Hi everyone,
I have 7 stone to lose and am starting tomorrow. Any one else starting with sooo much to lose. Any encouragement would be much appreciated.

Hi newme16

When I started the BSD last December I had 6.5 stone to lose. (Female, age 66, 5’1″)

Today, less than one year later, I have lost 7 stone 4 pounds.

Best wishes for your BSD journey. Any questions please ask.

Hi captainlynne
Thanks for the reply. That’s an amazing amount in such a short time. I can’t begin to imagine achieving that myself. How many cycles of the 800 calorie did you do?
Or did you stay on 800 for the entire time.
I am female age 44 5ft6 and weight 16 stone 3lbs. AHHHHHH

Hi newme16

I started at 16 stone.

I stayed on 800 all the time. Also low carb (I was type 2 diabetic). I set out to do 8 weeks, then another 8 weeks, etc.

After 38 weeks I hit the top of my healthy BMI.
After 46 weeks I’d lost 7 stone.
After 47 weeks I’d lost 101 pounds
After 48 weeks I’d lost 102 pounds
Now in week 49!

Now I weigh 8 stone 10 pounds.

Hi newme16
I’ve posted on Verano’s thread ‘Strictly our last 4 in 2016’ – starting a 4-week pre-Christmas cycle this week. I’m a newbie too, though have been lurking and only semi-following bsd for 3 weeks. I was 16:3 three weeks ago, 15:5 today so would love to get to 14:7 by Christmas if I follow the plan properly for 4 weeks. I’m female, 56 years old and 5ft6ins. I am amazed at the stories I’ve read on here, especially captainlynne’s, but I’m not very organised or good at pre-planning as I never know where I’m going to be with work. I can’t exercise at the moment as I’m in a lot of pain with an arthritic hip (hence the urgency to lose weight!). I would need to be 11 stone to have a healthy BMI but I’m aiming for 13 stone as an interim which would take me from obese to overweight and put on the waiting list for surgery.
Good to have another newbie on board – there is so much support from people here, let’s hope this time next year we’re posting our success stories too!
Immi

Wow captainlynne. I have thought of sticking to 800 cal but I am worried about losing weight too fast and having a mass of sagging skin and wondered if slowing the rate down after 2 8 week cycles might go some way to help minimise the excess skin. Can I ask if you have had any excess skin problems if it’s not too personal?

Hi immi thanks for the reply. I have had the book, app etc for some time and have just recovered from an illness and I’m dying to lose some weight before I go on holiday in January and then obviously continue to my goal. I have a bad back but am trying to build up my steps. I can’t move much today thought. Starting pilates on Wednesday. I’m sorry you’re in pain. It does make it hard to stay motivated doesn’t it. I hope we can follow and encourage each other!!

I don’t think anything is too personal on here LOL.

I’ve been fortunate and don’t have much of a problem with sagging skin. What there is can easily be hidden under clothes! I was never going to have a flat stomach after three pregnancies and two Caesarean sections. There is a little extra skin on my arms and the tops of my thighs. So easily hidden. And I no longer have any padding to sit on!

Don’t forget that weight loss does slow down anyway after the initial stages, so I don’t know if it would help to slow it down even further after 16 weeks. Also, some have experienced plateaus where weight has not been lost, but inches have.

Also, at my age, not many people see most of the areas where my skin is less than taut!😀😱. And they tend to be medical professionals who will have seen much worse!

Captainlynn what fantastic commitment and results!
You must be feeling on top of the world :).
A well deserved congratulations!
Have you now stopped the BSD? If so what are you doing to maintain your weight?
Be grateful if you could share what you eat on an average day?
I’m into week four having lost a total of 11lb so far.
Any tips for resisting temptation over the Christmas period?

Newme16 I know they recommend some low intensity exercise to help tone as you lose weight.
Regular low intensity being the key, it just helps maintain your muscle so as you shed the fat your left with a transformed toned figure (that’s the theory anyway. I’ve seen it work on others and I will let you know how it does on me ;)).
I use my coffee table as my work out bench (it has manage to hold up under my weight so far ahaha) and bought a set of dumb bells which started as 3kg each and now I’m onto 4kgs each one. I do three repetitions of ten on each exercise. Six different lifts in total. Takes about ten to fifteen minutes and I try to do them three to four times a week. Mix that with daily walking steps and it should help!

Thanks Thisisit.

I’m not watching calories as strictly, but still avoiding carbs.

I normally eat a cooked breakfast, then nothing until evening (not hungry between). Evening meal usually meat/poultry/fish with salad or green veg.

Well done on your results so far.

I started a week before last Christmas so it was an early challenge. I ate the turkey and green veg. Not the potatoes, parsnips, cranberry sauce etc. Fished the Christmas pudding out of the cream and put in blueberries. Should add that the meal was brought in by my very kind neighbour. There was so much turkey on the plate I portioned it out, froze it, and had an extra three meals out of it. I don’t drink alcohol so that wasn’t an issue.

Hope this helps.

Yes that does help! Even made me smile as I read ‘fished’ the Christmas pudding out of the cream 😊👏.
I’ve stopped drinking alcohol as that was always my downfall to my diets (willpower left me after a few glasses in the evening, and it was so silly when I had been really good the entire day).
The no alcohol approach has definitely helped keep me on track.
I’m planning not to shop for xmas food until two days before the main day…thus I won’t be tempted with anything pre bought in the cupboards :).
I will have my Christmas Day menu planned out for me (let’s face it, if I’m staying on track, then adding a bit of salmon to my scrabbled eggs for breakfast makes it feel a little special :).
I will do the same as you and just have the turkey and veg then probably stick to my desert of mixed berries and Greek yogurt but add a teaspooon of honey as a treat. If anyone wants supper and I’m faced getting that prepared (I’m hosting) then I can have a gammon salad. Easy!!! 😇😂 As long as I stay off the vino I can control what goes in my mouth!
I expect your wardrobe of clothes this Christmas looks entirely different to your wardrobe last Christmas? Must make shopping for clothes this time of year fun 😊

Hi Thisisit

My wardrobe is different! Jeans and jeggings!

