Hi Bushberry14 and welcome. My total loss on an 8 week plan was 13lbs. When you read of people losing that in a week it is often because they have it to lose. As Sunny says we dont know all the facts but for me the most important thing for weight loss is keeping the carbs low and 50g I my ideal too. Depends what those carbs are because as soon as I add say a slice of bread (just one slice) the fluid gathering can put the weight straight back on. If you keep going you will start to lose again. On the subject of PCOS it is possible it is holding you back a bit as you are known to gain with PCOS so it might be harder to lose.

One piece of advice when I am stuck is to stop eating after say 7.30pm and not eat again until 10.30am or lunchtime if you can make it. It encourages your body to turn to fat burning when it has used up the glucose calories. Good luck and keep going.

My final positives before I go on holiday for 3 weeks.

Viewing went well and they want a second viewing – we will be away but hopefully our sitter will keep the house clean and tidy.
All my packing done except for that feeling of ‘have I forgotten something’. Still got daily things like toothpaste etc.
Sun is shining and hubby is out mowing so it will be tidy for our sitter coming and also for our viewing (s).
Washing out on the line ready to make up the bed for our sitter. Bed is currently covered in suitcases.

SG, have a lovely holiday xxx

Also very glad you are ok Pootle 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi all, leaving on Friday morning so this might be my last post as still a lot to do. The viewing went well and it is between 2 houses. However, they are spending a week in France so have lots of other houses to see. Unfortunately, they want a second viewing while we are away. I am lucky enough to have a housesitter who is happy to keep the house clean and vacate when any viewings occur, plus I have a lovely agent who said she will come in before the viewing to check everything is as it should be. She said she would even do a deep clean if she had to. I am sure she would. Just want it to be super tidy. Just a thought, when we were selling up in the UK 21 years ago we had a viewing while we were on holiday in France – a reversal of roles – and that was the viewing that sold our house. Fingers crossed.

Doctors visit went as well as expected because it wasnt my doctor. A young man who didnt even know why I was there. He was happy with my results, I got him to decreases my statins due to cramps, and he didnt bother to take BP or weigh me. So I got away with not having lost anything since last visit. However, being stressed I was going to have a few drinks last night but didnt and stayed away from snacks (roast pork from Sunday) and I have lost a kilo. My total loss for this season is 8lbs and I am not finished yet. Still got 3 days to go.

It has come to the time to say I will not be around when this thread comes to an end and I hope someone will step in with just a few words and a new title. It is not difficult. Otherwise I will come back and find a very lonely place.

Have a good Spring and welcome to the Summer months. See you in 4 weeks.

Hello everyone
I’m plodding along and am still following the plan but I can feel that things are going to get harder and slower. I’m half way through the 12 week online plan and I can honestly say that this has been life changing in terms of shifting some excess after years of not being able to lose anything! I am being realistic now going forward that I’ll most likely hit a plateau but I’m 100% sticking wlth this. I have lost more weight than I expected to. I’ll weigh in on Friday – need new batteries for my scales! Hoping to be 1lb down but won’t be disappointed if I stay the same .
Keep going everyone. We have definitely got this!!!

ArcticFox- it’s lovely to see that you’re feeling positive and the little changes and tweaks are having such an impact. Well done! Sometimes the little things make a huge difference.
You’re doing great.

Good to see you posting again Verano. I agree that finding positives daily has a really uplifting effect.
Like you I’m noticing all the lovely spring blooms. There are several fabulous magnolia trees local to us and they seem to be especially full of blossom this year.

My positives are …
🌸🌸 had a bad migraine yesterday … the positive is that my lovely OH took care of me, checking in periodically and bringing meds and water up for me
🌸🌸 my DD gave me a lovely dusky pink spider chrysanthemum plant for Mother’s Day
🌸🌸 packing list for our road trip to Turkiye compiled and printed out … not long now!!

Hoping to see other posting positives soon.

Hi!

Definitely time for me to check in.

