Hi Sunshine girl !

That’s great advice thankyou !. I’m going to continually ‘tweak’ what I’m eating, so initially I’ll stay on what I posted earlier for 8 weeks, just to let new habits form. After that, I’m going to replace the two shakes with a homemade salad or similar. Switching off to having to make meals seems to be working for me, simply eat/drink what I’m allowed, no more, no less. Simple.
Great advice regarding the vegetables, I’m going to add either spinach or cabbage at every meal to add fibre and bulk.
At the end of the day, 8 weeks is not that long for amazing results !!

Hi all. Just to say that on Day 5 I “logged” my fifth loss in a row. Very pleased. I’m trying to prepare mentally for a slow-down, but enjoying my weight graph thus far. Red cabbage coleslaw for lunch was delicious. And I really don’t miss all the white carbs (well hardly).

I’ve just finished reading recent posts on all the fora, and must have laughed out loud at least three or four times – Esnecca’s dragon analogy, husband’s wandering feet ….for soap, and the myths or not of a thigh gap. What a lovely site to be part of, in addition to excellent advice and support. Onwards and downwards to the first weigh-in!

All power to you Natalie, both for recognising the emotional down and separating it from your need to eat and for still finding positives to report for the day. Will look forward to reading your positives SueBlue, it’s so good to have so many people picking up on this thread, helping to keep a positive vibe going.

My headache yesterday was definitely migraine and I ended up in bed at 15.00. Pleased to say that I’m fine again today, so I guess that’s my first positive:

1) Feeling well and much more energised today.
2) Lovely navy sued ankle boots arrived today.
3) Finding more of my rings fit again – yippee!

Don’t panic Cameron, my guess is that you minor ‘blow-out’ will probably not impact on your weight loss at all – especially given the exercise you got is as well. Sorry to hear you’re still struggling with the ‘flu lornajacobs, hope you and your OH will soon be feeling A1 again.

My headache yesterday was definitely migraine and I ended up in bed just after 15.00 yesterday afternoon. Feeling fine today I’m pleased to say. Weigh in this morning was positive, in that they read the same as yesterday, so nothing lost but nothing gained, which in my book is a plus.

Bit behind on hydration today at the moment, so I need to get out to the kitchen and make a drink – NOW!!

Hi Nonna Mary

I’m going off-line for a few days – need to do some shopping, cooking etc – but wanted to come visit and say Hi to you. Hope you’re doing well with the weight loss and generally.

Marie x

Hi SSB
I think that is such a good tip about putting on nice clothes etc. to help stay on track.

Also, I’m just in the process of getting rid of some bigger size clothes (size 20). I was thinking about keeping them as I only have a limited number of clothes my current size (size 16) but decided I wanted to keep wearing more fitted clothes, leggings etc, because feeling them getting looser as I continue to drop weight is another great motivator.

Hope today’s new year start goes well.
Marie

Well done sunshine girl! Nothing like a drop, however small to give you a boost. Hope you feel back to normal soon lornajacobs. Keep on keeping on x

Just wanted to come on here before I go off-line for a few days as I wanted to say a quick hello to Kazz – keep meaning to find you to say Hi – hope you’re doing well.

I’m so impressed that you’re all so creative, and your Mum too, Kazz . My mum was a very good seamstress and my sister is really skilled at a lot of crafts. I’m not. While at school, I was basically told there was no point my continuing with art, cookery, sewing etc as I was so bad – they weren’t being cruel, it was a completely fair assessment.

Now play, I was brilliant at!

Liz and Allie – One thing I’ve always been curious about when people turn a creative interest into a business -does it not just become a chore, or do you still manage to keep that pleasure of creating. Just curious (always been good at that).

Hello Miss Ziggy you sound as though you are well organised 👍 I am also managing lunch at a friends house on Sunday where there will be wine & a pudding but also not stressing about it because not having social events would be awful & this is really just about trying to make sensible low carb choices most of the time😀
My husband continues to be tempted by flavoured yoghurts & Melba toasts to eat with cheese but I am trying to wean him off things by cooking fresh food from scratch from the Blood Sugar Diet cookery book again. I suppose it involves trying to be more imaginative substituting food & we are still doing some things from MMs clever guts diet with eating some nuts, I have discovered I like pecans, a square of 75% dark chocolate & some kefir with a heaped teaspoon of Inulin each day to keep our gut bacteria happy. Exercise wise I’m still not doing as much as I would like with my Achilles’ tendon still playing up but walking is ok!
Hope you have an enjoyable weekend
Margaret xx

