Just wondering how things going for all you first dayers. I am thinking up tasty meals to make this a pleasant experience. I am also photographing the meal to keep on record. What I didn’t do was add up the calories. I wouldn’t say I have had that many, but 800calls won’t amount to much food . considering I eat like I worked on a building site. Have done my aquarobics and walked the dog. Now I must get the ironing out of the way. Evening will be hardest

JulesMaigret – nope, definitely not taking any of those things. Guess my body is having a weird bump but it’s good to know it’s happened to others too. It’s so disheartening when I’ve been so good!!

NancyB – I’ve gone strictly no booze. Not really an issue for me as only tended to have the odd glass of wine anyway some weekends so I’m just stopping for the 8 weeks.

I gave up the booze for the first eight weeks, but I have an ‘all-or-nothing’ view to things, so it was easy to introduce a complete embargo.

Also I preferred to eat the calories rather than drink them 😉

Interesting point about the salt JM. I tend to oversalt, will cut down a little.
On the subject of appetite, I read some research that fizzy water triggers the appetite which figures as it does taste slightly salted.

Hi everybody!
Alcohol?
I’ve had 4 or 5 G&Ts with diet tonic during these first 12 days of the diet, and this weekend was very good, I think, had just 250ml red wine in pub with friend Saturday night and 125ml red wine with restaurant meal yesterday Sunday lunchtime. I have since read that alcohol should be completely avoided during the first month of the diet to give the liver a chance to start functioning properly. Oh dear – will now endeavour to forego alcohol from now on. What are other people doing in this regard?
Two week weigh-in for me tomorrow Tuesday at 6pm. Will post result.
Nancy x

Thank you, Theodora, for the cooking tip. I have eaten greek yoghurt but not tried cooking with it. I can’t get Fage just the Nestlé which to my taste buds isn’t quite as nice.

Unlikely to be muscle at 1lb in 24 hours, unless you’re taking ARMs or strong steroids, which I’m guessing you aren’t or you’d probably have mentioned it. More likely to be the body responding to the change in diet/weight by storing a bit of short-term water. I have said it before, but the body is a very complex and resilient thing and can behave in a wholly unpredictable manner.

In my first solid eight weeks, I lost at an average of just under .7lb a day which is, I understand, quite an aggressive drop. This was however far from linear and I did have the oft-mentioned plateaus, but now I try to take a longer term view. I’m now at around 2lb a week and am very happy with that as I drift towards my target, having met my primary health objectives.

Thanks for that – I’ll have a look at carb intake – one of the problems that I seem to experience is trying to find items of food that, whilst ‘good’ in one respect are bad in others.
I have upped my water intake a bit – can always do more.
One intriguing thing – I read on another thread the idea that measuring blood sugar in the early morning – I have been doing it around 05:30 – 06:00 (I’m an early riser) is measuring the fact that the liver is releasing sugar to combat perceived hunger. I read that after I had measured my sugar this morning – 7.1 – so have just checked again – about 11:30 and it is 5.9. For the time being (I measure my sugar twice a week) I think that I will take two readings each time, one at my existing early hour, the other a couple of hours after breakfast so that I can build up a comparison
As for fats – not having any obviously fatty foods
Thanks again
Mike

I made a couple of good choices and a couple of disastrous ones this weekend. It is time to become serious about my diet and I will try my best with incremental steps.

First step – get more vegetables in my meals. I am pleased with my progress with this – I’ve made soup for lunches again this week (celeriac and roasted peppers this week).

Second step – get more moderate exercise into my days. I walk for half an hour most mornings and now the evenings are getting lighter I will try to do half an hour in the afternoons as well. I will also try to restart my extra flights of stairs at work.

Next step is to reduce carbs little by little. I’ve had very little success in past attempts so I’ll do this gently this time.

Fage is also on sale in Asda at the moment (£2 for a 500g tub)….

Angela, Captlynne and K8sgettingthin – just on a point of interest, re cream and / or crème fraiche, I have ditched both in favour of Total Fage yoghurt and now never have cream in the house. I have it for breakfast every morning, it is just sooo delicious, even o/h has started eating it – not for breakfast, but as a substitute for cream with desserts – it’s all I ever offer guests too, and they all eat it without any adverse comments, don’t think they even notice. I also cook with it and any recipe at all which includes cream or crème fraiche, I just use the equivalent amount of yoghurt and it works a treat. The pork with mustard cream sauce has long been a favourite in this house, and I have made it regularly for about 25 years, with the addition of mushrooms, and have always preferred it made with yoghurt.

