Thank you Allie it’s been driving me nuts!
I’ll give you a bit of an update while I’m here. I still think I’m doing pretty well but have hit a few speed bumps. On Thursday my blood results showed my potassium was dangerously high. As a renal patient this is a bit different to the rest of you but it sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I’ve been really enjoying the bsl diet. Anyway after waiting 6 weeks the renal dietician finally turned up. Straight up “the diet is not renal “ etc . “Do Lo fat eat 5 x bread” etc so I said look at my weight loss, look at my bsl results…. to her credit she sat with me for about 11/2 hours and we went through everything I eat. All the wonderful salad and veges need to either be limited or boiled before use, meaning only small salads. I have been having a commercial diet shake for breakfast which I’ve now stopped. So I took her advice and started changing my diet but still basically following the BSD. I bought a loaf of heavy rye . I cut it super thin and had it as a snack on Saturday . Subsequently my BSL went to 12.2! And was hard to get down again. Today I’m waiting on blood results to see if the potassium is now down. I’ll update later. As long as I watch the potassium and phosphorus I think it should be doable. I know I feel much better on it. Hearing the whole do low fat eat more carbs , I know it doesn’t work for me. So have modified it a bit while I wait for the potassium result. I’m having a nut snack and a few other things as I was also told The 800 cal might also be causing the potassium to rise. We’ll see, wish me luck as it did upset me but I’m determined to sort this. I haven’t been weighing in to all the conversations here yet but I’m really enjoying all the tips and support.

Hey, Flick, you negotiated a much anticipated weekend like a rockstar! So, so well done!
It does get easier, doesn’t it?? Kazzi’s image of the yellow visceral fat is one that
everyone can appreciate, regardless of where they might be on this journey to wellness.

May you continue to pile success upon success!

Allie

Oh Esnecca – the rare miracle of the matching reds! I thought it was a myth. Not a ky are those boots totally gorgeous, that looks like a fabulous skirt. I cannot wait to reach my taget weight and discover what lovely new styles will suit my new fit, slim bod.

Yikes – nail polish, that hadn’t ocurred to me. I usually have painted toe nails (love Opi colours) but just clear finger nails. And here I have been admiring how much stronger my nails are. Yippee, something else stylish to play with.

Maybe enjoying it even more than you are, Essie. You are the pied piper, and where
you go, we follow!

🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie

Milalin, it stands for way of eating, and way of life.

I can hardly believe it ismthe end of week three of the December Challenge. Next weigh in will be Boxing Day and we’ll all be thinking about our New Year commitments and target.

Thanks to the massive .9kg whoosh on Saturday I’m happy to report Week 3 challenge drop of 1.1kg bringing me to 71.1kg. I’ve been this weight now for 4 days, so I’m hoping for another lovely whoosh before Boxing Day to get me close to my challenge target of 70kg. My other commitment was no alcohol and I’m not having too much difficultynwith that. My plan is no alcohol for thr full 8 weeks and with 5 completed I’m feeling good a out meeting thatbyarget.

Best news though, I have now lost 6cm from my waist and 5cm from my hips! Yippee.

I spent the weekend away with my scuba diving friends, starting with Christmas drinks party at the dive shop on Friday night followed by dinner with a couple of friends who were not heading to the coast with us on Saturday. I managed to stay on plan all weekend, however, following some other clever person on this forum who gathered up all the snacks she woukd have eaten in a day and put them in a tin, I made a list of all the things I would have eaten and alcohol I would have drunk from Friday to Sunday evening. And I have to say it is a startling and slightly gross list. Even with all the exercise undertaken over the weekend I would have been thousands of calories in excess of requirements and my poor old liver would have had to turn most of the food (vast majority of which would have been quite high quality but carb and sugar loaded) into fat while it dealt with the aocohol! 🤢🤢🤢

I’m going to keep this list and the vision of toxic yellow visceral fat at front of mind whenever a cheat day seems like a good idea or misplaced notion of a well earned reward.

WOE: Way of eating

WOL: Way of life

🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing well! I have a question, I might sound like an idiot. What does WOE:WOL -weight… stand for ?

