I’m in ! . I really need to do this this time, was really successful at 5:2 originally a when it first came out and then on BSD also , BUT I’ve put it all back on again ! ..

I tried last year and didn’t stick to it and was going to change name to come back again , but have decided that abject shame only will do ! ( if anyone remembers me from the stalwart I was once!)
So Big sigh…. Here I go again! i’m 60 now.. This has to be the last time I go on a big diet

My goal is to lose 2 stone initially (to get me back to the 10st 10 I was when I last did this .. ). There. I have admitted it. Depressing.

Its ambitious but if I can get near it in the 8 weeks ill be very well pleased

So far today I have had 188 cals worth of flame grilled chicken – a 130g packet ( yes I know it has some sugar in it but was my best option this lunchtime ) . Will be having homemade red cabbage and beet borscht this evening – a recipe I used to make loads when I was originally on 5:2.

ill be doing the 5:2method as I know it works for me and aiming for a 16/8 window mostly . Digging out my fitbit again later on to get back onto the 10000 steps .

Yes, you’re spot on with deciphering the short hand – 16:8 is 16 hours between meals overnight fasting with an 8 hour window for eating and 800/20 is 800 cals and 20g carbs per day.

Hi, I weighed in at 10st 11.4 this morning which is higher than my pre-xmas 10st 7 but still over 3 stone down on this time last year!! My aim for this challenge is to lose a stone which will just scrape me into healthy BMI for first time in 16 years!!! Please can anyone help explain to me what all of these numbers mean? I’m guessing 16:8 means 16 hours fasting and 8 hours for eating each day (which is what I generally aim for) am I right? Also is 800/20 the calories and carbs or something else? Thank you in advance…

HI Aĺl.still struggling to stay on track.today I tried the mindful activity from MM’s book. A piece of chocolate cake very rich lots of ganache made from strong chocolate. Looked at it for ages.imagined the flavour before eating I did not enjoy it.too rich and I felt full after a couple Of bites. I left half of it.I felt fulll for quite a while and did not want to eat till diner. Today 6000 steps better than nothing
I boiled some eggs for tomorrow. Slowly getting back on track. Tomorrow we start gutting 2 garden sheds and a garage so plenty of exercise planned .I hope you are all feeling strong to continue the challege

Really excited to be starting the 8 weeks over again. The first time round I was very successful and refused to waiver from the plan. I got my BG down from nearly 200 to around 80, although my weight loss was not great I did lose 13 lbs which is extra hard as I am using insulin injections and it makes the body hold onto fat. In truth this is the only diet that I have been able to lose any weight on. Anyway, over the past 12 months although I have kept BG low and stayed away from the white carbs I have not done so well with the weight though I am still less than I was.

Today I am weighing in at 78.4kgs or 12 st 5 lbs. I want to lose 10lbs by the end of the 8 weeks. I have done my weeks menu and each day is coming in at under 800, mainly around 700 which gives room for milk in one coffee or some added veg. My evening treat of 1 square of extra dark chocolate at 50 calories is going to go. Absolutely no alcohol although dry January didn’t get off to a good start. Because of our long journey home we had an early night on NYE so hubby decided to open the champagne yesterday as a NYD treat. Hey ho, it is finished now and I am dedicated to doing this.

Good luck everyone.

hi everyone so good to hear from you all. i’m in! not sure about weight but know inches have gone on and my autoimmune illness is flairing up! so back on with you all.
happy new year to us 👍 we’ll do this together xx

thanks SunnyB will take a look 🙂

Hello All – very best wishes to everyone, for a prosperous and successful 2018, hope it is a year full of wonderful things for us all.

So, I had a not very positive day yesterday, mainly due to feeling awful due to poor hydration on New Years Eve and way too many carbs as well. However, I’m on the 800 Reboot from today and taking back control, to lose a few more pounds and push down to a flat 8st. So, my positives today are:

1) Taking back full control of what I consume and recording daily.
2) Feeling well today and eager to start the new year properly.
3) Starting to plan our next trip to our home in Turkey – yippee!!

How did you get on with the wedding dress JackieM?

