Mokovex, I’m sure we can all relate! I think you’re totally doing the right thing by continuing to talk about what’s happening here rather than giving in and switching off.

I’m finding the long dark evenings are negatively affecting me and I’m wanting to eat so much earlier which tends to lead to eating more as the evening goes on. Bit of dark chocolate, bit of fruit, bit of cheese!

Has anyone read the clever guts book? I only started it last week but it sounds as though these cravings may be led by the gut bacteria that we have flourishing, is that right? So if you’ve got a sort of junk food ‘gang’ dominating then they are shouting loudest for the type of food they want you to have?
I’m wondering if we can then consciously override them Mokovex by depriving them completely of the fast food/junk food and eating a whole load of good stuff so that the veg and fish craving gangs can get a chance to shout louder!

Hi AngS,

Thanks for posting info on TDEE. I’ve seen it mentioned a few times and meant to look it up but never quite got round to it.
Marie x

nb Just thought – I’ve also seen NSV used by people. Anyone know what that stands for – from what people have said my guess is Non-Scale Victory but no idea if that’s right.

Oops should have said because I searched after your post and it said one effect was low heart rate and blood pressure and I have been finding this after lots excercise and feeling faint.

KrysiaD – Brilliant news about your positive eye check, it must be such a relief each time !

Sunshine-girl – I’m glad to hear you’re ‘on it’ and doing well again – you were one of the first people to offer me advice and support on here so I’m always interested in how you are doing and learning from your experience. Look forward to tomorrow’s report-in.

Mokovex – I don’t know what to say except I’ve definitely been there, so understand where you’re coming from and you have my complete sympathy. But great advice from Esnecca. We are the one’s in control. I’ve just come back from a few days away for a family wedding. I was so focused and ‘on it’ all the time I was away – from Thursday to yesterday – then got home last night, nothing in the house, ordered a takeaway and sent my blood sugars shooting up. They’re still higher this morning. What annoys me the most is it was the same meal with the same sauce I’ve had before and guess what – it had exactly the same result.

Let’s take heart and follow Esnecca’s advice – we are the one’s in control not the food in our cupboard, or the ‘ghosts in the machine’ (sounds very Leonard Cohen – I’m a fan – lovely).

You’ve done it before, Mokovex, you can do it again.
Marie x

Wow what a great way to start Week 6, so much information and enthusiasm and inspiration – thanks everyone.

Think I need to check out the TDEE calculator mentioned….I tried to start ‘maintenance’ as opposed to 800 calories and have just eaten slightly more over the weekend, but not added any carbs. I have maintained my ‘normal’ lifestyle as regards living / exercising (though tragically lost my step monitor). Weight – static, waist size – static, blood sugar levels – up to pre-diabetic levels. Hmmmmm 🙁

Back to the drawing board then…back to 800 calories then – hey ho!

It is indeed scary how quickly weight can pile back on, bloke41. I’ve been going back to the UK and seeing my mum a lot following my dad’s death, and over the months I’ve put back on 11 kg of the weight I lost. It has been altogether too easy to eat loads of calories in carbs when I’m there and then not do anything to lose them when I got back. She’s starting to recover a bit and I’ve persuaded my brothers to get a bit more involved. So I’m really hoping to get to grips with things or at least get back on the right track and my head in a better place. Time to give up the excuses! I’m still not bloody giving up either.

Ancient Weaver that is a good shout. I reread the posts on calculating protein and on that basis when I’m excercising I am definitely not having enough. I also need to look at more before bed and see how it effects my sleep. The great thing about this forum is there is always someone who has “been there” and knows the answer. Thanks

Hi,
The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet book says that if you login to this website you can store your data (food, weight I assume) safely and anonymously. But where is it!!?

