Please do come back and post some times CaptainLynne – you are close to the top on my list of heroes here on the BSD site 🙂

I do understand that two of your maintanance tips are:

– Continue to record what you eat and
– Do not hesitate to say No when offered Carbs.

I believe these two tips are truly great!

Captainlynne and Mixnmatch, what absolutely fantastic achievements. I am in awe of you both.

Captainlynne – you just HAVE to keep posting. I think your user name is very appropriate and, whilst I have only been around for a couple of weeks, I already think of you as one of the “captains” of our BSD ship 🙂 (along with some of the other amazing maintainers), and your mission in the future (apart from continuing to maintain) should you choose to accept it – and I really hope you do – is to continue to inspire and advise those of us just starting out, or faltering, or falling off the wagon etc. We NEED people with your experience to show us that it CAN be done, so please post often – and that goes to all you wonderful maintainers who are always so free with badly needed advice and encouragement.

Less than 121, Igorasusual. Have you never weighed a pair of jeans? Weigh the clothes you were wearing. Bet you find they more than 1 lb.

Hey Igorasusual – nice to see you are still about and congrats on hitting target and maintaining. I’m still trying to get there, but am making progress in the right direction, so hoping to hit ultimate weight by early April. Hope you’ll drop in occasionally to let us know how it’s going. Take care …

Keep posting Captain Lynn, know that it is possible to maintain is really important to us all, so hearing how you manage to do this is really essential to those of us still working towards that goal.

Oh my gosh! Hi everyone and Ds so great to hear from you all! To all your long timers please post once in a while as it’s so inspirational!
I started last May I think, lost 85 lbs last year, added carbs to my plan through the holidays by choice and lowered them again a week ago. I lost 14 lbs this first week back down so am right back on track.
It’s a good thing I did it as I didn’t add tons of carbs, just about 30
carbs a day more and it shows just dropping back down immiediarely gets results.
After my 85 lb loss I still had a lot to lose, maybe 40-50, and hope to be down that much by June. With the 14 lbs so far I’m well on my way and very happy about it.
Keep being the inspirational friends you always are and know you are appreciated!
Heather 💕

Hi everyone

It’s strange. After wearing ‘comfortable’ (elasticated) trousers for years and never wearing jeans, I abandoned the elasticated trousers for regular ones, then tried jeans. And loved them. Accidentally bought a pair of denim jeggings, and just love them.

So, what is strange? I’ve just dispatched the last pair of trousers to a charity shop. My last pair of jeans is too big, but wearable (just). The jeggings are fine – for now. But I’ve realised my new shape doesn’t look too good in trousers! The lack of padding to sit on doesn’t look right in trousers and I don’t always want to wear a long top to cover my rear. And trouser legs are just too wide!

So, after all these years I’m back in skirts! Not only that, most of them are pencil skirts! Who’d have thought it?

Hi CaptLynne

Pencil skirts in crayon colours I believe. 😃
N.

Hi Nettle

😀 Almost LOL. One is black with red spots (think Minnie Mouse), and finally found plain navy. Also got midi length in fuchsia pink, another in grey, floaty knee length in black and white. Those are not exactly pencil skirts, but drape straight rather than A-line.

So my wardrobe is getting much more colourful. Will make packing for Italy much more interesting. Note to self – leave room for any clothes bought in Cremona!

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St Davids Day!

Again, as I promised myself, posting my once a month maintenance result. 152.6lbs, happy with that and have maintained for another month. I still weigh myself every day: I tried leaving it for a week and gained two pounds! I need to keep a careful eye on myself. Before I lost the weight I was able to maintain by doing the 5:2 thing, so that what I do now. I enjoy the discipline of the fasting days (no breakfast, salad lunch, yogurt and cucumber supper) and I enjoy (more!) the eat what I like (BSD friendly) the rest of the week. It seems to be working for me. Keeping up with the 10k steps more or less.

That’s it really. Nothing earth shattering to report, except still managing to maintain after (wow) 8 months. New world record for me! So it can be done, to those still losing.

Keep the faith!

