Morning all,

start weight = 128.1lb
Today = 127.8lb

loss -0.3lb

I am happy with this as it doesn’t show a week of loss and then a weekend of gain. We had a family get together to remember my brother in law who died suddenly (on his honeymoon) 10 years ago. As it was a large group of us, we all shared the cooking and so I wasn’t too particular but I did avoid breakfast in order to mitigate the damage.

Hoping for a good weigh in for you all today,

x

Hello I have just started the 800 calorie blood sugar diet on Monday and am hoping to drop at least 15 – 16 kgs.

I am dx type 2 diabetic about 9 years ago and my fasting levels are quite high in the am at 7.9 but I think this may be due to DP.
I am trying to bring down my fasting levels and am hoping this is the WOE will help me. I have tried HFLC without much success in the weight ratio. Did Extreme high energy sessions at the gym – 5 days a week and only got fatter in the tummy. Am so hoping this diet and the people here will help me lose the weight and bring down my blood sugars.

Good morning all, from sunny/windy Perth, W.A.

Started this challenge at 61.9kg. My graph looks like a mountain range … Back up into the 62s, wobbled around a bit there but down again in time for this morning = 61.7kg, 200 gm loss for week 1.

I’m trying to NOT weigh and measure everything. I was feeling quite “weighed down” (pun mostly intended) by the process and not meeting my goals anyway, so we’ll see how I go. There may come a time when I need to revise. I’ll keep an eye on it.

I’m with flick, would love to know how Milalin is getting on after Thursday’s major surgery. Lots of good wishes there.

Flick, well done on your week, especially given your back issues👏👏

Looking forward to seeing lots of positive end-of-week-1 weigh-ins.

MFODAAT 🙆xx

Thanks Esnecca (and Flick) – most helpful.. and apologies for slightly hijacking your thread Rubyred, welcome aboard!

Hi Lucy,

I am in a similar boat to you. I weight 13 kg more than when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child. Eating “nice big lunches” at my desk as well as sitting all day have taken there toll but the booze is the killer. I get home, I am tired a little stressed and go for a glass of wine. That signals the end of the day and there is no more movement apart from to change the TV remote.

This time last year I did not even know about the 800 BSD and just decided to quit alcohol for two months and the results were astounding………however as you say you go back to your old ways and sadly I am fatter that I was this time last year.

However we can do this …Its a new day!!! and time to take control.

Sam

Morning all,

So it’s Tuesday here in Australia, so my weigh in day and the end of Week 1 of this challenge (Week 11 overall for me). The scales have been driving me nuts this week with the usual stops to smell the roses and confirm that ‘yes we really do actually want to lose weight’ that my body seems to require before giving up some apparently precious grams of flab.

Starting Weight 65.8
Week 1 65.1 = -0.7

Not too shabby but this is the fifth morning at 65.1kg! I also added a target of completing a couple of 36 hour fasts into this challenge period and am very happy that I did manage a 41 hours fast in this first week. Luckily I am incorporating fasts as a metabolism protecting strategy and not for boosting weight loss (I’m already low carb so can’t reasonably expect a sudden whoosh effect from fasting) otherwise I would be be very, very disappointed.

Good luck to everyone else. Know that I’m cheering you on.

Mialin, I’m wondering how you are getting on. Send you lots of good wishes.

Well, that’s Week 3 of Round 2 and Week 11 in total done and dusted. Here’s the results –

Round 2 Week 3

Starting Weight – 67.5
Week 2 65.8
Week 3 65.1 = -0.7kg 🌟

13kg down overall 😀🌟5 to go

BMI 24.4 so creeping slightly further into the healthy weight range – ✨

Not a bad result given how tedious the scales have been this week.

Here’s some exciting news

Waist down another 2cm and now 78cm. This takes me under the magic .5 waist to height ratio
Hips – also down another 2cm and now 98cm which is TWO FIGURES!!!I

I’m hoping that another 1cm off my chest measurements is entirely back podge as I’m not sure I can cope with too much more diminishing of the frontal assets (thanks Alliecat for this imagery!). At 92cm I’m still a total pear.