Now nuts (Brazils in particular), on the other hand, are my downfall, and haven’t yet found any suitable subsititute 🙁 I do try to limit myself to 10 a day.

So I’m 25% through the 8 week programme and so far so good. Mainly…

Except this morning I weighed myself as I have every morning since starting and instead of losing 0.8lb as I did every day this week, I had put on a whole lb. Why?? I’d like to think it’s muscle because I’m exercising more but does that sound right to other people?

Anyway my stats for Week Two:
Weight loss: 5.6 lb
Boobs: Down 3 cm
Chest (beneath boobs): Down 3.5 cm
Waist: Down 4 cm

Total so far:
Weight loss: 19.8 lb (incl. 4lb from cutting carbs the week before diet started)
Boobs: Down 10 cm
Chest (beneath boobs): Down 15 cm
Waist: Down 5 cm

So everything is going in the right direction I think (bar the extra lb this morning). Maybe the weight will stop coming off my boobs soon and start coming off everywhere else!

Hi FindingMe – I definitely don’t mind advice. I’m just not convinced I was tired so much as lazy.

Anyway – well done for getting back on the programme. I anticipate having an ‘oopsy’ day tomorrow as I have a funeral to go to and then it’s Valentines so we are having a meal out. I have a plan to keep close to the 800 calories having perused the menu in advance but it may all go to pot on the day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get straight back to it on Wednesday.

Good luck Bainsey. My BP was very high just before Christmas, and although not pre diabetic, probably not far off it. I already had the 8 week BSD book and the recipe book months before but hadn’t acted on it.

Now just over 6 weeks in and I have lost 20.5 lbs! Would like to lose at least another 10 lbs, but I feel this is achievable. I have only ever lost around 10 lbs in 3 months on previous diets and then fallen off the wagon so this is a vast improvement for me.

BP down from about 160/120 to 130/86.

Good luck to you, and keep checking in on the Forums.

Thank you Captainlynne and Angela06, you have made me feel so much better as I am addicted to cream – I also have a spoonful when I happen to go to the fridge…. which can be quite often. I also made the huge error of buying salted cashews promising myself I could just have a small handful now and then – it’s amazing how quickly an entire bag can disappear…… Both will be left of my shopping list and out of the basket from now on as I cannot be trusted. Struggle with butter also. If I’m going to shift my huge amount of fat, I need to be more vigilante – the weight loss is not happening and I can only blame myself!

I want to get back under 73 kg, just 0.3 kg to go. I know it is not much but my weight has been 72.8 then 73.3 then 72.9 then 73.5, get the picture, so getting under and staying under is my current goal.

Hi Not giving up this time, The Optifast sachets are used by Doctors in Australia treating severe obesity for quick results while still getting solid nutrition and includes having some vegetables once a day. It is a good way of getting started in your circumstances. Stay focused on introducing real food in a week or two. Many of us use Optifast as a meal when pushed for time. Good luck with your journey.

Good luck – call out if you need help 🙂

🙂 yes it works – keep it up

Hi all, well done SunnyB on your fantastic result this week. You’ve got your eyes on the prize and I can feel the determination oozing from you! Keep up the great work.

RozyDozy, don’t be too disheartened by the plateau. You’re getting a good idea of what maintenance might feel like. Have a little word with yourself before you go into a shop or prep your BSD friendly post-activity meal and take it with you to eat after swimming or other activity.

I had a good result this week; 2lb loss. This takes me to 2lb from goal weight. I even had a night out on Saturday, so it’s good to see that I was able to limit any damage this week.

I’m just restarting the BSD after a major lapse over Christmas & had been using courgetti instead of pasta. It’s now got like gold dust in the UK, & probably will be for some time until UK crops come on-line, so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for something similar. I know there is something called a spaghetti squash but that is out of season at the moment – has anyone tried something like butternut squash or cucumber?

