Thank you Theodora, yes it has been a bit of a whirlwind ! We went to France for a week together and I managed to stick to the BSD food wise, but the wine was very nice and I had too much of it ! I didn’t gain any weight, but I haven’t lost any either. I keep losing and gaining the same pound.

Thanks so much everyone, with your inspiration I will get back on track and lose the rest. I have adjusted my goal, but I’m going to carry on afterwards to get about 5lbs under it for wriggle room, as you have done Theodora. I have sold all my big clothes on eBay so no going back now !

One thing I’m finding a bit uncomfortable. I met my partner when I was already much slimmer. I have lost 10 lbs since meeting him, but was obviously much bigger before we met. He knows I’m losing weight, but he’s never asked how big I was before. The other day we met up with some of my friends who haven’t seen me for ages and they were going on about how much I had lost, and that I used to be twice the size. I felt embarrassed as my partner certainly would not have found me attractive then ! I have explained to him about the way of life and that I will always follow it now, but my old body shape is not an image I want him to have in his head ! I have hidden all photos from that era as well so he can’t see them ! (I gained the weight from 2010 onwards so photos before that are ok!)

Hi all

Another weekend thank goodness! I have limited internet access at work during the week so don’t get chance to post much but love all your posts which I can see via email on my phone. Wow to CysterBSD800 and Theodora – fantastic losses! ClarinetCathy you go girl – get to the 9’s by the 15th!! Hopefully I won’t be too far behind you just stubbornly sticking at 10stone 4 at the mo. Like many have said the way of eating is not the problem it’s the wine :@ But I do want to move on more quickly now (getting bored with the plateau!) and have another 11-12lb to go so will happily complete the journey with you.

Seasidenana welcome back! Lovely to hear from you and you have done so incredibly well! Glad about your new man too and you know I reckon he loves you for who you are, not how much you weigh. But I know what you mean about feeling bad about where you’ve come from – last weekend I reviewed photos of me over the past 4-5 years and cringed!! but hey we’re both in a better place now and will soon be even further on that spectrum. That dress WILL zip up! I’m loving fitting into clothes I’d long since abandoned. Weirdly I’m in Cornwall on holiday soon too – I wonder if we’d recognise a fellow BSD’er if we passed them in the street (or glugging wine in a pub – oops!!!)

Happy weekend everyone and will speak soon xx

Dreamscometrue- me and you and Seasidenana have got a very similar amount of weight to go now and like you I am eager to get off this plateau and get the remaining 10lb or so off. Will be good to share our final few pounds journey together and we can encourage each other towards a long time coming maintenance. I reckon if we put our BSD heads on we can all aim to be at goal by end of September and then that will give us time to learn about maintenance etc before our one year BSD anniversary! Let’s do it!

Pleased to report that 2.5lbs of my 4lb holiday gain has now whooshed into thin air, despite rather a nice (carb free) BBQ, and lots of wine yesterday. So I am now back to 3.5lbs under target, but have another BBQ with wine tonight so desperately hoping I don’t see another rise on the scales tomorrow😝 But life is to be lived, and as long as I can keep within a couple of pounds of target weight, I’ll be happy (she says, raising an ice cold glass of white to her lips as she types 😛)

Seasidenana, CCathy and Dreamscometrue, how lovely that you are all at a very similar stage and can continue your journey together – you’ll be crossing the finishing line and joining me in maintenance before you know it.😊

CCathy, Seasidenana & Dreamscometrue, its lovely to hear how well you are all doing, and how fantastic that you are so close to your goals now 🙂
Theodora, it’s great that you have been able to reverse your gain too, such a good idea to have a bit of wriggle room.
I’m still a long way from even thinking of maintenance and certainly have a lot more than 10lb to lose, but am still plodding along. I’m now in Week 26! Can’t believe that next weekend marks a whole 6 months of following this WOE. I can’t recall ever sticking to a diet or
WOE for this long EVER. Although a life
Long dieter, I was always on again off again, trying different diets, giving up when they didn’t work, then starting something else when I got fed up with being fat again!
Anyway I have learnt so much since January, and feel so comfortable eating this way. I’ve lost 10kg now, with another 18kg to go, so getting there. I was so happy this morning when I tried on a pair of size 16 trousers – and they fitted! Admittedly they have an elasticised waist, but it made my day seeing 16 on the label instead of 20 😊

I still have 14 kgs left to lose approx 30 lbs.
Today i restarted low carb 800 calories a day and high fat. Hope i will lose 8-10 pounds by the end of july.
not doing intermittent fasting will add that in next week hopefully.
Hopefully will be joining you all on maintenance in the future.

