I weigh twice a week – once on Monday and once on Thursday. Almost every week I have found that the weight comes off (if it’s going to…and that’s not a given!) towards the back end of the week – no idea why

I weigh every day because if I leave it longer I expect a lot more. If it’s every day I’m more accepting of fluctuations. If I weighed weekly I think I’d be crushed by a poor result.

Hi there!

Yesterday was a challenge; I cooked two great smelling pies for my wife’s girl gathering and baked a delicious loaf of white bread as well as a huge green salad to go with it. After that, I cooked dinner for my daughter and had to listening to her praising the taste of the pies; she did not even touch the dinner I had prepared for her. My usual self would most definitely had eaten all leftovers including my daughter’s dinner, but not this time. 🙂

I found out only this morning that I have miscalculated the calories for eggs: I have not used the calorie content per egg, but per 100 grams! My egg is now down to about 73 calories – I thought it was 140! This is great news! I look forward to a two egg mushroom omelette for lunch: Thank you MexicohereIcome, it was by reading your post that I realized my mistake! 🙂

Hi, I am just starting today. Worried about how I am going to cope as I love food so much , I am one of those people who live to eat not eat to live but really need to tackle health issues. Looking forward to hearing how you all manage and about the results you achieve. Good luck !

I just bought the 8 week book on 25 Oct to try to reduce my Blood sugar from a high of 9.6 fasting. Today I am not on a 800 cal diet yet as I have yet to read n get prepared. I dine on lentil soup, fried bitter gourd with omellete today. After dinner my blood read 11.4. how do I join a support group which reports daily blood sugar readings?

Hi Peapod

Like you I live to eat. I love cooking and love eating. Unfortunately that meant I approached all foods equally and ended up at 23st7 with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and on the prediabetic/diabetic border. A rough estimate on the final week of my old regime was that I was eating in the region of 4500-5000 calories a day with the majority coming from processed carbs.

What I did was simply cut out the refined carbs – my personality means I couldn’t reduce or cut back – they had to go. I then focused on finding out how to be creative with the more appropriate ingredients. This meant more fish, more herbs and spices as I definitely have developed a taste for stronger tasting foods as I have reduced my portion size. I have introduced more pulses, vegetables like fennel, celeriac, squashes (in moderation) and a whole range of mushrooms.

I now cook probably more than I did as I prepare a lot of lunches for work rather than just buying whatever was handy/appealing at the time. Often I just have leftovers from the night before. (Big shout for Nigella’s spicy cauliflower and chickpea salad – lovely warm, better cold the next day). Why I think that this way of eating works for me is that I just seem to have reduced the bland stodge filler (bread, pasta, rice, bread) and stuck with tastier more interesting textures and flavours. To be truthful, I have never been on a diet in my life (hence the 23.5 st!) so I am not qualified to say whether it is any easier or harder than any other diet programme on the “market”.

I’m now in week 12 and 19st12, so just over halfway to my target and I can safely say I’m not missing anything, although pizza does have an enduring appeal.

If you are a foodie, look at eastern mediterranean recipes as they are generally OK or relatively easy to adapt.

Thanks for the spicy cauliflower recipe tip. I have looked it up and it seems right up my street. The plan is to have 3 meals with my calorie allowance so lots of planning to do.

Hi All,

I had the spicy cauliflower tonight but as we thought a whole cauli would be a bit much for two people and fancied a different veg as well I chopped an aubergine and gave it the same treatment, it was very good. I agree that spicing food up makes it more satisfying. I’m probably a bit over the 800 most days so far, I haven’t done a meal plan yet as haven’t had the time but I’m doing a pick and mix roughly balanced calorie count from the book.

I also went out for a pub lunch with a friend, and ended up with the full English all day breakfast minus the fried bread!

Jules, you are doing really well to come down from that high calorie count!

I was discussing with the other half why we have a desire for carbs, we came to the conclusion that when we were growing up and money was very tight for our parents there was very little of the ‘good stuff’ to put on a plate, it was the cheaper, bulky items like bread and potatoes that kept us filled up. We’ve rather got into the habit, along with not wasting anything.

