Can’t stop thinking about Theodora and Alliecat and your continuing weight loss, especially given during the process it takes people a long time sometimes and lots of plateaus and stalling. I would love (as I am sure you would!) to know what is happening – do you think your muscles are now just so good at converting energy from fat you are in SuperDrive? I’d love to know at a biological level what was going on, it’s fascinating. Maybe MM would know?! Maybe you should drop him a line?! I love that our bodies are so responsive to change, after years of struggling and never getting anywhere, given the right ingredients.

Hi JackieM

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. Yes, I remember reading you had been working with a Personal Trainer for a while before BSD – wasn’t it the result of a back or shoulder problem, through rehab?

Ok so onward with the diet it is, then, which is fine as the ultimate goal is to control my blood sugars and this will be my woe long-term. I’ve still got approximately another 2 stone to lose so still time to reduce that body fat %. I plan to have another body scan (£5 at leisure centre) at the end of the 12 weeks – as you say, no point before – so will see then if there’s been any % change.

Given that exercise has been an alien concept to me I am actually enjoying the gym. Of course I know me and it’s very early to say about the long-term but enjoying something is half the battle.

Thanks again for responding and hope maintaining goes well for you.
Cheers
Marie x

Hi Marie123 – it is isn’t it and crept up on me as I normally get off scales before I see %. I’ve been weight training longer than I’ve been on BSD so I have to say I think it’s the diet. Also, it took a while to change, partly why I stopped checking.

I love weight training, it gets you out of breath without noticing! And compound exercises using your own body weight. My PT is an ex-gymnast and big into core work. I joke I’ve done so many squats and lunges I must be good enough to stop now! But they build up the big muscles in leg and bum which then keep on burning calories. I am in no way bulky, though, but I do feel very strong and centred.

Best of luck with it, I hope the PT suits you and you find out it’s something you love xx

Hi everyone, still at the same weight but happy to have already lost just over 3lbs which means I have 7lbs to go to reach my Christmas goal so will make an all out effort starting Monday but still being strict over the weekend. Today I have had a blueberry and green tea smoothie which was only around 75 calories then tuna and cream cheese dip with red pepper and celery around 170 calories and tonight I am having steak with a mushroom sauce and cauli mash – around 400 calories – so a total of 650 calories leaving space for a couple of glasses of wine.

I have just watched a video by a nutritionist which helped me understand overeating (which I rarely do now). She talked about white carbs and processed food creating pleasure sensations stimulating the production of dopamine which makes us want more of that feeling hence desire to eat more. Then she explained that creation of more insulin (the fat magnet) cut off the production of ghrelin which decreases appetite and then cuts out the leptin which tells us when we are full. I guess a lot of you already know about these processes but it just put into perspective what it is that bad carbs actually do to our bodies, giving a scientific explanation why this diet actually works and why we can survive on 800 calories. We lose the desire for those trigger foods because we have cut down the dopamine and insulin. If you are interested her book is called If I Am So Smart Why Cant I Lose Weight. Not promoting it, just a similar study as the Gary Taubes book – this one is American and I didn’t check out the price.

Hope you are all having a good weekend. I walked to the market this morning and bought a new foundation (face cream) in Yves Rocher and received free gift of hand cream, winter berry shower gel and a body scrubber (washer). I then bought some gold earrings which in the UK are called sleepers and in France they are called creoles. Now I dont work I rarely wear earrings and the holes have been healing up so I want something I can wear daily and to sleep in. Oh and I bought some spinach then realised it was organic hence the outrageous price. Hey ho. Keep on keeping on….

Hi Dreamscometrue thanks for your encouragement it’s great news that we only have 7lbs to go ! I’m starting a renewed effort and that means no wine until Xmas ! I will report in to let you know how it goes !

Hi JackieM

That drop in your body fat % is brilliant. Can I ask what you (and others, Theodora ?) think it is down to – is it the diet or more the weight training? I had a body scan a couple of weeks ago and my fat % was 46 – and that’s after I’ve lost a chunk of weight, which is a bit shocking.

I’ve just joined this 12 week exercise on referral programme. As part of it I’ve just started going to the gym. The trainer has set me a programme to do but I thought if there’s any particular exercises which people think are particularly helpful I could ask the trainer to incorporate them into my routine.

Any advice would be really appreciated. I’m a complete novice so think it would be good to try things out in the gym where the trainer can check I’m doing them right.
Marie x

Good morning … WEEK 3 / DAY 4 … heading towards the last week …..

