I did the porridge last night, with salt and almond milk. Yum. Then I got cocky and added cacao power but that was yuck, but just as well as it was past dinner time really.

Flax and parmesan sounds lush as a coating.

Good morning – how is everyone doing?
I have weighed myself this morning and I’m back under 9st! 🎉😊
I fasted yesterday until 4.00 then had a (large) handful of nuts and a cup of tea, then for dinner I had griddled swordfish with salad and homemade keto mayonnaise – yummy.
Interestingly, since really cutting the carbs (instead of allowing a few here and there), I have really gone off alcohol – has anyone else found this?
Keep smiling – onwards and downwards
SSB

Hi Nick,

My take on this is, we are doing this unsupervised (unless you’re paying for the programme), and we need to use our judgement and find what feels good for us. We should always be doing that anyway, right? There’s also the two-week review, where there are questions to ask, such as whether your appetite is under better control, with the suggestion that if you answer no to a couple of questions, you might review your approach. Common sense says that there is a difference between men and women and that if you are doing more exercise, you will be able to have more calories without affecting weight loss. The 800 number isn’t magic.

Personally, on days when I’ve really been struggling I’ve had a few more calories, in a controlled, thoughtful way (max has been 930, though a lot of estimation goes on), and it hasn’t seemed to affect my losses. I’m not talking about struggling with cravings – I breath through those – I’m talking about long-term gnawing hunger that persists a while after eating. I’d rather do that than switch to 5:2 – I found that just lead to me overeating on the other days which is really not good for you (why tempt hiatus hernia which can lead to oesophageal cancer?)

It sounds like you are doing great. Nothing wrong with weighing yourself more often if you’re wondering how it’s going.

My scales, which had been stubborn for a few days, moved by over a lb this morning, so I’m happy.

Natalie, keep drinking the water – you must have got very dehydrated – and be gentle with yourself. Your body obviously needs time to recover and rebalance.

xx

Thanks Esnecca! Are you by any chance an inspirational speaker in your real life? If not you should be but only if it means you don’t leave this forum! You give be such wonderful advice and encouragement, a true BSD guru.

I love that greens and kimchi combo! Crack an egg or two on top and it’ll make a great entree all on its own. Kimchi juice is the nectar of the spicy gods. It has the most magical ability to permeate a dish, far more than a hot sauce or cayenne or the like.

I have made something very similar to the fried caulirice but I hadn’t thought to top it with a nori strip garnish. Most definitely going to steal that idea pronto.

You don’t have to add sweetness or peanuts. These kinds of things are easily adjusted to your tastes. Add fruit or don’t. Add sweeteners or don’t. Add flavorings like vanilla or cinammon or don’t. I make a version of that porridge too and while it has occasionally been peanutty, it’s not sweetened.

The mixture usually does not include flax only because OH can’t digest it well (he had his gallbladder removed years ago and a few high fat foods disagree with him now), but if I’m making it only for myself I do use flax. I keep it whole as there are other elements that provide the soft, wet base. The mix is 2 Tblsp (30 grams) almond meal, 2 Tblsp hemp hearts, 1 Tblsp chia seeds, 1 Tblsp whey protein powder (grass-fed only), 1 Tblsp sunflower seeds, 1 Tblsp shredded unsweetened coconut, 1 Tblsp oat fiber, 1/8 tsp sea salt. When I use flax, I add 1 Tblsp. I add 1/2 cup of unsweetened hemp milk and microwave for 1:50.

This makes a relatively thick fauxtmeal, as I call it. If you want it soupier which is what I think of when you say porridge, add more liquid. It does not taste like coconut, in case you were concerned about that. There isn’t enough of it to have that effect. Its job is purely textural. It’s got a shredded wheat vibe going for it.

I’m not keen on the idea of sweet or peanutty porridge, but the flax seed and cheese coating sounds really good. That’s one I’m definitely going to try.

I buy milled flax seed from Aldi. That keeps fine, but the quanity is quite small.

Hi alliecat
Last one I promise!