Some lovely NSV I am running out of clothes, my fingernails are so much stronger and a lovelier shape than ever before. Not sure what is causing this as I ate plenty of good freehand varied food before the diet. Anyway I’m not complaining.

On a more challenging note, I’ve been finding that I catch myself increasingly thinking about and fretting about getting to the end of this challenge. I catch myself worrying that the weight loss will grind to a halt or that my determination will weaken. I catch myself fretting about what I might and might not be able to eat once I reach my target weight and how best to reintroduce a higher calorie intake. I think it doesn’t help that, apart from a morning walk before it gets too hot, I am mostly sedentary, resting my back injury.

Hell, I even fretted that I had used past and passed incorrectly and couldn’t edit!!

Esnecca advised me early on to keep my eyes forward, good sound advice. I need to remind myself now to just take care of the day I’m in and not look too far forward.

Hello Clare, Gattina, Sam and Purple Petunia,
I am ashamed to say that this is my fourth time on this forum. I do a month to 7 weeks, lose between 5 – 7 kilos and then go back to my old ways and put it on.

A bottle of wine is my downfall. I am going to stay away from booze for at least a month and then reassess whether I can trust my self to drink socially. I have also found a psychologist to try and find a way of changing these negative patterns.

I am now at my heaviest ever I think 🙁 I weighed less when 9 months pregnant:-(

Lucy.

Hi Rubyred, First up, good on you and your husband for taking control of your health. It can be quite daunting to make that decision and then there is all the information to get. handle on. One of the most important things, besides drinking plenty of water, weighing and counting, for me, is to run your own race. You need to find an approach that suits you and your body and one you can comfortably sustain over the medium term. This means no comparisons with others. For example, it looks like folks with lots to lose will inevitably lose at a faster rate for quite a while. Men, bless them, seem to lose at a faster rate and people who are not insulin resistant can keep losing while having a higher carb intake. Some people trade rate of loss with being able to drink alcohol occasionally or have ‘treats’. It is impossible to know all of these things when looking at results posts.

As an example, My goal is to lose 18kg. I’m just finishing Week 11 (down 13kgs), taking a pretty strict approach, 800 cals a day, 20 grams of carbs, no alcohol, no snacking and two meals a day (lunch and dinner) so the 16/8 pattern. I fall into the moderate loss rate category. Excellent results the first two weeks and now averaging around a kilo a week although the actual results vary quite a bit from week to week. And I often go days and days and days and days without registering any loss, followed by a small loss, a modest loss or a more impressive loss, depending on …. who knows what.

As for water, it is critical. Google The Whoosh Effect for some information. If correct it seems that as we burn and lose fat, our bodies replace that fat, in fat cells with water (you get this weird squishy feeling) and then when full of water, assuming it feels safe and well hydrated, the body will release that water, giving us a weigh loss on the scales. So you need to be taking in enough water for normal bodily functions, plus enough to use in the fat replacement phase and overall enough to enable the body to give it up from the ‘once full of fat’ fat cells. Apparently this process, along with normal bodily functions is about 2.5 to 3 litres per day.

Anyhow, welcome to the forums!

I started out with a less than 20 grams a day goal, turtle. By about week 5, I was regularly in the low teens. Nowadays I pretty much stay in single digits, with sugars below 4 grams. I don’t know if zero grams is an achievable goal while eating a varied diet. You’d have to lean almost entirely on animal products, I’d think, and I eat piles of veggies, most of which have at least a gram or two of carbs. I just stick with the ones that are as low in carbs as possible (mostly high fiber cooking greens like turnip, mustard, green chard, Tuscan kale, broccoli rabe, spinach).

