Indeed, I have got to the stage now when I can find things ‘too sweet’ where before the diet I had a very sweet tooth. You will be amazed how sweet some things like tomatoes start to taste when the taste buds are retrained.

I use protein shakes on my badminton session days, instead of an evening meal. I have been using For Goodness Shakes Ultimate Protein, which is 40g protein and only 10g carbohydrate. I have now bought some whey protein though and will be making up my own shakes, hoping that is a little cheaper in the long run, and definitely more flexible as I can add it to smoothies and the like.

Been on the bsd for a week. Lost 6 pounds but fasting blood sugars down from 12 to 6! Pleased with the result. I have so much weight to lose that I cannot think about it,but will stick to it.

Congratulations on halving the dose 😀 if you look at my diary this week in Fast 800 it looks like I lived on chicken, spinach and salad, but I tried to change things at every meal, different seasonings and flavourings, hot or cold. Variety is the spice of life, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be a problem if you eat the same thing a few days running, particularly if you like it.

Hi Nettle
Enjoy your time here in Sydney, you’ll love it!
My Dad said to me today that I am now too skinny! I’ve learnt to ignore those comments regardless who they come from and I just don’t respond. My husband, Mum and rest of the family continue to tell me how proud they are of me!
I bought a pair of size 10 jeans and a size 8 cardi this week and I still don’t quite believe it! At 60kg, I now weigh less than what I was at both my wedding and before having 2 kids.
I don’t have a full length mirror at home, so when I go into a change room, I get a shock at how I look and how much weight I’ve lost (100g shy of 30kg now).
I’m continuing to avoid all refined sugars, simple carbs (and polyunsaturated oils, but that’s another story!) and will continue that for the rest of my life.
For all those thinking of starting, just do it, you won’t regret it!
Cheers
Linda

Yesterday’s calories were a little lower than usual at 775, but I had had enough so didn’t go picking to fill them up. Carbs were quite low too. I usually aim at 40 but yesterday came in at 33. Tea was the lovely trout fillet with half a roasted cauliflower steak, and cauliflower, garlic, chilli and red pepper mash. The mash was really tasty, but was originally intended to be more steaks, they fell apart into florets when I sliced it so I improvised 😊 I also made some fresh parsley sauce and thought I’d try some chia seed and coconut flour to do the thickening. After about half an hour I panicked that it was never going to thicken and tossed in a teaspoon of corn starch as well. It was still a little runnier than normal but had thickened beautifully this morning in the pan. I also tried the Greek style yoghurt with a teaspoon of cinnamon which made a fantastic dessert.

What are you going to use Stevie?

Hello All – I am starting on Monday too – have spent the last 2 weeks reducing portion size in readiness!
I am a bit apprehensive as I have never eaten such a low cal diet. I have been doing LCHF (low carb high fat) which I loved but didn’t lose much weight.
I am 54 T2 5’2″ weighing 11 st 4 pounds. I started Metaformin 3 months ago. I take 3 tablets a day and I plan to reduce gradually when I start losing weight (around the 1 stone mark).
Not sure if I am going to rid myself completely as I am Indian, both my parents dies of diabetic complications and I had gestational diabetes when I had my son! But it can’t harm to try. Good luck everyone!

First official weigh in and re-measure this morning, and I am pleased to say my weight has dropped by 5 pounds to 12 stone 6, my body fat by 1.3% to 39.3%, and my waist down one cm to 89cm. I count that as a very good start 😀 I am planning on another single meal day today after the success yesterday, we have friends coming round and I am doing roast chicken, so want to have a reasonable plateful. I will stick to liquid until then, although may have milk in a tea at some stage if I fancy it. Redbush tea first, then some green tea probably. Black tea later, and a sparkling water in wine glass for the evening meal.

DAY 6 of 7

Yesterday:
Calories 1106!!!
Carbs 50!!!

