Tomorrow both me and my husband are starting the 8wk 800cal diet, feeling excited but also a little scared/apprehensive!

H has been diabetic for many years and although he’s lost a lot of weight his blood sugars are getting worse. I’m not diabetic, but very overweight and I worry about becoming diabetic in the future so the BSD seems ideal as we can both follow it, and hopefully change our habits for life.

At the moment carbs are definitely a staple food for us, I think it’ll take a while to get out of the mindset that we need carbs to bulk up our meals – I’d say currently that most (ok all) of our meals contain pasta/rice/bread/potatoes – generally wholemeal versions though reading the BSD book it seems these aren’t as healthy as we believed.

We’ve done a food plan for the week ahead, and have an ocado delivery coming tonight. I’ve looked into low carb alternatives so we have low carb livlife seeded bread and konjac noodles/rice (anyone have any experience of these? the reviews are all either 5* or 1* nothing in between, the fishy smell worries me a little).

So I was wondering if you have any tips to share? How have you managed to stem hunger pangs?

Also, what results have people had so far? I’ve got a lot of weight to lose so I’m aiming for 42-56lb weight loss in these first 8 weeks…maybe unrealistic but I’m aiming high!

Hi Vikki.

I spent five weeks getting my mind ready, I am on day 3, on the carb assessment questionnaire it warned me I would find it difficult. I haven’t it is a revelation, I am feeling so well, alert, enjoying the food, I decided I would not eat bread potatoes rice pasta etc any more as the eating plan suggests, to allow my stomach to shrink, so my appetite calms down and it did instantly. Just get your head around it embrace it and enjoy, planning for me is the key to successful in range with calls and carbs meals.
We can all do it together here. 🤗🤗🤗

I really hope I both take to it as well as you have. I’ve seen lots of comments saying how it’s been surprisingly easy…but its only 800 calories so I can’t quite wrap my head around that. I guess it will be a case of wait and see.

Decided to start on a weekend so I don’t have to be at work for 2 days in case I get hangry.

It feels very “real” now that I’ve said on here that I’m starting tomorrow, even more so than doing the food plan/online shop.

Vikki

Welcome. You may feel a little hungry to start but this passes quickly.

If you been eating lots of refined carbs you may notice the effect of stopping. Keep on through that. It will also pass quickly.

Drink lots and lots and lots. Find a drink you like – fizzy water is filling

Keep the carbs low. If you can, get an app like MyFitnessPal and log what you eat (even if you have a fail!). You will see excellent results if you can keep carbs under 50g per day.

I have lost more than 12% of my starting body weight even though my 22lbs target wasn’t too big.

Just about to finish my 8 weeks with 9 stone in sight. Triumphant and feeling much livelier than ever before. As is other half (who is Type 2) who is leaping out of bed in the morning and 2 sizes down and just 4 weeks in 🙂

Very good luck with your journey. Enjoy!

Hi Vikki
As Igorasusual says, you might well have carb withdrawal for awhile, but stick with it, it does pass and you will probably be surprised how good you feel once it does.
My advise is not to try to replace carb high breads etc. with low carb versions, but to start to think outside the box about how you can use your 800 cals most effectively without processed foods. I have tried the konjac products and they are okay. The smell is a little off putting though and they have an odd texture, but they are filling and so can be useful, particularly in the early days. You will find though, that by opting for full fat versions of things and adding olive oil to salads and so on, that you will feel fuller sooner and stay feeling that way for longer too. It’s counter intuitive, given the past propaganda fed to us has been low fat, low fat, low fat, but don’t be scared to go full fat. It helps to kick start the fat burning too.
Sounds like you have set yourself a huge weight lose target and I personally would set incremental goals, to avoid become discouraged if things don’t move as fast as you hope or you hit a dreaded plateau, which is quite common, even on the BSD.
It sounds like you have done plenty of prep work and planning, so good luck as you take your first steps towards a new you. Don’t forget to keep us posted on progress and shout out you need support, because someone here will certainly respond.

Hi Vikki

I agree with everything posted above.

Tomorrow I’ll have been on the BSD for 28 weeks. Yes, eating 800 calories a day for 28 weeks! And staying low carb.

Briefly, I was type 2 diabetic, but my test results are now in the normal range. Not pre-diabetic – normal.

My weight has dropped 71 pounds from 16st to 10st 13lb. My waist from 49″ to 36″

You may want to look at some of the threads us old-timers started: over the 8-week line, over the 16 week line, and over the 23 week line.

Enjoy the journey and let us know your progress.

Hi Vikki

I started the 8 week plan yesterday and can honestly say that so far I haven’t felt hungry at all. I was really expecting to experience massive hunger pangs going from loads of potatoes/pasta etc to low carbs but I’ve felt happily full all day on both days so far.

I have found reading the forums really helpful as it’s great to see so many others having done so well and being so positive.
I’ve been drinking loads of water which really does help and I’m feeling really healthy and positive.

Good luck on your journey !!

Good luck!

I’m six weeks into BSD and have honestly found it way easier than I expected. Planning and tracking really help. I use the MyFitnessPal app every day.