Well done clarity and k8sgettingthin
Super starts!

Week 1 over lost 3kgs, which I am happy with, I have been strict enough with the calories , carbs etc but I really miss my bread.
After a week I still feel very new to this but if I could give any advice it would be to plan your meals it helps loads. The chicken noodle soup ( on this thread ) was terrific and did help with hunger!
I feel limiting to 1-2 pieces of fruit a day is strange as I’m quite sure using the Med diet as a guide they would eat loads of fruit freely.

Dusdavi – good on ya mate
The chicken noodle low salt packet soup with celery and garlic/onion and or cauliflower is a treat and so few calories

Glad it helped

In fact my dinner tonight is just that after a feta cheese salad at lunch and oats and Almond milk for brekkie and a banana squeezed in

Happy Days

Don’t panic doll!! Remember blood sugar results are a one off snap shot!!!! Like a photo taken in real time! Blood sugars hit peaks and troughs daily so aren’t reluable but The Hba1c is a much more reliable indicator as it reveals BS from an 8-12 week period ….breathe ! Breathe !

I tried making lasagna today with thin slices of zucchini (courgette) instead of pasta. Delicious! I don’t know why I was worried, I’ve been having bolognaise on zoodles (courgetti) for ages! Best thing was that my daughter loved it too. I used quite a lot of cheese so it was about 400 calories per portion (but you could adjust that) and 10 grams of carbs.

Good morning all January BSDers and well done to everyone who has lost weight and changed their way of eating.

Week 2 ……day 1 …….lost 1.5kg

I’m a bit disapponted. It was more but I put 200g overnight probably as a result of my rampage round the kitchen yesterday. And today will not be an easy day to pull back those grams.

Oh well onwatds. Back to work today. That’ll give me something different to think about.

Have a good day!

Hi all
Day 6 looming. Yesterday had a minor blip, did 2 slices of toast with a fried (ev olive oil) egg for brunch! No butter though. Still lasted me through to dinner. Was it worth it? For my sanity yes but can’t say it thrilled me! Still I shall plod on!
Hope we all enjoy today.

Well done everyone on weight losses, big and small, every little helps👍. Solange stick with it, you will feel worse if you give up. Happy Monday

Hi everyone
A happy new year to you all lets make this the best on ever!
Well here I am again about to start the 8 week plan.
Last year I lost 12 pounds over 4 weeks then went on holiday but kept it off despite not keeping to the 800 calories but by watching the carbs.
Then come the dark nights when the clocks go back I went on a massive carb fest and have put it all back and more!!
Sometimes I felt like I was watching a stranger stuffing all that food inside me asking them why are you doing this?
I never got a sensible answer!
Over Xmas came down with flu and started reading The Chimp paradox by Dr Steve Peters.
Revelation time!!!!
(I don’t do self help books come from old school background of pull yourself together and get on with it)
Time to stop beating myself up and start managing
So in the spirit of new year new beginnings some truths (I don’t do blogs, I don’t reveal my inner most feelings to strangers or even those close to me!!).
I am 57, 5ft 6in and 12 stone 2 pounds
I caught sight of myself in the mirror when changing 5 days ago and it was not a pleasant sight!

Things need to change
From today
I will keep a food diary
At the end of the day I will think of three good things that happened today and made me happy
And if possible one thing that made me laugh out loud
perhaps we could share the laugh out loud (Lucia is responsible for my recent one see her blog)

So day 1 starts

Hi all, have managed to get through the first of 8 weeks and I have to say it’s been a struggle at times but kept my head down and ploughed on. I’m absolutely gobsmacked! Got on the scales this morning and have lost 10lb in a week, just the boost I needed. Onwards and upwards and good luck to everyone trying this.

Hi Way of Life
Yep, a nagging headache pretty much every day last week. Had to take tablets on a couple of days, but it’s improving as I go into week 2. Keeping hydrated certainly helps manage them.
Have a good week,
Jacks

Cowpat – that’s fantastic! Well done you. Great encouragement for the rest of us.
Jacks

Wow thats amazing cowpat well done! Welcome madmare and gd luck on your journey, i’m old school too so can associate with your blog😂

dusdavi

well done!

zucchini bread – much nicer to make and eat and lasts weeks. NO yeast etc so does not suffer from mould.

Corgette spagetti from tesco 3 for £3 lovely!

