Cathy what great news! Am so pleased for you that the scales are finally moving downwards. Well done! I do hope you get to where you want to be by holiday time.

Thanks so much for the good wishes Skipping and Birdy. I didn’t get the job though I kind of guessed that would happen as I didn’t really feel comfortable in the interview and feel I let myself down a bit (been a long time since I’ve been interviewed!). But on the other hand, even though the money would have been great I didn’t really feel a resonance with the job and the people once I got there – and there were other considerations that I won’t bore you with but somehow it didn’t feel “right”. No big deal – I just need to be moving forward by around October before things become a little dodgy financially!

So am off on hols tomorrow. Still in the 136-138 range and will probably be a bit more than that when I come back. But I then have a clear run – no more holidays or anything lined up so can hopefully shed any extra pounds that sneak on while I’m away then go full pelt for the long-awaited 133!

Have a great weekend – Bank Holiday for those of us in the UK – and I’ll see you on the other side X

Great news Cathy, I had my fingers crossed that you’d have a loss this week 🙂
Your dress sounds lovely – enjoy the party!
DCT – it’s a shame about the job but I always believe you need to go with your gut instinct, so if it didn’t feel right it probably wasn’t. Just think it means that the right job for you is still out there somewhere. Enjoy your holiday!
Taking of jobs, my 19 yo daughter has been looking for work for a long time now and has just landed a job. It’s a basic customer service role but it’s with a large company and I am so happy for her.
I’m so much happier since I changed to part time hours after working full time for decades. It makes the whole work-life balance more
manageable.
I’ve had an up and down week, it started well with my meal prep and planning last weekend but went downhill during the week with some fast food, wine and chocolate! I must try harder!
I’ve started the day off well with scrambled eggs and avocado for breakfast, just have to keep going. I’m away from home at the moment so will weigh myself tomorrow, hoping that I’m either the same as last week or only a small gain.

Sue blue great news about your daughter’s new job. I think it so much harder for young people to find work than it was when I started out.
Another successful week of maintenance even though the scales were up and down a bit during the week. I’m not fasting this week since I’m still getting over a virus so let’s see how that effects nexts weeks weigh in.

good evening lovely peeps 🙂
I have managed to lose 4lbs since I started but was struggling to eat enough – I think I should be multiplying the kilos of my target weight by 0.7? I have been multiplying the kilos I need to lose instead!! so I was running out of my protein allowance 🙁 gym assessment tomorrow and a 24 hour fast. Bonus points for me aswell today as I resisted the chocolate my 2.5 yr old grandson was trying to feed me! hope everybody has a most fab week 🙂

Well yet another disappointing weigh in- up 2.8 lb this week! Was so disappointed! I did a couple of 24 hour fasts prior to my son’s birthday party but sadly the piece of birthday cake and the three g&t’s I enjoyed have taken me a further step backwards. It’s two steps forward and three steps backwards yet again – there is little room for manoeuvre for me and I have to be SO strict – I had hoped that I may have pulled things back and maintained!!! I’ve been really good all week following Sunday’s party too but sadly I can’t achieve 138 now before my holiday. I was 143.4 after achieving 140.6 last week so I have decided to take a break from reading and posting for a while. I feel I need to escape the constant pressure I put on myself trying to be a certain weight by a certain time and am so tired of battling over a few pounds. I am off to Turkey on 9th June so I am going to give myself some breathing space and reflect on what I’ve achieved rather than obsessing on where I want to be and feeling constantly disappointed with myself.

I may come back to the forum in a few weeks time and rejoin one of the threads. I might have to if I feel out of control!

I’ve made a lot of friends here since I joined in January 2017 and I am grateful to everyone who helped me along the way but feel I need to give myself some well needed space and kindness. I am so tired of plodding to nowhere.

Good luck to everyone on your journey. It’s been fairly quiet on this thread- are others struggling too I wonder?

Cathy

CC, have a wonderful holiday. I think you are quite right, getting upset about 4 or 5 lbs is not good for you. So relax and enjoy but maybe come back here one day!

Hi Cathy,
I was planning to fast today since I woke up feeling full from yesterday’s big meal and wine. I’ve some how managed to mindlessly plough through 1/2 bag of walnuts and a whole punnet of blueberries whilst reading this afternoon.
Maybe space is just what you need and to stop focusing on the scales. Your holiday is around the corner and it should be a joyful relaxing time. Losing weight, if that’s your ultimate aim, is important but not as important as maintaining a healthy relationship with food.
Cake and a few drinks at your son’s birthday party are something to enjoy( in my opinion) and not something you should need to fast for or feel guilty about. Life is full of celebrations that are tied up with food. For me the way to succeed is not to feel guilty but to strike a balance.
Feel proud of your success and have a fantastic holiday

Hi everyone- am on holiday so this will be brief!

Cathy I share your disappointment and can understand your need to take a break. You will be much missed – and please know that we are here for you: you have done so well and have been a total inspiration. Have a fab holiday and please come back to us after that X
IceCubeElf well done for your loss so far – and do keep going! Skipping and SixTurkeys likewise. As has been said, life has its ups and downs – and all we can do is plod on in its wake.
I’m on holiday now and have managed to keep eating the BSD way, though far more than usual (and too many drinks!). So will do a weigh in on my return then get back on board ……

Hi Cathy, I hope you enjoy your holiday, it sounds like focusing on enjoying life rather than worrying about the readings on the scales is just what you need right now.
I have noticed that there seems to be a change on both this and the weekly thread, people used to set goals for the week (which mostly involved the number of lbs they wanted to loose) and report on progress when both threads were set up and that has changed.