In the 6th week of my second 8 week challenge and weighed in at 64 k this morning. Started at 76 k January 17 and finished the first challenge at 68k, so haven’t lost so much this time, but am really doing it on my own this time as hubby and sons have kinda fallen away a bit. Keeping up the exercise and have had the odd alcoholic drink on a few occasions, still trying to stay within the 800, but sadly have gone over many more times than before.
Having said that, I have lost more from my waist and my blood sugars are more often under 5 than over…and I’m feeling great in my clothes and when I see myself in the mirror, with upper thighs no longer rubbing and getting lots of complements from lots of different sources. I love being able to climb the stairs at work without getting puffed and being able to easily dry my ankles after a shower.
I have tended to have a good weigh in and then drink or eat something I shouldn’t. I generally weigh in most days so that if I have put on, I can address it straight away. My son says I need to do more weights, so that I’m making muscle and not losing it, so I have been increasing my arm weight repetitions and still doing 20 sec runs during my morning walk. Sometimes I feel great and sometimes it’s tough, but trying to push on. We have three family birthdays coming up and a long weekend away, so I’m expecting to either finish the 8 weeks early, or just expect to be a little disappointed at the final weigh in. I’m not concerned as I feel I’m in charge and will be able to keep losing by just sticking to the 5:2 afterwards. I saw my ideal weight for my height is 55 k, but I really think I would look (and feel ) unwell at that weight, so I really would just like to get to 60 k and then maintain that. So really only 4 nasty little kilos to go. I feel like I’ve been doing this so long, I am a little scared of reaching that goal, but at the same time I feel really driven to reach it.
Hang in there folks we are amazing and we have all had such wonderful successes! I am in awe of some of you and the battles you have faced and won, and even more so when you have started again after a setback.
I can’t remember who said it recently, but I totally agree, Life is for Living and no matter how gradually or rapidly you are reaching your goals, you are in charge of your future. Have those little diversions, enjoy them, revel in them and get back on track.

Lyn.G Lovely to hear of progress even if its slow its going in the right direction. Congratulation on reaching the last bit of your journey.
I have stuck strictly to 20g of carbs and 800 calories and have lost 2 pounds so far this week. Hoping the progress will continue and soon i will reach my goal which is 8.5 stone. ( about 28lbs away) Good luck to everyone well worth the effort so many positive effects from this other than weight loss.

SueBlue, well done for sticking with it this time – all us January starters must be celebrating our 6 month anniversary about now. My actual anniversary is on Sunday, and I have also just passed my 2 month anniversary on maintenance. Going ok so far – after our totally over-indulgent 5 days I am pleased to report that I am now back to being 5lbs under my target weight again, so have my wriggle room back. Just as well as today we decamp from the city to our summer home for 3 months of pretty full on socialising / guests staying / beach BBQs etc. On the other hand, there will lots of sailing and walking too, so hopefully one will counterbalance the other. Like you, I have learned a lot since January and am also totally comfortable with this WOE.

Cyster, good luck with your aim to lose 8lbs by the end of July and, of course, with your final target of 8.5st (which was my target weight too, but now 5lbs below for wriggle room 😛) Keep on keeping on and you’ll get there – well done on your 2lb loss this week.

lyn, good to hear from you too – really good to know you are still with us. I weigh myself daily too – particularly now I am in maintenance, on the basis that it is far easier to address a 2lb gain than a 7lb gain! Good for you on the exercise front and the weights etc. I have to confess that the only exercise I do is walking, but miles and miles of it (2 big energetic dogs who would be bouncing off the walls if they didn’t get at least 5 miles a day, and generally more like 8 miles – that’s me, they are running around off lead so probably do 3 or 4 times that 😝 )

I said in an earlier post that we must accommodate our ups and downs/ social occasions etc because life is for living. If we want this WOE to be sustainable we have to be comfortable with it, no point whatsoever being thin and miserable! The trick is, I think, to see the whole picture, not little blips, and remind ourselves just how far we have come since those dark days of January.

.

Thank you for the encouragement theodaora your journey is very motivating you reached your goal and got under it. Amazing hipei can d that too.
Lost another two pounds so down four pounds this week. Yay
True about looking overall. Have to understand that occasions parties celebrating is important but then need to balance that with control on normal days.

Been trying out some new recipes from the diet doctor website ave been delicious and also a you tube channel gayle macleod has some lovely low carb recipes too. Enjoy cooking them too.
down six pounds this weeks hurray. This has been after weeks of up and down the same few pounds lovely to finally see a new number on the scale lol
hope everyone’s journey is going well.

Well done, Cyster, that is a great loss – keep up the good work.

Maintenance still going ok with me, still 5lbs below target, despite rather a sociable evening with friends yesterday. Out for supper at our yacht club this evening, so more food and wine, but gaining confidence in my maintenance ability with each passing day. If I see a rise on the scales, I will either fast for a day, or throw in a couple of days of BSD800 again.