Many happy returns Bissell – waving daffodil! I spent a couple of years in Wales and always enjoyed the Spring feeling that St David’s day brought. Keep posting – you and your co-maintainers are beacons for the rest of us further down the track and still facing the steep mountain trek!!

Ah thanks Corkie, waving daffodil (low carb) back at you!

One thing new I forgot to mention, I took possession of a grown ups scooter yesterday! I am so excited! I loved my scooter as a child, back in the 60’s and my 3 year old grandson is getting one for his birthday, so I thought it would be good to join him. I’ll report back, hopefully not from A and E!

Roll on the Spring!

Hello all you fellow maintainers!
I weighed in this morning at 59.7kg. This is a tad over my self imposed range of 56-58kg, but as I’m now following a full nutritional ketosis WOE I’m not worried as I’m letting my body work out for itself where it wants to be.
I’m very strict on the carbs and eat plenty of the ‘good’ saturated fats and limit my protein.
I’ll report in again next month. It will be interesting to say the least!
Cheers
Linda

Thought I would post here as I am now happy I have reached my target weight. I aimed at 9st 7lb, as I am quite tall and that was always my weight before I had kids. I am now 63 – just had a birthday in Feb. Today I weighed in at 9st 6lb, which is a total loss for Feb of 3 lbs, pretty good for a month which included a birthday, a week’s all inclusive holiday and a wine-tasting quiz/evening with 6 courses! BMI is now 20.6, so below mid point on the healthy range. I am no longer recording what I eat but am keeping to low carb, with the occasional small deviation. I weigh 2 or 3 times a week, and find I fluctuate about 1 lb up or down. I shall keep weighing as I do not intend to go above 9st 8lb ever again -if I do I know what to do! Intend to report in again next month, by which time I will have bought some new trousers – just about all I have are now too big 🙂

Thank you all for updating here as it really is inspirational and helps rhosw ofnus atiol going.
We don’t have St David’s day in the US but I wish you all a wonderful one!!
💕LindaA what is nutritional kerosine WOE as I haven’t heard of it?
💕Norfolkgal, thanks for the tips re 5:2! Not sure if I will try it but it’s great information to know.
💕Bissel, what an amazing BMI! That scooter sounds like tons of fun and I’ll be 63 this year as well! Happy belated
Birthday!
Hugs to you all and thanks so much for brightening my morning with your posts!!

Hi CaptainLynn

Just been reading through this topic and I have also found that trousers are not looking right on me. I am not a skirt person though. I always used to wear boot cut jeans, but now find them much too wide in the leg. My jeggings which used to be very tight are now too big round the waist, and my favourite straight leg jeans are now only wearable pulled in with a belt. I see M & S are advertising ‘sculpt & lift’ skinny jeans – has anyone tried them? – I feel a shopping trip coming on.

Oh well done, Norfolkgal, doing the happy dance for you 🙂 What an amazing BMI, you must be thrilled.

Of course, now that you have reached your target, I guess the hard work really starts, as everyone seems to agree that maintaining is so much more difficult than losing. 🙁 Weighing regularly sounds like a good plan and I have every confidence that you are going to end up as one of our inspirational long-term maintainers, so please keep posting with your good advice to encourage the rest of us – not just monthly with your results, although we are eager to read about those too. 🙂 What we really want are your monthly updates to be really boring, saying “no change, same weight, same BMI” 🙂

PS I wear M&S skinny jeans (though not sculpt and lift) but they have all, bizarrely, developed baggy bottom syndrome, so I may be joining you on your shopping trip 🙂

Norfolkgal – glad it’s not just me!

Must say I never liked wearing boot cut trousers – could never find them short enough, and too messy to shorten. Now all trousers seem too wide in the leg – I’m reduced to just the one pair of jeggings that are suitable to be worn in public.

It seems I’ve lived in ‘comfortable ‘ trousers (baggy, elasticated waists) for so many years. Skirts just didn’t look right. So it’s weird that now I have the opposite problem!

It would help if clothes shops stocked some shorter length trousers! Especially the skinny fit ones. I suppose I could order online, but I do like to see things first. So much of what I’ve bought online has been returned!

