the chocolate. It won’t help and will only make things worse in the long run. I speak from experience here! And speaking as someone who lives in a rainy, dismal climate for most of the year as well, ‘Ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!’ Which roughly translates to ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing’. Get on your wellies, raincoat and take an umbrella, and get outside for a walk! You will feel so much better and from what I learned this week, even 10-15min can have a beneficial effect on your blood glucose after a meal. I can sympathize with the weight gain even though you feel like you’re eating well. I finally mustered up the courage to weigh myself and I’ve gained 7kg since December when I last weighed myself, and 12kg more than my lowest weight when I was last on BSD. While I could blame my accident, there is also likely a role played by stress. Very depressing, but we can do this!

Good afternoon all. Kafin sorry it is late but congratulations on your Spanish exam❤️ Definitely something worth celebrating 🥳. Also I am so pleased for you that the five days have been good. I love that even though you have hard things to deal with in your life you still keep on keeping on. You are amazing and I have been shaking my Pom poms with glee for you❤️. I now have my kimchi and will be eating it with halloumi cheese for my supper.

Scottishgal don’t get disheartened my lovely as you are doing all the right things! Your body just needs to catch up. Great news on your BG levels. That is something so monumental hun as we all know what diabetes can do to you. Your healthy and you are in control of the disease, be proud of that my lovely.

Wendy and Allie it warms my heart to see you both posting and dishing out your advice. You have both done and continue to do so well, that is easy to forget that you have both had your battles🤗.

Articfox your persistence on this woe also warms my heart as you to have battles to overcome in your everyday life. Well hun and keep on going.❤️

I have only discarded a pound since my initial 9week 2 and half stone but clothes are looser and I was finally able to get my tweed coat yesterday from Joules and I love it! My OH treated me🤗❤️. I am looking forward to fasting tomorrow as my OH is flying out to Tokyo for a week so I won’t have to worry about feeding him and him giving the ‘your not eating look😱😂😂.

I hope you are all having a great weekend Birdy💞🦜

Birdy, your body might just be a bit stunned by its sudden shrinkage. 1lb is very respectable. JGwen has often put that in context, 3500 cals. Snug or roomy tweed coats are always on trend, I’m sure yours will be soon in the latter so another OH treat to look fwd to. What event is the dress for on 22? I am missing Esnecca. Unique combination of wisdom, humour and kick ass.

Wow – such a lot of activity today, I really like waking up and reading everyon’s posts in bed with Albert lying on my chest and purring. Thank you everyone, I am pleased with the latest accomplishments, long may it continue!
Avisamuelgray – that’s great that you didn’t regain any, sounds like your body has readjusted to it’s new weight and dropping two dress sizes is incredible!
Thanks, Birdy – your supper reminded me about halloumi, so I must get some, that’ll be a nice weekend treat.
Articfox – good for you for having the courage to weigh yourself, that’s always hard for me after I’ve been on a “break” but I find that knowing what it is gives me the determination to keep going. My breath analyzer is also helping with that. Turns out it was’t broken, I just wasn’t in ketosis! But I’ve had a reading of 0.4 so that’s positive and it’s interesting to check during the day. I don’t get any reading when I first wake up, but the pee sticks didn’t either, it seems to be activated by eating (at least for me)
Allie – I think you’re absolutly right about the carbs being the most important. I will get there with the calories too, because I’m not eating more due to hunger, it’s the 2am thing when I’m still awake and can’t sleep so purely mental.
JGwen – that was an interesting article and something to keep in mind once I have the WOE more under control. So much to think about!
Good luck with your test on Monday, Sunshine-girl, sounds like despite the few cocktails, you’re sticking with the low carbs so I bet the results will be good!
Scottishgal – I agree with what everyone has said and yes your bg levels being low is a huge achievement, the rest will follow. Not gorging on chocolate is also a big accomplishment so remind yourself of that. You and I are both going to have another good week, whether the scales show it or not because they will eventually catch up to us! xx