Having said that, you should know that even with all my counting and calculating, I went through several periods of little to no loss, especially as I got closer to goal. Changing my intermittent fasting schedule (switching from having lunch and dinner between 12 and 8 to having a single large meal at 3, for example) seemed to jump-start the losses again sometimes, but it could have just been a coincidence too. There are going to be lag times, inexplicable gains, moments of sheer exasperation no matter how many carbs you count. Consistent weight loss from beginning to end is a rare thing.

It sounds to me like your numbers are solidly within a practical, healthy range. If you want to shake things up a little in an attempt to wake your body up, I’d replace some of the higher sugar count veggies with greens and maybe up the healthy fats just a tad. Sesame seed crusted salmon fillet makes a lovely dinner, and it’s an omega-3 paradise. Serve with bok choi, garlic and ginger sauteed in a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.

Good luck!

Gattina – really good all-round news there. Keep On Keeping On

Hello Gattina, Sam and PurplePetunia,
Thank you for getting in touch. I’ve survived and even enjoyed day 1. I went to a friend’s and drank water, but that was just fine. Not sure how many days before I miss some wine!
I’m looking forward to cooking some new dishes this week and intend to make good use of the veg spiraliser I bought months ago that has sat in a cupboard. (I cut my finger on it and rather gave up on it).
Hope you’re all having good days:)
Clare

AngS – I was just thinking the other day you’d be getting your results some day soon. Brilliant news.

hello Clarerocks. Well I started this diet awhile back and was losing weight quite easily more so than with any other diet I had tried. recently I went back on weight watchers which absolutely does not work for me and I found it very discouraging. I was dieting and tracking and not eating more than 1200 calories daily, but I was not losing and it was very frustrating and made me want to just give up altogether. I can see how this diet is much more encouraging because you see results much quicker and consistently. I plan to switch over to the 5:2 diet once I lose the weight that I need to lose. However I think this diet is quite do-able. Good luck to all of us!

Finally! Found time to respond to your posts.
I’ve also managed to read Michael Mosley’s Blood Sugar Diet book, so am somewhat better informed, although I am still a little confused as to whether your blood sugar goes down because you’ve lost loads of weight, or because you’ve lost loads of weight using specifically a low carb diet?
I will certainly search out the posters you mention, marie123. I have no idea what my figures were, as GP didn’t go into it at that point, just said that she wanted to repeat the test to confirm before referring me to diabetes clinic. I’m hoping if I can bring those figures down enough I can avoid the referral in the first place. (I am in UK, by the way.)
I understand, now, having read the book, why a few of you thought the BSD would be preferable to the 5:2 and intend to do BSD now. I’m going to have to adapt it somewhat, though, as, while the reconstructive bowel surgery I’ve had was amazing – possibly even miraculous, it doesn’t work as well as a proper colon. Without getting too graphic, I’ll just say I still need to visit the loo 5/6 times a day, which I know isn’t great, but compered to the horrendous, unpredictable and desperate 20+ dashes I endured while I was ill, it’s given me my life back.
Because food travels through my system so much more quickly, you can imagine the effect too much veg/salad has on me, and the thought of a plate of lentils/seeds literally brings tears to my eyes. So I’m going to have to adapt the diet suggestions somewhat. I think, if I stick to porridge/egg/fish/meat based recipes and supplement with the odd milkshake/meal replacement it’s doable. Certainly nothing lost by trying, anyway, to my way of thinking.
I will certainly download the summary Information for Professionals, KrysiaD. I have a lot of experience with healthcare professionals, so am well aware how you can be bulldozed. It will be very useful to go pre-armed with the information, should I need it. (There’s optimism for you! 🙂 )
Thanks again, everyone, for such a warm welcome. I had pretty much settled to the idea that the weight gain (which I hate) was the price I pay for still being alive, but you all give me hope that maybe it’s not inevitable.
I will keep you all posted, and I will make use of this wonderful community, now that I’ve found you.

Hi Clarerocks,

I too started yesterday. Didn’t know how I would go and felt a bit hungry, but slept well and am pleased I am already on my and into day 2. I have a family party tonight so have pre-prepared my food and will eat before I go and chug down a few diet tonics instead of my normal bottle of wine!
I have about 15 kg to loose and hope I can do this in my 8 weeks.

