No probs, Theodora, keeps me hanging in, too.

I just came back in here for the 2nd time today as I wanted to also thank Verano who started the idea of the 4 week challenges back before Christmas. Its obvious, isn’t it, that quite a few of us relate to the idea, perhaps, or even especially, if we’ve been going for a while. Shorter, sharper, jabs so we don’t altogether tail off. Good idea then, Verano, good idea now.

SunnyB, I must apologise – when I posted about the Channel4 programme I thought I had done it as a new topic – I realise now that I hit reply instead. Didn’t mean to change the subject of your thread! Sorry!
Rose

Hi ddraig_goch,
I thought it was rather negative too, and found myself thinking it would put people off from even trying. It was quite frustrating to watch. One chap lost weight partly through an unsustainable amount of exercise (the reality TV contestant). One woman admitted that the weight went back on at approx. a stone a month – I was thinking “OK, so after a couple of months why didn’t you do something to nip it in the bud.” And another (who sadly divorced after her spectacular losses) let slip that it was her husband who had done the cooking – I assume she had not learned what was good/bad for her. The trouble with TV progs like this is the makers will choose examples that prove their point – OK, there was a bit of balance with examples of people who had kept the weight off, and I dare say there are loads of people who put a bit back on but not too much. Ultimately, we each have to accept responsibility for our health no matter what external influences may be dragging us down – think of it as a public service and take some strain off the NHS. As you say, keep an eye on the ball.

Last weigh in today lost 0.4 kg end of diet. Current weight 55 kgs goal is 54 kgs I am 5ft 3. Hubby lost 0.8 kg and down to 75 kgs, he is 6ft. We still propose to carry on with the diet for a few more weeks as we love the food. Its time to say goodbye to all of you and wish you well. Thank you for all the support and encouragement this is a brilliant forum with lots of useful information. Good luck to everyone.

Hey, MissFSD, good to hear from you – this thread seems to have fallen rather quiet.

You seem to be in pretty much the same place as me – after 5 weeks I too have lost 17lbs, although sadly the tape measure still isn’t showing any loss around my waist, so well done you! (Waist was the only measurement I took pre-starting, silly really!) But, like you, all my trousers seem to have developed baggy bottom syndrome 😉 I also seem to have lost from around my wrists (not that I ever noticed my wrists being fat 😉 ) and have had to tighten my watchstrap by two notches! My 5 weeks have spanned one longish plateau (12 days) plus a 10 day holiday. Now I am on another high plateau, and have been for the past week 🙁 but am hoping for another visit by the Whoosh Fairy soon. 🙂 Like you, I would also like to lose 2 stone, and when I get there, maybe I’ll keep going…….

I don’t have a fancy fitness tracker, but do use a pedometer and – on one thing at least, my numbers are higher 😉 – I am averaging 35 miles a week 🙂 But then, your dogs have short legs, and I have very bouncy, high energy collies – – wishing mine were sleeping more, but the more exercise they get, it seems the more exercise they want!! On the other hand, I don’t get the other exercise you seem to encounter in your job, so you are probably well up on me – not that it’s a competition, but good to exchange notes and experiences.

Like you, am loving the food, and am feeling heaps better, sleeping better, and have more energy. I used to fall into bed around 10pm exhausted, now I am rarely in bed before midnight and feel I could still keep going.

I see this as a complete lifestyle change and when I finally reach maintenance, intend to carry on with BSD, though will start calling it BSEating, as it will no longer be a reduction diet, but maybe with the addition of a few glasses of wine at weekends.

How are everyone else doing on this thread – wake up all of you and let’s have your news?

Count me in also. I like to lose 2 pounds a week during this 4 week challenge.

I started the diet 8 days ago as despite being on 2 x Metformin a day my blood sugar levels are high. Anything between 9 and 13 at my early morning reading. I have stuck to the diet religiously other than I think some days my cal intake is nearer 1000. No carbs other than ones naturally occuring in foods. Not much fruit/carrots etc. My sugar levels have started to come down but desperately disappointed that I have lost only less than 1lb. On other diets like slimming world I have tended to loose about 5lb in the first week and eaten far more. I dont seem to have had much appetite with this diet and not eaten much at all so cant believe the weight hasnt dropped off. I am 5ft 6in 65 yrs old and weigh 15 stone having slimmed down from 21 stone over the last 8 yrs. I am wondering if anyone else had a low weight loss the first wk. I have the recipe bk and done some of them but a lot are prohibitive if sticking too 800 cals a day. I am hanging on in there in the hope the weight loss will kick in.