It’s just easier to sorten skirts. But I do keep on looking.

Captainlynne, just thought I’d mention that, after Norfolkgal’s post about M&S lift and sculpt skinny jeans I had a look at them on line and they do come in different lengths, plus several customer reviews seem to complain that the lengths are very short – about 2″ shorter than M&S’s normal skinny jeans. So maybe these are the jeans for you? 🙂

Morning all!

Sorry I missed yesterday, 1st March crept up on me unexpectedly.

This morning I am 120.6lbs, which is a little under my target weight, but one I’m happy with. Size 8 trousers generally and 26″ jeans.

Incidentally, speaking of jeans, as one who works in the fashion industry, may I advise the following re jeans:

They are made in all sorts of different cuts, as you have found. My Zara jeans are loose round the waist but comparatively tight round the thighs, and other stores may have the opposite.

So what I suggest – brace yourselves – is a jean shopping excursion. Go to a few stores and try what they do, and see what actually fits YOU. Then, once you know, you can try other colours/fabrics in their jeans range safely.

I suggest Gap, Uniqlo, Zara, Next, M&S, and jeans brand shops. I know that jeans brands can be expensive, but if you find a cut which is really great, then it may be worth the investment for the bum lift/comfy waist/right bottom width etc.

And Captain Lynne, there’s a fashion trend currently for ‘ankle grazers’ which might fit you perfectly 🙂

Hi HappyLife
A nutritional ketosis way of eating (WOE) is when you consume very low carb, moderate protein and high fat so that your body can then use fat as energy instead of glucose.

The following is an exert from http://www.dietdoctor.com which has a lot of info including recipes.

“A ketogenic diet (keto) is a very low-carb diet, which turns the body into a fat-burning machine. It has many potential benefits for weight loss, health and performance, but also some potential initial side effects.

A ketogenic diet is similar to other strict low-carb diets, like the Atkins diet or LCHF (low carb, high fat). These diets often end up being ketogenic more or less by accident. The main difference between strict LCHF and keto is that protein is restricted in the latter.

The “keto” in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it makes the body produce small fuel molecules called “ketones”. This is an alternative fuel for the body, used when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply.

Ketones are produced if you eat very few carbs (that are quickly broken down into blood sugar) and only moderate amounts of protein (excess protein can also be converted to blood sugar).

Ketones are produced in the liver, from fat. They are then used as fuel throughout the body, including the brain. The brain is a hungry organ that consumes lots of energy every day and it can’t run on fat directly. It can only run on glucose… or ketones.

On a ketogenic diet your entire body switches its fuel supply to run almost entirely on fat. Insulin levels become very low and fat burning increases dramatically. It becomes easy to access your fat stores to burn them off. This is obviously great if you’re trying to lose weight, but there are also other less obvious benefits, like for example less hunger and a steady supply of energy.

When the body produces ketones it’s said to be in ketosis. The fastest way to get there is by fasting – not eating anything – but obviously it’s not possible to fast forever.

A ketogenic diet, on the other hand, can be eaten indefinitely and also results in ketosis. It has many of the benefits of fasting – including weight loss – without having to fast.”

So, very similar to what the BSD is, but I guess a bit stricter so as to benefit from being in ketosis all of the time. Research is being done that a ketogenic diet can help if you have or wish to prevent cancer (cancer cells prefer glucose and if you are not burning glucose, cancer cells have a tendency to die through lack of fuel) and can help with mental health problems.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Linda

Thanks Igorasusual. A jeans trip is what I am going to have to do. I was loath to pay for decent jeans until I had reached target but I don’t intend to go much further, so I think the time has come!

I have only just broken my plateau after 3 weeks dithering around 73 kg. My goal weight was to be 11 stone by the time I go on holiday to Alicante. That is 5 weeks away so I might still do it with 6.5 lbs to lose.

Hi LInda,
Thanks so much for the info!! Funnily enough I changed my program yesterday morning to not have as much protein and then saw your overview this morning. Must be meant for me!
Have a great day!
💕

Thanks for the tips about jeans. Will keep my eyes open.