Dr Malcom Kendrick in the UK is an expert on cardiac health and cholesterol.

Here’s his latest blog:

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2018/01/12/what-causes-heart-disease-part-44/

As an aside, it was my 58th birthday this week and we celebrated last night with some friends with a BBQ dinner. I only ever serve BSD friendly foods to guests as I don’t want to be the cause of ill health in my friends.

I served up a lovely salad with macadamia nut oil as the dressing (which everyone loved) and BBQ scotch fillet steak and Atlantic salmon and I finished off with this fabulous Keto friendly cheesecake for dessert served in individual drinking glasses.

http://www.gnom-gnom.com/no-bake-keto-cheesecake-the-classic/

Im not a big substitute sugar person but I make exceptions for Christmas and birthdays, but I only ever use Erythritol – here’s a conversation chart I found if anyone needs it – https://www.wholesomeyum.com/natural-low-carb-sweeteners-guide-conversion-chart/

Anyway, plenty of of food for everyone! Funny thing was, when dinner was served one of the guests said “where’s the bread?” My husband just turned around and said “you won’t find bread in this house!”

Everyone just laughed and kept eating, no one cared!

I will say that I had 2 glasses of Moët & Chandon (first alcohol I’d consumed since July). I honestly could have taken it or left it, I just don’t seem to have to craving for alcohol anymore. It’s nice to know that I don’t feel the desire anymore.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! It’s going to be another hot one here today, time to get in the pool for a swim!
Cheers
Linda

I “Esneccasized” dinner last night. Had some lovely chard that I rough chopped and sauteed very briefly. Topped with 1/4 cup of diced kimchi and put the lid on the pan to allow the chard to warm the kimchi but not heat enough to kill the probiotics. Was really good. Was surpised how spicy even that little bit of kimchi ended up making such a big pile of chard. Nice change from the usually squirt of lemon or dash of balsamic. Was great with a pork chop.

This popped up on my phone feed today….had to share with you: Kimchi Fried Cauli Rice link below

I am sure you have already made something nearly identical 100 times, but the pics were so pretty that I had to share. I will be having this in the coming week for sure.

http://nomnompaleo.com/2017/09/12/2017091220170912kimchi-fried-cauliflower-rice

Marie123 my Sixers still haven’t won a game!

My weight is back up to where it was on Monday which is frustrating, but it is clear why. (Sorry for TMI, fair warning.) On Tuesday I had a 24 hour gastric upset which cleared out everything in my body, obviously I lost weight but I knew it was temporary. But since then I have barely used the bathroom at all even to urinate, and nothing else. So I’m carrying three days of food and water. Like a camel. It’s really weird, I guess my body is restocking, but especially not urinating much is odd because I’m used to peeing every half hour even when it’s really inconvenient. I feel quite well but the couple of times I’ve tried to exercise I get dizzy and weak and really hot and sweaty very quickly. Oh well, I know I will recover and my body will release all this sometime.

Yes to grinding the flax seeds. The ground meal goes rancid pretty quickly so I buy them whole and grind about 1 cup at a time and freeze that to use as needed. I use ground golden flax seed a lot. Mixed 50/50 with cheap from the carton parm cheese it makes a great breading for pork chops, chicken filet, zucchini slices etc. Season the mix however you want then dip food (also seasoned first) in beaten egg thinned with a bit of water ….then dip in parm/flax mix and then fry (or bake if you wish). Works great….crispy food….yay!

Hi alliecat
I also have another resource which is the science page on the 2ketodudes forum which presents a lot of really good information. (It’s also a really friendly bunch of people like the BSD forum!)

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/study-shows-replacing-saturated-fat-with-unsaturated-extends-life/7181

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2530902

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/486365?resultClick=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbpX41oCi1M

https://profgrant.com/2017/03/10/what-really-happens-to-saturated-fat-on-a-low-carb-diet/

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/offbeat/controversial-claims-that-saturated-fats-do-not-cause-heart-disease-condemned-by-specialists-1-8514558

I could go on forever (but I won’t!)