I have been reactive, responding to posts rather than reporting progress myself for the last few months. – I am treating myself as my own experiment, looking at how I feel with weight training, increasing physical activity on a daily basis and thinking about how practical that would be for the decades to come, and experimenting with fasting. I worry about how newcomers to this way of eating would react if I talk about my lifestyle now. – I know it would have scared me away when I started out.

In a couple of weeks time it will be time for my second MOT as a result of being on this weight training research program. The scales haven’t changed for me, but the mirror is showing changes so I am looking forward to seeing the comparison of the body composition scans.

When I did my first MOT, the guy running the test with the treadmill while wearing a mask to monitor breathing intake/gas output referred to me at the start of the test as being a big woman, and at the end of the test as being a powerful woman. – That has rattled around and around in my head over the last few months. – I like the idea of focusing on increasing power rather than focusing on the scales and with that comes the self esteem of standing with my shoulders back rather than rounded to hide how broad they are – which creates a completely different picture in the mirror.

Cathy I hope you have a wonderful holiday 🙂 a break from weigh-ins sounds like a good idea to me, we’ve been doing this for so long!
I wonder if you’d be better off focusing on keeping under a top weight rather than trying to achieve your lowest weight again? So for example if you decide you don’t want to go above 145lb then you just keep your weight under this? I know you wanted to reach 138lb before your holiday but to be honest I wonder if your actual weight even makes a difference? It’s still a good number from where I sit! I doubt I would notice a difference if say a colleague/friend fluctuated between 138 and 143lb – it’s only when people lose/gain say more than 7kg that I’d notice!

Hi JGwen, I haven’t posted on this thread before because I’m not on this leg of the road trip, I joined the forums too recently. But I might sign up next time 🙂

Anyway, just wanted to say that I love your idea of thinking of yourself as a “powerful woman”. I can see that’s a really significant shift in thinking, and an ambition I should take on too. I can’t yet – I am not powerful, at this point I am just fat (though less fat that I was a week or so ago, so that’s positive) – but it’s something to work towards. I will never be fine boned and willowy, I am way too big boned for that, but powerful is something to think about. I hope you will be OK to share on here how the body composition data change after the second measurements, as that will be just fascinating.

Also, I would love to hear what the more experienced people like you do with your WOE and lifestyle now. What tweaks have been added that really make a difference (for example fasting duration) and what really didn’t work for an individual (but may be hugely successful for someone else). I do get that it might look scary to some newcomers, but it would be also be inspiration – and potentially worth consideration – to others (e.g. me).

So for me, for example, ditching carbs and staying below 20g (or 25g on a bad day) has been relatively straightforward but didn’t actually achieve much for me. Cutting carbs dramatically worked 10 years ago, but alas not today. It was the suggestion of longer fasts as per Jason Fung’s protocols (which I found in a post from you, JGwen) that really made a difference. Without the “advanced” suggestions from more experienced people, I might well have just given up this as not working for me.

I guess I’d really love a thread on what the “old hands” are doing. That said, I do understand that part of that experience may tell you that 99% of people will find it useless – or worse so intimidating it puts them off the whole thing – so it’s not worth the risk for the 1% who like it 🙂

Hi Elky, Welcome to this thread, you don’t have to join in at the start of each thread, you can join at any time. As you may have realised there isn’t normally a paid moderator organising the threads on the forum or the content. (I say normally because I noticed for a week there was someone new who was responding to questions by quoting and giving page numbers of new book and has disappeared again. ) Last year there was a trend for people to set targets and then report on progress, some people wanted to do that on a weekly basis, others over a longer time, which is why there is a weekly thread and a road trip. – We used to religiously report our weight at the start and our goals and report progress. I am sort of glad that way of thinking has faded away, because there were so many people who were fixated on the reading of the scales and viewing themselves as a failure if they didn’t achieve a sizeable loss.
—————————–
I will be happy to share information about this weight training research as it progresses. Apparently research shows that the drift into poor health associated with ageing seems to be linked to a loss of muscle. The theory is that is if you support older people to maintain their muscle strength they stay more healthy generally. So the local university is researching what happens to the muscle structure of a group of women in their 50’s if they do just a 30 minute weight training session a week, but are using the maximum weight in that session. We are simply doing a 6 minute warm up on a cross trainer. Then 3 sets of reps with a 2 minute gap between each rep on chest press, leg press and arm pull. – With each rep you are working on the maximum weight you can use so a weight you can achieve more than 7 reps with. Then you build up the reps so once you can do more than 10 comfortably the weight is increased. Or when you get to a certain stage then the exercise is changed so that you are doing it with a lighter weight but doing one set of reps with one leg or arm and then immediately switching to the other leg or arm. At the end of the session you do a 6 minute warm down using the treadmill or exercise bike.
They did a full MOT with each of us at the start which took 3 hours. The more high tech elements included Ultrasound measurements of heart, of the main blood vessel in the neck both before and after the branches to the face and brain. They used an inflatable cuff to cut off blood supply to a lower arm/hand and used ultrasound to monitor how the blood supply / blood pressure / blood vessels responded throughout. – 4 vials of blood to run a large range of blood tests. They used special machines to measure both max weight and power output for individual arms and legs. Reaction times using one of those boards which lights up and you have to hit the lit up light. Heart rate monitor while working on an exercise bike. As well as the gas analysis on the tread mill. General tests such as getting up from sitting on the floor, how high we could jump, the time to do a little routine of walking and running forward / backwards / side to side. Testing our balance. And the body composition scan.

