Hi everybody!
Start weight: 17st 8lb
Weight now: 16st 6lb
Had my Week 4 weigh-in on Tuesday evening – loss for the week 2lb.
Realise I am not going to lose weight as quickly as I had hoped. My goal was to be a ‘normal’ weight and in size 14 jeans by the end of June. I need to be much stricter and walk more, then hopefully I could lose 2.5lb a week. If I do this I should lose another 3st by end of June and weigh around 13st 6lb, probably not quite into those size 14 jeans.
But – there is an amazing improvement! When I started the diet on 1st February I had the typical symptom of diabetes – making alot of urine at night, waking twice with great urgency to wee. Apparently this is because the kidneys are working over-time trying to get rid of the sugar. About a week ago I found I was only waking once – and last night I didn’t wake at all for a wee, slept right through and just did a little wee when I got up. I have more blood tests this Friday so very hopeful my FBS will be much lower.
Keep going everybody!
Nancy x

Hi Michele62 – thanks for the support. And well done on losing half your goal weight – that’s fantastic.

NancyB – loss is still loss and means everything is going in the right direction (i.e. down) so well done!!

Haven’t posted much recently because it’s been a busy and emotional time for me for one reason or another but I just wanted to catch up quickly.

Turns out sitting in a sauna for five minutes followed by a steam room for five minutes to ease your cold is actually cheating the day before your weigh-in and that 7lbs was really more like 5lbs. (I put on 2lbs the following day – I did think it was pretty dramatic weight loss for 1 week.

Another thing I’ve discovered – coconut flour and almond flour are not as similar as you think. Certainly you should substitute them like for like in a recipe as coconut flour turns your pancake batter into dough and then you end up bitterly disappointed and raging at the world!!

Other than that my week has been pretty harmless. I have failed to drink enough, I have failed to exercise enough – managing my step count and not much more plus one half hour session of yoga in my living room that was somewhat compromised by the dog I’m pup-sitting liking my feet and placing toys in my outstretched hands as I tried and failed to follow the poses on the DVD.

I hope everyone else is doing well. I need to start thinking about booking my end of diet blood test and follow up GP appt. Judging by the blood glucose tests I’m doing throughout the day, I think I’m going to get a very good response back from my GP. I’m hopeful anyway…

Also NancyB – great news about the health improvement. That’s the most important thing! Let us know how your blood tests go on Friday – fingers crossed for you xx

Hi Shanshu
You are doing brilliantly with your weight loss – well done! What do you weigh now?
I’ve just got back from a 8,000 step walk, trying hard to do more walking.
I will miss my Tuesday weigh-in this week as will be in Brighton for the night helping a friend who is having transgender surgery.
What has happened to Gillykins who started this thread?
The posts for our end January start date are getting very thin on the ground. Everybody can’t have fallen by the wayside surely?
Keep going everybody!
Nancy x

It has got very quiet in here but hopefully people are lurking and are still battling on.

I’ll ignore the 4lbs I lost in the week before starting the diet by cutting down a bit on carbs. I started the diet at 17st 6.4lbs (244.4lbs) and as of today have now lost 26lbs in nearly five weeks bringing me to 15st 8.4lbs (218.4lbs).

I think walking has made a huge difference for me so I hope you find it rewarding too. I have a very sedentary lifestyle but now with my Fitbit, it is now rare that I do less than 11,000 steps a day. I’m also trying to push myself more so today I did a 5 mile walk. The first two miles I did as fast I could even on the hills. By the time I was done I was sweaty but not massively out of breath and heart racing. Which always used to happen at the slightest exertion but I’m clearly a lot fitter now. The last 3 miles were at a gentler place as I met up with my housemate and the dog we’re pup sitting for a gentle walk by the river.

I’m conscious now though that I need to challenge myself more with the walking. I’ll go out for another fast 1+ mile walk tonight to get an aubergine for dinner. I’m considering joining a gym but it’s so expensive…

Hi all

I’ve been following everyone else’s posts but not posting myself, sorry. Between work, two teenagers and a poorly elderly relative who lives an hour away by car, I don’t seem to have time to turn around lately!

Anyway, I have been mostly keeping on with the BSD, but admit to a couple of days last weekend and this where it’s gone out of the window a bit and also the carbs have crept in. I was planning to have one last splurge today, but after a couple of days with the odd naughty treat topped off with a lasagne last night, I fell asleep on the sofa at 8.30pm before calling it a night and going to bed at 9! I then woke this morning with really puffy eyes, itchy skin and achey joints, feeling absolutely knackered and a bit teary. Not sure if it’s wheat / gluten, sugar or something else that’s crept back in over the last couple of days but it’s enough to put me back onto the straight and narrow today. Apart from the kilo or so extra that’s now showing on the scales, it’s really not worth eating food that I can now see makes me feel absolutely pants… 🙁 !

