Sorry for War and Peace…..

My wife and I are 3 days from the end of the 8 weeks and I’d like some suggestions around my particular concerns. The outcome in terms of weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure have been astonishing.

At the moment, my BMI is 31.2 so I intend to keep going on the Fast 800 for a couple of more weeks until I hit under 30 for no real reason other than I don’t want to stop until then. That’s another probably 2 kg left to go by then end of the 8 weeks so I’m not expecting to do it for more than 2 or 3 weeks longer. I believe that this will be safe “enough”.

Firstly let me say that I haven’t felt this good about myself in years, I’m not hungry between meals and I actually feel like exercising and “doing” things for the first time in a decade. This has been the most life-changing side of going on this diet (the weight loss, normalised blood sugar readings and blood pressure notwithstanding) and I am really keen to maintain the biochemistry needed to maintain this desire (because it actually is biochemical in origin).

Secondly, we are really enjoying the food and I could quite happily continue on the 800 cals/day.

I have 4 concerns moving forward.

So the first three:
1. I don’t want to go back to eating what got me in trouble in the first place.
2. I don’t want to lose my energy and desire to exercise
3. I’ve still got a lot of weight to lose to get back to a healthy weight so I don’t necessarily want to eat my normal alloted 2000+ cals for the 5 days of normal eating.

Looking at a Mediterranean 5&2, how do you increase the calories from 800 to say 1800 per day while sticking to the same sort of foods that don’t induce the carb-driven hunger and therefore turn off the desire for exercise given that I actually enjoy my Breakfast and Lunch selections at the moment so that would mean having a 1400 cal dinner every night!!!! I know I can eat a bit more for breakfast and eat more fruit through the day, but I don’t want to go back to cereal as I really enjoy homemade yoghurt, frozen berries and nuts because of the way it fills me up.

Apart from some whole grain toast and fruit, there is nothing that we are actually missing (like missing a loved one).

3. The lack of calcium in the Fast 800 diet we are currently on is concerning IF you were to continue it long term. With plenty of leafy greens, broccoli, limited nuts, salmon, feta, yoghurt, and three cups of instant coffee per day with total of 90 ml’s of milk, the calcium in my daily intake averages around 430 mg (via EasyDietDiary app) versus a suggested intake of 1000 mg for me and 1300 mg for my wife. So not sure what effect having two days per seven of half recommended (and for a woman aged 53+ less than half) calcium will be long term.

Carb intake ( via EasyDietDiary app) on the current food we are eating on the Fast 800 is around 45 grams per day which is just under the amount (50g) thought to stave off thyroid disfuction, so an increase in carbs moving forward is a must.

To summarise, need to increase calcium, need to increase calorie intake but don’t want the hunger pangs and don’t want to lose the desire for exercise through eating sugary treats/pasta/starchy vegetables. Carb intake will have to go up if only to avoid thyroid issues.

Has anyone else thought about these issues and have suggestions?

Best of luck to you all who are on the journey. 🙂

Morning Justabloke. Congratulations, sound like you’ve done really well.

After reading The Fast Diet (5:2) my understanding was that as long as I ate low-carb Mediterranean style for 5 days and restricted calories as well as low-carb for 2 days it wasn’t necessary to worry about calories on the 5 days (hope that makes sense).

Regarding calcium, perhaps you could eat more cheese – full-fat of course. I’ve developed a passion for Gorgonzola and Brie (Not at the same time LOL).

Admittedly, I’m not following the meal plans in the book, just sticking within the 800 calories and severely restricted carbs.

I’m seeing my diabetes nurse monthly so she can monitor my progress (seeing her today, in fact) so, unusually for me, I’m doing this under medical supervision. Hoping to come off blood pressure meds today.

I asked the BSD team about carrying on. Their response was it was okay to continue on this for an extra few weeks as long as I felt OK and had no problems, but then to move on to 5:2.

On here and FB some people are talking about staying on this for longer, some going to 5:2 or a variation of that (2:5, 6:1, 4:3 etc).

