Hello BSD people. I tried this diet in January this year. I stuck to it meticulously for a while and lost very little weight. I was really disappointed. I have done so many ‘low carb’ diet protocols in the past I think my body is just not that impressed by the low carb thing! HOWEVER, combining that with low calorie is the only thing I can think of out there that might work. I honestly don’t know what else I can try (except serious fasting but I do very badly on that – gorging afterwards like I am possessed!).

So, I have resolved to give this diet one last go.

I am going to do one major thing differently. Not only am I not going to weigh myself, but I have no idea of my starting weight either. I estimate that I need to loose about 4 stone but that is irrelevant as I won’t be following the scale. It makes me neurotic and brings more disappointment than joy.

Neither am I going to go down the tape measure route. That – to me – is also fraught with disappointment. I know I ‘puff up’ towards the end of the day and I know that how I measure myself can vary from day to day (how can you be accurate in how tight you pull that tape?).

The only thing I am going to do is stick to the diet like it was the last thing available to me (it is…) and have the fit of my clothes to go by. That way I cannot let the minutiae of scale/tape measure differences day to day get me down.

I have been totally off the rails over the summer and enjoying it thoroughly, I now I have reached the point where I genuinely don’t feel well. I feel heavy and my joints and bones ache with too many niggly problems, which I know will all improve if I can shift some weight.

I don’t know how long this will take. I hope I get some speedy early progress – although I didn’t get that in January so I am a little concerned. I will focus more on vegetables, less on ‘high fat’ hunger busters (e.g. Yoghurt or nuts) – trying to take a ‘high fibre’ take on the diet, still low net carbs but lots of fibre carbs in veg. Let’s see what happens.

Good luck to everyone out there. I would love to hear from anyone who saw very slow results at first and who maybe suddenly got ‘in the groove’ and the weight started coming off speedily after a while of persisting? This would indicate to me that a broken metabolism IS fixable to a certain degree with a bit of persistence. I have done so many diets that I get very downhearted very quickly. If this were one of the first serious diets I had done it would be very different – I’m sure my body would respond quickly.

Looking forward to getting going again. Day 1 yesterday and I feel good.

Welcome Bombalone, hope you keep your motivation this time. Many of us are slow losers and sadly, the reality is we have to learn to accept this is how our bodies behave, so to hope that suddenly you’ll see the pounds magically dropping away at a rate of knots, is probably not realistic. However, it’s important to remember that the BSD is to improve wellbeing and health, as well as to achieve weight loss, so it’s worth the perseverance, as you will see lots of non-weight related benefits.

I have been on the BSD path for 19 months on and off, with extended breaks for holidays, festive season etc., when I just stuck to the principles and didn’t weigh, measure or record what I was consuming (or myself). In that time, I have lost 2st 5lb and dropped two dress sizes (almost three) and am pretty much at target now.

Be careful with veggies as some of these can be surprisingly high in carbs. It is important to include enough fat in your meals, as this helps with feeling sated and also helps to kick start the fat burning process. Keep hydration up and if in doubt, have another glass of water. Finally, be sure to weigh, measure and record everything you consume as it’s important to try to keep around the 800 cals mark and it helps to know what carbs you are consuming, so if you don’t see results, you know can consider dropping these further.

Best of luck to you for good results this time round.

Thank you very much SunnyB. Wise words and your results are testimony to the fact that it’s worth keeping at it. You are tough but probably right that for some, like me, it just isn’t going to melt away …..I must remember to focus on the other health benefits as well.

Out of interest, aside from holidays etc. have you stuck with the 800 cals permanently?

Thanks so much for your support and kind words.

Hi Bombalone,
Well done for giving the BSD another go. SunnyB speaks much sense, but if you have the book give that a good read and make sure you are clear on the principles of BSD, at the very least study the other pages of this website, so you know the best veg to eat (and fruit). Keeping fibre intake up is good, no-one wants to be constipated. I wouldn’t dismiss full-fat yoghurt – that has been a frequent dessert (boy, do I like a pud). Hydration is so important. Keep an eye on quantities consumed – even eating the right stuff won’t help with weight loss if you eat too much of it.

Where I would differ from SunnyB is that I never calorie counted, never carb counted (therefore never recorded the info) – I look at carb/sugar content on packaging labels, but that’s as rigorous as it gets for me. While many people have recorded everything (because it helps them keep on the right path), this was something that nearly put me off doing the BSD initially – I have plenty of obsessions and didn’t want another. Maybe I would have lost a bit more if I had done so, but at my lowest weight I managed to lose 2.5stone, currently I’ve regained 3-4lbs but am generally maintaining. I understand your comment about the scales making you feel neurotic – while I do weigh myself regularly, I rarely measure myself, just going by the fit of my clothes (I doubt you would see much difference measuring daily anyway, once a month maybe). At the end of the day, you do what feels right to you – this diet is very flexible so you can adjust things to what suits you and your life. I never felt the need to buy a spiralizer, or abuse cauliflowers by turning them into “rice” – steaming is fine.

You say that you went off the rails (and enjoyed it) – I know that feeling too! We all derail from time to time – it just seems to come with the territory – but don’t let it dishearten you. The occasional straying from the path of BSD-ness is not the end of the world, it’s when it happens so regularly that you put weight back on that there’s a problem. As many people have experienced, just dust yourself down and start again. The rampant success stories (as quoted in the book) do make it seem like it will be easy but for most people the loss is slower – it all depends on where you are starting from/how much you have to lose/varying health issues, etc, etc – try not to compare yourself to other people, that’s the best way I know to feel disheartened.

If you stick with it, I am sure you will see results. Every best wish!

Other than the extended breaks, a couple of which have been of two or three months duration, I have pretty much stuck with the 800 cals, but obviously life happens and there will be occasional meals out, entertaining family/friends, etc. On occasions like that I try to control the calories and carbs just by sticking to the BSD principles and trying to make wise menu choices, but sometimes include a little ‘treat’ – a glass (or two) of wine, a lemon posset, a scoop of ice cream, a few chips etc.

On the odd occasion I have splurged and not constrained myself – only twice big time, as I remember – I have regretted it, as my body has rebelled and I have felt physically ill. The last time was a couple of months ago at a wedding reception, when the choices were almost exclusively carb based, plus I had more alcohol than I my system is used to these days. As a result, my body went into full on hangover mode before the evening had finished – thumping headache, bloated bilious stomach etc. and all I could do was go home to bed and ride it out. And of course, vow not to make that mistake again!

There are many who have achieved much more than I have – Esnecca, Theodora, Mixnmatch, sunshine-girl to name a few – and it’s well worth having a look at their posts, there’s some inspirational stuff there. Make good use of the forum, it has helped to keep me on track and is populated by lots of friendly folks, who will encourage and support and help to celebrate in turn, as necessary. And it’s important to remember, there’s nothing unusual about any of us, we’re just like you – so if we can do it, you can too.