Thanks, Mixnmatch, I’ve learnt something today. As I’m new to this dieting business, to reverse my diabetes, I had to look up what TDEE was. In case anyone else was wondering I’ve copied this:

IIFYM (if it fits your macros) TDEE CALCULATOR

If we eat more calories than our body requires, we will gain weight.
If we eat less calories than our body needs, we will lose weight.This is where our TDEE comes in to play.
TDEE is short for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is the amount calories your body burns in a 24 hour period, sleeping, working, exercising, playing and even digesting food! The IIFYM TDEE Calculator is designed to give you your exact TDEE based on a few key factors:

BMR – Basal Metabolic Rate (The number of calories your body burns at rest, with zero activity)
TEF – Thermic Effect of Food (The number of calories burned in the process of digesting food you eat)
NEAT – Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (The number of calories burned in all activity outside of exercise)
TEA – Thermic Effect of Activity (The number of calories you burn exercising (or higher than usually energy output)

Add these all up and we arrive at your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure

That sounds awful, Mokovex. I’m sorry you’re in this torturous pattern and hope you can trash all the junk in the house before it breaks you down. Orange chocolate and cookies for dinner makes me cringe just thinking about it. Did you find it in any way genuinely appealing or satisfying, even just the taste of it in the moment, or was it all turmoil and self-doubt? Have you tried making BSD-friendly, unsweetened versions of these foods (sort of) you can’t seem to let go of right now? For instance, what if you took a square of no sugar bakers chocolate, or if you can’t quite hack that yet (it took me more than a year), 90% cacao chocolate, melted it for a minute in a warm oven, then grated orange zest on top. Pop it in the freezer for a few minutes and it would come out like a thin, crispy chocolate chip, almost cookie-like, really, with the taste of fresh orange.

Whatever you do, please don’t be passive in the face of this aggression from old habits. It’s vestigial, a ghost in the machine. It’s not real. You are not possessed. Your fate is entirely self-determined. That stupid crap in your cupboards is not the boss of you. You are. Only you. Your body is making that very clear by doing its utmost to keep you moving forward. Pat it on the back. Congratulate yourself for not having put on weight during this phase and get back on the wagon. Keep weighing and posting, shake off your fears and keep your eyes on the prize.

Neither of them. Their nutrional guidelines are terrible, as anyone who has gotten the post diabetes diagnosis “eat piles of carbs” spiel knows first hand.

I’m not sure how it would even possible for a cheese to be entirely devoid of saturated fat. Cheese is made from milk fat and since it’s solid at room temperature, that makes it saturated. I don’t pay much attention to the sat fat info on MyFitnessPal because by some fluke cholesterol has never been a problem for me and anyway I’m suspicious that the link between dietary fat and high cholesterol is grounded in questionable science, but I wonder if whatever source was telling you that feta and Stilton have no saturated fat just didn’t bother to fill in that field in the database.

Oh, and on levels of saturated fat – the American Medical Association recommends not more than 13g per day within a 2,000 calorie diet – the UK NHS recommends not more than 30 with no mention of total calorie intake – so who do you believe?
Mike

This is really frustrating, Back in January when I started the BSD (and it has worked very well for me) I checked the calorific content, etc., of nearly 200 different foods that normally feature in my diet (including some with a high ‘Yuk’ feature but included anyway), including eight different cheeses. What is really frustrating is that I have no note of the source I used – but it was basically a single source and I did the checking over a couple of days. The cheeses I mentioned above quite definitely showed no saturated fats, whereas it did show sat fat for Parmesan and soft cheese – but checking several different sources this morning for Brie and Camembert, all show both cheeses as having saturated fat at around 15/100g (numbers vary source to source).
So, I’ll do some more digging, and in the meantime, apologies for a misleading post. The other annoying thing is that this means that I have been consuming considerably more saturated fat than I realised over the last 11 months, although it doesn’t seem to have done me any harm (so far!).
Mike

Morning all,

so, a very confusing -1.3lb loss since Friday taking me to a new low.

Confusing because since last Thursdays ‘blip’ with the bread and cheese, I have had a daily ‘blip’ which included eating half a chocolate orange and biscuits for dinner last night – that was my entire meal. 😒

Genuinely concerned that I am going back to my old pattern of ‘if it’s there, I HAVE to have it’. As I said before, it feels like a switch has been flipped, not a good one at that.

What is interesting is that I now notice my reluctance to weigh in and also sit down and write this. So I am definitely going to continue. Even if my daily posting is about me falling off the sugar wagon. I guess that is the antitheses of what I have done before which is bury my head in the sand and let the weight pile on. Ultimately, I suspect that doing this won’t be a magic pill which will fix me but will hopefully stop the rot.