Morning,

I can hardly believe it is the end of week 5 and begining of week 6. Where has the time gone?

As reported earlier, the 7 day stall finally broke last Saturday and while I’ve now been at that weight for 4 days, the whoosh means I have a good weight loss to report for this week. Here’s the run down –

Starting weight 78.3
End Week 4 – 72.2
End Week 5 – 71.2
Week 5 loss = 1.1kg
Total loss over 5 weeks = a whopping 7.2kg.

BMI starting point = 28.7 now 26.1

Now that is pretty thrilling but wait, there is more –

Starting waist measurement =90cm
End week 5 = 84cm 🌟🌟🌟🌟🎉🎉🎉🎉🤩🤩🤩 6 whole centimetres (2 and a bit inches!)
Starting Hip = 109cm
End week 5 = 104cm 🌟🌟🌟🌟🎉🎉🎉🎉🤪🤪🤪 5 lovely centimetres (a smidgenunder 2 inches)

I am starting to be able to see the difference.

In other news it is going to be 39o C here today, so I have no excuse but tomstay in doors and wrap presents.

Natalie, happily this WOE presents us with many options, low carb, 5:2 and Fast800,
and any and all permutations in between! I always see it as a learning curve, however
we choose to approach it. I’m an all or nothing perfectionist type, so I can only speak
to what has been successful for me. There are few aspects of life where I’m
comfortable not being in control, and for the first time in almost 2 decades I’m
the one calling the shots with respect to my body and diet. My only wish for everyone here
who is not happy with their weight or wellness is that they master the formula
for cracking their own personal “obesity code”. That’s one of the reasons why we
maintainers that have reached our objectives remain active on these threads, for
us it is a way of “paying it forward”. I didn’t even find these forums until I had already
lost an extreme amount of weight. Inspite of this fact, I was warmly welcomed into
the fold and it has been transformative. I DO and will continue to wish the same for
everyone on this journey, regardless of whatever news the scales deliver to us each
morning!
Be the best that you can be,

Allie

I prefer jus to gravy. It’s yummy and brothy and salty and you can tell what’s in it. Meat absorbs it far better than it absorbs gravy and you can convert leftovers into soup or add it to salad dressing to thin it out without needing to use high calorie oils.

There are no-carb solutions to making thick gravies, dressings and sauces, by the way. Xantham gum, guar gum and glucomann/konjac powder are all insoluble fiber so have zero net carbs. Sprinkle a tsp per cup of liquid and whisk hard until it disappears. Wait a couple of minutes. That’s all she wrote. You can see it visibly thicken before your eyes. I buy mine in bulk at the organic food store, but you can also easily find plant gums online.

Theo, I weep for your mother’s lost clothes. I hope they went to good homes even though it wasn’t yours. I’m very grateful that my mom develops sentimental attachment to clothes and has lugged them around every time they moved no matter how incovenient. I got her a vintage 100% cashmere cocoon coat from the 1960s for Christmas this year and already gave it to her (she was in desperate need of a properly warm winter coat) and she fell in love with it at first site. She immediately hit her closet of wonders and tore through it digging up a dozen old scarves, shawls, fur collars, stoles and even a mink muff. One gorgeous (and ENORMOUS!) embroidered silk Valentino scarf looked so chic and vibrant draped around her shoulders like a capelet. It was the greatest thing to see her enjoy her beautiful old clothes again as much as I have enjoyed them. 🙂

Thank you, ladies, for the lovely words about the thread. I’m so glad you’re enjoying it as much as I am.

Flick, we can most certainly talk about lipstick. I went to the store a few weeks ago to replenish my Biotin, Vitamin C and Magnesium Citrate supplements and walked out with 60 dollars worth of new lipsticks, glosses and liners, all as red as red can be. There may have been a bottle or two of different shades of red OPI nail lacquer in there too. 😀

I got a chance to take my shiny red lips out for a joyride to my guy’s office holiday party Friday night. Red turned out to be the dominant accent color, thanks to the new lippy and the Christmas miracle of my happy red tights being the exact same shade as my extremely hot red ankle boots. I bought them weeks apart and it didn’t even enter my my mind that they might match because they’re such different fabrics and besides, random reds never match. There’s always some variation. When I held them up against each other I was shocked and amazed at the perfect union.

https://s13.postimg.org/fbya10wqv/party.jpg

Yes, yes, yes, Natalie! Feeding up our loved ones with unhealthily made gravy isn’t
the way to show love. Serving jus is a fine idea! I’ve read recently on these forums that
“eating well/healthily is a form of self respect. I very much like that concept!