Personally I think they have the premise completely wrong. Its not that people give up exercising so loose muscle, so become ill. Its more likely they are not feeling at their best, so their activity levels reduce, so they loose muscle as a stage in the downwards slope.
Anyway, we have had a full MOT, then 12 weeks of the once a week session in the weights room, then we get the next MOT. Then we have 12 weeks of nothing organised exercise wise, another MOT, and the researcher mentioned last week that there will then be the option of a free membership of exercise classes at the university followed by another MOT.———— Apparently because they will then have data on us, the aim is we will be contacted about follow up research in the future. – The current plan is to monitor us over the time but I don’t know how often we will be called in for tests, or even if testing itself will change the outcome. – If the tests show a problem then I am sure that person would be told about it and help could be obtained, but that problem would have gone undetected for much longer without the tests. . Its the local university and they have quite a large department running courses on sports science, so I guess having a pool of people they already have data on makes it more likely that those people will be asked to take part in other research projects.
————————–
You mentioned that you lost a lot of water the first time round, but this time its fat and its going slower and asked for advice. Well first of all, give yourself a large pat on the back for realising this. I see so many people setting unreasonable targets for themselves. Wanting to loose lbs or kgs a week, and then feeling like a failure when they don’t achieve that. MOST OF THE RAPID WEIGHT LOSS PEOPLE ACHIEVE IS WATER LOSS. Each lb of fat is 3500 calories. Depending on how much damage you have done to your metabolic rate by yo yo dieting over the years it may take you 3 days of water only fasts a week to burn that number of calories. But 3 days of fasting also involves 3 days of higher growth hormone. Which means stronger bones and muscles, which will weigh more. So the scales are not a good way of measuring progress.

The second thing is that the Insulin to Fat burning ration isn’t a stepped curve its a very steep curve. A small amount of insulin has a large impact on fat burning. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that I am eating 50g of carbs and loosing weight as a result of counting calories so my Insulin levels must be low enough that I am burning fat. – NOPE, you will loose weight following any calorie counting method for a short time. But if your insulin levels are not low enough to be in fat burning mode (ketosis) then sooner or later your body will reduce your metabolic rate to match your calorie intake.
————————–
I am autistic, one of the aspects of that is that I do lots of background reading and research into topics that interest me. Out of that comes snippets of information that have been helpful for others to tweek their eating plans. For example, our bodies need a particular amino acid to help use fat for fuel, and the principle source of that amino acid is meat, with the next top 8 sources being off the menu if you are eating low carb. So a vegetarian needs to take a supplement. – Another issue is the importance of iron in burning fat. It isn’t going to be a one size fits all tweek. Each person has their own issues. – Every time I come across one of these snippets I post a link to it on the Take a Look at this thread. I would recommend starting with Dr Bikman’s podcasts which I posted links to in early 2018. The tweeks you may need will be different to those needed by others, I think the best way of finding out that they are for you is to learn more about the body accesses our fat stores and burns fat for fuel.
———————–
My own history is that I have been eating a carb high diet since early childhood. I have yo yo dieted at various times in my life, and always eaten a low calorie diet trying to control weight until a few years ago when I broke an ankle badly and mistakes in the NHS (lack of physio) meant that I didn’t regain pain free use. So my levels of activity dropped, my comfort eating rose, and so did my weight. The help of a trainee physio got me back on my feet, and the BSD got me down 6.5 stone back close to where I had been pre comfort eating. But that still means I have a large spare tyre, and fat thighs.

I have been reading and thinking a lot about hormone resistance. Its not just Insulin that resistance occurs with, but the whole “dance” of hormones related to hunger and what fuel source we use that gets overloaded by a high carb, 3 meals plus snacks lifestyle. It does make sense that periods of fasting allow these burnt out hormone control systems to reset.

I have tried to stick to Dr Fungs program of 36 to 42 hour fasts 3 times a week, but its not easy. – I run a small farm including holiday let, so when I get in at the end of the day I have a habit of opening the fridge and eating if there is keto friendly food in there. I came to the conclusion thats not actually something to beat myself up about, that’s not eating for eating’s sake, if there is no keto friendly food I don’t move on to none keto friendly eating. By accident last week I realised that if there is no keto friendly food in the fridge I just fast until the next time I have time to go shopping. Which was 3 days later. So thats going to be my program over the summer.

Thanks JGwen, your words are very effective in reinforcing the message about how we can stay fat burning.

I realize that I can’t simply eat low carb without restriction, I will put back on the cm that took months to discard.