I’m in too. I’m hoping for 3 pounds a week loss. For those of you who don’t know me, I started BSD at the end of June last year, lost 2 stone (with a fair bit of yo-yoing) by mid- November and then had a break. I put back on about 9 pounds, but am now back and feel ready to commit again to BSD. I have a big birthday in May and would really like to be near goal by then. Looking forward to going on this journey with you all, old friends and new alike.

Well that was a breath of fresh air! Different nurse and much more thorough but in a positive way.

My last HbA1c (which was done before I started this diet) was 64 … not great. All other tests were fine including Cholersterol. She was thinking about more medication. However ………

After seeing my self monitoring results – 15st 7lbs, BP usually 110/65 and average BS of 5.0-5.4 she was blown away and genuinly pleased. I have all my readings on a spreadsheet since I started this so that helped.

Her test of my BP was 120/70 – the lowest ever in a medical situation.

So another blood test in 5 weeks to see how the HbA1c has improved and happy for me to take less Metformin for nowe as long as I continue with careful monitoring. If the blood pressure keeps down I’ll be off the Ramipril pills.

Very happy is an understatement! Just need to keep on with the diet to make this work.

I have been doing well, week three and I lost 2lb that week, but on the end of week 4’s weigh in I had lost 4lbs, what happened there so up to date at the end of week 5 I have now lost 1st 3lbs ( 17lbs) I am really pleased with this progress. I have had to buy new work trousers smaller ones whoop whoop. and some new pyjamas as the bottoms are falling down. 4 inches off my waist, 3 inches off the hips and 2 off my bust, I have to say my butt has shrunk I have a baggy bum in some clothing !!!! my Veryfit fitness tracker is really useful, and gives me a great indicator or steps = miles per day and calories burnt. I did a 3 miles fast paced walk yesterday getting my heart rate up to 120 which shows fat burning mode. I am averaging around 15 miles a week in walking, ( the dogs are sleeping well 🙂 ). I keep a food diary and each week register my weight and measurements, also I plan my meals for the week, makes shopping easier – work out what to eat to fit round my 3 working days as I am on my feet for 4hrs without a break and can walk up to 2 miles at work, also takes some psychical lifting too so work is almost like a gym workout. I love the recipes in the diet book and so far its working. I don’t feel hungry and haven’t really had any cravings for food which is good, as I was an avid cake monster before and I did love my bread, but amazingly I have really taken to this eating plan – I feel 100% better in myself, I feel I have more energy I am sleeping better too as my tracker shows my sleep pattern !. All in all really happy on this eating plan, I am not going to call it a diet as I feel that this is now a lifestyle change. looking forward to getting to the 2 stone mark and then I will weigh less than when I retired 4yrs ago.

Hello, I would like to be challenged too! I am now in week 8 and have lost 20lbs in weight (now 11st 11lbs) and 4″ from the waist. I am delighted with my results as the eight weeks spanned four family birthdays and a week’s holiday in New York. Husband has lost a stone too, despite the odd bottle of wine. We really have enjoyed using the recipes from the BSD Recipe Book and the quite rapid results on the scales.

My long term goal is to achieve a weight of 10st 10lbs which will be a “healthy weight”, BMI 25 and longer term, to try and get a healthier waist of under 32″. My even-longer term goal is to maintain these healthy statistics permanently and not put the weight back on.

I’ll chip away at it for the next 4 weeks and hope I can head towards the lower 11’s on the scales.

So it’s goodbye to this challenge today, and well done to everyone who has reached their goal, and commiserations to those who have not, but it’s the trying that counts, and having a challenge certainly keeps us motivated.

