Hi everyone. I’m a 49 year old male who at Just under 5 foot 8 has been carrying too much weight through my 40s and finally decided enough was enough. My weight gain was through drinking a bottle of wine every evening and too much cheese and generally just no restraint, though I absolutely never eat junk food and not much of a chocaholic either. I always have had two six week detoxes from booze cheese and red meat a year which I always find so easy but always undo the effort afterwards.

This time I felt I was ready to turn a corner and have started the Fast 800, which has been amazing. So easy and I feel amazing. I have been totally devoted to it and starting at 14st 8, at the start of week three I had dropped to 13st 13!

I plan to continue until the end of 12 weeks or until I’m at the target weight of 11st 6lbs.

I have two questions. First, after a good start, the Keto strips now constantly show a negative result or just “trace”. Is this normal?

Also, this Friday I have a friend coming to dinner and although I’ve worked out a menu that will keep me low carb, it will probably push me over the 800 cals, due to having a couple of glasses of wine. Will this massively ruin my efforts? I have no worries about slipping back into bad habits but what is the deal with having a day of doing over 800cls?

Also, just weighed myself today at the end of week 3 and I’ve only lost 1lb this week and my body fat has gone up by 2kilos! How is that possible!!

Hi Simon36. You might have only lost 1 lb this week but you have lost a further 9lbs in the last 3 weeks. This is your body adjusting. It is quite normal. I guess you are using those scales that measure water, fat, muscle etc. These are not reliable but again, your body is adjusting itself. The body likes to be in a state of homeostasis or balance and does strange things when we make changes. This is the time people usually give up – dont. You will start to lose again. Also the ketone sticks are also not very accurate unless you have medical quality and not something bought on-line. Add to that, after a while your body starts to hold onto its ketones and use them more efficiently rather than disposing of them. You are doing fine and as I always say – keep on keeping on…

Thank you so much, that’s really good to hear. Much appreciated.

any thoughts on my question about possibly going to be going over the 800 cals on Friday?

Sorry but it wont be good news. I had 2 vodka and slimline tonics at the weekend and gained half a kilo. But I am permanently on a diet so my metabolism is not geared for the extra calories. So you might just get away with it. If you can accept that you might not lose anything at your next weigh in or even have a small gain then go ahead. As long as you get straight back on it you will lose it very quickly as it will be mostly water gain. On the other hand if you find you end up snacking, eating more or drinking more, the more damage you will do. I dont think you are diabetic so could get away with a cheat now and then.

I have just read this: EVERY TIME I GO ON A DIET SOMETHING CROPS UP TO SPOIL IT. LIKE CHRISTMAS, HOLIDAYS, BIRTHDAYS, SATURDAYS, TUESDAYS …..

Smile and dont make your life miserable.

Welcome Simon.

The pee sticks are never a reliable method of testing for ketosis. When you first start a keto diet your body produces excess ketones which it gets rid of in your urine. But after a while it starts to be more economical and does not produce excess ketones. So there is nothing for the pee sticks to measure.

A far more reliable method of testing is testing the blood, or the breath for byproduct of burning ketones for fuel. That metallic taste in your mouth is caused by burning ketones. If you are in the US/Canada you can buy a blood tester called mojo, and the test strips. But its not sold in the UK due to the regulations the manufacturers would have to follow.

You can buy expensive breath testers, but apparently one of the cheap breathalysers from Amazon is just as reliable. There is a knack to using one. If you search the Take a Look at this thread using AT6000 you will find some articles on the topic.

High levels of insulin prevent the normal healing and repair system controlled by growth hormone from working. As soon as your body can it will start to take advantage of low insulin by building stronger bones, and repairing muscle. Both of which weigh more than weak bones and muscle. So the scale is not a good way of measuring progress. Tape measure and visual checks for changes is better.

Sunshine Girl is quite correct, home scales are not that accurate, their readings are effected by the room temp and humidity so minor differences are not worth worrying about.