Happy New Year everyone

So, when I posted on the 2017 into 2018 reflections thread a week ago I was saying I’d been doing BSD since August and only put on 1lb ages ago, and then another 1lb recently, over the whole 5 months. Well, I can now hear my lovely old Dad’s voice ringing in my ears saying ‘That’ll teach you’. I’m 10st 2lbs this morning. 2lbs up this week; 3lbs up since Christmas Eve if you count the fact that I’d gone down to 9st 13lb for a day!

Not to worry. We’ve got a whole, lovely fresh year ahead of us, and still 3 weeks left on this challenge……. yeah! I love the title of this challenge, (thanks again, Marsie), and I’m determined to go about meeting the challenge just as it says on the tin.

So, my original mini-target was to lose 3lb to shift down into a healthy BMI – now it’s to lose 5lbs – still completely do-able.

I’m also sticking with just the 4 week challenge rather than doing the re-boot as I’m going to start upping my cals now (but super-slowly so shouldn’t have too much of an impact on this challenge) but, topcac, best wishes to you and everyone else starting the 8 week re-boot today. Also, thanks for the reminder about the water – keep forgetting.
Marie

Hi Claire07866 – the is a Reboot thread, populated by lots of folk who have gained, or want to lose a bit more, or who are new to the BSD. The one thing we all have in common, is we are looking to take on the BSD 800 seriously again and will be supporting each other along the way. Please join the thread and we will hopefully be able to help you get to where you want to be and maintain once there.

For info, there is also a maintenance thread – After reaching Target weight – which is very helpful when you are trying to get to grips with the next steps after weight loss.

Best of luck to you

Hi everyone – really great to see so many people joining the Reboot and such a mix of old ‘faces’ and new. Mrs getting there, I’m sure many of us can identify with the self sabotage issue, but this is a great place to come and vent when the demons get to you and you’ll definitely find the straight talking and encouragement you need to keep going.

So, this is me climbing aboard the Reboot bus. Had a bit of a disastrous day on New Years Eve, with too many carbs and poor hydration. Result was feeling really cr++py all day yesterday and still showing an increase on the scales this morning.

Weighed in today at 8st 5.6lb – 1.4lb under target weight, but as I am aiming to push down to a flat 8st now – well, I’m sure you can do the maths!

So, on this challenge my aim is clear and to achieve it from today I am back to the 800/20 regime; weighing/measuring all consumed and keeping daily records; using a 16:8 eating pattern; ensuring good hydration each day and building some kind of exercise regime, which has always been my bete noire.

Best of luck to one and all – those of us that have used the BSD before know we can do it and those who are new, be assured if we can do it, so can you. Keep posting.

Well done, Flick!

I’m on my 2nd day and have found reading about your results really encouraging.

Jax51 as you’re in the UK try http://www.fatsecret.co.uk I have also tried myfitnesspal but find Fatsecret simpler to use.

Thanks, Alliecat. I’ll start paying more attention to the carb counts.

You’ve lost a stone a month over a sustained period? Well done. That’s impressive – and very encouraging to me.

Hi there, I’m not sure where the advice of not doing the 800 for more than 3 months comes from, but I know for sure that there are many on the forum who have stuck to it for much longer than a 3 month period, to reach their desired weight and achieve a health BMI / rid themselves of meds for T2. However we all have to find a way to make the BSD WOL work for us, our bodies and our lifestyle, so if you feel you need to take a little time out and increase your cals/carbs then give it a try and see how you go. It is very easy to return to the 800 if you find weight loss is no longer happening and you want to push on.

Best of luck to you, no matter what route you decide to take.

Liz – dream job! Oh my goodness, I’ve always loved teeny tiny things. What a pleasure to do that on a daily basis.

Marie – it’s funny how our tastes change – am currently obsessed with courgette and spinach. Used to be obsessed with Parma ham – can’t touch it now. Mind you, used to be obsessed with biscuits so clearly body not infallible! 😂😳

Best of luck, with it. I’ve just had breakfast/lunch – courgette and spinach omelette with cheddar cheese cooked in butter. Yum. Can’t feel deprived after that! And have also thrown old cream away as that is my current kryptonite.

