I am starting the Fast 800 today for 56 days, and while this is not too different to the diet I have been following, must admit to being a little nervous.

I have just had a weekend ‘off diet’ on a trip to Cornwall, and my starting weight this morning is 12st 11lb.

I will only be tracking whole pounds. Will post some measurements tonight, but my goal for this program is to get the waist/height ratio closer to 0.5, and my body fat percentage well below 40%. I would like to lose another two stone before Christmas, to see if I can reach my healthy weight, and get me well on my way to my ultimate goal.

Morning Mixnmatch,
I am starting today as well and my starting weight this morning is 12st 10lb.

I think with the support of all on the forums here we should be more than OK with it, and when you read some of the success stories it really inspires you to get going.

If you can face it, I recommend taking some full length pics of yourself front, back and sides – that is what has really shocked me into action, and I can’t wait to compare them to my ‘finish’ pics at the end of the eight weeks and beyond.

Good luck with it all,

I want to start having read the book but am struggling with no ‘food list’. Either of you have one? I am same weight as you both and desperate to shift it.

Check this website … see the tabs at the top … Blood Sugar Diet ; Get Started ; FAQ

You CAN have anything …. you just have to count it … calories, carbs, etc.

Basically … NO or VERY VERY LITTLE OF high sugar tropical fruits (small amounts of berries is better), AVOID white foods, potatoes, breads of all colors, commercial cereals, yogurts with sugar/fruit (do eat full fat yogurt with your own added berries)

green and colorful vegetables over root vegetables
salad greens
soups made of vegetables, lentils, beans, meats

eat meat, fish, chicken, lentils, beans (count your calories, etc.)

Drink lots of water

small amounts of nuts, seeds, cheese (count them)
butter, eggs, bit of bacon

There is no list of forbidden foods … look at the guidelines, COUNT everything

If you spend your calories on refined carbs/sugars you won’t have any left to spend on healthy complex carbs etc.
Everybody likes different foods, different recipes, eating different amounts, at different times of day.

Thanks Shalimar-on it

Good morning everyone.
I’ve just registered and started the 8 week plan today.
For breakfast: Scrambled eggs,smoked salmon, avocado,watercress.
I probably won’t be sticking to 800 cals per day as I like tea and coffee with milk but I do like jasmine green tea for a change.
I’ve always liked water so that won’t be a trial.
Have aquafit at 12 so won’t be having lunch until late.
I’d like to lose 7Kg in 8wks that is 10% of my starting weight (11 st)
I think the recipes are delicious and just my sort of taste.
I’ve done my measurements and will be doing them again in 30days.

Great summary Shalimar 🙂

Just to add, Gillvegas – would def recommend getting and reading the 8 week Blood Sugar book as it explains the science behind the programme which I think is really helpful.

other things to note:

NO reduced fat – get over all the reluctance to eat full fat and dairy, it is actually good for you. Fat doesn’t make you fat, although we’ve been told so for years. And fat in the diet – like in avocados, olive oil in dressings, full fat yoghurt, fills you up and keeps you satisfied.

(and the sinister thing is that 0 fat and Low Fat dairy actually has MORE SUGAR in so you want to avoid that if you can).

I would consider all refined carbs as forbidden just for convenience, so for your 8 weeks NO bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, pastry or anything with flour in, and try to reduce root vegetables as a whole. The reason is that these turn to sugar really quickly in your blood and make you hungry and crave more of them so if you can cut them out, you find you are less hungry and feel fuller.

Great advice to get an app like MyFitnessPal or FatSecret and then you can plan out your 800 calories through the day and understand how much your meals are in terms of nutrients. You soon get used to this. And absolutely right to weigh as you don’t realise how many calories you’re adding in with ‘too much’ in a portion, when you don’t really need it.

There is a SEARCH box top right and a lot of fab experience on this forum, so type in a few words to find threads where people have discussed problems/queries they’ve had.

Oh and hello Ariane63 too!

Another quick point – it’s an AVERAGE 800 calories (very difficult to hit on the nose every day 😉 ) – but one thing that does help is to try and keep carbs (the good ones) to 50g or less per day.