I managed my challenge, which was to lose another 3.6kg, which was exactly what I had lost in my first week, and started this challenge at the beginning of week 2, so in effect it has taken me 4 weeks to lose the same as I lost in one week at the start. 🙁

I did, in fact, reach my target a week ago, despite a 10 day holiday, so I was really hoping to exceed my 3.6kg goal. Sadly though, I seem to have hit yet another plateau (my 2nd in 5 weeks) since my return from holiday and, despite sticking 100% to BSD800, practising 16/8, and keeping carbs to approx. 25, the scales have been resolutely static for the past week 🙁 and not even any reduction in waist measurement to console me 🙁

So whilst, in reality I have achieved my challenge, I am feeling somewhat despondent. 🙁 Praying for a visit from the Whoosh Fairy 😉

Oh well, goodbye to this one on to the next – where one of my challenges is to get off this blooming plateau and start running downhill again – though even walking downhill would do nicely. 😉

BTW, thanks again Marsie for organising both this and our new challenge.

I’d love to join you all on this challenge as I think it will be a great motivator. I have managed to lose 5% body weight doing what I’m calling a ‘transition’ to 800F (didn’t manage to average 800 cals for the 10 days) and starting my first proper 8wk cycle today so this fits perfectly.

My goals are two fold – eat less and move more so I’m going to go for a 10lb weight loss which will get me to 10% loss of BW and a daily count of 10k steps (have just bought an activity tracker and yesterdays count was 2358!).

And just to really motivate myself I’m going to pop in and record my step count daily on here. It will make very boring reading I know and I apologise in advance but knowing I’m going to make them public might keep me motivated enough to dash out with the dog on a late night stroll just too get the number up (Dog wags tail haha)

I’m interested to find out more about the face exercises you are all doing if someone can point me in the right direction for some details please. I try not to look in the mirror as I’m looking far too much like my 80yr old mother and I’m only 53!!

I have a headache too – boo! But that’s what paracetamol are for – right?

Has anyone noticed that they feel less bloated already? Not sure how that works as I drank 2litres of fizzy water yesterday so I was expecting to be a bit gassy haha!

Skipped breakfast today as the salad for lunch filled me up for about half an hour yesterday. I am going to have a veggie and cheese frittata for lunch today to keep me going until tonight when it’s thai chicken stir fry. Me and the scales have fallen out big time after yesterday mornings weigh-in, so I’m steering well clear of them for a few days until I can pluck up the courage to see if they want to play nicely 🙂

Hi, I’m new to this, week 2. The first week I lost weight at an amazing rate (for me anyway!) and although my energy and blood pressure seemed too low I feel like things will get better once I’m used to it. I exercise a lot – about 5-6 times a week and this usually includes a long run of about 15-20km.
This week the weight has stayed put and even gone up a little. I’m wondering if this is because I’m not counting vegetables as carbs? I’ve not touched bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar (other than lactose in milk and the very odd few pieces of fruit). But I have had a lot of vegetables which are probably high in carbs. Is this where I may be doing it wrong? If so which should I avoid? I eat a lot of butternut squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes.
For the record I’m doing the 5:2 where I try to stick to 800 cals on 2 days and low carb/no sugar the whole time. Thanks

I’d like to join this. It’s a while since I’ve dieted but really need to lose weight before summer as I’m sick of avoiding getting my photo taken on hols! More importantly though I’d like to get down to a healthy weight (a healthy BMI for my height would be below 12 stone, but 10.5 stone would be better). Right now I’m weighing in at 13 stone 8lbs, so my goal for this 4 weeks is to get below 13 stone.

Hi All, just popping in to say I’m interested in your comments re the Channel 4 super slimmers program. I watched it and got quite disheartened. I wonder how many morbidly obese people will now not bother to even try. Also if these people are still being use for product promotions showing great weight loss it says a lot for the diet industry doesn’t it (nothing we didn’t already know though).

I have been low carb no sugar (and I mean NO sugar or substitute) for 4 years in March losing lost 4st on a Paleo HFLC but when I hit a massive plateaux before reaching my goal weight I took my eye off the ball cals and exercise wise so have gained back 3st. Whilst I know I’m far more healthy for completely ditching the sugar and grains, it just goes to show keeping your weight in check really is a case of always being mindful of what goes in the mouth whatever eating plan you use.