Cheers

Sam

Esnecca, when you say you had to drastically cut carbs, what does this equate to in terms of gram or %?

I am starting day 2 of week 2 and, whilst I lost 4kg in my first week, the scales have not budged in the passed 4 days. Yesterday, I managed 43g carbs (15g sugar), 47g fat and 53g protein which I think was fairly decent so am curious if by “cut carbs” you mean you aimed for 0g carbs/sugar and if that was actually achievable.

Peonevie,
that’s an amazing loss! Well done!
Sorry to hear your babies have been poorly, hope they are feeling better now.
That’s not tmi, that’s really good to know that it’s survivable without (bad) chocolate! Haha!

Have a great week 2.

CC

😊 🌸🌸🌸🌸

Nothing quite like almond blossom! Especially in Spain and it’s Islands!!!!

Hi Verano – I think it’s looking at whole nutrition rather than specific ‘goodness’. That doesn’t write-off the other delectable things you mentioned. But good about almonds – I eat far too many of them – and I now live in an almond-growing area of Spain and all the blossom is just coming out.
SSB

Thanks, Esnecca, that is really good advice. I wish that the book would put the carb totals next to the meals – I know the recipe book does. I’ll have a go. Pity – I really liked the beetroot falafels!!

I second everyone’s advice above. Alliecat and I have a great deal in common because we’re both insulin resistant and had to drastically cut carbs to get our bodies into fat-burning mode. Once we did, we started losing pounds at a hitherto unseen rate. Low calories alone could not work for us, and you may be in the same boat, rubyred. I would suggest you make a point of weighing and measuring your food and doing your own calculations using an app like MyFitnessPal or Fat Secret before you eat it. The calorie counts in the book are often inaccurate and don’t include any carb counts. Dishes like the beet root falafel are far higher in carbs than my body can tolerate. They would at least prevent further weight loss and may even cause weight gain.

Add that to the sneaky things like the dizzying sugar count of a cup of milk, and you might that your average daily intake of carbs exceeds 50 grams a day, which many people find to be a useful boundary line to keeping your body in a fat-burning state. The only way to know for sure is to add it all up yourself.

The other thing you might want to do is to take measurements of your bust, waist, belly and hips. Sometimes even when the pounds remain the same you’ll see shrinkage on the tape. That can be a great boost when the scales are being uncooperative.

Good luck!

CCW, I did contemplate not weighing until a month was up, but found that I couldn’t ! I’ve been weighing myself every morning.
Thanks for the support, everyone, this is such a helpful place…..

People have done so well….congrats all

Very interesting SSB. Where are the raspberries, blueberries, strawberries? One wonders if the Californian almond growers paid for this research!!

Evening all!

I hope you are all doing well?

I’ve had 2 poorly babies so haven’t been around much, my apologies.

My total loss was 3.2 kg, and I have amazed myself by surviving (so far) *that* week of the month (sorry if tmi) without pigging our or reaching for the sugar- though I did allow myself a square of 70% Lindt within my 800 cals

Much love to you all and best wishes for week 2

Marie123, yes – it’s rucula in the Spanish supermarket- I go by what it looks like! Also interesting is that there are no starchy carbs – except sweet potato which scrapes in at 100!
SSB

Can I just say that I have been an overweight stay at home mum of young kids (22months difference between ‘em) though they are now 11 and 13. I found an old diary today, and it talks about how there’s no room for me or for me to be me, that I’m so busy being a good mum I can’t even think about when to get a haircut. I was pretty much eating for three in this period, as I was tired and eating kids left overs, at least in part as an emotional response to being so overwhelmed. I also spend a lot of time talking about the kids and I was clearly obsessed with them, so they got a fairly decent start in that respect.