Feeling marginally better this morning,, but still in bed snuffling. Weighed in this morning and found I lost more than 1pound yesterday, which is encouraging. Somehow need to last today eating to plan while still not up to cooking anything. Darling Husband also feeling rubbish today, so he won’t be cooking either. Carbs are so much easier for a quick bite- a piece of toast with peanut butter would be so much easier than , for example an omelette, but I will try to stay upright long enough to cook the omelette. Dinner tonight and cooking a piece of chicken will be more challenging!

It’s a sign, Allie – I was just (minutes ago) wondering whether to chuck out 3 pairs of wide-legged trousers out as I’ve now got my leggings. I’m going to do it!

Jackie – wow, that is impressive! I’m about to go out shopping for the ingredients to make your biscuits – got your message about maybe changing ingredients around. Will see how it goes.

I’m going to be off-line until Tuesday now so all the best for the weekend everyone.

nb
Allie, You mentioned on another thread about recommendations for iphones – I’m afraid I can’t help as I don’t own one – but would love to see your work when you get one!

Hello, along with my diabetic husband, I’m going to start the 8 weeks of 800 next Wednesday, after my sister’s 50th birthday celebrations. Quite excited but very apprehensive.
We’re busy packing up/clearing out the carbs from the cupboards & will make a shopping list for our first week on the plan which will include some bathroom scales.
Do you have any advice, hints or tips for someone new to this kind of diet?

Hi all – It seems the new year finds everyone geared up for some serious BSD-ing!
I’m starting properly today after a week of celebrations with my family in the uk. So kefir and tea for breakfast and a ‘real’ coffee mid-morning, then probably nothing until dinner this evening which will be curry with cauliflower rice.
Alcohol-free starts today as well.
Just an observation which may add to our ‘toolbox ‘ – if, like me, you have a day when you feel lumpy and uninspired and likely to go off-track, put on some nice clothes, do your hair and make-up and make yourself feel good – when you do that, it improves your attitude towards yourself and makes you more likely to want to stay on track. If I have a day when I’m slobbing around in jeans with no makeup, I find my attitude is also ‘slobby’ and I find myself making excuses to eat rubbish. So, best foot (and face) forward!
SSB

Started day 5 with another weight loss. What can be more motivating than that. Really determined and feeling great.

Hi WotW, yes the soap in the bed around the lower leg/feet area. Not a full bar but think mini soap like you get in a hotel. I swear by it and now my hubby has started sneaking his legs over my side of the bed. Thought I was going to get some action but no, he was looking for my soap. LOL 🙂

Hi Salty and welcome. Whatever works best for you is okay. Although just 2 points, the slimfast porridge might contain artificial sweetners which dont help dieters, they fool the body into thinking it is getting something sweet and then craving when it doesn’t hit the spot. You can buy a pot from Lakeland (and other places) which you put in oats and milk (or water) stick it in the microwave for 2 mins and voila you have porridge just dont add anything sweet.

2ndly, as a long time fan (ex fan) or WW I would suggest that the ready meals are going to be very small portion wise, even as a small woman I didn’t find them enough. Use them yes, but dont be afraid to add a big pile of very low calories veg like spinach or cabbage to pad it out, even if it adds 20 or 50 calories to your overall intake. Good luck, you seem to have a plan.

Haha, Jackie, these moments of revelation so far out weigh any momentary
sugar high from a piece of cake or it’s equivalent that it becomes ludicrous
to even see it as a choice any longer! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Enjoy it all – you’ve earned it!
Nothing ever felt as good as removing wide legged trousers from the closet
and replacing them with skinny pants and leggings. I’m so happy for you!

Allie

Goodness Alliecat, awake at 3am! I think I’m an early bird waking at 5.30 most days. 9.30pm here and just dipping under 30c outside.

12 inches of snow sounds delightful and beautiful, assuming of course top notch cold weather gear, excellent heating, a crackling fire, lots of tea and no pressing need other than pleasure to be outside. Oh sunshine would also be required.

The non scale victories are a terrific bonus. I hadn’t even thought about the leg crossing thing until I noticed suggenly that my top leg was sitting flush and falling straight!