Now that I’ve woken up to that fact and joined you all on BSD I am not expecting it to happen again and this time I’m going to reach that goal weight with all the support flowing around this forum.

Had time for a good trawl through the forum yesterday. There are some amazing inspirational and helpful people out there.
Came across a post from Igorasusual in which she mentioned the keto calculator (https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com). Brilliant site and it worked out my details as follows:

53/5’6″ | CW 184 | 43.3% BF | Mostly sedentary
BMR 1461 TDEE 1607
* 869 kcal Goal, a 46% deficit. (706 min, 1607 max)
* 25g Carbohydrates (would normally expect to be <10g but this gives me wriggle room as I’m going through a fruit phase right now)
* 84g Protein (63g min, 104g max)
* 48g Fat (30g min, 130g max) [NB:for 10g Carbs 55 g Fat]

More importantly it gave me a suggested BF% loss over time which reads as follows:
A) 11/4 Wt 174lb <40% BF B) 22/6 Wt 160lb <35% BF
C) 29/8 Wt 148lb <30% BF D) 2/11 Wt 139lb <25% BF
E)19/12 Wt 132lb increase cal intake to prevent muscle loss
F) 4/1/2018 Wt 130lb <20% BF

Unfortunately was not able to download the underlying data even thought there is a supposed link so you can (didn’t work) but even so this gives me great hope. What I found really fascinating was the figure for increasing cals as 9st6 was my longed for Bikini Body Weight (not that that’s likely to happen) when I originally went low carb and I’m a great believer in coincidences.

Anyway moving forward, I’m going to make these my targets (not really expecting to hit the dates but am keen to stick to the macros to see how accurate it is and every little bit of motivation helps.

Thanks – should have been able to work that out! Just normally seen fasting blood sugar referred to.
Mike

Jan – thanks for that. I meet the 10 hours before testing if I don’t have a last minute small snack before retiring – which has also been advised. I’ve had a look at foods whihc are low in carbs – with some surprising results. The problem as I see it is that most of the foods that I can identify as low carb are high in calories and very deficient in fibre – things like cheese, beef, etc. About the best ‘balance’ between carbs and calories that I can find are things like chicken and salmon – but both just about totally deficient in fibre. I do use seeds with whatever I have for breakfast (except when it is an egg!)
Mike.

Weighed in this morning at 62.2, which is .3kg less than when we finished the previous 4 wks on Jan 24th. Not much to show for 4 wks, BUT I am still 6kg less than when I began, oh goodness, nearly 10 months ago. Had thought to lose 10kg so I still have some to go. A lot of circling around the same spot. However, as others have commented, without the mutual support found on this forum, I’m positive I would have reverted to my historic type and be back at starting weight by now.

Thanks JenniftB, Busybee. Well done Wendyq. Agree with you KD, about the need to monitor maintenance, admiring what you’ve done.

See you on the next page…….

Morning! So my first day went ok, I’ve got a headache but I know that’s not unusual. I’ve read that a cup of broth can help so will try that with lunch. So food for me today:
Breakfast – cup of tea
Lunch – eggs, bacon & mushrooms
Dinner – chilli con carne, Greek yogurt & japalenos
Snack – 20g cheese or spoon of peanut butter
I really wanted to make the beetroot falafels in the BSD book but I can’t find fresh beetroot in any of my local supermarkets!
I sneakily checked my weight this morning already 1.2lb down! Yay.
Hope you have a successful bsd day K x

Good morning BSD eaters. Yet another new beginning and I have decided not to aim too high but would like to lose six pounds over the next four weeks. That would take me to the two and half stone mark and half way to my initial goal of five stones off.
I check in each day and love to see the way everybody deals with the ups and downs of this WOL.
As is often quoted on this forum – keep on keeping on and let’s hope we are more like a spring bunny by Easter.
X B

Weighed in today at 17st 11, which I’m very happy with, meaning 80lb off since last Summer and 20 more to go. Apart from the weight, the big plus for me has been getting my exercise sorted out and have now put in place something I can work with going forward.

