Some medicine, not sow medicine in case anyone thinks I’m some weirdo taking farm animal meds 😄

He he 🙂 so glad your not on vet meds 🙂

Does sow medicine prevent you from pigging out by any chance 😉

Bill, that last post really made me chuckle 🙂

That is great news Niffer – I had a great week away, walked loads and ate healthy meals with the odd one or two glitches. Haven’t been able to weigh myself since I got back as my scales have stopped working but am getting some new ones tomorrow. Really pleased that I have been able to get back on the diet with no problems – in fact I was really looking forward to it 🙂

So if I did put anything on during my week away I am pretty hopeful that it will have gone once I get back on some scales.

Hi bernie,
Glad you had a good time away, life needs to be enjoyed. When you jump on your new scales be aware that scales can differ by the odd pound or two. Saw a programme on wighing scales and they tested a wide range from £9.99 upwards and the best were the cheaped supermarket purchase. They were tested by Weights & Measures and they all differed, and the ones that did body fat etc were very inaccurate. We went away last night for our 32nd Wedding Anniversary to a lovely Spa Hotel and had a very relaxing tim. I had a glass of champagn and a coupl of things I wouldn’t at on th diet, I only had a couple of tea spoons of hubbys icecream. One night out of seven shouldn’t do too much damage, and it was a great time away. Fun is over now so back to being strict for a while. 24 days in now and 13 3/4 pound down, vey happy with this.

I won’t have scales in the house.
They cause disappointments to too many people and discourage them (I know what Michael says about getting weighed but that is a generalisation, some people just shouldn’t get weighed daily)
I go to the chemist at the same time every Saturday morning and use their scales – works for me

Day one for me:
Starting weight: 13st 13lbs
Waist: 35 in
Fasting bloods: 11.0 (always have had high readings first thing).
My aim is to only weigh once a week.
I’m hoping that by keeping tabs on myself on here it will help me!

Hooray…. I’m overweight!! That sounds bad, I know, but it does mean I am no longer classed as obese, which sounds even worse. End of Week 5 and BMI below 30.
2lbs lost this week. Have lost 13lbs altogether so I’ve nearly lost my first stone in weight. Feeling quite pleased because the scales showed an increase in weight during the week. What was that about? No change in the diet during the week….bit of a mystery weight gain there.
At the weekend went out for a family meal to celebrate a 40th birthday. Given an enormous piece of cake that would have been rude not to eat, so I felt I had to oblige. Only bit of processed sugary carb I have eaten in the 5 weeks and not very enjoyable at that.
Not too much harm done and I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Social occasions are the most difficult to manage without drawing too much attention and sounding too evangelical about the BSD diet.
Anyway onwards to more weight loss in the future ….and better health. Good luck everyone.

Well done Caramba! Starting my 4th week today and have lost 4lbs this week (but still obese – can’t wait to be ‘overweight’). It was my first time to slip a little this weekend as well – I had a small glass of Prosecco – but I did enjoy it!!

Leeanne try having some full fat Greek yoghurt with berries as a late night snack (I stick the berries in the microwave for 2 mins and make a sort of Khuli)
the fat contents keeps the digestive system working and helps with those high fasting sugar readings.
Fi 4 lbs loss on week 4 for is superb. Keep it up. 😀

Congratulations ay caramba – I dream of being overweight. Things are going in the right direction; 5 weeks in and I’m half way there.

Hi Time4change. I’m now in week 5 and in week 3/4 found that weight was creeping back up – very disappointed as I was being so careful with calories. Advice on forum was to up fluid intake to 3 litres a day (when I measured my mugs and glasses found they held 300mls not the 500mls I thought!) and to watch how many of my calories came from carbs. Since I sorted these two (have an additional glass of water before each meal) the weight has started to drop again, and things are much easier in the bathroom department too!
Lost 12lbs so far, with another stone to go, but have reduced insulin from 66 units a day to 14. Looking forward to stopping it altogether but have been diabetic for 20yrs this year, and on insulin for 12 of those, so may take longer for me to ditch the meds completely. Finding the forums really encouraging and supportive. Thank you everyone!

Thanks Bill, I’ll adjust my cals to allow for this. I repeatedly asked my gp as to why this rise happens but “he doesn’t know!!”. I’m learning more from this forum about diabetes than I ever learn from the surgery.

Oh my goodness!!