I hope refocusing is working for you. I had another day yesterday without breakfast and I think I have cracked it now because I’m no longer hungry in the morning. So to today I will have brunch around 1pm. Also I’m finding it’s possible to cut way back on carbs eating this way. I know missing breakfast isn’t for everyone but if you are finding it difficult to stay low carb give it a go, unless you have diabetes when it may be unwise to ‘fast’.

Very interesting post Ancient Weaver I’m going to read it again thoroughly later.

Good to ‘see’ you Sueonit think maybe we all suffer with bingo wings …. those that don’t are bound to respond!

Have a good day/weekend all.

Panda Bear – isn’t that brilliant to have lost 10% and be so close to losing 15% of your body weight. But also to have gone from having bgl readings in double figures to 5s and 7s – that’s a fantastic result. You do right to record it – and celebrate it.

I’m 1lb away from being 10 stone 13lb instead of 11 stone and I’ve just plateaued for ages. But, it’s nice and sunny here today (not warm of course). That doesn’t happen often this time of year in the North of England so that’s cheering. I’m resolved to re-ignite my BSD today. I’m going to make some green soup (Verano’s recipe), go for a long walk, up the water and record everything again – even that spoonful of yogurt (or two) I have, standing up, fridge door open.(What, you mean that counts ?!?!?).

Ohmy – I’ve read success stories on here of people who upped their calories from 800 to 900, or even 1000, and still kept losing weight so I wouldn’t worry about going over on the calorie count too much. Best to go over than stop the BSD altogether. Also, the cravings for carbs really do get easier as you go along. Whichever way you do it – stick with it and you are going to be one of those success stories!

Marie x

Good morning all, it’s been great reading your posts, they do motivate me onwards. They can also make me feel very emotional as they are open and true and honest, I applaud all of you on your journeys! I have very high BP and have started taking meds’ for it, I would prefer not too. So here I am doing this way of eating and enjoying it!! Albeit I miss some treats but
week 3 1lb off so I am happy with that😊
I am away staying with relatives trying to make sure I can stay on it!! Thinking about my BWs will do some hand weights💪 And try to add some more exercise😱 good luck all 👍

Kazzi, if you hear a dull roar in your ears, those are my cheers from
across the ocean! You are just going from strength to strength,
dear heart, and I couldn’t be more proud of you if I tried. It’s 4:00am
here, so imagine a crazy lady doing cartwheels and backflips in
in her nightgown. How do you expect me to get back to sleep NOW?
If I didn’t think O/H would wake up, I’d be yelling “YES!!!” at the moon.
More later 🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie
xoxoxo

Thanks for your concern Jackie, this forum is so caring. Yes, I think it’s just my metabolism gone into overdrive, which is a helluva lot better than going into starvation mode😉

As you say, my fat percentage is quite low these days (I’m pretty fit) at only about 22%. As it happens, I have just weighed myself and, having had a couple of glasses of wine and a few extra nuts/olives last evening, I’m registering a 1lb GAIN overnight 😀

Hope everyone else is doing okay?

Hi ClarinetCathy
Just wanted to chime in with a big congratulations – brilliant news!
Marie x

Happy weekend my sisters!

Thank you for your patience after my teaser on Thursday! This morning I weighed in at 16.12 lbs! I’m in the 16s!!!! Woohoo!! That is 3 lb off this week. 22 lbs lost in total. I will certainly continue with the 24 hour fasts, they are easy in comparison. However, any longer than that was quite hard but I will have another go, probably next week.

I’ve got a phone call with the doc booked in at 9.30 to discuss my recent test results – coeliac and liver function and then I’m off out to get my hair cut, so I will be back later.

Bye for now my lovelies.

Kazzeee xxx

Theodora – so glad to hear your MOT put you in the all clear! Was feeling a bit worried for you! So I guess it really is just more calories! I love creamy drinks, that would definitely work for me 😄😄😄😄

I guess the only other thing would be building more muscle (am big fan of weight training) but I don’t suppose you are losing muscle at the moment given your fat % is going down (I think that was you?) and we are on a decent amount of protein with this WoE. inspired me to check mine last night, though I don’t trust our scales much in that regard but my first fat % in August was 45% and now it’s 31% which I am more than happy with as a downward trend even if exact % are wrong.

Hi everyone and happy weekend! Great to see all the posts this week but haven’t been able to reply till now.

ClarinetCathy well done!! Am SO delighted for you reaching your goal 🙂 I know it’s been a bumpy journey at times and there have been times when you’ve been about to give up but well done for persevering and it’s great you made it!

