I am pleased to report that my beer and kebab incident on Saturday has cost me less than 2lbs. I am back on track now and hope to catch up by the nd of the week. So on day 8 I have still lost 5lbs. 23lbs to go.

Blimey, this is a popular thread !

OK : an update, now that I have completed 5 weeks on the BSD.

I have now lost 17 lbs since my start on 21st August and currently weigh 188.2 lbs (85.4 kgs). My BMI Is now 26.7 (was 29.1 at start). Weight loss has slowed a bit, but was expected. To my surprise I have gobbled no naughties whatsoever this week and I have still kept off the bread, biscuits, cakes, alcohol, etc., since I started back in August. I never knew I had such resolve !

That said, I will confess to an average cals intake of 931 per day for this past week, which reveals a creeping tendency to nibble occasionally. Cheese is a favourite, alas. Must try harder. OTOH, I have restarted running twice a week which surely helps the balance.

Folks talk about ‘carbs’ in their posts. Do they mean sugars ? If so, my daily intake is averaging about 34 gms of sugars (from all sources), which is a whole lot less than what I used to swallow. I no longer miss sweet things but a thick wholemeal Marmite sandwich would be very welcome !

Overall I am very pleased with progress and I have so far avoided possibly hazardous social occasions that might derail me. I believe that is so important for success.

I have had a couple of stints at 5:2 and even 4:3 alternate day fasting before (with some success) but eventually got derailed, usually by some social occasion or holiday. But I sympathise with those who find it all very difficult, especially with work to attend or a young family to run. I am not sure I could have done that then. I am now retired, you see (with no excuse !).

So, plod on folks and keep the faith. Best of luck with the glorious BSD !

Macloud

Morning all
Quick post before work. Managed to shift 4lbs of my excess baggage this week but to be fair I suspect it was water weight…
Back on the wagon today with a vengeance and currently having a coffee with cream (feels so luxurious) and hopefully keep me going for a while. Keeping cals around 1200 during the week now as I can’t face lower if I’m honest!

Will catch up properly with you all after work. In the meantime, Kazz what an inspiring mother you have.

New photo on fb from a very wet and windy Aran islands!

L xx

Hello my friends

It’s been a bit of a busy weekend but back to work this morning.

I stayed the same on the scales this week, no loss. But I’m not too upset about it. Keep on going!

My greatest fear is a decrepit old age, self inflicted by poor diet, unable to get out and about and look after myself, which is why I am so keen to reverse whatever damage has been done as soon as possible! Particularly as I have no children or nieces/nephews and no partner. My old age will be a lonely, miserable place if I don’t make changes now. I have a sister and a brother thankfully and 4 great friends however we are all scattered around and only my brother and his wife on the doorstep. My mum is still with us thankfully. 18 months ago she had 2 really bad nosebleeds a fortnight apart. She’s always been very active, a keen gardener. Then a fortnight later she developed a blinding headache. So bad she had to ring me. Every time she so much as moved, she’d be violently ill. She was on wafarin at that time for AF. She’d had pneumonia 4 years before which left her with a dodgy heart valve. Long story short and after 2 discharges from A&E with ‘migraine’ and ‘water infection’ diagnosis, she developed blurred vision in one eye. Back again to A&E where she was admitted for a CT scan. (I’d pleaded for one on the 2nd visit but they wouldn’t do it). Turns out she had a brain haemorrhage. She was whisked off to a good hospital 60 miles away and remained there for 8 weeks. All medication stopped. She developed hydrocephalus. She couldn’t even sit up without support. She was managed conservatively, and 3 lumbar punctures later, finally could walk again. She came home May last year. She’s worked so hard at physio and we made her home safe with rails inside and out. landscaped so she couldn’t trip. It has been a long recovery but she was determined. I can’t tell you how proud I am of her. She turned 80 in March. She’s fine in herself although has a balance issue but she just has to remember not to turn on a dime cos her one leg doesn’t respond quite like it should and gets left behind! The day I joined this thread, 6 weeks ago, was the first day she drove a car again after 18 months. She drove the 8 miles to my house and knocked on my door! A day neither of us thought we’d see again when walking was only achieved by holding onto my arm around the supermarket or later using a rollator. It was quite emotional for both of us! After she’d gone home, I thought, right, if my mum can fight to recover, then I owe it to her to sort my own health out before it’s too late. So, that’s when I found the wonderful Liz and all of you on this thread. Just the push I needed!

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. Well done FFBB on the new job. LeeLee – welcome back and so sorry to hear about your aunt. Allie – glad you saw the doc and are recovering.

Everyone else, have a wonderful day/evening.

Much love
Kazzz

Morning All,

Today -0.2lb 🙂

JackieM – How is little Cooper doing? Is he chewy? Sounds totally adorable.