So, if I was offering advice to the me in the diary, I would say food was a comfort and I was absolutely not eating because I was hungry. The BSD will take care of cravings but even now I wander around wondering what I can put in my mouth and until the BSD I did a lot of secret eating because it was ‘mine’ not ‘theirs’. Lots of magical thinking going on. One thing I have had to do is put myself first sometimes and say ‘I need to eat now, you have to wait’ or ‘we don’t have this in the house because I need to get better and get my blood sugar sorted’. My kids are old enough to get that, but my point is you may have to say it to yourself and sometimes putting ourselves first isn’t easy with babes in arms.

So you may or may not be the same but if you are you may have to think about strategies to handle your emotions when you want to eat because you are at home alone. Now I go and have a shower, sometimes twice a day. May not be easy with small ones! Or go for a walk (with them in tow). Or something that will make you feel ok until the urge passes. Or just tell myself I want to eat because I feel angry/upset/unloved and sometimes that itself is enough to stop me, as not snacking is really taking care or myself.

I am definitely talking to the me that was here as I don’t know enough about you to know if it fits. Whatever your circumstances though, very best of luck and keep posting!

SaltySeaBird – Thanks for the link. An interesting and useful list, and I’ve just seen that ‘arugula’ which has been mentioned a few times on the forum, is ‘rocket’. Who knew?

As I talked about my ideas regarding coconut and gut flora on the previous 8 week challenge I guess this is the logical place for letting people know the outcome.

All the research I know that has been published about coconut and horses and from my experience the animal feeds that are based on coconut are the dried flakes of the coconut after it has been processed to extract as much oil as possible. So the quantity of fresh coconut needed to have the same effect would be different to the quantities used in those projects.

Taking the advice from the others on these forums, I decided not to buy a blood sugar monitor, and just tried adding coconut to my diet to see what happened.

I had a cold and sore throat and was looking for all options of things to drink to try to smooth my throat so I opened up one of two coconuts and drank the milk. and nibbled on flakes of coconut flesh as a meal. I kept on eating as much as I wanted each day, going through that coconut over the course of 4 days. Then drank the milk and had some of the flesh from a second coconut on the 5th day at which point my digestive system decided it had had enough, to spark a “clear out”.

The change that really stands out for me since is my ability to limit eating into a small time frame each day and fast for the rest of the day. Prior to this I was struggling with a need to prowl around the kitchen looking for things to nibble at regular intervals each day, but now its not a problem to just eat twice each day in a 5 hour window and fast the rest of the time. – with one exception – I found myself back to pacing again one day when I had a complex set of issues I had to write up for a formal document. I would type a little and then need to walk and get something from the kitchen, and then back to the keyboard. But it was manageable to do this with a cup of coffee each time and sometimes a few walnuts rather than going for something sweet and once that piece of work was done i was back to the new normal.

Thanks, Julia. I didn’t know Perlmutter had a cookbook! I’ll have
see if I can take a look at the library. Sounds interesting 🙂

There were a couple of articles in The Times on Saturday on a new book about to be published by the researcher into the benefits of fasting quoted by Dr MM. It sounds like the book may be interesting for those thinking about maintenance, as it appears to focus on research diets incorporating periods of fasting and what foods do not impact on fat burning.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/weekend/eat-less-live-longer-the-diet-that-holds-the-key-to-staying-young-2t662n633

Hi
I feel like u are describing me. I’m also a stay at home Mom of two. I just cannot seem to break my bad habits. I’m giving this woe my best shot starting from tomorrow. I’ve started so many times and failed.
It’s not difficult to follow I just cannot seem to stay motivated even when I can see the scales reducing.

I read the article from the Atlantic on the sugar/Alzheimer’s link and I think the evidence is even more clear and convincing than they say.
There is (another) great book out there on this topic — “Grain Brain” by board certified neurologist, David Perlmutter — he focuses more on gluten but he delves extensively into sugar and simple carbohydrates as well so it’s very topical to the BSD.
I love his Grain Brain Cookbook — excellent low carb recipes and veggie recipes — it also has a good discussion in the Forward about the general principles.
I use this book, the MM BSD book and Gary Taubes (Why We Get Fat) every week.