All best wishes for the new year,

Allie

Have had the week from hell, including a 41 hour day last Tuesday, so everything went out the window. Back on track as of today. Weight
: 78.6.

Recent studies in mice show that a restricted calorie diet can increase lifespan by 50%. Also, intermittent fasting (same total calories but only eating every second day) improves brain function. They are going to test 5:2 IF in humans.

Essie, I’ve had many replies using my new email account, so it might be possible
that I have not recorded your address correctly. No worries though, we can always reach each
other by phone. We have logged in several hours by now, all extremely enjoyable
on my end.
I never see your comments as peevish , but only as extremely valuable insights
on how you’ve made this WOL work for you. You have made me laugh, cry and
salute your indominable (sp?) spirit, and celebrate every joy and accomplishment with
you. You are an icon on this forum, and I’m just one of many that continue to learn
from you on a regular basis. Will talk soon, and hope to reschedule our evening
together in the near future 🙂 🙂 🙂 I can’t believe my good fortune in having you both
located in our area. A true gift to be grateful for!!
Turning everything back over to Lucia! You are a delight.

Allie

Wine isn’t a problem for me Donnaellen – but a world full of Doritos is!

Sorry Lucia for bringing down your happy thread! I will be joining you in breaking a few rules (and I’m not actually derailing my diet because I haven’t properly started yet). And yes you are wonderful.

I can’t quite drop this subject without responding to an issue. Esnecca you talk about a carb addicted person being stuck in an insulin spike cycle and them needing the BSD more than anyone, or words to that effect. Yes indeed. But…. so how do you end this. And don’t say ‘just don’t eat carbs’ to an addicted person, please! Does that work with heroin addicts? There is a scene in the movie As Good As it Gets where Melvin barges into his psychiatrist’s office and is told he isn’t allowed to do that. Melvin says “Dr Green, how can you diagnose someone as an obsessive compulsive disorder, and then act like I have some choice about barging in here?”

Alliecat apparently you just told your body that was the way it was going to be. Well I envy you that it worked! I’ve have done BSD before, on the good rounds I last around six weeks, try to be perfect, then slip and slip and slide away. Apparently my body doesn’t listen when I tell it no. Well, I’m not giving up and I’m about to try again. But it’s not just a matter of deciding.

Good luck Natalie. I have done it once….but not with any real commitment! And didn’t prepare for it. This time my husband will doing it too, so I can get all the junk food out of the house. Giving up my wine will be my biggest challenge.

Allie, I didn’t receive your email. I checked the spam folder and it’s not there either. Whether my post was on topic is debatable. Since it was a direct response to an ethos that is often unquestionably accepted in the wider world as well as on this forum, I thought it was very much on topic. Still, I take your larger point that you were too delicate to make, namely that this is Lucia’s thread to steer however she wishes. I’ll take myself and my holiday pet peeve out of the equation.

Great advice about using this week for preparation. I too am starting after Christmas (not my first time though, I’ve done BSD three (? I think) times before over the past two years) and I’m using this time to plan some meals and increase water.

Hello Donnaellen – there’s lots of support on the forum, which is populated by many friendly and supportive people. It certainly got me through some sticky times and eventually to my ultimate goal. Every four weeks, there is a four week challenge kicked off, which is definitely worth joining, as everyone posts a goal for the four weeks and reports on progress, supporting each other when things aren’t going well and helping you celebrate successes.

Could I suggest starting to cut out at least some of the carbs from your daily intake now, so that you begin to acclimatise – it may even result in a pound or two dropped, even before you start the BSD proper. It’s also worth making sure you are hydrating well, another step you can take before actually starting on this new way of eating.