I am in also. Weight today is 9st 7.75lbs which is at the higher end of my maintenance so the challenge for me is to drop 2lbs in the 4 weeks.

Daisiesmum – I am really enjoying being able to eat more of the lovely BSD friendly food on maintenance also.

Weight up a little to 9st 7.75lbs today so have cut back on calories a bit so I drop back to 9stone 6lbs. Have now stayed in the 9st 7lbs and below since 10th December – which I have never ever achieved before . I am so pleased.

Hope your blood tests go well.

Weighed in today at 9 stone 7.75lbs so am at the upper end of my ideal maintenance. Weight went up last week as I was very hungry and I had bigger helpings of BSD friendly foods. Since then not really hungry at all so I will aim to drop to 9stone 6lbs over the next 4 week challenge.

It does show how important it is to keep a check on weight once you reach target.

Hello Fabgab, i would do 30g cheese, 2 large slices of ham and simply a handful of nuts (not too big a handful) 🙂

Just got weighed,have lost 10 pounds since starting this challenge.It would be fantastic if I could lose the same during the next one.Here goes.

Jenni I agree – this thread and the support from the forum has kept me focused. I have lost and gained the same few pounds and still have only lost two stone one pound since October, but without it I’m sure I would have gone off the rails.Must do better.
See you all on the next challenge.
X B

Hi Mike, FBG means fasting blood glucose, so I believe.

Well it’s 21st February already, and the last day of this thread. How is everyone doing?

I am happy to say that I have found maintenance much easier than I anticipated and I weighed in this morning at 8st 11lb. My bp is still nice and low, which is good, and as I said earlier I am being sent for a raft of blood tests next week. (I have also received a rather thoughtful 62nd birthday gift from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening programme!)

I love the food I’m eating, so delicious, I have increased my carbs slightly more chickpeas, oatcakes etc but mostly I have increased my overall portions especially protein and fats. I’m not diabetic so I do include one day a week when I eat a higher portion of carbs, but still nothing refined or sugary.

I continue to feel very energetic and am walking more and more, which is really good news. As maintenance is turning out to be easy I have decided to revise my guide weight down a couple of lbs to 8st 10lbs giving me a bit more wiggle room!

I hope everyone continues to go from strength to strength and success to success.

Happy BSD Tuesday all!

Hi Michael,
Our local medical lab says that I should fast with no food or drink, only water, for 10 hours before a blood test. They don’t mention any time of day being better or worse than any other, except mornings are probably more convenient. The idea that the liver dumps glycogen in the morning may need further checking.
You might try to get most of your calories from protein and fat, and really cut out the the carbs from oats, berries and sweet fruits, and see if that helps to accelerate your weight loss.
Wheat bran is a good source of fiber with few calories. It isn’t as heavy as fiber from vegetables but it is much more effective in providing bulk for the colon.
There is a lot of fiber in chia, but chia absorbs a lot of water and can really bulk up in your bowel. I learned the hard way to take it easy on the chia!
Jan

Sole in a garlic, lemon, mushroom, tomato, butter and wine sauce, steamed green beans, brocolli/cauli mash, kale with sauteed mushrooms and red peppers, sauteed leeks, plus oven baked Greek potato wedges for my wife and daughter.
Total about 350 calories.
Vegetables and sauce were good but the Pacific sole was kind of tasteless.

Wicked headache last night so I actually went to bed at 8:40pm to sleep it off and also to resist the temptation to snack!

Please excuse my ignorance – but what is FBG?
Mike

Marsie, thank you for this thread. I haven’t achieved what I had hoped for but the thread did stop me from going right off track. Looking forward to the next month’s challenge. It does help to be able to draw a line underneath an up and down path and start afresh.

Pleased to able to say that things are moving a bit in the right direction. Four weeks on the diet has seen me lose 7 lbs. BS has also improved a little, but still a good wy to go there.
Thanks again for all the help and advice
Mike

Hi everyone,
Juju68 – I am having the same problem with stairs. I am doing a 6 km walk most days and it has a big hill/ stair climb in it. If anything, I feel that my stamina is declining. My body feels like lead 3/4 of the way up. I am planning just to endure it until maintenance unless someone has a great tip.

