Just realised I hadn’t put my final week update in. I had a small gain this week (300g) which means at the end of the challenge I have lost a total of 1.6kg, and am 300g above my 4 week challenge goal weight. Ordinarily this would be ok BUT (and there’s always a but), I had actually gone under my goal in week 2.
So on to the next 4 week challenge!
Good luck everyone 🙂

I’m in too! I’m just back from a three week holiday and gained 3kg. Not too concerned about that because I was looking very gaunt three weeks ago. My goals are fitness related mainly- to get settled with a muscle toning regime, continue daily walking and slowly lose the three kilos, probably not all in this 4 weeks.

Three week self indulgent Asian cruise. Stuck to principles about 80% of the time as far as food went but there was alcohol every day, cocktails, champagne, spirits, you name it.

I had my fitbit on and averaged 12000 steps a day and 20 flights of stairs a day! Swam, played golf, strenuous shore excursions to fabulous places I’d never been before. Met some wonderful people and basically had a ball- now comes the bill 😯

Weighed this morning, 3kg up.

Here is my dilemma. I started this way of eating purely for vanity, to look ok for my son’s wedding in September. My weight now, after the holiday, was my original goal weight. I’d lost another 3kg because I could and it felt like such an achievement but when I caught sight of myself unexpectedly in mirrors etc at the start of the cruise, in summer clothes, I was shocked by my appearance. My face looked drawn and gaunt, my neck was stringy, loose skin flapping on my arms! Now I’m wondering whether to stay where I am, a little fuller , still a little overweight or try to get back to where I was 3 weeks ago. Maybe concentrate on toning muscles. Any thoughts welcome.

Hi everyone 👍Hope you’re journeys are going well xx

Hi Verano,
I’m not too great at Fat Secret etc, so my figures might not be exact, but I wanted to share my favourite dinner hopefully to give you something new.

One chicken breast, cut in half then cut through the halves to get 4 thin pieces. Flatten a little with a rolling pin. Place one sage leaf on each piece, grind on some black pepper and wrap in a slice of parma ham. Pat again with the rolling pin then fry in a little butter until nicely browned.
About 300 calories and 2g carb (I think).
We eat it with a few spears of asparagus or sprouting broccoli.

Apologies if this is a duplicate of a recipe already on here, I haven’t read through all the recipes on the lists.

Best wishes
P xx

JCH, congrats on the 1lb

I’ve lost about the same. Very slow loss. I wonder whether this is still insulin resistance, and whether I should give up my 40g of cereals in the morning, just for a while. Or reduce it to half. It’s most of my carbs for the day.

Boredom? What are you eating? I’m finding loads of variety, and my family are loving the new recipes. Cottage pie with puréed cauliflower; crustless Quiche made with Greek yogurt and courgette, onion and spinach; baked herby chicken breasts with cauliflower rice… etc… And when I’m desperate for something like a cracker, I’ve found Atkins low carb crackers. It’s so important to find new foods to enjoy, even if the diet is slower, or we begin craving again.

SSB, I’ve sabotaged myself in millions of diets more times than I can remember. You can stop . But you need to choose to. Don’t beat yourself up!

Make sure the sauerkraut you buy is raw and unpasteurized. The regular stuff you find at the grocery stores in the States at least often hasn’t been fermented, just cooked down, and if it’s pasteurized all the lovely friendly gut bacteria die in the process.

My contribution to the renewed enthusiasm movement is a single vegetable: broccoli di rape, aka broccoli rabe, aka rapini. I haven’t had any in decades and I’ve never cooked them at home before, but the ones at the market last weekend looked so beautiful that I gave them a try. I blanched them in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, drained them, then sauteed with garlic and a spoonful of chicken stock for 10 minutes or so. They were so scrumptious that I went right back to the market and bought another 3 bunches and blanched them all. Now whenever I feel the urge, they’re ready to toss in the pan.

They’re not actually related to broccoli, as it happens. They’re the greens of a turnip-like plant that just happen to look a lot like a leggy, leafy, tiny-flowered version of broccoli. They taste like a cross between turnips, mustard and spinach. So savory and delicious all you need is a little garlic, salt and pepper to make them sing. To top it all off, because they’re greens with edible stems, most of their carbs are fiber. They’re also so low in calories you could eat a mountain of them without making a dent in your count.