I was reading again today how important it is to find just 3 positives each day….. so here are mine …. amazing flowers from my son yesterday, daffodils under the tree outside my bedroom window are brilliant this year ….. another flower positive…… a ‘new’ magnolia has appeared on the ‘grass’ in front of our home…… apparently planted 5 years ago by a neighbour but this is the first year with blossoms!

Hope you are finding positives in even the smallest things.

S-g hope your appointment went well today. Just want to wish you ‘happy hols’.
ENJOY!

Hi everyone,
I’m still working on my sleep. I slept for a solid 8 hours last night with only one wakening that I recall. It is really helping with my energy level and focus through the day, so hopefully it will translate to better meal planning and then sticking with it. I made the appointment to see my GP next week about possibly getting the ADHD assessment done. Bit nervous about what he will say, but we’ll see. I scored really quite high on the self-assessment my counsellor gave me. I’ve been looking up some helpful videos and reading a couple of books on how to stay organized when your executive functioning is compromised and it has been quite helpful. For instance, I bought an over-door organizer last week and hung it on my bathroom door, and all my little things are staying organized and out of the way so it made it a breeze to clean this weekend.

SUE and DAWN well done for your ongoing losses, both on the scales and in measurements. That’s great news.

Like you both, and CATHY too, I’m enjoying the online plans. I’m sure they are helping me to stay focused and keep losing. More so than when I’ve gone it alone :probably just because I was getting stale and needed a bit of a nudge in the right direction!

CATHY I made the pear and walnut muffins. They were ok, but I want to make them again properly. I was in a rush so just threw everything in and estimated the quantities. So I think they were probably a bit more almondy than intended and maybe needed more pear, but will definitely give them another go. I’ll also try your apple ones and I noticed a recipe somewhere for banana and blueberry which I thought sounded nice. Hope your work goes well this week.

A big hit for me this weekend was the cottage cheese, smoked salmon and cucumber salad which was lovely and very easy to make. I also did the halloumi and veg traybake on Saturday night which was very tasty, and I did some pasta for my husband to have with it. I made the chicken cacciatore last night and cooked double so it can be reheated tonight : I do yoga on Mondays and get in around 7:15pm so am always looking for something quick and easy to have.

Thanks SUE for the tip about my hand. Tbh it still doesn’t feel right : the bruising has gone and there’s no visible swelling or anything, but it still hurts if I try to twist it. I think I’ll see how I get on at yoga tonight (downward dogs and all!). Perhaps I just need to exercise it, but if it’s still playing up tomorrow I may do an e consult and see if I can get it x-rayed.

Hope everyone has a brilliant week! X

Hi everyone,
I’m 2lb down and another half inch off my waist so am pleased to be back in the swing of things again. I have a nice week of meals planned, Sue like you I have done quite a few swaps as would rather not waste food and also mainly have things this week which are recipes which I have tried and liked. I am trying a couple of new ones but would like a steady week. I didn’t do many of the exercises last week but would like to get back to doing them daily so that is one of my aims this week. It is still really helping me that a few of us are doing the online plan, along of course with everyone else’s helpful posts. I would love in the next two weeks to get down into the 10s which would be a big boost for me as it’s been a while since I’ve been there! Hope everyone has a good week. Dawn X

Hi all, Margaret, my scales show I am exactly the same weight as I was on Sunday last week. So no gain but a wasted week. Got the doctor tomorrow so had hoped to be less than 74kgs which is what I was when I last saw him, now 74.7kgs. Just waiting now to get the viewing over tomorrow morning then I can get on with more packing.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Good morning everyone & I have just weighed & gained 1/4 lb so I am exactly the same weight that I was one month ago! There is no doubt that I am finding it difficult to get going again on losing weight & being mindful of what I am eating & drinking every day because it all feels such a faff!! Tomorrow I will be going to a Mothers Day family gathering at my eldest sons house seeing all three grandchildren & we will be eating pizza & drinking wine so a diet exclusion day.
Happy Mothers Day for tomorrow 💐🥂🍷
Margaret xx
Oh I had an odd message supposedly from BSD staff asking me for my email address to verify me for future logging on & was concerned so didn’t do that have you all had that today?

