Good idea, I think I could try running. Won’t be able to do long to start, but like you I can build on it. Will pluck up courage, give it a go and let you know how I got on.

Trelawny,half a pound isn’t much to put on,I think it varies daily.I know from before when I’ve lost weight,you can break down a week and go up and down but you have still lost at the end of the week.It sounds like you’re focussed taking all your food into work,better than buying snacks.I saw some nice recipes to try during the week.Something I fancied at the weekend when I was feeling hungry and not many calories is an oxo or bovril cube made up as a drink,filled me up for ages when it got later in the day and didn’t have many/any calories left.Goodnight everyone.

Chicken and bacon quiche – 4 lean rashers of bacon, 6 oz of chicken breast or meat from thighs, 8 oz cottage cheese, 4 eggs , Chop and cook chicken and bacon, mix into cottage cheese, whisk the eggs and add to meat, chicken, cheese mix, mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking dish and place in oven at 200C for 20 mins or until set and you have a quiche without the pastry base. Feeds 4 or can be frozen is slices for another meal or snack. Comes to 200 cal and 2 carbs per quarter quiche. Found this on Facebook but cannot acknowledge where from as the site just says free recipes. Just as good cold or cut a portion in half for a snack.

Hi Lynne
What a difference a few months can make. Congrats. How do you feel when you look back on the original pictures?
I’m looking forward to your next stage and the new topic box to follow.

Friday sees the end of my 26th week with no signs of wanting to ditch the plan, it’s been good for me to be watching you out there leading from the front, thanks.
N.

Dinner – Chicken and Bacon Quiche – 4 rashers lean bacon, 6 oz chicken breasts, 8 oz cottage cheese, 4 eggs. Chop and cook chicken and bacon mix into cottage cheese, whisk the eggs and add to meat cheese mix, mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking dish and place in oven at 200C for 20 mins or until set and you have a quiche without the pastry base. Feeds 4 or can be frozen is slices for another meal or snack. Comes to 200 cal and 2 carbs per quarter quiche. Found this on Facebook but cannot acknowledge where from as the site just says free recipes.

Hi, well done Wendyq bet you’re feeling good. And Natalie how proud we are of you. Throwing dessert in the bin, that is commitment! Keep it up.
I’ve had a good day, back at work, so can only eat what I take with me, so control is easy. We have recently moved house, so a lot of planning and work to do, so that helps take my mind off of food. Tuna, cream cheese and crudites for lunch, Heck chipolatas with roasted, pepper,courgette and broccoli, and of course greek yogurt and raspberries, washed down with copious amounts of water and 6! Coffees. Had a nice walk in the evening heatwave (well I think it’s hot!!!), very humid here.
This morning weight was 1/2 lb up. But I know I have you at my back so am not beating myself up.
Have a good sleep everyone. x

🙂 🙂 🙂

Great story Diez66, sorry about the 2kg, but with your determination you will soon knock that off. In fact, with all this cleaning exercise it may go really quickly 😉

Hi Karenv not sure if you’ve cooked the cougetti but I tend to soften them in a little olive oil for a few minutes then toss them in home made tomato sauce. If you’ve cooked them hope they were fine!

Hi sunshine-girl yes we have blips!!! Think we need to look at the broad picture although sometimes it’s not that easy. Think we need to focus on the ‘big’ picture and not get bogged down in the odd blips!

You are obviously doing so well ….. let’s not sabotage our own success!!

Last night we cleaned the bathroom and did a pretty thorough job, it is a tiled floor and the scales have sat here for some time.
When we lifted them up there was a lot of compacted dust that we have not cleaned off for some time and one of the feet, covers, fell off.
So, we cleaned it up, replaced the cover and it was job done.

Next morning I weighed, as I always do. Oh, What! 2 KG up overnight nooooo.
Gave it some thought and wondered if it was anything to do with the cleaning and fluff removal. It does say place scales on a firm floor.
My wife weighed and low and behold, 2 KG up, phew!.

So now I know I was possibly 2 KG more when I started but I have still lost the same amount which is really good.
I took just over a week longer than I thought to get from obese to healthy, (NHS BMI rules) but that is also aright.
It also means I have a couple more KG to go than I thought but again, not a problem.

Gave me a start though, up and 2KG, glad we sussed it but it has reinforced my claim that nothing good comes from cleaning and housework in general. I am told that I am wrong about this by the way.

Just sending my very best wishes. Hope you recover quickly. xx

Suppose you have to look at it like this ….. Someone tells you they have lost 11lbs in two weeks . What would you say!!!!!

Well done everyone!
If you need more support come and join us on the ‘2nd 8 weeks … ‘ thread

Hi Ziggy
Same here. it has been good tracking each other week to week. I haven’t had any medical tests done during this diet but I know that you have had a pretty traumatic time. I think you have done the right thing leaving your current GP. I wish you the best and hope you find a more accommodating and understanding GP.
Cheers.

Hi Yowser49
It is 34lb over 8 weeks. Good luck with your week 8 day 7 weigh in. It looks like you will be close to the 34lb loss as well. That’s absolutely fantastic. Good luck with the future and I hope that you reach whatever goals you may set.
All the best.