I think the problem we have starts with hyperinsulinemia before we get to the resistant stage, and this is the element that is part of us. The insulin resistance, like the type 2 diabetes may improve over time since muscles and other tissue are always being renewed and it is the tissue that becomes resistant.

I have had some success in reintroducing carbs on maintenance, (just over 9 months in and at target again today after a couple of months a few pounds above) but in nowhere near the quantity I used to eat and I am still an almost complete junk food free zone. White carbs and too sugary food wake the carb monster which is the mental manifestation of this hyperinsulinemia as far as I can tell. Your body floods with far more insulin than it needs to deal with the food you have eaten, and this prompts your ‘second brain’ to shout for more sustenance. I think this is also the mechanism behind the effect of sweeteners, raising both insulin and cravings, as the body expects more sugar than it gets.

Whether you remain at keto levels of carb or not this is a super healthy way of eating, and I agree that as long as you stick to generally this way of eating going forwards then the gradual increase of calories up to and even beyond your calculated TDEE is the key to keeping your metabolism fast.

With the Biggest Losers, I wonder how much guidance they are given on the transition back to a less regimented existence? Are they advised to reduce portion sizes to match the lower physical requirements? This would tend to keep the metabolism slower. I have been using the ‘reverse dieting’ transition where your body can adapt to the bigger portion sizes naturally. I have a couple of times done this gradual increase once from 800 calories and once from 1250 calories at 50 calories extra a day and in both cases only stopped when I got to 2500 calories a day, still not putting any weight on, although the earlier losses while still increasing the calories had stopped. Reading about reverse dieting, someone as an experiment carried on up to 5,000 calories and his metabolism just carried on speeding up with no weight gain. We could only manage that by keeping carbs low as the insulin over production would just use excess carbs as a chance to store more fat.

I think if you transition properly, and eat a varied diet with little or no junk food, there is no reason why your metabolism can’t be just as fast as it ever was, maybe faster if you have built up more muscle.

Showing how dangerous it is to generalise – I’ve just found another source that refutes much of what I wrote above – something that I have been relying upon all year! More digging needed.
Mike

It’s my works do on the 15th & at last year’s works do I was fat & miserable. I wore something that covered me rather than something I liked. Thank you for your comment it wasn’t until I read it that I realised how much I have lost since the beginning of October. 8st 7lb is probably unrealistic but if I tell myself 8st 7lb I’m hoping my motivation will stay with me & help me achieve the best result. hope you have a great day sunshine-girl.

I don’t think that it is fair to just say cheese is saturated fat – it depends on the cheese. Soft cheese from Teco has 15.8g per 100g, Parmesan has 19.6, but Brie, Camembert, Cheddar. Fetta and Stilton don’t have any saturated fat (there are many other cheeses, of course, these are just the ones that I have checked.
They also vary in calorific content, from 290cal/100g for Camembert to 416 for cheddar. It’s worth actually checking the cheeses that you like and try to find one that strikes the sort of balance that you want.
Mike

Allie – that’s very interesting. A lot of what I do is to teach good movement patterns and posture. It is said that it takes two months to make a movement pattern a habit – but a whole year to make the new habit completely automatic.

I hadn’t thought that this would also be the same when it comes to our eating habits. When I started I had to really work at staying low carb but now it is effortless because I have been doing it so long that it is virtually automatic . That thought has really cheered me up on this cold Monday morning.

Verano, and others suffering low mood and tiredness, I’m not sure how to phrase this, I suggest you eat more protein.

Early this year I started to discover just how much my mood is affected by my protein consumption, and I am still shocked by the fact that even one day of insufficient intake can render me tired and depressed. I need more protein than most people, but the symptoms of deficiency are the same for everyone.

Hi Orchid, just this year I discovered that most of my problems of the last 20 years were due to protein deficiency.
The reason it took so long to realise, is that back when they started, the amount of protein I was eating was, according to UK guidlines, enough. Back then, ‘protein deficiency’ was only really known about in connection with body building and serious athletic training. I was not in that environment, nor even very active.
To cut a long story short, if you haven’t been suffering symptoms, and changing the composition of your diet hasn’t brought on symptoms, you don’t need to worry about getting x amount. However, if you DO get symptoms, you need to adjust your intake upwards, and .75g per kg might not be enough!! I really want to underline that last bit, but can’t!