Hello all, Happy Saturday 🙂
DCT – sorry to read about your fall and I hope you continue to recover well. Definitely get your hand checked out. Almost 2 years ago now I fell over and had what I thought was a sprained ankle – it actually turned out to be broken, but I only found out 2 weeks later, after continuing to walk around on it!
ArcticFox – good to have you back, your post came across as very positive, keep up the good work.
Mariet – I’ve been having small losses too, I was another 1lb down this week, but I’m that bit closer to having lost a stone (think it’s 13.67lb lost now!). I also recorded measurements this week and I’ve shed 13cm from my bust, waist, hips and thighs (since beginning of Jan).
Cathy – congratulations on being back in the 140s!! I know you’ve tried so hard to get there for a long time now. I think it’s a weight I’ll never see again, would be almost 40 years ago for me!! At this stage I’ll be happy to get back under 200lb, but that’s still another stone away I think.
Dawn – sounds like you had a good week, I agree the food is lovely, I’m enjoying trying new meals. I did make the Chard slice (recipe which won the 1000th recipe Competion) but don’t know that I would make it again, or if I did I’d use less Feta, it was very salty. Was quite expensive too once I’d sourced Silverbeet (chard), 1kg ricotta, 2 blocks of feta, 6 eggs, fresh dill… Anyway have enjoyed all of the other meals.
I made some veggie soup this week to have at lunchtimes (and to use up all the veg in the crisper, as I’ve been buying so much). Yesterday I had a small amount of leftover Dahl, so put that in my soup and it was lovely – a curried lentil and veg soup – I’d definitely make again.
I’m finding I need to swap the meals around quite a bit so I’m not buying quite so much food, I try to cook once and eat twice, so often dinner one night becomes lunch the next day or day after (or I freeze it).
Sunny – nice to have you back, and well done on your discard.
Yowzer, Becca and anyone else I’ve missed – hope you are all going well.
It’s certainly starting to feel that we do indeed have this!!

Hi everyone,
Articfox it’s good to see you back:) Becca I also totally have a chocolate addiction so whenever I have food cravings that’s what it’s for, thankfully I’m more or less back on track this week. Sunny well done on another pound and a half off, Mariet a loss is a loss however small you may think it is, DCT well done on getting back to your pre NY weight and Cathy congratulations on being back in the 140’s, it’s decades since I was last there and I know I will be ecstatic when it happens for me! I’m back on the original Fast800 plan this week so 3 meals a day again. I’ve had cinnamon cooked apples with yoghurt for breakfast today which was lovely. Other meals I’m enjoying are Mediterranean mozzarella chicken, baked mozzarella meatballs(I cheat and use M&S 3 ingredient frozen meatballs) Cajun chicken, Tuscan chicken, chicken fajitas, mushroom basil omelette, easy egg lunch box, Portobello pizzas and the broccoli and three cheese frittatas. I would like to try the curried chicken kebabs next week and the cheesy ham and tomato pikelets and will definitely make some of the muffins which have been mentioned! I would be pleased with any loss at all when I weigh myself on Monday so 🤞 I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Dawn X

Your 16lb loss in 4 weeks on the 800-calorie diet is fantastic progress—congrats on sticking with it despite the sleep disruption, which is a common side effect from such severe calorie restriction triggering cortisol spikes, blood sugar fluctuations, and altered melatonin production that fragment sleep (especially middle-of-night wake-ups lasting 1-4 hours). To combat this without derailing your 8-week goal, try a small pre-bed protein snack within your calories (e.g., 100g turkey slices or a boiled egg ~70-100kcal) 1-2 hours before lights out to stabilize blood sugar overnight; establish a wind-down routine like 30min dim lights/no screens, herbal tea (chamomile or valerian root), and progressive muscle relaxation; keep your bedroom cool (18°C/65°F) and pitch black with earplugs if noise factors in; if unmedicated ADHD from context plays a role, add white noise or a weighted blanket for sensory calm. Track sleep 3-4 nights—if no improvement, consider consulting a doctor to rule out deeper issues before pushing to week 8, as chronic restriction can amplify fatigue long-term. Hang in there; you’re crushing it!

