I am posting this because over the last 8 weeks when I needed encouragement or help this forum was a fantastic resource so THANK YOU All , especially with dealing with the dreaded carb flu.

On Wednesday finished 8 Weeks on the 800 fast, I generally kept to 800-850 calories and approx 50g carbs a day, as a vegetarian I found it hard to get daily carb intake lower.

I mostly started the BDS 800 fast to loose weight, I could no longer fit into any of my clothes eeeek! But on reflection once I stated to loose a little weight I realised how unhealthy I had been feeling and the pressure being overweight placed on my body.

After 8 Weeks I feel great, well until I weighed myself, sadly still a shocking number on the scales. Silly me didn’t weigh myself at the start, I just couldnt face the scales. I used a measuring tape and clothing to try and gauge weight loss. Happy to say a skirt I loved but couldn’t do up, I now wear regularly but have further to go before I get back into my other clothes, on the positive I feel so much more healthy and alert. Hopefully this doesn’t sound vein, especially when there are people here battling serious health concerns, just my method of motivation and way to gauge weight loss.

I should mention after reading other forum posts, while I’m still feeling ok and motivated I will stay on the 800 fast for a few more weeks, possibly a month? To try and get the scales down a bit further and then go on the 5:2 for a longer period.

Here are my results in inches
Basically I lost 3.5 inches of my Bust, 3 inches of my Waist and 4 inches of my Hips.

( oh I’m a 5.2 female )
Week 0 Bust 44 Waist 35 Hips 44
Week 1 Bust 43 Waist 34.5 Hips 43
Week 2 Bust 42.5 Waist 34 Hips 42
Week 3 Bust 42.5 Waist 33 Hips 41
Week 4 Bust 42 Waist 33 Hips 41
Week 5 Bust 42. Waist 33. Hips 40
Week 6 Bust 41 Waist 32.5 Hips 40.5?
Week 7 Bust 41 Waist 32 Hips 40
Week 8 Bust 40.5 Waist 32 Hips 40

* at times it was hard to keep an eye on myself when using the measuring tape there was a real temptation to tighten it just a little bit more to get lower measurements. Fitting into some items of clothing again reassured me I hadn’t just squeezed the measuring tape just a little bit tighter each week.

Again thank you lovely people

Well done you, Patsnotcarb! Many of us come to the BSD purely for weight loss issues, but I think all of us realise that being overweight will almost certainly present related health issues at some point. Like you, although I knew I was overweight, I was surprised by how much and I too found I felt so much fitter and healthier as the weight began to fall.

Don’t be scared to share what you weigh, as there is no judgement here and actually ‘owning’ it really helps to keep you focused by making you accountable. You have made great progress so far and I’m sure a few more weeks will bring equally exciting results. Keep posting and updating us on your progress, as we love a reason to celebrate and of course, when you need some support, just yell and someone will be there to give a hand up.

Some of my tips
To deal with carb flu as peole have mentioned in threads that worked, Make sure you are drinking loads of water, up fats, add salt to food, and I found coconut water was a good source of natural electrolytes.

Variety keeps you motivated, try new foods / recepies especially when your feeling a little blah or tempted.

I made regular meals like frittata, pasta sauce, cauliflower rice that I devided into portions and kept in fridge or freezer. I think that really helped to not feel overwhelmed calculating, weighing, recording and cooking a number of meals every day.

If your on a budget you can get books out of the library, my local library had Michael Mosley’s BSD 800 book and loads of low carb recepie books. Instead of buying expensive gadgets, I made Zucchini spaghetti (fettuccine) by just using a peeler along a zucchini and cutting the strips in half lengthways. I already had a julien peeler and used that on carrots to make carrot noodles perfect for stir fry.
I don’t have a food processor I just used a large size grater to make cauliflower rice, I found it easy to just grate a whole cauliflower, divide into portions and freeze ready for meals. After trial and error I also found if I baked the cauliflower rice for 15- 20 minutes it tasted more like the real thing.

Cauliflower pizza is great, I wasn’t convinced on my first try, but you just have to experiment, I found putting shreddedfresh parsley in the base with strong cheese like Parmesan and using pizza toppings such as olives and roasted peppers really helped with the flavour.

I never felt deprived on the diet maybe because I could eat cheese? Baked large mushrooms with fried haloumi seemed to satisfy any initial carb cravings. I think Michael Mosley mentions it in his book but eggs for breakfast really sets you up for the day and helps you not feel hungry or light headed, having an omelette or frittata for breakfast in the early days especially during the carb flu phase really helped.

The initial hunger goes, after the first few weeks I stopped feeling hungry and stopped having cravings, stick with it,.

Thanks SunnyB! I love the encouragement from People in this forum. I’ve read a few of your posts and replies over the last 8 weeks you have really helped without knowing. I probably will post my weight with updated info / results for the next phase. I think I’m still in shock about weight, I was feeling lighter but the scales reflected a different reality, bugger, it was a surprise! I must have been way larger than I imagined. For now I’m just reminded myself loosing 3 – 4 inches of each measurement is a good result!

Inches are as valid a result as pounds, Patsnotcarb, so don’t let the reading on the scales dampen your sense of achievement – you deserve to celebrate!

Keep going and keep posting, so that you become a ‘fully paid up’ member of this wonderful BSD community, which will help to get you to your end goal.