I would recommend joining either the weekly, or the 100 day threads on the forum. In both cases you will encounter people with a range of experiences from relative newcomers to those who have been eating this way for years all of whom will offer a helping hand in you have other questions

Thank you so much, I will do that.

The scales I was using were the ones in the chemist that measure your body fat etc too, but I guess these too might not always be that reliable. I certainly feel and look noticeably better anyway!

Simon,

Your body has to burn the alcohol before it can burn the food.

Your body needs to store water when storing carbs. for each gram of sugar is 3 grams of water. That is why you discard weight rapidly at the start of going lower carb as your body uses up its carb stores it releases the stored water. Take in extra carbs and the weight jumps up.

On the other hand, you have probably found by now that you feel a lot better when you eat low carb. That doesn’t mean that you have to eat low carb every single day of your life. There will be birthday parties, weddings,, meetings with friends and its important to enjoy those events, but get back onto the waggon afterwards.

The dinner I’m doing is going to be very low carb, steak with cavolo Nero, celeriac and a herb dressing. So the only carbs will be a small amount from the celeriac and from a glass or two of wine. Hopefully I might just be ok. I may not even drink as I’ve not missed alcohol a too, so I don’t think there’s a real risk of going over the carb limit, I just wondered what happens when you stay low carb but go a bit over the 800 cals limit?

The most recent Fast 800 keto book says going up to 1000 some days is fine. But it does say to make those extra calories high protein and you should still keep under 50 g carbs. And MM advises no alcohol in the fast weight loss stage, mainly because it loosens inhibitions and may make you snack more. Your food sounds good so I’d think you could fit in wine within that calorie allowance if that is how you want to spend it. You could try tracking in advance (if you track) to see what you can afford, rather than tracking afterwards.

Thank you everyone.
I’ve not had a single lapse so far so good to know that might be allowed. The favourite dinner I’ve created, and which will definitely be a regular one for me now, is rocket in olive oil with cold chicken, cottage cheese and mushrooms, it really fills me and is so good. Last night I swapped out the chicken for prawns and smoked salmon which was equally tasty.

The only thing I can’t do without is tea with semi-skimmed milk; almond milk just doesn’t do it for me. But I only have two or three cups a day so am very strict with it, and it’s only a dash of milk. Most days that’s the only carbs I’m having.

Simon,

Think of it this way, insulin is like a switch, when high your body can not access your fat stores. When low it can make up an reduction in calories from your fat stores once all the sugar stores in your body is used up.

So if for example your metabolism uses 2000 calories a day, your insulin is low, you are in ketosis and you eat 800 calories your body will take 1200 calories from your fat stores. So if on one day your insulin level is low and you eat 1000 calories that means your body will burn only 1000 of calories from your fat store.

Each pound of fat equals 3500 calories.

If however you take in something which causes a spike in your insulin, your body can only fuel itself from food eaten. and will be busy trying to move all the sugar you have eaten back into your fat stores.

That’s such a good and clear explanation, thank you!

This is the first day of week 4. Overall I need to lose 3stone, and nearly reached the first one, so all in all I’m pretty pleased.

I have a very special (and very active!) holiday planned for the summer: all the money I’m saving on booze and treats is going into the fund for it.

H hi I, so just to report back. Once again on a 1lb loss this week but measuring my stomach is much more rewarding. I’m nearing the end of week four and had my one “evening off” last night. I kept within the carb/ protein ratio but did go over, probably had about 1400 cals. Straight back on it today. I certainly haven’t been left feeling disheartened.

Hi Simon, so glad you were able to enjoy your meal. None scale victories (NSV’s) can be many from inch loss just to the way you are feeling. Keep on keeping on…

Clothes I’ve not worn for ages are starting to fit again! Such a great feeling. Very grateful to this forum for all the constant positives.