My OH often tells the story of her gran who made an enormous yorkshire pudding for dinner each night and all the kids had to have some before they could have any ‘main course’ because it filled them up so they didn’t have to spend so much on meat and veg! It makes perfect sense – even now – but what are we teaching our kids?

Had the skinny kedgeree last night – was awesome – really spicy and tasty – had it at 6 last night and haven’t eaten yet so filling too!

Hi all, I would like to join you if I may, I am all set to start tomorrow. I turn 50 next year and been overweight most of my life. I am really starting to creak in all my joints and feeling less and less fit and whilst I don’t yet have diabetes I don’t feel healthy. I have to say feeling a bit apprehensive about the challenge ahead but also really positive…tomorrow really is the first day of the rest of my life. I have been reading through the posts on the forums and I am really impressed and inspired by the positivity and support on here. This will help me so much 🙂🙂

Thank you for the lovely messages of encouragement posted. I love receiving them throughout the day and it really does help to know I’m not doing this alone. Wow, Movingmore and Jules, that’s a fabulous achievement! Really inspiring 🙂

Rusticyokel – water is definately helping me, I didn’t feel no headaches today like I have done over the first 3 days. I do confess to weighing myself every day, first thing as well – it helps me to stay focused and if I plateu or go up, I can then reassess what i am doing immediately, but I have lost a little bit every day so far, so I am really pleased that things are going in the right (downwards) direction!

MortenOsloNorway – so, how was your 2 egg omelette lol? Bless you, I don’t know about you, but I am relishing every single piece of food I eat now and I am much more mindful of what I am eating and enjoying it all the more because I am eating a lot less than normal. I also have to cook some different meals, for the children, my OH and then mine separate, although OH is having some of my meals. Even reading about your homemade pies and bread was hard! I am going to try and menu plan better so we all are eating similar things. Bless you, you did amazing resisting the temptation! It is SO hard, but it will SO be worth it.

Peapod and Alex49 – Hello, a warm welcome, and rest assured I think you will be absolutely fine, the thing is, we all love food which is why we are on here now lol 🙂 . Stick with us and we will all achieve our aims together! Let us all know how you are getting on. Planning is definately key – have you got the BSD recipe book? Its great, full of what I call normal food recipes, but as JulesMaigret posted, there are many a good recipe to be found elsewhere too. If you need any help, just ask us on here. We are all helping each other.

Carizho – You have reminded me to get my blood sugar levels checked – Thank you! Will be good to compare results at the end with initial ones If there’s not already a support group on the forum then you could always start one? I’ve not checked, but if you search first, there are lots of different topics on this forum.

CatW678 – OH has said if I drink a glass of water before my meal it will help me feel fuller, so I am doing that now and it does help me. Maybe worth a try?

*** Before I forget, there is a program on tonight on ITV about diet and diabetes @7.30 so I will be watching that with interest. *** My Mum is a Diabetic type 2, but controlling it really well with her diet. I haven’t got diabetes, but I do suffer with gallstones, so I am really going to sort myself out in the next 8 weeks. I am feeling loads better already, no more bloating or feeling uncomfortable and im only halfway throught 1st week.

I have realised this past 4 days that I have a real issue with wasting food too, which is inevitably why extra food would go into my mouth, instead of the dustbin! I am determined to get out of this mindset now.

Also, I am learning about portion control – weighing out what a portion should actually be and realising just how much I must have been overeating in the past without even realising it. My portion sizes now are what I am currently giving my children! So I am thinking I must cook less in future to avoid wastage, as its obviously too much for them if they are leaving some.

I resisted icecream today and also the leftover sausage on DS plate went straight into the dogs dishes (1/2 each!)! That felt good! I made the butternut squash and red pepper soup today from page 68 and it tasted amazing. I added some freshly chopped coriander to it. It was pretty special even if i do say so myself lol 🙂

I also joined a gym yesterday, but will have to wait to go until the children are back to school next week. I am not going to overdo it while I am on restricted calories, but would love to do some swimming and yoga or some light weights. I have felt great today, really energised so hopefully it will last! I did 2 x 30min dog walks and have felt ok, this is what I do normally though. (no other fitness) Do any of you do exercise whilst on this fast? Does it make you more hungry? This is my worry!