________________________
https://www.medipakiet.pl/blog/bulimia-czym-jest-jakie-sa-jej-objawy-i-skutki/

DCT-what a fab idea to make the muffins . I have the pear and walnut ones saved for next week. They sound lovely. Please let me know what you think. I’ve made a batch of apple and cinnamon ones this morning. They’re delicious with a cup of coffee.

CATHY well done you! That’s great news and I’m so pleased for you. In the 40’s again 👏👏👏. What a great end to the week.

Your strategy for work lunches/snacks sounds great – and why not make some muffins for the Book Club? I’m going to try the pear and walnut ones today – will report back in due course!-

Enjoy the weekend x

Sunny – being a slow loser is probably better for our skin. All the literature i have read says it is better to lose slowly. I have always been a slow loser and have been frustrated when reading how much people lose but I’ve come to terms that we are all different and slow and steady wins the race. I have found that breaking it down to small goals has really been rewarding.
ARCTICFOX – glad to see you back and it sounds like you’re in a good place. I can endorse the two meals a day 800 vegetarian keto- it’s definitely made a difference to my journey.
Dawn- have you had a good week? Did you change your plan?
Keep going everyone – we’ve got this.
Of to work (I must be mad). I am supposed to be retired!

Hello everyone
Well done to Mariet and DCT for discarding this week. I’m so glad you got your tooth fixed DCT. I totally understand about your tongue not leaving it alone! I’m surprised I’ve not worn the tip of my tongue out! It’s been poking into the top corner of my gum since July last year!! Good that you’re recuperating from your trip and getting back on track.
I am delighted to report a loss of 1.5 lb this week taking me to …. 🥁 🥁 🥁 149.6!!!!!!!!!!! Woooo hoooooo!!! I can’t remember when I was last in the 140s. I am sticking to the plan 100% and it’s paying off! I’m hosting book club in a couple of weeks and thats going to be a challenge- not from me but from peer pressure and people egging me on. But I am thinking of my blood sugar blood test coming up in April and am determined to be in the normal range.
I’m working this afternoon and all next week so lunches are going to have to be ok the hoof- I’ll make Greek salad, apple and cinnamon muffins and take cheese and nuts, hummus and celery etc hopefully I’ll be ok. It’s a good test for when I’ve finished the 12 weeks and got to learn to eat intuitively again.

MARIET a loss is a loss! And I feel sure that once your system starts flowing again that will make a difference too. Also I seem to remember that you don’t have that much to lose? In which case I guess it makes sense that the speed of loss will slow down (seems logical to me anyway 😊).

SUNNY well done on your discard this week. I’m really pleased for you, particularly as you say you are a slow discarder. Fingers crossed for next Tuesday.

I’m delighted to report that I’m now back to the last weight I took before New York, 151.2lb. It feels like this week has been a bit of a recuperate and reset kind of week, so I’ve not been doing much exercise or anything but have been back on the online New 5:2 plan. So it seems to work for me for now and I’ll keep going on that until I feel the need to change. I really do like the meal plans as food planning is not my best skill. And there are so many recipes to swap to if you don’t like the sound of the suggested ones. I’ve found it makes food shopping easier and once you have a core stash of the ingredients they use it does become quite economical. I’m also getting better at finding recipes that use up leftovers I already have, so nothing gets wasted.