Thank you JGwen for the continued info on body composition and weight! I think this information is incredibly important and gets lost in the emotions that the bathroom scale creates.
A “perfect” number on the scale should not be our goal. There is no perfect number and the BMI targets are averages, not YOUR body’s best weight.
I have been so disheartened by the depression and sadness caused by not reaching “some number” on the scales, it has actually discouraged me from posting because it is too hard to read every day.
I always want to shout out that eating a BSD-friendly diet is doing INCREDIBLE things for your bones, your brain and all your body, even if the weight loss is slow. Just keeping to a low carb (and it doesn’t have to be draconian) WOE is very healthful and the more you do it, the more you will want to do it, as it has a positive feedback loop.
Then you can gently bring the calories down and add in time restricted eating and before you know it, your body is responding.
So please please just keep going back to this WOE, at every single meal just try again. Don’t bring ANY junk into your house, and take a mini-break from the bathroom scales so you can calm down your mind. I really think the mental energy around it all can wear people out.
Artic Fox, I agree, put on safe shoes and a jacket and go outside, no matter what the weather! It’s beautiful out there raining and I should know because it has rained every single day here since I arrived in Bath almost six weeks ago now!
Kafin, your path sounds perfect, just staying low carb and working toward TRE. Muy bueno!!
Avisamuelgrey, good to “see” you back! I love the goldfish idea. I had a beta fish that lived on my kitchen counter for years and years — I used to go get him fresh bugs from outside when they would swarm around the lights at night — he LOVED the fresh food and I think it was why he lived so long! Plus it was sort of mentally rewarding, bringing him fresh moths and mosquitos ha ha!
Scottishgal, your perseverance is phenomenal and I know you are going to crack this — good to hear you will be working less — I think that helps a lot, not being stressed.
Wendleg, I always love your nagging!
Sunshinegirl, great salad idea! Hope Dr. Gorgeous is pleased next week.
Hi to Birdy, you are very sweet to all the posters, thank you, and of course, hello to my countrywoman Allie!
I am finding Bath to be so interesting and because I don’t have a car yet all of my explorations are on foot — I’m actually getting exhausted by so much walking, never knew I could do that but even the grocery store is 20 minutes walk away! Then I have to carry it all back so I do bicep curls with the bags in the way home. I bet folk think I am nuts!

California girl!
What a wonderful chance you have to travel! Thank you for all the great experience you share!

Catherine

Good afternoon all. 6T my discard was not meant to sound as if I was disappointed in it as I am not hun, I know the reason it is just a pound is because I ate and drank all the naughty food whilst in Devon. But thank you for your encouragement🌺.

I am now back in the swing of things and have got my levels back to where they should be and today I have begun a 48 hour fast. So here is to discarding and feeling better.

Essie I love love love Kimchi and I was able to source some real stuff on Amazon and it is made not far from where I live which is a bonus! It is so tasty and spicy and I had it with my supper last night! I sent Wendy a picture and she said it looked like a dogs dinner😂😂. The reason it did is that the halloumi and courgette fritters didn’t work out! I did not know that I was supposed to use flour to help bind them together!!! I wouldn’t have used it even if I did know though as it is not part of our plan! So it did look like a plate of bubble and squeak!! It tasted fab though and that is all that counts😂😂. Just in case our friends across the water do not know what Bubble and squeak is I will tell you. Basically it is all the left over veggies from Sunday roast all mashed up together and then fried and served with cold left over roast meat! Very nice and very British 😂.

CG I am glad to hear from your post that the British weather has not dampened your enthusiasm😉🤗. The Uk is a wonderful place but the weather can leave a lot to be desired😂. I hope you will find in time it is a home away from home. I laughed out loud at your bicep curls! Thank you for that vision!❤️ If you are anything like me you don’t care one bit about those strange looks you were getting! Have you taken a train anywhere new yet? Have you ventured to Bristol or Weston super mare? Hope you are enjoying our Blighty hun and people in Bath are friendly and helpful.

So I can’t remember if this is my 12th or 13th week?? I must check! But I am still loving it and I am still keeping on. Clothes all fit better and I am hoping to start getting rid of the ones that are too big soon. Hope you are all having a great day🤗❤️ Birdy 💞🦜

Hi Birdy! Yes, we’ve been to Salisbury to the cathedral and Bradford on Avon by train. My OH is in Bristol every day for work and I loved Bristol when I was there in March house hunting.
I haven’t been to Weston Sur Mer — so many fun sounding places — do you recommend anything in particular?
The weather has been a bit “mixed” but it’s actually pretty fun, as I am used to bone-dry summers in California.
I’m still just keeping on keeping on as Sunshinegirl always says (I’m just maintaining). I think I’ve lost a bit of weight with all the walking but I don’t measure, just hitch up the pants a few more times during the day.
I’m just sticking to low carb — eating to satiation, avoiding all sugar —
I saw in the Daily Mail yesterday there was a pullout section of new Fast 800 recipes from MM’s new book — some sounded very good!!