Abbado your weight loss is phenomenal! Over 60 pounds is amazing – well done! Enjoy the wedding and do keep posting on here as you continue your journey. SueBlue keep on going too: it’s fantastic that you are now no longer pre-diabetic and have not only reversed your trend of putting on weight but are now steadily moving downwards despite your health issues. You’re doing really well and we all look forward to hearing about your ongoing progress!

Seasidenana congratulations again for all that’s happening in your life and good luck! You and I are at exactly the same stage now on BSD so hopefully we can travel the last 7 pounds together? We’re also so similar in that wine is my nemesis too :@ I’ve plateau’d for a few weeks now – probably because of that! – but would like to move on and shift at least some of my remaining excess pounds this side of Christmas. Will let you know how it goes. Doesn’t help that I injured two of my toes a couple of nights ago – one possibly broken – so I guess my new found jogging habit will be kiboshed for at least the next couple of weeks 🙁

Theodora thanks for your ongoing encouragement on the thread and hope all is well with you.

Bingo wings and skin tone.
Some time back now, one of my sons caught me doing some of my resistance exercises and asked why I was doing them. At that time, they were focused on my bingo wings and I told him I was trying to tone up my BW’s and he said it was nothing to do with muscle tone or fat, even so-and-so (a fit and skinny woman on the telly whose name eludes me at the moment) has bingo wings!
Indeed, after a few sessions I developed a bit of muscle there, and I can now tell that the floppy part of *my* arms is not muscle. In my case it is actually fat, but from my son’s remark, I realised that actually relaxed muscle will flop as well anyway! (He had said so-and-so had bw’s when she put her arms up and waved.)
That’s not to say muscle toning/building is bad, just that there is no point focusing on the negative, and concentrate on making sure the content of bw’s is more muscle than fat. I still have a way to go for that, but I am working on it. 🙂
If it really is loose skin, (mine aren’t), perhaps fasting does help. I hadn’t thought to check, until folks on this thread mentioned it, but my skin tone and elasticity has actually improved some time in the last few years (pinch test). It might be due to increased protein, cutting out carbs, reducing calories to 800, the exercises, or fasting, but from reading on the net, it seems most likely to be autophagy due, either to the calorie restriction or the daytime fasting. I’m not a smoker and never have been, nor have I ever been a ‘low fat’ eater, although I suppose it’s possible that it’s due to eating more oily fish, but I have always eaten a fair amount of them, and the improvement is significant, it really pings back into place, even on my bingo wings, and actually even on the back of my hands, where it looks appropriately old, it snaps back almost instantly.
When I was a kid I heard about skin aging, and the pinch test, and tried it on my Mum, who is about 30 years older than me, and remembered it years later when I got to the age that she had been, and sure enough my skin was just as slow as hers had been, but now it’s nearly as snappy as when I was a kid! In the morning, I’m going to try it on my son for comparison!
It’s got to be due to one or a combination of the things I’ve listed, but I’m astonished at how good my skin tone is. I keep pinching myself in different places, but it’s snappy all over! It can’t be due to fat pulling my skin tight either though, as I have lost over 1.5 stone in the last few months, so if anything my skin should be looser!

Sleep.
I have had problems with sleep all my life, and especially the last 10 years, but with dietary changes earlier this year, I actually had a few nights of sleeping the night through. Unfortunately although I had a few more good nights while I was away, when I visited family abroad, that was the end of it, just a week or so of close to proper sleeping, (I still had problems getting to sleep in the first place) and it didn’t come back after I got back either.
I think I have found the reason it didn’t happen again, but need to experiment to be sure.
Before I went away, I had relatively recently increased my protein intake and had only just cut out sufficient carbs to stop putting on weight. I’m not sure at that time whether this included carrots and parsnips or not, but I certainly haven’t had more than one or two pieces since going away. Recent reading suggested that carrot and parsley family might be beneficial, and experimentation in the form of celery stew with lots of parsley, has been significantly beneficial, so I’m wondering if carrots, or rather the lack of them, might be responsible for your lack of sleep.
Not sure if I’ve explained that as well as I could have, but I’m finally getting sleepy again, so going to try and get another hour or two of sleep before dawn. (I didn’t have any celery stew yesterday, and woke at 4. 🙁 )

Ooh! Now there’s a thought, Esnecca, thank you – plus a nice milky drink before bed may have the added benefit of helping me sleep. You may notice that I’m replying to your post in the early hours 😉

Sorry about muddling you and MnM, I knew SOMEONE had mentioned the metabolism boosting effect of reverse dieting.