Exercising more, and increased levels of stress increase protein requirements, but UK guidelines do not mention this, let alone suggest how much more.
I need more protein than most people seem to need, but exercising more still increases my requirements still further. Last week I suffered a slight relapse following a long session of swimming, even though I had significantly over 1g per kg.

Unless you are tired and listless, (or have even more pronounced symptoms), you don’t need to worry about protein.

YES, Krysia! I’m completely with you on the apparent change in
metabolism. It is truly about the type of calories, not the quantity,
isn’t it? If we just accept the fact that we are insulin resistant (for
life) the amount of weight we need to lose is irrelevant. Any goal
can be achieved. It’s exciting that you are so close to 1 year on
maintenance. From what I have read elsewhere the chances of
long term success increase substantially when 1 year has been
achieved. I look forward to getting there myself in april 2018!

Hi everyone

Weight 14 stones 5lbs
Waist 45 ins
BS 22.5

I start tomorrow. The BSD. Why.. at 51 I had a warning.. a minor stroke and it has scared me big time. I have been 2 type diabetes for several years and not controlling it properly. This is it. Time to take control. Only I can do this.

I will be posting my results regularly, good or bad for the next 7 weeks ( Christmas in Seven weeks ) and I hope to have lost 20 lbs by then. My family will be doing this with me as well. Hubby needs to lose weight ( not sure if he will manage this as he drinks… a lot ) and my 23 old son will be supporting me too. So big changes for the family as well.

So the first 6 day menu planned and shopping done ( except for Spinach… still need to get that..).

I did some research for shopping list for the BSD and decided on using an app called MealPlan. Cost 3.99 and took a couple of hours to get the hand of it and set it up for a shopping list.. worth looking at it as it will become easier ,quicker to use , plan ahead and get that important shopping list.

Have a good week everyone
WelshAnnie

Hi Bloke41

DONT GIVE IN !!

54

I’m so impressed that you taught pilates even when you were uncomfortable with your weight. I wouldn’t even consider joining a class because I was so self-conscious about fat rolls and people seeing me in weird positions. I never would have had anything like the courage to teach a class, even if I had the skills. Big kudos to you, Krysia. That took serious ovaries.

Man, so many terrible sweaters out there! The thin ugly synthetics, crappy stitching, drab colors, endless shades of grey… I couldn’t even find a simple colorful fair isle pattern across the chest and shoulders of a rib or cable knit. I swear the last time I was thin (20+ years ago, granted) you had your pick of a million such pieces come the fall.

Bloke41 – so good to hear that you are still not bloody giving up! Carbs are a no go zone for me also. Great that you have beaten the carb monster and have lost 2.4kg since your holiday.

Gday Snoop & Mixnmatch and anyone else whose reading the forum

Good to hear from you both.

Week 61 done and dusted, haven’t posted in the long while. Got back from my holidays, 2 and bit weeks. Initially l was going to watch what l ate on the cruise, but the carb monster set in and it was a free for all. So lucky l kept up with the exercising and walking or the damage would of been hell a lot worse. Prior to going on my cruise i weighed in at 99.4kg., coming back l weighed in a staggering 105.5kg. A gain of 6.1kg! Holly molly, definaly proved carb is a no go zone for me. Ive had two games of cricket since l got back, really enjoying it, though my walking has decreased, to knackered after training and game day.

Weighed in @ 103.1kg
loss of 2.4kg since 16/10/2017

Still have another 3.7kg to go till l get to my pre holiday day weight and another 4.1kg to go till l get to my original goal l set when l began this journey of mine.

Back on the bandwagon again, ive had many ups and lows on this journey, have learned a lot, old habits are so easily regained.

take care all

Guess what? Im still not bloody giving up!

Esnecca
Well done for reaching your lowest weight yet this morning. You are absolutely right that maintenance is a marathon not a sprint and as long as the overall trend is even or slightly downward – it is all good.

Your jumpers sound great – the colours are exactly the colours I love now. I agree that it is so good not having to buy the depressing blacks ever again. My work clothes for teaching pilates were black from top to toe. I had this forlorn hope that they made me look thinner and hid the rolls of fat. I would think that they probably didn’t.