I have reached the halfway point – 4 weeks today – and I have just weighed myself – I am in shock as I haven’t weighed myself for a week…

I have lost one stone and 3lbs – that’s 17lbs in four weeks!!! This diet is bloody amazing!

Yesterday was my first big test which I had actually been dreading for several days in case I cracked and blew the diet (I have actually been having horrible dreams about having uncontrollable binges). We had a big family dinner in a restaurant for mother’s day yesterday and I had…. 2 bottles of sparkling water and NO FOOD!!!

It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, although the food did look delicious. However, the best menu (in my opinion) was the kids menu – sausage and chips, burger and chips, chicken goujons and chips.. then brownies and ice cream… exactly the food I would have gone for before the BSD. It looked nice but I actually wasn’t that tempted, which, in itself is actually the biggest shock.

To survive the family dinner I had the Cheesy Beans and Steak menu plan; I made the cheesy beans as close as possible to going out for dinner so I would be nice and full, and then as soon as I got home I had the Steak and Creme Fraiche for dinner, and it totally worked out! It didn’t feel that weird to sit there eating nothing. It just goes to show that people are generally too involved with what they are doing to really stress about another person who’s not eating.

The only drawback was the 2 bottles of sparkling water I had.. can you believe that set us back £7.95?!! It’s tap water for me next time 😉

So, this is to say keep up the brilliant work everyone! It is so inspiring and motivating reading everyone’s stories and progress. This is the coolest forum!

Natasha that’s brilliant – and what amazing self control 🙂

Thank you Hashimoto! I always get over-anxious about stuff and I realise now that I was more concerned about perhaps making others feel uncomfortable by not joining in and eating – it wasn’t even commented on. Apart from interest in the BSD and a brief explanation about why I wasn’t eating, if anything, I got support!

It would be very different if I was having dinner with one other person, but with a big group it’s actually fine.

Congratulations ay caramba! Moving down a category is such a psychological boost as well as a health booster. Don’t worry about sounding evangelical about the BSD – it’s the way we help others – even if only 5% take it on board it’s a life improver for them 🙂

Thanks for the encouragement people. Think it is beneficial to mark milestones of success to help build a feel-good factor. Well done Fi, Fefo, Natasha, Susieq and everyone else on this journey. Good luck Leanne. Don’t suppose this is any consolation to you Leanne but my waist measurement is bigger than yours..ha ha!

Hi ay caramba, made me chuckle. My BMI is 32.4 and still obese though!! I’m 5ft 5in.

Hello, I’m a newbie here and just entering week 3. I lost 12lbs in first two weeks. I’m not diabetic and hope to stay that way! I had a stroke 6 weeks ago and the last bastion for me is to shift some serious weight (like 5 stone) to avoid any future health problems.

KPerry, Sorry to hear about your stroke that must have been frightening for you. You are doing well with the weight loss so far so I wish you all the best.

Hi KPerry, welcome to the forums. Well done on the weight loss. Sorry to hear about your stroke, hopefully sticking with this diet and losing the weight will improve your health. Good luck

Hi caramba
I had that moment too. Wonderful feeling.
Penny

Hi K
Welcome to the forum. I’m sure the diet will help your health.
Penny

Great losses recorded here, well done all. I went off plan quite a bit over the weekend but I’m recommitting now and will weigh in to assess the damage in a couple of hours. Managed to get back into the swing easily so hoping to finish out my week 4 strong (only doing 4 weeks to start, then 5 day holiday)
A bit worried I messed up with my weekend splurge, broke all the rules sadly

It’s such an enormous help, reading about all your successes. Thanks for all the postings.
I’ve just finished my first week, and I’m extremely happy with a 2.1 kilo drop. Nowhere near as much as a lot of you, but I’m older than most of you and only 5’1″ tall, so everything works a bit slower these days. I’ve never lost so much weight in one week, so this has given me a huge boost. I still have around 15 kilos to go, but I’ve made a start.

Hi TrishaDawn
I’m also 5’1 on a good day! And 66. I’ve found the diet easy but weight loss much slower than most people. Frustrating but better than any alternative. And much easier than WW etc.
Good luck with it.
Penny

Time4Change – I actually don’t think it’s a bad thing that you went off plan. I can almost feel how focused you are by the way you are writing, and I don’t think you will have a problem resuming where you left off.
These things happen, and your ‘splurge’ will probably be a great learning experience, so I think it’s actually a positive experience.