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend, and well done all on the amazing progress you’re posting!

Hi Shanshu
Your weight loss is amazing – in the same time you have lost 10lb more than me.
Have you stuck rigidly to the 800 cals, or like me have you had some alcohol along the way and sometimes gone over to around 900 cals?
I think for me more walking is the answer.
Perhaps age has something to do with it – I am 57 – perhaps you are alot younger than me?
This weekend is the first time I have lapsed on the carbs. Saturday night out at friend’s house I am afraid I had crisps and prawn crackers. Last evening out for a meal there wasn’t much that was BSD friendly so had a fishcake (potato) and vegetables.
Today I am back on track!
Keep going!
Nancy x

Hi JuJu68 – glad to hear you are still here. I sometimes find it difficult to keep up with the diet and every day life and I don’t have any dependents so have a lot of respect for people trying to do both. It’s really interesting to hear that breaking the diet made you feel ill. I had been suffering all manner of gut problems before doing this diet and they’ve almost completely cleared up now. I really do think that maybe I actually did have a gluten or sugar allergy and it wasn’t just the diabetes. It definitely helps me to keep on with the fresh low carb stuff. I’m really noticing that on the odd occasions when I have processed food, it just doesn’t taste nice.

Hi NancyB – I’ve been pretty rigid with the 800 cals with the occasional days when I’ve gone a little over but not by more than 50 cals and balanced by days of being under. I haven’t had any alcohol – I didn’t think I’d miss it but there’s been several nights when I would have killed for a glass of wine. I’ve also kept below 50g carbs and often below 30g carbs. I’m also 37 so you may be right that age is a factor. But also I’ve gone from walking an average of less than 20,000 steps a week to nearly 100,000 steps a week and half of those steps would be done at speed to get my heart rate up. When I started the walking I was 2 stone more so I burnt a lot of calories doing 11,000+ steps a day. Now I’m finding I have to push myself a lot faster and longer to burn the same amount of calories (which is a good sign I guess).

Weigh day today.

Total loss this week = 3.2lbs. A lot less than last week (7lbs) but as I put 2lbs on the following day (the loss was probably sauna-related), I think I actually lost 5lbs last week and 5lbs againthis week because I had to burn off those 2lbs that crept back on and have lost 3.2lbs more. So…

Total loss so far = 32.2lbs
Total loss on diet = 28.2lbs

So… I’ve lost the weight of my friend’s Corgi/Jack Russell cross or a 2.5yr old!!

I’m still measuring myself but not overly convinced on the accuracy of this but here’s the overall stats:

Bust = 16cm
Chest = 15cm (under the bra)
Hips = 8cm
Waist = 13.5cm

BIG NEWS: My BMI is now finally less than 40. Can’t tell you how happy I am about this. I’m taking the little victories wherever I can get them!

So what’s next for people? I’ve got 3 weeks to go and I’m sure others have a similar amount of time left.

The immediate plan will be to have a blood test and see the doc and find out her thoughts on my diabetes.

I’m basically planning on carrying on the diet but being a little less strict on the weekend. I’ll try to keep my calories and carbs down on the weekend but I will allow myself the odd glass of wine (or two if its my birthday) and I won’t worry so much about calories when going out for dinner but will make sure it’s an ‘allowed’ meal in terms of ingredients.

I know this will slow my weight loss and I may start another 8 week cycle a little further in the year but I don’t want to be so hard on myself that I end up giving up completely. Plus I think it will be good for me to try maintaining a bit for a short while so that I get in the practice of doing it.

Hi everybody!
Just got my 4 week blood test results:
1 Feb HbA1c = 43, FBS = 7.9, ALT = 57
2 Mar HbA1c = 40, FBS = 6.3, ALT = 27
Very pleased with these results. Need to work harder to get the FBS to within a normal range. Most thrilled with the ALT liver test which shows how much damage the liver has suffered, this number has more than halved! A miracle!
Will ask my doctor if we can repeat the tests in 8 weeks’ time.
Nancy x

NancyB – that’s absolutely fantastic!! Are you taking any meds for your diabetes or did you try the diet first? (I really had to fight one of the doctors I was sent to who wanted to treat my diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure straight away without seeing if the diet would work -therefore meaning I couldn’t tell what was achieved through diet and what was achieved through meds).

If you’re not taking metformin or insulin then you’ve gone from being diabetic to being pre-diabetic (and the low end of that scale) in under five weeks. It’s great that your hard work has been so successful. I’m just about to email my GP to get a blood test ordered for the end of my 8 weeks to see how effective it has been but I know that my Blood Pressure is now comfortably in the healthy range whereas before I had Stage 1 hypertension so I’m hopeful that my results will be similar to yours.