Alliecat – I really love reading about your weightloss and particularly about your maintaining, (I do read your posts on other groups too). I remember starting a paleo w.o.e. many many years ago which is when I first came across Ancel Keys, I was gobsmacked at the time but what is interesting is how understanding about the effects of insulin on weight gain/loss has changed. When I tried to explain Keys research and the basis of the low-fat trend to friends at that time, they looked at me skeptically, clearly thinking I had been reading some ‘out there’ barely credible research. Utterly dismissive. Now, I am broadly saying the same things but the credibility level has increased as the paradigm is shifting. Whilst still a very long way to go, when I now talk about Keys’ work, people are gobsmacked and horrified right along with me.

I also once met a descendent of William Banting.

Go well.

You’ve got this Leeanne. Go well with your restart. And well done on your day Banjoplucker. I have finished Day 2. Determined! Had an early dinner and might have to go to bed early too given raging hunger.

Hello Alliecat! 😀

Thank you so much for your encouraging comment! I needed that! Just finished my 20min weight bearing exercise regime and am totally pooped! I feel like I need a nanny nap! But I have cooked my haloumi kebabs and am having lunch while reading your very encouraging post.

Your success story is incredible! 65kgs! That is what I weigh in my dreams! 😀 As I explained in a former post, I am a little skeptical about whether I will lose the weight as I have tried so many other weight loss regimes. My real goal is to get the BSLs down but hey if the weight loss thing happens you won’t hear me complaining. 😉

You are so dead right about the energy and depression! These are my biggest struggles of late. I went on Metforman for about 10 months a year ago (and put on about 12kgs!) but within 24 hrs of being on the drug I felt my depression just get up and leave! Adios! However, I couldn’t live with the weight gain and I know it is not the best solution for future health. One drug just leads to more drugs. I have seen good friends with diabetes go that way and I want to give this everything I’ve got!

I will definitely keep posting so please stay in touch. 🙂

The very warmest welcome to you, Panda Bear! I love your
enthusiasm, and I’m sure it will resonate with others as well.
One of the first things I noticed when I embraced this style
of eating was the increased energy, as well as a complete
lifting of depression. I don’t know if others have had this
experience also, but I sincerely hope that it happens that
way for you! I lost 144 lbs over 10 months, and have been
successfully maintaining for an additional 5 months. I
have reclaimed my life and health, and am so grateful for
the support and new friends that I have made here. If you
plan to maintain this thread, I’ll be looking in on you to see
how you’re doing and if I can answer any questions that arise
as you journey forward.

Very best wishes on this, your first day. Congratulations on
making this decision to transform your life!

Allie

Hi all!

I’ve decided to start today the 5:2 BSD! I’m a Type 1 Diabetic, and so I’m not really planning on doing the whole 800 BSD, but I’m hoping with the 5:2 I can regulate my blood sugar levels a bit and hopefully lose some weight in the process.

I’m sufficiently impressed with the meals in the recipe book so far. I didn’t think they would fill me up, but so far so good! I had the Poached Eggs with Spinach and Pine Nuts this morning and am having the Greek Salad for lunch (I also had this for dinner last night).

I’m going to aim to keep my non-fast days pretty low as well (hopefully no more than 1,200 cal).

What do you all do for Coffee? My favourite coffee is a Soy flat white, but I think I’m going to have to try for Long Blacks?

Is anyone else starting or on this at the moment? I can see the forum has been a little quiet.

Woohoo! Excited to get started today! Awoke with a fasting BGL of 13.5 so am looking forward to seeing that change.

I have decided that this post will be my personal log for my journey on the BSD but please offer any suggestions, encouragement and stay in touch.

This morning I weighed in at 88.5kg or just over 13.9 stone for those of you who are in the ‘imperial’ world. 🙂 That gives me a BMI of 32.5 according to my Samsung Health app. OBESE! Don’t you hate that word! 😛

I started the day with the Roasted Tomatoes and a poached egg. I didn’t quite finish the meal, as to be honest, I couldn’t eat all the tomato but I was full and haven’t yet felt hungry so all is well……..at the moment. 😉

I have also tidied up the spare room since which should give me some extra steps that I wouldn’t normally have done today and am about to move my chubbiness of the couch and do some weight resistance exercises! Here goes! 😀