Very happy today – new jeans size 12! Thought I would try a last attempt to find a good pair in our little town, before tackling the wilds of Ipswich. We have a new branch of M & Co where I have been successful in the past. Picked up 3 pairs, all size 12, two pairs high waisted, straight leg. They all fitted but 1 pair was just perfect, so I know where to go again. They had quite a nice range of tops too, but need to economise a bit at the moment.

Well done Norfolkgal for the success in your jeans search!! When you find a perfect pair, not just all right, but really comfortable and flattering, it’s great!

I meant to add places like Oasis to my list of possibles.

Basically I want to urge people, once you’ve got your shape back ;), to try a few shops which you might not have thought of before – a bit of exploring can find things in shops you’d have thought might not be appropriate!

Enjoy the shopping, whatever 🙂

Ooh, how lovely, Norfolkgal, 3 pairs of new size 12 jeans must be sooo satisfying. 🙂

Mine are hanging off me, but as I have decided that I am going for an even lower target weight than originally intended, I am loath to splash out on new ones, and then have to do the exercise all over again in a couple of months. May have to invest in a belt though 😉 I’ve already invested in a new watch strap as the old one was literally falling off, and I had never even though about having fat wrists! I really wish I had measured all parts of my body before starting out, I only did my waist, but it would have been really satisfying to be able to see inch loss all over, particularly when the scales weren’t moving.

Hi Theodora

I only bought the one perfect pair. The second pair was a bit too big around the waist and the third was just too low cut for me, although a pretty good fit. I wore them yesterday and got a lot of comments about my weight, all good. 🙂

Back again, reporting in as I promised myself I would once a month.

Good news again, 151.4lbs, which is a whole 1.2 lbs less than last month. Nothing earth shattering to report, just really pleased with myself as another month of (admittedly up and down) maintenance. I like the discipline of reporting: yesterday required a hard fasting but I did it! I did treat myself earlier in the month to fish and chips to share with the dog at the seaside. Life’s too short not to ever have fish and chips again, I reasoned. I ate the fish, and some of the chips and the blooming dog declined to eat the chips! ! He has definitely become low carb. Won’t eat the grandsons left over toast either! I ended up throwing them in the bins. ( oh the will power!)

Happy April Fools Day, if that’s a thing! See you next month. Keep the faith.

Thanks for the reminder Bissell, I’d almost forgotten!

59kg this morning which I am more than happy with. Seem to float between 58-60kg these days and I’m letting my body decide on what’s optimal. I also read in my research that the body likes to be a bit heavier coming into winter and that’s what we’re doing now.

This month will be 12 months since I started the BSD and I’m so glad I did as I feel I’ve now mastered the art of losing weight and keeping it off!

I had a non scale victory yesterday when I had my yearly skin specialist appointment when my doctor whom I’ve been seeing for about 15 years noticed that not only have I lost a substantial amount of weight, but that I looked much younger. She wanted to know how I did it and took notes when I told her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has lost weight when I see her this time next year😀
Cheers
Linda

Oh well done LindaA, that’s great news. Not only that your health is good, but that someone who presumably studies your face and body quite closely (in a good way!) noticed how much slimmer and younger you looked! Wow! I would have been tempted to kiss her!

This time last year, I was size 16. Now I’m size 12 and have no decent Spring clothes. So a shopping trip to Hereford is calling me today. Yay! ( God I’m so shallow, but I’m happy!)

Good Morning all! I hope you have s good day and enjoy the April Fool jokes.

I am at 123lbs this morning which I think is level with last month.

I need to up my steps a bit – working from home means I don’t get travelling time and opportunities to walk whilst on my way to and fro – although I’ve not been on the tube in London for ages as I do walk everywhere.

Have two longish walks planned for this weekend through so that will help.

Mostly in terms of diet I try to brunch rather than breakfast, increase the veg as much as possible, and still really enjoying chillis and curries which was a new adventure for me when on BSD

Don’t see any chance of my gaining the weight back as I’m clear that refined carbs are the killer for me and so I largely just don’t have them.

Good luck to all!