Shanshu- my positive news is that I bought a new dress today a size smaller than usual and quite form fitting (waist up) and I think it looks pretty good.

Thanks Esnecca and Natalie for your responses. I have only just seen them. I guess I was expecting to be notified if anyone responded.
I have persisted with the crackers (Premium 98% fat free) as they are low cal, easy and seem to do the trick and still keeping my carbs around 50 each day, sometimes less.
This is the start of week 5 and would like to be seeing some more weight loss. Hubby has suggested my one hour morning walk of about 11min/k, is not doing much for me 🙁 and should walk less, but add a few sprints, so started that this morning. Hoping it kick starts some more encouraging results. Started at 76k and now at 70.7k with good bloods and 11cm off my waist.
Feeling pretty good apart from the nausea, which is often worsened when I take my daily glucosamine, fish oil and multivitamin tabs. They are quite large tabs and had during my breakfast today instead of after and that seems to have worked better. Weekday breakfast is tbspn rolled oats, berries, tbspn greek yoghurt, tspn honey and a tspn chia seeds.
The exercises seem to be getting easier to accomplish and my boys are definitely doing really well and it can only be good for them. Very little in the way of crap food, finding it’s way into our house. My husband has lost his belly, is standing straight and his back is much improved, without drugs, and his blood pressure has improved heaps. He’s aiming at getting under 100k, started on about 113k and he is very close.

Lets keep at it and reap the healthy rewards 🙂

Just trying to organise my lunch for today. How much cheese, ham and how many nuts should I be serving for the no-carb ploughmans?

Hi. I’ve started as well and glad to have found this forum. Being told on 31 Jan that I’m now in the pre diabetes range was a massive wake up call.

Thank you, Krysia – I won’t deny it can be a challenge at times!

As far as the superfast metabolism is concerned, o/h is exactly like his father who was 6’5″ (far less now that he is 93) and has never weighed more than 12st 7lbs (also far less now), despite having the appetite of a horse. My lucky kids (all adults) also seem to have inherited the lean-gene, thank goodness. And fortunately they also seem to have inherited my masses of hair gene 🙂 Just proves that at least I got some things right 🙂

I would recommend double checking on the tin, but I think they are generally around 400g cans, so half a can would be around 200g. I usually drop the portion size even further to a third of a can, but then I don’t particularly like them 😊 I keep meaning to make my own with a homemade tomato sauce but haven’t got round to it yet.

Theadora – your o/h must have a stunningly high metabolism. He is eating an almost unbelievable amount of carbs.

I see what you mean when you say that some naturally slim people must have superfast metabolisms.

You are doing really well to stick to the BSD while your o/h eats all that food.

Venison meatballs with cauliflower rice, and some spiced up tomato sauce

I too started the 20th February. Looking forward to sharing thoughts about this. I am following this diet closely and found the first day quite good. Did get a few sugar cravings and a mild headache.

I started the 800 calorie a day diet yesterday and am following it closely. When the recipe says a can of baked beans what size should I be buying or do I look at the details on the tin?

Hi Paul,

I too thought that not drinking for 2 months would be the hardest part, but it actually hasn’t been an issue at all. I drink Perrier instead and that gives me the same feeling of drinking something special, and I have discovered that waking up clear headed is great. I was only drinking 1-2 glasses of wine in the evening, or maybe a beer, but even that gave me a muzzy head in the morning. I thought I just naturally took a while to clear the cobwebs but now I realize that even a modest intake affected me much more than I thought.

Once you find an eating pattern that works for you you will find that it is not difficult to stick to 800 calories, and the rapid loss is very motivating.

After the first week big water loss you should settle into a loss of 2-3 pounds of fat a week.

I haven’t bothered with the recipes. Eggs in the mid-morning, an early supper consisting of a big lump of lean protein or salmon and piles of sauteed vegetables, and Greek yogurt with bran for an evening snack. Greek yogurt is very high in protein so it is helpful to maintain muscle mass.

Good luck.

Jan