Woohoo – just back from our evening at the yacht club and they have a new chef, who specialises in “fire cooking” and everything I had was both ultra delicious, and BSD friendly. To start I had seared king scallops in a Thai broth, and as a main course (so utterly delicious, I will have to try to replicate at home) fire seared cauliflower and beetroot in various spices, served with hummus, salad with a few nuts thrown in for good measure ☺There were also other things which were bsd friendly on the menu – nothing came automatically with potatoes / rice / bread etc, which was so refreshing. Haven’t worked out the calorie / carb content, but then as I’m on maintenance, I don’t feel I need to. Suffice it to say, it was very much within BSD principles (apart from the copious amounts of wine) and all so utterly delicious that it made me wonder what ever tempted me towards carb laden foods. I just wish every restaurant could have such an enlightened chef. I genuinely cannot remember when I enjoyed a meal so much.😊

On Thursday this week I was really pleased to see that my weight was the lowest ever this year at 140.6 lb. However, despite upping my exercise and sticking to the plan as I wanted to get down to 139 lb for my Saturday weigh in, was 2lb up yesterday and today am up another pound up! I was performing in a concert yesterday and didn’t drink as much as usual and so appreciate the gain from yesterday but I just can’t seem to lose any weight at the moment. Today I weighed in at 143 lb! This trend has been going on for a month or so now. Can anybody advise me? I don’t want to eat less and I do fast regularly 16:8 and have done 22 hours to try with this persistent plateau. Today I am drinking water 💦 and more water. Feel really disappointed that my plan to get in the 9s by 15th July didnt worked despite trying so hard! Will keep going. BMI gone up to 27! This is getting hard now!

Ah commiserations ClarinetCathy but don’t despair – you WILL get there! As we all know this diet has its own rules and weight can come and go inconsistently. But keep on and there will definitely be an ongoing downward trend.

Just one thought that may help. I’m at a similar stage to you and have found that fasting (including 16:8) doesn’t help me at all: in fact my body seems to take that as a cue to hang onto the weight. We’re all different, and some things work, some things don’t. But I’ve found my most consistent losses have been when I’ve eaten regularly rather than going for very long gaps without food. Being specific, starting the day with one scrambled egg in butter (around 100 calories) is always good for me; I can then go through till lunchtime (when I may have something like tuna or chicken or another egg with salady things) then eat again in the evening (eg fish and vegetables or maybe a small stir fry). For me, balancing out the eating that way seems far more effective than going long periods without anything to eat.

But as I say we’re all different and I hope you find what works for you!

I’m heading tantalisingly slowly towards 10 stone – hovering around 10 stone 2/3 at the moment: but I do find that with me it takes a while for a proper loss to “bed down” and settle before becoming a permanent fixture. I’m still aiming for 9 and a half stone and – like you said in one of your earlier posts – hope to be there by September 🙂

Good luck and keep us posted X

Well said Dreamscometrue! Don’t despair ClarinetCathy. I lost 8 kilos last time I did the 8 weeks and am at the beginning of week 7 and have only managed to lose 4, with many ups and downs on the scales with very few explanations for it. I always weigh myself at the beginning of the day after my morning walk. I think it is important to try to be consistent with the time of day and such. It can be very disheartening to seem to be putting in all the effort for no return, but they do say that muscle weighs heavier than fat, so that can be a factor. Have you taken any other measurements that you can compare? I have only measured my waist and my blood sugar and they are still excellent and as I stand at my desk in my once squeezy tight stretchy jeans and feel how loose and baggy they are, I am encouraged that all is well. My scales are very used to me asking “are you kidding me?” when I am expecting a very appreciable loss and find I have actually put on weight!
My middle son’s birthday yesterday, so went off task there and with my soon to be son-in-law’s birthday tomorrow and my daughter’s birthday on Friday and a long weekend down south to meet the aforesaid soon to be son-in-law’s mother, I expect the drive towards my goal will be seriously curtailed, but that’s life and it is meant to be lived, and besides, I can always start again, because I have control of it ! Yay! My goal is 60k, not sure what that is in stone, but I think we are all looking for around the same weight.
Keep it up girls , and remember it’s the long haul and not a sprint…… although that does remind me that you might want to check out what Michael says about ‘Fast Exercise’ because I think it has made a big difference to my benefits from exercise.
Cheers

Hope you are hanging on clarinet Cathy. Just a few things that helped me. Doing intermittent fasting every other day instead of daily was beneficial for me. Lots of water and the main thing was keeping carbs at 20g or less a day. I’ve noticed I lose most then even if my calories go over 800 and I eat about 70 to 80 g of fat

Whatever happens you are eating and doing so well hopefully you’ll soon get to your goal. Keep going. Keep powering through.

Theodora that fire cooking sounds delicious. If more places had food like that wouldn’t be so hard to eat low carb. Maybe I’ll try cooking something like that. See how it comes out lol.

Cyster- I am hanging on in there but beginning to feel my resolve waning a little! Have been here before getting disheartened about plateaus etc. It’s been a slow journey since January and I am getting impatient to get to the finish line. I will take your advice about lowering the carb count and seeing if that makes a difference.