10 stone 9 pounds exactly this morning, a new low fractionally, but importantly under BMI 24 for the first time on BMI 23.95 😀😀😀😀. Still increasing calories and carbs slowly at the moment and not really trying to lose any more, I am already slimmer than I have ever been and my wedding dress will be hanging off me when I get back into it at the end of the month.

Woohoo Mixmatch! Excellent news! I’m sure you will look even lovelier than ever in your wedding dress! What an achievement.

Happy May Day everyone. Don’t forget to dabble in the dew for that guaranteed fresh complexion (😀)

Weighing in at 152.4lbs today, 0.8lbs up on last month, so happy with that. A couple of ‘fasting’ days, skipped breakfast, yoghurt and cucumber for lunch, normal BSD supper, seems to be working at keeping me stable. I had a couple of holidays this month and therefore was a bit more lenient with the carbs, mainly in booze, I must admit. But nothing bad happened and 90% of the time I stick to the principles. Trying to stay mindful about what I eat, eg I had a bit of pork pie (I know, I know) but the pastry just wasn’t good enough to blow out on, so the dog got it.

I hope all the other maintainers are doing well. I realise these are not the most thrilling posts, but it’s good to see that maintainence can be done.

See you next month and keep the faith!

Way to go Bissell. That’s excellent!
I’m still sitting at or below 60kg which is exactly what here I want to be. I’ve chosen not to reintroduce any sugar or grains into my eating plan and that seems to be working although I admit I looked at the 90% Lindt chocolate block in the supermarket last week and was tempted, but in the end, walked away as I don’t feel like I could yet stop at one piece.

I was made redundant from my 3 day a week admin job in March and as OH and I had already booked to go to Africa in July for 5 weeks, I decided not to look for another job till we get back in August so I’m getting in a LOT of walking, often around 20km per day all up. The weather in Sydney has been lovely and it’s great to walk by the coast or through the bush at this time of year.
Hope everyone else is doing OK.
Cheers
Linda

Weight this morning after just getting back from my 25th wedding anniversary celebrating week in Cornwall was 10 stone 9.4 pounds. This is actually 0.8 pounds lighter than I was the Monday we left for Cornwall despite many many indulgences, albeit interspersed with proper food. It is also within a fraction of a pound the same as I was last month, so my plan seems to have worked 😀 Still keeping on keeping on, and have committed to trying on the dress every five years from now to keep myself honest.

Well done LindaA and Mixnmatch! Although maintenance isn’t as outwardly impressive to those around us as losing weight, it’s actually the thing I’ve struggled with the most in the past, so congratulations!
I won’t say it’s a piece of …… kale now, it’s something I am aware of every time I eat, but I’ve got used to it.
And it’s worth it!

Morning all!
124.6lbs this morning.

I’m still mostly leaving out breakfast, and eating late morning – although recently got a Gaggia coffee machine and if two flat whites consist of breakfast, then I do have it 😉

One thing I did notice, though, is that when there is good bread in the house – sourdough or really crusty rye bread – I do feel tempted to have a slice or two. And I do have that low carb bread in the freezer for the moment when only eggs on toast will do.

I wasn’t convinced that this was good for me, and decided that I would give this a miss, and immediately after stopping having bread noticed that I felt so much livelier waking up in the morning. I hadn’t really felt ‘fuzzy’ before, until I stopped the bread and noticed that I had been. Not suggesting anyone else does this, but I thought it was interesting.

Well done to all the ‘maintainers’, and good luck to anyone else still losing and improving blood sugar…..

Igorasusul – it’s great that your maintenance is going so well.

Your reaction to wheat is really interesting. I wonder if a sensitively to wheat is more common than we realise.

I have a coffee machine also – you can’t beat a lovely cup of coffee. It’s my special treat now.

Well done Igorasusual.

I’m with you on the Gaggia – simply couldn’t live without mine, makes the BEST coffee. I have mine black, but my granddaughters used to love it when I made them babyccinos, although they are growing up fast and have now graduated onto cappuccinos 😢

1st June weigh in for me on my three month targetversary, and I am still almost a pound under target weight at 10 stone 10.2 this morning. It is a little higher than last month, but still solidly in my chosen 6 pound band of 3 pounds above and 3 pounds below my target. How are all the other maintainers getting on?

