I am on day 5 of the BSD. I’ve lost 9lbs so far and obviously very encouraged but I will need to lose a lot more than is possible in 8 weeks to get to a normal BMI. What is the best thing to do at the end of the 8 weeks? Carry on eating 800 calories per day? I previously tried the 5:2 diet and it didn’t work for me. Thank you for some advice.

You may find it a lot easier to go back to 5:2 than you think, any experience with intermittent fasting makes the next stage easier. I went to a reverse diet, increasing my calories by 50 a day to readjust my metabolism as I was very close to my target, but others have just continued the 800 calories straight through with no ill effects. If you struggle on fast days try incorporating a 16:8 intermittent fast on fast days to limit the damage.

Sara18 there are many of us still on 800 after months and months, obviously we do have little breaks like when we are on holiday. For me it is not the weight but I have 1.5 st to lose but it is my diabetes that keeps me going and lowering my blood glucose month after month. Read the thread NO CARBS IN OUR MOUTHS, we are mainly old timers and some on maintenance.

Hi, Sara18. I’ve been on the BSD for 2.5 weeks and have lost 11lbs so far. I had spent nearly 3 months doing the 5:2 (most of the time, the 4:3) and just kept losing and gaining the same 6lbs. The weight just didn’t shift. I’ve got about 3.5 stone to lose (minimum). I think I’ll see how I feel after the 8 weeks is up. My intention is to go back to the 5:2 because my stomach will have shrunk so I’m less likely to eat as much on non fast days. But, if i’ve lost 2 stone, I may just take a short break and resume the BSD to lose the next 1.5 stone. I think my system was shot. It needed a severe shock in order to lose significant weight. But I wouldn’t find 800 calories a day sustainable. I do feel quite hungry!!!!

Hi your thread’s really interesting as i’m in week 5 of the 8 weeks, have lost over a stone so far but still have 4 stone to go. I was diagnosed with diabetes 7 weeks ago after being tested for something else, so all a big shock still. When I saw the local diabetes nurse on Tuesday, she was fairly harsh with what she said – but – she also said that I needed to finish this plan at 8 weeks and then go onto a more calorific eating plan as otherwise, if I stick to the 800 calories for long term, my body will panic and start hoarding fat.

I’m really confused now – I just want to carry on with the 800 calories plan, no bread/rice/pasta/potatoes/alcohol/sugar etc and walking my 10,000 steps a day plus. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I feel very down after everything the diabetes nurse said to me – positive encouragement was obviously not in her job description : (.

I’ve been doing the Fast 800 since August 1, 2016. Some people do it in cycles with breaks in between. I’ve been doing it straight through because I had so much weight to lose (close to 200 pounds). My body hasn’t panicked, whatever that’s supposed to mean, and if it’s hoarding fat, it’s doing a pretty piss-poor job of it since I’ve lost 140+ pounds. I don’t plan to stop until I reach my goal, which is 40 pounds away.

The sad fact is that medical professionals, even specialists in diabetes, are often stuck in the past or take conventional wisdom as fact when it’s really just some stuff people say a lot without knowing whether it has any scientific grounding whatsoever. My advice to you would be to continue what you’re doing if you’re feeling good and getting results.

Keep in mind that you will experience plateaus and random weight gains even if you never go off-plan. It has happened to me repeatedly. Long-term weight loss isn’t linear no matter what diet you’re doing, but that doesn’t mean your body is “panicking” or in “starvation mode.” It’s just doing things at its own pace and making you pay in frustration for the weeks of losses.

Starvation mode does exist and a very extended period on BSD 800 could cause the metabolic slow down, but the good news is in my experience if it exists it is definitely reversible if you increase your calories slowly after the period of restricted calories until you reach or exceed your calculated TDEE. I actually continued losing weight as I increased my calories at 50 calories extra per day until I got to 2500 calories which is about 400 calories over my calculated TDEE.

Moseley says starvation mode does not exist and explains it in his BSD book.

He explains that BSD does not cause it, but it certainly exists.

…or any other intermittent fasting diet if that was not clear.

The only study done on starvation mode was the Minnesota trials in the 40’s on men who had come back from concentration camp and, yes, their metabolism had almost completely shut down. These were people who had gone hungry for 3 or 4 years. Studies show that short term calorie restriction showed an increase in metabolic rate. In the long term metabolism is going to slow down as losing weight your metabolism doesn’t have to work quite so hard. Which is why overweight people who say they have a slow metabolism have (except for certain medical cases) actually a higher metabolic rate. In our society and on a diet such as this ‘starvation’ doesn’t exist, no-one here is starving just cut out the crap from their diets which reduces the calories somewhat. Think 800 calories then add half a plateful of mashed potato and you are up to 1200. Obviously you cannot go back to normal (over) eating without regaining some weight but there are people on this site who have maintained with little adjustments. The same applies to WW and SW or any diet plan. After a while your rate of loss slows and returning to old habits is bound to bring back the problems it caused in the first place, i.e. overweight or high blood sugar.

Also if you read the follow-up studies to the Minnesota study, there was some suggestion that it malnutrition,, ie the chronic absence of some key micro-nutrients from the diets was a significant contributing factor. Starvation mode certainly does exist, but BSD is highly unlikely to cause it.

Eating a variety of foods on the BSD, as well as alleviating boredom and “diet-fatigue”. My diabetes nurse sent me for a full set of bloods after about 20 weeks and they came back fine with a slight increase in iron.

As ever Esnecca is a fount of practical sensibleness. Like her I just decided that if I felt OK I would just carry on.