May your day be full of fat burning and lower BGL readings! xx

Hi all ,
Allie thank you for your kind thoughts re TIA ‘s etc ., aspirin seem to be keeping ‘ them ‘ at bay now , warned that Warfarin will be prescribed if I have another , I don’t want to go down that path of regular blood checks of INR to sort doses etc ., one aspirin a day is so much easier !
I try not to stress but it’s hard not to think that if I can have mini strokes , then I fear there’s a possibility a major stroke could be lurking ready to strike me down !
There I’ve said what I’ve been thinking , and it’s been a big worry of mine , also I worry for my darling OH , since he had his mini !
I’m going to let that fear go right this minute , wonder where it will go now it’s leaving me down here ? 🌏
Across the miles , over the oceans perhaps , dissipating little by little until gone forever ?
Had a laugh about your Dad hiding your treats and having to have a crown after his indulgence .
Our daughter was recently shocked when her 10 year old had to have a stainless steel crown on a 1 st tooth , at the suggestion of their dentist , over $ 400 later , dentist said it would prevent the 1 st tooth from coming out too early ….. What rubbish is that ? at 10 surely that’s normal ?
Being a conscientious Mother who strives to do the right thing for her kids health , she felt she had to follow the dentist’s suggestions , but the crown , plus check up , plus teeth clean , ended up costing over $800 , their Private Health cover paid less than 1/4 I think she said .
Father lectured him big time about not another sweet was ever going to pass his lips , few days later he visited a friend who offered him a black current pastille , and yes you guessed it , the crown ended up in the pastille 😂😂😂😂 thankfully the crown was replaced by dentist no cost !
Allie not good that your bare feet walk at the beach had you weaving , & balance not good , do hope your balance improves quickly !
We’ve had a weekend of intermittent rain and it’s been quite windy so no walks here , today it’s only early just before 8.30 , but plan to get OH to accompany me on a walk later , off lead , to see how I go .
‘ Leads ‘ me to think of you Erin , glad to hear your pain is improving , amazing after just days following your # rib , good to hear 😊 Do take care !
Hope everyone else has had a good weekend , it’s still Sunday evening for some of you , so sleep well , hope it’s a good week ahead for everyone .
For some of us its Monday morning , so our new week has already started .
Allie you mentioning your walk on the beach had me craving beach / sun / bare feet / sand sifting through toes / water /sound of waves breaking / lovely fresh air etc etc .
We have a little old shack by the beach which we haven’t visited for several weeks now , so maybe we will manage to get there this week , and will get to enjoy all of the above .
Despite sticking rigidly to BSD , no nasties have passed my lips during this past week , scales haven’t moved an ounce , which is disappointing to say the least , I will just have black coffee and water today and see how long I can last on a fast …. Wish me luck ,
Love Hello 66 . Xx

morning all
apologies…have been a very infrequent poster n this site (though I “see” some of you one another as well)

My scales have also seen a slight upward movement after my loss the other week with the fmd…..but not much, and have decided that it was probably the red wine I imbibed after a pretty big fall last week when i fractured a rib…..so no exercise either!
NSVs have been frequent though and the wardrobe sort and clearance continues (sold a whole lot of too-big but good clothes the other day as well)

Mariet…my favourite biome (and BSD) friendly food is miso soup! I make my own and add some tahini at the end with the miso paste to…dashi (Japanese stock), spring onions, wakame (seaweed) shitake mushrooms and some green veg…then when cooked: mix miso paste (and tahini if you want for good fats) with a bit of broth in a bowl…then add the rest! (plus some Japanese pepper, if like me, you like most things spicy. Its a great meal if you’re feeling poorly
wishing you all a wonderful run to the next challenge!

Hi all, I’ve had a very quiet weekend for a change apart from a Friday night party when there was probably too much champagne and was good all last week so was dismayed to find a 1.2kg gain yesterday to put me way above what I was at the start of this challenge. Delayed weight gain after the wedding week?

Following the example of some here I did a24 hour fast, easier than I thought, and today back to 65kg, 700g off overnight. I don’t know if it’s possible to get back to my lowest ever (only 10 days ago) as it would mean 1.2 kg over the next week but that’s my aim.

I was reading over the Clever Guts book yesterday and adapted my shopping list to try to encourage my biome to work with me on this so fingers crossed. In the interests of variety in my diet I’ve got a slew of vegetables I’ve never eaten before so some experimenting in my kitchen this week ☺ Also kombucha; fermented foods have never been a drawcord for me. But then I thought I didn’t like spinach and now I find I adore it. Never too old to try new things!

Managed a brunch and supper recipe from the bsd book. They were both really tasty, which bodes well for me staying on course.

Said it would go of its own accord, now get back on the plan, it was not the cause, you just have diabetic quirkiness.

Hi gardenista,
I started 6 weeks ago following the recipes in the book. In fact I followed the menu plan at the back of the book but never got past week 1 (which I started twice!). Although I really enjoyed the meals, they just took too long to prepare. Some of them were too high in carbs for me, or calories, as you say, and as I was the only one eating them I kept having to eat the same thing – as the recipe was for four – or try to re-calculate the recipe for one.

