Hi 800ers, I started at 257lbs and only dropped 8 lbs my first week even though I stuck to between 600 and 700 calories a day! The book implies there should have been a greater loss, though it only seems to have statistics for males. I haven’t had any rice, wheat etc but have had steel cut proper porriage oats for breakfast made with water and have had goats chees and the odd half glass of milk. Everything else has beet tuna, eggs, salads etc and I only use minimum balsamic which I also log. I have been measuring everything carefully, especially portion sizes. any ideas? I do have a thyroid issue but am on a small amount of medication for that.

Hi Fantail I started this week at 235and I lost 6lb and I used 600-700 cals my weight paused mid week so I upped my calories abit and am try to eat about 700 to 800 as I can get to obsessed and I need to be able to cope for the next 7 weeks. I confess that although I am pleased to have lost weight I lost this much on slimming world first week and I had got exited about how much people lost in the book but your right mostly men in there. So just hoping if I keep going I will see 3-4 lbs a week,more would be lovely:) hope you do ok this week

Hi Fantail, Welcome on board. I did not get as much weight loss the first week as some of the books examples. I felt I lost the same weight that I would have on any diet – in fact last time I had tried was the 5:2 and weight loss was about the same week one of that as it was week of this.
Re-reading some of the book, what MM says is that you should lose between 10 and 20% of your weight in 8 weeks (he lost 11%). I lost just over 12% which was two dress sizes & I was happy! Your 8 lbs is pretty good! On the range 10-20%, you should expect to lose between 26 and 52lbs total; on average 3 – 6.5 lbs per week.
The change I made in week two was to start checking my carbs as well as my calories and in weeks three took the scariest plunge and started eating full fat yoghurt instead of skimmed.
I had started with shakes and my carbs were 80-90g per day, although my calories ranged from 700-850. You need to get your body to burn fat and although everyone had a different threshold, that will be below 60g carbs per day. For me 60g works, and below that I get too many cramps at night. For others, they are managing fine and aim for 50g and under.
Use all 800 calories but restrict the carbs and you will keep the weight coming off. That may initially mean that the oats come off of the menu.
Hope that helps.

Thanks orchid. All products full fat but it looks like the porriage will have to go :(. Will give that a try this week and let you know. – I just realised that ryhmes !

Thanks Vanessa. Like you I was hoping for more since my weight is high. Will try orchid subjection below and hopefully this will move things along. Am trying to go hardcore because I just want to get it done so I’ll keep the 600 ish which should give me a bit of leeway if I need a treat day ie I just feel like I want more of something. Will keep you posted.

My first week was “only” 4.4lbs, but because I am on a diaretc I know that was mostly fat, not water. I lost 3.4 the following week and I’ll know week 3 when I weigh in tomorrow. I’ve also lost 1.5″ from my midsection.

I am quite pleased with these amounts and hope they continue (although I wouldn’t say no to a loss of over 5, lol)

I am staying at or really near the 800 mark calorie wise as well.

I track my totals in my profile too. Best of luck!

Cheers,

Deb

I started 5 weeks ago 14.2 and 40 inch waist. I lost 6 lb in first week but have only lost 1-2lb subsequent weeks. But my waist is now 37 inches.
I was eating oats for breakfast too Fantail but cut those out 10 days ago to reduce carbs a bit more and replaced with 60g Fage full fat yog, 80g frozen berries warmed and 20-30g nuts and seeds. It’s not been a dramatic change in weight loss as a result but I just generally feel so much better, not hungry in an uncontrolled way as I have been before and I know that I’ve broken the cravings for sweet and carbs. So I’m motivated even though I’m not seeing the dramatic changes. Hope that helps, don’t give up!

I think 8lbs is a fantastic amount to lose in your first week! I lost the same and my starting weight was 208 lbs. I’m now down to 176lbs and so that makes a loss of 15% body weight. The thing for me is that – apart from reaching a plateau twice – I have steadily lost weight – I weigh every day and am surprised if I haven’t lost something ie .2 lb even. I am utterly amazed at how my body has reacted to this way of eating.