Tonight’s dinner was a pile of rapini with a dusting of grated parmesan on top, another pile of steamed spinach with 1/2 oz of feta crumbled on top and cauliflower mashed with a spoonful of Greek yogurt and chives. Just three veggies on plate, but so sumptuous.

Hi Mrs Honey, I am also following the recipe book. Just finished my 6th day. I am having scrambled egg or avocado for breakfast, salad for lunch mainly due to the hot weather. Had chicken in the ‘pie’ for dinner. Loving the Greek yoghurt and berries too. Struggling to drink so much water though.

I’m along for the ride too! No goals at the moment as I just need to get my head back into gear, hence my 7day challenge to help renew enthusiasm for this WOE.

Will do my best for the next 4 weeks but can’t say more than that at the moment.

Good luck everyone on this next phase of our journey.

Hi SunnyB and Marsie good to have you along. I have never eaten sauerkraut so maybe it’s time to start. I love any sort of pickled or spicy food except for onions. I am going to make up a batch of your spice mix SunnyB and give a go later this week.

I feel slightly more invigorated just having had a decent lunch and a sparse evening meal. Maybe that’s the way to go.

See you tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your support. I have indeed still stuck to the programme. I don’t really have a problem with the food as I don’t have a sweet tooth and have been without major carbs since last October. I was tempted to drink today, but I had a shower and gave myself a manicure instead. Thank you again for helping me.

Oimadam, well done. You have lost in a week the same as me in Two weeks. You should be proud! I am very pleased for you. I take delight in everyone’s success and can’t wait for mine.

Love Mary
xxxx

No worries 🙂
It looks like vodka would be better than gin although personally I’d much prefer a gin!

I struggled yesterday, ate some of my kids chicken nuggets 😳 Went a bit over on carbs and calories but back on track today. I will weigh myself tomorrow which is end of week 1
I’m feeling a bit rough, funny stabbing headaches, foggy and lightheaded. Anyone else feeling this?
Has anyone else weighed? How’s it going?

I will be camping tomorrow for a week so won’t be weighing and measuring, I will stay away from carbs as much as possible and hope I don’t do too much damage.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, you will probably find you automatically eat less as your appetite will have reduced, but you won’t get ill unless you have a hidden wheat or gluten intolerance that suddenly becomes obvious if you start back on the bread, pasta or pastries. I know that did happen to some people, but certainly not as a general case. I went straight from fasting to a holiday, and ate relatively normally and had no issues.

Super loss OiMadam.

Esnecca – 150 lbs lost is amazing. Truly inspiring.

Stay strong Mary….you got through a testing situation with the Cava (and the son in law).

I sometimes think that the people we know like us a certain way, whether it be fat or drunk or both. It gives them an excuse. It isn’t malicious (for the most part) it is just that us changing shows their flaws.

Keep in mind what Lee has said, it will happen.

FFBB X

Mary, the first week I started weighing myself (which was about halfway through the initial 8 weeks), I fluctuated up and down every day and wound up with exactly .3 pounds of a loss for the week. It was disconcerting, to put it mildly. The week after that I lost 7 pounds. Losing weight is not a linear progression. You can do everything precisely by the book, weigh, count, never allow a morsel of bad carbs anywhere near your cakehole, and still sometimes your body will just do what it wants with no apparent rhyme or reason to it.

Almost a year and 150 pounds later, I know very well how much random gains or meager losses can mess with your mind, and I know it’s easier said than done, but you have to try your best to just roll with it. Don’t brood, don’t obsess over your food log, don’t worry about tweaking this or that. This is the process. It’s a rollercoaster ride. You control what you can — namely what you put into said cakehole — and then let your body do the rest.

If it’s any consolation, you’ll look back on this week’s pound loss with wistful longing the first time you hit a plateau. 😉

Hi All
I drank so much water on my first day (10th) I thought I would drown! I’m vegetarian so there has been a fair bit of tofu and Quorn on the menu along with a lot of veggies and full fat yoghurt. Good job I like these things. How is everyone else getting on?

Best wishes and good luck – Shirley

If you stuck to the diet for the full 8 weeks, and then ate normally, how would your body react to the rush of carbs? I’m going on holiday the week after I’m due to finish and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to have any treats, or if it’ll make me sick. Should I start eating a few carbs the weeks beforehand? I do want to be able to have a piece of cake or a few drinks.