Make good use of the forum, it’s a great place to vent when things are not going so well and someone will respond with advice and encouragement to help you push ahead and stick with it.

Have a great festive season and best of luck to you when you start the BSD properly.

Hi natalie,

Or lucia’s law, if you cant cope with brick size pieces of life
Go for lego sizes instead,

And they are more useful,
Colourful,
More connections
More creative
More imagination.

I who am wonderful are going to break all the rules,

I am going to have choclate
Pringles
Toast with real butter,

But not all in the one meal.

Over christmas.

Then one lego at a time , i will do the bs diet,
Bit by bit

I will recover and
Lose a bit more weight
Then get healthier.

Want to join me

Love lucia
Xxxx

Essie, this is very off topic for the thought provoking discussion in progress here today.
I’ve sent you a new email address that has the quirks worked out, and will appear
on your device as “allie’s functional email”, just in case it ends up in your spam!

I think it was inevitable that the subject of how to approach holiday eating would
eventually manifest itself. What I appreciate the most about fully embracing this
WOL for the past 17-18 months is that it has completely changed my tastes, and
after avoiding bread substitutes and sugar substitutes for the duration, they no
longer present a temptation for me. I feel no sense of missing out on the treats
available to me, and I don’t think I would have arrived at this empowered place if
I had allowed myself “treats” along the way. I simply informed my body that no
carbs or substitute carbs, no sugar or substitute sugar would be coming its way,
and it better get used to the new normal. There is no momentary gratification
that can possibly compete with wearing size small clothing or moving my body
effortlessly from place to place. It took me 17 years to gain 147 lbs. and 10 months
to get rid of it. Why would I change a single thing or take a single risk because of
a holiday??? It’s a non starter for me. I wish you all healthy choices and peace of
mind in the days ahead.

Merry Christmas 🙂

Allie

I am about to start the BSD…..right after Christmas! Have read the 8-week blood sugar diet and am browsing the recipe book. Reading all the info on this forum is very encouraging so hope I can stick to this. I am a type 2 diabetic, am approx. 2 stone overweight and have high triglycerides and cholesterol. Clearly I have some work to do. In my favour, I do enjoy working out and attend the gym 2-3 times weekly. Will likely be looking for some support in the upcoming weeks.

The problem I have with the two types of people theories is that it’s purely a psychological analysis and presumes our biologies are all the same blank canvas in the background. People who have blood sugar issues cannot lose weight if they keep eat carbs, even “treats” every once in a while will trigger the BG spike, the insulin release and the fat retention, plus all the reignited cravings. That can only be defeated one way: by breaking the cycle. Feeding it over and over again with cheat days and treats makes it a constant battle, a really hard one which most people lose. It’s also self-reinforcing. Maybe the type of person who is so carb-addicted that they binge at the mere thought of a low-carb diet is so hungry for them precisely because they’re stuck in an insulin spike cycle. There’s also the gut biome issue. Feed the deleterious sugar-craving microorganisms and you will continue to crave sugar. Feed the good flora and fauna with live cultures and pre/probiotics and your cravings will do a 180 degree flip towards the tart, tangy and sour. The types of people thing doesn’t account for biological realities that play a very important role in how we relate to different foods.

Anyway, don’t be sad, Natalie! There are still cake options, even for low-carbers. Check out Luvtcook’s fantastic low-carb baking recipes. She’s been experimenting with the flourless and sugarless bakecraft arts for years and has it down to science. I made a coconut cream pie with a toasted almond meal crust for a holiday event this weekend and it came out pretty darn great. Even my father, who is as far from a low-carber as you can imagine, loved it. 🙂

I’m still weighing and measuring too — two years into BSD. I never made any of the recipes either, just cobbled together the foods that I liked into meals I liked.
Here I go again, Benns, but I recommend you get a copy of Gary Taubes book “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” — it will clarify WHY carbs matter and help you plan/aim for a very low daily carbohydrate intake. In combination with the BSD, it changed my life.