I did have a blip over Easter and got straight back on the scales to see I’d put on a whopping 8 lbs but went straight back on the diet and it took me 2 weeks !!! to lose that.

My blood sugars have halved and my doctor is thinking of taking me off medication – blows my mind! I am 58 so ‘they’ say it’s harder to lose weight the older you are – I have tried every diet under the sun btw.

I don’t count carbs but I don’t eat them either – except for vegetables. No bread, flour, pasta, rice, potatoes……and I am now used to it. Every other week I stay in hotels for 2 nights and I still lose weight. I have changed my way of eating utterly and I can’t believe I’ve done it.

What I did – and still do in the main – is follow the receipes in the book – especially for the first 4 weeks – strictly followed and it totally worked for me. Now I do the same pretty much but understand what it is I can and can’t cook/eat for myself.

This is no longer a diet for me but it is now a way of life, I don’t feel deprived or miserable. I now drink wine when I want to and I still am losing.

Tomorrow is my weigh in and it will be my 12th one since starting and I have lost 2.8lbs since last Monday – I know I can make it 3 lbs this week with one day to go as I know what I will eat today and my meal tonight will be 1/2 an avocado with a poached egg on top but I will be having chicken stir fry for lunch.

I feel evangelical about this diet – went shopping yesterday and am now taking in sizes 16 & 18 (not 20/22 as it was) and am thrilled that mostly I am buying 16’s – almost feel like a normal person. Still have lots more to lose but really feel I can achieve it.

Just done my end of week 7 weigh-in and I have lost just under 8kg (17.6 lbs). FBS is still a bit erratic, but it was 5.3 this morning, so I’m happy with that (pre-diabetic). Not too bad considering my underactive thyroid and medication. One more week to go, but I think I will have a day or so off and then continue, as I still have around 18kg to lose, though it is Easter here in two weeks and the extended family is big on food at this time. Need to book some blood tests too, I think.

Thanks so much girls for giving me your stats ! I do feel better knowing I’m not the only one. Looks like women have a harder go of it than blokes 🙁 but I still feel better on it so will keep going. Iv just switched to Greek yougurt and fruit like you Funky and I think I’ll track my loses in my profile like you Deb – good idea! I’m in y 50s as well Tallyhoo so same boat! Haven’t had wheat, etc for a while because my hasiamotos inflames my stomach etc and I don’t absorb vitamins etc so have to get injections. If I go almost all paleo my antibodie levels come down and I feel better. Milk is fine for me. I’m not diabetic but have a clotting problem which, along with the multiple decades of undiagnosed hash I ment I put on weight and had no energy to do much. That’s improved since Meds and vitamins and Paleo. I lost 10 kilos over the last few years just making that change.

Thanks again. Will keep you posted.

Ps have a great Easter Kags

Your weight loss will depend on how much of a calorie deficit you are creating by eating 800 calories a day. The weight you are carrying on your body requires calories to sustain – the more you weigh, the more calories you need to sustain it. That means that people who weigh more are creating a larger calorie deficit when they drop to 800 calories a day) and, by and large, men weigh more than women – so they will lose more weight. This basic reality is why weight loss slows to a creep when you approach your goal – as you lose weight, you but eat the same calories, your calorie deficit drops and your weight loss slows.

I’ve been eating 1200 calories/day since October 2. In 179 days I lost 47.1 lbs = 1.84 lbs/week (average – as noted above, faster in the beginning; slower as I lose weight)
I’ve been eating 800 calories a day since March 28. In 21 days I lost 7.8 lbs = 2.6 lbs/week.

Theory: the additional weekly calorie deficit I created was 2800 calories ((1200-800)*7), so I should be losing weight at a rate of .8 lbs per week faster than I have been (2800 additional deficit/3500 calories per pound).

Reality: Over the 3 weeks, I lost an average of .76 lbs/week more than I had been. The real change in rate of loss is pretty darn close to the predicted change in weight loss when I switched to 800 calories.