I plan to press on with BSD. Mid point for my healthy weight range is 58-60kg depending on which table you are reading. That another 8-10 to go and will likely to take another Round with my “stable, stable, stable, drop” pattern. I have an appointment with my GP Monday and will discuss pros and cons. My only concern is potential impact on bone density but I’m pretty confident I’m getting plenty of calcium and vit D.

Did you or any other super maintainers experience any difficulties with subsequent rounds?

Hello ! This is my first day (proper) on the BSD. I’ve been having a transition period for a week or so where I have been changing my habits ready for the big push…
I’ve decided to follow Prof Taylor and Leans advice and follow the 800 Cal VLCD. I don’t have diabetes, but I do have Hypertension, so have spoken to my nurse, and am going to monitor my BP daily as I want to decrease my dose as the BP normalises. I’ve read all the information on the fantastic work that has been done by Prof Taylor/Lean, and can clearly see that the ‘Counterweight’ program that has been developed works, period. To this end, I will be following my own slightly adapted version that will work for me. It’s no problem at all what I eat/drink during the day, but it is very important to me in the long term for this WOE to work, that I can sit down and have a ‘meal’ with my family in the evening. Also, I have developed some awful eating habits, namely bingeing, so I have thought long and hard about what is going to work for me. I really need a very clear and prescriptive WOE that means I don’t have to create recipes, I can just have what I’m allowed and that’s it. I know it sounds really cold and prescriptive, but I just feel like I want to follow a regular ready made meal plan where I don’t have to prepare food, such as the Newcastle study.
So, I will be having the following each day –

Breakfast – Slimfast porridge (100 Cals)
Lunch – Slimfast ready made shake (200 Cals)
Early Evening – Slimfast ready made shake (200 Cals)
Dinner – Weightwatchers ready made meal (300 Cals) – On a bed of spinach leaves to get some fibre

3 litres of water a day
No alcohol

Total of 800 Cals

I’m going to follow this plan to the letter for 12 weeks, and then follow a transition period of increasing my calories as advocated by the Counterpoint study.

I’m well aware that pre-packaged products contain sugar, and I should be avoiding those, BUT its really important that I follow a very prescriptive eating plan to develop life long eating changes. The VLCD makes NO mention of decreasing Carbs.
My scientific mind tells me that the above will work, the numerous studies are more than proof enough !

I’d be very interested to hear your views, as I know my plan differs from that advocated here, but I’ve read enough case studies to see that a liquid diet works, although in my case I’ve added a small meal to keep things (my family life) normal. Otherwise, if I have another shake at dinner, then I just know I will crash and burn….

Have a great day.

Morning all. Thanks for the advice about leg cramps Annie. Soap in bed as I write.
Lost another 1lbs so 8lbs off for me now. I know I tend to plateau very early on from past experience.
I find it hard too in the evening. I managed to get all of my Christmas excess eaten or sent into work with my husband. I do have a lot of oranges left so I am allowing myself one of those at night until they are finished up. Cheese, I crumbled a bit of a soft blue cheese into a bowl of mixed veg soup. It was a good addition. Thanks for the congrats message Chewsnoo. He hasn’t lost any today, it will all even out.He lose weight very quickly.

Congratulations Natalie for recognizing the emotions you were feeling as
not something you had to act upon by blocking it with food. I agree with
Jackie, we all have a range of emotions on any given day, and it must
feel empowering to know that you can wait them out, for they always
dissipate, don’t they? Continuing success on your road to wellness, and
that means so much more than what results we see on the scale each
morning!

Best wishes,

Allie

I’m not in the US but at least partially credit Californian fast food for the first stone of my gradual slide into obesity. Just over 25 years ago I spent my honeymoon in San Diego and Santa Cruz and in two weeks was a stone heavier than I started! I never really lost that excess and gradually over the next 23 years kept putting more weight on, in a classic yo-yo dieting situation. I lost about 110 pounds to get back to my wedding weight last February, and fitted back into my wedding dress on my 25th anniversary.

Oh my god, just seen I have a thigh gap! I’ve never had one of those IN MY LIFE. I thought they were a myth!

Hi Everyone
I hope you don’t mind but I am joining in a little late. I want to lose the 10lbs I put on over Xmas and another 10 to get to a better weight. I lost 22 lbs the first time round. I had ill relatives over xmas and a subsequent death. I am very motivated because I have seen lots of very ill people and it made me realise staying fit and healthy as long as possible keeps you out of hospitals!!