I think the point Esnecca makes is really valuable for all BSD’rs.
Over the last two years of following a BSD diet, now in maintenance, I have come to look at the foods we like to call “treats” or “cheats” as only troublemakers — they aren’t a treat, they are stealth agents and they create and perpetuate a cascade of inflammation and high blood sugar leading to metabolic dysfunction and permanent high-insulin states in the body.
If you are diabetic or pre-diabetic or “just” fat, eating carbohydrate turns on, and keeps on, your insulin pump. When your insulin is high, you literally cannot break down fat for fuel. It “locks away” your fat and you are actually starving on a cellular level.
In addition, fats are critical for hundreds of biological activities in your body and brain and when you are eating carbohydrates, you are not allowing fats to fuel all those important processes.
So we would benefit from a different mind-set: why do we need to have carbohydrate to enjoy our holidays?
It’s an odd thing we do in our society, glorifying sweet stuff that actually just creates long term damage to our bodies.
If you decide to eat some sweet stuff, limit yourself to a few bites and jump back on the BSD wagon the very next meal.

I did my own thing too, Benns. Never followed a single recipe from either of the books. I love to cook so I adapted old favorites to BSD principles and as I got increasingly comfortable with it introduced new ingredients and fun experiments. Every morsel was weighed and counted, though, because I discovered on the first day that my estimates and ballpark figures were off by miles. It’s been a year and a half and I still measure and count to ensure my carb numbers never rise again. I’m insulin resistant and I know from hard experience that carbs of any kind will lead to snowballing weight gain. It’s actually a good sign that while your losses have stalled, you haven’t put pounds back on. I bet your body will respond very well to a stricter carb-counting regime.

Good luck!

Just a quick check in, was wondering how things are going with you, Theo. Hope you are okay and that the family thing is at least on the way to being resolved.

Hope everyone else is okay too. This time of year is packed with temptations and stresses, so hope you are all coping with successfully maintaining and still managing to enjoy this festive time. We have had a few hectic days with family, so a family meal at home, a meal out, a take away and a few cocktails too, but managing to maintain with 4lb wriggle room at the moment. Seem to have the Christmas prep under control at the moment and not stressing too much about things still needing to be done, which is an unusual state of affairs for me at this point in the year.

Only a week to go to the main event – have a good time everyone!

Just dropped in to have a quick read and see how everyone is getting on with the challenge. Congrats to all of you posting scale and non-scale victories. It’s tough sticking with it this time of year and so gaining any positive on the BSD front is a big plus.

Well done everyone and to those not so successful, don’t give up, it will happen for you too.

Doing your own thing is fine, many of us do that, but you still have to account for the calories and carbs, especially if you are still trying to lose weight and not just maintain. Only thing I would add to the excellent advice above, is make sure you are keeping hydration up. This is something that often slips and is essential for maintaining the body functioning at optimum, but even more so when you are looking to lose weight.

Best of luck to you, I’m sure you can get back to losing successfully, just keep an eye on those sneaky carbs.

Kazz, never thought about earlobes getting chubby, but see no reason why they wouldn’t be effected by weight gain along with every other part of the body. Exciting that you will be able to wear those special earrings at Christmas.

Natalie, you’re sounding even more organised than me and I’m just a bit envious you’ve managed to clear out the freezers too! I was planning to do that too, but was stymied by an Aga that refused to work correctly, meaning instead of being able to cook up stuff from the freezer, I had to buy in microwave meals. Hoping to impact on the freezers this week.

1) Lovely meal out with OH yesterday.
2) Going to finish the present wrapping today – hooray!
3) Back to full wriggle room today, with 4lb to spare.

Looking forward to reading lots more positive posts. Have a good week everyone.

I always choose to be 26. Youthful without being childish.

SurreyMaggie and veerle, those are great results. Isn’t it a relief when the scales start moving again. And improving bmi is so encouraging.

After a seven day stall I woke on Saturday to a .9kg loss overnight. I was stunned.

Well done managing so well while away with work veerle. I’m finding that challenging situations get easier each time. I’ve been away on the weekend, no real trouble sticking to my plan although as I wasn’t snacking was always ready for lunch or dinner earlier than the group of friends I was with. They didn’t mind.

Weigh in tomorrow, I almost expect another stall.

