Having been advised and discussing this BSD with a friend and colleague. I have decided to change the way I eat and move to a more healthy eating plan. I’ve got about stone and 1/2 to lose. Undecided to go the full 800 cals or the 5:2. Advice gratefully accepted.

Hi Heather JW — welcome to the BSD forums — I recommend finding a thread you like and just start posting! You will quickly find many warm people to guide you.
But first — did you buy the book? It is really important to get a copy and read it all the way through, then as some one else here said, read it again. Reading it thoroughly will help “set your mindset” as to what this way of eating is all about.
You did not mention if you are diabetic but understanding it from that angle is also helpful.
You will lose fastest on 800 but lots of folk have success on 5:2 as well. You can also do 4:3 or 3:4 or any variation that suits your own comfort zone — but I recommend the 800 which will educate you on your own body and food choices and blood sugar control very very quickly.
Best wishes!

Me also. Just about to start, Ive read the books and hopefully mad ethe right plan. Am I correct in thinking you can eat lots of plain steamed veg like broccoli and carrots with most meals at no extra calorie count??

Curlybyjurly- you need to consider the carb count of veg. Most root veg are considered quite carby. An app likevMyFitnessPal can tell you the carbs as well as the calories, plus most packets do too. You set a carb limit as well as a calorie limit, so 50g is quite common, lots of people here seem to do manage 20g (that’s what I’m doing, or lower). Veg like onions surprisingly carby. You can have them but you do need to manage how much you have.

I agree with Jackie. There are no freebies when you only have 800 calories to play with. Pretty much everything but water and water-based beverages like black coffee has calories. You will be amazed at how many calories and carbs some of the foods generally considered the healthiest have. In the beginning at least, weigh, measure and count all your food before you eat it. Do not make assumptions about the nutritional content of vegetables or anything else. If your estimates are wrong, and they will certainly be wrong, you won’t remain within the parameters of the BSD.

Don’t be daunted. Once you get your bearings, you’ll find taking that kind of care becomes second nature. I took to it right away because I’m an obsessive, detail-oriented cook. MyFitnessPal was a huge help because I have no interest in tallying up figures all day. I search for the product, select it from the database and add it to my diary. It makes it easy to plan ahead as well as record what you’ve already eaten.

Good luck!

HeatherJW, it really depends on what you think you will find manageable – the Fast800 or 5:2. Personally, I did not do well with the 5:2 as I need to have tighter parameters to work within, so the Fast 800 has been ideal for me. I like the sense of control weighing, measuring and recording everything gives me and actually, working in this way, really helps to show you where you were going wrong before, gives a good sense of portion size and also trains you palate not to desire (or enjoy) high carb foods. And it’s the high carb foods that are the big dietary problem, not fats.

Anyway, before I get too ‘soap-boxy’, read the BSD book and then decide if the Fast 800 or 5:2 will suit you best and then just make a start – don’t wait for a right time, just jump in.

Good luck!