Hi Shanshu
I was only diagnosed at the beginning of February so I’m not on any meds. The doctor was happy for me to try to redress the situation with the BSD.
My blood pressure is usually pretty good, but I forgot to ask the nurse this afternoon who ran through the results with me about my cholesterol.
Bit of a challenge next day or so, driving down to Brighton v early tomorrow morning taking friend to hospital so spending the day roaming around Brighton before checking into my Airbnb at 4.30pm. Taking hard boiled eggs with me for breakfast Wed morning, and have BSD chilli reading to microwave tomorrow evening.
Nancy x

Hi everyone – how is it going? Today I reached another milestone – I have lost 25% of the total weight I wanted to lose (which was well over 100lbs) so that’s my positive moment to get me through the day.

NancyB – how did Brighton go? I’m there next weekend for a 40th bday party and I have no idea how I’m going to stay on diet.

Hi Shanshu
I had a great 24hr mini/micro holiday in Brighton. Stayed in the wonderful Airbnb The Garden Room in Ovingdean where I enjoyed the hot tub sipping wine in the moonlight! Walked into Brighton from Ovingdean which took an hour and a quarter and then walked lots more around The Lanes. Had a great lunchtime in Riddle and Finns the champagne and oyster bar in The Lanes was very good just had clam chowder no bread and squid no bread – with a few glasses of champagne. Took with me a portion of BSD chilli which I warmed up in a microwave in my room and had two hard boiled eggs in the morning. Highly recommend the champagne and oyster bar has great atmosphere, great food and great fun.
Enjoy the 40th birthday party!!
Nancy x

Wow, Shanshu – make us all jealous, why don’t you? 😉

Sounds as though you had a great time, enjoying great food which was not too BSD unfriendly.

Oh, and well done on your getting I/4 of the way to your goal – quite a milestone 🙂

Hi everyone,

Apologies I have not posted for ages, but I will explain why below. I have just read through your most recent posts and you are all doing amazingly well. It’s really good to know that we are all struggling with the same things, ie everyday life and situations crashing over our BSD plans, but we are all managing to ride out these little storms and, in the words of Winston Churchill “KBO, Keep buggering on” 🙂

So I last posted about three weeks ago, just after I had met my diabetes doctor who know of the BSD, really encouraged my efforts and who was happy for me to give the diet a try and not give me drugs, etc. It was also just before I went away for an almost two week business event/conference in Barcelona. So imagine hotel room biscuits, full carb/fat breakfasts available each day along with buffet lunches, pastries and biscuits in all coffee breaks, cocktail events and finally boozy business meals in the evening. Plus we had an event office which had food available for us staff, which I christened “carb hell” 🙂

Anyway, thanks to the BSD and knowing I wanted to be able to report by success to you lot, I managed to return after 10 days in Barcelona having put on less than 1/2lb in weight!!! Now I did have carbs, as they were simply unavoidable at times, but where I could I ate right and drank water or Diet Coke rather than beer or wine. Plus events like this one mean lots of walking / standing and that really helped. On my hardest day I covered 28,300 steps, about 20km! Any way I returned happy that I had maintained my weight in about as hard an environment imaginable and that gives me hope for the post BSD 800 cals per days ahead.

Getting back on the diet after Barcelona was hard, but I have managed it and as off today I have lost just over 32lb, so over 10% of my body weight and my BMI has dropped from 39.9 to 34.9.

I saw my lovely diabetes doctor again this week, she weighed me and clapped her hands with joy some more and encouraged me to keep going 🙂 She also told about a lady in her patient group who when she started was hugely overweight and had a HbA1c level of 99. That lady started the BSD and has since lost just over 35 kilos in weight, so about 5 stone and now has a HbA1c level of 42. All through diet, exercise and no drugs. She’s gone from complete “couch potato” to jogging 4km, 2 – 3 times a week, with an 8km run at weekends. So it really is possible 🙂

Anyway, I am treating my trip to Barcelona as a BSD holiday, so I am adding 2 weeks onto my original 8, so I have about 3 weeks of 800 calories a day to go, by which time I plan to hit at least a 42lb reduction in weight, which would be 15% of body weight. I will have a follow up blood glucose and cholesterol in mid May, which I hope will show me back in the “normal” HbA1c range. Fingers and still attached toes crossed 🙂

Finally, I am happy to report that my taking up the BSD has encouraged those close to me to also start losing weight; my wife and my brother have both shed over a stone in weight and my daughter has knocked off over 7lb. So between us we have lost nearly 70lbs!