Well, I’m on day 6 now. My menus have looked something like this.
B- 2 scrambled eggs L – lentil and feta salad D – skinny cottage pie
B – Greek yogurt, berries and nuts L – 2 eggs salad D – chicken pie
B – sausage, bacon, egg, spinach and mushrooms L – gazpacho soup with beans and cheese (I just added these to give it protein and fat) D- Greek yogurt etc
Because some of the recipes serve 6, I’ve quite a few batches frozen, so I’ve been mixing this up for lunch and dinner.
Next week I’m going to make the chicken korma and something that will go with courgetti, not sure yet what.
For me, the Greek yogurt and berries is like heaven!! I’m not counting carbs, I’m just using recipes from the book. I also agree the calories can seem a bit off, I’m not at my first official weigh in (Thursday!) but so far, I’ve lost 8 pounds, so I’m not worrying too much!

The recipe book is 100% a worthwhile buy, it makes planning so much easier.

Hello lovelies. Thanks to all of your positivity, even for some in the face of adversity, I managed to stay on track, be kind to myself, and lose a whopping 7lbs! i have never lost that amount in the first week of a new WOE.
The biggest message I heard was drink lots and when you are full up, drink more. It has helped me massively as I haven’t found myself searching cupboards for things to eat. Anyone tried apple cider vinegar mixed with fizzy /tonic water? Sounds disgusting but tastes delicious – with added lemon, lime and cucumber. (1tbsp apple cider vinegar: 1 litre fizzy stuff). If it floats your boat, maybe try it?
So, onwards and upwards.
To all of you who have faced challenges and resisted this week – you are amazing.
To anyone who has struggled, tomorrow is another day. Start afresh and believe you can do it.
Liz, our amazing leader, and literary genius, I do hope that your mum is on the mend and your long journey passed without too many unexpected events (although we all love your daily vignettes about your daily experiences).
M x

Enjoy the day sunshine girl – there’s nothing like it is there? Watching it on TV again this year. We have spent many holidays following, or just seeing one stage, of the tour and have and met some great people. We have ridden the Etap du Tour too, a long time ago in 2002 – an amazing experience. The last time we watched, the race went through Briancon and we had a very long drive afterwards. Luckily for us we had been speaking to, and buying ice cream for, the gendarmes guarding our parking area. We promised faithfully that we would stick to our route and not follow the tour and we escaped with only an hours wait, definitely worth an ice cream!

Well done FFBB for staying on the wagon.. I am finding it tough going at times too and am clinging onto the sides of the wagon like mad….in fact I feel like jumping off. Usually at the weekend, but tonight seems particularly difficult….I think because of the low weight loss this morning. I still haven’t had any though.

There were no sausage rolls today….so I had a burger and a chicken thigh…I passed on the Cava, despite my son-in-law trying to tempt me…he only wanted an excuse to drink and I didn’t give him one!

Highlight of today was when leaving and my one year old granddaughter, leaned towards me and gave me a kiss. So lovely. Then she leaned away towards my husband and I was forgotten, but then he didn’t get a kiss…I did. Yay for me!

Stay well.
Mary xxx

Sure thing Yowser banish the 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Ahh JAN its so lovely that youre feeling so positive and enjoying being back on the back seat of the bus!! ( remember those days!?)
Stay on that happy vibe and it will be a doddle ..i am with you in spirit and also in body coz i want to lose some more and make sure i keep that naughty Carb Monster on the run!
Can we do it???yes we can!!!! XXXXX

Hi JCH187, if it’s any comfort to anyone – I am being complete rubbish at the moment – sabotaging myself at every step ☹️
SSB

Can I join you lovely people? I’m going on holiday on 2nd August and would like to lose 4lbs as well – maybe a bit more if possible. I don’t know why but I do ok in the day then sabotage myself when I get home from work. I’m hoping that being accountable on here might help me keep on track.
I will post on here every day so that I have to think before I allow the ‘baddies’ to tempt me!
Good luck everyone.
SSB

Day 18 in the BSD house.

Today I have done my 15 reps with my 3 lb weights. Did 3 circuits of the lifts I do (bicep curls, straight lateral lifts, etc. Is it obvious I don’t know all the names of the exercises?).

I plan on doing strength training one day and light aerobics on the other day. Seemingly this is a good way to do it and I have read I should push the lifting to my limit and then add one more rep.