I like your thread lots of good ideas.
Thanks and belated Happy New Year!!

Thanks Marie, hope you’re heading in the right direction too, you’re doing so brilliantly. Well I’ve managed to fasten up those trousers but serious muffin top and don’t think I could safely sit down in them for long, another few pounds to go before they move to regular use. However, there were two other pairs of old jeans in the “to aim for” pile which now fit beautifully again! And I found a lovely Kookai dress in a charity shop yesterday size 8 which I bought without trying on as a new “to aim for” dress and just tried it on – fits beautifully!style disguises tummy well. In the words of the wonderful Esnecca, not one step backwards – size 8 and below only from now on!

Popping in to say well done to all.

Funny holiday weight wise. Hit lowest of 58.9kg when Ill and lost appetite. Highest of 61.4kg when I started eating too many peanuts.

Today 60kg flat. Achieved by stopping eating at 7.30pm and not starting before 10.30am (yesterday after 12noon as was driving). Having more water. Swerving away from peanuts. Whole Earth do a peanut spread with seeds that’s lower in carbs than peanuts so had a couple of spoons of that (this was not willpower this was the jar being nearly empty but served a purpose).

My not very strong aim is to be 57kg. My absolutely iron will requirement is to be 60.xkg where x does not exceed 5.

No exercise apart from dog walks as have sinusitis which makes bending painful. Back to gym next week though, to keep muscle tone up.

Well done Natalie. Know just what you mean about the hollow feeling. Great to be able to see it for what it is and not fill it for food.

Thanks for the encouragement, Flick.

I like the NSVs! I must keep reminding myself that although I want to lose weight, that’s not the only reason I’m doing this. There are lots of other reasons to try really hard to stay on track.

You’ll be ok marie123. You are focused and determined and it makes a difference when you’re all fired up. 10st 2 is good (I’m just behind at 10st 3 and a quarter) don’t forget the quarter!

Had the cod and chorizo parcel last night, really yummy. Chicken tonight. Not sure what with yet, but it’ll be tasty.

Keep on Marie you’re doing great

No weight loss for me today. I did have a small carby snack last night, which could well be why. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson!

On the positive side no gain either so I’m still 5lb lighter than I was on the first. I mostly feel fine. My body is telling me about the exercise I’ve been doing. Nothing serious, just a general all round ‘oh, using your muscles again are you?’ type thing.

I’m on the 4 week challenge, but have decided I need to ‘re-boot’ so will jump on here, too; late but not too late, I hope.

I’m currently upping my calories by 50 cals per week from 800 to 1000 (850 this week) where I’ll stick for the rest of this challenge (as long as I’m still losing). I’ll keep my carbs <20g. I have about 1- 1 1/2 stone to lose so figure if I can get back to basics, get my head down and push on I’ll get there by Spring. The next two months on here will be a great start.

Mentally, I’m going to go back to the beginning of BSD. This time round I’m going to step it up a gear – keep my hydration levels up, increase the fibre, and make sure there’s plenty of food variety. My main focus will be on ‘bedding in’ this way of life – both eating and activity – so that it’s sustainable long-term.

I weighed in on Tuesday at 10 stone 2lb. My target is to lose 9lb to get to 9 stone 7lb by the end of this challenge.

I know what I need to do so no messing about now – I’m just going to do it.

Go well everyone.

Great results Zolou. I’m imagining people looking at your ‘odd’ sprint spurts over the next few weeks and noticing you getting slimmer. Perhaps it really will get fashionable?

SueBlue, it sounds as though you’re on the right track too.

Personally I’m not actually calculating carbs, but I’m going to start paying more attention to how many are in different food and making the better choices – plus avoiding the refined ones (almost) entirely.

Positives for today:
1. My husband gave me an Apple Watch for Christmas (I love it) and at first I was using the shorter band but on the longest hole. But today I moved to the next hole! So in two weeks my left wrist has lost weight, at least a little bit.
2. This is the second day in a row I’ve filled all three health ‘rings’ on the watch: heart-rate-raising exercise, general movement, and standing every hour.
3. Feeling a bit odd today, a bit hollow both physically and emotionally, but stuck to my food plan. Didn’t eat when I was bored in the afternoon!