Hi I’m new to this site and after visiting my doctor today she advised me to start with this diet plan. Any help or advise would be greatly received. I have ordered the books from Amazon today, so I have some reading to keep me going for the next couple of days. I have looked at a few of the recipes on here and have zoomed off to Aldi to get the ingredients I need for the next couple of nights meals. Wish me luck !!

Hi and welcome blondebob71. How lovely your doctor has suggested this way of life.
Its not easy but there is always someone to answer your questions.
Planning, shopping and more planning and shopping is the key.
My husband and I do a meal plan and shopping list for about four days at a time. It does change depending on what we are doing. We also manage to ‘bank’ a few meals in the freezer which is really useful.

Onwards and downwards

Hi all – well today is day 7 of week one and I have to say I feel great!!

The hunger on the first couple of days was really hard but I had got so used to not getting hungry and topping up throughout the day, that actually I wasn’t “starving”, I was just letting my tummy rumble as it should before a meal. I have found sticking within the 800 calories surprisingly easy however I do put this down to planning ahead and planning a menu and doing the shopping in advance.

Last night we had the cottage pie from the recipe book and Wowsers!! It was absolutely lovely…. Had it again at lunchtime, (there are 3 of us at home, served 6 so all had some last night and some today for lunch)…. Will definitely be adding that to the repertoire! Looking forward to trying the fish pie next Sunday night..

Weigh in tomorrow morning so we will see what the morning brings, however I know that I have lost so just got to keep going… 1st week done, 5 to go (I’m doing 6 weeks on the lead up to a fortnights holiday and will then do a further 8 weeks when I get back).

I am so much sleeping better, and when I wake up, I am actually awake… I feel more alert and not as sluggish and I can see the difference in my skin already…

Lets keep going people – everyone is doing brilliantly!!! Whoop Whoop!!!

Much Love,
Rebecca xx

Thank you granny for your reply, I really wasn’t about to jump ship. Honestly! Some fab losses coming through and I am hoping come weigh in Wednesday I will see a decent loss.
Wow people being advised by their doctor to do this too!!

Good luck blondebob

I started in September 2016 so, although I’m not as experienced as some on here, I do still remember my first week and because you don’t have the book yet some things may take you by surprise so here’s some tips I found useful:

Be kind to yourself in the first few days – the carb detox (also known as carb flu) will probably hit today or tomorrow. You may feel headachey, sick, dizzy, miserable and bad tempered. It’s perfectly normal and anyone who switches from burning carbs to burning fat will get it to a greater or lesser degree. It totally floored me at the end of day 1 and I had to take to my bed – having thrown up my dinner. I had the worst headache. This does not mean that this will happen to you LOL but just be warned that you may feel a bit off for a few days. Some ways to combat it are drink loads of water (for me this meant upwards of 3 litres – include tea and coffee in that) and to add salt to your food. Sounds weird but works 🙂 and rest and don’t be afraid to take a couple of painkillers either!

Plan plan plan – make sure you know what you are going to eat and shop for it – make sure, where possible, that you can rid your house of naughty stuff that may tempt you when you are feeling a little vulnerable in the first few days. If you do have the urge to snack make sure you have high fat/protein snacks like nuts around but remember that not all nuts are created equal – go for the lower carb ones like walnuts or macadamias

Don’t plan any exercise in the first few days – you may not feel up to it and you really don’t need the guilt! If you do feel OK, just have a walk.

Something that I also found useful was to try and wait as long as you can for breakfast. I now only eat in about an 8 hour window – so breakfast at 11, lunch at 3 and dinner around 7. It really helps the hunger pangs. Also, hot drinks suppress hunger pangs so if think you are hungry, have some tea!

Don’t just weigh yourself, also measure your body, especially chest, hips, tummy and thighs – later on in the diet, on those weeks that you may not lose as much, or anything, this will be a godsend because you will probably have lost inches – plus you can come on here and brag about it!

Lastly, if I’ve made it sound really crappy, I apologise but it is really only very temporary – by the end of week 1 you will feel fantastic! If you are really on it you should begin to see a difference on the scales in 3 days or so, so if you are lacking motivation just jump on and see what has happened.

That’s all I can think of for now – best of luck!
TC

Good advice topcac – thanks for the inspiration!