Good morning and thank you all for your good wishes and kind words. Again today I have just one positive. Yesterday I celebrated with my family and friends and had a lovely party. I do feel as though I have achieved a great deal on BSD but it really is now just a case of keeping on keeping on ….

Tomorrow I’ll be back with three positives to add to the thread. BTW Busybee I think you’re right about a change in outlook, but I really don’t like a number starting with 7 so I think from today I’m going back to 60 something, especially as I’m still 18 in my head!!!

Well done Maggie, 8kg over 4 weeks !

I achieved 0.5kg this week. And the total loss over the 4 weeks is 6kg, which feels good. Not entirely sure how much I actually weigh now, as I started off with old-fashioned bathroom scales, then after 2 weeks realised I had digital scales in the cupboard that needed a new battery, but they showed my weight to be 1.5kg higher than the bathroom scales (help!). I’ll need a 3rd one to check which one to believe 😉 The bathroom scales definitely show 6kg down and I now monitor daily with the digital scales.

I dont feel it’s been hard at all so far. Seeing the change in my face and body is definitely worth it.

Many congratulations on all your achievements Verano and enjoy your birthday. You were one of the first people I read about when I joined this forum, and I have watched your ups and downs which often matched mine, and now we both seem to be in a good place. Perhaps being 70 (or in my case just 71) has changed our outlook? Who knows?
X B

Thank you very much for all the replies to my post, it has made me realise I have not been following the BSD as accurately as I should be and need to follow some of the very helpful advice given.
When I started I did follow the diet in the book to the letter but found quite a few of the recipes disappointing so did my own thing and thought if I was losing weight then it was okay, but I now realise I need to do more.

Well, anyway, I’ve never stuck to a diet in my life so please don’t take my advice! Listen to someone who has been successful.

Now I’m sad. No cake, ever again.

I agree mindset is extremely important! And the subject of cheat days or whatever you want to call them is a very important topic, I think. And I can’t promise that what I think right now is what I’ll believe tomorrow, or in a year. But right now, some thoughts:

It has been argued that there are two personality types when it comes to sticking to something like a way of eating. Those who do really well by cutting out all forbidden foods, and those who panic if faced by the thought of deprivation and start bingeing and who would do better if they allowed themselves regular small treats. And maybe this is the same person before and after they get used to the new regime. If the thought of deprivation makes you abandon the woe altogether, wouldn’t a slower imperfect approach be better than giving up because you can’t face no more cake ever?

And another issue is the type and amount of ‘treat’. I don’t care much for alcohol so have no trouble avoiding it. And I have no intention of filling up on cheap junk. But roast potato with my turkey and veges – yes, definitely. And some dessert that I will make myself. And I am planning that ahead of time without feeling like it will be a disaster.

Hi Benns, I suspect your carb counts are too high. I second Allie’s point about how important measuring, weighing and calculating are. Until you do that thoroughly and accurately, you won’t know how many carbs a day you’ve been eating. Vegetables, pulses, legumes are not carb-free. There are plenty that are packed with carbs, including, as it happens, tomatoes, chickpeas, and fruits of any color. I checked the Heinz tomato soup stats and one of that stuff has a whopping 27 grams of carbs, 20 of them from sugar. That’s extremely high, and little wonder because tomatoes are fruits and are high in sugar, plus those Heinz finks add even more. There’s sugar and cornflour on the ingredient list.

I wouldn’t be surprised if your carb counts were closer to 100 gr a day than 20. Snag a food logging app like MyFitnessPal or Fat Secret and start looking up ingredients and portion sizes before you eat. Plan ahead. Sort out your real numbers. Most of all, drop the sugar, even natural sugars like from tomatoes, as far down as humanly possible. Your pancreas will thank you. 😉

Sure, and in fact being mired in self-loathing after falling off the wagon is extremely damaging psychologically and counterproductive to weight loss goals. But it’s not after the fact. Christmas is a week away. Why create a narrative well in advance to make youself feel better for a disaster that hasn’t happened? At a certain point doesn’t that just become a self-fulfulling prophecy? Why not plan a joyous and vibrant celebration where you can feel great the whole time? If things don’t go according to plan, you deal with it when it happens, but shouldn’t the baseline be to aim for success?