I have been eating well but not recording the portion or weighing my food. I have been enjoying the nectarines and strawberries of the summer by themselves and in cakes.
I have had large fried breakfasts 3 times a week.

I am going to return to the pattern that worked before, no fried foods for breakfast and weighing my food to make sure that I stay within 800 calories and under 50g carb

Yes Jgewn your words as always spur us on. I am too going back to weighing everything and putting it into MFP. It has only been a week but it feels like forever. I have 2.5 stones to discard but I will happy if it is just inches I lose., I love that all my old shorts that were shoved in the cupboard out of sight because they were too small, are now ironed and ready to wear because they fit again. Keep and keeping on and only 19days until the ball. Good luck to you all on this leg of your journey.💞🦜❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰

Hi Patricia1066 and Birdy.
In time it may be that you can increase your carb intake, the recommended level for an endurance athlete in training is around the 100g mark. –
Its not forever, when you get to the size you want to be, or if you step off the waggon for a little while then you can go back to -today I will eat a little more with carbs knowing I will put fat on, tomorrow I will not have carbs and burn that fat off. —————-
Its just that if you are consistently trying to loose weight by eating less calories than you burn, but are eating carbs then sooner or later your body will reduce your metabolic rate. If you are Insulin Resistant, then the boundary of too many carbs is very low.

Thank you JGwen even though I have had a week off as it were I have been mindful of my carb in take as it is those naughty things that make us fall down and the weight creep up. When I was in Devon I had two and half scones with clotted cream and jam, I also ate 4 bits of chocolate brownie but I have been good since. I had started to get my protein intake down before I went away but that has gone back up slightly. I still haven’t eaten rice, pasta or potatoes and when everyone ate french pastries I stayed away and ate bacon sausage and egg when we stopped at lunch time on our way home. I have had alcohol but that is now gone for the forceable future as I know it will stop the fat burning. I am back to making sure my carbs stay at 20g or lower and I am aiming to get my protein down from 50g to 40g a little off at a time. I am so glad it is payday tomorrow as I desperately need to go shopping to get all that I need in for the week and my two night shifts. I love this WOE and it really does suit me and it works. You are a great help and I appreciate all your advice. Thank you 🙏 you are a star 🌟❤️💞🦜

Hi everyone
Sorry I haven’t posted for so long. As I just mentioned on the October thread I’ve been away from home for over a month – a mix of helping with a house move, family visits and a holiday. I left earlier than planned and had no internet hence the ‘radio silence’.

I’ve not done too bad while I was away. I’ve kept low carb – I’ve been doing low carb for over 3 years now (anniversary was in May) so that’s generally not a problem these days, even on holiday, (for me it’s portion size that I have to watch!). I suspect I’d put on a few pounds before the holiday, but I generally lose a few pounds on holiday as I increase the activity levels. Anyway, I weighed myself yesterday morning. I’m now 9st 11lbs, so 4lbs down over the month. Another 4lbs to lose to reach my 9st 7lbs target for this road trip.

Welcome Elky and yes, the conversation about exercise is fascinating.

JGwen, I’m also particularly interested in exercise and muscle maintenance etc in older women (as I am one) – that’s one of my main interests at the moment – so the research study results will be really interesting. For me, I loved running and doing outdoor activities as a child but hated PE at school. As soon as I left school I did no activity at all, I was a couch potato all my life (albeit a very busy one) and only started walking, going to a gym when I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes 3 years ago. So, for me, I think I might fit in with the University’s premise i.e. people give up exercising so lose muscle, so become ill – or maybe not ill, but just weaker, less mobile, particularly as you get older.
Seeing friends my age recently really brought home how quite a few of us are developing physical limitations yet we’re all only in our early to miid-60s. It really brought home to me the importance of developing strength and fitness for my older years. While I started going to the gym and walking 3 years ago, it has been sporadic, so it is one of those big lifestyle changes I’m still trying to develop as a long-term thing! All interesting stuff.

It’ll take me a while to catch-up with everyone’s posts but CC I’ve just read yours – hope you have a great holiday and break – and come back once you’re feeling refreshed xx.
Jennie xx

HI Jennie and welcome back: sounds like you’re making really good progress despite all your recent travels. Well done! We have the same goal for this trip so fingers crossed we make it by the end. I have just come back from holiday during which I put on a couple of pounds so now have 5lb to go to target. I leave my current job at the end of the trip too so it would be an absolute joy to finally achieve the goal I have been gradually working towards for over 2 years now.

But on the other hand SueBlue I do like your idea of having an upper boundary rather than a lower target. I personally find that my weight tends to vary within a 2-3lb range and also that whenever the lower boundary drops (finally!) to the next pound down it will take a week or two to “settle”. So 2-3 weeks before my holiday it was dipping on and off into the 136’s then the week just before I went away was hitting that every morning, then down to 136.0 on the day I went. And has now bounced up to the 138’s again! So whilst I do have a lower goal to aim for, I think that for maintenance it probably makes more sense to have an upper weight that you know you need to take action if you go above it, rather than feeling despondent if you don’t stay at your low 24/7.

But as others have said, scales are not the whole story, there is so much more going on in our bodies. All the information you have posted JGwen is really helpful on this so thank you for that – you have such a good knowledge about all this and are always able to point us in the right direction!

