Hi everyone. I’m two weeks in. The first week I lost 8lbs and week two I scraped in 3lbs loss. But it was a struggle and scales kept going up and down. This morning the scales show I put on 3lbs. How does that happen on 800 calories a day?? 😩 I am exercising but could do more. The only thing I can think of is it’s because I am constipated. Despite drinking three litres of water a day I have barely been in a week. Anyone else had this?

Hi Sosaladcrew

Try typing “constipation” in the SEARCH box at the top for several threads about this.

And please don’t worry about weight variations – people have many and it is to do with water and other things!

Wish you better!

Hi Sosaladcrew,

I’m on week 5, lost nearly 12lbs the first 3 weeks and only 1/2lb in week 4, which was weird, weigh in tomorrow for the end of week 5 so I hope to have lost some this week. I weigh on Sat and Tues and found I put on weight on 2 Saturday’s, after the previous Tuesday’s weigh in but lost by the following Tuesday. I too am quite constipated and have added a bit more veg in to try to sort it out.
What I have noticed are clothes getting loser and the belly going down. I also took a photo of myself on day 1 and another at end of week 4 and could see the difference. That was encouraging and I am going to take a photo every 4 weeks for comparison. Maybe you could try doing that or put on some clothes that didn’t fit? You might be surprised. Don’t worry about the up and down even the best scales can be a bit off sometimes.
Keep going it will be ok.

Thank you. There are lots of suggestions to try 🙂 So just had flax seeds in water – yuk! I’ll try it in my yogurt tomorrow then some prunes then lentils. Hoping for 💩 soon!!

Thank you. I will keep going and try to look at clothes. Great advice.

Please let me know how your weigh-in goes tomorrow too! Ha ha just thought maybe I should change my name to soSOLIDcrew 😳

Hi soladcrew,
I will post my loss – let’s stay positive – tomorrow. I just read about the prunes and will make spicey bean burgers tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Hi Soladcrew,
Without knowing what you’re 800 calories consists of, it’s hard to know what to suggest.

I recently gained a kilo after a series of 750 calorie days. How?! I noticed I’d eaten 2 meals both containing red meat (100gm each) in one day as well as diet coke. Its the first time in 22 days that my meals have been like this, so I’m assuming that digesting meat takes time. Not sure about diet coke, but I’m cutting back meat to once a day and 1 glass of diet coke, when required.

I usually try and have a min of 2 cups of veg and 2 eggs per day. That keeps things moving….most of the time.

My husband & I both had this & I ealised that we were not having as much fruit or vegetables as usual . I have found Metamucil to be the complete answer . I started taking it 3 time s a day & graduated down to 1 when I felt normal again . Constipation makes a big difference to the scales & you will find you lose much more regularly if you have a regular daily bowel motion

Thanks spcox. It’s interesting what you say about diet coke. I had the same thing with slimline tonic. YayaM, I will look into Metamucil.
I think the answer is to carry on but keep an eye on fibre!

Thanks for the support.

Psyllium husk works in powder form for bunged-up-bowels, if you buy the powder on-line, you’ll find it cheaper than Metamucil which is the same stuff, but with colourants & sweetners.

Diet drinks are full of nasties which con our brains & guts into bad calorie-saving habits. MM was on Radio 2 talking about diet drinks yesterday. Don’t go there, drink water, herb tea, play with fizzy-water & slices of lime.

I eat as many ‘above the ground’ veggies as I like, lots of salad & herbs, steamed broccoli with chilli is delish. I cut the calories on protein & fat and eat ‘permitted carbs’ eg pulses & legumes.

Water is essential, as is some form of exercise, sitting on one’s bum all day, whilst sometimes is inevitable, won’t help anyone get in motion…..!!!

Milled flax-seed goes through the bowels by absorbing fluid & helps movement…. But drinking water will facilitate this.

2 dried prunes a day will not muck up the diet either but will help with issues…..

Hi sosaladcrew
It’s all the muscle that you’re building – more dense than fat!

I had problems with constipation at the start – and my digestive system is still a bit sluggish – it’s had so many years of copious amounts of junk to shift, it’s taking a while to adjust to having much smaller portions of non-junky food!

I can’t bear psylium husks, I really dislike the texture. I’ve been using senna tablets, which work really well for me.
Boots do an own brand one which is about half the price of the brand leader – and if you look at things like Potters, also quite £££, senna is the main ingredient.

It works fairly gently, and if it doesn’t work the first time, just take another two tablets the next evening – don’t take too many at once.
Try and take it on an evening when you know that you’ll have ready access to the bathroom the following day, until you learn how it works with your body. After the initial problems, I probably take it once a week, and needing it less frequently as time goes on.

Another thing that I read was linking very low salt levels with constipation – after moving from convenience food to cooking from scratch, my salt intake was very low, as I never used to use salt when cooking vegetables, or add it at the table – worth bearing in mind and trying. Google “salt” and “constipation” to get a selection of articles discussing this.