Made a fatal mistake yesterday of not logging my day’s food in the morning just muddled through and the added a couple of glasses of wine!!!
BUT my averages for this week are
Calories 864
Carbs 32.7
So ok my calories are over and it’s unlikely I can get them down overall in just two days but my carbs are less than the 35g I was trying for.
Weight the same this morning. I seem to have developed a pattern of I day loss and the next stable. That will suit me!!!

Have the family coming for lunch today, mezze buffet style, so should be able to stay within the plan.

But I have been thinking about where to go from here. Tuesday will be the beginning of week 15 for those of us on the second ‘8’. We would have time for one more 8 week cycle before ‘the day’. Starting October 25th and ending with a weigh-in on December 20th!!

Don’t know who, if anybody, will be carrying on but I realise, that for me, I need smaller manageable chunks rather than looking at the whole picture.

Anyway we have two weeks left before then. Anyone up for ‘Penultimate 7 day challenge October 11th’ ??

Meanwhile, hope you all had a good day yesterday everyone seems to be doing really well.
Keep on keeping on!

Hi – I started on the 26th September too and I lost 7lbs in the first 2 weeks so I am 14 10 now but nothing since – it’s good to see other veggies and those of you that are measuring your loss – I need to get a tape measure and scales for the kitchen as I’m guesstimating my food intake.
I’m eating porridge/ seeds for breakfast then salad for lunch; I have a small evening meal with lots greens. I am snacking on nuts/ natural yoghurt and still having a slice of rye bread daily. I’ve cut out pasta, pizza, rice and cakes but I’ve hit this plateau. I can use eggs, cheese, lentils and beans to make my meals; I often have an avocado with my salad and olives.
I’m concerned that the darker days are going to make me crave carbs – I find I’m happy to avoid a lot of the food I’ve got in for my 20 year old son – I’m having many more types of tea to stave off eating. I go to yoga classes two evenings a week and can’t eat much beforehand. As a veggie I reckon I need to plan my meals a little better and maybe cut down on the nuts and be more active.

So exciting, Natalie and Claire! We will rock this! Any tips from someone who has been on the journey before, Natalie?

I have type 2, as well has high blood pressure. Plan on kicking both of them in the next 8 weeks!

I’m happy to be a sounding board if you are having any issues and you need someone to chat to!

Im and too ready to start on the 10th 😀

Kjandtheboys – Thanks, I was amazed too! Luckily my kids no longer live with us and i’m vegetarian whereas hubby isn’t so not so hard for me. Plus he gets home later after i’ve eaten and i’ve NEVER eaten after 6pm….I believe this makes a difference.

Good luck to you too:)

Is anyone else using meal replacements? I’m starting tomorrow 🙂

Stevie

I am! I actually successfully tried the BSD earlier in the year but put it back on when I went back to my old habits. I’ve had a couple of false starts trying to get back into it, starting again tomorrow for real. I have pre-diabetes and about 25 kg to lose so I’m determined to keep it off this time. No excuses! My health issues are reasons to do this, not reasons to put it off again!

thank you – that is helpful , a few tweaks then…. I have to say I am not looking forward to trying to cut out the sugar , but I do recognise that this must indeed be the culprit!!! I am not a fan of the 70/80% chocolate – it is the sugary stuff I like 🙂 , but , i think it is just a matter of re training the taste buds!

I remember years ago when they used to wire people’s jaws together as an aid to weight loss. I was in my late teens at the time and one of the women who worked with my mum had this done. She lost a lot of weight in the first few weeks then started to put some back on. She then admitted she was liquidising food and sucking it up through a straw. Mars bars and everything. So the only way is to learn what you can and can’t eat in the way we are.