Please do keep posting, your updates are a real help and inspiration to keep going and I am also really interested to hear more about your plans to transition out of 800 calories per day and into a less strict routine, which still allows slower weight loss. I am planning on taking a 5 – 2 approach myself, but I am worried about re-introducing higher carbs into the 5 “normal” days while maintaining good HbA1c levels. But that’s a problem for 3 – 4 weeks time, so right now I am focused on that 15% of body weight in 3 more weeks target.

All the best everyone.

NancyB – sounds like you had a wonderful time and well done for keeping it as BSD as possible.

Heaphster – that’s incredible loss. You must be so proud of yourself. I delayed starting the BSD because I was away with work and didn’t know how I was going to manage the food situation in a hotel so you did amazingly to not put on weight.

Felt like a lethargic week for me – I did my step count each day but didn’t feel like I was pushing myself.

Yesterday was difficult. I met a friend in town for lunch so I skipped breakfast and ate grilled fish at midday. Then walked around London for 6 miles shopping etc. In the evening we had guests over and the plan was to BBQ (my housemates kindly thinking that it would be easier for me to stay on plan – the previous idea was pizza!). However the coals were lit late and I didn’t eat til nearly 9pm. I thought I was going to pass out with hunger (I only had calories left for dinner as lunch was high so couldn’t snack). Meanwhile everyone around me is eating crisps and pretzels and drinking booze. Still I survived.

Today I’ve tried to make up for lethargic week. Played badminton for 40 mins, then walked back home (4 miles) and then did stuff on my wii fit. According to my fit bit I’ve had 192 ‘active’ minutes today (my daily target is 60) and have burnt over 1000 calories in exercise.

It’s like cramming for a test the night before an exam. I’m just hoping the exercise will have an effect when I step on the scales for the weekly weigh-in – especially as my measurements today didn’t really show much progress.

My cramming didn’t work. This week’s loss is 3lb. Not bad but not the 5lb of last week. I have 2 weeks left of the BSD although I plan to continue more or less in the same vein afterwards and I really want to get 14st something as that will feel like a real achievement. I’m 4lbs away from that goal. Totally achievable so long as I don’t plateau again. I’d like to think I’m going to achieve my other hope (to lose a total of 3 stone) as that’s 6.6lbs away. I have resolved to up my exercise regime this week in the hope of better results.

1) Continue to do 11,000+ steps a day
2) Do 60 minutes weights across week
3) Do 60 minutes Wii balance exercises across week
4) Do 60 minutes Wii cardio exercises across week
5) Do one gym session of 60 minutes (I’ve got a free pass)

A bit ambitious as I am away at the weekend but think I can do some on Sat morning before I go and some Sun evening when I’m back.

Shanshu, 3lb is good, especially after a sustained period of weight loss.

Your exercise plan puts me to shame, so good luck with it.

I’m in our Brussels office for a day today. In each coffee area they helpfully have a basket full of Cadbury Heroes and local Belgium chocolate!!! Stay strong, stay strong 🙂 If I keep saying it, hopefully I’ll resist.

Have a good week everyone.

Heaphster – Wow – that’s a nightmare to resist. I was having dinner with my former housemate on Saturday and her and her fella ordered puddings!! I just kept sipping water and thinking ‘weigh in on Monday, weigh in on Monday’. I also read somewhere you shouldn’t say to yourself ‘I can’t have that’, you should say ‘I could have that but I’m choosing not to today’. I don’t know if that helps at all.

I’ve just been looking back at photos of myself (there aren’t many in existence) and I definitely look thinner than I have in the last five years that I’ve been with my bf. I kept thinking that when he kept saying he’d never seen me at this weight before that he was just forgetting but it turns out he’s right.

However getting my Wii Fit balance board up and running I discover that 8 years ago I was considerably less than I am now so that’s the next goal (once BSD is finished) to get to lower than I’ve even been on Wii Fit. And then ultimately my ideal goal weight but that’s a long way off yet.

Keep thinking of the amazing progress you made and you’ll be able to resist.

Really feel for you, Heaphster, but you can do it.

Shanshu, it is interesting what you say about not forbidding yourself anything. This is exactly how my eldest son gave up smoking when he was about 25 and smoking about 50 a day! If anyone asked him if he smoked, he always said “not today”. He is now 45, hasn’t had a cigarette since, and his answer to the question is still the same – “not today, thank you”. Obviously not smoking is now a way of life for him, but he said just making himself go “cold turkey” all those years ago just seemed so difficult, whereas one day at a time really worked, and no guilt if he ever succumbed because he never actually “gave up” smoking. I am applying the same logic to carbs, and it certainly works for me.

Well I managed to resist the chocolates 🙂

I have had a good food day, but a very long working day. Up at 4.30am to get the 06.47 Eurostar to Brussels and then finally home around 11pm. So tired, but happy I have stuck to the diet pretty much today.