Hi CG. I meant to buy the news paper and forgot!😂. Somerset is not too far from you and is lovely, there is cheddar gorge and few stately homes. Weston super mare is a bit of a old fashioned sea side town and I haven’t been there in years. But if you don’t mind a bit of tongue in cheek and pier then it is worth a visit. I am sure it is a lot more run down to when we were kids but it could be fun. I love Bristol. The zoo is good and there is a kite festival there every year which has music and fun fare and other bits and pieces going on. Wiltshire is a nice county but avoid Swindon. When I grew up there it was a nice town and a lot of the railway and trains weee built there many years ago but I went back a couple of years ago and it is a horrible place! It is a shame but there you go. If you and your OH get a chance book a weekend away in the Cotswolds soo many great places to eat out and stay and it is a very pretty place. Lechlade Is lovely to and there is a pub right on the river. Hope this gives you few places to look up and enjoy hun.💞🦜.

Thanks, Californiagirl – your post was so true. I jumped on this morning after my best day yet and no change! But I’m giving myself props for staying on it and thinking of all the good it’s doing inside. Glad you’re enjoying Bath, I still have a bar of soap I bought at the Roman Baths sometime around 1999…it’s probably time to use it

Hi gang, had a rather uneventful day so far. Fasted from 8.30pm, early night with alarm set. Got up, peed in my sample pot and took a quick shower. Out of the door and arrived at the laboratory for blood test and it was closed. Bloody Pentecost, bloody French and their holidays. So I have to do it all again fasting tonight and up bright and early for blood tests tomorrow. You would think I would have lost weight but no, I gained 0.2kg but on the positive side my BG was nearly into hypo levels at 3.2 this morning. Obviously that cant be helped as I have to fast. This is my annual test so it includes absolutely everything, so fasting and urine test. Hey ho, will try again tomorrow. Have a good day everyone.

I am happy to have done a 20 hour fast today (I usually do 16hrs). I probably could have done 24hrs, but decided to have some of the keto bread I’d made, as the kitchen was filled with the lovely baking smell and it was too tempting. I will try for 24 hr fast tomorrow! Reading the book “What the Fast” has inspired me to give it a try. It may be a strategy I can use when I move into maintenance in a month or so. 😊🌼🌺

Hi everyone,
Just popping on for a little bit of a rant. As a person who has had lifelong hypoglycemia, I have received all kinds of dietary advice over the years, some of which appears to have been useful, i.e. include protein and fibre along with carbs at meals. This at least stopped my mum giving me only juice between meals and then I got to have things like an apple with some nuts instead. However, I was also told the usual advice of eating every 2-3 hours to keep my blood sugar up, and nobody ever told me to eat fat as I grew up during the worst of the low fat craze. Now after only 1 week with a continuous glucose monitor, I can actually see that my blood glucose is steadiest when I’m actually not eating anything, and secondly when I’m eating high fat and high fibre foods. So, frozen processed pizza will spike my blood sugar and then cause me problems with my levels for nearly 24 hours after, but homemade pizza with a cauliflower crust barely registers and doesn’t cause any problems after. Dark chocolate with hazelnuts does not spike my levels either. But a single banana will send things soaring and crashing, and even if I eat it with other BSD friendly foods like eggs and cheese it won’t cause much of an uplift, but it still results in a crash. Things that are high fat will moderate the upward spikes, but things that are lower fat but high in protein don’t seem to have much of a moderating effect.
So this has been quite the educational week. It has become clear to me that eating all day long like I was taught only causes me to swing wildly from highs to lows all day long. Whereas eating fewer meals and keeping to things that don’t spike my blood sugar at meals seems to be the way to go. Just so frustrated that I was given the wrong advice for so many years. It may have prevented extreme hypos, but it wasn’t solving the spikes that were causing the hypos in the first place!!! No wonder I’ve struggled so much with maintaining a healthy weight for so long. I was looking up some current advice online about reactive hypoglycemia and annoyingly all the sites I looked at are still providing the same advice. We can only hope that dieticians and the medical community starts to catch up with what we now know and that they stop giving out advice that is going to harm people in the long run.

Uggh, how frustrating, Sunshine! We will all be waiting for your results!

Hi foxy lady, I had been controlling my BG for years at around 5.0 but with doing a lot of exercise in the afternoons I was having very low readings (around 4.0 which I thought was too low then) and asked to see a nutritionist to help me cure the stuff my face with jam sandwiches reaction to low BG. How was I to lose weight if I got my BG down and then ate to bring it back up. Unfortunately, she gave me a diet sheet which included a carb food at every meal plus 2 carb snacks a day. Said I wouldn’t get the hypos as my BG would remain steady. She should have said it would go sky high so no chance of a hypo. I said I would give it 3 months and in that time my HbA1c went from 5.2 to 8.2 and my weight increased by around 5kg, which I am still trying to shift. Around the end of the 3 months I had an appointment with my doctor and showed him the diet sheet and he was appalled – said even he couldn’t eat that much. So many nights crying over readings of 190 and not knowing what I was doing wrong. Then I discovered this diet and besides a few ups and downs my HbA1c runs between 5.8 and 6.4. God bless Dr.M.