I’m inadvertently finding myself doing a 16/8 simultaneously, so having a late breakfast and not eating after 7pm whenever possible. I generally work from home so it’s easier to manage and get in the flow.

I agree, planning ahead works best to avoid a kneejerk panic when it comes to meals.

Definitely a lifestyle eating plan – and not a diet.

All the best,
Jacks

Hi updating on my progress. Just finished second week
lost 7 pounds first week
lost 4 pounds last week
so far feeling pretty motivated.
Amazing to hear everyones stories the ups and downs. Lovely being part of the group.
anyone who has doen this longer did you ever get a red rash on skin because of eating so less carbs? woke up with a rash today. wondering if anyone has experienced it

Great advice TC, one thing i’ve found useful and feels luxurious……if youre feeling tempted mid morning and lunch seems a way off then have a coffee with cream, low carb and cals (surprisingly) but really helps fill the gap.

That is a trick I have recently learnt as well Granny, although I usually have a chai with cream, rather than coffee. Another option is a few nuts or a small cube of cheese, but I have to say I think the creamy hot drink is more satisfying.

Hi Everyone!
Week Two, Day One. Feeling much better. I have lost 5.4 kg (12 #) and two inches around my waist. I took Sunday off from exercise, but most of the other days I got my cardio workout (just from walking) and my 10,000 steps. Several days my exercise burned more calories than I ate, which was amazing because I felt fine. Not too tired after the first couple days. I’m going to add in the resistance training this week. One thing we weren’t expecting was how much we love all the food we are eating. Food tastes better when you are hungry. 😀 Good luck to all. I hope you have a great week.

Hi Rebecca,

Yes it’s easy. I had a 2 eggs omelette for breaky. Same for lunch (still full now) and having Chicken Satay for tea with fresh cauli rice. total is around 700 calories and around 20G of carbs.

Satisfied!

Hi All,
Rolling into week 2 and feeling much better. Lost 6 pounds during the first week and looking forward to a few more this week.
As so many have said, planning really helps!!! My biggest challenge has been dinner planning and keeping the carbs down. It feels odd to be eating such whole rich foods. Sometimes the whole fat dairy and all the eggs are so rich it makes me nauseous so I tend to stay away from it and have moved to 2% cottage cheese and am cutting back on my eggs and other cheeses. It’s just too much. Never thought I’d say that! I love cheese and rich foods!
Onward into Week 2!
Good luck everyone!

Hi everyone

Just thought I’d update .. I’m still in week 1.. Felt so light headed and nauseous for the first few days, even though I normally drink loads water I drank even more and also added a little salt to my food which I don’t normally do and this has definitely helped.

I’ve reduced the amount of insulin units I inject as I’m finding blood glucose is coming down very nicely.

I feel fantastic today … I can’t remember the last time I had so much energy!!

From reading your posts I realise I should’ve planned my meals.. It’s something I’ve never done when trying to lose weight in the past and I think that’s one of the reasons where I’ve always gone wrong.

How do you plan your meals?

I hope you all have a great week!

Hello SunnyB

I can’t drink coffee but I’m loving the sound of your chai with cream … Please do tell how you make it 😃

Thanks

Yay, almost at the end of day one.

So a bit more info about me, I am 44, 5’6″ weigh 13 stone 2 pounds (but this is a recent Xmas binge eating gain, have been 11.5 stone for last 18 months, but started emotional bingeing on carbs and alcohol a few months ago!)
However, after doing 5.2 previously I know I am happiest weight and healthwise at around the 10 stone 10 mark. And that is a healthy bmi for me.

I am very disorganised, throw myself headlong into diets and tend to like simple easy non faff meals at the start of any new eating regime, I know that after 2 weeks of this I will be finding it relatively easy, and then I can take some time to cook more thoughtful meals, but for now, I just need quick fixes of meals that fill me up with minimal faff!

So my day one menu has been:

2 eggs scrambled in microwave served with half an avocado, salt and pepper

Tin of sardines in tomato sauce!

2 fresh coffees with semi skimmed milk (need to buy cream instead this week!)

2 large slices of Aldi tourchon ham rolled up with full fat cream cheese, spinach rocket and watercress

1 walnut.

1 or maybe 2 cups of tea with semi skimmed milk

3 litre of fizzy water

Roll on tomorrow and hopefully a pound or 2 less on the scales!