Couldn’t believe the scale this morning, had to get back on twice. I have lost a fantastic 10.lb, it was worth drinking water instead of wine. So excited that’s almost a stone, only another 8 stone to go. This is going keep me motivated for this week.
Good luck to everyone this week. Sharon

Well done, SunnyB, on making your mini-goal! It can be done – and good luck for your final 4lbs.

I still seem to be treading water. Unusually for me, the past few weigh-ins my weight has been stable (it’s very up/down normally) but I was at 10st 2lb 8oz so I wasn’t too bothered since the 2lb have been more in evidence than the 3lb/4lb/5lbs of earlier in the year. But the past couple of weigh-ins have shown a rise – yes, it’s my overindulgence. This time last year I still had 2stone of blubber to keep me warm – I’m plundering the recipes like a good ‘un but I’m aware that I’m grazing again. I’ve definitely upped my activity levels since Xmas but the past couple of times I’ve been swimming I’ve come home feeling absolutely ravenous, I could eat a horse. I’ve also become too fond of calling in at one of the local food shops ostensibly to top up with a veg or two and something non-BSD slips its way into my basket – Stick to the list, Rose.
I will be glad when the warmer weather returns & I can turn off the central heating which I am sure is making me feel thirsty all the time, I’m probably confusing thirst with hunger so am taking in food which I don’t need rather than liquid.
Anyway, it’s a nice day today and I need to go to the local PO so that’s a 50min walk in the bag. And I should be getting back into the garden/allotment in coming weeks.
Anyway, good luck everyone – hope you are edging nearer your targets.

TumtumP

You’ve done so well with this way of eating – it must be the best feeling to have reached so many goals – and for your 16 year old daughter to take on the BSD for good health is absolutely terrific. To motivate a 16 year old daughter to eat in such a healthy way says it all. She must be almost as thrilled as you to see what you’ve achieved in just 6 weeks!

Libby well done too – how good is this!

To all of you in this starting January thread — It’s so good to read all of your successes and also the struggles we all have when it doesn’t go so well. Loads of support to help on those calorie challenged days!!!

I’ve just started week 4 – and am also really pleased at how I’m feeling – lost 3.8kgs in the 3 weeks but clothes are already fitting better – they just must have been too tight before!!!!!! usually when I try and lose weight I’m excruciatingly hungry all the time and craving sweet food but not on the BSD……..

Wow Libby & Tum Tum – you are both doing SO well!!!!!

I have my week 5 weigh in this Thursday, but cheated yesterday with wine so am back at it now super strictly in the hope that my week 5 would be as successful as yours!

Keep up the good work!

Jess xx

Starting the 8 week BSD today ….after getting told i have high blood pressure and pre diabetes by my doctor ..i weighed myself and measured myself….after I’d stopped crying I’ve decided to reverse it while i still can ….wish me luck

Morning Everyone!

Today is the first day of week 6 for me! I am happy to report I have broken through week five with a 4.8lbs loss which is so great after 3 weeks of not shifting much! Total Loss 15st 10.1lbs to 14st 5.2lbs!

My tactics for week 6 are to split my 800 calories in to 4 sections of 200 each. Leaving 200 cals for coffee with soya milk. Coffee is my biggest ‘trip up’ at 39 cals and 2.5g carbs a pop for 100mls of soya.

I am also going to make sure I drink more water!!

I still have 26 lbs to go to target which is over 8 lbs per week loss needed to do within the 8 week timeline, So I have decided to continue on the ‘8 week challenge’ for as long as it takes to hit target. Then I will transition to 5:2 using Med Style! Excited!!

Best of Luck All!!
Libby x

Great to read that so many are reporting good results and cracking mini-goals along the way. I too can report achieving another mini-goal, which was getting to 9st, but actually I broke through that and came in as 8st 13lb today at my weekly weigh-in. This was a slight bounce back from the lowest weight registered during the week, but I’ll happily take it.

So I’m setting a new mini-goal now. Aiming to drop 4lb to get to exactly 2st lost, which actually is only 2lb away from my ultimate goal of 8st 7lb, which was my weight when I got married almost 20yrs ago. 2st 2lb might not seem like a big deal in the scheme of things, but being very short means that I was almost three dress sizes bigger than I am now.

Anyway, hope everyone is making good progress towards their next personal mini-goal. Looking forward to reading everyone’s great results soon.