Allie, yes I am a bit p””””ed off as I have to fast again from 8.30 pm and worse than that, I have to get up at 7.30 am. It will be over tomorrow.

Sorry folks , today has flown by and I have neglected the forum . My reports are all prepared , yippeee !!! Just have the late meetings to face this Week ! Birdy will once again be setting up the new weekly thread, thank you lovely Birdy !

Oh SG I couldn’t possibly join you in berating the French for their bank holidays 😉 . Here we have to ring the lab for an appointment so that would have avoided an unnecessary trip . Sorry you will have to go through it again tomorrow. I am sure all will be well . I will think of you as I get up at 5.30am 😉 😉

Totally agree with you articfox! We have been misled and manipulated for so long by the so called medical experts and nutritionists and it is continuing…hence my rant about Mugshots and other monstrosities recently .We have to continue to spread the BSD word !!
Kafin, continue choosing food that makes you feel good and don’t worry about the scales . Lots of love to you and Albert today as he begins his treatment.All will be well.

Well done on your fast and being so close to maintenance MerryMelba !
Glad you are enjoying your new life in the Uk , Julia ( California Girl) ! Talking about the weather is a national pastime as I am sure you have discovered 🙂

Six T ..do I see you lighting up again ????? I am missing Essie too !

Lots of love everyone

Good evening everyone I hope you have had a good. Sorry I am so late posting today, I have had a poorly boy at home with and two lots of dog walking.

Kafin my heart is with you and Albert and I am sure this will sort him out and you will soon have your boy back and in tip top condition🥰🥰🥰🥰

SG sorry you were unable to get to the doctors today, I am always forgetting bank holidays and what upheaval they can cause. Good luck tomorrow and I look forward to hearing your results.

Articfox I completely agree with you and I am hoping as we all are that the medical profession catch up soon.

Merrymelba well done your fast they do get easier the longer we do them! So I have been told🤣❤️

As Wendy mentioned I will be setting up this weeks thread in a bit so I hope to see you all over there.

I miss Essie too. Nice to see Allie popping up though.

For me this week has ended in a real high!🥰. I have managed my longest fast so far which I ended tonight at 7pm and it had lasted 46hrs! If you had told me on the 1st of April that I would be doing that long I would have laughed in your face🤣🤣. This WOE has been so good for me and I enjoy knowing that I am now finally in control of my eating! I just need to get my brother to stick to it. I think he needs extra help in the form of therapy as I think his addiction to food is at a dependent level and is as real as anorexia and alcoholism. I will keep gently encouraging him and hopefully when he sees my results he will see that it works. I think I may have over eaten tonight! But not excessively, I had a 130g of asparagus with 80g of mushrooms and a piece of steak that weighed 108g. I also added 2 tablespoons of kimchi to my plate as I am still trying to get my gut back to normal after my antibiotics. So my friends I am going to start the new weekly thread. See you over there. Birdy💞🦜

Thanks Wendy and Birdy – Albert cried all the way there even though we held hands. He will be fine and much better for it afterwards. SG – sorry for the wasted morning and the early start (I often have early conference calls that get cancelled at the last minute and it makes me so mad!) but it’s an extra day to good things for yourself! Great job on the fasts, ladies xxx

Ahem, I am not the only smoker on here, so don’t know why I deserve a special shout out about lighting up! At least I don’t melt my keyboard in my nicotine enthusiasm….Arcticfox (or Foxy Lady – that is great!) and SG, that is so frustrating, but in many ways you are in the vanguard of a possible re-think in the medical world. I was listening to a piece on the radio the other day; medical students have on average a grand total of 9 hours’ learning dedicated to nutrition in all their years of study. Birdy, your supper (after such a long fast – frankly I don’t think I could do that; MM like you I usually do 16-8; stretching beyond that is an aspiration) sounds delicious and very restrained! I had a late (not 16-8!)meal of baby sprouts, sliced and pan fried in butter, with lardons, bit of Dijon mustard and the remaining sour cream left over from the mini cheesecake recipe. Really scrumptious. Kafin, hope all is well! And everyone else!

6turkeys, Wendy never says anything without great affection behind it. She’s not making an example out of you. She scolds me
all the time, and she has sent me actual books to help me stop smoking! Those of us who have been here a long time
recognize the love in her heart. I would hope that you would recognize it as the gentle teasing that it is. Personally, I’m very
touched that she cares so much about each of us! I hope that you can view it as such, rather than a reprimand of some
sort. We tease each other relentlessly, and it always brings joy to my day! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Life without laughter would be a grim
place! I’m called upon to laugh at myself routinely, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! My laptop mishaps are legendary 🙂

Allie, I hope Wendy (notwithstanding her lengthy sojourn in France) will have recognised the English irony! The opening “ahem” was a big pointer/emphasiser to it being a light hearted comment.. because no one starts a serious sentence with “ahem” (a play/pastiche on a fake “sniffy” position). And “sniffy” doesn’t mean hayfever….Gosh, how to explain…?