I wonder if I have become a little complacent about my food choices and perhaps haven’t been calculating the fat/calories etc accurately enough. I do drink a lot of water as I know how important that is. I am going to try a week without fasting and then a week of intermittent alternate day fasting. I also think I need to seriously miss things up a bit dietary wise. It’s difficult being a vegetarian to have a big repertoire of recipes but I think it will help stem off some of the boredom. I am a fighter and I am determined to see my BMI get down to 25 this year. I think part of the problem is that I wanted to achieve my goal by September. Maybe I should just go with the flow and it will happen when it happens and that might make the rest of this journey more enjoyable.

Lyn g- thank you for your kind words.

Dreamscometrue- we are neck and neck in our journey. Thank you for some inspiring tips regarding fasting. Won’t it be fantastic to be 9.7 stone!

Thank you everyone for your support. The January starters are so lovely. Keep going everyone- we can do this and we can inspire each other to achieve our goal.

CCathy sorry to hear you are going through another plateau, it is hard to stay motivated for such a long period of time. I always think that 800 calories is fine for 8 weeks but extremely difficult to do long term. I have 900-1000 calories per day and it doesn’t seem to make much difference weight loss wise, but I find it easier to stick to.
My weight this week is the same as last week, but as I mentioned in another thread I’ve actually gained and lost almost 3kg this week! Must be fluid retention or something. I had a big loss about 4 weeks ago and went down to a new low…but have put some of that back on since then so trying to get back down again. When I look back over the 6 months though this seems to be a regular pattern for me. I’ll have a big Whoosh followed by a gain and then the weight gradually comes back down again. I’m averaging about 1.5kg loss per month, so I think it could easily be another 12 months before I get down to my goal weight. . Luckily I feel so much better following this WOE that I have no intention of giving up, no matter how slow the weight loss is!

Week 28 starts for me tomorrow. I woke up this morning and noticed that it is exactly 2 months till my birthday. I’m still just over 5kg away from my ‘birthday goal weight’ so decided to try and do another 8 weeks of 800 calories starting from tomorrow – I have been doing a more relaxed version of late. Today is Sunday and I had no real plans so am spending the day cooking BSD friendly recipes. I’ve made a pot of apple Cinammon steel cut oats, so that’s breakfast for the week, some egg muffins and kale & quinoa burgers for lunches, a tray of roast vegies for roast veggie salad and a dish of the spicy purple veg, so that’s some sides sorted. Now going to make some veggie soup with all the left over veggies in the crisper. I’m feeling very productive and determined today! Also I hate waste and I was conscious of the all the veggies I’ve bought over the last couple of weeks and hadn’t had time to cook 🙂
Hopefully everyone else is enjoying the weekend.

Wow Sue, you have been busy. All sounds excellent stuff and great to hear you’re feeling so motivated and reinvigorated about your next round of BSD800.

Tomorrow will be the start of week 28 for me too, just shows how doable this WOE is that we have managed to stick with it – more or less – for more than 6 months.

You go for it girl, and you’ll achieve your birthday goal weight no problem. What a lovely birthday gift to yourself that will be! Keep us posted – rooting for you. 😄

Today is week 28 for me too. I have had a few breaks but overall have stuck to this pretty well. My aim is to get down to the 9s this month. Pretty exciting as I started at 14 so singles figures big milestone lol. Hope everyone carrying on and seeing success.
I have had 3 family parties in the past two weeks so 3 pound gain from that. Hopefully will lose that and more this month to get to the 9s haven’t seen such a low number since I was in my teens.

Hello Cyster

There are still a few of us plodding on and hopefully achieving our goals soon from the January starters. I, like you, am hoping to see a 9 any day soon. I am struggling to get under the 140 lb mark. I keep getting to 140 and then I go up again to 142 and then down again to 140. I just can’t seem to crack this long plateau and am wondering if my body is telling me enough is enough. My BMI is 26.8. I want to lose 7 lb more but I don’t know how to and have plateaued now for six weeks so it’s more like maintenance! I hope we both see a 9 real soon! Let’s do this!

Hello to everyone else from the January starters group. Eight months in now!

I know it can be done because there is proof here on the forum. Just need to be resilient.

Hi Cyster and CC.

Good to hear from you, and fantastic to know you are both still hanging in there. Especially in the face of such a long plateau CC. Really hope you both dip into the 9s soon. 😊

I’ve just started W29, though the last 12 of those have been in maintenence – which is a pretty tough cookie atm as I feel as though I am running Hotel Theodora, with non stop house guests from mid-July to end -September. Just about coping – thank goodness I had some wriggle room (which is pretty much gone now 😢)

Sue – how did week 1 of your new strict round go for you? Hopefully okay, enjoying all that yummy food you prepared? Really hope you are edging towards your birthday goal weight and that those 5kg will melt away really fast.