My husband is a wonderful cook and Sunday roast yesterday was a cheat day for me, twice as much carbs as I should have 😏 He made some home made soup and his soups are always delicious, he’s very supportive of my diet and understands the basic no bread, potato, rice, pasta so I never thought to ask him what was in it. After I’d eaten it I asked him what was in it. He gave me all the ingredients and ended with ‘…. and one small potato.’ He thought one small potato wouldn’t make that much difference but when I checked it actually has 24g carbs! So today has been a bit of a bust as well 😒 Need to pull my socks up tomorrow and get back on track.
Well done to all sticking with it despite the headaches. I didn’t suffer with any of that thankfully.
Val

Approaching end of day 3. Feeling lighter.
Still experiencing headaches but not as bad as yesterday. Don’t have the dizzy/nauseous feeling anymore.
Very much looking forward to feeling great by start of week 2. Many have commented on that and I can’t wait!

Topcac and Jacks – thanks for the advice re headaches.

Well done everyone.

For those of you suffering headaches, have you cut caffeine? Lots of people who did 5.2 used to talk about the headaches, but I didn’t suffer with that, but I never gave up caffeine either! I am waiting for the freezing shivers, by this time next week when I have shifted some pounds I know I will be wrapped up in 3 sweaters and a blanket! 😂

Hi all, I started last Tuesday, so day 7 today. I’ve just been having two meals a day, no snacks apart from cream in coffee twice a day. Found it really easy, haven’t been hungry…
This morning I was 8lb down from my starting weight of 210.8lbs. Hopefully a little more off tomorrow for first week total, but I am happy with that as my 10% target is 21lbs. Inches going also.
I think I found this WOE easier as I have 5:2 before and my body is now used to that. When I first did 5:2 I felt weak and shaky and lightheaded on the fasting days, but after my body adjusted I seem to be able to fast even after months of eating and not have any of those effects. Interesting…

Hi there I’m new to this too. Started at the weekend so this is my day three. I found yesterday quite difficult but feeling loads better today. Think I’m over the 800 cal today but not by much and not hungry…..for me this is a revelation. Good luck everyone ☺

Mumofcrazynamedkids. I have had headaches (easing now) but I never have caffeine so that wasn’t reason.
Many have advised to drink
More water, take painkillers and be kind to yourself. Have done all 3 and feel heaps better.

Well done Ragz134. Good going!

Bex1. Ditto the above. Day 3 for me and feeling better than yesterday. Very low and headachy. Great now. Long may it continue for both of us. 🙂

End of Day 7 and delighted to have found it easy. On my first work trip as was a bit worried about what I could eat but the M&S at the station saved me! I’ve found that if I have things I can grab and eat easily around, it’s been so easy-no fiddly weighing.
Time savers for me have been;
Pack of cherry tomatoes
Pack of sugar snap peas
Baby bel cheese
Pre sliced smoked salmon sandwich size ( Tesco)
Quorn ham
Tin no drain tuna
Pack of no drain olives
Bags of salad
Miso soup sachet
I’m really aware these are all high salt so I try to match something salty with the fresh. Staying under 50g carbs has taken a fair bit of calculation and I’ve yet to manage that whilst keeping fibre up.
I found a “4Head” stick stopped HEADACHES in their tracks . I am drinking SO much water I don’t think it’s that.
I’ve decided to have a little experiment with protein powders as a cooking ingredient. I found Protein Pow-a fantastic website with lots of protein recipes that are low carb. There’s bread, cake, wraps, biscuits, cheesecake, ice cream -all those high carb things that are out of bounds. And no sugar! Personally I’m going to stick with the bread and wraps to start. I want to get out of the cake/cookie habit so don’t want to tempt myself. I’ll report back what they are like.
I’ve cooked some lovely evening meals which have felt like treats so I don’t find I’m struggling. I try to go as long as I can during the day before I eat which has inadvertently meant I’m also doing the 16:8 fast!! More health benefits !! Today it was 2.30pm and I genuinely wasn’t ravenous at all.
I decided to go a week before I weighed or measured. I want to give myself the best chance of seeing something fabulous when I do! So Wednesday morning after I get back from my trip, I’ll know how I’ve done. Wish me luck!
Lots of love to you all- hope it’s going well with you all

Good luck, TumtumP. Sounds like you’re doing great!