I hardly dare say this in light of CATHY’s frustrating dentist’s experience this week, but my dentist did manage to fit me in yesterday and has repaired my front tooth. She did say it may need more work in future such as a crown, or may even die : apparently I gave it quite a bash. But for now it has a white filling and just looks like normal though feels a bit funny (you know when your tongue won’t leave it alone!). So I’m pleased about that and really hope CATHY that your tooth gets sorted once and for all on the 23rd 🤞

Hope that everyone reading this has a good weekend and some good progress towards whatever your own goals are X

Checking in for Friday- a small 200g discard which is disappointing. I am having some trouble with ‘slow transit’ and feel uncomfortably bloated so hopefully when all the psyllium husk, etc that I am using works there will be a better result! I am going to review my online BSD plan as well- they recommended a5:2 plan but I think I do better doing the same thing every day so I’ll see what else might suit me better.
Looking for better things from others 😁

So pleased your biopsy showed no cancer Pootle💐 You can relax now after your worrying last few weeks 👍
Margaret xx 😍

Hi everyone,
Sorry I have been absent for most of the ‘new year’. I haven’t caught up with all your posts… so many to read, I just hope you are all ok and keeping on!

I have been working through a cancer scare since mid January and finally have had biopsy taken… non cancerous! 😅 Such a relief!
During this time I have not been watching my diet carefully, but have kept to the same weight as I started the year. (5.5 stone less than when I began in 2024 but 1/2 stone heavier than my lightest in 2025)
Blood sugar has kept stable!
🤞🤞

S-G as Verano says almost there & it’s brilliant that you can fit into all your dresses & also having good health results. 👍👏👏. I hope that you will have a very enjoyable & relaxing holiday! 🥂🌝
Margaret xx

Oh Cathy! You are having the worst luck with your tooth. I hope it happens without any further mishaps.

Sorry you have to continue to wait to get your tooth sorted out Cathy. Good luck for 23rd … hope it goes well.

Really appreciate you posting positives again, SunshineGirl, thanks for joining in. Great news on your HbA1c result, I’m guessing that means you’re in a good place ahead of your trip. Have a wonderful time when you go away.

My positives for today are ….
🌼🌼 watching a little wren bug hunting in one of my rose bushes
🌼🌼 felt like a productive day, got some laundry done, lots of exercise snacking, old flowers thrown out and a new arrangement made, roasted some cashews and tidied the kitchen
🌼🌼 another day with a good few hours of sun … was able to have the kitchen door open most of the afternoon.

Hope someone else will share a positive or two soon.

Hi Sunny, I do have positives and thought I should jump in and support you, but I have been so busy with everything going on.

House viewing on Monday
HbA1c down to 6.9
Packing nearly finished.
We have a sitter arriving on Thursday and for the viewing as well I would be trying to clean from top to bottom, hence I have asked my cleaner to come back for a one off job. I should keep her on properly again but I thought I was well enough to do everything myself but it is good to have some help.

S-g WOW!!!

Yes lots going on but health wise all is looking good.

Packing almost done – great!

Next thing is to just take lots of deep breaths and get through the next few days.

Holiday is almost here!

Results are in and I am back down in the 6’s but only just (6.9), that is down from 7.3. Cholesterol is very low at 2.45 and I am going to ask doctor to reduce the amount of statins I am on as I also suffer from really bad cramps at night. Triglycerides is really low so just proves I dont drink much alcohol or eat processed foods.

Weight has dropped back down but I am past worrying. Fitting into all my dresses for the holiday although I by my natural instinct will not be diving into cakes and still sticking to low carb. Things are a bit mad now with everything happening at once, nurse and bloods, car service, cleaner on Friday, house viewing Monday followed by doctor in the afternoon, hairdresser on Wednesday, sitter arrives Thursday, leave for holiday Friday. Phew I am exhausted thinking about it all. But I have nearly finished my packing.

Have a good week everyone.

Oh CATHY I’m so sorry to hear that. How frustrating!! As you say, you couldn’t make it up. All the best for the 23rd 🤞
Hope everyone else is doing ok xx

My dental extraction has been cancelled by text this morning as the practice was broken into last night! You couldn’t write the script! I’ve rescheduled to 23rd as I am working all next week at the college invigilating! Another plot twist to come to terms with! Nothing is simple. I’ve done a lot of juggling to arrange today’s appt. Hey Ho!