@ Happygirl: sorry to hear that the scales have not moved yet. I had the same experience when I started on the regular BSD, which is why I amped it up to the 800 kcal. Assuming that you are weighing, tracking etc and sticking to 800 kcal day and up to 50g carbs, there is NO WAY the scales will not start moving at some point. (I am not using the book recipes so am relying on MyFitnessPal to track for me.) Don’t forget that at certain times of the month we girls retain water even if we are losing fat, and that some bodies go into shock at the beginning and cling on on to everything. The only way the scales will not move if you are sticking to the programme is if you have an underlying medical issue such as an underachieve thyroid. So keep pushing forward, see what Wednesday brings and take it from there ok? (I’d say that if you stick to the programme religiously for three to four weeks and the scales have not budged an ounce then is the time to go see a doctor – but give it a substantial go first.) Having been there myself I know it’s super-frustrating, but it WILL happen. Good luck!

Good morning all from the United Arab Emirates. Official week one weigh in brings me to 2.2kg or 4.9 lbs loss. (Only 100g lost overnight but that’s ok.) Definitely feeling ‘skinnier’ and energy levels much higher. Expecting a slow-down too this week but intend to bulldoze my way through it. I also have a hankering to hit the gym which I intend to act on this week. Mind you, I have also woken up with a desire to eat a large margarita pizza (or two…) for breakfast!!!

I also want to say thank you for your kind words. I’m finding this group a wonderful source of support as I face up to taking back control of my health. It’s so good to know others are travelling the same path and I am grateful for you all. Have a good day everybody!

Great job everyone!

Week one down and I’m ecstatic. Down 13#s in one week, but no loss this morning. That’s ok. I know most of it was water weight and boy can my joints feel it. When I look at the amount of calories of things that I would mindlessly eat, I’m surprised that I don’t weigh 300 pounds. I’m bracing myself for zero loss this week so I won’t get discouraged and cheat. That’s usually what happens.

Didn’t do measurements last week so I can only go by my clothes. Able to wear a few pairs of pants I couldn’t wear 2 weeks ago.

I’m actually super excited to start on this plan. I have read the book cover to cover over the last two days, and I’m super jazzed to kick this plan off! I’m going to nip some weight in the bud!

Is there anyone else starting the regime MONDAY?

Tomatoes are proportionally high in sugar, so being vigilant on serving size is a must. I looked it up on MyFitnessPal, and a 100 gram serving of Cirio Passata has 35 calories and 6 grams of carbs, 4 of them sugar. If you’re not diabetic or if you’ve tested your blood sugar after eating passata before and it hasn’t spiked, then it seems like it would be entirely manageable. Like shalimar says, it’s all about the counting so nothing sneaks up on you.

Congratulations on your great first week!

Yeah …my weird thing and may have been why I am registering as impaired is that I can take a reading 5 minutes out of bed and I read 4.5 mmol and 30 mins to 60 mins later after a shower and before breakfast it’s up around 6.5-6.6.

I suspect having that shower, toweling off and getting dressed is enough to stimulate the release of glucose. Thing is if I don’t have breakfast, I can still be over 5 mmol a few hrs later.

I wonder if I cheat and head to the pathologist straight from bed would I read around 5…I’d like to test that theory out LOL

If I have breakfast and takes a reading 2hrs later , it’s sub 5.

Very confusing I have to say.

I can’t manage one meal a day myself, but I have a friend who used a regular 1200 calorie diet who only had coffee with milk during the day and enjoyed the rest of her food budget in the evening. She lost all her excess weight this way and even now keeps it up as a lifestyle. She still sticks to her calorie limit during the week and allows herself to enjoy whatever she fancies at the weekend. She has maintained this lifestyle for a number of years now with no health issues showing up, so if it works for you, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.

Well done everyone, even if it’s a pound gone, or for some lots of pounds,it’s the beginning of an amazing eight week journey with a lot of like minded friends. Carb_Addict I nearly cried when I read your post, I was like your mum and did every diet known to man, but fortunately my daughters ignored my dieting and ate healthily, which I have not done for 48 years! It IS different this time – you have a lot of people travelling with you, and it’s your time for making the inside and outside of you match and to feel really good about yourself, you lost five pounds this week, imagine that again for next weigh day – woo hoo and more bunting!!!!