Good luck.. you can do it!! 😀 😀

Thanks Natasha, I really do feel recommitted, especially after my weigh in showed I’m only up 1 pound from my lowest weight which seems to be the post weekend pattern! Going to get a decent walk in this afternoon and I did a 15 min hiit session this morning, all I had time for but glad I managed it. All the jumping around added 1500 steps to my Fitbit, not too shabby!

Brilliant Time4Change! Great stuff indeed 🙂

Thanks Penny. I’m 71, lost 15 kilos a few years ago with Weight watchers, but then it stalled and I’ve never managed to get back the momentum until now. I’ll be perfectly happy to see any kind of weight loss after wandering in the wilderness for so long. I tried Weight watchers again, but it just didn’t take. I’m adjusting to the lower calories, but often have that hollow empty feeling without being actually hungry. Currently I’m looking forward to getting out of the obese category. Overweight sounds so much nicer.

Hi trishadawn, are you remembering to drink lots of water and eat full fat dairy? It’s hard to get your head around full fat after years of being told to eat sugary low fat yoghurt by WW and others. This will work for you! You will be so thrilled when you get into just overweight category! 🙂

Hi,
I’m a newbie, I’ve just completed week one and weighed myself this morning, i’ve lost 2kg (4.4 lbs).
It was a tough first few days of the diet but comfortable thereafter. I think for the week ahead I need to more meticulous with the cooking weighing scales and to incorporate some exercise as besides walking I didn’t do much last week.

A small step in the correct direction, hopefully it can continue.
It’s really motivational reading all the posts and seeing people’s progress even though we’re all physiologically different it’s still encouraging to see them and compare , whatever works I guess 🙂

Welcome to the forums hytane! Good to read about your fantastic results so far:)

I’ve been on the BSD for 9 days now and have lost 3 kg. Very pleased by that loss. Enjoying the diet and have had some very tasty meals. Not even missing bread (my greatest weakness). However, we invited friends round for a meal at the weekend and I am struggling with what on earth to cook that will be nice for them and OK for me.

So here’s a thing. Lost 10lbs in first two and a half weeks, then nothing, up a pound, down a pound. Fell “off the wagon” at the weekend (week5) and had a couple of glasses of wine and two chocolates (could only manage 2 they tasted so sweet!) weighed myself this morning and I’m down two pounds! I walked more as we had sunny but cold weather. Go figure as they say

He he
the body does play some strange tricks doesn’t it ?
Your weight can vary by up to 4 lbs either way on any given day due to reasons only known to itself. That’s why I weigh just once a week same day same time. I haven’t quite got to that desperation point where I empty my pockets and virtually srtip off in the chemists before getting weighed 😀

Hi GiCo, I’ve had friends round and managed using the diet recipes. One suggestion:

starter: either the grapefruit ,avocado cheese dish or avocado bacon lettuce cups or veggie soup

Main : home made curry with chickpea flour flatbreads or cottage pie with cauli topping

Dessert: yoghurt with berries or coconut flat breads with cream and berries.

I’ve tended to save up my calories and had very small portions OR I skip the starter and use the excuse of frying the flatbreads fresh so they are hot to have with a curry. For dessert I’ll have just a few of the berries.

People have really enjoyed these kind of meals – they don’t even notice the lack of carbs!! If one of your guests is diabetic they will feel a difference!!
Good luck!! 🙂

Hi All, I am new to the forum and only started the diet on Monday this week. My starting weight was 🙂 96kg and this morning it was 94.2kg. I am amazed at this result on day 3! Invested in electronic scales which automatically send my weight readings straight to my fitness app. Which is really good, because sometimes my recollection of what I weighted in the morning until I have time later on in the day, to tecord it, gets a bit hazy. … But with my new scales, no room for error any more :-). Wishing everyone the best results ever! I am really glad that I started this and that I ssem to finally have found a diet that works and will make me feel better and healthier… Have not told my family what I am doing…. They want me to loose weight and be healthy, but I had soooooo many new “5starts on Mondays” that they no longer believe me that I will stick to this diet. So I will just show them. 🙂

hiya all

newbie here. started BSD on Monday. I have been doing 5:2 diet since April 2015 and have lost 5st 3.5lb which I’m over the moon with but I was starting to struggle with motivation and needed to change it up a bit. I’m not diabetic but still have about 4 stone I want to lose, most of this is from my tummy lol. I will be sticking to 800 cals for the 8 weeks however I will be having 1 day a week that I go out for dinner so may not be strict on cals even though I do plan on sticking to Mediterranean diet. I’m not going to beat myself up if I have more than 800 cals but I do plan on sticking to this if I can. fingers crossed I still have good losses although I’m not sure how good they will be as have been dieting for almost a year.

fingers crossed!

