Relative newcomer, 3 weeks and struggling a bit

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  • posted by Shortyfatfat
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    Hi everyone. Coming to you all for help and advice. I decided to try the programme after reading the BSD book twice, doing my own research and mentally prepping for a year. I decided to do Slim fast shakes as I wanted to have a mental break from thinking about food all the time. I’m 3 weeks in, had great weight loss first 2 weeks of 9 lbs and have totally stalled this week, feel hungry a lot and am having bad cravings for all bread products. Haven’t touched bread, spuds, pasta, rice since I started, began regular half hour walks in the evenings with some light weights and am feeling very despondent that I’m not seeing results on the scales. I admit to having a few unsalted nuts when cravings get bad as they seem the lesser of 2 evils. What am I doing wrong?

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi there Shortyfatfat, you are not doing anything wrong. 9lbs in 2 weeks is great. You have hit a plateau or slow down which is a very common occurrence. Your first week you lose a lot of fluid as well as fat, week 2 is still some fluid but you are losing more fat. Weekl 3 your body takes stock of what is happening to it and tries to hang on to its fat. This is what happens to most people and not necessarily on week 3 but that seems to be the regular time we hear about. This is probably the time when most people give up, throw in the towel and say what the hell. Dont!! This is the time to keep on with the diet and your body will start to shift weight again. I have never done the shakes in terms of this diet and you might start finding it gets a bit boring. If you can keep going with the shakes and are happy to do so then keep on but if you start to introduce more solid goods you might have to take care and do it slowly. Just keep going and it will pass.

  • posted by Mixnmatch
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    Hi there, I have assumed for the following suggestion that you are not medication controlled Type 2 diabetic, but freel free to ignore this if you are. If you are still getting cravings after three weeks then the Slim fast shakes may be the culprit. Check that they haven’t got high carb values (some types have added sugar, and are low fat, which may harm your satiety and increase insulin levels), or a lot of sweetener which can also cause raised insulin levels. When you get normal insulin levels then the cravings should go, as I certainly find that there is a strong link between cravings and insulin.

  • posted by Shortyfatfat
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    Sunshine-girl thank you so much for your reply. I hadn’t really considered throwing in the towel as such but was disheartened as I thought I had already gone into ketosis but maybe this is my transition phase. The shakes work well for me during the day for breakfast and lunch and i have steamed veg or salad with a bit of protein for dinner. The hunger has been bad last 2 days but I realised my water consumption has also dropped so I need to be mindful of that. Hunger+cravings are a deadly combination.

  • posted by Shortyfatfat
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    Hi Mixnmatch, I am on meds – metformin and empagliflozin. When I tried Slimfast before I quickly became aware that it had a lot of sugar and stopped it. I thought it had been reformulated with extra protein etc so have been using away at it. I’ve had trouble identifying a different brand which would suit better. All online articles seem heavily biased in favour of certain brands and to be honest it’s quite hard to find anything other than Slimfast or XLS (which I don’t know anything about) where I live. If I could get a good recommendation I would happily buy online.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi again, I have just looked up Slim Fast and the nutrition looks good with only 1g of carbs per serving.

  • posted by Pancita
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    Hi Shortyfatfat,
    Seems to me that your dinner is lacking in fatfat 😀 Put some evoo or butter on those vegetables and protein and it may increase satisfaction, decrease boredom and hunger. I remember the piles of steamed plain vegetables I used to eat on WW, so boring for me. I am much happier now with roast or stirfried.
    Just my thoughts. Best wishes!

  • posted by alliecat
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    Hello, shortyfatfat, and welcome to the community. Prior to educating ourselves on the BSD, many of us believed that
    protein is what kept us feeling satiated. It was a real discovery to learn that it’s actually healthy fat AND fiber that
    are responsible 🙂 Who knew?

  • posted by JGwen
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    I wonder if in reformulating the shakes they have replaced sugar with artificial sweeteners? This would make the product low carb when you read the packet, but they would be having the same effect on your insulin levels as they would have if you were having sugar.
    While the diet is called the blood sugar diet, science is starting to point the finger at insulin as the cause of obesity. Your body releases insulin when you eat anything, the level of insulin released is increased if what you are eating tastes sweet, and then insulin levels are increased further depending on the impact on blood sugars. Because insulin blocks your body from accessing your fat stores as an alternative source of fuel your body then craves food to supply the fuel you need.
    There are some useful links to podcasts by Dr Bikman and Dr Fung on the take a look at this thread which explain the science in more detail.

  • posted by Shortyfatfat
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    Hi, I’ve not been afraid to add proper butter to my steamed veg and add dressings to salad. What’s being said about sweetners and insulin reacting makes a lot of sense to me. I’m going to start compiling some of the BSD recipes for breakfasts and lunch and introduce them to every day instead of the Slimfast. I’d ultimately be trying to do that towards the end of the 8 weeks. My GP was not very supportive when I told her my plan to diet so radically. She told me to watch my fat intake and was sceptical about what would happen when the diet ‘came to an end’. I had to explain to her that I was fully aware that the BSD is a whole process and teaches you new eating habits for life.

  • posted by Shortyfatfat
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    Hi. Just checked the tin and it actually says Slimfast has 38g of carbs per serving! Time to switch to proper food I think.

  • posted by alliecat
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    I think you’ve GOT THIS, shortyfatfat! Understanding that this a lifestyle, and not a quick fix crash diet, means
    you are half way there already 🙂 I look forward to following your progress!

    Allie

  • posted by Jande9
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    Try to do this with close supervision by your GP as your metformin combined with low carb intake can make you hypoglycemic. You may need your medication dosage adjusted.
    Real food is better than shakes in every way. Fibre, micronutrients, bulk, etc from real food is important for your health.
    Jan

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