Keep plodding on January starters – we can all do this, we’ve proved how strong and determined we are just by still being here😛

Being a July starter I am thrilled to find your posts very motivating! Well done. One of the things I love about this diet is that feeling of taking control of my health. You should all be so proud !

Cyster
I am really interested in the macro levels. What do you eat at 800 calories to get 70 g of fat I am struggling with that

Hello everyone, sorry I haven’t logged in for a while, but it’s good to see everyone still going ! As some of you know I met someone 3 months ago after 10 years single so dating does slow the weight loss down a bit ! Meals out etc. I have never once cheated on the food front, but have been having wine. My weight loss has therefore slowed, but still going down slowly. My partner and I are planning a future together, so it has been a bit of a whirlwind. He isn’t in the diet, but he’s lost 9 lbs since he met me because he tries to eat as I do. Bless him.

I’m now on week 28 and I have lost 40.8 lbs since start. I still need to lose 12 lbs to get to normal BMI. After that, I intend to lose a few more lbs for wriggle room then go onto maintenance. I originally intended to lose more than that, but I now think I will be happy at about 7 lbs below the normal BMI for my height. At that point I can wear all my clothes, and to be honest I just can’t afford to replace another wardrobe ! I have already dropped from a size 20 to a 14 and spent hours selling too big clothes on eBay and then buying the next size down only to sell all that. I can’t Face doing another round !

I’m now wearing almost all the clothes I had packed away when I gained weight. Some are a little snug, so I really need to lose the rest of the weight. There are a few left to get into, including a lovely fuschia dress from John Lewis I wore once for a wedding and want to get into for a day at the races in 3 weeks time ! I’m going to be extra strict for 3 weeks and try to stay off the wine ! It won’t zip up at the moment.

We have just returned from holiday and it was lovely to walk into nice shops and try on clothes. I ended up buying a coat, a dress and two tops. It’s great when things fit. My partner knows my size, and was bringing things for me to try. I would have been horrified at someone doing that when I was a size 20 !

Hi everyone and well done to all! This latest flurry of posts has come just at the right time as I’m nearing the end of a lovely holiday, but dreading the scales when I get home. I’ve generally eaten healthily, but know that there have been too many carbs and cals overall – and way too much wine. I’ve been starting to get cross with myself: I feel flabbier (but this may all be in my head!) and am a bit panicky in case I have undone months of good work. But we’ll see!

On a positive note I was just hitting 10 stone before I came away so I hope it won’t take me too long to get back there if I have slightly blown it. And another positive thing is that I had to buy some off the shelf clothes last week after getting drenched and optimistically grabbed jeans and a top in size 12. No chance to try them on, I had to go straight to a pub lunch and changed in the loos – and they fitted fine! I started off in January at size 16 so am really chuffed about that.

Keep going everyone – Clarinet Cathy, Cyster, Seasidenana we WILL all get those last 7 or so pesky pounds off soon!! Thanks Theodora for your encouragement 🙂

And welcome Lessmuffintop! This is a lovely forum to be on so please stay with us and we will help you on your journey X

Hi everyone. Similarly I’ve not been on the forum for a while but have restarted the Fast 800 this week, so your posts are very timely!

Many congratulations to those fellow January starters who’ve reached amazing milestones! I’m encouraged by your amazing success and am in awe of your stickability.

I started it in January and dropped 20lbs in 8 weeks – and felt great. The last few months I’ve taken my eye off the game and regained 15lbs, which was a bit of a surprise. So, I’m back on it and getting into the zone again.

Keep going. You’ve come a long, long way and I toast your success :o)

Jacks

Hey Seasidenana – how lovely that you and your new man are planning a future together 😀 And that he is so supportive – mind you, I guess that if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be the lovely man he obviously is and you wouldn’t be together 😉 So happy for you both😃 Enjoy the Races in your fuchsia dress, which I’m sure will soon be zipping up.

So lovely to suddenly see so many posts on this thread, feels as though be are old friends. Lessmuffintop – nice to see a new face, welcome and good luck.

Dreams, I suspect that any damage caused by your holiday won’t be as bad as you fear and, even if it is, you have the tools to reverse it quickly. We have to be allowed the odd indulgence after all. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – no point in being thin and healthy if we are miserable! Life is for living, we only have one so we need to allow ourselves to enjoy it😊 And how lovely that the impulse size 12s fitted so well😊

Jacks – welcome back. You’ve done it once, you can do it again. This time you will get it off and keep it off, I’m sure. I lost 47lbs – 5lbs of which was wriggle room – went from a UK size 16 to an 8 and, almost 3 months after hitting target, am still within my comfort zone, under 8st 7lbs (though only just atm😛). During that time I’ve had a couple of holidays and have had house guests almost non stop since mid July so lots of food and wine, but have managed to maintain by staying off refined carbs and throwing in the odd total fast day occasionally, and/or a few 800 days when I’ve had the chance and, touching wood here, so far it seems to be working 😊

