hi all my name is mandy im 53 yrs old 5ft 7 and currently weigh 15 st 5 did this diet last year when i was 16 .9 and got down to 14 .11 which was great felt really well , tried to get back on it few months ago but failed
But things have changed health wise and its crunch time have very high blood pressure and although im on meds i really dont want to be so its scared me really need to do this but need help i feel very weak where food is concerned
am i better doing the 800 bsd or up calories and do the mediterranean diet , i did the 800 for 8 weeks before but stuck to the same sort of foods eggs for breakfast fish for lunch chicken for dinner obviously no bread rice pasta or potatoes has anyone got some advice or menu ideas any help and support be great feel if i dont get this sorted im heading for a stroke or heart attack thanks x

Hi. I’m pretty new as well, but I’ll give your advice that really helped me. Join a weekly or monthly challenge group. It is a great source of support, encouragement, and advice.

Allie’s REFOCUS weekly threads have a varied of people all at different levels which is really nice. Just check out the fast 800 forum and find one you like.

Hi hope to be slim – it rather depends on what you want from the diet. Besides the high BP you dont seem to have other health problems, particularly diabetes so you might not want to be as strict as others are. However, losing the carbs is key to losing weight on this plan whether you stick with 800 cals or go for a few more. The Med diet allows some carbs but slow burn like brown rice or pasta but if you chose this path remember that the carbs are only a very small part of a meal not the bulk of it like before the diet you would have piled on the carbs. I would suggest you try to do the 800 for a week and if you struggle, up your cals to 900 or 1000. You are still bound to lose weight but maybe a bit slower.

Thank u sunshine no other health probs did do the 800 plan for the 8 weeks and felt great so yeah definitely going to go back to this I just need some menu ideas x

This is what I eat everyday (i find it easier just to say the same thing)

Breakfast is 2 eggs, 3 turkey bacon strips, and two green onions cooked in half a tablespoon of olive oil
Lunch I usually just have 34g of almonds
Dinner I eat the rest of my calories: 160 g of chicken breast, 100 g mushroom, 80 gram spinach, 1 tablespoon olive oil.

With this, I finish the day with 796 calories, 17 carb, 55 fat, and 69 protein. I also do 20:4 intermittent fasting so all this is eaten between 2-6p. I drink lots of water and hot unsweetened tea. I also change the spices I use so the meals taste different each day.

Of course, this is a description of my perfect day… Sometimes I fall short. 😓😥

hi gangrene thanks for that i have got my fitness pal which is great although it doesnt like the 800 cls what percentage of carbs protein and fats are recommended per day

Hopetobeslim,

MFP let’s you change your calories and macros so I have mine at to 800 calories, 10% carb, 35%protein, and 55% fat.

Really need to do this as well. Late 50s, overweight. Though serial exerciser. Went on holidays, back into shiftwork. Had my bloods done, all good EXCEPT…you guessed it..fasting blood sugar. First time its happened. Have a home glucometer and have been monitoring bloods regularly. An odd thing. My fasting blood sugar readings appear high, given that I have been fasting. I take them upon rising early normally around the 5-6 am mark before I head to work. Eg 5.8 even higher at times. Yet. I take readings two hours after eating and my readings are well within the normal range. That said, I am taking the view that this is a wake up call and time to get proactive. I do NOT want to go down the diabetes path. BTW does anyone have a very active job and been able to stick to the 800 plan for 8 weeks? Been a bit skeptical as to whether this would be a good idea given I have a job where there is lots of walking, pushing, lifting during the day. Thanks in advance. Good luck to all.

Hi Geoff. Type dawn phenomenon into the search box, there’s been lots written about it and sounds like that is what you are experiencing.

Thanks AnnieW, have done that. Wow, very odd phenomenon, eh? OK, well have stuck to the plan pretty well today. Just going to take it one day at time. And not panic re these readings.

Thanks AnnieW, have done that. Wow, very odd phenomenon, eh? OK, well have stuck to the plan pretty well today. Just going to take it one day at time. And not panic re these readings.

Hi GeoffoC,
I have a physically active job (on average the difference between cals eaten and burnt according to fatsecret was on average 1500 a day) and have been following this way of eating now for over a year. – I have successfully reached my initial target weight with a loss of 6.5 stone, and now I am working on targets based on dress size. I tend to hang around the forum to pass on a helping hand to newcomers just as others provided me with a helping hand when I started.
The research has moved on a little since Dr MM’s book was written, so now its clear by that by keeping carbs low enough to keep insulin low, keeping protein at moderate levels, and then making up the rest of the calories with healthy fat our body can easily access our fat stores to make up the difference between cals eaten and cals burnt. – I use the fatsecret app to monitor what I eat. – My targets were as close to 20g of carbs a day as I could manage (as a veggie getting under 20g was difficult – I was usually around the 30g) target protein I calculated as 0.6g x target weight in kg, and the balance of my cals from healthy fat.

That’s the way to do it 😊. Definitely no panic needed.

The second part of your post: if you keep the carbs low your body burns fat, which is what is needed to lose weight. And the human body has plenty of that to fuel our everyday life. It’s only when you get to seriously underweight people that body fat isn’t available. Depending on the amount of carbs you have been consuming (especially the simple “fast” carbs) you may experience the “carb flu” (use the search box) for a few days but this will pass and shouldn’t be down to the effect of only consuming 800 cals. Dr MM replied to a question along the same lines in a newspaper article recently and advised the man to keep to the 800 cals.

Well, got through my first work day. And …surprise, I felt as though I still had something in the tank by the end of the day..(I work as a Hospital Orderly and walk a great deal during the day). After work, went to the gym and did well with resistance training. Despite feeling shite from a bad nights sleep..(lack of carbs?). Didnt bother with measuring blood sugar this morning, I will hold off until the first week is up. Let things settle down. All the staff room temptations were there, sausage rolls, cake etc. To which I studiously avoided..(damn, that cake looked so good though). Have managed to keep in the ball park with calories, boiled eggs for breakfast, skim cappacino for snack, tuna salad for lunch, curried vegie sausages for dinner (ingredients, curry powder, diced tomato, zucchini, carrots, onions). Aware of carbs in the skim capp, seeing how things go with that as well. OK, thanks for your replies, onwards and upwards.