Personally, I’ll complete 10 weeks on BSD tomorrow. I feel great, weight, blood sugar and blood pressure all greatly improved. I’m away for 5 days next week so intend to eat as low-carb Mediterranean style as I can without worrying too much about calories. After I get home and see what effect that has had I will make a more informed decision on how to proceed. I may stay on this for another few weeks (until a residential conference) or may move to 2:5 (5 days limited calories, 2 days more relaxed). At this point I’m really unsure.

One thing I am certain about – after seeing the effect that the carbs were having they will not find a place in my life again. Like so many of us, the carbs were slowly killing me.

Hopefully this has gone some way towards answering some of your questions.

Hi justabloke, i finish the 8 weeks in 4 days. I have the same concerns as you, i think i might start pushing to 900 calories in week 9 just to see what happens. Nuts are a very easy way to gain calories and just increasing portions of the current eating plan. Perhaps getting 4 portions out of the cottage pie with cauli mash rather than 6 portions. 3 courgette bhajis rather than 2 with a bigger portion of raita ( full fat of couse). It’s going to be a real learning curve for all of us once we reach that 8 week line. It’s actually a wee bit scary this thought of coming of 800 calories when I feel better than I have in a decade. BTW I. Loved your post – so informative and well written 🙂

Thanks guys, really appreciate the thoughts. It’s definitely a delicate balance to know how to proceed. I think that given this has been relatively easy, I’m going to continue with a calorie restricted 5&2 regime. Extra carbs from whole grains and fruit and dairy for the 5 days on (with appropriate protein and fat increase also). I’ll try a target of around 1500 cals per day so I continue the energy deficit each day. As I said ,I’m missing fruit through the day and a slice of toast in the morning. Add a cup of milk and a bit of extra dairy for the calcium and I think that’ll be pretty good! I’m only doing this because I want the extra weight gone sooner rather than later and to get back to a healthy BMI.

As Hashimoto noted that the important thing is to make this style of eating a lifelong commitment rather than fall back into the things that got us in trouble in the first place.

I feel that Dr Mosley’s thinking on the 5&2 is that there is less likelihood of a “backslide” if people only have to worry about the calorie count for 2 days per week, but I’m happy to remain “controlled” for those 5 days as well. This diet has changed my view on food from being a “Live to Eat” kind of guy to an “Eat to Live” zen master! It’s incredible that 8 weeks can overcome 5 decades of programming!

One thing I didn’t mention is that my legs have felt really heavy and tired in the afternoons before my walks or rides in the last week or so, so I think that my body is telling me that the 8 weeks is probably enough for me and I’m going to the 5&2 now rather than continuing for another fortnight. I really want to exercise but it’s been a struggle the last couple of days.

However, definitely going to do the 800 cal fast twice a week.

Keep us posted. I’m sure as more people finish the 8 weeks, there will be plenty of extra activity in this forum with questions and suggestions!

All the best!

Hi Justabloke. Next week is going to be somewhat of an experiment for me and it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think that for most of us it will be trial and error after the 8 weeks. So next week I’ll try to keep to my plan, see what happens to weight and fasting bloods then make a more informed decision for me.

Captainlynne, I’m sure you’ll smash it! It must be tricky trying to keep to the plan while visiting another country.

There’s a series that we’ve been watching from your Channel 4 called how to lose weight well, and we watched the first episode yesterday. All of the diets essentially involved calorie restriction and just about everyone lost weight. The difference was how hard or easy they were to stick to. The (relative) ease of the BSD and the 5&2 modified Mediterranean plans seem to be in the fibre and fat content and in the Mediterranean diet, getting your carbs long term from whole grains or whole fruit so that you ingest some fibre at the same time as the starch or fructose. This is what halts the addictive “ingest sugar or fructose, feel hungry again really quickly” cycle.

Long term success for me is going to involve avoiding sugary snacks, any processed foods and sugar substitutes in all forms.