One day I read some advice from someone on here – can’t remember who – they said keep it simple and that struck home. I now stick to the BSD diet (800 calories and low carbs) but make my own meals. I’ve kept it fairly simple to begin with just to make it easier, e.g. eggs, meat, fish, leafy veg, yoghurt etc. I plan my meals for the day first thing in the morning (or night before) using fatsecret.co.uk – many people use myfitnesspal as JackieM mentioned – so that I know the total of what I eat for the day will be on track. I’ve lost the weight just the same. Like Jackie, I will go back to the recipes because I think it will be good for me to broaden what I eat, but right now I find it easier to adapt/create my own meals. Hope this helps.
Best of luck!
Marie

Hi there, I bought the book but felt it was too much faff and also potentially quite high on carb – I am planning on using it for the maintenance phase. I use MyFitnessPal for the days i count cals and carbs and follow general principles on the days I don’t (using what I’ve learnt from the measuring days). So I’m more likely to open a can of tuna and stick a few slices of peppers in and a tablespoon of mayo than I am to make a proper dinner. Or have a couple of slices of roast beef with cream cheese and cucumber in a kind of wrap. I also tend to not want more than two meals a day, which helps.

But each to their own, I guess, I know there are people on here who do use it successfully. The most important thing I have learnt is that what works for one may not work for all. I have really learnt to listen to my body on the WOE.

Hello Banjoplucker,
Your story echoes mine!
I lost over 2st last year at age 52 on the BSD and my BMI reduced to 27. I’ve had many false re-starts since then!! I’ve regained all my lost weight 🙁
Although I’ve had to cut back on walking due to plantar fasciitis and trochanteric bursitis (hip), unfortunately I’ve eaten rubbish, hence back to square 1.
I’ve got 5 weeks ’til my very overdue annual bloods for type 2 diabetes (I’ve deliberately repeatedly postponed these , giving false excuses due to the weight gain which I am worried about). Tomorrow 25th is my re-start day. 5 weeks to bloods and 7 to my review (unless I can fob off again) – this really is the last chance. Starting weight = 13st 11lb (ideal weight 10st 10lb to give a BMI of 25)

Hello all,
Back again after many months. Just to say that I no longer notice any hair loss (apart from the normal) and it’s sort of back to normal after stopping calorie counting. On the downside I’ve regained all the weight I originally lost and am about to re-start the BSD yet again – but I’ll save that for another post.

Thank you Theodora that makes perfect sense. I shall start by practicing 16:8 and progress from there. I’ve been reading your posts about your journey, very inspiring!
Thanks for taking the time to post x

Well done Banjoplucker on your wins over 10 months! And for your start today.

In the same boat, clothes tighter etc so back on the bus. First day done and really pushed through by reading posts on here. Work today (Monday here now) so will be easier away from the kitchen. Loaded what I am eating on MyFitness Pal so here’s to a successful day 2 for both of us!

Spalmon – I was already practising 16:8 so, initially all I had to do was skip breakfast (which I normally have about 10.30am), and I had fasted for 24 hours. After that, it was a short step to skip dinner too, so by breakfast the next morning I had done 36 hours and I have done that fairly regularly. Honestly, once you have got to 24 hours, a longer fast is not that difficult – I hadn’t intended doing a 49 hour fast the other week, but by the time I got to breakfast after 36 hours, I seriously wasn’t hungry, so decided to go until dinner to make it a 2 day fast, but I was out so ended up having my dinner much later than usual, so it ended up 49.5 hours – I could easily have lasted until the next morning though. Again, hydration is absolutely key – I had nothing at all but water, and one cup of really strong black coffee for breakfast, just for the taste.

Fasting supposedly has so many benefits other than weight loss, and I am particularly interested in the autophagy aspect which, if you research it, all sounds logical and there appears to be some serious scientific evidence behind it. If it works, fantastic, if not then at least it helps me maintain my weight loss. Good luck if you decide to try it, well good luck whatever you decide.

Hi there

I’ve just started this diet, half-way through week one and it’s going well so far. I’m rather a fan of Michael Mosley and have been eating in a low carb way for a few months but simply could not seem to loose weight despite being pretty active in my job (gardening). So when I saw this book I thought it might be the diet for me. I have no idea if I’m diabetic or pre-diabetic, but I do know that I carry too much weight around my middle and am overweight for my height. The idea of internal fat as well is pretty scary and I definitely am addicted to sweet things, so it’s time to sort out the weight and health.