Allie,
I can always be counted on for music & rhymes! Haha! 😂

I don’t have children either, but I do work from home and sometimes keep weird hours. That made it all too easy to snack on carby foods at random times during the day and night. Even though I thought I was eating relatively healthy food for real meals, I had a lot of cravings for junk foods. When I cut the carbs, I fully expected to continue experiencing those cravings and that I’d have to fight them off, occasionally succumbing to the lure of a cheese ball or ice cream. Instead, much to my amazement, I found the cravings went away. I cleared out the cabinets of most things, but my OH still had things like crackers and bread, even Girl Scout cookies, in the house and not a crumb of them passed my lips.

Sugar and carbs drive your body to want more of them. If you eliminate them entirely from your diet, you may find that like me, your body heaves a huge sigh of relief to have been liberated from that cycle of blood glucose spike followed by insulin spike followed by blood sugar crash followed by intense craving/hunger.

It may not seem so right now, but you can break out of this prison, Rachael_91. Sugar is addictive, no doubt about it, and I suspect strongly that you are not so much addicted to food in general as you are to carbs. Be ruthless. Strip your pantry of sugar, wheat, grains, cereals, root vegetables. Start over clean.

Since you’re a busy mom, I suggest you make a couple of batches of easy things like egg/chicken/tuna salad. Things you can add to a big bowl of lettuce or spinach lightly dressed with a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil. You’ll be able to put a meal together for yourself that is satisfying, tasty and very, very fast. To fight the snacking impulse, fortify your fridge with fermented foods — sauerkraut, kimchi, miso — all raw and unpasteurized. If you find yourself yearning for chips, head it off at the pass with a big forkful of sauerkraut. I know it sounds weird, but the tartness will beat back sugar cravings and the millions of probiotic bacteria will reset your gut flora and fauna to kill the sugar-loving beasties that play a significant role in the craving cycle.

I have had success beyond my wildest dreams on the BSD. It has completely revolutionized my life and my understanding of myself. I am not special, believe me. I was locked to the couch, morbidly obese at 5’2″ and more than 300lb. Now I weigh just under 120lb and the Fast 800 is the reason. You can free yourself just as I did. Courage and fortitude, Rachael!

I think you may be right, Gattina. Body fat % for men:

Acceptable: 18-25%
Fitness: 14-17%
Athletes: 6-13%

Hi Garvs
That’s an amazing weight loss – well done. Gradually increasing your calorie allowance every week seems a sensible way of getting back to ‘normal’. As Sunshine-girl says the 5:2 doesn’t specify the number of calories on non-fast days but just says eat normally then 500 calories for men and 600 calories for women on fast days. The BSD suggests eating low carb as a way of life and then cutting calories to 800 on fast days.
It might be worth checking the recommended body fat% – you know your body best – but 8-12% sounds a bit low.
Best of luck – you’re doing really well and let us know how you’re getting on.

Have you seen this on the Beeb today? Interesting that livestock derived products feature only once – pork fat at number 8!
SSB

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180126-the-100-most-nutritious-foods

Hi there, the 5;2 doesn’t seem to recommend a calorie allowance just says watch portion sizes but I think the range is something like 1000 to 1200 calories on non fast days and still 800 on fast days. I would also suggest that you get back on with 800 Fast every now and then to speed up your weight loss, unless you are still having steady loss on the 5;2.