‘Afternoon, Flick! (3:00am here). Isn’t it remarkable how fast 8 weeks can
go by when it’s accompanied by a positive attitude and the joy of making
new friends!? Recognizing the NSV is such a boost, and I love reading
yours, because I can relate to every one of them 🙂 Okay, maybe not the
tidy house bit!! When it’s a toss up between “chatting” and the vacuum
cleaner, I routinely come down on the side of sociability. There are many
other NSV on the horizon for you, but I’m going to let you discover them
for yourself! Soar like an eagle, “not one step backward” is ringing in the
air….What are your plans at completion of the 8 weeks?
I was thinking about your heat wave as I was scraping 12″ of snow off
the car this morning, at a balmy temp. of -19C degrees! Still want to
join us in Connecticut to play in the snow? 🙂 🙂 🙂

Sounds like you’ve had a great 1st 9 days Zolou 🙂
I might try the no carb bircher again with hot water and grated apple, as when I made it with apple juice, as suggested in the book, it was far too sweet, I didn’t enjoy it at all.
I’m not quite up to a week yet, I started Tues 2nd, but I’ve already lost 2kg (from my Christmas gain). I haven’t been sticking to 800 calories – more like 1000/1100. I’m still on holidays from work and have been having lunches out, takeaway dinners etc. I did get my shopping delivery last night though and I ordered lots of fresh veg, eggs, cheese, smoked salmon, cans of beans and lentils, so I’m all prepared to go down to 800 calories and stick to the plan from Monday.
I had Pecan Chia porridge for breakfast this morning, one of my favourite breakfast recipes from the 8 week BSD recipe book. i make it with Twinnings raspberry and blueberry tea instead of the suggested Earl grey tea and it’s lovely, the flavour really goes well
With the fresh raspberries and blueberries I used. Lunch was vegetable frittata from the 8 week BSD book and tea was vegetable pizza, made with a soca base (chickpea flour and water), and some more salad.
It’s been easy keeping up with water intake as it was 40’degrees here today, and it’s going to be 42-45 tomorrow (centigrade!). I think it will be salad for
Lunch and dinner tomorrow 🙂

Morning all, I thought I’d post an update for my week 1 (it’s actually day 9 for me now).

I started at 167.2lb, waist 44″. Waist needs to get to 33″ to be half my height, so I’m guessing I’m aiming for around 133lb (middle of the healthy weight range).

Diet: I stuck to just the two or three meals a day and used the recipes, with a fair amount of swaps and improvisation. I was a bit free and easy with the veg, getting more into calorie counting that now.

Steps: I surprised myself by averaging over 10,000 steps a day, just because I was quite restless in that first week. So now I’ll be having to keep that up!

HIT: I did my three HIT sessions over the week – just sprint spurts when I was out walking. It probably looks a little odd but I’m aiming to make it fashionable. It’s a great enlivener.

Strength: Been doing yoga every morning – a few sun salutations the first couple of days and then Yoga with Adriene’s free True programme on YouTube. The last few days when I’ve been feeling weaker there have been some adaptations 🙂

Mindfulness: I did meditations on five of the days, but the yoga is very mindful so I’m not worrying if I don’t always do it as a separate thing.

Standing up every half hour: I downloaded a nice bong for my phone and got into the habit of setting it when I sat down. I actually quite enjoyed it, but it went by the board after the first couple of days. I’d quite like to have a go at re-instating it.

Results for week 1: weight 159.8, so lost 7.4lb. That’s actually amazing when you compare it to all my other diet efforts (e.g. 4lb lost in the 28 days I did Whole30 before giving up)

After my body’s little protest on day 6, I’m still a bit weaker but taking things mindfully and had a gently active day on day 8 yesterday.

All the best everyone, lovely to be part of this – wish we could all meet up for a nice Pho soup and a country amble!

BTW, had the no-oats (“carb-free”) bircher from the book yesterday, subbing frozen blackberries, hot water and grated apple for the raisins and apple juice, to the same calorie count. It was so yum.

Esnecca, I like your no going back outlook.