The worry I have is that as a busy single parent, while the recipes in the book so far have been pretty tasty, there’s a lot of prep involved and it would have been helpful if I could actually rely on the calorie counts of the recipes, but so far most have been way out. This means an extra job of weighing and measuring everything. This morning for example was ‘Almond butter with apple, seeds etc’ 110 calories supposedly. Well to make the butter you need 100g almonds, this gives 4 portions of butter. 100g almonds is 614 calories so straight away if you divide this by 4 you have 153 cals without even including the apple or seeds. Or am I missing something? Does roasting the almonds drastically reduce their calories? Just wondered if anyone else has made this recipe and found the same problem? In any case I will persevere and just have to try and reduce the calories in each meal in order to keep to 800 a day. On the plus side I made the warm halloumi salad for lunch and it was delicious, although I have no idea how many calories are in it ;0).

Dear all thank you for your posts it’s so good to keep up with everyone.
I shall look at the posts suggested, and thank you Theodora and Lessmuffintop for sharing your experience. I am very interested in the fasting idea but not at all sure I can do it! Did you guys work your way up to it – e.g. Skip breakfast first , then move lunch back , then go all the way to dinner, or did you just go for it?
Hope everybody has a great evening – I’m feeling very virtuous after doing lots of exercise and sticking to my plan for food.
I bought a spiraliser today so am looking forward to giving it a go! Xx

Had a bit of a blip yesterday but kept on counting calories and carbs. It was all down to not planning ahead!

I usually track my whole day before I eat anything, then I know I will keep to it. Yesterday I ate 1700cals but still less than 40% carbs. That’s almost certainly a lot less than I would have eaten on an average day pre-diet! Still, I’m only having one meal today costing 400cals plus berries and a drop of milk for tea and coffee. No chance that I’m going to let it spoil my progress so far.

Hope everyone else is having a good Sunday. We can do it!!

Uh that’s RAVENOUS, not cavernous, appetite. Stupid spell check

Hi Focus — good to see your excellent progress! You are doing amazingly well.
I am also a person who loves to exercise and do sports of all sorts and I did the BSD last winter/spring and have been maintaining ever since then.
It is going to be counter-intuitive for you and maybe even a little physically irritating (because you are physically accustomed to big workouts/ body kind of craves that level of exercise) but I found over five months that doing LESS exercise resulted in faster weight loss and took the stress off of my body and allowed me to tolerate the diet better.
The days I did big workouts or weeks I was very sporty resulted in big big appetites and urges to just eat that were uncontrollable.
I know it will be a bit hard for you but for a few weeks I would just do walking as recommended in the BSD book (10,000 steps/day) or gentle aerobics (at 70%of your max heart rate) or jogging (again, low heart rate) or weight lifting.
You will not appreciably affect your fitness level but you will start to drop pounds faster than before and you will not get famished like what happened with peanut flour pancakes.
And, also, on days where you DO workout a lot, eat a bit more food — a hard workout deserves a bit of refueling and if you really worked, I would eat about one third to one half of what I figured the calories burned were (up to about 300-400 calories max.
I would also eat some food before working out so even if you are in your “fasting window” go ahead and eat some (low carb) cheese or have heavy cream (1-2 Tablespoons) in some coffee or a bit of chicken or beef (good protein) — don’t try to do a hard workout during the fasting period — it will set you up for a cavernous appetite.
Anyway, play around with it until you find YOUR sweet spot — everyone is different — you are doing great — and by the way, I think all of us have fallen off the wagon so don’t worry — just start back up like you did. Take care.

Week 3

This week has been tough! I have felt fatigued and I fell off the diet a few times this week and stopped counting calories. Nevertheless I still managed to lose one pound which I am happy with. My clothes are also feeling good.

So… I ended up binging. This started by buying some peanut flour which I discovered I love – it’s great for pancakes. But sadly this led to a peanut flour pancakes binge followed by nuts, raspeberries and some fancy new Coyo Yoghurts. I managed to refrain from most heavy carbs but must have gone way over my calories allowance this week. I should point out that I have been doing a considerable amount of exercise so I expect this has acted as a counterweight. In any case please don’t use my experience an excuse to binge – most likely you will put on weight.

All things considered, I’m not too surprised or even disappointed that the weight loss has slowed I think there is something to be said for just maintaining the initial flurry of weight loss and letting the body catchup. That said, this has also galvanised me heading into Week 4. I’ve decided now that my target weight is 12 stone which means 3 stone still to go. This isn’t a short order and I’m already beginning to think beyond the BSD. Nevertheless I need to get back to business and stick to my 800 calories everyday this week. I’m going to try to stick to the 16:8 hours of eating as that seemed to be working and I’m going to try to enter ketosis again if possible as that felt fantastic.

Lessons from this week – be careful with novelty food, even if it is BSD friendly. Also be careful with nuts and cheese etc. If I am going to have this foods they need to be carefully measured out.

Thanks for reading, I’ll check in again next week. Onwards to week 4!