Oooh dear what have I started as I sit here at 5.40 am typing this to you ( gentle teasing of SG who has to get up at 7.30 😉 😉 )
All the very best for your blood test SG.I am sure the lab will be open and functioning normally today and you are safe for a while as the next bank holiday is in August !!! 😉
Don’t worry SixT and Allie ( and Birdy !!)) I will continue to nag you relentlessly about the fags but as Allie recognises ( as she lights up another fag 😉 😉 I do love you all dearly 😉 😉 I wish you had been in my life to tell me off when I had a Dairy Crunch addiction but at least I can’t eat my (ahem 😉 ) hundreds of pairs of earrings although I am wearing my liquorice allsorts earrings with my TKMaxx stripey cardy today. I am fasting but I will NOT eat my earrings 😉

SIX T , Allie ..put that fag down !! ( I call them fags because it’s so much less elegant than ciggies) 😉

I’m only teasing 😉

Have a good day everyone and I will see you on next week’s thread xxx

Ahem, oooh, good new British word to denote humour! I shall add it to my growing repertoire. Thank you 6T!
I am also working on my accent so Good Morning Britain is on my daily schedule (“shed-dyule”). I’m trying to not stand out like a very American rube but I slip up with all my saying hello and talking to everyone’s dogs— I am too outgoing and need to develop some classy British reserve! My first (“faast”) step is sounding more local in my accent — a work in progress!

Also, regarding Arcticfox’s experience with her ongoing glucose monitor, your experience dovetails exactly my physical response to eating low carb.
About three years before discovering the BSD, I had read the book by Gary Taubes, “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” and in response I started to eat low carb (how weird was that new way of eating back then!)
I quickly realised that my physical response to low carb was COMPLETELY different than my normal eating pattern and over time, just trial and error, moved to high fat/low carb way of eating.
I now believe that I spent my WHOLE LIFE in a hypoglycaemic state and never knew it — it explains so much and I wish I had figured it out decades before!
However, in the “better late than never” column, I am so grateful I have discovered it now because it, along with the BSD, has changed my relationship to food for good and for good!
Allie and I keep recommending Gary Taubes book because it is SO important. If you aren’t yet fully low carb, get a copy. I cannot recommend it enough.

CG you don’t have to worry I say hello to everyone and the dogs get my baby voice and lots of fuss😂😂. Also being Bath (Barth) you are very close to Somerset and they all talk like country bumpkins 😂😂. Well the posh people don’t and I am sure there is a few in Barth 😂😂. You will do fine my lovely. The British can be quite reserved but it is in different degrees and the further north you go ie north of Watford we get very friendly and outgoing. My Dad is Geordie (Newcastle) and they are the friendliest of them all and very very bold and outgoing! I know that is where I get it from😂. ❤️ You will fit in fine hun and I am sure with your accent you will intrigue most of us brits.🥰🤗

Hi everyone, early morning (yawn) and blood tests done. Wendleg I didn’t really mean to insult the French, it was a joke. Because I am retired every day is a holiday for me, I just sometimes forget the religious holidays. Also, in France the holiday is always on the actual day rather than shunting it to the Monday following. I have just heard that the UK is going to stop the May Day holiday and move it to 8th May victory day. Well the French are good enough to honour the workers on May Day and honour the war memories on 8th May, then they have the end of May holiday for Ascension (Whitsuntide) – 3 holidays in one month – love it. You just have to be organised as everything closes on these days although many supermarkets are open except for 1st May as they believe you cannot have Labour Day and make people work.

Birdy, I didn’t miss my doctors appointment. In France we dont go to the doctor for our blood tests (unless you are in a big city with a big surgery), my doctor has only recently got himself a secretary/receptionist. He is a one man band. We go to a laboratory just 5 mins away. I really should make an appointment as I have had to fast and if, like today, the place was busy, I need to get seen to and get something to eat pretty quickly. Because it was closed yesterday I had to wait nearly half an hour but they are very efficient and kept the queue moving.

I will come back later today when I have received my results. Not feeling positive as quite a bit of damage might have been done with all the food and drink on the cruise. On verra. We will see.

Still at just a 3lb loss so no movement this week. So much for fasting. Maybe it will show in the next few days. See you all on next weeks thread.