As an easy Friday night meal after a hard week I would often make nachos in the past. I haven’t done it since starting BSD obviously, but was finding I was missing the ritual and the flavours. So this week, I made cauliflower nachos:
http://pulses.org/nap/recipe/one-pan-cauliflower-nachos/
I followed the instructions for the cauliflower almost exactly, but added a bit of nutritional yeast as well. Then I did my usual toppings (refried beans, salsa, avocado, cheddar cheese and olives) instead of the ones in the recipe, but using less refried beans and salsa than I would have previously; just enough to give it the flavour of those items.
It was a delicious and satisfying meal. I will definitely make it again.

Cameron2337, that sounds like a very modest blow-out, and after walking 17K you’d have to have been superhuman to resist a few extra calories. It sounds like you’re doing great. Be gentle with your poor ol’ self! I know it’s frustrating when you worked hard all day to keep things in check but then feel like you didn’t get to bank the rewards. Well done for getting back on the horse.

Well done Natalie, I had stalled for 2 days and then 1.6lb down this morning, so feeling good too – those scales are funny things!

Natalie, I thought of you early and your lovely new pool earlier. Apparently it is going to be even hotter tomorrow.

Esnecca, I woukd love to come over and tidy cupboards in exchange for your delcious and interesting food, especially if there is an actual cat attached to those fur balls. I would though need some time off to go play in the snow!

Hi all! Dr. Mosley (and community): do you have any stories of success for post-menopausal women with relatively small amounts of weight to lose? I’m not pre-diabetic; I’ve just gained about 10-15 lbs over the past decade and it is very stubborn! I just want to get back into my favorite jeans! I’m generally in reasonable health (blood sugars are normal) and reasonably active (10,000 steps; go to gym). I’ve started on the Mediterranean diet outlined in the book and am about to start the 5:2. In the past month just on the Mediterranean diet, I’ve felt good and maintained my weight, but haven’t lost any. Thanks for any thoughts.

Hi all, I’m an Aussie but in the US! Also just getting started. My husband and I have been eating the Mediterranean way for about a month, and I’m easing into doing the 5:2 as well now. I feel good, and have lost a TINY bit of weight… I am in my 50s, post-menopause, and just have a stubborn 10-15lbs to lose that has crept up on me over the past ten years. I’m at 144 lbs and would like to be between 130 and 135. My diet wasn’t awful before this, and I’m moderately active already– I do the 10, 000 steps and go to the gym. And I’ve just started THE DAILY BURN, an online daily workout program I like a lot!

I’ve found with previous diet attempts (not BSD) that those last 10 – 15lbs are really hard to budge, so I’m hoping that the 5:2 will work well. I really like this way of eating, don’t miss the starchy carbs, and find it very satisfying. I’ve also given up drinking wine with dinner during the week. Time will tell whether I actually lose weight, or will need to push harder (e.g. doing the 8 weeks / 800 cals) but I don’t want to get into a deprivation mentality, so I’m taking it slowly, one change at a time.

Glad to have you all here, and thanks for sharing your experiences and optimism!

Flick I was out trimming lawn edges this morning and felt dizzy from the heat!

Happy new year to you, SSB! May it be one where we reach our goals. 🙂

Thanks Sunny B! I appreciate the welcome and encouragement :). Got a bit derailed by Christmas and travel, but I’m back on the 5:2 now.

Are you available for short-term leasing? Because my apartment could keep you as busy as you’d like for the next, oh, 6 months or so? I’d pay you in BSD-friendly food and all the giant tumbleweeds of cat fur you can carry. 😀

I once literally beat my forehead against the wall when I stepped on the scale and saw the numbers had gone up for no reason. My OH came running in when he heard the noise of madness and I blubbered like an infant for a few minutes while he made sweet reassuring noises. Then I got it together and moved on. This is a rollercoaster ride and begininning, middle and end, you will experience moments of hyperemotional sensitivity, rage, despair, glee, triumph and all the rest of the magical rainbow of human feeling. Treat all those impostors just the same and keep your eyes on the prize.

The takeaway lesson is you cracked the first week and what you thought would be a giant unscalable mountain turned out to be a rolling hill. A little rocky, but entirely manageable. You’re doing great, Melliedaffodils. Congratulations!

Well it’s day five of week 8 for meand I’ve been the same weight for 3 days. Back to my usual pattern. I guess it’s safe to say I have cracked the 10kg mark (10.4, I’m counting). A stall so close to the end of Round 1 seems fitting for me, so here are some non scale victories I’ve noticed lately.