This doesn’t feel like a diet, the food is good and filling, I look forward to my meals without worry I am eating the wrong things, and I hope that the weight will go down slowly and surely – now I am going to skip to the kitchen and have a poached egg and some avocado, tonight veg curry and cauliflower rice, with some strawberries to follow, still finding it hard to drink enough water, but actually slept well for the first time in eight days, so that’s good. Stay strong everyone.

@newforestdieter: that’s amazing…. Well done…. I’m intrigued about if I were to have a non fasting day if I’d head straight to the bread bin😁😱
I’m finding weekends the hardest as all the children and hubby are home and I’m preparing meals for them all which includes things that for me are off limits at the moment…. Made potatoe dauphinois for hubby to accompany the salmon and green beans we were both having…. It was delicious but omg I was desperate to dive into the potatoes!!!
Fortunately I’m spurred on by need/want to have a good reading on the scales on Tuesday!
I honestly had zero willpower before starting on this 800cal fast diet. I must have super will powers at the mo as I haven’t seen swayed once.
Good luck for tomorrow and getting back onto the new normal regime. Keep us posted of your progress x

that was weird – she had to follow an 800 calorie diet pre surgery, and the woman ‘only’ lost 3 stone after the operation- I know that is quite a lot, but people on this have certainly lost more in similar period.
Had a look at the pre surgery diet – pretty carby.

required watching every time I get a chocolate craving!

Just watched panorama program (well listened to a lo of it, bit squeamish about watching operations & stuff)
– scary

the people having weight loss surgery aren’t that much heavier than I was – and they are taller.

Thank you Lucia.

Always an inspiration 🙂

Thank you Seashell. Living alone definitely has advantages. Just need to be organised.

You can do it, Cara54, believe me if I’ve managed to do my own meals living in a house with 7 others anyone can. I’m waiting for my recipe book to arrive and try some new things. Best of luck to you!

I have reconciled to the fact that it is normal to have the same / or similar thing 3 days in a row. Thai curry is my current favourite. (After all Thai folk eat Thai food all of the time!) use some fresh veg each day but vary the type of pepper and add a few peas on one of the days. Use a different texture of courgette each day (tiny cubes, spiralized or mandolin sliced.) split a tin of low fat coconut milk into three, use 1 and refrigerate the rest, plop 1/3 of a blue dragon Thai curry paste into each of the saved coconut milk and use 1/3 (stops it drying out). Or freeze the paste and have green one day, red another day and massaman on another. I use raw king prawn as the protein. Recently managed to half my metformin dose.

Sorry about the mistakes.

Predictive writing is awful.

Hello
Well done everyone. Great results in general.
I won’t have my results until Wednesday as I didn’t weigh myself on Oct.1st.
However I jumped on the scales this morning and my weight hadn’t changed.
Despite feeling a little bit disappointed initially I am going to soldier on. I have felt great this week. I am sure that the weight will eventually got so I must just be patient.
I have started every morning drinking a glass of tepid water with the juice of half a lemon. It really wakes me up.
Anyway, congratulations to everyone on your weight loss and if like me you haven’t lost anothing, China y por. Keep calm and think thin.

Cheers

I used some of it for that tonight, with a couple of chillies as well, and some red pepper, it was lovely. The actifry does take different times for different vegetables, and some with higher water content do tend to go spongy rather than crispy. Celeriac is a bit quicker than potato, and I can imagine cauliflower being quicker still, but haven’t tried it yet. If I do I will let you know what I find.

I just want to say well done to everyone, it’s very inspirational to read, and to know how others are doing.
I also started on 1st Oct so weighed in today and lost 5lb, so pretty chuffed 🙂
I have struggled to meet calorie goal so will continue to work on this, keep doing what you are doing everyone 🙂

I should have mentioned I am not diabetic so this may be different if you are.