That will certainly kick the weight loss. 😉

Hello all,

Good luck to everyone starting today or who has started recently! I am just at the end of my first week today and will be weighing in officially tomorrow morning but thus far I’ve lost 9lbs, which for me is nothing short of a miracle! I have a long, long way to go but think this is the right way forward. I thought I would struggle with lack of bread and other carbs but so far, so good. The advice about drinking as much water as possible and allowing yourself the full fat versions of things is spot on. Both help to keep you full. I don’t track in apps like MFP or FatSecret as I find they can make me a bit obsessive but I do keep a general food diary the old fashioned way! My mainstays for the past week have been:

Fage/Total full fat Greek yoghurt – typically with blueberries, sometimes with a sprinkle of cinnamon
Cherry tomatoes
Bacon & leek frittata from Asda
Cauliflower cheese or cauli rice (this is amazing!) – in fact, anything to do with cauliflower 🙂
Deli meats

The best thing about this “diet” is that I don’t feel deprived. Yes, I miss buttery toast or a bowl of pasta but do I miss the almost immediate weight gain or the bloated, heavy feeling? NO! That’s what is keeping me going. The other thing that has changed for me is the fact I now plan and prepare my meals in advance, something I never bothered with in the past. It definitely makes a difference knowing that when I go to the fridge or cupboard I have suitable foods in stock and it reallllllly helps knowing that I can rustle up lunch and a snack for work each day.

Let us know how you get on!

I have read the book-thanks

I have read the book -love all his books/tv shows.
I was mostly meaning-having followed a million diets over the years I am used to a ‘food to eat’ list. I would find that easier while shopping for me. I do have myfitnesspal-but want to start afresh with a new ap. so ive got fatsecret now. its frustrating I can’t reduce the daily calories though. and cant believe the 2 apples I have had are 38g carbs already!!

onwards and downwards ;-}

Hi all,

I’m starting today too. I have previously lost weight quickly and happily when trying out 5:2 for a couple of weeks, so I’m looking forward to doing the 8 weeks, for greater impact.

Today I’ve had:

– a handful of walnuts at 11
– grilled salmon and steamed veg for lunch

Dinner will be a quarter chicken and roasted veg. I will have just enough cals left for a small glass of whole milk before bed.

Very thirsty today, so I’m downing water!

Good luck everyone who is starting today – and those who are already making progress!

Welcome PeacefulWarrior (great name!)

Wishing you all the very best with your BSD.

And I don’t want to be a party pooper, so please take this comment in the spirit in which it is meant……hope you haven’t got too large hands, as a ‘handful of walnuts’ could be more calories than you think.

They are dangerous little b—–s, and I usually say that 9 nuts (mixed nuts that is) is 10g, because even that tenth takes it over the measure, d—n it.

Onwards and downwards! 🙂

Many thanks Igorasusual!

I know exactly what you mean – walnuts are hugely calorific, aren’t they? Luckily I’d only eaten 6… and then when I went to calorie count them, the measure I found was for 7 – so I decided I’d best be precise and have one more. They’re nice, but not daily snacks! I’ve made a note to myself that if I want a desk snack tomorrow I’d better bring something a bit lighter on the cals than walnuts.

Thanks very much for commenting on this and the advice – it’s very much appreciated, particularly from someone who has clearly done BSD very successfully!

🙂

Nice to see some other new starters today, we can all help to support each other when we need it. 😀

Starting body fat today (according to my scales) 40.6% so at least this goal should be easily achievable 😊 Waist is currently 90 cm with my height at 168 that is a ratio of just under 0.54.

I have been already gradually working my way towards the fast 800 by adopting many of the principles in my own version of the 5:2 and have been increasing the fast days as I got closer to my official start date, hoping for a ‘soft landing’ and during September all of my weekdays were approximately 800 calories. I have been relatively low carb even on my non-fast days so am hoping to avoid any bad reaction to the longer term reduction.

I’ll detail my food a day in arrears as I am pretty disorganised and rarely have the details exact in advance. So today’s food will come with tomorrow’s weight. I will only track changes to the other two measures weekly.

Hi Mixnmatch,

I agree! I’m sure today’s starters will be able to spur each other on, and hopefully inspire.

We are organised in opposite ways. I know my weight, but am going to do measurements tonight… the food on the other hand, I’ve counted and noted with diligence.

Very best of luck with your BSD!

Hello all!

I am re-starting the diet today. I made it four weeks before I was sidelined with unrelated health issues.

I did my prep yesterday and laid out all my food for the work week. Mon-Fri will basically look like this:

Breakfast – Two Eggs, Cottage Cheese

Lunch – Home made Chili, Laughing Cow Cheese (2)

Dinner – Cauliflower, Hummus, hard-boiled egg

I have major food allergies (nuts, most raw fruit/veg), so you won’t see much of that in my menu.

I’ve listed my goals and rewards in my profile if you’d like to check them out.

Have a great day!

Cheers.