It was so nice finding lovely jumpers because there are some truely horrible ones in the shops at the moment.

Hi, Mary, it is a dark dismal afternoon here, looks like it is about to
rain or time for the sun to set, then I click on your post and the sun
comes out! What a lovely thought, being able to check in with you
on Christmas..I look forward to it 🙂
Here’s a thought. Maybe your youngest daughter is trying this WOE
because Jovis lost some weight, but would that even have happened if
you hadn’t led the way forward???
Only about 2 weeks til thanksgiving. As of yet, we have no plans.
I certainly agree that we would all benefit from a pause to give
thanks. I feel gratitude each and every day that jim survived his
colon cancer surgery and subsequent 2nd heart attack. Much
to give thanks for. Probably he will spend the day watching American
football. All I know is that the day will not be about indulging
in carby food! I don’t have much interest in the sport per se apart
from those long ago days when he was on the field. He used to
have this weird ritual: If his team won the game I was suppose
to get down to the field and be on the sidelines to congratulate
his heaving, snorting person (also smelly!) after the last play.
If there was a loss, I was suppose to go back to the fraternity
house and wait there! Only had do the latter once, though.
You’re right, caviar is much more available and less costly than
it used to be. There are even some fairly decent domestic versions
on offer. We used to be able to afford a pig sized tin of beluga,
but since jim left corporate america, I now enjoy a tiny little
jar. People serve this in all different ways from putting it on top
of a hard boiled egg as a topping to serving it on toast with
chopped egg and onion. I’m pretty much of a purist though,
and load my little jar on top of of 4/ 1″ melba toasts. I think
the most decadent way is on top of tiny red potatoes with
a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche. I think my hands down
best experience was in New York City at the Russian Tea Room
where I had some excellent beluga on top of those miniature
pancakes, blinis. Heavenly!!!!
My, you’ve really been productive in the kitchen today. Wonderful!
I have yet to try any of the alternative noodle lasagna recipes.
Let me know how it turns out if this is your first maiden voyage.
Does it get at all watery?
Time to roast a chicken – See you tomorrow!

Love, my sweet.

Allie

Hi RBeany,
I did the BSD last year as a veggie and wrote extensively over the year about my experiences which you can look up – especially my views and experience on the level of carbs per day! I still follow a couple of the blogs – this an the weekly weigh in one and if I spot a veggie question will try to answer/help.
Getting the right amount of protein is hard and I realised that I have probably been eating too little for years, and filling up with carbs. Only last year did I find out that I should have been having .75g protein per kilo of weight per day – so as 73Kg I needed 54-55g protein per day. It sent me off looking for other sources and I tried a few things including adding hemp powder to soup. Others have added it to meals successfully, but I personally found it gave me to much wind so I stopped. it. It may work for you tho’ so worth a try. I stick to eggs, dairy, cheese, humous and beans with some soya.
I’ve been looking into MM’s new work on getting healthy gut biome as mine was not and after 15 days of antibiotics in the summer, (first for many years) that has been my focus. One trick from that book is to take 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar (raw – cloudy) in a glass of water (fizzy us nice) before lunch and dinner. It helps reduce cholesterol, so if you are worried about the cholesterol with the amount of cheese, this may help.
good luck

Great posts from everyone today and so heartening.

We ate well today at our 3-course meal, so I’ve probably gone way over my 800 calories today.. . I had tomato soup, then a carvery without potatoes or Yorkshire pud. Roast pork with cabbage, peas, a few carrot medallions and cauliflower cheese. Then mixed berries with a spoonful of single cream. I even had a sip of champagne today as a toast and a mint chocolate with my black coffee. First alcohol in 5 weeks. Naughty but nice. Back to normal tomorrow.

I reached my lowest weight yet this morning, 123.3 lb, btw. I might just make that ultimate dream goal of 120 lb after all. It takes a lot longer these days for me to drop a pound and to fix it as a permanent loss rather than a random fluctuation. About a month per pound, at best. I’m fine with it. I know I’m basically at goal and that maintenance is a marathon, not a sprint. As long as the overall trend is even or slightly downward, it’s all good.