Thanks lindarina- I’m trying really hard!! This has to be a new way of life so lots of changing habits and re education of my palate and diet!!
Good luck to you too x

Thanks again TumTumP for your excellent advice and guidance….the protein powder s as an additive sound interesting I’ll look em up now xxxxx

The book should be arriving tomorrow and I’m giving myself a couple of bays to study it, then aim to start in earnest on Sat 14th.
This is my first time joining a forum like this so I’m hoping it will give me the inspiration and support to stick with it this time (so many failed diets in the past)
My motivation (apart from general health and fitness of course) is a big trip coming up in the summer and I won’t forgive myself if I’m not in at least reasonable shape by then.
So let the journey begin!

When I go to Protein Pow all I get is

CHETKO:CHETKO|009|BOTLIST|DOORS READY:217

Anyone else?

Hi PCoventry

Glad to see you back. Hope no more dizzy spells.
The website is
http://proteinpow.com/
Just tried it and works ok.
Really eye opening- low carb recipes
Enjoy

To Wayoflife…..on this diet your body excretes fluid as well as key electrolytes….so try having added salt and also magnesium oil baths both really help headaches and magnesium is found in almonds, pumpkin seeds and spinach .

Very interesting Lexy4france. Thank you. I’ll try tomorrow

Hi everyone,
Day 1 for me. Weighed this morning at 196lbs and found I’d lost 2lbs this week. Cutting down in preparation for today. I’m 63, 5’4″ and last time I was a decent weight was for a few years in my twenties.

I’d like to shed 50-60 lbs by the end of the year preferably 12-16lbs in these first 8 weeks. My downfall is grazing constantly 4pm onwards. Bread and scones have had to go too. Apples are also a challenge. Can eat 6 in a day. Love them. Got a shock when I learnt the amount of carbs they contain.I don’t eat meat but eat fish. I don’t like cooking either. Hours to prepare, 5 minutes to eat and then have to wash up. So I usually cook for more than one day. Don’t mind eating same thing.

To start off I’m doing my own recipes minus the obvious carbs and smaller portions. I’ll see how I get on. Most of my meals are eggs, Quorn, fish. I have berries and yoghurt for breakfast and eggs for lunch. Usually boiled. I agree with pcoventry. No washing.

I’ve also started a complicated crochet project to keep me busy and out of the kitchen.

I’ll weigh once a week.

I have limited mobility so 10000 steps is not achievable but I go to gym twice a week and swimming also. I walk on the treadmill but have to hold on to the side so don’t know if that counts.

This is a wonderful thread. So much support and inspiration

Good Luck to everyone.

Day 5 for me and migraines have gone, one on day 2 and another on day 3, but I’m feeling very tired. Couldn’t keep my eyes open last night around 6pm and had to go and lie don for an hour before dinner. Feeling a bit better today but still a bit sluggish.
I really struggled with hunger yesterday and ended up snacking on carrot sticks and tzatziki, better than my usual cheese and biscuits followed by a bottle of wine 🍷
I agree with everyone else who has mentioned the importance of planning your menus. I plan for the week and do the shopping list as i record my menu. It takes a while but it is worth it. Hubby is very supportive and cooks at least 3 times a week so I can have break.
Good luck everyone and well done one your achievements so far
😊

Hi! What a great thread. You have all done so well. I am female and approaching my 60th birthday…round the corner actually. Like many of you, I also can relate to being thin and having a hand span waist. I am only 157 cm in height and carry far too much weight around every day. I have the need to feel healthier, to try and reduce my blood pressure and to dress in snazzy clothes. I bought the 8 week BSD book and hope to embrace this WOE for 8 weeks. That should bring me up to my birthday so I am motivated.

Hi everyone,
I’ve posted the below before, but thought I’d post it again for the benefit of the newbies or for those that have fallen off the wagon over Christmas.

I’m an ‘old timer’, been on the BSD since April 2016 and now on maintenance after losing 33kg and have successfully kept it off, even over Christmas.

Being overweight is not a matter of having no willpower, your hunger is driven by your hormones, particularly insulin and in order to lose weight, you’ve got to get that under control. Even now, doctors are still giving us the old incorrect advise of eat less and move more and when we fail, they blame us…”you eat too much and you don’t do enough exercise”. It’s crap! It’s not your fault.
Some tips:

– Read the book from cover to cover. Then read it again.