Cheers
Linda

Luvtcook, do you grind the flaxseeds?

Thought I’d put in a quick post. So mid-way Wk2 and HIIT on Wednesday night was a struggle. From the off in the warm up I knew this next hour was going to be an up hill battle. Yes I got through it but felt a touch empty or performing @ 70%.
Still pouring of sweat at the end and knew I’d done a workout.
If we believe that a session of high intensity burns 500/600 calories there’s not much left in the tank if keeping to 800 daily. Later I was craving, thankful for the nut bowl still lingering from Xmas. Good few Walnuts later I was ok.

Thursday a different matter. Really hungry and probably ended up in the 1200/1300 calorie level.

Today (Friday) food wise really good, two roasted chicken breast for brunch and dinner just now was Keto style marinated chicken with buttered leafy green veg.
Now having a few glasses of red wine.

Obviously a few days between now Tuesday weigh in but the results on the scales will be intresting.

Jande9: if you want “hit the luxury button” try some asparagus or broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. Or top a good steak with some compound butter (with blue cheese in it is very good). Make a sugar free cheescake. This is not stuff you want to be eating daily, but once a month it is kind of nice to have something that is luxury.

Initially I felt as you do that I was going to have to live the life of an ascetic and have nothing yummy ever again. But other than having cauliflower rice instead of jasmine rice, and satisfying my Italian food urges with eggplant parmesan or eggplant rolatini instead of a plate of spaghetti, I am finding I am missing nothing.

If you invest a bit of time on line you can generally find a recipe for something that comes pretty close to what you are hungering for. Plus a plate with a grilled chop and two veges seems pretty normal to me now.

I sounds like I eat heavy creamy fattening things all the time the way I go on, and in fact, just the opposite is the case.

But when I want something rich, I build it into my calorie allowance and the carbs are usually low anyway if it is based on cream or cheese. One of those every two weeks generally does it (with a bit of uncured bacon for breakfast now and then). I am now happy to give up carbs for the luxury of fats which had been skimping on for decades pre BSD.

I find low carb to be more work because you have to make whatever you want….just can’t buy much of it off the shelves . Some things like low carb breads / bagels/ pita / tortillas are available on line. It just take a bit more planning. All doable.

Luvtcook – THIS sounds like heaven. I’m new to both seeds and addicted to both. That’s breakfast sorted then!

Hello fellow Challenger’s
I promised I would reveal today the damage done whilst in US for nearly three weeks – ( not that I’m blaming anyone but myself!) I weighed one stone more last Tuesday than my recent lowest weight in early December! I am dissappointed that I gained so much as I did try, though obviously not hard enough, to keep off the white stuff. However the wagon toppled over with the amount of cocktails, wine and the dreaded white creamy stuff in a brown bottle which was consumed.
Today I had lost six pounds of the excess and I will move on and keep on as our mantra goes (Marsie Im still here with you)
Thank you for your encouragement Mokovex, and yes, I am feeling strong and refocused.
Marie123, yes we did stay with our family in a small town in New Jersey though our son works in NYC. We love both the excitement of the Big Apple though also enjoy the quieter side of life over the water.
X B

Squidge, for even lower carbs and really pretty terrific porridge, try :

Take a small bowl (heat proof) and add
2 TBS each of ground golden flax and chia seeds (mix well)
Add a pinch of salt and 1 Tbs of peanut.
Pour over a half a cup (8 Tbs) boiling water. Mix and let sit 3 minutes (cover it to keep it warm).

Yummy with 2 Tbs heavy cream and a drizzle of sugar free maple syrup (or any sugar sub you like). I top it off with some chopped walnuts (high in Omega 3s). It’ll be 400 – 425 calories but will keep you full until supper.

Squidge, the longest I have fasted for to date (nothing but water) is 56 hours. Trust me, it gets easier 😉 and yes, of course that includes sleep time. These days I positively enjoy fasting but don’t do it very often because I am already half a stone below target (8st ) and it involves too much weight loss, for me anyway.