Can’t believe I’m the only one with positives … but regardless, here are mine for today.
🌷🌷 saw the sun for a few hours today
🌷🌷 en route to town today, noticed several magnolia trees in bloom … they’re so beautiful
🌷🌷 made myself a new bead bracelet this afternoon quite pleased with the result

If you have a positive or two, please take a moment to share with us.

Firstly Bushberry, welcome … secondly, probably all of us have been despondent about our progress at some point, the secret is to just push on. You’re not doing anything wrong, it’s simply that some of us (me included) lose more slowly than others. It feels so unfair when we see others reporting big weekly losses and we only ditch half a pound or so, or stay static, but it will come right.
It’s important to understand that we’re in a marathon not a sprint race and that this way of eating is a life style change, not a quick fix … which we all know doesn’t exist.
Because we’re in this for the long haul, it doesn’t matter if some days our values are higher than others, it levels out over time. The carb value is the most important one though, so try to keep a handle on that. If you’re concerned about your daily calorie intake, it could be worth reviewing portion sizes and maybe the elements of your meals … could you swap anything out for something with lower values?

You didn’t say what your starting point was, or how much weight you hope to lose, but be assured hitting a plateau is normal. This happens as your body makes adjustments to the new regime, just keep going and the discards will start happening again. It’s not easy I know, but be assured it will happen.

Don’t worry about the nay sayers, the science behind this way if eating is sound and robust … if you want to research it further the work of Dr Taylor of Newcastle University is worth checking out. Be assured you’re on the right track.
Finally, for support I recommend tapping into the support on this forum. We are a friendly bunch and you’ll be made welcome on any thread you think might be helpful to you, so just jump in. Hope to see you around on the forum and wish you success as you continue towards your goal.

DCT, rest up and take things gently while you recover from your injuries and jet lag. Good luck with the dentist. Don’t panic about that gain, I’m sure it will disappear quite quickly once you’re back on track.
Becca, we all lose focus from time to time, but you’re back on track now, so fingers crossed you’ll see a better result this week … I’m sure you will.
Arctic, good to see you posting again. Sounds like you have lots going on, hope the adjustments you’re making help.

Better report my result from the last week, down 1.5lb which was a surprise and might I say, a good result for a slow discarder like me. Continuing with my established pattern this week and hoping to see more discarded at weigh in next Tuesday.

Hello 🙂
I am looking for advise for those who are familiar with this diet. I have been trying to loose weight for a couple of months and I have PCOS so this diet seems ideal for me and on the whole its been great. I enjoy the food, cravings are little and I feel full. I have been doing this along with introducing exercise and currently on week 5 of C25K. I try to track as much as I can on myfitness pal, but with kids and work, some days are not completed fully. I admit I struggle to keep to 800 cals and usually average 1000 to 1200. My carbs never going over 50g and do try to keep these low. I lost 7 pounds over this time, but with what I am eating and moving more, I thought I would be loosing more and for last few weeks just hoovering at same weight. Friends tell me I am not eating enough calories and I have tried to explain what I know about the BSD and the science, but I am starting to feel despondent and wondering if my PCOS could be a factor. What were other peoples weight loss. Is it wrong I am going over the 800 cals when some days I do eat less calories than others? I am cooking recipes from the books and only eating whole foods – any help or advise welcome – thanks so much!

Hi all, I am well and truly fed up, scales this morning show me up from 74.2 to 75.2. Not a morsel has passed my lips that shouldnt have. Not quite managing TRE as I am looking for a snack in the evenings but it is usually meat or chicken. Anyway, I am fasting tonight as the nurse will be here first thing in the morning for blood letting 🙂 So no food after 8pm.

Finally started my packing. All seems a bit over the top but I have 4 long dresses, 2 dressy jump suits and 2 short dresses, then 2 dress trousers. That is 10 nights so 2 more but I think it will be the trousers again with different tops. Then on the last night you just wear what you are leaving the ship in as you have to have your bags outside your cabin by 10 pm the night before. Exhausted just thinking about it. Luckily I have a packing list that I can follow.

Will let you know my results tomorrow afternoon, they usually dont take much longer than 4 hours but nurse has to drop them off at the lab so that depends how long she waits to take them.