I went on a little sweater shopping spree myself last week. It’s getting colder quickly and since I lost my protective blubber layer I am extremely susceptible to cool temps. Low 50s are enough to send me running for warm layers these days. I opted for lots of color too, Krysia. Reds, purples, florals, one is bordeaux with a multicolored owl embroidered on the front. 😀

The order of the day is bright, happy, cozy, fitted and chic. After 20 years in plus size hell, I refuse to buy any more depressing blacks and questionable prints on synthetic fabrics that feel scratchy or slimey. If the fabric is thin or in any way non-functional as a sweater (found a lot of those, for some reason), it stays in the shop. Same goes for the other side of the coin. If the fabric and cut are bulky, no sale. I didn’t lose 10% of an imperial ton to get swallowed up by a sweater.

Hey everyone. I am hoping you have all had a good weekend.

Today I made a huge aubergine lasagne, so a lot of freezing to do later. I also made my first Kimchi. I haven’t had my Kefir for a while, so I made some of that too. I am going to take both on an empty stomach, just not at the same time!

Allie, I know it is sad to lose a sister, and Christmas is a time about families. We can still share a moment on Christmas together!

My daughter doesn’t usually take advice too well (she is 33 by the way), but is improving. I think it was because she could see Jovis has lost weight.

Do you have many visitors at Christmas? Thanksgiving soon too. I wish we had a thanksgiving holiday. It would do us good to remember to give thanks! Unfortunately, I don’t have many good memories of my mother, but the dancing is one of them, and I try very hard to only recall the good ones.

I must have another ‘go’ at caviar. It was a long time ago that I had some and I wasn’t very adventurous then. I am now and as the price has fallen I will try some. Any advice as to how to serve it?

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Am late joining this challenge. In the end I only lost three quarters of a pound in the last challenge. Will do better this time as I want some wriggle room before Christmas. Have been reading Verano’s posts on another thread and I think I am in the same boat. Am trying to get myself off maintaining and into the weight loss mode – but am finding it hard to get motivated.

Was at the eye clinic this week and very pleased to report that eyes are absolutely fine. So BSD is still working its magic on the Macular Oedema. I was pretty sure eyes were ok because I have kept my carbs low and not cheated at all – but you cannot know for sure until they do the tests at the hospital.

Have had daughter and family staying for half term and then I had to finish my end of year accounts so have not had much time to post on the forum in the last couple of weeks.

While I was overweight I wore a lot of fleeces because jumpers would accentuate the rolls of fat – but also made my boobs look a bit like Barbara Windsor’s in her heyday. Shapeless fleeces did hide a lot.

I wanted to wear jumpers ever since I reached maintenance on 10th December 2016 because the boobs are much smaller and the rolls of fat around the middle have disappeared. I have searched and searched the shops for jumpers I like since then and either I didn’t like the colour or the neckline or they were too baggy – I just couldn’t find what I wanted. On Friday I wandered into M and Co. and found 3 lovely jumpers that I absolutely love – and at very reasonable prices. I ordered a couple more – one in blackberry and the other in mulberry. They all had necklines that suit me and the colours are lovely – I am so happy and looking forward to wearing them over the winter. Just to say that I have absolutely no connection with M and Co. and am just a happy customer.

Although I did wear my fleeces today because we walked in Sheringham Park and there was such a bitterly cold wind sweeping across North Norfolk.

Hi Verano. Sometimes it can be so frustrating to find the right “switch”. You know you can do it, but something pulls you back. Theodora is so right – successfully maintaining takes huge will-power. I am full of admiration, since so much of my WW loss crept back in the three following years. So many congratulations on what you have achieved SO FAR. Now convince yourself that you deserve even more compliments and even better health. We are all rooting for you. Two more days to weigh in. I put on 0,2 kilos yesterday thanks to the porridge. I’m fasting this evening. Fingers crossed.

Right, thankyouAlliecat I will get some Ceylon cinnamon and use it v sparingly. As others have been commenting on another thread it’s the total carbs rather than the calories that seem to have an impact for me. Ho hum, onwards and downwards.

Allie: Cannot tell you how much I appreciate your response. I was wondering whether the Biggest Loser group had tried to follow a low carb diet….the article did not say.

Your experience has really given me hope. I have been low carbing for 4+ years now after losing about 30 lbs on it. Have found it does not take many carbs for me to start packing the lbs back on ….but if I stay low carb, I seem to maintain just fine. Have gotten to the point where low carb alone would not allow me to lose any more….hense the BSD.