Keep going everyone X

Hi All,
I’ve been enjoying all the discussions — sorry I haven’t posted for awhile — I don’t have much to report except that I’m doing what Sunshinegirl always says, just keeping on keeping on!
I still keep almost completely low carb — breakfast is usually two tablespoons heavy cream in two cups of coffee (2 Tablespoons total — I use a measuring spoon); lunch is green salad with chicken or tuna, hard boiled egg, pumpkin seeds or other nuts, a few olives, cheese, avocado and homemade olive oil dressing; dinner is fish, chicken or beef with usually 2 side veggies and a glass of wine. I avoid snacking as much as possible, but if I give in it will be walnuts or leftover meat or cheese. That is basically my every day food life, unless we go out to eat!
I’m having some trouble in restaurants because there are a lot of carbs included with most entrees here, but I’m trying to find a few restaurants where I don’t have to struggle — still looking — I’m going to try a Greek restaurant this week!
In line with what JGwen has talked about, and to encourage others, I am still not weighing myself. I use my measuring tape — I hope I may never again have to think about my weight in a numbers-sense — it is just irritating. I’m also a “strong” woman, reasonably tall with good bones and big muscles so I will never fit the “perfect BMI” score. I am proud of my beautiful athletic build and I have no interest in fitting into their “one size fits all” program.
I am now three years in maintenance and I am happy with my current weight.
So, a couple of other things, I think it was 6Turkeys who commented on the article in the Telegraph about high fat diets and epilepsy. That dovetails with what Dr Perlmutter (Board certified U.S. neurologist) says — fat is PROTECTIVE of your brain — fat and cholesterol are your brains best friends. And fat keeps us satiated and helps us say “no” to carbs! It’s a double win because sugar is actively damaging to your brain —that’s why they are calling Alzheimer’s type-3 diabetes!!
When you eat fat instead, you protect your brain and in my opinion, that is the #1 reason to go low carb, even if you never lost a pound (but of course, you will!).
I only maybe disagree with limiting our protein — protein helps build that wonderful muscle, and muscle (as JGwen states) is VITAL to staying healthy. If you lose muscle as you age, it becomes harder and harder to get it back (our bodies simply don’t work as well) so it is critical to do everything possible to protect it — weight lifting and eating enough high quality protein.

Hi CG. Hope all is well in Bath. Yes, I mentioned the Telegraph article, but didn’t know about the Alzheimer’s aspect. That’s really interesting. Today I did weigh myself, down to 71kg from starting point of 86kg in January. Target of discarding 6 turkeys (24 kg) now in single figures, but more importantly, I also just tried on a new pair of size 12 jeans – exactly the same style (M&S cheapest) as the fairly new-ish size 14 ones (which feel definitely looser) to try and make sure it’s not just a different cut or fit. Thighs, bottom and hips all good; still a bit to go to zip up over my jelly belly, but something to aim for for the end of this road trip! I remember how I felt fitting into an old size 16 skirt where at the start there seemed an insurmountable number of inches to lose to close the waist gap. So I am feeling positive that I will get there; slow and steady and blips notwithstanding! Best wishes to all.

About fats protecting the brain. I saw an ex cricketer (cant remember his name – something panesar) talking on TV this morning. He had to retire due to schizophrenia which he didn’t know he had. He went to see a ‘well known’ doctor who said he wanted to try holistic therapy and put him on a low carb, high fat diet along with meditation, yoga etc and he has not had any psychotic episodes since. I have also heard some reports of other neurological condition like epilepsy, AHAD etc. So, there are so many things we dont know about the effects diet can have on us in many ways.

6t great news about the loss of another turkey and the JOTF. How many kilos are in each turkey.
Sunshine- girl, if I remember rightly you’re in the UK now. Is brits love our carbs. I think it’s a hangover from rationing in WW11. My gran always used to serve at least two lots of cArbs with a meal. Normally bread and potatoes.
It’s cheap and filling. Even before I was eating like I am now I used to return from the uk feeling like I was going to explode.

Unless 1’ve not done the math correctly, 1 th1nk 6T 1s calculat1ng each turkey at 8.8lbs, Sk1pp1ng 🙂 We both must be
a t1ny b1t eccentr1c, as 1’ve had to 1nvent a new alphabet to commun1cate w1th you all! 1 really enjoy be1ng teased about
1t, however. Rel1ef 1s on the way though, because the new keyboard has arr1ved from Ch1na, and SUPPOSEDLY 1 should
be back 1n bus1ness w1th a new keyboard by m1d week. 1t’s only been 7 weeks!!! Feel1ng bound and gagged and unable
to respond to ema1l has been m1serable 🙂 1 can really relate, 6T….the jelly belly was the last to go for me, too! You w1ll
absolutely GET THERE, 1 know…1 th1nk you know th1s too 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hello lovely Allie great to see you on here and glad your keyboard is on its way. Hurray 🤣❤️ Ok so I have a question! JGwen, Allie, Wendy and anyone else. How do we get enough fibre naturally and not go over our carbs. Please help! The only day I remotely got close was when I consumed foods I shouldn’t have and over 2000 calories😱😱😱. Thank you Birdy💞🦜

Hi Birdy ! I put a couple of teaspoons of psyllium husk powder in warm water and drink that in the morning if I am having transit issues …and another favourite is chia seeds in Greek yoghurt.I made chia ‘jam’ for a while too which is just a few berries softened over a low heat with a dash of water and chia seeds .It produces a gloopy jam like consistency which is nice in yoghurt xx

Allie is quite right; 1 turkey = 4kgs = 8.8 lbs. When that is reached I will hopefully be in another size down (10!) – and that will be for the first time in , ooh, 10 years? And a real possibility by the autumn, 9 months after starting. I know my discard has been slower than others, but I am very happy to take my time about it – especially as I have been off piste so many times, so thinking that maintenance might be easier as sometimes I do think I am just coasting along! What I do need to try and do now is “tone”. Answers on a postcard please! I do know that I would not be here without the support and tips from you all!