I can empathise with you on the clothes buying front. It’s turning into somewhat of an addiction. Just yesterday, along with my new bras, I treated myself to another new dress (never used to wear dresses) a couple of jumpers and yes, you got it………another pair of really cute boots😉

Theodora, I believe it was MixnMatch who got all the way up to 2500 cals a day on her reverse diet. I’ve been doing my version much more slowly and am still below 1000. Like you and Allie, I have no desire to cram more food down my gullet, and I quite like that I can only tolerate small portions these days before I get full. It’s like a security system.

Your continuing losses are troubling, however. Since you seem to be more comfortable with a glass of wine than a square of chocolate, how about trying to drink your calories? It doesn’t have to be something sugary or acoholic or an additive to coffee. I had a lovely glass of hemp milk for dessert the other night with a drop of cheesecake flavoring and a teaspoon of vanilla powder. It was scrumptious. There are all kinds of unsweetened non-dairy milks out there that would make a delicious treat, and you can drink a lot more cashew milk than you can eat cashews.

Lord help me, I cannot stop buying new clothes. The first shopping spree I went on was in September when I finally crossed the threshold into the healthy BMI category and it was still warm. Now it’s gotten cold and I have less than zero tolerance for it so I had to buy sweaters and silk long johns and waterproof boots and an ultra-warm coat. Then that led me to an insatiable thirst for cute booties to go with all my ankle pants and the cute cropped hems on my jeans! I can’t have my ankles exposed to the cold, can I? Obviously the only solution is to buy every bootie in sight, the more embroidery and happy colors the better.

I figure I barely bought a stitch for 20 years because the options were so god-awful and the process so humiliating, so now that I’m a normal person who can go into normal stores and buy normal clothes, I’m making up for lost time. 😀

Yay and giant congratulatory fireworks CC on attaining your goal! That is wonderful and I know you’ve been plugging away at it for a long time as I have read your posts and followed your progress.
This is wonderful news!! You go girl!

****that was obviously meant to read 36GG in my previous post. Sorry for the typo.

I was having steel cut oats cooked up with lots of water (1 cup of oats to 5-6 cups of water) and this would last me about 10 days when mixed up with some seeds and/or nuts and some berries and greek yogurt. I was finding that my carbs were quite high though, so I have started using 1 Tbsp of chia and 2 Tbsp of flax mixed with some almond milk, greek yogurt and berries and that is much lower in carbs and keeps me satisfied much longer. It also doesn’t require any cooking. You can cover the chia and flax with almond milk in a jar and leave it overnight, or I mix it up when I get up in the morning and it is ready at 10am when I eat breakfast on my morning break at work. It tastes different from porridge but I still like it a lot.
I have also been experimenting with the broccoli bread in the recipe section. The first time I made it as the recipe said. It worked quite well but was a bit fragile for transporting. This last time, I substituted some of the almond flour with flax and added a bit of grated cheese and it held together much better and I found the flax made it a bit “breadier”. I’m going to keep experimenting as I am trying to cut down my cheese intake, and although I don’t really crave the carbs from bread, I do find I miss the yeasty flavour. I may try using some nutritional yeast in it and see what that is like.

Whoa, Seasidenana, how great to hear from you, and so good to know you are plodding on, despite all the exciting developments in your life. Moving house is so stressful – we have attempted to downsize on at least half a dozen occasions but, halfway through clearing out the family home have chickened out and decided we just cannot face it! I know the reason for your move is far more cheerful, but it must be stressful nevertheless, so good on you to keep plodding away at BSD and you will look absolutely gorgeous in both your wedding dress and your swim suit in the Caribbean. Go girl, you only live once, after all.

Cathy, yet again, I’ll bring on the dancing girls (or boys) to celebrate your wonderful achievement. Don’t be offended if I call you a tortoise – remember the story about the tortoise and the hare? I have a feeling that you, if anyone, will still be slim and lithe this time next year and, probably for years to come. So HUGE congratulations to you. And to SueBlue too, who is another shining example of keeping on keeping on.

So pleased that we have managed to revive our January thread and have a goodly compliment of keeper-onners reporting in. xx

To sue blue

Thanks for posting that link, very interesting reading, knowledge is power.