Starting weight: 16 stone (approx)
Weight after third week: 14st 13lbls
Weight loss this week: 1lbs
Total weight loss: 15 lbs

Food: Quorn (lots), eggs (lots), mushrooms, nuts and seeds, coyo yoghurts, tomato, red pepper, cheddar, tofu, cream cheese (Philadelphia), spinach, broccoli, rocket, watercress, olives, sauerkraut, pickles, cocoa powder, oat cakes, raspberries, raisins, a couple of apples, cocoa nibs, peanut flour, onion,

Drinks: Almond milk, lots of tea (various types), water, coconut milk, fizzy water with lime juice, two capucinos, small amount coleslaw, cows milk for tea, couple of cans of diet coke, sugar free chewing gum (Airwaves).

Exercise: Three 10k runs, one 6k run, one 4.5k run, five days of squats/press-ups/leg lifts, walking and a few short cycle rides.

By day 6 I had lost 7lbs then throughout the day had a hunger headache so I I ate steak and chips and yoghurt and berries. This put me right and I went out or a pub crawl. 4 pints nd two two gin and tonics followed by a chicken kebab!

I didn’t weigh myself at the usual time but I think that added 3/4 lbs in one day!

Will be back on track tomorrow. Staying in next Saturday!

Really pleased to have been of help, Lessmuffintop, and well done on fitting into size 8 jeans, stretchy or not😉

Since I’ve been on maintenance (20 weeks now) I have found fasting to be even more useful. It means I can indulge in a blow out occasionally, (but never any refined carbs) knowing that I can lose any small gain within 1 – 2 days. I recently did a 49.5 hour fast and lost almost 6lbs in a matter of a few days, bringing me to my lowest weight since starting this WOE 😄 A whole 6lbs wriggle room. As I have had rather an indulgent few days, some of that has now been used up, so I intend embarking on a 36 hour fast this evening (Sunday), from after dinner until breakfast on Tuesday. I heartily recommend it to anyone who thinks they can manage it and wants a kick-start. I always feel great when fasting (once you get used to the concept) and quite look forward to them.

Spalmon, you are quite right, water and keeping really well hydrated is key, and well done on your loss so far.

Gladys, well done to you too, and I agree that the tastier we can make our food, the easier this WOE is. So often we are feeding “mouth hunger” not actual hunger, and I think really tasty food helps combat this.

Keep going guys, you really can do this.😃

Up until now, I have relied upon doing more exercise and cutting out alcohol. I have been in steady bad habit decline over the past 10 months having lost 2 stone and vowing never to let the weight creep back on. I’ve started to buy larger clothes, again, and haven’t been able to exercise due to a painful dry skin issue on the sole of my left foot. I have always found it too much of a faff to stick to a strict recipe regime, but I am now determined to give it a try. After all, I can get to a supermarket most days, and once the ingredients are sourced and logged into MyFitness Pal, it should get much easier after a week or so.

I tried the poached egg salmon stack, today, forgetting the olive oil and using spinach leaves, and I reckon that the switch in my motivation has clicked over! Watch this space.

An easy and yummy cauliflower recipe is to bake a whole cauliflower with most of the tough outer leaves removed in the oven at 220 C for about an hour. Check it is done, and then dress with homemade salsa verde and serve. It should be able to be carved at the table with a serving spoon.

I use salsa verde as a standby ( it’s great on baked salmon too). I make a big batch and it will keep in the fridge for three months easily, due to all the salt from the anchovies and capers.

Hello again!
Just popped back to update this diary. Still at it, still doing lchf, still trying to keep calories low.
Now weigh 78kgs. Blood sugar levels averaging out at about 6.5 post meal, going to about 5.5 fasting. Having a problem with dawn phenomenon bit hoping it will drop more as my weight goes down.
Now taking 2 metformin a day, but would like to continue with that for all the other supposed benefits.

No luck trying to get my levothyroxine raised. I am “in normal range” and thats that. Have another appt in 2 weeks and am going to start crying. If anyone has any ideas about how to get the gp to raise my dose so that I am having better numbers and yet still be in normal range I would be very grateful.

Hope you are all well.

Your meal sounds lovely Theodora 🙂
It was my birthday this weekend so it has meant a few meals out. Coupled together with some work functions too last week, this means I’m too nervous to step on the scales today and am going to wait until Tuesday ☺️
I have had some lovely meals though and quite BSD friendly – Greek salad, Thai beef salad etc. I did imbibe a bit on my birthday – a few vodkas but i drank it with soda water and fresh lime. Oh and a few champagnes!
I wasn’t able to reach my goal Birthday weight, set at the beginning of the year. I also didn’t reach my revised goal, set a few months ago. I was able to wear a lovely dress I bought 3 years ago that hasn’t fit me since the first time I wore it though 🙂 although I hadn’t reached my goal I still felt happy when I thought back to my birthday last year, and how I was so unhappy about my weight and how unwell I was feeling. And now I’m looking forward to my birthday next year, I’m sure I’ll reach my goal by then!