Keep posting and giving us updates everyone. And good luck😉

Hi everyone, I’m still around, plodding along. My strict week resulted in a 600g loss (just over a pound) and my weight has stalled since then. I’m going through a really stressful time at work at the moment which isn’t helping 🙁 there’s been a few evenings where I’ve resorted to a few glasses of wine! So my birthday goal is still 4.6kg away, but I still have 8 weeks, so maybe I can achieve it.
It is hard to stay motivated after so long, I find my motivation comes in waves. I’ll have a week like my recent strict one where I’ll be all prepared, cooking up a storm, determined to succeed etc… and then when I get little or no results, or have to cope with a stressful situation, my good intentions go out the window!
I’m by no means giving up though, just taking it a day at a time.
Lovely to hear from you Seasidenana, Cyster, Cathy and everyone else. Thanks for the encouragement Theodora 🙂

Hello everyone, what a lovely forum. It’s so encouraging to see that people are still here and struggling with similar things. So many of us are close to our goals, but it does seem to be getting tough for most of us. We have followed a strict regime for more than 6 months, so weight loss is bound to slow down anyway.

I think the motivation for me to continue comes from looking back at how I was before, and how fantastic it feels to be so much slimmer. I have kept a diary with photos at various stages, which is really helpful to look back on now. I also look at my weight loss graph on MFP and the overall downward trend is encouraging, even though there are plateaux.

Clarinetcathy Sueblue, I remember some discussions a few months ago about plateau. I seem to remember we decided that mixing it up a bit does help. Eating a bit more food, albeit low carb, can result in a loss bizarrely. I have found that I do lose a bit more when I first return from holiday.

I do think lowering the carbs to below 20 will probably work. I’m going to try that, and will be interested to hear from anyone else trying it.

A colleague of mine is a low carb guru and he swears by a diet which is 70% fat 20% protein and 10% carbs. I don’t achieve that very often, but think it’s worth trying for a week or two.

A final point on Motivation. For the first few months I was very fixated on reaching a certain weight by a certain date, and that did help me a lot when I was very big. It helped me to imagine myself in smaller clothes by certain dates. I was then losing about 0.35 lbs per day.

Now the loss has slowed to an average 0.20 per day and I have had to revise my goals and accept that they will arrive more slowly. I’m also enjoying how I look and feel now rather than feeling I have to be thinner before I’m ok about myself. The important thing for long term maintenance though is to focus on making this a way of life rather than a temporary deprivation. I think that will help the weight to stay off long term.

Fantastic achievements from everyone keep going and keep logging in. You are all lovely !

Hello January friends

I started a thread a couple of days ago about how to get the last half stone off and the suggestions have been really helpful but one of the most important things I learnt was to be thankful for my loss of 34 lb and to appreciate how far I’ve come since January and to appreciate my new slimmer and healthier self. Seasidenana- your post has just reinforced that. I realised that I have been hung up on the end goal. This is a way of life for us all now and I will always follow the BSD principles. I do look good and slim and I will enjoy my achievement so far.

SueBlue- hope things settle down at work- work stress is awful. You’re doing great and perhaps like me you should think of how well you’ve done so far and relax into the next few weeks with me one day at a time and let’s both ease up the pressure on ourselves to achieve a particular goal. I wonder if we are being too hard on ourselves.

Keep plodding everyone- we are all awesome and so resilient!

I was in a vintage shop today and came across some old weighing scales- I picked up a 2lb weight and 4lb weight and was shocked at how heavy they actually weighed! I think of losing a pound or two as no big deal but to be honest it has been a revelation. Just thought I would share this with the group. We have all lost an enormous amount of weight and probably would have difficulty picking it up and carrying it about!

Hi everyone. Love reading posts very motivating. Still carrying on and picking myself up whenever I fall off the wagon. This week has been good I have lost two pounds and hopefully will lose as much or more next week.
Lessmuffintop my macros are percentages so approximately 10%carbs 70-80% fat and 10-20% protein. I have noticed that when I stick to that especially the carbs I tend to lose steadily. It’s only when I stop doing that I stall.

To add fat easily I whisk it into coffee or hot chocolate butter or coconut oil. I also like to eat fat bombs they help up the fat. I drizzle olive oil on all my salads and have mayonnaise avacados some cheese and cream. These are my main fat sources also ghee too.

I have noticed it is much harder now to lose weight as I get closer and closer to my goal. I am sticking to it. Hopefully these last few pounds will go and I can reach maintenance.

Hope we all continue and keep going. This is real life so no need for all or nothing outlook. Life happens but if we keep going, try again one day we will get to our goal. Giving up means we’ll never reach it so its not an option.