Hi Flick – very podgy tummy – yep, me too. Still, all to play for in 2018!

Thanks Natalie, i must admit I did feel a bit of a weirdo, plodding along here over Christmas/New Year. Still, better that than disappearing in a puff of sugar and carbs for months, or until my next annual GP lecture. And those lovely maintainers always keep me motivated.

Speaking of speedy and stylish, you must be really chuffed with your start to the year. Well done starting back early and so well. Seems to me its going to be a terrific, if occasionally bumpy, year all round. Lucky us!

Hi there, You and Yours on Radio 4 (UK) looking for people who have lost weight to tell them how and also how they kept it off. Strikes me there’s a few on here would be fab.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qps9/contact

Just heard it Radio, am not involved in it

Hi, I would love to join this challenge too if I could. I have struggled with my weight since having my children and to make matters more serious my gestational diabetes didn’t quite bounce away the fourth time round so I’ve been diagnosed type 2 diabetic. I’m very lucky to have an extremely supportive husband but I’m very guilty of self sabotage!! So I’m really hoping that this is the way to a much healthier me. My starting weight is 152.6 lbs and my ultimate goal weight would be 126lbs. For this challenge I’d be happy to lose 14lbs but any more would be great. Good luck everybody

Good morning, ladies! It’s wonderful seeing so many new faces at the start of
a new year. There is a whole contingent of maintainers who are ready, willing
and able to help you along the learning curve that naturally accompanies a
different way of thinking about food.
Andrea and Squidge, it concerns me that counting carbs doesn’t seem to be a priority for you yet. Both calories and carbs count on the fast800! 🙂 It may
seem tedious at the outset, but many concede that carbs are even more
important than calories. Carbs lurk everywhere! The generally accepted
goal is to be under 50gm per day, but most settle on 30 to achieve their
goals, and some of us go to <20 because we’ve learned by trial and error
that that is what was necessary for us to be successful. Andrea, a banana
and 2 pears alone = 69 gm of net carbs. Squidge, all root vegetables are
high in carbs, as are squash. I would recommend that you thoroughly
familiarize yourselves with the carb count in everything you consume to
start ( 1 med. onion has 9.6), not just the “white stuff”. Then you can make
an informed decision about what rate of weight loss is acceptable to you.
I was never diabetic, so I followed this program strickly for weight loss.
My rate of loss was a consistent 14lbs per month x 10 months, and
admittedly took a hardline <20gm carb per day to achieve it. Why not give
yourselves every opportunity to be successful?

Best wishes, I’m looking forward to seeing your progress!

Allie

Hi Liz and Jackie

Thanks both for responding, it’s really helped me to think things through.

Jackie – I remember a while ago you talking about the importance of listening to your body; funnily enough, it’s your words that have been in my mind the last couple of weeks. So, I’m going to take that advice. It’s a good idea to go back through the maintainer’s thread – will do that.

Liz – you’re right we are in a similar position. I’m also due my next hba1c in 3 months – end of March. So, I’m going to gradually up my cals while keeping to low carbs until then. Like you, I’ve not found the BSD too difficult (although I have gained 2lb this last week!) but unlike you (from your previous posts) my diet has narrowed from when I first started in August, so I’m going to concentrate on really widening out the variety of BSD-friendly foods I eat over the next 3 months. As Jackie says, we’re still likely to lose weight as we go so you may not need to do 800 again in March.

Really, again, thanks – I’ve got my way forward now.

Marie

Liz – apropos of absolutely nothing. I read your post to Allie about your job making miniature furniture, so was thinking about you while watching The Miniaturist over Christmas. I sincerely hope nothing like that goes on with the things you produce!