I agree with the reply from Captainlynne although I have not been doing it for 9 months now I have reach my goal I plan to maintain my current weight 79kgs by continuing to monitor cals and eating the med style.
I still do not understand why the NHS is not promoting this form of eating and lifestyle as it would help resolve some of the crisis they are having in always

So really chuffed, Day 7 was on Saturday and 5lb off! I stayed on plan Saturday but Sunday was a little bit messy. Was down 6lb by Sunday but ended up on an impromptu day and evening out with the OH a few naughty cookies and dinner (although a good choice) . weighed this morning and seems to only be 1lb back on so fingers crossed it will stay that way!…
One day with some sugar and minimal carbs though and getting out of bed was horrific this morning so lethargic! lesion learnt
xx

Aldi sell cacao powder and various other superfood powders. All around £2

End of week 6 weigh in-amazed to say another 4lb gone! That’s 1stone 10lb !! Lots of mini goals achieved with this loss-down into the 15 stones, 1 and 1/2 stone DONE and under 100kg. Also lost 1/2″ off tummy that had plateaued for 3 weeks-7″ gone from there.
Actually starting to notice a change in my hips. And tummy. Also noticed skin has improved-I’ve always had “chicken skin” arms, little bumps and they’ve gone! Gone everywhere! First time in my life.
I have surgery on my foot at the end of this week so focusing on eating nutritional foods. Also my 16 year old daughter has been so impressed she is following the diet-not for weight loss but for health. Delighted beyond words

Reporting a much more successful weekly weigh-in today and also breaking through a mini-goal! So, came in at 8st 13lb dead, which is a 3.4lb loss over the week and takes me past my mini-goal of hitting 9st. So, although this result is actually a slight bounce back from the lowest weight registered throughout the last week, I’m more than happy with the weekly figure. In fact, this has been one of my most successful BSD weeks to date! Now my next mini-goal will be to drop another 4lb, to get the exactly 2st lost – this really feel attainable now and I’m hopeful of getting there before the 9th April.

Good luck to everyone, especially those facing their weekly weigh-ins today. Looking forward to reading lots of great results soon.

I did read somewhere that salt triggers the appetite (which is why restaurants add so much to food, especially starters, not to promote thirst), which may account for why salted nuts are more “more-ish” than unsalted ones.

Well done bloke41.

Welcome back Verano. Congratulations on the 11 pounds. You’ll get this next mini goal – welcome to your lowest weight for many years.

Good morning

Will definitely try your recipe with blue cheese and spinach, Snoop, it sounds lovely. Not sure about the salmon one as I’m really not that fussy on cooked smoked salmon. I am definitely going to try and eat more courgette meals this week in an effort to reduce my calorie intake.

I’m still just logging what I eat with gay abandon but tomorrow I will be back on track again. I had less than 40 carbs yesterday and just less than 1000 calories and I think I might stick to those figures I’m finding 800/30 a bit low at the moment.

Angela06 you did well with your guests. It is doable if we try.

Last night I made a Thai green chicken curry which was very nice but I had roasted cauliflower rice with it. The ‘rice’ itself was quite good but it just didn’t go with the curry. Will have to rethink that one.

I looked at the lasagne recipe sunshine-girl but I’m not sure it’s for me even though I love lasagne. I think I might make my own Bolognese sauce, even with the red wine, and use courgettes instead of aubergine. I think it may have been Marsie who suggested using crème fraiche loosened with a little water instead of the sauce in the recipe, which I have tried but don’t like. In fact looks like I’m just rewriting the whole thing!!! Never mind will give mine a try and let you know.

Tonight I’m having courgetti with a similar ‘peppered’ type sauce to the one I made at the weekend but will add more vegetables to make it into a main dish. Maybe spinach and a spiralised carrot with asparagus as a garnish. Will experiment.

Have a good day.

Glad it’s not just me Angela!

With the nuts, it seems it’s the salted and/or flavoured ones that cause the problem for me. I read somewhere that plain unsalted nuts cause fewer problems. Unfortunately I could easily still eat too many. And cashews have so many carbs.

Thanks for that Angela.

It’s still a little unnerving when I’m away from home and can’t weigh daily. When I get home and get on the scales again it’s with nervousness – perhaps because of past experiences with slimming clubs.

I was wondering about cutting down daily weighing and recording but, in those immortal words, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. Thanks again.