I like the one day at a time mentality, it’s similar to the AA approach to stopping drinking and I really do see overeating as an addictive behavior that we are all trying to understand and then tame. The challenge is that you can choose not to drink alcohol but you have to eat!

Well today was a good day, so onto tomorrow.

Cheers

Well done Heaphster and here’s to a good tomorrow.

I woke up to a 1.4lb loss over the day before so that put a swing in my step. I did 20+ minutes of Wii Zumba last night followed by 60 minutes on the Wii balance board. That was on top of my 14,000+ steps so yesterday was a good day exercise wise. However, I’ve really noticed that I’m constantly stiff so I think I may take today off from exercise (other than doing my step count) so that I can move tomorrow at the gym.

I also think I need to read up about doing warm up and cool down stretches!!

Shanshu, yep I think your body might be telling you something 🙂

Well yesterday’s chocolate resistance paid off, as I was 1.5lb lower over the last 2 days and I’m fast approaching 50% of my targeted weight loss. Hopefully by the weekend I’ll be down to 17.5 stone and half way to my 5 stone weight loss target. More importantly I’m just 8lb off the 15% of body weight loss target which the BSD suggests is crucial for T2D reversal. Here’s hoping anyway.

So it’s been another long working day, I’m on the 10pm train home home, but amazingly I’m not too hungry, as I think my stomach/system is simply getting less demanding calorie wise.

Well I hope you have all had another good day.

Cheers.

Hey Heaphster – I think my body is telling me I need to do stretching exercises because I’m damaging my muscles! So I took yesterday off – just did my step minimum of 11,000 and a 7 min stretching workout. This morning I did 20 mins of Wii Zumba and 15 mins stretching and I definitely think there’s an improvement in my general stiffness.

Not sure if I’m going to get to use my free gym pass today or not but if not I”ll go for a long walk and perhaps do some chair gym later.

Tonight I’m going to try to perfect my seafood saganaki recipe I think. If its any good I’ll share it.

I must have missed the 15% of body weight loss target suggested in the BSD but I’m glad you mentioned it because having read that on your post I checked against my weight and as of today I have reached that milestone!! Well almost. I’m 0.05lbs from that milestone but that’s got to be within the margin of error right?

Hi all,

Well the end of another week and it’s all gone pretty well.

I have dropped four pounds further this week, so still on track for a total 3 stone weight loss / 15% of body weight by the end of the 8 weeks.

As stated above I will then give it two more weeks of 800 cals and then switch to a higher calorie, 5:2 style approach, yet to be defined food wise if I’m honest.

All in all I am doing okay, although I have to say that a bit of diet / non carb boredom is starting to creep in, but I guess that’s only natural. Luckily the overall aim of reversing T2D keeps me on the straight and narrow.

I am also pleased to report that my family continue to also take a lead from me, with my wife continuing to lose weight, my older brother now losing well over a stone too and even my Mum has lost 5 pounds! All good stuff.

Well have a great week everyone and good luck with staying focused and hitting our goals.

Cheers,

Hi everybody!
Just back from WeightWatchers for my Week 7 weigh-in. Wasn’t expecting a great result but was very pleasantly surprised with a loss of 3.5lb for the week (as opposed to a 1lb gain the previous week). So I now weigh 16st 3.5lb – total loss of 1st 4.5lb in 7 weeks on the BSD. Really envious of those who have lost 2 to 3 stone in the same time frame though!! I know I haven’t done the walking and I’ve been partaking of G&Ts and glasses of red wine along the way.
When I get to the end of the 8 week BSD I am going to continue with it as I have such a lot of weight to lose. Don’t think I shall be in those size 14 jeans by the end of June, perhaps comfortable in size 16s which isn’t so bad.
Keep going everybody!!!
Nancy x

Hi Shanshu
Please can we have your seafood saganaki recipe???
Nx

Heaphster and Nancy B – well done to you both. It’s amazing how well we’ve stuck through it.

My Fitbit no longer recognizes my walk to work because my improved fitness means that whilst it used to take 12+ mins with my heart thumping, it now takes 7-8 mins and much less effort. Which is great from a fitness point of view but means I’ve acknowledged that I’m going to have exercise more if I want to see a continued impact.

I’ve tried to do that this week – I’ve spent about 3 hours doing various Wii games (Zumba and Wii Active 2 mainly) and I’m going to try to push it further this coming week.

I also clocked up nearly 20,000 steps walking around Brighton on Saturday. That was difficult though as it was a 40th bday celebration and at one point I was in charge of purchasing and setting up sandwiches, croissants, cakes and prosecco on the beach for when the bday girl got to the end of her treasure hunt. It was hard work because I was hungry (saving my calories for the evening meal) and because I couldn’t have any of it.