1. I can cross my legs properly 🤪
2. The sleeves on my lululemon walking t-shirts are no longer tight
3. I’m finding the heat no so unbearable – even managed some weeding this morning and it’s tipped to reach 37 C here
4. Still sleeping like a champion, even on some warmer nights, and
5. With all this consistent nergy, my house is looking the best it has for years. I’ve just about run out of cupboards to organise!

🎉🎉🌟🌟🌟

This is dangerous ground, especially in the early days. You can’t just casually walk in and order like it was the old days. You have to prepare, read every ingredient, calculate the numbers to make they’re not lying (they lie a lot) and most difficult of all, you have to follow through on the plan instead of winding up with a foot’s worth of Subway sugarsponge bread in your belly before you even realize it. The smell of waffle fries and crispy battered food you can’t have is going to be a major problem. You want to set yourself up for success. Standing in the middle of 8 lane highway thinking you can zig-zag your way through masses of cars coming at you is not the easy route you’re looking for.

A quick glance at Chik-fil-a’s menu, for instance, finds that the Grilled Market Salad is 330 cals and a ludicrous and offensive 26 grams carbs. And that’s before you dump actual sugar on it in the form of the fat-free abominations they pass off as salad dressings. Even the Cobb with No Meat, the lowest in cals and carbs, is 250 calories and 18 grams. Their so-called Superfood bowl has 25 grams of carbs. Dressing and dips are terrible, bursting with sugar, with only the buffalo sauce low in carbs and has no sugar on the ingredient list.

Chipotle is a minefield too, even if you manage to avoid hospitalization from food-born illness. No rice. No tortillas. No chips. No beans. That doesn’t leave you with a ton of options. You’re going to find it far more a painful and frustrating experience than a satisfying shortcut.

I second Luvtcook’s suggestion of Boston Market, which has great rotisserie chicken, steamed mixed vegetables and some surprsingly great green beans. Popeye’s has a single option on the menu that works for us: naked cajun-spiced tenders and green beans. They make them southern style with the hamhock and they’re redonkulous. I bring them home and make my own homemade blue cheese dip, something you are particularly adept at, to accompany the chicken since I can’t use their sugar sauce. It has to be drive-through thing because when you go inside you will smell those unbelievable biscuits, so stay in the car.

There’s also the chain steakhouses. Lonhorn’s has a solid pepper steak salad with a la carte veggie sides that are not entirely deplorable. The make their blue cheese in house and there’s no sugar in it. Yup, I checked. Those bottled things these joints buy from Sodexo by the gross are a mess.

These options are the least worst, but frankly they’re all bad. The bald truth is that fast food is part of what got you here. I used it as a crutch in the last couple of years of hyperobesity and the notion that you can put on a leash on the dragon and he’ll walk by your side, docile and sweet as a therapy dog, to give you succor in your time of need is pernicious hooey. His agenda and yours have zero overlap. That guy is going to burn you to a cinder the minute you even think about ordering a grilled chicken patty with no bun.

Hi all, not weighed in today so hoping for good numbers in the morning! Ive had a Bovril and a Miso soup packet today and headaches much better, and less cramping as I was suffering with that too! Finding ‘diet’ part hardest later at night after dinner has gone down, we still have all the chocolates, cracker and biscuits left over from Christmas and present still sat in the living room under the tree and my OH is a slim bean, last night he sat and ate a chewy sweet pizza he had as a pressy next to me! He wasn’t mean about it and it was not too hard to resist as I’m not a huge sweet person. I have managed to resist completely on all those all week but have just nibbled on a small chunk of Mexican Hot Cheese! (we still have a whole eaten cheese board in the fridge!) any ideas for satisfying snacks? I’m also packing up all the carby snacks tomorrow when I take the trimming down and hiding them in the spare room – I hope to be enjoying them in moderation in 8 weeks – lol!

Congrats to the hubby Willothewisp!

Hi Melliedaffoldils, first up, huge congrats for your stunning success so far! I reckon the first week is the toughest, carb and sugar withdrawals, the stress of wondering whether you are going to be able to do it, new style of meals to come to grips with.

For some people, the withdrawal from carbs (remembering they trigger your dopamine pleasure systems) can include a bit of teariness. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are a comfort eater with otherwise disguised unhappiness, it is probably just your body doing what you want it to do. And it will most likely pass quite quickly. Even the new way of eating will start to feel familiar and much easier to manage.

Anyway, congrats on just about completing week 1!