Yes I think I will need to still lose more after 12 weeks but it will be a much more manageable amount of weight to lose. The maintaining bit is normally where I fall down, life long bad habits take a lot of changing!
Good luck with your weight loss journey 🙂

Hello Miss Ziggy & Mixnmatch
Happy New Year & I’m here ready to get back on track. So far cupboards & fridge cleared of unhelpful carbs & today is a fast day. I need to reread the Cook book to get my head back around recipes etc & I know I will feel hungry & deprived starting again but have put fourteen pounds back over the last three months because of various family celebrations 🙀 I will miss wine & will try to forgo any Monday to Friday but allow myself a glass over the weekend. My weigh day will be on Sunday. I will also try to exercise more although my left Achilles’ tendon is still not completely back to normal yet🙁🤔
Good luck & onwards & downwards 👍👍
Margaret xx

Happy New Year to all. How nice to be sharing this challenge and benefiting from lots of experience and advice along the way.

My start weight is 83.1 kilos (down 7.4 from my start under the 4 week October 2017 challenge and a wobble at Christmas). My goal is a healthy BMI (79 kilos) by end Feb. A bit of wriggle room would be nice, but probably not realistic!

I aim to do this with 800/40, at least 8 cups of water a day, and a good hour’s walking + 10 mins stretching etc daily.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2018.

Bore da, from a very wet Wales. This group is just what I needed this morning. I logged on for the first time in months to search for advice on how to start again and found all of you.
I am determined to break the cycle once and for all and have weighed and planned meals for the next 3 weeks. At 13 st 13.2lb, my goal in these 8 weeks is to get out of the obese range in bmi and into the overweight section. By my calculations this should require about a stone loss and fingers crossed there’ll be a bit more.
Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding counting carbs please? I am not diabetic, ( that I’m aware of anyway) but reckon this may be where I’ve been going wrong in previous attempts.
Off to walk the new bouncy puppy. Enjoy your badminton mixnmatch, step counting sounds like a good measure Angela06 I’ll dig out my pedometer before I start walking. Jackiepp understand the poor sleep pattern problem, work in progress for me too.
Day 1 in action 😜🏃‍♀️👍

Xmas and NY celebrations over, with nice food, snacks, wine, but still healthy eating in between and not too much carbs. Still managed to lose 1 kg over those 2 weeks. So very happy with that.

Perfect Natalie, thank you very much – Fatsecret it is – takes the guess work out of it.

Yes a really good idea. Thank you Verano. Here is LTC’s link: https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/150-best-keto-side-dish-recipes-low-carb/
I hope the Tom Kerridge programme is better than the trailer in the Sunday Times. It sounded as if he personally had made great progress by cutting out carbs and alcohol, but that the diet he advocates in the programme is low-fat. We shall see!

Thanks V. Great idea for a thread. I’ll be watching!

Kxx

Hi All and a HAPPY NEW YEAR – I’m amazed by the response to this thread and thank you all for joining me in my quest to defeat the carb monster!!

2017 was a rough year weight wise for me and this all culminated on the scales this morning with a massive 9lbs gain over the festive period. Whilst this is utterly appalling and brings me to within half a stone of my original Pre BSD weight (gulp!) I will not be put off by this. Instead, I shall seek the company of all you lovely lot and we shall reboot together. I’ve had successes already. Yesterday I went for a 40-minute run – feeling it this morning but will not be put off! In addition to this, 2018 has been dry so far, and will remain so for this 8-week programme. My Fitbit has come out of mothballs (went in before my wedding in June and hadn’t come out since) and I have two colleagues at work who want to walk with me at lunchtimes.

So, lots to be positive about – I shall visit here as often as I can to share and encourage – thank you for sharing all your experiences so far – 8 weeks seems a lot for people, but just remember, we all did this at least once in our journey here – it is do-able with support and encouragement and there are bags of that all around this forum.

Much love all – TC xx

There’s something on channel 5 tonight about weight loss too (anyone would think it was the New Year!).

Hi, Clare.

We’ve just started. Our plan is to stick with the Fast800 until we’re target weights and then experiment to see what we can eat and still maintain a healthy weight.

All the very best to everyone on this special thread for 2018

Marie x

btw, Tillybud – that’s a great reduction in waist size!

A very happy new year to all my fellow 4-week challengers. I hope that this new year brings you health and happiness and everything you wish for yourselves.

Today I finally faced the scales and have gained 9lbs since 20 December. It’s a bit of a shock that it’s that much but I refuse to dwell on this and, instead have pinned up my ‘resolutions’ on my wall at work. I’m going all in on the Strict BSD800 and have started a thread for anyone that wants to join that 8 week reboot – but no pressure.