I have been keeping my veggies chunky as I read somewhere that the more processed a food the quicker the calories are absorbed and the remains pass through the system. So in theory chewing and digesting chunky, less processed food should keep me fuller for longer (and burn more energy?).

On the alcohol front I haven’t been tempted, Fridays and Sundays seem to be my danger days, and I find it tough passing the pub on a sunny day but I am keeping on the wagon.

All the best buddies.

FFBB X

I’m in! My goal is the same as Maisie Mouse- I want to lose 4lb. Today I weighed in at 142 lb. I will aim for 138 lb or less! Have been super strict this week so far and feel like I am in the zone to get results this month. Thank you for continuing this monthly thread- I think it really does help. Good luck everyone!

I don’t like cooking but found the Chicken & Mushroom ‘pie’ so easy I’ve cooked it twice.
What are other people cooking?

No, just the 800 calorie ish version, but the days 3-7 will be full on fasting mimicking with just plant based foods and less than 9% protein to see what the effect is. Still mixing and matching these ways of eating 😁 I have been on maintenance calories so averaging about 2100 calories a day, so should be quite a shock to the system.

I’ve been extending my overnight fasts the last couple of days and I’m hopeful that it will be a good way of kick starting things again. Hope your fasting Is working for you Mixnmatch, is it complete abstention through the 7 days, or do you have a light meal at some point each day? Not sure I could cope with full on fasting – not made of stern enough stuff.

Look forward to reading you input on the 7 day thread.

I still like sweet stuff, but rarely crave it if it isn’t right in front of me. Still, there have been quite a few ‘cake’ moments over the last couple of weeks since my birthday, so I am having a reset week. Back to fasting on the Seriously thread just for 7 days. I will be trying to find ideas for Verano’s new 7 day thread as well to get my head back in the game.

I’m in too, I like receiving everyone’s posts via email – it reminds me what I’m supposed to be doing! 😉

I’m going to aim for another 4lb loss which would take me to 9st 10lbs – hoping to achieve that just sticking to the mediterranean principles rather than anything too stringent. I must also get back on track with walking, water drinking and getting enough sleep.

Hope I can achieve that by the 6th August because I am heading to France on the 7th… land of croissants and pain au chocolats! 🙁

Love the sound of that Kraut with turmeric and juniper, Marsie – can you mail some to the UK?!

I’m definitely in, Baristagirls.

Not personally setting any fix goal to achieve, but I ultimately want to get to and past my original target weight of 8st 7lb, so that I have a buffer zone to allow a bit of wriggle room. Currently I have a pound to drop to target weight and then we’ll see what happens. My main reason for joining the challenge is to be accountable and to help me stay focused and on track, as I’ve struggled a bit the last week or so, with giving the BSD my attention and have coasted.

Let’s do it folks …. Keep on Going!

Yeah! I’m in for “keep it going be it shine or snowing” it’s got a good ring to it.
Mind you , if it blinkin’ snows in August I’ll know who to blame!
And it’s raining crazy here today, hope you haven’t turned the weather gods against us!
Nice to see you back Marsie 😁

Ann x

Great idea Verano, thank you.

My contribution is a purchased product. I have not really enjoyed saurkraut, but reading Dr M’s book as well as other materials about fermented foods, decided to give it another go. I happened upon a local (Western Australian) small producer of Kraut and Kimchi and honestly say it is absolutely delicious. Green St Kitchen Kraut with Turmeric & Juniper Berries. Carbs = 3.6g/100g so a 30gm serve is not damaging.

Hi Sian,

I have only been on it 2 days feel good, not so bloated, but, no weight loss, I will keep going, not going to give up. LOL
I need to loose 1 stone, and hopefully that will help my joints, as they are aching!!

Just think what you can acheive in 2 weeks.

I am going to a wedding in eight weeks so, this is my motivation. As you say, I am going to make this a way of life too.

Have a great holiday.

Ellen :O)

Hey Rozy, sorry you have been struggling too. Think as we get closer to target weight, not only is it harder to lose the pounds, but the temptation is to back off and stop trying so hard and essentially drop back in to maintenance mode. For me the answer is to get back to basics, but we all find our own routes through the problem areas.

Having that sweet tooth must be tough as well. I’m lucky in that I rarely crave the sweet stuff. Savoury is a much greater temptation for me, but I think that’s perhaps easier to cope with than needing sugar. Hope you can find some coping mechanism to get you through the yearning for sugary treats.