We’re del1ghted that you ARE st1ll here, 6T! L1ke everyth1ng 1n the U.S, our turkeys are overs1zed. 1 don’t th1nk that
1’ve ever seen one less than 12lbs. Fast or slow, we all get to where we want to go, and a s1ze 10 garment here 1s the
equ1valent to a 12 on your s1de of the pond. Don’t you feel wonderful!?! Are you f1nd1ng th1ngs 1n your closet that
you d1dn’t remember that you st1ll had? Have you tr1ed do1ng planks for ton1ng? You may well surpr1se yourself that
you are able to do them! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi All, just popping in to say hello really

Dreamscometrue, you are exactly right with the weight going up and down a bit until it finally drops, and then it takes a while to settle again. I have this happen too, it was driving me mad until I started reading you all on here and realised it was pretty normal. I think JGwen talked about weight loss being stepwise rather then linear, which is it precisely. I just have to watch the long term trends, I guess lol

JGwen, thank you for all the information you posted here, I will certainly look up your posts on Dr Bikman and watch out for iron levels. You are also so right about the trap of “oh wait, it looks like I can go up to 50g a day if …” Yes, I absolutely can’t: down that path lies plain old low calorie weight loss and slower metabolism. Been there, done that, got fatter. Sigh. It is such a trap and I need to watch out really carefully for the “creep”.

Wendleg, thanks for the tip on chia seeds in Greek yoghurt. I haven’t tried chia seeds yet but so many people mention them that I think I must.

Have a good day everyone.

Birdy76: By getting fibre naturally do you mean wholefoods only, no extracts? I don’t think you can follow Dr Mosley’s guidelines to eating a variety of different types of fibres for health on a low carbohydrate programme without supplementing. Dr Mosley seems fine with supplementing fibres: both inulin powder and potato starch (not potato flour) feature in his ‘Clever Guts Diet’ book, and coconut flour and inulin are in his ‘Fast 800’ meal replacement shakes.

Semi-cheats include consuming whole linseeds. These are indigestible to humans if not ground so the calories and minerals stay locked in, but the soluble fibre releases as the seeds ‘soak’ whilst in our digestive system. Chia seeds are even higher in soluble fibre, low in carbs, and are digestible.

Tracking down wholegrains that have been selectively bred for natural mutations that render them very high in resistant (non caloric) starch, then cooking and cooling to increase that even further. Apparently there are high resistant starch barley, wheat and maize subspecies, probably others. Obviously there are still some (blood sugar friendly) complex carbs so these wholegrains might be better for maintenance than active fat loss?

HTH!

Morning all! Thank you Firefox I have chia seeds and I am going to try them today. It is hard on this woe to get enough fibre so I will try the seeds and see how I get on. I want to get MM Clever Guts as I suffer with gerd and it can be quite painful 😖.

Morning Elky I am way to frightened to go above 20g of carbs as I still have a lot of weight to discard and I don’t want my metabolism to go down. I have been reading Dr Fungs. Complete guide to fasting and I am go to get back into it as I find it really helps. I have my blood test next week so I am hoping the results will reflect the work I have done over the last 11 weeks and they won’t tell me I am prediabetic! I have tested my own bloods and it said 4.1 and not 6 so that is a good start. Thank you Wendy for your suggestion I am going to get some yogurt today and try the Jam and chia seeds🤗. I am hoping to lose 4lbs by the 22nd so we shall see how I do. Hope you all have a good day. Birdy💞🦜

Hi Birdy,
I do like the quality of assessments Dr Bikman makes of the different pieces of research. By co-incidence I had recently seen a link to a blog post he wrote about fibre and I thought you may find it interesting.
https://www.insuliniq.com/dietary-fiber-and-insulin-resistance/?fbclid=IwAR28Pc7Qzbp3Bds982JN_7h1XM1Fa_21S0mBpYeTw5SID-Ao4Y9M7ENEy9I

Thank you Jgwen for the link I have just read it. I kinda understood ir🤣. So there are no concrete answers that fibre actually helps? Is that what he is saying. Sorry Birdy💞🦜

Morning all I have smashed this leg of my road trip❤️ I wanted to discard 4lbs by the time I went to the ball! I did my fast and I have actually discarded 6lbs! I am over the moon and I am hoping to do the same again next week! I might get into the dress I want to wear if I can keep going at this rate. As always thank you all for all your support to everyone on this road trip. Love and hugs Birdy💞🦜

Wow Birdy well done! That’s great news and will hopefully inspire us all on here 🙂

You’ve given me renewed drive to really go for it to achieve my long-pursued goal of 133lb. This was always my aim since starting the BSD in January 2017. At that stage I didn’t expect it to last to be honest, but the weight just started dropping off though then that slowed and I’ve had various plateaus and regains along the way. I’m now back into the 136’s after a couple of recent holiday gains. I leave my job in mid-July and really really want to walk out with my head held high and 133 on the scales. Finally! 4.5 weeks and 3lb to go so it’s do-able. Wish me luck!!!