Bye for now.

Morning all! ARCTICFOX great to see you back on here again, I’ve been thinking of you and wondering how you were getting on. I’m glad that things are moving forward in many ways, and particularly that you have lots of positive habits and activities coming into your life. It sounds as if you are in a better place and getting more constructive support. I’m sure the weight discard will soon follow.

BECCA thanks for your good wishes. I thought of you in Macy’s store as there was a lovely T shirt with the slogan “I left my heart in Sedona” on it. I was tempted to buy it but resisted. My daughter is a big shopper, and I am not. If I see something I love and need, and can justify, I may buy it, but she is much more easily swayed. So overall I bought very little whereas she was stuffing her case! I think there’s a generational thing there too though : for me, experiences and memories are now much more important than “stuff”. In fact, I continually seem to be trying to get rid of stuff so am very reluctant to bring in more! Anyway, I look forward to hearing your progress over the next few weeks before your trip. Won’t it be wonderful to enjoy being in a swimsuit again! You CAN do this 🙌

CATHY thank you too for your kind words. I’m taking things easy but getting frustrated as there’s so much I want to get on with. I’m a very list-based person and had a long “to do after holiday list”, but my hand still hurts in certain positions so I’m a bit limited on physical activity at the moment. I’ve made a dentists appointment but she only works Thursday and Fridays and it’s not till Friday 27th. They’ve suggested I phone first thing Thursday morning to see if she has any cancellations or can fit me in as an emergency (which I don’t regard it as being, but do want it checked asap in case there is any damage below the surface). So we”ll see. But I really hope that your appointment goes well tomorrow and they sort your tooth once and for all. Will be thinking of you.

I’m back on the online Fast 800 plan and the scales have moved downwards this morning which is good. I’m currently doing the New 5:2 version, three meals a day, which so far is working well. But in a couple of weeks or so I may try a switch to either two meals a day or a stricter Fast 800 if I feel I need to shake things up a bit. It’s good to have the flexibility to chop and change. DAWN I hope you have a better week this week.

Best wishes to you all X

Oh, I missed the post from ArcticFox because I didn’t renew the page after I got home! Great to see you! I was fascinated by your post, since I’ve often wondered about ADHD in myself, and also have trouble with using food for dopamine hits, and getting to bed at a reasonable time, and just staying focused on anything, really. Some of my family members have been diagnosed, but I’ve not yet been tested, and not sure if it’s something I should pursue in my 70s now or not. Best wishes and kudos for all the things you’re doing right!

Becca

Oh, DCT, so sorry you had that experience. : ( Glad you had a good time otherwise. I can imagine with the long flights you had a lot of tiredness and jet lag, and also plane travel is famous for adding a few pounds from cabin pressure, sitting still for so long, and cortisol from stress. Kudos to you for doing well with your vacation food and also getting in exercise!

Dawn, hope things settle down with the HRT. Those cravings are just awful when they hit, for whatever reason. I have been addicted to chocolate since early childhood, and it has never subsided. And once I start eating it, I find it very hard to stop.

I also gained a few pounds last week (not from chocolate, but from slacking on tracking), but hopefully back on track now as I prepare to get weighed at my doctor appointment and then wear a swimsuit on my little trip. (!!)