I am dancing around the house singing Happy…….. (by Pharrell Williams). I’m so happy. HbA1c 6.5 (up 0.2 points from 6.3), cholesterol 4.2 (up 0.2 from 4.0). Now I just have to get back to losing weight.

I have no idea what those numbers mean, SG but I am very happy for you!!

sunshine-girl – great news on your Hba1c and other results – to be able to achieve that after a 3 week holiday – that’s some control – no wonder you’re delighted. Congratulations!

arcticfox – I know there is a new one week thread, but just wanted to say thanks for posting on here about your experience with a continuous glucose monitor. It was really interesting to read about what you found out through using it (and all in only 1 week!).
When I was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I used a blood glucose monitor in a similar way, that is, before and after all my meals, and before and after exercise to see what was happening to my blood glucose levels. (I still use one, but mostly with new meals or new activity). I found it a really useful short-hand way to understand what works and doesn’t work for me personally. I’m planning to get a continuous glucose monitor at some point because I’d like to see what’s happening 24 hrs a day over the 2 week period, so it was really valuable to read your experience – thanks xx

Btw, CaliforniaGirl recommends Gary Taubes book, I’ve also read it and liked it.

I’d also recommend Jason Fung. I think you always value the person you first come across who provides that ‘light bulb’ moment. For me, as far as insulin and it’s role in metabolic syndrome (which I’d never heard of), and how to keep it low (low carb diet, intermittent fasting, not grazing, not snacking etc) it was coming across a couple of Jason Fung’s early Youtube videos. The other person I really like who talks about insulin is Benjamin Bikman – JGwen posted an interview of his on the Take a Look at This Thread (but quite a while back).

In terms of all the misinformation, bad advice etc, you’ve had all these years, I really sympathise. I’ve only been diagnosed 3 years but I’ve had plenty of that, but there is that ‘better late than never’ column that Californiagirl mentions and I really do think things are starting to change.

Thanks again for the post.
Jennie xx

Californiagirl – I’m also really impressed that you were able to find this way of eating on yor own and so early on.

Kafin, I am diabetic and those numbers are NORMAL although I do take some meds. I expected them to be terrible after 3 weeks on a cruise.

Kudos, Sunshine! I’m so happy for you 🙂 🙂 🙂 You nailed it!

Yay for normal!

Good afternoon ladies, how would you like to be adopted by an old bloke from Scotland?

The story so far . . .
I retired four years ago after being in an active job for most of my life. Best weight when I was really fit was 10.5stones, but had drifted up over 15-20yrs to 11.5-12st when still working. At the start of this year I’d managed to hit 14st, or close on 200lbs – my heaviest ever, and decided something “had to be done”. Around that time a friend had noticably lost weight by Intermittant Fasting, told me what he’d been doing and I started off on my own version, losing ten pounds over four months but gradually clawing back three or four. A little disheartened I decided to look further into the subject, found fast800, decided it was for me and bought the fast800 book by Dr MM, closely followed by the FastCook recipe book, Skinny Salads and Skinny Soups recipe books too. Also popped in to the GP to explain what I was getting up to (she was very interested) and got most of the tests at the back of thefast800 book done. All came back as normal apart from raised cholesterol, which is familial and already known about having been guinea-pigged on 4-5 different statins a while ago – none of which I reacted well to. Not on any medication currently or for some time, managing the 800 Cals ok and the 16:8 has been reduced/increased to 18:6, sometimes 19:5.

Now we come to why the lovely folk on this topic have been singled out – I started on Monday 27th May, and this is the closest thread to that date that I could find! 😉

So as of today, and having been a good lad for 8 weeks, I’ve lost a smidgin under 2 stones – 26.8 pounds to be precise and which is 14% bodyweight dropped – WooHoo! My original plan was for 12 weeks as I’m sure I read that somewhere, but I’ve seen 8 weeks mentioned a few times on the forum and don’t know whether to bash on or go on the maintenance option for a spell. So far the loss has been due to diet only, so I thought that I should get out on the bike to encourage a little weight-loss acceleration. Not sure if that’s a good idea, and so need some advice on that and how my body’s reacting to it. Many years ago I had the very very occasional visual migraine, 20mins or so with slight headache after, had tests, because they were so spread out nothing was done. Some months before starting fast800 I had another, went to doc, same verdict as before – come back when one’s happening! I’ve been out on the bike four times over the past three weeks, 15 to 20 miles each trip, cycling’s ok but when I finish I feel a little disorientated and as if a VM is about to start but it doesn’t.

The big question is – is this “wobbly head” feeling after exercise on fast800 something that happens? Should I revise eating plans/times before cycling?