That is such a good feeling, and really keeps the motivation up!
Keep going 🙂

Simon, I read your post and thought you might be describing me. Similar age, bottle of wine every night, cheese, not much of a chocoholic. I’ve been off and on the Fast 800 for 2 years now. Dropped from 16 stone to 12.5 stone, then back up to 14.5 stone, now down to 12 st 10lbs, and aiming to hit 12 st or so, hopefully by the end of March. My blood pressure went from near hypertensive crisis (my initial reason for dieting) to normal.

While on the diet, I have consistenty lost at least a stone per month (3.5 st the first 3 months). I found having the odd day (like 1 day in 3 months) where you ate more didn’t really make that much difference. If you stall or even gain weight, it comes off again very quickly once you re-start. My problem is when Saturday becomes “the weekend”, then “might as well include Monday too,” and so on…. I had a short 4 -day holiday during one diet period when I stopped the diet completely, and we ate out a lot. I put on 4 lbs in 4 days. I suspect a lot of it is water weight as your body starts binding up fat again. But it came all off again in under 2 weeks and weight has continued to drop quickly since.

The problem I found is when I stop the diet at the end of the 3 months. I haven’t managed to maintain the loss. But I hope to succeed this time around and will be much stricter. I also noticed ketone strips go very dark at first, then don’t change. I had no idea why, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference to the rate of weight loss. Also, the rate varies and some weeks it might seem like you haven’t lost any, but over time it evens out.

Good luck.

Thanks Martin, good luck to you too.

Although I’m finding doing the Fast 800 incredibly easy, exciting even, and am very much noticing a physical change in my appearance, I think a reason why I’ve not slowed to just 1lb a week is because I’m not exercising enough. I manage a good long walk at the weekends – last weekend I did 9 miles on friday, 10 miles on Saturday and 5 on Sunday, but I really struggle to find the time during the week.

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best exercise when one only has a half hour window a day? I am a gym member, is half an hour of weights/ cross trainer best?

I joined in a research project on exercise as one of the volunteers prior to Covid.

The research shows that a 3 minute warm up and cool down, and using the weight machines to exercise the major muscle groups to exhaustion is best. 3 sets of reps at maximum weight you can do. Once you can consistently do 10 reps in each set at the same weight you need to move up to the next weight.

Hi everyone. I’m now on week 7 and finding itstill a complete breeze. My body shape has visible changes and I feel so much better in every way.

The last couple of weekends I’ve allowed myself a break from it, just in that I allow myself some wine and to go a bit over the 800, but I have absolutely no problem returning to the fast 800 on Mondays.

Once the 12 weeks is up I’ll still have some way to go, as I needed to drop from 15 to 11 stone and am about half way there, so I was thinking of just continuing with the fast 800 but taking the weekends off, a sort of 5:2 in reverse. What are people’s thoughts about that?

Hi Simon, glad you are still here and doing well. As for the breaks at the weekends I find I can easily lose 2lb during the week and gain it back on a weekend of not worrying too much and having a few glasses of wine. For me it became such a waste of time that I now only have alcohol on special occasions (maybe sometimes when I am feeling sh-t). Try it for a couple of week (ends) and see how you get on. If you still lose then you will know it suits you. If not, you know what to do. Only dont let weekends become Friday to Monday. We have all been there. :):)

Good point, thank you!

I was thinking of just making the weekend one day. I guess I’m thinking of how to proceed in the long term, once the 12 weeks is up. It sounds rather depressing if even with fast 800 in the week a weekend will set one back so much!

Simon, we are not all the same, I am diabetic and injecting insulin which bumps up my fat stores. Also, because I have had a lapse from the diet I might also have to increase the insulin, more fat magnets. However, I can say that if you do gain a pound or two over a weekend it is most likely mainly fluid. If you jump straight back on the diet you will lose that within one or two days. On Tuesday I went to the doctors and received some great news and, after trying so hard for the past 12 weeks (except for my birthday celebration) I decided to treat myself to a few drinks. Didnt much change the food I ate except a BSD friendly snack late in the evening when I got the munchies. Anyway, on my weigh in on Wednesday I had gained 0.3 kgs. Today is Friday and I have lost it again. So if you keep to one day, gain a little, you wont set yourself back much. It is when you start on Friday, then have Saturday and might as well count Sunday as well. That is when you could be 2 or 3 pounds up. Hope that makes you feel better.