– Drinks AT LEAST 2-3 litres of water a day. I drink more.

– Eat full fat everything, no low fat or lite foods. You need fat in your diet to keep you satiated. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll lose faster if you go low fat. You won’t.

– Read the labels on everything you buy, sugar/starches are unnecessarily added to a lot of processed foods which is why most of us eat and cook predominately real food.

– Most processed foods have either added sugar or polyunsaturated oils added. Don’t buy them. I now make my own mayonnaise and basil pesto and hummus.

– Count, measure, weigh and record everything you eat. Some do this manually but most use an app. I used EasyDietDiary but a lot of others use My Fitness Pal, once you get into the habit, it’s quick and easy to do.

– Carbs hide in virtually everything and it’s important to keep under 50g of complex carbs per day, lower if you have T2D or insulin resistance and/or you’re not losing. Some people have to go as low as 20g carbs per day to lose. It just depends on your genetics and how much ‘carbage’ you’ve put into your body up until now.

– Stay clear of bread, rice, pasta, sugar (including honey, molasses etc), potato etc

– I went cold turkey on all sugar (including most fruit) and all refined carbs. The only fruit I eat are strawberries and blueberries.

– Be warned, you may experience symptoms of what we call the ‘carb flu’ for the first few days. Headaches, foggy brain, aching limbs etc. just take a Panadol, drink more water and be kind to yourself. This will pass.

– If you cheat, it’s entirely possible that you will go through the carb flu again and it will definitely set off cravings for more.
The fear of this meant that I didn’t cheat!

– Plateaus are normal from week to week. Don’t panic, just keep on the plan and you will keep losing.

– Measure yourself when you start or now if you haven’t already done so. Some weeks you’ll lose weight but not inches and other weeks vica versa.

– Try to do at least 10,000 steps every day. Schedule it into your day so you don’t find a way of saying you’re too busy. I get up earlier now before work so I can fit it in. Take the stairs instead of the escalator, walk the dog after dark, park further away from where you need to go or get off the bus a couple of stops earlier to/from work. I tend to park the furthest away from the entrance to the shops in the carpark.

– There are some that haven’t been able to do the steps at first and they still lost weight and others, like Lucia, started very very slowly and worked her way up. Search for her name in the search box at the top and you can read her story.

– Read the forum every day, you’ll pick up lots of tips and there’s always someone around the world to answer any questions you may have. It will also keep you motivated.

– Don’t cheat. Every time you cheat with some simple carbs or sugar it sets off your hormones to expect more sugar/carbs and it will set off cravings. All carbs convert to glucose. Approximately 56% of protein that the body doesn’t need converts to glucose so don’t go overboard on the protein (I eat around 60-90g per day max). Only 10% of fat converts to glucose. My research indicates that you need approximately 1 – 1.5g of protein to 1kg of your IDEAL body weight (not your current weight) per day.

– Table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Fructose is evil! It does really bad things to your body and is one of the reasons you keep putting weight back on as it can’t be metabolised by the body like glucose can and will go straight to your liver and convert to fat. This can cause non alcoholic fatty liver disease and creates your visceral fat. This is exactly the same fructose that you find in fruit, so that’s why I stopped eating most fruit as your body metabolises it the same way as table sugar.

– Your body can get all the nutrients it needs from vegetables, protein and fat (be careful of consuming vegetables that grow under the ground as they have way more carbs, as do peas which is technically a legume). Strawberries are fairly low in fructose, hence carbs. Apples, bananas and pears and sweet tropical fruits are very high.

– Eat saturated and monosaturated oils, like butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocado and macadamia nut oil. Stay well clear of all highly refined seed oils like canola, sunflower, safflower, peanut, soybean oils (also known as polyunsaturated oils). They have very high inflammatory properties and can do bad things to your brain and heart. Along with sugars, they are also thought to contribute to the growth of cancers.

– Put salt on your foods. When you cut out processed foods, you don’t get the added salt that they provide and you need salt for the electrolytes.

– Eat nuts or a cube of cheese if you hungry, but remember to measure and weigh as they are high in fat and calories will add up quickly. Macadamias are the best as they are very low in carbs and high in fat (4.5g/100g carbs), cashews are the worst – they are technically a seed (28g/100g of carbs).