Hi Spalmon
I completed 8 weeks on Bsd recently and lost 20lbs. And tbh it took me about 4 weeks to get the hang of what I was doing. My weight loss sped up when I read posts by Theodora try thread starting Jan 17 . I learnt 3 things.
1. I was eating 800 but high carbs so I brought it down below 50.
2. Discovered fasting overnight from one dinner to next so 24 hours had a pretty great effect both on weight and body fat (my main objective.. am about to be 53!). But try to always make it at least 16 hours but sometimes don’t make it.
3 I make myself do cardio and a few weights in a HIT fashion every morning before eating between 10 mins min to 2 hours … I go with the flow. I bust a gut for 30 secs walking, bike, elliptical or a DVD then rest for 60 secs and do it 10 times. Has meant 6% reduction in body fat and yesterday I fitted into my daughters size 8 jeans (ok they are stretchy)!!.

I really feel I have cracked this for life!

Thanks everyone for your support. I’m feeling much better today , realised that this is the most I ever lost in a week and the scales say 81kg this morning so that’s two kilo gone in eight days – also noted that this is all water probably at the moment !. I bought a misfit yesterday ( cheap Fitbit!) so I can start tracking my steps, and also went to the gym. Also noted that my bad days are when I don’t drink enough liquid so bottle coming with me everywhere now!
I’ve got a cold coming so breakfast today will be yoghurt, few berries and seeds to get some vitamin c in me.
Have a great day everyone, we can do this! Xx

Well done Gladysfromcornwall that is fabulous! I was pretty despondent yesterday but have weighed again this morning and the scales say 81 kg so that’s 2 kg lost in eight days, so I’m pretty happy.
I would say I am following the principles closely apart from a couple of slips last week, and aiming for the 800 cals and have decided 60 g carb is realistic for me as a veggie. When I go lower than that I risk falling off the wagon. The other thing I have noticed is that my best days are when I drink lots and lots of water, which I have either hot or cold with a bit of lemon. My bad days are when I haven’t drunk enough.
I am determined to keep this going and might sign up for the online plan to give me extra oomph and direction.
Hope everyone has a good day xx

Gladys From Cornwall – 7lb after one week?! Fantastic. It’s taken me a month to achieve that. Short of cutting my leg off, I cannot keep up with you :0) I don’t cook with anything other than spray olive oil, only eat spinach for carbs, and as of last night dry white wine. What’s your secret?

Thank you Sunshine Girl and Spalmon – doing well after my 1st week – 3.5kgs (sorry, I still work in kilos as my scales are set to them – we moved back from NZ two years ago and I still haven’t really got back to the stones and pounds thing!). Yep, I only use spray oil to cook or olive oil – and I use either virgin olive oil, vinegar & mustard for dressing or even mayonnaise (which is all good!). I am semi-vegetarian so nuts, seeds and avocado have always been in my diet.
Actually, my meals have always been pretty healthy – my problem was/is chocolate, biscuits and cakes!

I have taken blood pressure tablets for 10 years – I made an appointment with my GP just 2 days into my diet to get his advice re this (as per the book). He said to start the diet, keep up with my tablets (which are only a low dose) and get my BP checked again in 4 weeks. IF it goes down significantly, he will reduce dosage slowly. However, he did say that some people have high blood pressure regardless of what they weigh, so losing weight is no guarantee that the hypertension will go.
Just get your hubby to get GP’s approval first – good luck!

Hi Spalman – I started the 8 week 800 calorie diet the day before you (15th Sept) and have been a very good girl (I am extremely addicted to carbs – especially chocolate and biscuits). Delighted that I have lost 3.5kgs in the first week! (I was 90.1), but I expect that will slow down soon.

On my 5th day I came down with a stinking cold and sore throat so have been lying on the sofa for two days – not good for exercise – but feeling better now so intend to do a walk tomorrow.

I’m not counting the carbs – but I am sticking to just the ‘good’ ones recommended – whole porridge oats for most of my breakfasts (portion controlled) with a few peach slices, spoonful of soya yoghurt and spoonful of seeds – yum! In place of rice I’ve had pearl barley. Eggs for brekkie twice – once with sunblush tomatoes and some avocado and the other time with a slice of smoked salmon.
Tonight I did the stuffed pepper – but I used a little left-over from the freezer bolognese sauce and added spring onions, celery, chilli flakes for a kick and a little feta cheese.

I don’t eat mammals but I do still eat a little chicken every now and then – tomorrow, for my partner’s sake, we are having chicken breast (4oz) and a load of green veggies – cabbage, brocolli – and gravy – I will make him roast potatoes but abstain myself.

