Hi i am currently on day 17 and on weighing today found i had put on 1 and half lbs :-o. i have been following the diet plan at the back of the recipe book and have been very strict. I have quit diet coke and sweeteners and cut my coffee intake down by over half, i am drinking at least 2 litres of water a day ? what else can i do. I made cakes at the weekend for a bake sale and didnt even have a crumb and im thinking now why bother. I have always struggled to lose weight and this is the first diet i have done where i have been really strict, first week i lost 5.5lbs, week 2 lost 1lb, which has now gone back on. I m feeling so down about this and thinking is it worth it ? any advice would be appreciated, thank you x

hi Nursecathy – don’t get down hearted! downhearted can lead to eating your cookies because you think why bother, but bothering is all that is needed to keep focussed. Your metabolism has probably slowed down as well and so to jump start yourself off your plateau you could try a water fast for 24 hours, i promise you it is not as hard as it sounds, any hunger pains you get will come in waves then disappear again, drink a lot of water or black coffee or a small cup of bovril – just nurture your body while it starts to get used to not having actual food to digest. Good luck and yes it is and you are worth it.

I’ve tried and failed to post the graph based on the weigh ins I have recorded over the past 36 days – but it is very bumpy! There is a downward trend but ups and downs and plateaus. It will definitely work, but it is different for everyone. I’m a slow loser (5.6kg in 36 days) but I don’t feel like its a challenge as I’m not too strict – I have allowed the odd glass of wine to pass my lips. There is a lot of stuff on the forum about plateaus, which are really common in week 2 and 3 – your fat cells get filled up with water and your body will hold onto it a while. Keep drinking and you’ll get a whoosh soon.

Have you read about plateau here? You can use the Search button top right for tons of posts on the subject. They can happen any time and it’s quite different for everyone.

You could also Search the Whoosh effect or Whooshes here or on the internet …. where you plateau or even gain on a diet …. and then suddenly belly fat especially just gets soft and you loose it all of a sudden.

Are you just counting calories or are you watching your carb grams as well? (many here try for 50 g. or even a bit less some days). Are you eating enough healthy fat? Fat really helps. Avocado, yogurt, heavy cream in your coffee, macadamia and other fatty nuts.

Can you change some routine up …. such as in this article Can changing your mealtimes make you healthier?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35290671

I am doing a mild form of IF or Intermittent fasting …. for instance i try not to eat for a 12 hour (or more) stretch to give my body extra rest and adjustment time … say if i finish eating anything at 7 p.m. then i don’t eat again until 7 a.m. …. and i try and stretch that to as many hours as i can but always try and do the 12. In the mornings i’m usually good for a few hours extra after a coffee with cream. I’m not unusual in this … many people here find 2 or even 1 meal a day suits them. Everyone is different. I may even add some longer fasting myself to the basic BSD plan(s).

Good luck! HUGS

Thank you for all your words of encouragement. Shalimar i am counting calories and carbs and try to stay 50g or below, which i usually do. AraBella, i dont think i could do a 24 hour fast but i will definitely try the 12 hour one suggested by Shalimar. AndreaG i have read about the plateaus and the whoosh effect, i just find it hard to believe, i am trying not to be a negative nelly and be a positive polly instead. Lets hope the whoosh happens soon x

For sure your body will adjust and your will soon be posting positive results as you slip off that plateau! Like you and many others, I too plateaued at week two, have seen increases as well as decreases and having pressed on, I am currently 17lb down on my original starting weight and able to maintain in periods not completely complying with the BSD. So it is all possible, however some of us lose more slowly than others, but logically I’m sure you know that if you are consuming 800cals and under 50g carbs a day, you must eventually lose weight.

Stick with it and you will soon be posting good results.

Hi I’m new on here so not sure I’m experienced enough to give my opinion, but I have age on my side at 70 even if I have been a life long diet failure. I did however once loss 7st on a milk shake diet yuk! Put me of milkshakes and smoothies for life. However my point is I sometimes got a bit disappointed at some of my lack of weight loss. What I did was to gather things in a carrier bag, bags of sugar, tins of beans things that equalled the weight lost each week, things that would keep. When I had a bad week I’d try to carry those bags around for a few minutes I was soon pleased with what I had achieved.

Hi, I did the fasting last night as suggested by shalimar and AraBella , i actually managed 17 hours before eating, when i weighed this morning i had lost 2lb, I am so happy, i have also gone through my meal plan and counted the carbs in each recipe, any that are high, i.e. porridge, i have swapped to a low carb alternative. Thank you for your help and support, and Eem, great idea of putting the equivalent weight in a bag, definitely will try that when i am having a low day 🙂

Good to hear things are moving in the right direction nursecathy44. And what a good idea Eem. It would certainly be a great way to motivate yourself when you start to think things aren’t working.

Congratulations on the 2 lbs. down nursekathy44!
I too have had a lot of slow times on this plan but today on day 40, I am 16 lbs. down.
My largest drop was after week one when I lost 9 lbs., then it was slow going with ups and downs.
My theory is that at first I lost a lot of water weight and so really hadn’t lost true fat weight. It takes time to lose that but it sure helped me stay with it, seeing my initial “weight loss” show up on the scale.
I still get frustrated with how long it takes to lose each lb. but I know that eating this way keeps me from feeling too hungry and keeps my blood sugar low. If I was on a diet that had more carbs, I’d be so hungry most of the time trying to stick to 800 calories. I know this, because I’ve done it many times in my life and usually haven’t stayed with it. On the BSD, I don’t lie in bed hungry all night long; therefore, I sleep so much better. On other higher carb diets I’ve been on, I’ve laid in bed for hours feeling hungry and not being able to sleep. This is so much better!
Wishing you a good week ahead. :–)