Here’s to us all getting to our target weight soon. Keep posting everyone.

The latest 4 week challenge – who’s to join?

I’m joining as I fell so miserably at the last one – my challenge is to lose 8lb, that’s 2 a week, and I will brave the scales tomorrow so as to report accurately next week. This should bring me back into my comfortable weight range and help prevent me feeling so ill when I eat the wrong foods.
It’s raining outside despite yesterdays sun so the title seems appropriate, although I was more thinking of it in a moral context for us strugglers!

I’m not too good at heading things up but I’ll do it for you Marsie….. as I so nearly typed where’s Marsie when you need her, on the above post! 🙂

Have just caught up with this Verano. Congratulations on your considerable achievements thus far, and look forward to your continued success as time goes on. Your participation on the various threads of this forum is highly valued.

Thank you and good wishes xx Marilyn

Great result Ann – you should be really proud to have come so far. Stick with it and the next half stone will soon be history too!

Love this idea, Verano – good thinking! Like you, I have been on and off this WOE for over a year now and it is easy to become jaded and fall back on the easy and familiar, forgetting that keeping food interesting with variety. I certainly thing shaking things up a bit can only be a good thing.

My offering for today is my new discovered – Shawarma Spice mix – which is easy for make. With the addition of some lemon juice (or minced preserved lemon) and a teaspoon each of minced garlic and fresh ginger, it makes a flavour packed paste to zing up any meat – spread it on, leave it for at least an hour, but preferably overnight (especially if you are spicing a joint or whole chicken) and then roast or grill. I make a decent size jar full of the spice mix, so it’s there if I want it on a whim. A bit like Ras El Hanout, there seem to be a number of variations on the mix, so you can tweak it to your personal taste, but this is a good start point:
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tbsp. ground salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (or hot paprika)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1tsp All Spice

Looking forward to reading other peoples ideas to inspire those of us who have become jaded and a bit complacent.

Hello all on this thread. I haven’t been on for a few days, thought I needed a bit of head-clearing. Thanks for your support at the time.
I have finished this challenge heavier by .7kg (700gms sounds so much less, lol) and know it could have been so much worse but I clearly did not follow my own reminder: BE AWARE -AVOID THE THOUGHTLESS HAND TO MOUTH.

Well done to those who have prospered this month and commiserations to those keeping me company. Let’s all achieve our next goals, next challenge.

Lots of ideas for new challenge theme, I vote for Baristagirls’ suggestion “Keep on Going be it Shine or Snowing” 4 week challenge ending 8th August. I too enjoy a good rhyme. I say set it up for us, please, Baristagirls.

Hi Inthebin

You started this topic – how are you getting on?

Hi everyone

Hope you all doing ok

Just had something to eat – first time today. – seems more difficult today than yesterday. 🤔 Determined to keep going though 🙂

I don’t mind… being an English literature freak I quite like a good rhyme like there usually is, so looked back for inspiration, what about “Keep on Going be it Shine or Snowing” 4 week challenge ending 8th August?

Reading the posts I realise I’m not the only one who is going through a rough patch. There are many reasons why this is happening and I think in my case it’s a bit of boredom after a year of this WOE and also post holiday blues.

I was looking for inspiration and looked at 101 Ways with Cauliflower again. I realise that my food choices have become so boring …. salad, salad and more salad! Then reading the cauliflower thread I remembered courgetti spaghetti. I had some tomato sauce in the freezer and so had puttanesca for lunch. Real satisfying food! Such a change from salad.

So I thought I would start a thread to see what it would take to renew our enthusiasm for BSD. Just 7 days to find one thing each day that will help renew your enthusiasm for this WOE. So….

DAY 1of 7

Today I found renewed joy in BSD food with courgetti puttanesca.

Hopefully by the end of the week we will all be inspired by each other and will be enjoying BSD and its benefits again.

Angie that is very cool!! Well
Done you🎊I had t realised how many carbs were in carrots beetroot and spuds! And chickpeas –
How does mum have so many chickpeas in things- and fruit I was def eating too much fruit so now I know! Fingers crossed for a good weigh in tomorrow on week 2 day 1

Hi, I started last Tuesday morning and am pleased to say I’ve lost 4lb. My GP recommended I do this BSD. I only lost my way once, as on Sunday evening a box of Thorntons passed by me 4 times before I ate 3 in succession. Felt awful for eating them. But so enjoyed them.