However I was good and even managed to stay on target for my evening meal. I’m looking forward to the 8 weeks being over so that I can have an evening off for events like that.

Week 7 ‘weigh-in’ was yesterday and I lost 3.6lbs. This brings me down to the magic 14 stone something instead of 15 stone something which was one of the targets I wanted to achieve before the 8 weeks was up. The other target (for the 8 weeks) was to lose 3 stone in total and I’m 3lbs from that goal so fingers crossed that I lose that in this last week.

Good luck for the final week everyone xx

“Skinny” Seafood Saganaki

4 servings of 198 calories and 7.9g carbs (unused servings last a few days in fridge or can be frozen for up to a month)

Serve with a whole roasted aubergine, tender stem broccoli and a grilled flat mushroom = 267 total calories and 17.4g carbs

Cauliflower rice or courgetti are other tasty accompaniments.

Ingredients for saganaki:
1 tsp olive oil
15g chopped spring onions (about 4)
6g finely chopped garlic (2 smallish cloves)
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
400g cooked seafood selection (i.e. Mussels, prawns and squid) – you can use whatever seafood you like as long as you work out the calories difference – my fave version of this is with octopus but that’s when it’s made for me!
250g crumbled feta (buy a nice one – it’s worth it)
1/2 Knorr mushroom stock pot in 200ml water
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh basil (some recipes will use fresh dill 1 tsp instead but I couldn’t get any the other night)

Method for seafood saganaki
– Heat oil in a wok or large saucepan and from this point on stir regularly
– Add chopped spring onions and finely chopped garlic and allow to soften on a low heat for about 3 mins
– Add chopped tomatoes and allow to reduce for about 5 mins
– Stir in stock, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper and reduce some more (about five mins but sauce should be quite thick or at least not watery)
– Stir in seafood and gently heat through for 3 minutes (longer if you’re using uncooked seafood)
– Crumble feta on top and stir gently for about 2 minutes – feta should start to melt but not completely dissolve
– Rip up basil and add as garnish when served

Ingredients for accompaniments:
1 whole aubergine per person (small or medium sized)
1 flat mushroom per person (approx 60g but calories are so low you can go as big as you like probably)
80g tenderstem broccoli per person (I tend to use the microwave for quickness)

Method for aubergine:
– Heat oven to about 180 if fan
– Spray aubergine lightly with 1 cal cooking spray
– Cook whole and unpierced for 30 mins (longer if aubergine is large). You’ll know it’s done when the aubergine is wrinkled and inside is squishy.
– Cut off stalk at top and also very bottom of aubergine if hard
– Cut in half and season and place the saganaki on top.
(If you don’t like aubergine skin then scoop insides onto plate and serve as a mash)

If anyone makes this, do let me know what you think. If I get favorable comments I’ll post it on the recipes board.

I will definitely try this at some point, I am a big seafood fan.

Mixnmatch 🙂 Me too. And it’s generally quite good for you!!

The traditional recipe for this tends to add a glass of wine and a slosh of ouzo at the same stage as the stock but I didn’t for the sake of the calories.

Hi all,

I hope you are all well.

Just a quick post to say Hi and to wish you all well for the coming week.

I have to say that I have been really struggling in the last week or so, but I have managed to string enough good days together to keep the weight coming off, even with another 2 day work off site at a hotel to navigate. Anyway, as of this morning I weighed 17 stone 4.5lb, so a total weight loss of just under 37.5lbs..

My daughter is away at University and as a result of my work travels coinciding with her visits home, she hasn’t seen me since I started the BSD. My wife and me are heading up to see her next weekend and I am really hoping that I have a good week, as it would be amazing to be able to tell her that I have shed 3 stone so far, but that needs me to shift 4.5lbs this week, so lots of walking, lots of water and 800 cals per day and NO more!!! Fingers crossed.

I will then have one more week of 800 cals per day to go and then I’ll switch to a 5:2 diet, in order to keep losing, but more slowly and I will see how things go.

I have one quick question on how to remain focused as the 8 weeks BSD diet draws to a close. In the last week or so, people at work and at home have really started to notice my weight loss and they have been congratulating me and saying how well I look, etc. Although this is nice, I think I am now sub-consciously telling myself that the job is done, when in fact I want and need to lose at least another 2 stone!!!

So, how do I switch to more than 800 cals per day, but also retain my focus and drive to keep on the weight loss track and don’t let my head get turned by thoughts of “job done”?

Any thoughts / wise words would be most welcome.

Cheers and have a great week.

Heaphster

Hi Heaphster
Congrats on your weight loss so far.

I’ve lost 30+kg and have maintained since last September once I reached my goal. I didn’t stop doing the 800 cals till I got where I wanted to be.