1) got to Pilates this morning

2) dog shattered from walk and garden play so he’s asleep

3) just eaten a mega veg and chicken curry (mushrooms, 3 cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, red pepper, kale and left over chicken with 1 teaspoon curry paste and water, done in frying pan with lid over it so kind of boiled kind of steamed). Stuffed and healthy now!😄

Nothing to do til pick up children – going to read a book 😄😄😄😄

well I have lost .2 of a kilo since yesterday. I am now back to exactly what I was on Tuesdays weigh in so hoping for a small loss for tomorrow so all it not in vain. I didn’t do anything to gain the 1.5lbs and I havent done anything to lose it again. Just sticking with the plan and my body does what the hell it likes. Hey ho. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Just starting a new Living with Diabetes course with FutureLearn. Only 2 weeks so should manage it. Hope they are up to date in their thinking but somehow I doubt it….. Will let you know.

Haha, CC W! You’ve coined a new expression for us all…the more
you drink, the more you shrink! Don’t be surprised if you see it
picked up by others and repeated on the forums 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi RubyRed,

I am only on day 8 so I am in no way an expert. I am however approaching the diet a little differently & I wondered whether it might help you. I’m not weighing myself at all. Maybe I will eventually but for now I am just focusing on all the non scale victories. My wedding ring set is looser, my days are more productive, I’m facing things I was avoiding, I no longer spend my day wondering how I’m going to get fit & healthy (I wasted so much time thinking about it, now I’m doing something about it!) & I don’t lie in bed beating myself up for making bad food choices that day!

Water really does make a difference, the more you drink the more you shrink!

I hope this helps.

Wishing you all the best.
CC

AngS that’s such good news! Well done you!

Hi there RubyRed, I was diagnosed insulin resistant in August and have since lost 3 stone and am normal HBA1C and BMI.

I found the recipes didn’t quite fit with the low carb message of the book and my Drs instructions, so I stick to 800 cals, 20g carbs and lost quite consistently a Kilo or two a week, again by end of 8 weeks 10% reduction in body weight. Lost More subsequently just low carb principles.

I used MyFitnessPal and the back of packets to count the carbs – for me the carbs were the key measure as my body couldn’t process them and that’s what needed fixing, so I figured the weight loss could follow, which it did. As a result of being so strict with carbs I lost the craving for them and was rarely hungry, which was lucky as my self control around food is not exactly legendary.

I found that when I was in the middle of all this I was soooo thirsty all the time that it wasn’t a problem to drink loads of water. I believe it helps the body get rid of fat effectively, so that’s why it’s important as well as all the good reasons you mentioned.

Best of luck with it all x

Hi, folks. Just got my blood results back after finishing the 8-week BSD 2 months ago. My HbA1c was 43, so well within normal range. I had stopped taking my 1 a day Metformin after 2 weeks of starting the diet, as I’d started having lactic acid type pains in my legs. I confirmed it with my GP as he knew from the start I was doing the diet. So, 6 weeks of the diet was medication-free anyway. No more bloods until the end of June, and no more medication. Result!

I have decided that having lost 10% of my body weight and survived 800 calories from the 8-week BSD book, which I believe is the only way to reverse Type 2, I want to maintain my weight loss, so am now on 800 calories on Mondays and Thursdays. I’m eating normally the other 5 days, but have switched from 2 glasses of red wine in 3 or 4 of the evenings, to a g&t or 2 with diet tonic. Far fewer calories and zero sugar!

Good luck everyone. Keep going. It is worth the sacrifices!

Thank you AngS – that is really encouraging! I am determined to stick to it for 8 weeks (week 3 now), but was feeling a bit despondent weight loss-wise, although I have been feeling good in all other ways – more energy and sleeping better.

Hi, rubyred, I did the 8 week BSD back in October and, apart from the first week, my weight loss was very slow, but by the end of it (and I was following the book completely), I lost 10% of my body weight. My blood results came back today and I have reversed my diabetes! Without Metformin for 3 months since the diet, my HbA1c was 43. My doctor said, “significant progress. Keep doing the lifestyle changes. Will monitor again in 6 months). I’m chuffed to bits. It was 8 weeks out of my life and I must admit a few almonds and a hot drink now and again, kept me going when I was really hungry, but oh boy, it was well worth the effort. Keep at it rubyred – and anyone else not sure whether it’s worth it. You’ll get there with determination.