On the plus side – all the crap in the house is gone, everyone in the house is joining me, I went for a 40 minute run yesterday, 2 work colleagues are committed to lunchtime walking with me, I have no problem avoiding alcohol and I have an extremely limited wardrobe right now so what better motivation!

I’ll be posting on here as often as I can to keep you updated – meanwhile, I’m onto my second litre of water for the day!

Be good – and if you can’t be good, at least eat clean!

Yoghurt and berries sounds a great breakfast for summer, but I don’t fancy it at the moment. I’m going to have porridge (jumbo oats) or eggs over winter. I like both and find them filling, so that should work for me.

Sueblue, I’m doing ‘cook once, eat three times’! As I don’t like all the weighing and measuring, I’m going to make any suitable meals in triple batches and freeze two lots.

Will definitely watch both of those verano. Thank you. Something decent on TV at last!

Thanks for the encouragement, Marie.

I’m going to stick with the tea for now, but gradually try to cut down a bit and have more water instead.

Andrea, it’s a faff, but you’re going to have to weigh everything, look up the calories (plenty of sites online) and add it all up. That’s the aspect I like least. To make it easier I’m just counting calories, but I am avoiding everything I know is high carbs. (I rounded everything to the nearest 5 cals to help my maths!)

When I made dinner yesterday, I made three meals worth and froze two lots. I’m going to do that with all suitable meals. That gives me ready meals for when I can’t be bothered or am short of time.

Yesterday we got up so late and had eaten quite late the night before, so I skipped breakfast (hubby had oats). Lunch was home made carrot and coriander soup (I’d made it before and frozen it, so calories unknown). Dinner was chicken with butterbeans and mushrooms, served with carrots, sprouts and broccoli (500 cals), plus lots of tea and water. We took a long walk and had a go at some exercises (building that up gradually).

I’ve lost a pound. My husband only wants to weigh himself weekly. We both feel fine.

Hi there

I have found I continued losing weight once I stopped calorie counting, but kept to ‘principles’ of low carb. So I finished my 8 weeks on 64kg and am now 59.8kg (about a month or so on). I tend to yo-yo up and down the kilo I am currently on but with an overall downward trend. I am still v low carb but am relaxing veg and fruit constrictions. Not eating until brunch.

When I officially became a ‘maintainer’ lots of long term maintainers told me the weight would likely still drop, and so it has proved! They continued to drop pounds and pounds, though I think had a more scientific way of measuring the way they increased calories than I have. Maybe worth flicking back up the maintener thread to see if you can find their methods.

Hope this helps and congratulations on all you’ve achieved thus far.

All this talk of NYE fireworks in Sydney takes me back to an amazing NYE we spent at Milk Beach in Rose Bay about 15 years ago. It wasn’t the hubbub of the harbour but it was really magical. Would love to do it once more …..

I’ve noticed a good few articles in the Times lifestyle sections saying how eliminating food groups is ‘so 2017’ – the new thing is eating everything. Also how pasta is back. they’ve definitely decided to peddle that particular thought, I wonder who/what sponsorship is behind it.

For anyone with access to UK TV tomorrow, Wednesday January 3rd….
BBC 2 , 8pm, Tom Kerridge ‘ Lose Weight for Good’ followed by, at 8.30pm,
Michael Mosley ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor ‘ , a new series.

Thanks jellyfishjen, sounds like it was valuable to have that extra support. I tend not to use official BSD recipes though, I’ve always cooked and I just modify recipes I already use.

MnM – gonna try on wedding dress today, you’ve inspired me! X

Morning all. I’ve weighed in at 10st 4 and three quarters this morning which is half a pound down from yesterday. I’ll take that as I’m officially starting today. Still had wine left in a bottle and Christmas cake to finish but that’s it now. Verano good to see you a familiar ‘face’ from other challenges.