How did I stay focused? Remember the end goal. Why did you start this? What are you trying to achieve.

Once you get there, the secret is to increase your fats but not your carbs.

Unfortunately, if you go back to eating what you used to eat, you will go back to looking the way you used to look, so carbs are a big no no.

Since reaching my goal, I’ve taken on a more nutritional ketosis way of eating which is essentially keeping my carbs to between 20-50g per day, no added sugar at all, in anything, and increasing my fat so that I eat to satiety. If I’m not hungry, I skip meals, when I eat, once I’m no longer hungry, I stop eating.

I’ll also throw a 24-48 hour fast in every month or so just so that my body doesn’t get complacent.

This website will help:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

The biggest plus for me is that I no longer have to count cals and carbs. I just eat to satiety and if I do notice a kilo or two going on, I just pull back a bit on the extra fat as I know I’ve overdone it, but I haven’t done any damage to my body through excess carbs and I never get any cravings.
Let us know how you go.
Cheers
Linda

Hi everyone,
I am going to stay with the BSD 800 until I have reached my desired weight. I am losing fairly slowly as it is (0.4 kg for the last week). As I have discovered when I become a bit more relaxed with portion sizes and snacks my weight loss sadly reflects this. I also think I need next next couple of months to really embed all the new ways of eating so that I don’t slip back into my old ways.

Is anyone else going to stick with it?

Heaphster and Michele62 – congratulations on your hard work so far!

I ‘finished’ on Sunday night. Had my weigh in on Monday and had put ON weight from the previous days. Maybe I wasn’t as diligent on Friday but on the Saturday and Sunday I was good. So my total loss for the week was less than a lb. Which made me feel pretty down. Then I consoled myself with the fact that I have lost over 2.75 stone in total and that’s pretty good going.

But my downer has returned as I found I had put on another lb this morning. Even though I’m continuing with the diet. It’s very discouraging. Especially as I think it may be because I slightly upped my calorie intake (by about 50 a day in the last few days) and walked a little less and didn’t do a workout one morning. If that’s the case as I doomed to live on 800 a day and constantly exercise otherwise I won’t be able to maintain? I’ll see what feedback I get and possibly post this as its own thread if I don’t get much of a response especially if the weight gain continues.

I’m going to battle through in the meantime. My long term plan is as follows:
– Eat 800 cals, less than 30g carbs on Mon-Fri
– Have slightly more cals but no more carbs on Sat-Sun (possibly from having a glass of wine for example)
– Continue exercising 5-6 days a week
– Continue walking 11,000+ steps a day
– Not worry if occasionally I have an day off diet because of an event but keep to low cal/Mediterranean options and try not to let this happen more than once a fortnight
– With the exception of holidays where I will try to be good but will allow myself the odd treat

I will reassess this if my rate of weight loss decreases to a standstill (or I continue to put on weight) or at the point I have lost 5 stone in total (which is just over 2 stone away).

I would like to have lost 5 stone in 2 months time. I really don’t think its possible at this point but we’ll see.

Feeling very despondent at the moment but I guess I need to remind myself that I did it. I did the 8 weeks, I lost a lot of weight and I really didn’t think I could at the start… but it feels gloomy at the moment.

Hi everybody!
Well done to Shanshu and Heapster on fabulous weight loss!!
Shanshu – will try your prawn saganaki recipe this week, thank you for posting it.
It is the end of Week 8 weigh-in for me this evening at WeightWatchers. I’ve been rather naughty with the booze this week so not expecting a great result.
I am going to continue with the 800 BSD for the foreseeable future as I have alot more weight to lose. Last weigh-in I was 16st 3.5lb so I would love to lose at least another 4 stone. Think it will take me until Christmas to do this at the rate I am going.
Will post again this evening after weigh-in.
Nancy x

Good luck for tonight NancyB

Thanks Shanshu.
Start weight: 17st 8lb
Weight now: 16st 2lb
Weight loss for this final week of the 800 BSD is 1.5lb – a total loss of 1st 6lb for the 8 weeks. Not nearly as much as I had hoped to lose at the start of the diet, but it’s still a good 20lb loss.
Plan now is to keep going, walking more and cutting back on the booze.
Perhaps I’ll be a normal weight and in size 14 jeans by Christmas!!!
Good luck everybody – keep going!!
Nancy x

Hi everyone,
I’m glad some of us are continuing on this journey. It’s great to have the company and support.

Shanshu, don’t be downhearted. Losing nearly three stone is amazing and on the way to 5 there are bound to be some small bumps.