PS the first 24 hours is the hardest, after that the hunger tends to dissipate and I feel as though I could continue indefinitely – though not everyone takes to it. If you want to give it a go, start eating 16:8 which is what I do most days. When you think you can spend 8 hours of that in bed, it’s really not that hard.

Yikes! Can I count time asleep in that?

Even so, dinner at 7 means I can’t eat until after midday the following day. I won’t be doing that very often!

In his original 5:2 days MM said auto phage kicked in after 17 hrs. I think Jason Fung advocates longer before it kicks in.

I might have to be brave and try some fasting! Any idea how long at a time we have to go without food for it to do any good?

Thanks both of you. I’ll keep using both then.

I’ve been putting chai in with my porridge and leaving it to soak for a while before cooking and found that just 20g of oats and a spoonful of chai makes quite a big, filling bowl of porridge. I sprinkle ground flax seeds on yoghurt when I have that instead.

Hi everyone,
I’m quite late to the table with this challenge. I have been having some issues with my horse again (even my vet has started feeling sorry for me and she very kindly didn’t charge me for her last visit!), and that has made me quite tired and not really able to focus on much calorie counting. I have been pleasantly surprised though that in spite of all of that, I’ve been maintaining at 81.3kg since just after Christmas. I was thinking that I would just focus on maintaining for this challenge and then get back on track for losing next challenge. However, after a few good days this week but without really trying too hard, I suddenly have lost 0.4kg overnight and am now sitting at 80.9kg. This is the lowest I have been without having a fast day the day before (I was once 80.6kg after a fast day, but then popped back up immediately over 81kg the next day). So now I am thinking that if I work hard enough, I might get below that elusive 80kg mark by the end of this challenge. I might be able to start riding my horse again this weekend, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate me being under 80kg as well (although I still need to get under 75kg to get to less than 15% of his body weight, but that is a work in progress). Motivation has returned!

Hello Squidge! I agree with the above, but one other consideration is
that chia seeds combined with a liquid and allowed to sit briefly, produces
a pudding like consistency that makes a nice substitute for morning
porridge, and keeps one full for hours! Additionally, chia seeds do not
need to be ground to release all of their nutrients, while flax seeds do!
Best,
Allie

Jackie, your body is forced into autophagy during fasting, one of it’s biggest benefits as far as I’m concerned. Autophagy, I believe, literally means to eat oneself!

My skin has certainly tightened. I have only a single chin these days, with no saggy skin left, I no longer have batwing arms and, come the summer, will certainly be going sleeveless (assuming we HAVE a summer warm enough of course😝). I certainly don’t have “saggy skin” on my tum, it’s just a bit wrinkly (above belly button, not below) but nowhere near as much as it was when I entered maintenance, so I have high hopes that this will all tighten too. I’m 20 years older than you, but I agree, what’s a bit of saggy skin / few wrinkles compared to all that excess blubber we used to carry around. Like you, I feel fantastic.

I do have some epically wobbly areas (upper arms, belly, thighs) which was very much to be expected given that I had 200 lbs to lose. They have changed over time. My ab regimen seems to have had a positive effect on my waist and belly in that the toned muscle sort of sucks the looser bits in. My proverbial bingo wings are now completely empty, so much so that you can clearly see my triceps because the extra skin is so flat it’s practically two-dimensional.

I’m still pretty self-conscious. It looks weird, I cannot tell a lie. The good news is you can’t see any of this when I’m dressed and the only person who has to see me nekkid is endlessly enthusiastic about it, bless his heart.

Jackie, autophagy is one of the advantages of fasting. It’s when the body consumes its own moribund and decrepit cells because you’re not feeding it anything else for a while. This speeds up the process of cell replacement and can have a positive effect on skin quality, firmness, etc.

Haha, V – maybe I should start a Futurelearn course on Futurelearning!🤗

Thanks for the suggestion of downloading the liver one now, I may have a look, but not sure I want to be doing 3 at once. But if not this time…………………..