I think it’s so worthwhile to make a real effort to reframe the definition of “treat,” to use your WOE as a shield and staff to give you strength, not to assume days, weeks beforehand that you will succumb to old habits at the first sight of a pie and accept it with a fatalistic sigh. We romanticize these foods and give them power over us for no reason. I mean, let’s face it, there is some pretty terrible traditional Christmas fare. That fruitcake with the half walnuts on top that my parents used to get from a catalogue every year? I shudder to recall. I’d take a pile of roasted chicken over that any day.

Besides Natalie, as you know, I wasn’t thin last Christmas. Or the Christmas before that. Or the one before that one. Ibid going back to 1994 at least. I am very familiar with what it takes to remain in agonizing stasis for a few decades. Mindset matters. Maybe more than anything else.

Esnecca we know you are… strict… in your application of dieting rules. Sometimes I agree, other times I think a little of what you fancy won’t hurt. But you are thin and I am not, so I can’t argue that from a position of strength. But can we agree that, being human, we (some of us) make mistakes and that we should be gentle and forgiving to ourself after the fact – without that implying that we give ourselves permission before the fact?

This approach is not for me. All the more power to y’all if it helps, but it just reads like a deliberate plan to destroy your progress and lock you into a constantly repeating cycle of carb binges interrupted by attempts to get back on the BSD rather than just doing the BSD period. Christmas is not a sorcerer that takes over your body and forces you to eat terribly. There is nothing inherent in the holiday, and nothing inherent in you, that makes such an ugly fate inevitable. Why not plan for success instead of rationalizing a failure that hasn’t happened yet?

Hi Lucia, lovely to ‘see’ you again. You are always one of my favourites to read. And yes, let us gently draw a veil of the 24 hours of Christmas, or the 12 days of Christmas if needed. Forgive yourself any mistakes. Progress not perfection, as has been said by someone or other. To err is human, to really stuff things up requires a computer. And don’t forget, Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Cole’s Law – thinly sliced cabbage. Am I taking nonsense?

Busybee, what a eo derful christmas NCV. Such a great motivator and Natalie, congrats on the loss. You will be heading into Christmas in a great place. Sueblue, lordie the heat is something else isn’t it!

I weigh in tomorrow but wanted to check in to log how thrilled I am to report that I made it through my weekend away with dive friends completely on plan! Even as I shuddered with cold after a 60 minute dive in about 15C water, I found it quite easy to pass on the jelly snakes. Happily chose BSD options at the catered picnic lunch and even managed to enjoy meals out at cafes and pubs and sunset/verandah drinks without alcohol. I passed on the champagne and delicious looking gin and tonics, happily, I repeat happily, sipping tea. One friend did find it a bit awkward but I did not, despite a bit of pressing and questioning.

So that’s me safely through a couple of particularly challenging social events this silly season. Now if I could just get started on present wrapping all woukd be right with the world.🙃

Hello, Benns. There is a whole community of maintainers here that would be more
than happy to try to figure out why you have hit a stall in your weight loss after
2 months of successful BSD. What are your daily averages for carbs and cals?
Do you weigh and measure everything? There is a paucity of information in your
history of “replies created”. Happy to make suggestions if you would add to your
personal history!

Best,

Allie

Hi gang,

So can we all make a promise to ourselves?

That if we go weird for 24 hours over christmas , with say, booze, food, sweets, laziness etc.
That we can fogive ourselves and put it down to
A. An r in the month
B. The moon phase
C, planets out of wack
D. The shampoo we used
E, standing on a crack in the pavement
F. A black cat went within 500 miles of us

And we all meet back here on boxing day.
We can call boxing day…. balance day
Or putting things back in wack day.

And we ignore 24 hours.

Nothing to see here, move along please…..

Love lucia
Xxxx

I would try switching to 2 meals a day, extend your overnight fast if you can to lunchtime and then eat your first meal, or if it suits you better just breakfast and dinner. It sounds like you may have reached the point where your intake calories are balanced by your TDEE so you have stopped losing. Failing that try a strict logging period, weigh everything and stick to 800 a day, that should be enough for anyone to lose weight.