For you, what’s the worst that can happen when you’re in Prague? If you try and avoid the foods you know will give you problems and accidentally ingest something you shouldn’t, you might have a slight reversal in metabolic outcomes but it’s only short term.

If you’re really worried, take some of the recommended liquid shakes powder with you and have them for breakfast or lunch? You’ll be back home in a short period and you KNOW you can stick to the diet fairly easily so you’ll be back on track in no time.

The final thing that has really helped me to maintain some discipline is reading on and listening to some of the experts in the field. Prof Taylor from Newcastle university has a recorded speech on the ncl.ac.uk reverse t2 diabetes site that talks about the research that led Dr Mosley to the BSD. The researcher/doctor that started a lot of the debate around sugar and metabolic syndrome and t2 diabetes is Dr Robert Lustig. He is an American pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco and has written a book called “Fat Chance – the bitter truth about sugar ” (available on Amazon as a book or ebook) . Think of it as a really detailed explanation and examination of the information around our body’s response to certain foods that Dr Mosley summarised in his BSD book. I bought that as an audiobook and listen to it on my bike rides or walks. There are also some YouTube video’s of lectures by him – Sugar: The Bitter Truth, Fat Chance and Fat Chance 2.0: Fructose.

It was interesting to understand the reasons why I previously snacked, ate the way I did and the foods I chose and avoided moving and exercise at all costs.

Now I understand what sugar did to me, it’s really easy to stay on the path.

Good luck for next (this?) week and into the future 🙂

Hi Justabloke. Thanks for such a great reply.

I’m off to start the journey in about 30 minutes but saw this 😃

Rationally I know I can do this. It’s only five days, but I’m leaving my ‘comfort blankets’ behind. Hence the wobble. I know what I can and cannot eat, and I’m used to much smaller meals, even missing lunch on many days (unheard of previously😱).

Then there’s the extra walking.

I normally visit USA or Italy, which have their own challenges so this is a different adventure.

Unfortunately I can’t use the shakes, so that isn’t an option. But I have my plan and try not to stress too much. At the worst, it will mean visiting food shops and eating in the hotel room. At the best I’ll find some great places to eat and great (on plan) food.

One of the penalties of being a control freak. 😳

Thanks again (btw what country are you in, noted your comment about Channel 4).

Waiting for taxi. May not be around much until Friday night/Saturday. Will be back on here then. *waves*

Brilliant advice/information Justabloke. Thanks 🙂

Hi Justabloke, an amazing thing happened to me yesterday. If I previously (old living style) ate as much as 1200 – 1400 calories I was putting weight on. So, I experimented: for three days I ate 900 calories and my weight stayed the same but yesterday I ate 1500 and my weight still stayed the same. Couldn’t believe the scales at first. Stepped on and off a few times. The almost 8 weeks of this diet has caused a rather fundamental change in my body. NO MORE WORRIES about coming off 800 calories.
So back to 800 calories for another week or so to lose the 9lbs I want to be rid off.
I’m so relieved and happy !
Once on my target weight I will stick to this eating plan but just increase the calories – it seems easy to do that. I had a few more nuts as snacks after meals and for the evening meal I had a plate of beef curry, full fat raita and 2 chickpea flatbreads AND a glass of red wine.
I’d put a dancing emoji on if only I knew how 🙂 🙂 🙂

Captainlynne, a belated bon voyage! Very good advice there from justabloke! Enjoy! 🙂

CaptainLynne – you’ll be great – don’t sweat it! In answer to your question, Australia. Good luck and have fun. 🙂

Hashimoto – definitely dancing emojis! That’s great news all round. 🙂 🙂

Have to say it feels great to have made it through the eight weeks!

Re the 5:2
I’ve been relaxing a bit at weekend and being strict during the week as I’ve done my 8 weeks (2 stone loss)
Hopefully it won’t creep up again,anyone tried this.???
Still on full dose metformin but hope to reduce pill by pill slowly.
My BP is down ridiculously now coming under 118/78 pulse 65 ish
May see Dr about cutting BP pills too
Onward and downward folks. Alanhypno 😇