Hi Juliet,
So glad you are feeling better and thanks for the update re breakfast. X

Hello all : )

Apologies for not posting the past few days. I really have been feeling dreadful and by the time I sat down at night and had time to post I felt so washed out I couldn’t face writing! I’ve been aching all over. had a painful face – under my eyes, in my cheek bones, muscles. I’ve felt sick (can’t spell naus…nauseu..) dizzy, light headed and hungry. And today (day 5) – all change – yippee!! I’ve felt great, no hunger and really positive and in control. So for anyone just starting off – do persevere through these initial few days – your body is adjusting to the massive changes you are putting in place for the long term and that’s worth putting up with for a few days. It will get better!

Pinkclare12 – Hi! You were asking about breakfast – in the book MM says you don’t have to have breakfast, do whatever suits you best. Since doing the BSD last year I never have breakfast and regularly fast from around 6.30pm until 12.30pm the next day when my daughter comes home from school for lunch. I find the mornings very easy to get through on just coffee, lots of water and the occasional mug of Bouillion if I’m struggling. I notice that once I start eating I feel hungry a lot of the time so putting off that initial meal seems to help me. After that I try and pace myself, drinking fizzy water with a slice of lemon if I’m hungry between meals. I tend to be ravenous by 4pm and that’s when I eat most of my cals and carbs, then a light supper and I’m fine. It doesn’t work every day, but I for one prefer to give breakfast a miss, otherwise for me the day just seems too long for those few carbs!!

Good luck and well done to us all for making it to Friday! Stay good over the weekend : )

Hi Welshannie,
Thanks for your reply and info – hopefully one of the experts may be able to answer the other questions raised.

Stick with it. You will only regret the chocolate! Maybe factor in a square of dark chocolate into your day?

I have just planned the lunch and dinners for the next week. Have added the turkey burgers!

I’ve lost 3lb, but have been doing a bit of exercise (from YouTube) there are some good low level walking ones for just 15 mins that are good to get started!

Good luck and have a fab weekend. Xxx

Jackie, thanks for your concern and, I have to admit that the same thought had crossed my mind. But I had my annual MOT with my doctor just 10 days ago, and they passed me A1 fit – were astounded at how much weight I’d lost and how well I was. I honestly think it is a result of the reverse dieting – I’m sure I remember Esnecca reporting something similar, and that she had to go up to 2500 calories per day before she started putting on weight. Please correct me if I’m misremembering, Esnecca.

But certainly, as it’s a phenomena that my maintenance buddy, Allie, is experiencing too, I’m not overly worried on the health front. I just seriously don’t want to get any thinner.

Allie, your mention of your coccyx made me laugh, albeit sympathetically. I said to o/h just last evening that I was getting more and more uncomfortable sitting for long periods. Not my coccyx though, it’s my pin bones that hurt – at least I always call them “pin bones” because that’s what they are called in dogs – but, having googled the correct term it is apparently my “ischial tuberosities” which are causing me pain! Have to feel for them, they have supported so much weight, with so much padding, for such a long time, it must have come as a bit of a shock to them!!

I have eaten and drunk far more than usual today, so will wait to see what the scales say tomorrow. I went to be measured for new bras today and was gobsmacked to be told I am now a 32″ C – down from a 34G when I hit goal weight, and a 39GG when I started BSD.

Really great to have my January buddy, CC, aboard. Cathy, well done on finally reaching maintenance – been a long old haul for you, but slowly, slowly catchee monkey, as they say. Huge congratulations for sticking with it, and gaining your reward. xx

Hi guys

Five days in.

Warm Welcome Clare

I am new to this diet so will not be able to answer your questions. Hopeful someone will be able to help you. It sounds like you have a very difficult year. And an emotional eater like me.

Years ago when the atikins diet came out, I was able to get test strips from my Dr,s to test for Ketones in my urine which is a by product of your body using up fat stores. You may be able to buy testing kit over the counter.

Skipping breakfast? Not sure about that one. I only started on Monday and by the morning I will eat anything. I hate yogurt but I am enjoying no carb Bircher.

I love salads and veg too. I did the spicy turkey burger for dinner with salad 🥗 but I think I have over eaten on the salad, so an interesting question, how much is too much?. I know you have to be careful with the some of the root veg.

Been so good so far, second good fasting day with blood sugar level at 6,8 this morning. But I have not lost any weight so far. But I can feel the difference with my body. So sticking to it.

Now that I am able to drive again and started back to work.. it is time to start the gym again . Love swimming but not so keen on weights. I do walk my dogs 🐕 but need to come out of my comfort zone.

Found today hard to stay on the straight and narrow so say speak. First day thinking about mars bars! ( even when I ate rubbish, I did not buy mars bars! ) But I need a good result again tomorrow morning with blood sugar level.