Your observation about weights very true ccathy. We have all achieved a lot long may it continue 👍👍👏👏

CC – further to your suggestion about visualising the weight we have lost, I followed someone else’s suggestion and filled a rucksack with goods amounting to my lost weight. I filled it with bags of sugar / flour, tins of food, etc – anything which would simulate my lost weight. Well, CC, I kid you not, I struggled to even lift the blooming rucksack, let alone carry it around all day😱 Lessonto be learned, methinks xxxx

I am in the process of doing the same, but the weight I lost is a rather daunting 51kg, and my rucksack is currently up to just over 34kg and already very difficult to lift. I have a sandbag thing to fill to the correct weight to make it up to a nice round 50kg sometime when I am feeling keen, but have the feeling that I will be unable to move it at that stage. The mind boggles how I used to move at all carrying all that around every single day.

Thanks CC that is helpful. Defo need to reduce carbs and up the fat then. This thread is full of good info. I love the idea of the rucksack . Might use that in fat am trying to get my body fat down! Thanks

Hi everyone and happy weekend!

Love the rucksack concept Theodora, and I was thinking along vaguely similar lines on holiday. My partner’s daughter and grandson joined us for a while and I had a few sessions of holding the baby, walking him round etc. He’s four months old and I’m not sure how much he weighs but must be way less than the 30lb I’d lost – and boy do you know it after a while! Achy arms, achy back – just imagine our poor bodies carrying more than that excess weight all the time! As has been said, we get frustrated when the weight loss slows but need to keep our eyes on the bigger picture.

On which point, as I feared, a few pounds have slipped back on over my holiday and – in that respect – I have “set myself back” to where I was about a month ago. But all your recent posts have inspired me and kept me smiling despite those wretched scales! Yes my ultimate goal is now going to take yet a little longer than I’d wanted but so what. I’m now back on the wagon and know it will happen. I
think the big thing we’re all finding with this WOE is that it puts you firmly back in control of your weight and well-being. When I started back in January I did not expect to succeed. In fact I was a bit scared to join this forum because I thought I’d be the one who lasted a week (if that!) and would have to slink away in shame. Or – worse – that I would stick to it but wouldn’t actually lose any weight: I’d got it into my head that somehow I was different and was just going to keep putting on weight for the rest of my life. But now all that has changed. I’ve lost way more than I expected and know I will get to where I want to be, because this WOE works and is also enjoyable and manageable. I’m in control so if I have a setback such as a holiday or some other special occasion – or hey just a wilful wander off-piste – its recoverable.

I’ve got a couple of quiet weeks ahead so will be doing a strict 800 for as many days as I can manage and also stepping up the exercise which I’ve also found that for me makes a big difference.

Good luck everyone – am glad we’re all still here and making our journey together. Seasidenana: so glad things are working out so well for you and we all want you to get that fuschia dress zipped up!! Clarinet Cathy really hope your pesky plateau ends soon, and SueBlue hang on in there! Everyone else keep going and keep posting – we will all get there!

Glad you all like the rucksack idea, but I can’t take the credit for it. I filched it from another member, on another thread, but cannot remember who! But it certainly puts our weight loss into perspective – I lost 47lbs (though put on a couple with all these guests and socialising) and my dogs – collies, so fairly large – weigh less than that each!! I can lift them (obviously not together 😉) but I certainly couldn’t carry one far!! So no wonder, now that the weight is gone, I feel healthier and more energetic! MnM, well done you – I cannot even imagine trying to lift 50kg😝

Dreams, well done for getting straight back on the wagon after your holiday. I agree, this WOE has put us back in control and we know we now have the tools to get any small gains straight off again. Very liberating.

Last night, after manning the tea stall at our local regatta (and no, I wasn’t tempted), and then BBQing with friends on their foreshore (was ok on food, but far too much wine was consumed!) at midnight I was invited to relax with them under the stars in their hot-tub overlooking the water . I borrowed a swimsuit from my friend and jumped at the chance. This time last year, I would have made some excuse because I would have been too embarrassed to strip off, and I certainly wouldn’t have fitted into Rosie’s swimsuit – she’s a size 8 (UK). Perfect bliss, absolutely magical. O/h and I (plus dogs) then walked the mile back home by moonlight. Perfect end to a perfect day.

PS No alcohol will pass my lips today – need to regain a bit of wriggle room for next lot of guests arriving tomorrow. Wish me luck.

And good luck to all of you too.

Regarding the stress all the extra pounds we were carrying puts on our body, I read a while back that the knees, specifically the patellofemoral joints, bear loads far in excess of our body weight during certain kinds of movement. Walking up stairs, for example, those poor buggers have to carry up to 6 times our body weight, and at full flexion it goes up to 8 times our body weight. That means that when I weighed in excess of 300 pounds, every time I attempted to climb a staircase I was putting close to A TON of contact force on my creaky, middle aged knees. Little wonder that it took me both hands on the bannister and an act of Congress to go up or down a step.