Hello everyone week one finished hurrah I lost 6.5 lbs and 2 inches of my waist. Never ever had this result on Sw or ww. Well done everyone for all your loses. I have had the Mediterranean lunch a couple of times this week really filling when you need a quick lunch for work. Just cooked the spag boul ready for tomorrow going to try the spirallized courgette with it. I Tried quite a few green teas this week favourite so far is the blueberry and raspberry have this when I feel hungry. No exercise came down with a chest infection taking antibiotics and steroids determined not to let the steroids put me off track. Going to Egpyt in November for week holiday this is keeping me really focus would love to be a stone lighter but will take whatever I have managed. Good luck everyone for the next week will only post once or twice a week but love reading all the posts. Get some really good tips and support. Oh one last thing brought the calories and carbs book really helps me. Sorry for rambling on 🙂

I am excited for the morning. I will have completed seven days and will have my first weigh in and measure. I have felt really good all week and have been cooking some great recipes from the book. Fingers crossed 🤗

I did a one meal day today and didn’t have any problems at all. I have been intermittent fasting anyway and trying not to eat much at all before 12:00 when I usually have a brunch or early lunch, followed by an evening meal, but today I was so busy and active that I didn’t miss eating until it was time to get tea ready. I had a lovely, larger than normal low carb meal, and some cinnamon yoghurt for pudding, and a couple of cups of green tea, as the thing I had missed during the day was drinking water. I had nothing all day but a cup of herb tea and a cup of black tea with no milk (a very special one, tastes lovely on its own, I usually do use milk but the packet advised not to.) I am probably going to adopt this as my weekend pattern, when it fits my activities, and keep the two meal pattern for work days.

Lucia – your mountain post is so lovely. Yesterday and today I have sat a little … and whilst trying to be kind to myself, I’m wondering (as I’m only 2 weeks in) whether I am ‘properly’ committed to this. I am. And your post has reminded me, that it is ok to sit a while, take my breath … so long as I then continue my journey. Which I shall. Thank you for the inspiring words.

Hi Teapotcosy, and Audleytom,
I feel your pain! I also cook for one & often wish more recipes were for just 1. I remember years ago seeing a recipe (for 4) and one of the ingredients was for 1/8 teaspoon of some spice – totally ridiculous – when I made it I reduced the quantities and missed out that particular ingredient completely! I only have small freezer capacity (currently taken up with booty grown at the allotment) and I’m sure I eat slightly larger portions to use things up. It sounds like you have worked out a solution to get best use out of your ingredients/space – so long as you can keep variety in your menus you should have no problem keeping things interesting.
Recipes for 2 I quite often make as they are and I have the 2nd helping the next day (saves work the next day).
Recipes for 4 (or 6) I experiment with reducing quantities/cooking time.
Other times, I adapt recipes, sling some things in a pan, change some flavourings & see what happens. Vegetable stir fries are great for using up any veggies in the fridge.

It’s shopping for stuff in the first place that can be a problem (I live in the south of England, you are right, availability isn’t too bad here 🙂 ) but you need to think carefully before buying – what I mean is plan your menu and only buy what you might need. I saw a recipe in the book (for 2) requiring 1/2 a red cabbage, so I reasoned if I had another recipe requiring red cabbage (and I found one) then the cabbage wouldn’t go to waste. It means making the two recipes in the same week so I’m hoping I won’t get all cabbaged-out!!! I didn’t buy lots of new ingredients for this diet – rather I selected a few, tried them in several recipes (mercifully, most were acceptable to me), then I gradually tried others. It’s worth just buying the smallest quantity to test out something you’ve not had before. I’ve gradually built up my cupboard of ingredients – when I finish one, I don’t always replace it straight away, rather I try something else to keep the variety in my meals.
Planning is everything, sounds like you have your plan worked out! Good luck.

Good afternoon all!

Had a horrible day yesterday. I think I caught the stomach virus that had been going around work. I ended up leaving work and coming home to bed!

I still kept track of the two Powerades I drank and I was able to eat some chicken broth and a couple of slices of rye bread in the evening. I was under 800, but my carbs were around 150, boy did by BS show it! Over 10 when I went to bed! I did manage to bring it into the normal range with insulin over night though.