Phew – finished! Thanks to all who are still here 🙂
All the best,
Davie

Hi Davie and welcome aboard. I’m sure I speak for everyone here when I say we’re delighted to have an “old bloke from Scotland” join us 😊

In terms of the thread you popped in on, we start a new weekly thread every Tuesday (or sometimes Monday) and that’s where the current discussions tend to happen. The current one is “one week at a time starting 15th of July 2019” – the start date just refers to the beginning of the week, not when we actually started this WOE (way of eating). It means that we’re all just taking this one week at a time, and pulling ourselves past our little stumbles along the way 😉 You’re very welcome to pop over to that thread if you like.

You’ve done fantastically well on your journey so far, huge congratulations. And you must be so pleased to be off all medication!

I can’t give any explicit advice on whether or not your cycling is on the verge of triggering a visual migraine. I get them too, very rarely, and have not found that either this WOE or exercising while on this WOE is a trigger for me personally. But that’s a sample of one, so not very helpful for you. Hopefully others will chime in with more. You could try mixing up when you eat and see if eating something just before you head out, or an hour before, etc, makes any difference. And I’m sure you’re all over this, but you are getting lots of water and salt in your diet, yes?

I can say though that the science tends to agree that adding exercise to your routine will probably not do much for your weight loss. Don’t get me wrong, exercise has many many benefits and is recommended by everyone, it’s just that none of those benefits happens to be weight loss. I know it’s not what we’re used to hearing (“eat less, move more”), but the science shows that the traditional advice is simply wrong. It’s great that you got back on the bike and you’re enjoying it, but please don’t be disappointed if the scales don’t show a drop after your rides. You’ll be getting many other benefits—not least the sheer pleasure of getting out in the fresh air!—I’m only flagging this so you don’t toss it all in as a bad joke if the scales don’t do what you expected.

There’s lots of discussion on here about other ways that some—or in some cases many—people find useful to kick weight loss along a bit when they get stuck too long in one place. (I think most people tend to stay in the “reducing” stage until they get to where they want to be rather than moving into maintenance.) You mentioned you’d tried Intermittent Fasting (IF) in the past, but you didn’t say what fasting/feeding schedule you had followed? I’m not sure if you’re doing this already, but many people find it helpful to shorten the period in which they’re eating. So for example, stretch the “fasting” period from dinner to lunch the next day, and do all the “feeding” between lunch and dinner. (For example have dinner on Monday evening, then don’t eat again until lunch time on Tuesday. Have Tuesday dinner as normal, and don’t eat again until Wednesday lunch. You might do that all week or only some days of the week, whatever works for you.) That gives you about an 18 hour fasting period and a 6 hour feeding period, and therefore a correspondingly longer period where insulin levels are low and therefore fat burning is higher. Many people find that results in a bit of a kick along on the scales or the belt or the tape measure, whatever your measure of choice is.

Hope this helps a little, Elky

Welcome Davie
Congratulations on your 8 weeks and a tremendous discard (we say discard instead of “loss” as we don’t want to find those pounds again! 😀😀)
Others will chip in with advice, but I would say keep going for the 12 weeks – and then longer if you feel up to it. Read some of allicat’s posts – she did it for 10 months I think and discard many stone.
As Elky says – perhaps you may need to eat something before your ride, or some broth etc – and fluids and salts are important. I don’t have any experience with migraines with I’m sure others will have advice – the new “One week at a time…” thread will be going up soon so pop in there and ask away!

Hi Dave,
I don’t know how much research you have done into the science behind why this Way of Eating works. – You may find the resources on the take a look at this thread helpful. I personally like the podcast by Dr Bikman that I posted a link to back in Jan or Feb in 2018 on that thread. But presuming that you have read about ketosis v carb eating then to answer your questions.

If you keep your carbs low enough that you are in ketosis, then there is no limit on the amount of time you can keep on this way of eating and discarding the weight. – If you are in ketosis then your body can access your fat stores to make up any short fall in calories intake. – If you are eating a diet so high in carbs that you have raised insulin levels so are not in ketosis then its wise to limit the amount of time that you are eating a low number of calories because the high insulin levels will block your body from accessing your fat stores and therefore cause your body to react to the low calorie diet by become more efficient and reducing the number of calories needed a day. Making it harder to maintain the weight loss.