I don’t do party clothes – no parties to go to. But my wardrobe is looking rather bare. I don’t like many of the clothes currently in the shops. The colours are just not me. And trying to find something for a size 10/12 who is 5’1″ is a challenge.

I’m hoping to hit the shops again in January. Hopefully they’ll not be full of Christmas sweaters!

Sounds like you’re organised for Christmas 😀 It always helps to have a plan!

Hi newme16,
I too have seven stone to lose. I start week 5 tomorrow and look forward to seeing what happens on the scales in the morning.
I always thought I could never lose such a large amount , reading the posts of others who have had fantastic losses has made me realise it can be done.
The thought of shopping from a normal sized range of clothes is keeping me focused and I am trying hard to ignore the hunger pangs.
Good luck !

Hi all, I also have 100+ lbs to lose.
I have completed 5 weeks have shed 27 ½ lbs of it but am about to take a break for a holiday and Christmas. I hope not to go too mad and think that my body may not like being too over-carb’d anyway.
I am truly inspired by you captainlynne and agree that your commitment is just awesome. I never thought that we could get such amazing results longterm. Thank you so much for the details and information. It has helped me be even more determined for phase 2 in the new year!!

Thanks LessLes

I kept detailed records as I started out by treating myself as an experiment. I could look back and see how different foods affected me.

I am glad my ramblings have helped.

Congratulations on great results. Please keep posting your progress.

Hi captainlynne – you should try TK Maxx for clothes. You have to have the time and inclination of course, but they have wonderful bargains, stock changes all the time, and you can get a refund on anything for 4 weeks. I almost never shop for clothes in normal shops, only in the sales.

Iwanttobeslim – thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I don’t have a TK Maxx near where I live. When I was in York in August I got a great bag in the branch there.

It’s frustrating to keep looking in shops only to find nothing that I like. They might have the size, or the length, or the colour – but never all three together. For years, whatever size I am is the size I can’t find. That goes for both high street shops and charity shops.

Oh captainlynne – that’s a shame. If the shops near you are lacking in inspiration, perhaps you should think of having a day out shopping once a month or fortnight and forget about it the rest of the time. I am lucky that I used to live in Cambridge and now live in Newcastle, so plenty of amazing shops. In fact I get a lot of my exercise by walking round the shops – much more entertaining than in the parks – I have a concessionary travel pass ( one good thing about old age!) and can use the Metro here for £12.00 a year. If I feel really adventurous, I take the train to the Metrocentre for just £1.00 return and you can walk for miles there!

I have never posted to a group before but am so impressed and encouraged by the responses that I thought I would try as I know I will not likely be successful on my own. I have read the book and want to start soon but what I need help with is how to start?? Advice desperately needed for how did you start? There is lots of info but it seems overwhelming. Specifically with the food – it says on this site that there is a full month plan in the book – but I couldn’t find it.

I know about the exercise – I go to the gym and will go more often and regularly (I have a fit bit I use every day): I know I need to drink more water and I know what NOT to eat and I know generally what to eat. I also already use a meal tracker (my net diary).. I also know this is a “low carb” diet – does anyone know at least approximately how many carbs is low carb?

Did you just search through recipes and decide day by day what to eat? Did anyone make a week plan for meals? How did you manage the groceries – for example – were there any staples you stocked up on? I don’t want to buy a lot of something and find out I only use it once. All of these recipes are new to me but it seems too much to make 3 new recipes every day

So please – how did you get started with your meals??? Thank you!

People have used a variety of strategies, from starting with meal replacement shakes to just cutting out the simple carbs, and not counting anything like calories or carbs, occasionally with one or more fast days where you do keep to 800. The Fast 800 diet itself I know some people follow the meal plans in the book, or the recipe book. I never did, but always adapted my own food to make it more BSD friendly. Low carb is usually regarded as 50g or even lower. Some people find they need to aim at closer to 20-30g and vegetarians/vegans can sometimes settle for 60g to make sure they have enough essential nutrition. I started on the 5:2 version, then 4:3, then 2:5 and finally 8 weeks at 800 which has me almost down to my goal weight. I intend to move back to one of the intermittent fasting patterns to help me maintain my weight when I reach my goal.

Iwanttobeslim – used to live near Newcastle but now near Durham.

Like you I have a bus pass. Sadly I’ve come home from Newcastle empty handed more than once😱 Only time I go near the Metrocentre is for IKEA!

Unfortunately I don’t have much free time as my work is not only stressful and busy, but also with long often erratic hours.

I’m passing through Newcastle on Friday on my way to a meeting so might get the chance for a quick run round some of the shops.

I’m off to Harrogate next Wednesday, all being well, to be fitted for new bras. Next trip will be York for a few nights between Christmas and New Year for the now famous colours/makeup/style consultation- my treat to myself.

I’ve another day in York planned for early February, then I’m back in Italy in March. So lots of shopping opportunities – just need to find something to buy!

Doesn’t seem to be much in the shops for ‘petites’. I’m only 5’1″ and now a size 10 so I’m finding it difficult at the minute. When my weight and shape settle down I’ll probably start making at least some of my clothes again.