I have about 70 more lbs to lose….and feel I can do that even though I estimate that it will take me 3 full cyles of 8 weeks each. Maintenance was my big worry. But your note has really enouraged me to stay the course. Light at the end of the tunnel!

Again, thanks so much. Wishing you a lovely (and low carb) Thanksgiving. I plan to reread your post early that day…great inspiration.

Allie – I absolutely endorse what you have written. I hit maintenance on 10th December 2016. Have had no problems maintaining – and like you my maximum carbs are 30-35. It looks like my metabolism is higher than it was before I did the BSD – with calories often over 2000K. But I certainly could not eat that level of calories if my carb level was higher. I would definitely put on weight. So it looks that my issue – probably because of insulin resistance – is with the carbs.

Verano, Verano, Verano!!!!!!

What, oh what, are we going to do with you?

It’s great that you seem to have found the secret of maintaining – going by my experience, that is MUCH more difficult than losing. So opt for the easier option, go strict, back to basics and into losing mode.

So, at your request, I am going to tell you that you are not looking at all well! You need to lose a few more pounds and then you will look, and feel, amazing. Go girl, go – you can do this. We believe in you, now PLEASE believe in yourself. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Now, not to put any pressure on you at all, but…………………………..I am jumping, cheering and shaking, please don’t make it all for nothing😉☹😀😜😛😝😋 WE BELIEVE IN YOU – YOU CAN DO THIS. XXXXXX

Luvtcook, I am American, so I took a look at the NYT article. I’ve
also seen Biggest Losers. I find that I completely disagree with
the article. I lost 140 lbs. in 10 months, and an additional 6 over
the next 7 months, placing me 12 lbs below target today. This
article does not take into account insulin resistence. When we
reach target and begin to slowly increase calories 50-100/day
each week, we continue to lose because we haven’t reached
our TDEE yet. The decision regarding long term weight loss has
to do with where we allow our carb levels to be. If any of us go
back to carbs, weight gain will be the result. I did my program
on <20, and today the max I allow is 30-35. I’m happy to do that
for the rest of my life, because I recognize the danger if I don’t.
Everyone has to make that decision for themselves, however.
Last Thanksgiving I managed just fine by choosing to only put
turkey and non starchy vegetables on my plate. No stuffing,
no potatoes, no gravy, no pie. Other guests were so busy
enjoying their meal that no one even noticed. Dinner was
served around 5:00pm, and all I ate prior was @ 10 almonds.
Holidays are very manageable.
I also have noticed that Big Losers spend 7 hrs a day working
out. That is completely unrealistic for the average person. Of
course these people regained, because their losses were con-
tingent upon heavy duty training. I was too disabled when
I began to do much of anything, and today all I do is a 30-40 min
brisk walk. I’ve had occasion to stop for a month at a time with
no adverse effect. Please don’t get down hearted. This plan
DOES work!
Best of luck,

Allie

Congrats to AnneF. Must feel wonderful to have reached your goal and have your blood sugar down to such a great level.

Well done AngS: hoping you have hit the “starts with an 8” numbers by now.

And 21.4 lbs for 2BigDave… great work.

I am now 10 days in (initital 3 days on first week, and full on the second week) and have lost 9 lbs. This is amazing for me as I typically lose very slowly….usually 2 lbs the first week I start a diet and only 1 lb a week after that. So I am well pleased and just hope its not all water weight and will truly stay off.

Was a little discouraged mid week when the New York Times ran an article about a study on the Biggest Loser contestants finding their metabolisms all went down considerably after their weight loss, never to come back up to pre-diet levels even 5-7 yrs later. Nealry all of them regained the original weight and some went even higher. Only those who exercised very agressively were ablt to keep the weight off.

Bummer.

I finally got my head around it and just decided that if I have to live on some form of partial fasting the rest of my life then so be it, because staying 60+ lbs overweight is just not an option. And like you all have said, this partial fast is really the easiest diet I have ever been on. It just seems easier for me to be very black and white about when I eat…and when it has to be a flat NO. Having been a late night muncher FOREVER, I have been pretty successful at just shutting that door and not eating anything after my late PM meal. Hoping I can still say that 5 months from now.