Deb

Hiya folks
Restarting tomorrow. After a nasty teacher induced stressbinge!
Normally try to lower carbs to 50, but thinking might try lower as I think the carbs just cling to me!
I use my phone and my wee digital scales.
I like bovril and tea. Eggs. All veg and meat. But not keen on avocados..however..willing to retry. I didn’t like olives years ago..but lust after them now!
Have got my head around it all. I needed the binge..but needed to feel the pain of the post binge apocolypse to let me feel the love for the 800. 💕

Tattiescone-live your name 💗😜

Today’s food was – no breakfast, then chicken, sugar snap peas and rocket salad for lunch and fish pie with broccoli and green beans for dinner followed by a fromage frais cocoa concoction to give me a dessert. I added 10g Linwoods flax, almonds and walnuts powder, 14g of rice pudding and 14g of Cornish clotted cream left over from my weekend off (got to use it up in small doses) 5g each of cocoa powder and cocoa nibs and pine nuts, to 90g of natural french fromage frais. Lovely with a dark chocolate cheesecake kind of vibe.

Total calories for the day 805, net carbs 43. Water total around the 2 1/2 litre mark, mostly in herbal and green tea. Tomorrow is complicated by being one of my two badminton days so will probably have breakfast and a very late lunch. Two meals seems to be the norm so far.

I am not expecting my weight loss to be very rapid since I have been on a diet that was almost as extreme before so no water weight quick wins, but will post my weight every day I measure it to give a complete log.

This morning I am back to my pre-weekend off weight of 12 stone 10, so it will be interesting to see how quickly it drops this week. Breakfast will be buckwheat porridge with some Linwoods, a banana and some more cream, then a big gap to lunch which is to be determined.

Well done Mixnmatch!

My scales showed 0.2kg less this morning, which was a nice way to start the day. (I weigh daily too).

Food plans for today: two small meals – late breakfast of a poached egg, beans and mushrooms and an early dinner before a 6pm meeting, of salmon or chicken and veg.

Exercise plans for today: just walking today, hope to start HIIT on Thursday

Starting multivitamins and vitamin D in earnest today too.

Hello,
I also started yesterday 3/10. This is my second time. I lost just over 2st between March and April. My diabetic medication was halved and I got excellent blood results. However a few bad habits crept back in, as did a few pounds after a holiday!! So, I’m back on it now with the aim to lose another 2st and finally come off all medication (hoping to get to 10st).
I’ve found it easier this time round too.

Hi all,

I started on 3/10 too…off to a slightly slow start as I think I may have exceeded (obliterated) the 800 Cal limit (learning early on just how easy it is to do!). Even so, I still went to bed last night with a migraine 🙁

I’m hoping to lose about 2st eventually…

Happy Tuesday 🙂

Another pound off this morning, and 40.1% on the body fat measure. Yesterday’s slightly experimental porridge was excellent if quite carby, and at 340 calories quite a chunk of the days 800, very filling and I didn’t eat it until after 12:00pm. My protein shake which I had just before and after badminton was another 210 calories, the remaining 250 ish were a chicken breast salad, as an afternoon tea. Drinks were herbal tea, water and a sparkling water in the evening.

15 stone 3.8
Breakfast..40g cheese which turned out to be 2 x cheeses strings as I made the packed lunch for the kids. Not ideal..but maybe better than toast!
124 cal carb 1g
Lunch planning my fave: crated carrot and beetroot with tuna. Really tasty and filling.
Tea: lamb and veg.
Today I will stick to 40g carb and 800..even though it’s my son’s birthday.
I am trying to be militant. 😈😈😈
Will log back in bedtime.

Hi, can I join in ? My husband and I both started on 800 cal BSD on Monday. I have approx 1 st to lose (doesn’t sound too much but it’s just not shifting !), while my husband has at least 2 st to lose. All going well so far. We are religiously sticking to the meal plans in the new BSD recipe book which I think is helping us focus. No time spent with head in the fridge, pondering what to cook for dinner…..Loving everyone’s enthusiasm and support for each other.

Sorry MixnMatch, just realised my post went into yr diary ! Have shifted it over to new starters forum ! Bit of a novice poster I’m afraid !

Everyone is very welcome to post what they like in here 😊 it is simply a convenient place to log my own journey, but company on that journey is very beneficial, particularly during any bad days I may have, or if I can offer any advice or support to my fellow 3rd October starters.

Chicken again for lunch, with sugar snap peas and spinach and some houmous. Protein shake again for tea, as two badminton sessions today. Also had a miso soup at 12:00pm, and a tomato juice and tabasco sauce smoothie made into a long drink with sparkling water in the evening, very refreshing after all that exercise.