– Stay clear of all artificial sweeteners, but particularly aspartame. It can cause a huge amount of side effects. In Australia it’s 950/951/955 and possibly other numbers. Not sure what they are in the U.K. and the U.S.

– It has been reported that having drinks and food with artificial sugar can also spike a release of insulin once your tongue ‘tastes’ the sweetness as your body thinks it needs to metabolise the sugar it thinks you are consuming. Perhaps use them to help you wean yourself off sugar, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t be something you consume long term. The jury is still out on stevia, but I don’t take the chance as it hasn’t been around for long enough for long term studies.

My goal was 60kg, and once I reached it, I decided to keep going with more fat in my diet to see where it took me (I did not increase my carbs) I now seem to have settled around 56-58kg. I still do not eat refined carbs or sugar because as soon as I do, my weight will go up and believe it or not, the cravings are gone. I haven’t had chocolate or ice cream since before April! A miracle for me!

The fat I consume triggers the hormones in my body to send me the ‘I’m full’ signal and I no longer count what I eat, but I know others continue to do so once they get to maintenance, it really is an individual thing. Don’t feel like you have to eat if you’re not hungry, a lot of us will easily skip one meal, sometimes two and it’s perfectly OK.

I had some bloods taken at the doctors last week and just got the results. Since I’ve started eating more saturated fat, my HDL cholesterol has gone up (the good one) and my triglycerides have gone down (the bad one) and the doctor says I’m in perfect health other than low iron which I’ve had for 30 years.

Don’t worry about what other people say or think. We had friends over for a BBQ last week and one brought a box of chocolates as a gift. I politely asked him to take it home with him as I no longer eat sugar and he was happy to do so! I’m sure he thought I was bonkers, but I just don’t care anymore what anyone thinks anymore because my health is more important to me!

The restriction of 800 cals per day is just to get the weight off quickly and keep you motivated, it is easy to do and don’t let anyone tell you that it is too low or that your body won’t cope or you will get sick. It’s bunkum. Also don’t let anyone tell you that your body needs sugar. Your brain does need glucose for energy but it can make it from complex carbs (I eat predominantly vegetables, not grains or legumes) and protein and fat. There are such thing as essential proteins and fats as your body can’t make them, but there are no such things as essential carbohydrates!

Give up alcohol for the 8 weeks. Hard, I know, but it’s better to eat your calories than drink them and it tends to make you want to cheat. Most are also high in carbs. Once you’ve lost the weight, you might want to reconsider, but I’ve found that other than the odd 1/2 glass of red wine, I don’t bother and don’t miss it. Beer is full of carbs!

I also listen to a lot of health podcasts, either whilst I’m walking or cooking and that is a huge motivator. I just didn’t realise that I didn’t know what I didn’t know!
Here’s an example:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ask-the-low-carb-experts/id495159994?mt=2&i=114095842
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ask-the-low-carb-experts/id495159994?mt=2&i=165093383
There’s are heaps, just search for low carb or Keto.

If you haven’t started yet, start by clearing out all the crappy foods out of your cupboard, work out what you’re going to eat for the first week and go shopping. You don’t need the temptation whilst you are craving carbs in the first few days.

The recipes in the book are pretty good, I’ve made a lot of them but be careful with the cals/carbs etc as they are not always accurate.
You’ll also find a lot of low carb and Keto recipes online.

I took about 25 weeks to lose my weight and did not break at all. CaptainLynne checked with the ‘team’ and they said it was ok to keep going after the 8 weeks. Lynne has lost over 100lbs in just under 12 months.

Ask me anything you want, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Good luck. This is the best thing that I’ve ever done for myself and I no longer let other people tell me what’s good for me, including my doctors as most of them are not up to date but the science backs this up.
Good luck everyone.
Cheers
Linda

Thanks Linda very informative, am in my third week, lost half a kilo last week after 3 kilos the week before, so a little disappointing, however 3 cm disappeared from my waist so thats good news. There are a lot of legumes in the recipes, so not sure how you manage without them. Does anyone know where you can buy courgetti in Australia, we dont have a Tesco. I tried to make it with a hand held spiraliser, total disaster, came out all slushy. Perhaps the courgette was too big?

Well done LindaA and thanks for the repost of advice. I have stalled since Xmas and feel deflated but will reread your notes.