Thanks Seasidenana for sharing your thoughts on motivation, and your experience, made a lot of sense – and thank you Cathy too.
I recently posted on Facebook about how much better I feel health wise since starting BSD and that weight loss is bonus. I’ve decided not to focus so much on weight goals, but enjoying the journey. This way of eating is a way of life for me now, and one I’ll always be continuing, so it’s more of a marathon than a quick race to get to a specific goal. So I’m just going to keep on going, when I do reach certain milestones I’ll celebrate them, but I’m not going to dwell on weight all the time. I’m sick of getting up each day and the number on the scales dictating how I feel!
I think you are right Cathy we need to appreciate how far we’ve come.
I can’t believe that today marks week 30 for me – I’ve never stuck to a diet/way of eating that long before (well apart from the “wrong” sort – high carbs, sugar, fast food etc 😁). I looked back at my diary this morning and my initial goal was to “start the blood sugar diet and stick to it for 8 weeks if possible”. We’ve all certainly done that and then some!
I love the rucksack idea and am going to try that tonight 🙂
Have a good week everyone!

Great that you have reached the point that you see this as an established way of eating now, SueBlue. Congratulations of reaching week 30 and on your achievements to date. You are right, it is important to recognise all our successes and not just those on the scales. We are all improving health and fitness, as well as looking better and boosting our self esteem. Being able to take control, is a huge boost to those of us who felt like they were out of control and becoming invisible.

Keep going everyone, we are achieving great things on a daily basis.

Thank you for all the new posts everyone. It’s been very lovely to read. Love the idea of the rucksack will try it and see how are I have come.
Still continuing have lost and gained the same pound quite a few times. Hoping the last few days of eating well will help get me par this and down to the next pound. Can’t believe we re in august and still carrying on after starting in January. That’s a huge achievement.

Grand total of 0.6 lb lost this month! I did dip below 140 lb for a day but am back up to 141.6 today!

Not giving up- 8 months in. Whatever this takes I will achieve and sustain a BMI of 25.

Keep plodding January starters! Onwards and downwards….. eventually!

Great to see us all hanging in there. As SunnyB says, that’s an achievement in itself.

CC, any loss is a good loss so well done.

Sue, so good to hear you sounding so positive and that this WOE is a WOL now.

Esnecca, that thing about what we put our knees through certainly puts it into perspective, doesn’t it? I, for one, don’t ever intend putting my poor old joints through that again.

Cyster, sounds like you are maintaining and I’m sure your body will adjust and continue the downward trend soon. Just stick with it.

Week 30 for me, 14 of those in maintenence and pleased to say that despite some upward blips on the scales due to far too much wine /partying /dining out /house guests over the past month, as of this morning, I still have 3.5lbs wriggle room. I have managed this by throwing in the odd total fast day or a couple of 800 days when I can. Seems to be working thank goodness.

Irrespective of what our scales tell us, we are all so much fitter and healthier than we were at the start of the year and we are all still here – huge pats on the back all round.😛

Hi all just a midweek hello and hope everyone is having a good week? I’ve not been quite as strict as I intended diet-wise (my holiday has got me into bad habits with wine again!) but have been doing lots of exercise and am thankfully starting to see a small downward movement in my holiday weight gain. I think “keep calm and carry on” is a great mantra for this forum 🙂

Also just a quick heads-up to those in the UK. I noticed in the large Sainsbury’s store that I used on holiday they’re doing a fab range of prepared vegetables now. Ready grated cauliflower and broccoli rice, spiralised courgettes and other veg, also some slightly lower carb potato alternatives such as sweet potato fries and butternut squash and spinach croquettes. Some lovely ideas and convenience for a BSD-friendly diet. I have now switched allegiance and am planning to make a slightly longer shopping trip to my nearest large Sainsbury’s to keep on the BSD wagon even during busy times!

Have a good week everyone 🙂

Hello everyone thanks so much for all your news and helpful ideas. This forum really helps to keep me going ! I’m on a bit of a mission to stop drinking wine for a while ! I didn’t drink any for the first 8 weeks on the BSD 800 and then only an occasional red. Since a couple of holidays and quite a lot of nights out I’m on the slippery slope with white wine. It has really slowed my weight loss down because my food intake is fine.

As many of us have said, I’m no longer fixated on reaching a certain weight a certain date, but all the same I must stop this before it becomes a very bad habit !

I am still losing a little bit each week and my clothes are getting looser. I can actually zip up the dress I want to wear at the races, but I’m not sure I can breathe in it ! I’m sure it would be fine by 24 August if I stopped drinking wine !

If I lose another 11 lbs I will be a normal BMI so that’s my only goal now really, although I will keep going as will want to have 3-4 lbs wriggle room in maintenance. Thanks for all your tips on that Theodora !

Keep going everyone, we have all done amazingly well.