I have berries and yoghurt for breakfast simply to take tablets with. They have to be taken with food or after a meal. Never ate breakfast before. So along with steroids that’s probably where the 2st baggage came from! But soon it will be gone. Goats cheese pear and walnut salad for lunch, ox cheek casserole for dinner tonight with loads of veg. No wine and plenty of water. Good luck everyone x

Hi all

1) sinusitis finally going and lovely husband bought me some really good Vicks stuff without me asking (aww! ❤️)

2) husband bought me awesome size 10 clothes for Xmas and they all fit (double aww ❤️)

3) puppy can hold bladder really well now and I get a lie-in in the morning. Also he did not disgrace himself when we stayed over with friends NYE,

Xx

Happy New Year everyone. So over the last 6-7 years I’ve done diets lost weight, regained the weight. Last year I did 8 weeks of this way of eating and found it easy and manageable but then my old bad habits crept back in and here I am another new year weighing back where I started!

So this is me committing to not just 8 weeks but a change for life.

I am going to try and stick to the 800 calories until Easter which gives me 12 weeks to make a serious dent (hopefully) in the weight I need to lose. Then the plan is to stick with the general principals but without being too strict with the calorie counting.

Any help and support would be very welcome and I love reading everyone’s success stories as it really spurs me on. So get boasting about your success and help cheer me along, Thank you

I thought it might be useful to have a thread where we can pass on any book, article, YouTube video, TV program or recipe that we have personally found useful or thought provoking. I would like to find Luvtcook’s link to 150 side dishes but have no idea which thread it’s on …. please repost if you read this LTC. There are so many links I’ve lost ….

So let’s make this a ‘reference’ thread. I’ ll start it off with a book I’m reading at the moment…..
Reverse your Diabetes: The step-by-step plan to take control of type2 diabetes. By Dr David Cavan.
This is an interesting book if slightly less ‘readable’ than MM’s BSD. David Cavan is a UK diabetes specialist and he advocates low carb eating. However, he gives guidelines about the quantities of carbs per day. He seems to be more relaxed about the amount of carbs that can be eaten so may be worth reading. I have to say I’m only half way through but it is reinforcing my belief in BSD.

There is also a YouTube video which I’ve not watched but may give a flavour of his work.

Please post a reference for anything you have found useful on this journey.

Hi everyone, my plan is to be 57kg in 8 weeks time – only 2kg to do it (3 stone down so far) but it is a slow process for me at this end of the diet, lots of yo-yoing up and down the kilos as the go down.

My main aim is to reduce the amount of cream I eat (we bought too much at Xmas, it’s out of date now so I will chuck it today) and to concentrate on 2 meals a day with lots of green veg and protein. To make every meal mean something nutritionally. Not to just eat meat and cheese, which is largely what happened when I was at the start of this, which I I think is OK to get the weight off for a short time but not sustainable or healthy long term.

Good luck all, great reading your posts.

I’ve just done the opposite to you, Mnm, and added another half kg since Boxing day. 63kg this morning. That’s 1kg up since 19 December.

I know quite a few of us are going back to the start again i.e. 8 weeks strictly to plan and i wish you all well with that. For me, the thought of 8 weeks is defeating and I remain grateful to Verano (hi there, V,) for her original idea of the 4 week challenge. I’ll continue with that time frame while concentrating on removing the, so far, ever-present carb monster from my life. Moving forward, one day at a time (I’ve switched it, Busybee, mfodaat😊)

Flick, what a great job you’re doing. You HAVE made it this far and I’m looking forward to following your further progress👏😊

Butterlover, I know you’ve planned some heavy physical work around home in the next few days. There’s your exercise, now plan your food and you’ll be flying again😇

SueBlue and Mariet, we lived in Sydney (Castle Hill) from 1991-95. I can’t imagine the on-water harbour traffic is any less now than it was then. Weekends and holidays it could be quite frenetic. Sue, I know what you mean about sitting in the sun just to claim a spot … OH and I chose not to line up for seats in the members at the WACA last night, just too tired to do that on a warm day after NYE.

JGwen, so interesting, and so clever of you to link the two sets of information in this way. Keep is posted on your research, won’t you.

Best wishes everyone, hope more positive weigh-ins are posted, and that we all do well in this new year 💜💜