I’m feeling 100% better today 👍🏻 And have been reading through all of your posts and have to say how inspired I am, not only with the awesome numbers you all are posting, but with the openness with your struggles and journey. You are amazing. Don’t let anyone tell you different!

I didn’t eat today until about 1130am, I had to go to my sister’s to feed and water her five cats. She is such a cat lady, lol. She’s off judging a fitness/body building competition, you could say we are polar opposites. Then went grocery shopping for the week. So the chicken is marinating (lime juice, 5 spice), salad fixings are washed and ready. Green peppers are ready to be cut up for the hummus and I have zucchini ready for dinner tomorrow.

Did I mention that it’s Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend? Luckily my sister is working and my Dad hates turkey, so it’s a non-event at my house (except for the thankfulness).

I am going out to a birthday dinner with some friends tonight at my favourite sports bar, so it will be a test of my willpower. I know I can do it though as I’ve pre-planned. I also weigh in tomorrow AM and want a great result.

TL:DR – you guys are awesome and inspiring, thanks for letting me ramble

Until tomorrow !

Cheers,

Deb

Thanks all for the encouraging words and the links to the Daily Mail series. Still waiting for my copy, and the book immediately went on the inter-library waiting list after it was featured in an article in Woman’s World here in the states. Reading about all your successes I am reminded that this plan is about rebooting our health, with the most serendipitous side effect of losing weight. I’m all for restoring health, but even at my age (I have a tee shirt that reads, “At My Age I Don’t Even Buy Green Bananas.” 🙂 ) there’s enough vanity left to want to rock a pair of skinny jeans, lol!

Well done us indeed, apatch. And everyone else as well. It’s good to see everyone getting on so well.
Just got the recipe book today. It looks amazing. I’ve not had so much real food in the house for ages. I live alone and although I cook for a living I’ve not been that good at making proper meals for myself. So all change now. I hope I can keep it up!!

Hi everyone, hope you have all had a fabulous day. Well done mixnmatch, a very similar day to me apart from shopping for clothes but I have been looking on line today at lots of lovely skinny jeans, dresses the list goes on!!….I feel eating in the evening is the way to go for me too. I would prefer having a decent portion and then yogurt and nuts or fruit. Think I will start a target box – very good idea.
Well done to all, keep inspiring!! ️Xxx

I had a day out at at a pointless but compulsory study day, so once in and walked dog I grabbed my food and retreated to bed and duvet to sort work for tomorrow ( all the stuff would have done if not made to be elsewhere). Gabi dog who keeps herself to herself generally decided to jump onto the bed, and even now food is gone she is still here with me, not sleeping and every time I twitch to reach for my water she turns to look at me – I get the distinct impression that she is sticking close convinced I have more food to hand and she needs to guard me to beg a share! Yowzer – unlike Ziggy she doesn’t do toys – only food counts!

Hi everyone, congrats Apatch on that milestone 😀 I still remember how over the moon I was when I hit the BMI one a few months ago.

I had an interesting day today, having decided that I wouldn’t eat before 12:00, I then decided to go shopping, mowed the lawn and still hadn’t had anything to eat when it came time to eat tea. I didn’t have any problems and the meal was around the same size as I was having on my previous diet, so I think I will adopt this one meal (plus pudding) model for all of the weekend days, at least until I suddenly find myself starving in the morning. On the shopping trip I bought a pair of size 12 black jeans and they fit 😊 and added a few other items to my box of clothes ‘targets’ in my box in the cupboard.

Hi all, I’m literally just back from the Inner Hebridean island holiday and obviously had a bit of cheating!
However I had lost 8lbs in the first 5 days before I left and I’ve remained static so quite relieved.
Back to reality tomorrow but one thing I did realise is that I no longer crave chocolate or bread.
I’m 5’4″ and started off at 14.1.
Well done to everyone who as lost so far