Hope everyone else doing ok on here? X

I am so please DCT❤️ I am now down 3 stone altogether now. I think when it comes to fasting the first 12 hours are the hardest then it is virtually plain sailing. I am going to do it again from Sunday morning until Monday evening as I have found it helps so much. I have two weeks until the summer Ball and I have a dress but I would like it to fit even better by then! I want to be able to dance the night away in it😂. Good luck on the next leg of your journey I am here and cheering you on! You can do it hun😉💞🦜

Hi everyone
Birdy – isn’t that fantastic – a 6lb discard and 3 stone down in total. Yes, you will go to the Ball, and you’re going to look great in that dress.
Dreamscometrue – I’m also cheering you on – you can definitely do it. Only 3lbs to go – woohoo! You are going to walk out of that job at 133, and absolutely with your head held high!! I’m 1lb down this week (now 9st 10lbs), so I’ve also only got 3lbs to go to get to that target. Hurray!
JGwen – I’ve added the Benjamin Bikman blog post to my list of reading. I’m also a fan of his stuff.
SueBlue – I also like your idea of having an upper weight boundary or a small weight range within which you’re happy to sit rather than focusing on a fixed number. It’s what I did after I’d lost my weight first time round (sadly after 18 months maintenance I relapsed and put some weight back on), and it’s what I’ll do this time too. Btw, sorry it’s belated but congratulations to your daughter on her job – hope it’s going well for her.
6T, cg and s-girl – I didn’t see Telegraph article but I do remember hearing a programme on Radio 4 last year where they talked about putting children with severe epilepsy on a low carb diet and the positive impact it had.
californiagirl – yes, it’s interesting what you say about the need for high quality protein for the reasons you say. I’ve certainly seen info about the importance of higher levels of protein than usually quoted for older women/people. Nowadays, I try to stay aware of my protein intake but generally follow my instinct – if I eat higher levels I tend to think it’s because my body needs it.

Hope everyone else is going well
Jennie xx

Hello everyone. I’ve not weighed myself for over a week, just because as others have said, it became depressing and demoralising! Maybe I’ll weigh once per month! There is a huge difference now when, sitting down, I bend over my knees to dry my hair upside down and I can practically reach the floor, such is the deflation of my apple belly! I still have a long way to go – about 4 1/2 stone to my top target of 11, and 3 stone already discarded! Birdy, I started 22 months ago and have discarded 3 stone – you’ve managed it in 11 weeks! I am very inspired and impressed! Anyway, it is good to be back and be posting again. 🙂
Kazzeex

Hi guys hope we are all well. Thank you Jenni10 I have a bit to go to get into the dress I really want to wear but I don’t think I can do it in two weeks even with the fasting😂. But have no fear I have a back up❤️

Hello kazzee oh my gosh what an amazing thing to be able to do again! It is the simple things that can make us glow sometimes hun🤗. I remember not so long ago when I realised I could paint my toenails without getting out of breath because I wasn’t squashing my lungs in th effort with my big tummy😂. I was over the moon. I go ages without weighing as for three weeks they never moved. I really need to get my body measured by the OH when he gets back from Japan as I haven’t done it in weeks! I was using my inch loss rather than th scales. Kazz you will do it I still have another 3 stone to discard so we can help each other. You guys have been so so supportive of me and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Going back to how long we have both been doing this it is yet another example of how we all lose differently. Kazzee we have got this and I am here cheering you hun 🥰🥰 Birdy 💞🦜

Hello trippers

I am back from my holiday, well rested and with renewed enthusiasm to continue on my weight loss journey with you all. To get me back into the swing of BSD I have joined the weekly thread as I think weekly goals will help me get back on track but I am also back on here to enjoy being part of this thread with my friends. I did brave the scales today but only as a benchmark to see where I am and I know where I am aiming to be. It wasn’t good news as was expected. The scales are not my friend and I am refusing to let them rule me but do need to use them occasionally to check on progress. I will do some good work to get back into my rather tight jeans but guess what, I wore a pair of shorts on my holiday and my husband said my legs looked great! So, I am back again and raring to get back to being low carb and healthy once more. I am going to a sixtieth birthday party at a friends house in Stratford at the beginning of August and would like to feel comfortable and look good in my size 12 clothes which currently are feeling tight so that is my first goal. There is no option to go up a size as when I got to goal i got rid of everything that was too big. So here goes again for me and I will enjoy reading your success stories for inspiration. Coffee and cream for breakfast, Greek yoghurt with raspberries for lunch and an omelette with mushrooms and cheese and salad leaves for tea this evening. I am DETERMINED to be back at goal for my second anniversary in November.

Hi CC,
lovely to hear that you enjoyed your holiday and found renewed enthusiasm to beat the weight creep.
Dreamscometrue, how’s it going? cheering you on for your sashay out of work in a few weeks.