Chia is slightly lower in fat and therefore calories, but it’s a negligible difference. Carb-wise flax is a little lower than chia, but again it’s a small matter of a gram per ounce. Chia has more fiber than flax.

The Liver one is just 3 weeks and so may be worth downloading. It’s available until mid February.

Hi Theo you really do learn something new everyday! I had no idea all the weeks were downloaded together. I’ve been waiting for ‘mondays’ to start the next week! Dim or what!!

Ps: I do kind of, now I’m not overweight or obese anymore, and due to a twice a week weight training workout (of a few years standing), look a bit like Wonderwoman. Well, without the boobs, hair or face. But lean. And nothing wobbles (not even boobs 😫) . Now I just need a magic lasso

I do also have a squidgy tum and saggy under chin bit where fat used to be. But I’m 48, and feeling good so a bit of skins OK. Also, a while ago some of the maintainers (Esnecca was one I think) were talking about how skin tightens up a over time. I think Alliecat called it autophagy?

Esnecca, I chucked ‘em. I figured if they were going to be a treat they should be perfect. I am going to KOKO with them. Though that doesn’t mean I won’t get them wrong again. As anyone whose tried my Yorkshire Pudding will attest 😂

I should add I love them both to bits

One time I lost weight (to get married maybe) and my best ever friend (now of 30yesrs standing) was properly enthusiastic but then kind of muttered ‘but you’re thinner than me …. ‘ (which had never happened before.)

Last time I saw her, about a month ago, I bitchily noticed she had put quite a lot on round the tum. If I was still fat this would have pleased me in the secret depths of my not so very kind heart. As it was I just slightly worried about her health.

Another very good friend has found my weight loss v hard, because she has health issues she didn’t want to face up to and cos we used to enjoy saying ‘s*d it’ and havingbthe cake together. Even now she’s losing she’s not doing it the BSD way, which says something about our friendship dynamic and nothing about the BSD!

V – I have all 4 weeks. They are all in a row at the top of the course page, and I just click on the week I want. Week 2 focusses on digestion, week 3 on ingredients and food labelling, and week 4 on healthy eating.

Further to my earlier post, I should say that although I completed the test at the end of week 2 successfully without having actually read week 2, now I have gone back to read the articles, I have learnt some things I didn’t know beforehand, not a lot, but at least some, so that’s a plus as I learnt nothing new at all in week one.

I start the Nutrition and Wellbeing course on Monday, but maybe I’ll give the Liver one a go later on.

Toby, a glass of wine a day will not damage your weight loss, providing you log the cals and carbs contained therein and include them in your daily allowance.

When I was wanting to lose weight (in maintenance now for over 8 months) I went totally alcohol free, but since reaching target (in fact half a stone under) I now have wine on Fri/Sat/Sun. We live a very sociable life, and these are the days we tend to be out with friends, wining and dining etc. So far at least it hasn’t caused my weight to increase.

O/H has done dry January for 20 years, and I joined him last year obviously (though I did Feb/March/April too) but I have now decided that it is probably better for both my liver and my weight, to have 4 alcohol free days a week, rather than 31 days t-total, followed by 334 days drinking.

Theo how do you have Week 2? I do have it from my original course last year but thought I would save that ‘treat’ until Monday when it’s released again!

I have to say the Liver Disease course is far more interesting and I have learnt quite a bit. I hadn’t realised just how important an organ the liver is. Fascinating really even though the course just skims the surface it does provide quite a chunk of science too.

JackieM, you’re a very wise person. I’ve told no-one at home, in UK, that I have started this diet, except a friend I’ve had for 60+ years, who has always been overweight. I have been trying to interest her in the BSD but she thought it was only for diabetics!
I plan to go back in April/May to see all the family & hope I’m a lot thinner by then!?

Just a quick dip in to the forum today, having been out of the loop for a couple of days. We are visiting with my folks and it’s not so easy to find time to check what’s happening on here. My email inbox was stuffed full of forum notifications – mostly from the 800 reboot thread – and I confess I have only skimmed them, rather than digested fully. Didn’t feel there was anything there that I should be contributing to, but did think I should add some positives, so here goes:

1) Caught up with some old friends yesterday.
2) Spending time with my parents.
3) Pleasant walk this morning – crisp but not too cold.