Have a great weekend
Welshannie

Brilliant achievement Clarinetcathy – welcome to maintenance. You will love being on maintenance – it’s so good to be able to eat more of the lovely BSD foods.

Isn’t it great also to ditch the big clothes and to see a slim person when you look in the mirror. Although I must admit it did feel a bit weird in the beginning.

Arcticfox, this article explains about carbs and water weight. I can’t remember where it was originally posted but I saved it as I found it interesting.
https://8fit.com/nutrition/glycogen-gluconeogenesis-and-water-weight/

ClarinetCathy – Heartfelt congratulations on your achievement!
Savor it 🙂 I think it’s fantastic that MnM thought to start this thread.
I’m really looking forward to hearing another voice that is figuring
out what is in my opinion the more daunting task, MAINTENANCE.
You have some catching up to do, reading back thru the thread.
It must be wonderful to find some old friends here. Looking
forward to getting to know you!

Allie

There are some lovely porridge recipes in the 8 week BSD recipe book, I love the Pecan Chia porridge and the Apple & Cinammon one. I’ve read that oats can spike blood sugars, but I don’t have diabetes so it’s not a concern for me. Plus the pecan chia one uses only 25g oats for 2 servings.
Talking of porridge, I did make porridge bread once, it was quite easy to make – just oats, Greek yogurt, seeds and oil from memory. I cut it into slices and froze them, and when I felt desperate for a piece of toast I’d have that. To be honest though I rarely feel like bread or toast nowadays, have got used to not eating it.
Do you like mushrooms? Flat mushrooms make a good toast alternative, they are nice baked in the oven with feta, spinach and nutmeg. I sometimes make them the evening before (say when I’m cooking dinner) and then just reheat in the morning, as on a work morning I wouldn’t have time to put the oven on and prep them.
Another breakfast I like is the Simple Egg muffins – I make a batch up on the weekend as it’s a great way to use up leftover veg, cheese etc. they only take 30 seconds to heat up in the microwave in the morning.
Also sometimes I’ll have things like a Ploughmans or Hommus and veggie sticks! I would never have dreamt of eating those sort of foods for breakfast before BSD.

Cathy you certainly proved the old adage “Slow and steady wins the race” is true 🙂
I am happy to keep plodding along slowly. To be honest as I have (or rather had) a large amount of weight to lose I think I would have been worried I’d regain it if I lost it all too quickly. The way I look at it, the race is a marathon rather than a sprint!
Seasidenana – how exciting that you have your wedding and honeymoon in the Caribbean to look forward to, so happy for you 🙂
It is hard to believe that I’m now almost 10 months into my BSD journey – I think next week is Week 44. I’m aiming to try and lose 4-5kg by Christmas, this will put my BMI safely inside the Overweight bracket (from Obese), with a bit of wriggle room to cover the silly season! Then I plan to get straight back on to another 8 week round in January, probably the 2nd week. Then if all goes to plan I should be at my goal weight mid-year, although it could happen quicker if I am able to completely come off of Prednisone.
Thank you Cathy, Theodora, Seasidenana, DCT, Abadoo and everyone else still on this thread. Reading your successes, as well as your trials and tribulations, really does help me stay on track. And then when I read about one of us achieving our goal it’s fantastic! Reading your post Cathy made my day as I know how hard you’ve worked towards reaching your goal 🙂

Welcome to the challenge Seasidenana – lovely to see you join us on here 🙂

I’ve also read about carbs holding water, so your gain is probably “water weight” Arctic fox. I’ve found that every time I eat “off plan” and have a higher carb intake this happens to me. However even when I’ve gained as much as 3kg it’s gone again within days once I eat according to plan again.

Welcome to the maintenance thread CC, good to have you aboard. Well done on persevering to getting to this point and hope you enjoy the new you – you deserve to revel in the new found you.

Like you, I am looking to lose 3lb before Christmas, to gain back my lost wriggle room, which disappeared during my recent holiday. I admit to having been just coasting this week, but intend to get back to paying proper attention to cals and carbs starting Monday. I know I should do it NOW, but I’m still under target weight so will allow myself a little latitude. Also like you, I work to a 16:8 pattern and that seems to suit me very well, but I need to give some attention to the exact cals and carbs I’m consuming for a few weeks I think, to ensure I drop back to my pre-holiday weight.

Anyway, hope you find maintenance easy to drop into. It feels a bit daunting to begin with, but actually, if you broadly stick with the BSD principles even if you are not exact about the cals and carbs, you should be fine.