Hi All, it’s great to read about your success! This is my first post on this Forum but my third week of 800. I’m 5ft tall and 51 years old. At the start I weighed 13st 5lbs, miraculously I’m not diabetic but I do have polycystic ovary syndrome. After just two weeks I have lost 1 stone! I have stuck strictly to 800 cals per day, higher protein and lower carb. I start my day off with a slice of Burgen toast with a laughing cow light triangle and a mug of tea, lunch is high protein I.e tuna or chicken, dinner again higher protein but I do have some carbs, for example I’m having two poached eggs, ham and microchips for dinner! I keep enough calories to have a 40 calorie Belgian hot chocolate in the evening, and a cup of tea at bedtime if I fancy it. I log it all on my fitness pal and usually have a few cals left over. Since starting I have been making sure I exercise regularly and I walk two very cheeky border collies 5 miles at least 3 times a week. I now fit comfortably into a pair of jeans I sadly put away a year ago. I weigh every day and, as advised by Dr M, have set myself a very unrealistic target in the hope of getting close to it!

Hi Damson, this will work for you, I found it easier than the 5:2. When I have eaten out it has tended to be lunch time so I have opted for, wait for it…..a ham sandwich without the bread (caused bewilderment) or omelette or ploughman’s and asked them not to put bread or crackers on my plate – only slight bewilderment at that one. I’m sure you could manage most evening meals out by not having any of the carbs, curry with no rice but plenty of green veg, steak and veg etc. That 4 stones should come of in no time – I lost 2 stones in just over 7 weeks! The boosted energy levels are the most amazing thing!! 🙂

Just completed 4 weeks. Very happy with a 12lb loss, as I’ve been nearer 1000 cals most days than 800. And the stone before took a whole year to lose! A year ago my BMI was just short of 30 (obese), and I’ve just crept down to the top end of normal. Magic!

Fantastic news, Fatcat! What would happen on a week of 800 me wonders? 🙂

Brilliant Fatcat!
Before the BSD I was eating over 3000 calories a day and was obese and in the danger zone, and I thought there was no way I could survive on 800 calories a day. However, I’ve been doing the BSD for 4 weeks now and 800 calories is actually more than enough – I’m never hungry or have cravings. I have lost 18lbs in total. Micheal Mosley says you can do the BSD for up to 8 weeks but I’m now tempted to stick to 800 calories a day!

Hi Natasha, captainlynne contacted the team who told her it is ok to continue the 800 for a while if you are well. A few of us are planning on that. I crossed the 8 week line yesterday and am going to stick reasonably closely to the 800 calories as I still want to lose more weight 🙂

Happy to hear the news it is ok to continue with BSD longer as I don’t think oh and I can shift what we have to lose in 8 weeks! We are into week 4 and oh has lost 19lbs and myself 17lbs . Still a long way to go to our completely outrageous targets and the loss has slowed but like so many people on here the other welcome side effect of not feeling like death warmed up most of the time, plus enjoying our food immensely helps. This community of fellow dieters is very motivating especially all the honesty, kindness and great recipes!

The not being hungry is pretty weird isn’t it? How can I be eating about 35-40% (probably) of what I was eating before and not feel anywhere near as hungry as I did before? I sleep better I ache less and I can move much more freely too. It is a wonderful thing. I hope you continue to do well.

Wow Hashimoto that’s great news!

I had a brainwave yesterday – lol it’s actually not that brainwavey but it occured to me after a lot of stressing about falling back into old patterns when I’ve completed the 8 weeks.

At the end of the 8 weeks I was thinking of continuing on 800 calories for a few weeks and then progressing onto the 5:2. At least then I will have some direction and it will be a good way to ensure I acheive either more weight-loss or steady weight and blood sugar maintenance.

I also think following a plan for at least 6 months to a year will ensure this new lifestyle will be a permanent fixture in my life.

Be good to know what others think about this and what has worked well for others.

By the way, does anyone know what the recommended daily calorie intake should be at the end of the 8WeekBSD (for weight maintenance)?