CaptainLynne…yes to the cream definitely. Had to throw out a half tub that was left after the pork in mustard sauce. I kept taking a spoonful here and there….but the nuts? Not a temptation or at least not yet!

Hi Mike

My first suggestion would be to reduce your carbs. Many diabetics on here have dropped to around 25g. That’s how I got my blood sugars down to the lower end of normal.

Also, are you drinking enough water? Are you eating enough protein and good fats?

It’s common for blood sugars to rise in the early days as our bodies react to what’s happening. But they do come down.

Oh, I’m 66 and 5′ 1″.

Hope this helps.

Just wanted to share this about daily weighing if may I butt in here?

We have an old friend whose weight/size never changes, never has changed since we’ve known him. I’d assumed he is just one of those lucky people till i met his brother who is seriously obese. Apparently our friend weighs every single day and if he puts on even a half a gram he adjusts his intake till he is back at his normal. He has never been on a diet but, recognising from his parents and brother that weight gain is for him a potential hazard, he always controlled his weight.

I still weigh daily, just to keep an eye on the weight. In the past, once I’d lost weight, I’d take my eye off the ball and the weight galloped back (often with interest). But daily weighing and recording everything seems to help.

Hi

Sorry I’ve not posted for a while I’m afraid ‘life’ just got in the way!

Around 4 weeks ago I posted my next mini goal as wanting to lose 4lbs. Well I did that and in fact have lost a further 11lbs!!! I have been ill so that may have something to do with it but hey who’s complaining.

So my next mini goal is just 1.2lbs to get me down into the next stone and the lowest weight I will have been for quite a few years. I hope to do this by Friday, easily manageable, so here goes.

Hope you are all reaching your goals too. Well done bloke41!

Morning everyone.

Angela – yes, voice back thank you. It was gone a week! Still not 100% because of virus, but lots better than last week.

Interesting to read of people having these problems with cheese. I’m not too bad with cheese, but my problem is nuts and cream. i’m ok with Greek yogurt, but not cream. I’ve tried different ones, double, extra thick double, and aerosol (ok, not single) and just want to keep eating it.

My nuts of choice have been cashews – preferably salted or Marmite flavoured. But I could eat a whole bag – just like I used to eat crisps. Not too bad with Macadamia, but they’re so expensive.

Looks like two more foods to keep out of the house – most of the time!

M&M that’s great to hear how much of a loser you are, careful now you don’t fade away?
How long has it taken the 8 stone to come off?
I think I need to refocus as I do well in the week but weekends seem to be my down fall, still keeping 3 stone off but the downward trend has really slowed down?

Don’t give up cheese, try to get individually wrapped portions of something instead to ‘train’ yourself. One 20g piece for a snack, two for a salad etc. That’s what I did at first. I probably eat too much but I am on more calories now and can afford it again, and the Baby-bel or similar types really helped me on the 800 part.

Oh, should have said – I am 79 years old and 6′ 1″ whihc accordong to BMI numbers is JUST not overweight
Mike

I have been following the 800 diet for 3 weeks today, but so far not with much success. Over the three weeks my averages ‘numbers’ are:-
Calories 764
Carbohydrates 64 grammes
of which added sugar 11 grammes (and all sugar, including natural 19 grammes)
Fibre 10 grammes
Protein 55 grammes
Over the three weeks I have gone from 13 stone 8 to 13 stone 5 but my blood sugar shows no overall reduction, I use an AccoChek Mobile monito twice a week and the readings , whilst fluctuating slightly, show no signs of coming down – it measures in m/mol and today’s reading was 7.1, actually a bit higher than for the last fortnight
As I say in the heading – what am I doing wrong?
\mike

So it’s not just me, Natalie! It’s funny but I gave up the rest with barely a backward glance but cheese…well, it’s going to be hard!

Lyn.g I haven’t had nausea but I find I can get very depressed on a low carb diet. People vary. My plan for myself (not that I’ve stuck to it well, so I can’t tell you if it works) is to have more healthy carbs – quinoa and lentils etc not crackers or bread. In the original BSD book there is no carb limit and a lot of recipes include healthy carbs. Many or most people on this forum limit carbs to 50g or less a day but that isn’t compulsory. You could try adding some low GI carbs to your meals and see if that helps.