No change in weight today, but going well so far. I have a psychological block at going below 800 calories too often, so although I may have the occasional day below I will be usually between 800 and around 830 calories. The first day ended up just over 830 when I took into account that I used clotted cream not the normal heavy cream I had factored in. 😊 Still choosing most days to do two meals and leaving the first one to 12:00, as either a late breakfast or early lunch.

Picked a bit for breakfast, just grazing bits and pieces from the fridge, but counted them all. Chicken and spinach with lemon juice for lunch, very simple and very satisfying. Tea was spaghetti squash with capers and parmesan, lamb merguez sausage and ‘fried’ tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, a chilli pepper and some fresh herbs. (Not enough calories left to use oil so just slung the chopped tomato in first and sautéed everything in the juice.) Feeling very full now.

Okay, this is more like it. Body fat reading this morning dipped under the 40 barrier for the first time! Another pound gone and feeling great so far. Now only looking for improvement in the waist height ratio which I will measure on my official ‘weigh day’ on Sunday.

Excellent work, Mixnmatch! 🙂

I’d like to start this diet today. Rather nervous because I have LPR and many of the foods that help that are not on this plan. But I am going to try to make this work. I’m across the pond in USA Georgia and my weight fluctuates between 212 and 214 on a daily basis. I want to lose 100 lbs.

Hi KatrenaJ!

Welcome to the forums. It’s a great place to be! Everyone here is very helpful and you’ll find lots of advice and support 🙂

What are the foods you eat on an LPR diet? You may be able to find suitable alternatives that work well with the BSD way of eating.

Good luck!

I eat low acid foods, low fat (can use 1-2 tsp of olive oil per meal) rice, bananas, salad w/o cucumbers, tomato, green peppers or onion), oatmeal, platanos, noodles but no sauces, ginger, tofu, celery, fat free milk (but not yogurt, too acid) soymilk, honeydew melon and watermelon, chicken w/o skin, other poultry, high ph vegetables, couscous, chamomile tea, potatoes, full grain bread, mushrooms & fish – These are best to eat but low acid ph foods are allowed also.

I’m waiting for the book to work up some 800 calorie eating plans with 45 grams of protein

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF YOU CAN STRETCH THE 800 CALORIES OUT TO THREE MEALS AND A SNACK OR DOES THIS DISRUPT THE WEIGHT LOSS

Hi KatrenaJ, you can get to 800 calories in what ever way suits you best within the BSD guidelines. I am completing week 6 and have 3 meals every day and lost 10kgs in total to date. Some days I have built a small snack into it when hungry but then adjusted night meal’s cals. BGLs returned to normal levels after day 2 and have stayed there.

JENNI THAT IS AMAZING WEIGHT LOSS AND GOOD NEWS ABOUT BGLS. I DON’T HAVE THE BOOK YET AND I AM ADJUSTING THIS TO COVER THE LPR MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS. DO YOU KNOW IF THERE IS AN UPPER LEVEL ON THE CARBS AND FATS PER DAY. I MADE OUT MY MENUS USING MY FITNESS PAL AND ALTHOUGH 800 CALORIES AND OVER 45 GRAMS OF PROTEIN MY FATS AND CARBS SEEM HIGH TO ME. ONE DAY THE CARBS TOTALED 125 FOR THE DAY AND FATS 22, SOME DAYS LESS.MY TOTAL SUGAR INTAKE RANGES FROM 18 TO 22 PER DAY ALL FROM FRUIT, ONE PER DAY

You can distribute your 800 calories etc. over the day in any way that is good for you. People here do a variety of things … whatever is good for them.

As for carbs most people aim for 50 or less … and most of those carbs are from complex carbs.

I personally only count calories and carbs …. i figure if i am eating healthy food the proteins and fats will fall into line. Frankly counting 2 things is more than enough for me. But if you like counting everything and think it’s useful to you … go for it.

And if i am counting only 800 calories how on earth is it possible to eat too many fats? And if we are getting most of our fats from full fat yogurt, avocado, nuts and seeds, butter and such … sounds good to me.

And since sugars are part of carb counts i don’t see counting sugars seperately … but you can if you want.

No movement on the scales today, but still feeling okay. This is where the diet deviates from what I have been doing which was more calories (double usually) at the weekend. I am going to try the same pattern I have been using during the week, so only drinks before 12:00 and after that either brunch or a later lunch and dinner. This seems to be working well so far, and I think the extra mini-fasts should help. Last night just for a change I had chicken, spaghetti squash and spinach, but the chicken breast was a rather spectacularly lovely Rannoch smoked one. Will give chicken a rest for today and go for trout fillet for tea. Brunch will probably be some form of porridge, I’ll get creative again almost certainly and I still have stuff to use up, and a mug of homemade carrot and squash soup which i am determined to make to try to get some of my fridge back from all of the vegetables in it.