Apologies for the long post, but what with the children on half term and work, I didn’t have the opportunity to post yesterday and I wanted to reply to all the lovely posts I’d read. Day 5 tomorrow guys – Lets do this! Good luck all x

Today is a challenge for me. I went to the local supermarket to buy an Avocado, however in making the payment, there were lots of my Favourite chips that currently on sale. So tempted… I was able to resist it, but I want to get something to snack on.
Can you please recommend what you usually have as snack during the 800 Calories diet ?

Celtania
Well done for resisting the temptation. It is so hard when temptation is staring you in the face -and even harder when it is on special offer. .

I have found that – for me – snacking doesn’t work. If I snack on even BSD friendly food I get hungrier and want to eat more. If I want to snack I drink a glass of water or have a black coffee (or coffee with a dash of cream) or redbush or herbal tea. I do end up drinking quite a lot during the day but once I have had a drink the urge to snack goes away.

You could also have some flavored sugarless gum.

The first thing i have is coffee or tea. Then i might have some veggies … cucumber, grape tomatoes, sugar snap peas.

Hi

Snacking didn’t work for me either….. drinks and lots of them really help…..and the gum….very minty strong tasting gum does help stop the cravings too. Also have you written down the advantages to why you are doing this…..I bet the disadvantages list would be tiny compared to the big advantages you will have…..I did this when I started I had it pinned on my fridge as I did have times when things felt very hard….sometimes the urges took over me. I suppose it’s important to remember that if you do have a few more calories or hit what I would call a little bump in the road when you eat something you regret….just tell yourself that you are doing so well and it was just that….. a little bump in the road on your journey to a healthier you. Those first few days are hard…….so keep going and remind yourself to give yourself daily thanks as you are doing so well….sometimes forget to be kind to ourselves…..your doing brilliant x By the way….this is to everyone…..the positive vibes on here of support is ACE X X X

Hi

What a lovely message to everyone…thankyou for taking the time out to mention everyone x You sound like your doing so well….and joining the gym…go you this sounds ace x Any heart pumping activity you can do for a speedy ten minutes really helps with the results and exercise and fresh air with your dog walking is brilliant to keep you feeling happy. I go cycling and love love being outdoors and noticing things I would miss if in my car. I love hearing your tips on eating it gives me ideas too. My favourite skinny meal is a big salad with grilled goats cheese and a boiled egg….you don’t need very much goats cheese as it’s flavour is strong. keep going your doing brilliant x x

Starting day 5 in good shape! 🙂

I actually feel that this is not so bad. With 800 calories, I can eat quite a lot and be quite content as long as I stay away from carbohydrate rich foods such as bread and pasta. Having the knowledge that the body can actually sustain on 800 calories and take the rest off of its energy need from the body fat makes me totally relaxed!

I read an interesting article yesterday on how to curb you hunger. Interesting and for me very novel information. I share the link here and hope you find it useful too: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150121-a-memory-trick-to-lose-weight

Hi MexicoHereICome

I’ve been exercising on this diet and it’s absolutely fine. I guess it depends on how much you are used to. If you’ve done nothing but walk the dogs (which used to be me btw) then I would start slowly and swimming and yoga sound like a great idea. Before starting the BSD I had upped my exercise and at the moment I swim twice a week, walk an hour at lunchtime three times a week and then run and play touch rugby at the weekend. I do all of this on 800 cals a day and at the weekend don’t eat before the rugby – I thought that would be tough but it’s fine and I don’t eat until about 1pm.

I’ve dropped nearly a stone in 6 weeks and with only 23lbs to lose am finding this way of eating is great!

Good luck!

I will also try to exercise during this ‘eating regimen’ (as I like to call it). This first week I have I jogged 50 minutes every second day, and even if it feels quite strenous to jog as I have not jogged for quite some time, I think it will be helpful to be active. I also belive it will be helpful to do a couple of strength exercises every day or every second day, but I have not managed to do so yet

How about you other guys and girls, ar you holding up and what do you find is a useful and what has been a challenge so far??