This point is also relevant with regard to exercise and monitoring progress with the scales – – I take a slightly different view than Elky, while the traditional calories in / calories out myth of weight loss has been discredited if you don’t consider the source of those calories. If you are in ketosis then the size of the shortfall will effect the amount of body fat burnt. – So for example, if in ketosis and you eat 800 calories and you are a couch potato then you may burn say 1500 calories a day meaning your body uses 700 calories of body fat. – However, if you are in ketosis and eat 800 calories a day but have a physically active day burning 3000 calories then it stands to reason that you will burn 2200 calories of fat. HOWEVER, this is where it gets more complicated. – There is a whole interconnected symphony of hormones. As you keep your insulin levels low your other hormone systems can also function as normal. Which includes growth hormone. Which means that your body will respond to the exercise by increasing bone density, and muscle strength both of which will weigh more, bringing with it a lot of None Scale Victories, and long term health benefits. So as you put your body under pressure from exercise you will change your body composition but not necessarily your weight.

The headaches you have noticed after cycling could be related to salt intake. We need to increase our salt intake particularly when starting on a low carb diet. – When eating a carb rich diet our body is forced to store water as part of the process of storing sugar. – When you go low carb your body releases that water, but in the process the kidneys also release electrolytes with the water. If you have not been supplementing the electrolytes by adding salt to your diet then you are particularly likely to notice this after exercise. It can also be the cause of cramps and what feels like flu when you start this way of eating.

Please do join us on the weekly, or monthly threads. There is a new weekly thread started every Tuesday (UK time) Monday for others. And a monthly thread with the Month in the title. ( If you look on the forum for recent posts you will see which threads are most active at any time.)

Please do shout out if you have any more questions.

Oh JGwen, you have given such a thoughtful and nuanced response compared to my “yeah, that just doesn’t work for weight loss” – thank you!!

Davie, she’s usually on the money!!

Cheers, Elky

Thank you all so much for getting back so quickly.

I should qualify the “old bloke from Scotland” bit. I’m 65yrs old on the outside, but the inner daft laddie hovers between 18 to 22 if anybody delves.

Elky – I’d sort of realised that this thread had withered away after a week or so, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction and I’ll do a bit of catching up.
” You’ve done fantastically well” From everything I’d read, fast800 definitely produces results – so I just followed the plan by eating the meals in the four books I mentioned. According to my wife and what I’ve found on here, males lose weight more easily so I can’t take too much credit. 😉
“lots of water and salt in your diet, yes?” Now you’re talking. About 8 or 9 mugs of fruit tea or matcha per day (no more really thick skin on my heels!) at around 350ml each and they only come to about 6 calories each, so as my two meals per day are usually between 6-700 calories, I’m still below the 800. I’d never considered the salt aspect, so will get on top of that.
” adding exercise to your routine will probably not do much for your weight loss.” I know. I’ve disappointed a few folk by telling them that they’d have to cycle 100 miles to drop a pound in weight. But as you say, loads of other benefits from cycling. Two stones lighter on the bike and I’m a different person, literally. Hills are honest is a phrase often used when getting back to cycling, meaning that they’ll tell you what you don’t want to know about your fitness!
” didn’t say what fasting/feeding schedule you had followed” I was eating as I’d done previously but squeezing it into 16:8 with a day off per week, my own version with no research at all. Which was probably why it was very slow progress. Currently doing a late breakfast and mid-afternoon bigger meal which gives me 18:6 or 19:5 depending on what else is happening.

MerryMelba – Rest assured that I will be discarding from now on. I suppose that I’ve actually discarded more than stated as I’ve had a few upward spikes totalling 8lbs to this point. If I was weighing weekly rather than daily I don’t think that I would have noticed.
” I would say keep going for the 12 weeks” The reason for asking about the exercise/wobbly head thing just now is that I’m doing a 40-miler in a fortnight and don’t want stretchered off in the last 100yds 🙂 I’m sure my salt top-ups will have me good as gold by then, though. A double Porridge with Pistachios and Chia (p174 fast880 book) won’t go amiss on the day I’m sure, and so I’ll carry on with the current 12 week plan.

JGwen – ” I don’t know how much research you have done into the science” Not much to be honest, I’m delighted to accept that it’s working for me 😉 I’ll definitely look into the links you mention to redeem myself though! Being a Tight Scot, I haven’t gone for a breathalyser or the keto sticks, but the metallic breath was noticeable on day 3, so I took it that I was in ketosis and trust that I’ll remain in that while I’m on current menus and eating hours. Thanks for the very comprehensive explanation re that, also the calories in/out and growth hormones.
You and everyone else have mentioned salt intake, so I’m gradually catching on! I felt flu-ish in the first few days but put that down to reduced intake of food and eating hours – haven’t had cramps, but haven’t been riding many hills. Have any of you heard of http://tinyurl.com/yxp9tl5w I use these in a water bottle with diluting cordial on longer cycle runs, but after scrutinising the label I suppose a little salt in some matcha and eating a banana would have much the same effect. I’ll start taking one a day to top myself up.

Right, I’m off to new threads and links – thanks for your very welcoming and helpful replies!