I also am finding it surprisingly easy to be flexible as to when I have my two meals, depending on the particular demands of the day, and also easy to switch which is the larger one. That is a great relief. Was really worried I would crash and burn if I started changing the schedule a bit, but it seems to be ok. I seem to now be falling in the habit of black coffee only in the morning until I do a late breakfast around 10-11am and then supper around 5-6pm. That keeps all my eating within an 8 hour window. Will see if in the long run that makes any real difference.

Thanksgiving is coming up in the US in just over 2 weeks…a holiday whose sole purpose is to eat eat and eat, and give thanks for the (excessive) bounty we enjoy. Normally I do only low carb foods but plan to have a couple “moderate” carb items on the menu. We’ll see how that all goes. Fingers crossed.

That’s VERY interesting, Jackie. I’ve learned something from you
this morning! I use cinnamon on my yogurt, too, but only a light
sprinkling, not anywhere near a tbs. On the other hand, Ceylon
cinnamon is high in antioxidants so I do see the benefit there.

Allie

First of all well done on the loss so far. Can I ask what is so special about 15th December, it is not the end of the 8 week plan so have you a special occasion (besides Christmas). Why do you have to be 8st 7lbs. You have lost just under 1 stone in the 5 weeks so far but dont be disappointed if things slow down. As you have less to lose the more your body will want to hang on to it. Also there is a period known as the plateau when you might (might but not always) lose nothing for days or a couple of weeks. I dont want to put you off trying to reach your goal but it is too easy to pack it all in when you dont do what you set for yourself. You have to keep at it no matter what. The gym is great and will help tone and strengthen and more muscle mass leads to more calories being burnt as muscle is more fat burning than fat.

Keep up the good work.

Just found out that cinnamon is a whopping 80% carbs! So 1 tablespoon has 19 calories and 6.3g carbs. I am so sad! Also probably explains why I’ve stopped losing weight, I’ve been pouring onto my yoghurt with gay abandon! Damn.

First can I say a “bloody well done” for breastfeeding. Not everyone can manage it or wants to!

My daughter is breastfeeding her 5 months old daughter and a month ago started cutting out all carbs and sugar. There has been no reduction in milk production and can see a considerable weight loss. I think general common sense should be used when breastfeeding. It has been long known that what you eat affects the baby…I found out when I ate grapes, my baby had an upset tummy.

As long as you are eating a balanced diet of good food you will do well. 1000 calories is low anyway.

Keep up the good work.

Nonna Mary
xxx

CJK as you have not put on a profile and I have just read the post you have made here, ignore my advice about cheese. Although it is a saturated fat it is high in calcium and you are breastfeeding. I know it might seem intrusive but these things are important to know when giving advice. Half a picture etc…

Hi, I’m still breastfeeding my 11 month old, and have been on the diet for a week, though I’ve only cut down to 1000 calories. I have not noticed any reduction in milk, my daughter is still feeding happily, and I have lost 5lbs so far.

Mary, what could be nicer for me than starting my day with coffee
mug in hand, reading one of your stories? It seems that I’m quite
the talker, too! In my day to day life I’m more of a listener, as I
find others far more interesting than I find myself 🙂 I’m glad that
you have such delightful memories of your Mother, and your
beautiful daughters will have them too! I can SO see you pausing
your player to critique the program, as well as the amusement
Jovis feels watching you. Jim says the same about me when
watching me consume my baby jar of caviar once a year. He
says it’s entirely worth it to see the childish pleasure on my face!
It’s almost a “toe curling” experience…..but enough about that.
That’s entirely good news to hear that your youngest daughter
is benefiting from this WOE. At the age of 25 or 30 I wasn’t
too receptive to hearing advice from anyone, particularly
a parent. Oh, how I would welcome my Mother’s voice now,
however 🙂 Christmas is speeding forward on the horizon,
and I look forward to hearing about your family traditions.
Last year was the first one after Mother’s death and thus very
bittersweet. God knows what this year will look like since I
haven’t spoken to my toxic sister in almost 7 months. But,
I have such wonderful new sisters here, a sincere blessing
in my life. Californiagirl, how are you??

Everyone, enjoy what’s left of the weekend. I miss you!

Lots of love,

Allie