I’ve not been posting because i have nothing to report- in a good way. I’m still obsessed with the scales but maintaining and feeling more relaxed about eating. I’m fasting one day a week until dinner, eating healthily the other 4 days and doing what i like at the weekend. I’m expecting things to go a bit awry during my holidays but that’s fine.I’ll join the next road trip to spur me on. I’m really enjoying eating lots of the fruit and veg that I denied myself due to their comparatively high carb content, especially lentils and chickpeas. I’ ve eaten bread a few times and it seems to leave me feeling uncomfortable the next day so I don’t fancy it anymore.

As usual, my nothing to say has filled a few lines.

Hi CC and welcome back! Glad you had a good holiday and have come back determined to move forward yet with everything a bit more in perspective.

Jennie10 and Skipping thanks for your good wishes. I embarked on a mini 4 week programme for myself yesterday. That’s how long I have left in my job and if I can manage to lose 1lb per week between now and then I will finally be at target. In a way I’m setting myself up to fail, as my weight loss is sporadic rather than linear – but it’s exciting to have something to aim for, and hopefully I’ll manage to achieve at least some of it by then!

Good luck to everyone and keep posting so we can cheer each other on X

DCT- I am wishing you the very very best for your four week programme. It would be FANTASTIC for you to get a double whammy- leaving work and at goal and you’ve worked so hard this year to stay so low with your weight! Weight loss is a difficult science and things don’t always go to plan but it sounds like this could literally be your dream come true and your four week programme may just get you there! I am cheering you on DCT and I am so excited and happy for you. This has been a long slog for some of us and you are almost at the finishing line. Come on- you can do it. We are all cheering you on. Your resilience is inspiring me to keep going and hopefully we will both become members of the 133 club in 2019!

Many thanks Cathy! Lovely words and very encouraging. I do hope that you also achieve your dream and look forward to following your progress on here as we chug along to that finishing line together X

I heard yesterday that they are unfortunately going to change the research program I am a guinea pig on. They were going to follow the 3 month weight training session, with a 3 month of doing your own thing with another body scan, followed by a free gym membership for 3 months with a further body scan. Sadly that has now condensed by dropping the do your own thing and have a scan section.
I would have liked to have had the option of doing no gym, normal daily life including fasting and scan, as well as a period of keto, weight training to build muscle and scan. So I will have to see if I can sweet talk my way into getting the option of using the body composition monitor in the future.
I am going to go back to first principles for the next 3 months. – I am restarting logging everything I eat and focusing in staying in ketosis.

JGwen, you may find that the body monitor scan is available privately, even though it is in use by the university program. In Westminster university there is a Dex scan available for £60 without advice or consulting, which is why it usually cost a lot more.

I am going into maintenance now, and will get a scan now and in six months. That will help me understand how I have adapted to change in my eating patterns long term. I will be in ketosis only for a one day weekly fast. Otherwise I will gradually increase to 2300 TDEE.

My breathalyser arrived today- the first one I bought was faulty and had to be returned. As I am on a mission to get back to my goal weight and I am trying super hard this week I ordered a new one- The breathalyser worked and registered 0.6 so I am burning fat. Thanks JGwen for the technique tip.

DCT- are you on track? Just wondering if your first pound has gone towards your 133 lb goal. ? I lost 4lb this week following my holiday so feel happy about that. I won’t be in the 133 club for quite some time yet but I am hoping that you are almost there. I am cheering you on! #comeon

Hi Cathy great to hear from you and well done on such a fantastic loss!!! So glad you’re on the move again – keep going!!

I’m stalling at the moment – still in the 137-138 range but not been back at 136 for a couple of weeks now. Will do my best to get back there by the end of this week then shed at least one more pound by the time I leave work. Had hoped to be further forward by now but and caught up in all kind of frenzied activities and it’s a bit of a struggle. But I’m in a happy place and know that I’ll soon have more time and energy to sort myself out.

Sending good vibes to you all and hope to hear some good news over the rest of our trip X

DCT – those last few pesky pounds are so difficult to shift. Like you say, you’re in a happy place and I love your positivity and also your patience, resilience and support has inspired me to keep going. I am plodding slowly towards my goal again with renewed determination. Slow and steady wins the race! My husband is off to Glastonbury Festival tomorrow so I will be on my own for the next week and am hoping to lose another couple of pounds before he gets back next Tuesday.

Keep plodding trippers.

Hi All,
I’m just about to go out for my morning walk but thought I’d quickly report in first. I’m doing well at the moment; I’ve managed to lose 2lbs since I last posted (although that is over 2 weeks ago!). I’m happy with that as I’ve been away from home for most of that time.
I’m now 9st 8lbs (134lbs) and 1lb away from my July 12th target.
My other aim i.e. to get back to regular activity isn’t going quite so well; I’m walking most days but my visits to gym/classes have been more sporadic than they should have been. What’s that old school report line ‘Could do better’! Anyway, I’m home now for a good few weeks with nothing planned until mid-August so time to get that routine sorted.

Hope everyone else is doing well. The first of July – a new, fresh unsullied month for us to move forward into – lovely!
Will catch up later.
Jennie xx