Welcome KatrenaJ, you shouldn’t have any problems adapting your diet to BSD principles, just cut the quantity down of any oatmeal, bread, noodles, rice or sweet potatoes and like MM says, try to think of them as a small side dish, not a plateful, to moderate the carb levels. Looking at your list, probably the easiest and best evening meals are stir fries (keeping the fat quantity down if you need to) using a selection of vegetables you are allowed, with squash noodles or courgetti instead of the grain based noodles, chicken and fish are both staples for me as you can see from this week’s diary. Good luck with your journey.

KatrenaJ, When you do get the book it will answer some of your questions. 125 gms of carbs within 800 sounds rather high for quick weight loss. As mentioned above 50 carb grams seems a good target. Is there a reason for you to measure protein? It is difficult for us to get rid of the past edicts about % of things such as protein or fats. Avoiding too many carbs, particularly grain based ones is important though. Good luck with it and try to get hold of the book asap while you are keen to start.

Today ended up rather more experimental than I thought it would, I have just had my first food of the day at six o’clock. Still to work out how many calories it is as well so will post later as well. Sitting here, pleasantly full, in my new size 12 jeans though, and reflecting on a good days shopping 😊

First official weigh in and re-measure this morning, and I am pleased to say my weight has dropped by 5 pounds to 12 stone 6, my body fat by 1.3% to 39.3%, and my waist down one cm to 89cm. I count that as a very good start 😀 I am planning on another single meal day today after the success yesterday, we have friends coming round and I am doing roast chicken, so want to have a reasonable plateful. I will stick to liquid until then, although may have milk in a tea at some stage if I fancy it. Redbush tea first, then some green tea probably. Black tea later, and a sparkling water in wine glass for the evening meal.

Yesterday’s calories were a little lower than usual at 775, but I had had enough so didn’t go picking to fill them up. Carbs were quite low too. I usually aim at 40 but yesterday came in at 33. Tea was the lovely trout fillet with half a roasted cauliflower steak, and cauliflower, garlic, chilli and red pepper mash. The mash was really tasty, but was originally intended to be more steaks, they fell apart into florets when I sliced it so I improvised 😊 I also made some fresh parsley sauce and thought I’d try some chia seed and coconut flour to do the thickening. After about half an hour I panicked that it was never going to thicken and tossed in a teaspoon of corn starch as well. It was still a little runnier than normal but had thickened beautifully this morning in the pan. I also tried the Greek style yoghurt with a teaspoon of cinnamon which made a fantastic dessert.

Been on the bsd for a week. Lost 6 pounds but fasting blood sugars down from 12 to 6! Pleased with the result. I have so much weight to lose that I cannot think about it,but will stick to it.

Pickles – that sounds great, well done! I also have a lot to lose but am thinking about it in blocks of 10lbs. If I look at the whole amount I’m overwhelmed but I can definitely focus on smaller targets.

Mixnmatch – well done on your losses too! That’s great for the first week 🙂 Your cauliflower mash sounds delicious. And I too am a big fan of cinnamon with Greek yog.

I didn’t get time to post this morning so this is the belated results. I have lost another two pounds, bringing me to the full 7 pounds in 7 days. My body fat has also dropped another chunk and is now 38.3% but the big news is that takes me to SIX AND A HALF STONE lost since FEB 2015. This is quite shocking as I was following the basic principles without the calorie restriction in September and didn’t expect that big a difference. I am now wondering whether it is the longer periods of active intermittent fasting I tried on the weekend that made the difference so will be sticking to that for the rest of the plan.

I am a bit more organised this morning so on day 8, stats are 0.4 lb down but no change to the headline 12 stone 4. Body fat went up slightly but I have noticed before that undigested food and such are counted in that one so I am not concerned. I had a two salad day yesterday, but the weather is borderline now for enjoying that style all the time so I am making a carrot, squash and ginger soup to heat me up a bit for the rest of the week. Today is a badminton day, so my style of eating is fairly settled. Porridge at 12:00 (buckwheat, chia, Linwoods nuts and seeds, cinnamon and cocoa nibs with skimmed milk, added plum and chia ‘jam’ adapted from the Daily Mail recipes and a bit more clotted cream swirled in.) Then a light early afternoon meal of another M&S protein pot, a bit of celery and some houmous, and a protein shake for badminton, before and after. Onwards and downwards.