Patsnotcarb – I enjoyed reading your post. You have had amazing results – well done.
I’m on week 10 of the bsd and I too was unwilling to post my weight. I did weigh myself so I was under no illusions about how bad it was (and still is!) but wasn’t comfortable sharing it with anyone. It took a few weeks before I did and it can be quite liberating doing something you are scared to do. The scales just show numbers and you know that watching numbers fall can be very satisfying, what really matters is how you feel and the pleasure you get out of wearing that favourite skirt.
Thank you for posting – it is really good to hear someone else say what I am feeling. It’s a reminder that it is OK to feel good about this achievement.
I look forward to hearing your updates – you’re doing really well.

Patsnotcarbs, hello there! You NSV (non scale victories) are wonderful!!! You aren’t the
only one who has had an aversion to the scales. It’s great to know your beginning weight
though, even if you aren’t comfortable posting it just yet. I didn’t weigh myself for the
first 2 months, and eventually had to ask my dr. where I began. Are you ready?…That
would be 285lbs! Today I happily maintain at 138lbs. (5’7″) You can realize all your
dreams with this WOL. Every success to you!

Allie

Hi Gattina, Week10 amazing go you!!! I felt fabulous until I got on the scales, but as SunnyB says inches are just as valid! I suppose my shock was after 8 weeks of dieting and loosing inches, according to the scales I was still the biggest I’ve ever been. a little deflating. But this forum and your comments have once again lifted my spirits. Thank you for reminding that I should be proud, I have great results so far and I am doing something about my weight that is working. I’m definitely going to keep at it, great to hear that you are in Week 10! very encouraging, not giving up, though I might reasses my cheese intake 😂. I’ll think about disclosing my weight, it’s an annonymous forum after all. I just have to let it sink in for a day or two.

Hello Alliecat!

Wow that’s fantastic you must feel fabulous, great results!!!!

I have to say I recognise your user name a big thank you so much, think it was your replies on a thread that got me through carb flu? I felt like a bit of a vouyer reading everyone’s forum comments for encouragement, this thread was my way of thanking everyone and hopefully passing it on.

Part of me wishes that I had weighed myself at the beginning, to have an idea of how much I have lost but I’ve faced that fear now. So onwards and upwards, or maybe that should be onwards and scale numbers downwards. 😀

H Patsnotcarb,
I understand how you feel about weight. Reading the weights some of the people were talking about as their start and target weights made me feel ashamed, and while I have talked on the list on the amount lost and amount to target I didn’t feel comfortable talking about my target weight.
I set my target weight based on the weight I was when I was healthy and successfully taking part in endurance events. I was 16.5 stone at that time, and that is my target weight now. Although looking in the mirror I will probably reduce it to 15.5 stone.

Hi patsnotcarb
There really is no need to disclose your weight, it is very personal afterall. Although it is useful for you to keep a record for yourself. We all start at a different place and some of us may have a longer journey than others. These forums are a great support and no judgement so we can do this at our own pace.

There was some talk about change on another thread this week. My nsv is I’ve noticed that I am slowly growing in confidence and that includes accepting myself as I am but also having the courage to change the things I don’t like. At the moment that is my health and weight. I don’t have to share this with anyone else but I choose to share it with those who will be supportive and understanding.

I didn’t mean this to be a long post or to get onto my soapbox. I just want to encourage you that that it doesn’t matter what your weight is and you don’t have to share if you don’t want.

Hello JGwen,
Thank you! Yes you are right whatever works or feels good for you is the thing to do, disclose / not disclose weight and targets. Having a target and doing something about being overweight is the main thing, it is a very personal journey. The main thing is feeling healthy, not other people might think or numbers on a scale.

Please don’t ever feel ashamed, be proud! for me anyway negative emotions are what got me into this position in the first place and this diet, reading everyone’s comments and stories along the way is what has got me through this first stage, not their weight loss numbers or targets. Reminding myself to be proud of my achievements is spuring me on in this next phase.

Saying that I’m also using scale shock to spur me on to keep going.
In someways the fact that I didn’t weigh myself in the beginning might have helped, after 8 weeks I’ve developed great eating / excersize habits and now that I’ve weighed myself I don’t feel as great as I did before I weighed myself, but I have everything set up already to loose weight and not emotional eat to deal with it, which to be honest if I had of weighed myself in the beginning I might have been really overwhelmed and stuck my head in the sand (fridge😂)

You will meet your target and the only target that will work is one you feel you really want and can meet! I’ve decided on starting small, setting a number of weight loss targets and seeing what I feel like at each stage. I found that how I got through the 8 weeks. Good luck but I don’t think you need it you can do it!

Congratulations on lasting 8 weeks! Today is Week 7, Day 7 for me so I am very, very proud of myself for having gone the distance. What has amazed me though is that I haven’t felt like I’ve been “on a diet” so I feel like congratulating myself is a bit funny! I dropped 8 kgs in the 8 weeks, and was hoping to lose 4kgs so I am really pleased (especially since I had 2 big over-indulging blowouts at weddings in that time). However it was only around week 5 or 6 that I actually noticed a change in the tightness of my clothes. I guess everyone’s body is different. Mostly I lost the weight off my boobs (sigh…) but overall, after 8 weeks, I’m thrilled and I think I’ll keep going a bit longer. I feel more confident in being able to just adapt recipes and old things I would normally make to suit my new low-carb way of eating. The companion cookbook, and the forums, have been my best friends for the last 8 weeks – big thankyou to all.