My Mum asked me today, with a certain tone in her voice, what weight I am and if I’ve stopped losing now. Rather than have to have The Lecture, I said of course I’d stopped now! Not sure what this says about me, but not going to lose sleep over it. Still aiming to lose those extra couple of pounds!

when I do the whole fast800 think properly I go completely alcohol free and the dry January is a big help to me because hubby if following it too. There have been other years when he hasn’t but his last blood test showed raised triglycerides and raised glucose although not quite pre-diabetes or liver disease just something he needs to do something about. It used to be hell when he savoured a nice glass of whiskey on a Saturday night – although not my tipple it still made me want a drink. Lets hope he lasts out, I’m sure I will as I am so determined to get this right.

I’m now 2/3 of the way through week 2.

In week one, I kept thinking “I know all this” so before I even began week 2, I skipped straight to the quiz at the end to see if I actually did have the knowledge contained therein, or only thought I had. But I did actually get them all right! To be fair, there are only 5 questions, so I went back to the beginning and am reading all the articles in the hope of learning something new. Interesting exercise though, so will probably repeat it for weeks 3 and 4 when I get to them. I do think, however, that week 2 is slightly more interesting than week one and, as I said previously, us BSDers have probably read more than a lot of people about nutrition before starting the course, as lots of the comments are things like “how interesting” or “I didn’t know that”, rather than debating the subject.

Currently I am the “friend who is not quite as fat as she used to be, but is still fat” – aiming for “skinny mate”

Nope, nor me. 😁 lucky we found BSD!

I don’t want to be the ‘fat friend’ any longer.

Can I just add people are critical of fast weight loss because it’s always more comfortable to have a fat friend. Losing weight rapidly is a big change for them as well as us, and lots of people do not take change well. When I was overweight (before my recent surge into obesity, so like ALL MY LIFE) i was always a bit sad when I lost a fat friend and a thin one emerged from her shell. People see themselves reflected in you and compare, and suddenly they can’t say ‘at least I’m thinner than ….’

Of course most people are basically nice, so they get over it, but I do think it’s still there and one of the reasons why they find rapid, noticeable change difficult.

Great, Mariet, that’s what I’m thinking too, good to have some (more) validation of that.

The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcom Kendrick is on kindle Uk for 99p if anyone fancies a bargain read (recommended on another thread, I think. He was, anyway)

I’m attempting dry January but I do miss my glass of wine (or 2) on a Friday and Saturday night.

Hi Allie, and thanks for your continued interaction and support. I live in Galena, Illinois – formerly from Chicago which is 3 hours SE of here.. It’s a touristy area close to the Mississippi River where Ill, Iowa and Wisconsin meet. A beautiful hilly and scenic area that resembles Ireland. 8 months of the year it’s fabulous to live here.. I live in a golf course resort community and still feeled blessed to do so – we moved here 15 years ago. The other 4 months – Dec. through March – not so fabulous. It’s not being cold I despise, it’s being afraid to go out and about.. slipping and falling.. getting into a car accident. The roads here are curvy with steep hills. I have 4 wheel drive, but still.. I’m a chicken after getting into an accident on the ice some y ears ago.. and slipping and breaking my arm in the past.

Why didn’t I choose the Fast800? I want to – but I seriously didn’t think I can do it right now – and didn’t want another major fail for my negative self-talk to go to town about. Also, I have a vacation at the end of this month to warm and sunny Palm Springs, CA and another one at the end of February (a themed Flower Power 60’s Caribbean cruise) – and then off on another cruise to Hawaii through mid-March – (yes, I’m very fortunate in that respect!). I went crazy with planning trips after my husband passed away.. Anyway, I kinow I’d be able to stay relatively LC, but not 800C. I figured I’d tame the appetite beast first with the LC and some fasting days.. And then do the Fast800 when I’m done traveling in March.