Hi Shanshu
I think you are being too hard on yourself. You have done incredibly well and your body is not a machine and doesn’t always do what you want it to do.
Losing weight and getting healthy is a process that involves all sorts of things but especially your hormones and sometimes they need to get used to the ‘new’ you before they kick in again.
Don’t worry, you won’t have to stay on 800 calls for the rest of your life to maintain.
Check out this article, it will help you get back to basics.
https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1xt67o/keto_my_way_a_simple_easytofollow_tldr_guide_from/

Keto is very similar to the BSD with the exception that you don’t count the cals.
This is how I now eat since reaching my goal.

I don’t think of sugars, carbs and starches as treats, I think of them as poison and I no longer want to put poison in my body as I know where I’ll end up – in hospital!

Again, you are doing incredibly well and I think you expecting too much of your body. This is a journey that you will be on for a long time, not a transition until you can go back to eating the way you did before. Chill and let your body do its thing!
Let us know how you go.
Cheers
Linda

Dear all,

What a pleasure to see a flurry of emails on the message board.

First: Congratulations to all of us who started on the 30th January and are still here, because that’s great!!

Second: No matter what we have lost (BTW from just three posts I make it nearly 100 pounds of fat shed between three of us and over 65 pounds by LindaA.) To be frank, that’s bloody amazing and we are all doing really well 🙂

I have just over a week to go on the 800 cals and I might just hit three stone off in time to see my daughter this weekend, as I was 17st 3lb this morning, so fingers crossed still.

I am going to experiment with a few ways to keep losing weight and maintaining my resolve and see how I go.

For example: Once my visit to my daughter is done, I have a repeat blood glucose test to aim at in May, then a long business trip on a plane in June that I want to comfortable on by being slimmer and then a family holiday in Canada flying economy where I want to easily fit in my seat, etc……

I think what I am saying and maybe it’s a bloke thing, but I like having a target to shoot for, along with a reason for the target. This combined target approach is working for me, so if I combine it with continued low carb living, I hope to stay on track to my goal of a 5 stone weight loss at least by the summer.

It’s great to know that a bunch of us are keeping going, as this message board has become very important to me and I thank you for your continued support.

Have a great next few days and keep going. It’s good for us all and our families and loved ones will thank us for our efforts.

All the best,

Heaphster

Hi all,
Heapster it’s not a bloke thing. My two or three goals are definitely my motivation. I have two weight goals and am still working my way to the first one. And then there is the goal of maintenance after one and two. But the reason for the weight goals is so I can do this big walk in the UK starting in June.

I want to be able to keep up with my friends and enjoy it instead of struggling to keep up and worrying that I won’t make it. And the good news is that my knees have more or less stopped hurting, I am definitely walking more quickly and I have lost 10% of my body weight.

Here’s to making progress everyone!!

I agree with michele62 – definitely not a male thing. I have lots of little goals plus big overarching ones.

So my goals are:

Short term:
1) Reach total of 3 stone lost (2.8lbs away)

Medium term:
2) Not look entirely hideous for my photo op with Stephen Amell on 20 May and ideally fit into his charity T-shirt I bought (which claims to be 2XL) but really isn’t.

Long term:
3) Be a size 10/12 again

HELLO – BIG NEWS!

Really quick flyby cos I’ve just finished work and want to get a walk in before I go to bed…

I have lost 3 stone (or 20lbs)!!! Slightly more than that actually as that was midweek but very excited. Next short term goal is to be under 200lbs which is 4 lbs away and I reckon 2 weeks away if I reapply myself (have had a little easing over the weekend due to working long hours and eating out).

BIGGER (AND MORE IMPORTANT) NEWS:

I got the results back from my doctor today and they are SOOO good. (I should point out that I am entirely med-free so these results reflect diet only). Also I was doing no carbs for 2 weeks before my original tests so they were probably showing low blood sugar results for me at that point.

Starting Fasting Blood Sugar (7.0) *although a prick test two weeks later before starting diet showed 9.1 on several consecutive days
Now Fasting Blood Sugar = 4 (that’s a whole 2 points from being pre-diabetic and 3 points from being diabetic)

Starting HbAc1 = 49
Now HbAc1 = 36 (Healthy range for a non-diabetics is 20-42)

Starting Cholesterol = 4.8
Now Cholesterol = 3.8 (less than 5.2 is fine for non-diabetics)

Starting Blood Pressure = 147/94
Now Blood Pressure = 101/74

I feel like I’ve aced my exams!!! I’m so happy and my doc was very pleased with me too. Obviously she’d concerned about me slipping back into bad habits but having spent 12 hours working on a ward with diabetic amputees yesterday that’s really not going to happen.

Right onwards and upwards – back to 800 a day except for special occasions (like a glass of champagne on Saturday to celebrate my achievement!)

I hope everyone is ok and going strong. Let me know how it’s going for you.

Fantastic news, enjoy the champagne 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