Have a good w/e and keep us posted on how things go for you from here.

I’m convinced carbs hang on to water and of course, this would show on the scales, so if your carbs have been higher over the three day period that might be a factor. Good hydration is vital, so if you have been in meetings and not drinking as much as usual, that might also show up as fluid retention. Now you are back to properly tracking you cals and carbs, you should find things right themselves quite rapidly, but if it takes a little longer than you might like, don’t get disheartened – it will happen.

Hi Allie

Well, I’ve no idea what happened to my post this morning. I definitely pressed submit?!?

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for your kind and thoughtful response to my post. I’m glad you didn’t mind me jumping in. I did it because I found your post moving.
I’m often moved by what people write on this thread. Of course, there’s also been times when I’ve read something and it’s just made me laugh out loud (but always in a good way!) As you say, it’s always fiercely honest which I think is something to be proud of.

Thanks for the tip, and yours Kazz, about the unsweetened Almond and Soy milk. I’m definitely going to try them. I happened to walk past Holland and Barrett yesterday (UK health food shop) and, bearing in mind what Mary had said about black tea, I bought myself some nettle tea. I remembered years ago a colleague at work having some which I’d quite liked. So, I’m going to try that and use the milk versions as an alternative. Moving forward…….

I’d love to pop on and say hi now and again to you all, thanks. Hope you all have a great weekend.
Marie x

Thanks so much for the encouragement Clarinet Cathy! I’m doing much better with my food choices today now that I’m back home and it is good to hear that the weight does come off quite quickly once you get back on track. I’ve got my meals planned out for today that will put me around 750cal and 50g of carbs, and I think I’ll do the same over the weekend and not weigh myself for a few days and see what happens. It has definitely been a big lesson about having a plan and being prepared when in less than optimal food environments and not just relying on sheer willpower to get me through.

Don’t know why it says SunnyVale typed sunnyb & autotype changed it.sorry x

Thank you SunnyVale your post has encouraged me more x

Arcticfox – as soon as you get back to BSD that 3lb will be gone! Weight loss is a strange science and I havent fathomed it out during my journey. One thing I have always found though is that after a holiday when I have put on a few pounds it has gone within a week. I put 7 lb on in June when I went to Turkey and was devastated but with hard work and determination it was gone in a week. When I went away in September I put on 3 lb and that too was gone quickly. Like you, I thought I’d made really good choices. I reckon that 3lb could be gone by Tuesdays weigh in if you stick to BSD. Don’t beat yourself up about possibly not achieving your goal for the month, just get back on BSD and you might be surprised.

I weighed myself on Tuesday morning and I was down another 0.4kg, which meant I’ve lost 6.4kg or 14lbs (a whole stone!) since starting the last week of September. However, victory was short lived. I was away for 3 days for work and found myself in a really unhealthy food environment. I did a lot of walking and a couple of workouts in the hotel gym, and spent large amounts of time being hungry, but when I weighed myself this morning, I put on 1.4kg or 3lbs. While I’m glad the damage wasn’t greater than this, I am still struggling to see how that could happen. Even though I didn’t stick to 800 cal each day or even 1000 cal each day, and my carb intake was high, I feel that I didn’t go over my daily energy requirement, and yet the scales would suggest that I consumed an extra 3500 cal each day in order to put on that amount of weight, and there is no way that I did that. It took me more than 2 weeks to take off that 1.4kg, so even though I’m back on the program today, I’m really upset to have to be starting over to lose it once again, and I don’t think I’m going to make my goal for the month at this rate.

Hello Everyone

I achieved my goal weight yesterday 133lb as some of you are aware and I’d love to now join you all for further inspiration and support. I am aiming to lose a few more pounds as a buffer and am hoping for 3lb before Christmas. It has taken me a long time to get to goal because I’ve lost weight exceptionally slowly since June but in many ways it may make maintenance a little easier. I am going to read all the posts on here from the start and make notes of what things I need to do going forward. I am planning to do regular 24-42 fasts- am already doing 16:8 and hope that will help with maintenance. It feels so good being a “normal” weight. I know I won’t be silly and undo my hard work by eating the wrong foods. I love this healthy way of eating and never feel hungry so it suits me. I am looking forward to being part of this group and I already know some members because we have shared our journey together. It feels so good to have achieved my goal as there were times when I didn’t think it was possible. Looking forward to reading some top tips on here.