I also found that in not having my usual vogel bread, and trying to pick low carb veg, my fibre intake was quite low, which wouldn’t have been helping with the digestive problems, so I’ve worked on improving that too.

Jalapenos! Anything spicy gets my digestive system going overtime.

Hi Solsaladcrew,
Weigh in this week was a 4lb loss, which I was really surprised by as I have been at home with a rotten cold all week and hardly moved. Looks like we both had a plateau last week, I bet you loose this week. Let me know how you do.

Cherry8
Well done! That’s good news. I will let you know how I get on. I am afraid I resorted to castor oil to clear the blockage – very unpleasant. But at least things should get moving now, in both senses!

FiFiP, I will try to find MM talking about diet drinks on the radio online, thank you.

Frog, good to know. I was reading about the salt thing too. It’s odd as it goes against what you’d assume, that is that salt would dehydrate you.

New to this eating plan, and my digestive system is very confused. Thanks for all the sensible viewpoints!

Stick with it Aria, it will all settle and come right soon. It does take a little while to get used to the regime when you first start, but once you get over the carb withdrawal and cravings. Keep us posted on your progress and shout out if you need support. Oh and for those with constipation issues, I have found Potter’s Cleansing Tablets very helpful.

It’s my turn now. I have put on 1.5 kg for the first time since I started the bsd and yes, I am constipated. I drink 2-3litres water, eat vegies, add 2 tablespoons of flaxseed and still nothing. I was taking senna tablets which worked but these are not recommended as a daily medication. I have just eaten about 12 prunes which I hope will work. Obviously prunes are not ideal because of the sugar content, I’ve just had a fearful amount of carbs. Mostly I must avoid herbal medicines because of interactions with drugs I take. I am getting plenty of exercise. This has never been a problem for me before BSD. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

What I have done several times to disrupt the inevitable plateaux is to have a fairly substantial bowl of traditional porridge. This seems to work for me as well as encouraging “digestive transit”. It is a carb hit but bit seems to work for me.

Thanks JulesMaigret. Have been having some porridge plus flaxseeds, could try increasing portion size as per your suggestion.

I have used porridge as well, but try adding milled nuts, flax seed and chia seed to it as well, for a helping hand. You could also try adding a kiwi fruit or two to the porridge for something different. As JM suggests, every now and then it is better to take a carb hit than to get uncomfortably constipated.

Hi,
I have just completed week 4. After the 1st 2 weeks I lost 12lb and in the 3rd week 1 lb giving me 13 lbs loss in total. Unfortunately no weight loss at all this week despite upping my exercise levels which is disappointing. However, quite a few people have noticed that I have lost weight and have commented that I look well. The main thing too is I have cut back on my diabetes medication an my blood sugar readings have averaged 5.2mmol over the period of the diet. I am determined to stick with the diet and see where that takes me. Good luck!!

Inulin, this works for constipation, combine it with Psyllium/Regucol and the occasional glass of prune juice and you will never, ever have anything to worry about again.

Interested in all the advice for constipation. I’m on metformin, which messes with the system anyway (1poo every 2 days). Now on the low cal, no sign of the brown stuff and no desire to do it either, so researching other responses.

Some people recommend inulin, but I found this site http://sweetpoison.wikidot.com/inulin, which seems to advocate against. As I’m neither chemist nor dietitian I don’t know if this is fake or real news.

Any suggestions?

BTW prunes and porrige no help. Loads of veg no help. Drinking tea (that counts as water doesn’t it?) until it is coming out of my ears. I find water unappealing unless exercising heavily. Next stop mild laxative from the chemist. Chilli works, but I hate the stuff as the result is quite uncomfortable from mouth to bowel.

hi there. i have a similar problem since being on the bsd. i drink loads of water though, also exercise. i add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed and tablespoon of chia seed to my morning breakfast. this helps somewhat. prunes work if i eat megaloads and i cant because they are full of sugar. i am investigating inulin. have yet to buy it.

Hi crabbycams and bigeater,
I had the same problem and now take two magnesium citrate tablets and a tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil (from Aldi) daily. I continued this even after the problem resolved and now I’m good.
Cheers
Linda

Thanks LindaA,

My friend does the psyllium husk but loathes it. I woke up with stomach cramps and although I have had some relief (you don’t need the details) I still feel full. I’ll try the coconut oil, but am not fond of that as a ‘mouth feel’. I’m going to research what people put it with to make it work. I already take a fair bit of magnesium so am loath to take more.

It’s all a learning game. I know that the metformin is NOT helpful. My sister cannot tolerate it at all.

Shopping for more vegies tonight. Must get the broccoli and cauliflower seeds in and happening.

Thanks again

Crabbycams