I think the trick is to have good flavours to keep the taste buds sated, but just be aware of stock cubes and packet sauces – lots of carbs in some of them – use sparingly.

You might find more weight comes off in your second week – that often happens to me. Keep going! Like you I am determined this time – I don’t want to be sick and old and fat and wheezy either!

Jackie- Cooper sounds adorable! Hope the cats soon come home- cats aren’t daft, they know when they’re on to a good thing. Hope you don’t have a bad night with your new resident. My cat, Big Bob has just come in from patrolling his patch and has plonked on my lap – he is a massive rescue cat and a great friend with a rather sad story to tell!

I’ve had a good day post fast today- I had two eggs for lunch and paneer and spinach curry with cauliflower rice for my tea. Weight today is 137.8 lb. Goal is 133 lb so am nearly there.

As a quick ps: I miss my cats, they won’t come in and usually I spend the evening with one on my lap. I hope they get over this quickly. Have added extra goodies to their dinner to keep them vaguely interested. Does that make me a feeder?!

Hi all,

Cooper the labradoodle is home, after round trip for us of 6hrs. What an affable little chap he is! My husband and the dog are snoozing now, which could mean a restless night for all I guess!?

Not counting today, but fairly restrained. Breakfast and lunch but not dinner today. As of this morning I am 9kg down. Next mini goal(s) to be 67kg flat, then 64kg, then 60kg. And then I’ll be done, and hopefully start reintroducing some veg I’ve cut out during weight loss. I do like my veg! But in smaller quantities in future than I used to, I hope!

Good to read all your posts, keep up the good work xx

Waitrose do some sprouts which are a mixture of broccoli and alfalfa sprouts, which I love with salads. As you say, they are pretty close to a freebie food carb wise, and definitely add interest to a salad. They are just the sprouted seeds.

alliecat – I wholeheartedly agree with you about this Ancel Keyes. I am reading a popular womans magazine, this weeks publication. An article on so called ‘ nutrition ‘ states that missing breakfast can have serious health consequences including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, poor nutrition and diabetes??? How are they allowed to publish such total rubbish! And then goes on to advertise ‘ low fat ‘Skinny Bakery’ products – 30g carbs per bloody serving for a SNACK!! ‘ Heavens to Murgatroyd – my blood pressure has indeed risen.

Hi, everyone!

I just am dropping by to agree with Californiagirl’s post regarding
the work of Gary Taubes. I read his first book, Good Calories, Bad
Calories when it first was published @ 8 years ago. It changed the
way I’ve thought about food from that day forward. I lost 140+ lbs
in 10 months, and have been successfully maintaining for 5 months.
I highly recommend both of these publications. Isn’t it a terrible
shame that the flawed research of Ancel Keyes led us all off in the
wrong direction with his low fat hypothesis?
Wishing you all well!
Allie

Well, my mantra is now ” keep on keeping on…” It’s saving me from buying anything dairy. I have said in another post I tried hard with the Atkins Diet as it included dairy but I lost….nothing, even though I kept carbs really low. But reading up of this Banting Diet ( I watched The Chase as well ) I see that some people are sensitive to the lactose in dairy and more readily convert it to sugar than other people. So, much as I adore anything dairy, I have avoided it since embarking on the BSD and it seems to be working.
Something else that surprised me – I felt really sluggish and bloated yesterday. I took my measurements as an experiment – a day earlier than my weekly check, and saw that I was a good few centimeters up on the previous check. Hell NO, thinks me – no dairy, no pasta/bread/potato’s/rice etc. How could this be happening? But what I DID eat the previous evening were two small apples!
My weekly measurements today were better than last weeks – so the apples must have been the culprits. Also, the whale-weigh station reveals another 2lb loss. Not as much as I had hoped, given what rubbish I used to eat.
My lovely daughter today discovered that a certain supermarket was advertising Terry’s Chocolate Orange, buy 1 get 2 free. So I now have a stack of them, winking at me from the dining room table, as she’s bought them as stocking fillers….Funnily enough I’m not even tempted. I have discovered however, for anyone who likes an occasional choc treat – the Co-op sell an 85% 40g bar which contains 251 cals and 10g carbs a bar, so 2 squares are 83.6 calories, and 3.3 carbs. And very satisfying given the cocoa content.
As it’s Saturday, and ‘treat night’ I shall imbibe a couple of glasses of wine, and look forward to another week of healthy eating, and speaking again to a lovely group of BSD er’s.

Have a lovely holiday Sunny B! 😎

Hi sunshine-girl just dipping my toes in and out of the water at the moment! I will get back into the swing of things soon, probably when the next challenge starts.

Had a quick look at Banting but it definitely deserves a ‘proper’ read.