Try to stay away from beer which is very high in carbs, stick with either wines or a spirit with a slimline mixer.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. One thing I do wonder is, if you have a day off and come out of keto, presumably it takes three or four days to get back into it, so having one day off a week is potentially quite damaging? Or have I misunderstood the science? I guess either way, at 800 cals a day six days a week you’ll still be losing weight one way or another?

Sorry Simon, I dont measure keto results. I base my plan on the assumption that if I dont eat bad carbs I will be somewhere around the keto state. Also I do TRE so hopefully that puts me into fat burning. I am pretty sure that having a day off would put you out of keto if that means eating pasta, rice, bread etc but that will also slow down your weight loss.

Looking back at your first post you were saying the keto sticks were showing just trace. Well that is what happens when you continue to do keto. Your body learns how to use the ketones in a more efficient way so you stay in fat burning mode. I am sure if your day off knocks you out of ketosis you would be quickly back in it. Yes a couple of days.

Just to go back to what you said yesterday about it being depressing if just going a bit over the 800 cals puts on the weight (and now we can say stops the ketosis). Can I suggest you get to the 12 week mark and see where your weight is and how you want to proceed. If you are at a reasonable goal and want to stop the 800 you will learn to do it slowly. Testing how much you can eat to maintain, testing which foods make you gain the most etc. There are threads on here for people on maintenance but wait until you are ready for it. We can send you links on how to go about things but just for now, using my mantra, keep on keeping on…

Just found an article that might interest you. You will find it here (if I do this right)

https://www.amplemeal.com/blogs/home/lose-weight-keto-diet

Gives some of the myths and answers some of the things you are asking about.

So grateful for this, thank you.

So, weighed in yesterday and am now down to 13st 4. This means I’ve lost 1 st 4 lbs in 6 weeks. I actually weighed in at 15 stone just before starting the fast 800 8 weeks ago, but that was on my bathroom scales which are less reliable. Either way, the results are delighting me.

What I’ve noticed is that I’m no longer weighing myself on a weekly basis and I’m no longer very aware of how many weeks in I am, it’s just my lifestyle now to eat and fast in this way. The amount of people who, unprompted, say how WELL I’m looking, is extraordinary.

So, as ever, I have another question. We are told to not do the fast 800 for longer than 12 weeks but to switch to the 5:2 after that. With only three weeks left and still a good bit of weight still to shed, is it really such a bad idea to continue it a bit longer? Or, if I must stop it, I presume I can continue the 16 hour fasting but just up my calorie intake a little? What do people think on this?

Hi Simon, well done. So pleased you are doing well and now consider it a way of life like a lot of us do. As for the 12 weeks, a lot depends on how much you have to lose or if you have any health problems. As a diabetic I can never go back to eating carbs as I see immediately what they do to my blood sugars. I also know how long one sweet treat will stay with me – days and days – before I get my BS back down. Having said that I dont stick with the 800 calories every day but most days. If I have a good stretch to get my weight down say for a special occasion (I am about 2 st heavier than I would like) then I do stick to the 800.

As you want to be 11st 6lbs you could have a couple of days break or a week of something different like 5:2 then back onto the full 800 for another 12 weeks. It hasnt done me any harm but in all honesty who can really stick to 800 cals for 12 weeks absolutely. We all have an off day when we have something extra – not necessarily a bad carb. If you continue doing 16 hour fasts you probably wont need to up your calories.

Take a short break doing whatever you feel suits (5:2, intermittent fasting, calorie increase, whatever) and then get back on for a further 12 weeks. BTW I have been doing this diet for 6 years along with several other people, however, we are all diabetics so it is not a weight loss plan for us.

Brilliant advice as always, thank you.