Well done Mixnmatch, good to be in your target zone. Are you still counting calories or just eating the right food?

I’m still not quite at target (11st) but only a few pounds away (5 to be precise).

Still, better than the starting point of over 14st.

John

I’m still logging most of what I eat just to keep myself honest, but am sticking to one 800 calorie ish fast day a week and the rest are a mixture of slightly above and slightly below my TDEE. I haven’t yet got the confidence to stop logging and just eat to appetite, but am going to give it a try after my birthday at the end of this month. Will still be weighing myself though.

Hello stringbreaker and mixnmatch,
Well done on maintaining, keep it up.

I feel I’ve found my rhythm and after reaching my goal in September last year, am still holding steady at or around 60kg (59.6kg this morning).i feel I am more in tune with my body and tend to ‘listen’ to it more than I used to. I have continued to keep sugar and all grains out of my diet and have no intention of reintroducing them ever again. I haven’t logged or counted calories since last year and now just aim to keep carbs at/around 20g, have around 60g of protein and eat fat to satiety per day.

I stay in full ketosis now and regularly fast as I just don’t feel as hungry as I used to. I’ve done a few extended fasts (up to 4.5 days) in addition to regular intermittent fasts, not just for helping with maintaining, but also for autophogy and the associated health benefits.

I’m still walking a lot – 20 – 25km per day, and will continue at least until I get back from holidays in August when I will then have to look for another job!

I still follow the posts and haven’t seen Captainlynne or Lucia for a while. Hope they’re ok.

Keep it up folks.
Cheers
Linda

Morning Mixmatch, LindaA, Stringbreaker and others,

Really good to read the positive message of maintenance from you all! Great news!
I’m 153.2 lbs this morning, 0.8 lbs up on last month, which was 0.8lbs up on the month before. Not the end of the world I know, but I don’t want to be 0.8 lbs up next month! That would be 10lbs in a year (firm note to self).

Still keeping off obvious carbs, except for pinching a couple of chips off my grandson once a week ( he is too small to fight back) one Jersey Royal potato at a friend’s house and the odd lentil in curry.

Here endeth my confession. See you next month!

Well done on your continued maintenance, Linda, Mixnmatch and stringbreaker.

As a relative newbie to maintenance (yesterday was my one month targetversary – liking that term, Mixnmatch 😜 ) I am pleased to report that I am holding steady, despite only returning yesterday from a 10 day holiday – no refined carbs but copious amounts of wine. I spent the day travelling home on a total fast, nothing passed my lips for 26 hours other than black tea and water. And today the scales are holding exactly steady on my target weight, and I fully intend incorporating fasts into my maintenance regime, particularly as providing I am busy, I find them relatively painless.

You have all been inspirational to me, so thank you for your support during my journey to date – and I have missed Captainlynne and Lucia too. I really hope they are both ok and that life has just got in the way for a wee while.

I counted wrong, it is actually four months since I hit my target. It is starting to feel a bit more normal now, but I know it won’t actually be normal until I can stop logging (the daily weighing can stay for a while, so I can jump on any trends up with an extra fast day).

Even better, MnM

*Tiptoes quietly in*

Hi everyone. It’s been a really stressful few months and BSD went out of the window as I just needed to get through some tough times. I’ve got an appointment with someone to help with the stress stuff. But on Monday night I had a problem with my left eye resulting in a panic dash to optician first thing Tuesday. Apparently the problem is common and affects most people as they get older. But only about 30% get symptoms. Just like me! Now slightly increased risk of detached retina golf next month – and I go on holiday on 26th!

Anyway, sorry to report an increase in weight, taking me just over my original target of 9st 7lbs. Will give new starting weight tomorrow – Saturday has always been my official weighing day, although I normally weigh daily.

I want to get back down under the 8st 7lbs, where I was before all the hassle started. It’s not gone away, but I need to find other ways of coping with it, hence the appointment on Tuesday. And 5 days in Italy at the end of the month, do the aim is to get as much off as possible by then – 3 weeks away.