I did manage 20 mins of low intensity HIIT training yesterday which felt good, am aiming to do this 3 to 4 times a week till my body is mure used to the diet. I’m only on day 2 tho and have a lot of weight to lose and feeling a bit wabbit this morning … light headed and tired…guessing this is the carb flu I’ve been hearing about! Am drinking lots of water but any hints and tips would be appreciated.

I have heard that it might not be a good idea to do a lot of exercise, especially if we are not used to it, during the first week or so. Maybe a bit of walking and some light exercise??? Also …. drink lots of water, tea, coffee etc. and perhaps add a little extra salt so the water just doesn’t go right through you. Like a bouillon cube or powder in a cup of water.
Also remember full fat is good on this eating plan. Full fat plain yogurt, add a few berries. Full fat cream in your coffee, if you like cream in your coffee.

Some people like peppermint tea.

Hi there – is anybody who started on or about October 24th still hanging on to the diet…? How are you doing and what s your experience? 🙂

My experience approaching mid of my second day at 800 cal is that it is easier than I expected. I thought the first days would be easy and that it would become increasingly difficult to live on 800 cal, but my experience is that it actually is the other way around. 🙂 My daily calorie need is about 2700 calories and when I now exercise every second day and restrict my intake to 800 calories, I thought I would have been feeling really heavy hunger – but I do not…. Eating 2700-3000 calories per day now seem to be a lot of eating!!!!

I started on 27th and things have gone really well so far. I had a weigh in today and have lost 6.1 lb which is really motivating me, even if much of it is water at this point. I have got into a routine of a protein smoothie at lunch and main evening meal with loads of fruit teas to keep hunger pangs at bay. I feel well and don’t really fancy carbs or processed foods at the moment…. long may it last!

Hi Alex49, good to hear you are doing well!

I a starting week 3 today and feeling quite good – I think I can do this! For me, exercise really helps, I feel really energized after! Plus, if I work out, I use more energy and maintain muscle mass, I think that is essential to reaching and maintaining my target weight. That also reduces my little concern that living on a diet may not be that healthy… Jogging and strength training exercises is very easy to do once you set your mind to it. And little is better that none. 🙂

When I started out on the diet I had only one meal a day, that worked ok, but when I now spilt my calorie intake between lunch and supper, I find that I sleep better. If I eat more frequently, I find it hard to control my intake and have occasionally ended up eating more than planned.

I find that my weight is going down, I look slimmer in the mirror my clothes are more loose and it is easier to move. Quite positive results after only two weeks!

Starting week 4 today and still feeling good!

After having started up on the Fast800 diet, I have been able to take up the exercise regiment I used to follow, some years and some kilos ago…! 🙂 I now run in the forrest for 40 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and run 4×4 interval training plus do strength exercises at the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. This makes a huge difference for me, I feel refreshed and much more agile!

On the weight scale, I topped out at 104 kilos last Christmas.By simply stopping to overeat, I was able to reduce my weight down to 99 kilos. That sounds like a lot, but I think I was really stuffed with high sugar, white flour food and water when I peaked at 104 kilos… During the spring, I worked out at a gym focusing on strength exercises and interval running, along the same principles as MM writes about in his Fast Exercise book. In May, I was down to 93,5 kilos having at the same time increased my muscle mass. But, since I did not keep up with my exercising during summer, I again lost some muscle mass and by October the weight was again increasing to 95.5 kilos. I then realized that if I did not make an effort, I would be back at 104 or more again this Christmas. Remembering that I had huge problems buttoning my jacket last Christmas, I decided I could be in the same mess again.

After having started out on the Fast 800 diet on October 24, everything has changed. I have lost weight from 95.5 kilos to 88.1 kilos, I sleep like a baby, I work out as I used to in the past, I fit into my clothes again, I believe my mood is a lot more stable…. Well – these things matter to me and for me this is really huge! I do not feel any hunger or cravings and simply look forward to continue on the diet, and hopefully I will see that my progress continues!! 🙂