Hello January friends

I am delighted to officially announce on the January thread that I have at last achieved my goal weight of 133 lb. I am so happy. I know some of the January starters have seen my post in a different thread. To be perfectly honest I can’t quite believe that after 10 months and one day I have lost 42 lbs which is a three stone loss. I am now at a BMI of 25 and I plan to lose 3lb more as a buffer prior to Christmas. It has taken me a long time and a lot of determination. Thank you so much to all my lovely friends for the support I’ve had from you all along the way.

Seasidenana- you’ve done so well on your BSD journey. I am thrilled for your new life and getting married and going to the Caribbean for your honeymoon. Who’d have thought all these wonderful things were possible when we set out on our journeys in January.

Abbado- great to know you’re still with the stalwarts on here and going great guns. I hope you enjoy the wedding and I am sure you will look fantastic.

Dreamscometrue- nice to see you back on here and I hope my post inspires you to achieve your dream.

Now that I have achieved my goal I would like to share a pearl of wisdom which I thought about today. It really doesn’t matter how long it takes to achieve our goal. I know that SueBlue like me is a slow loser but once you get to goal it doesn’t matter how long it took. Keep plodding everyone and keep that in mind. We are all different and lose at different rates. When I started BSD I read how effective this way of eating was and that we could all lose weight quickly but I made the mistake of comparing my loss to others and sometimes I was disappointed. Now I am so proud of myself that I kept plodding slowly.

I really hope that my slow and steady journey encourages those still plodding to keep on plodding and chipping away gradually so that you too can achieve your goal.

My favourite thread is the January starters thread because it was the first forum I ever joined and I was so excited to learn about BSD and I had no idea how successful it would be for me. Good luck to everyone still reading the thread. I will be hanging around the forum for support and to encourage and help wherever possible.

Cathy

Thanks Allie — good memory! Yes, I will probably be hiking this weekend because I had to come up to Tahoe to solve a thermostat problem in the house — it is really cold but the snow is high enough so I can hike (snow is currently above 8000 feet).
Sadly though, my OH is in Ireland and my daughter who lives here and is a wonderful hiking companion is in Paris so it’s just me and the dudes (two enthusiastic but not so verbal dogs) so I’m not sure about the beer — i like beer drinking to be social!
Mary, why do people behave like your family members? I cannot understand it but I think it is incredibly cool that your brother apologized so many years later.
I think it is a testament to how mentally healthy you were (and are) that you chose wisely for your husband and created your own strong friendships.
We can’t undo where we get born, but we can go on to create our own positive lives and that is a testament to the good work you did in life.
Oh, and Allie, Dungeness crab season opens here in about one week!!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!! I am the queen of crab and I can hardly wait. It is probably the best food on earth AND it is BSD-friendly!! How perfect is that scenario? We make home made mayonnaise to go with it and if I can just resist the sourdough bread, I will be fine. A little Chardonnay though…
I hope the little one (Noodle) is feeling well soon.

Hello everyone and a very Happy Friday!

Thank you all so much for your love and support. I wasn’t aware that my life was so awful until I grew up. I thought everyone went through it. I was 16 when I went to school with blood pouring from my leg, after my father had thrown a bottle at me and it smashed against a wall. A teacher asked me if he ever hit me and I laughed and said “of course”. That was my first inkling that things were not right. You are all correct my Jovis saved me. I met him a month after my dad had died. I was confused and he straightened me out. However, I have always been blessed with good friends and had a particular boyfriend who helped me a lot, before I met Joe.

Anyway…everyone has a past, its best to leave it there. My bestest friend came to visit me today. We have know each other for 49 years. She is my sister in every sense of the word except blood. Like I say. I am a very lucky person.

Allie, I love your description of Napa etc. What a lovely memory. Yes Noodle Day does sound a little funny! Unfortunately, she is quite poorly with a cough and cold at the moment. She is on antibiotics and steam inhalations. My poor DD is looking after her and her husband (bit of a hypochondriac) who also had a cold.

Kazz, I don’t expect a reply to all my posts! Wow what a saving and what willpower to be so good. Make sure you enjoy your time off next week. You deserve it!

Apologies if I have forgotten you. By the way EC…Erin where are you?

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Yes HbA1c is a rough three month average. They say that the lifetime of a blood cell is between 8 and 12 weeks. My cholesterol dropped before I started BSD from 5.2 to 4.5 but I have no idea why. It has stayed in the mid 4s since I’ve been eating this way but I don’t eat prawns often and I only have 70g so I don’t think it will make much difference but I have been eating a lot of cheese, so we will see!

Brilliant!