Becca

Hurrah! It worked!
DCT – so sorry to hear about your fall. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
I’ve been trying to post for weeks now with no success. Not sure what happened to my old account. Anyway I haven’t made much progress so far diet-wise, but my new counsellor has been helping focus on self-care and especially sleep. I don’t think my sleep quality has improved too much yet, but I am getting to bed significantly earlier, am away from screens for at least 10 hours, and feeling a bit more rested, so that is a good start. I am hopeful that this will lower my cortisol levels eventually and help me avoid carby cravings moving forward. We’ve also been discussing how I probably need to treat myself as if I have ADHD, whether I have a diagnosis or not (my parents never got me evaluated in school in spite of the signs because they ‘didn’t believe in labels’) so that I can work on the impulse control and not use food to seek novelty and a dopamine uplift. We are exploring healthier ways that I can increase my dopamine levels.
I have also been trying to make sure that I go swing dancing and to pottery every week. I did a yoga class with the Girl Guides last week. It was the first time doing yoga in ages. So I opened up my online gym subscription again to do some of the yoga sessions in there. I am considering joining a masters swim club in the city where I go for counselling for their spring session as I can go just one day per week, and that will tide me over until the outdoor pool in my community opens for the summer.
Hopefully getting these good habits in place first will help me get back on the diet. It would be so nice to start the discard again. I can see now that I was just under so much stress over the last year and it wasn’t doing me any good.
Cathy – great to see the 2 meals per day and cutting sugar are working well for you. I would like to get back to that as soon as I can.
Will hopefully catch up on everyone else’s news here shortly. Good to be back!

Hi everyone,
I haven’t been able to post to the forums for some time now. I’ve tried everything including emailing the tech people but they have not responded. So I’ve made a new account and hopefully this works.

S-G, I know just what you mean, having you all here to check in with is like a safe harbor. ❤️

I’m down to minimal calories and carbs for the next 12 days as I prepare for getting weighed at the doctor’s office and possibly getting into a swimsuit on my trip! Looking forward to the trip, but hoping I won’t put too much weight back on.

Becca

In early with positives today …
🙂🙂 lots of exercise snacking today … really enjoying my rebounder and slowly building stamina
🙂🙂 lovely long chat with friend in Turkiye, good to catch up with her
🙂🙂 After a few days of misty grey, the sun put in a short appearance this afternoon

Hope to see some positives from others soon.

SG: I think that’s great advice, about staying on the forum- absolutely right, I feel like people start to think we are obsessive or something if we go on too much about calories- I’m most likely to tell other people I am eating a healthy mediterranean diet and mention Michael Mosley as my guru but I don’t go into more detail unless they’re really interested.
Also, great dream!

Really sad to read the news about your fall DCT. What a shock but thankfully no broken bones or severe facial injuries. Take time to rest and recuperate this week. It happens so quickly and we go down with a jolt. Be kind to yourself. We have thee weeks in March to achieve our March target of getting into the 140s. Won’t that be something to celebrate. We haven’t been in the 140s for a very long time.
I hope you get your tooth fixed and get over the shock of the fall very soon and feel better very soon. Sending you lots of love 🥰

Hi everyone. I’m back from NYC and just catching up on posts. Some great discards here – particular congratulations to CATHY and I hope you finally get that tooth on Wednesday. And lovely to read about so many NSVs too. Love the jeans result SUE! Also good to hear from some of the newer posters, am so glad you are hanging in there. Keep on keeping on, as the saying goes.

I had a wonderful time in NYC! So much to see and do and I really enjoyed having time with my daughter. The only downside was that I somehow managed to trip over on Wednesday evening and in the process broke my front tooth, split my lip and badly bruised my hand. So that wasn’t good – though I’m so grateful that those faithful body parts broke my fall otherwise it could have been much worse. And also grateful that it didn’t ruin things, I just felt a bit shaky the next day and have felt exhausted since I’ve been home.

Weight-wise, I’d got to 151.2lb just before I left and have put back on about 3lb whilst away. A bit more than expected, as we ate fairly wisely and did loads of walking. But I’m confident I can soon lose that again so am still hoping to get below 150lb by the end of the month. Here’s hoping 🤞

Hope that everyone has a great week, and I’ll check in again later in the week when I’m hopefully a bit more with it 😂

A few weekend positives….
🌻🌻 lovely date night with OH last night
🌻🌻 photo book I created for youngest DD’s birthday has arrived … really pleased with it
🌻🌻 have made arrangements to visit Dad later this month, coach ticket already purchases
🌻🌻 have been building up my exercise snacking on my rebounder

Those will do for now…. hope you have found some positives this weekend.

While I’m here … Best wishes to all you brave, determined and inspirational women on the forum on International Women’s Day.