Hi
Well the eight weeks has come to an end. I meant to write up the final result yesterday but I have felt really tired over the last few days. The weight loss over the last eight weeks has been 2st 10lb. I am very happy with this.
I would still like to lose another stone but have decided to migrate to a maintenance diet but with the intention of slowly losing the remaining weight.
I will carry on with the Mediterranean diet but double my calories to 1600 a day and see how it goes. This should allow me an healthy regime but also to lose weight over time.
The only other note of significance is an holiday to Spain for a fortnight in three weeks time. This is a case of seeing the Mediterranean but may not be necessarily sticking to the Mediterranean diet.
My holidays are limited and is one of the few occasions when I will doing things like drink alcohol and maybe indulge in more calories than is good for me.
The next holiday after this will be March 2017 so I intend to enjoy myself!.
Best wishes to everyone who has supported my efforts and I hope every one of you hits your goals.

MIDDLEAGE is that 38 lb in 8 weeks?!
* wild applause!*
You must be on cloud nine..thats fab..well done! But get weighed tomorrow morning and it could be even lower!

My week 8 day 7 is tomorrow and i ‘ ll get weighed wed morning..so far have lost 30 lb..hope to have shed another pound or two since last time i got weighed ( 2nd SEpt) xx

Eight week result
05/09/16

Week 8
Day 7

Diet starting weight: 18 stone 6 pound

Weight now: 15 St 10lb (99.79Kg)
BMI: 25.4

Brilliant, Lucia. Haven’t got time to read all your posts but I’ve really enjoyed this page. Have I understood rightly, you’ve got a walking blog? Can you point me in the right direction if so?

Good piece about making incremental changes. I’ve started hitting 800 calories a day, am losing weight, but not sticking to the carb ceiling. But I’ll get there, as you point out.

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. Just the other day I noticed my toe nails seemed to be closer! Haven’t worn tights in donkeys years mind. I regard them as an invention of the devil. 🙂

Bit disappointed that I only lost 1/2 this week. If l had cheated I would understand it but I didn’t. Though with the pre diet week at 3lb, week 1 I lost 10 1/2lb, week 2 1/2lb it means I have lost 1 stone so feeling a bit better about that. So onward with week 3

Day 1.final week ( 2nd 8/800 ).
Only just got around to updating my thread as I had an appointment first thing and then have been mad busy all day.
I did go to the nurse appointment first thing …..got a positive but lukewarm reaction…..she hadn’t heard of the BSD, book or website.
Piper- Thanks and Hi! How’s your first week gone?
Loopylou- thanks also, there are most definitely a few handfuls of wobbly bits left to go. lol. Hang on in there, its not the falling off ,its the getting back on again that counts.
KrysiaD….yup, those plateaus can be really disheartening…..I doubt there is anyone on this site who hasn’t had one (but if so, lucky them lol! Keep guzzling the water.
Lewisfasters, thanks, and well done for cracking the first week. Looking back I think perhaps that was the worst week for feeling empty and hungry and felt that it was probably going to be a very long 8 weeks. As you so rightly say the positive mental attitude is really important.8lb reduction is great….
Madmare, well done for getting past the first 8 weeks. I think committing to doing the second is an important step….for me it would be no use just thinking “well , if it works it works and if it doesn’t it doesn’t”.The planning, shopping, weighing ingredients etc filling in info on MyfitnessPal/wearing the fitbit are all constant effort and daily reminders to keep bashing away. There is a famous quote…. I don’t know who originally said it but it goes along the lines of “Whether you think you can ,or think you can’t – you are right”. So true.
Hope I haven’t missed anyone out…..big wave and warm wishes to you if I have.
I have only lost a fraction of a pound this week….but glad at least it is something ….I had a massive flat line on my graph every day for almost a full week and appeared to put on a small amount mid week & lose it again…..only water difference I suspect. I knew that it wouldn’t be a good week for exercise as things beyond my control shaped the week. One day I had to go to a funeral, so could not fit in any walking, plus extra sitting down at the event and afterwards, I was dependent on lifts from others as my car was in for repair so couldn’t build in anything such as parking a way away and walking part of the way. It has become very evident that the evenings are drawing in and it has been too dark on a couple evenings to set out after tea for a walk. It was pitch black at 9.40pm a few nights ago. Might have to rethink my routines until the clocks go back in a few weeks time.
I have made a mini plan for this week to achieve 10,000 steps every day this week in the hope of getting to the end of the second 8 weeks in the best possible shape. I do manage it once or twice a week usually.
The green area of the normal BMI scale is tantalisingly in sight but in reality don’t think I will be able to hit it in one weeks time…..but if I don’t it won’t be for want of trying!

Gosh a lot of people just starting out, isnt that brilliant! Good luck to you all and a smooth journey! X

Thinking of you LANGERHANS xx so sorry and disgusted to hear this. You go out each day with the aim of helping people who arent well and it isn’t right youre repaid this way.Take life slowly and get as much rest as you can.
Best wishes to you and yr colleague xx sending gentle hugs and flowers 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 xx

Yay!!! Way to go, Lucia!!!

All this carelessness! Keep it up!

🙂 🙂 🙂

So after losing a pound last week,
Guess what I have gone and done.
I am SO careless
I have lost another one!

Bit by bit
Inch by inch

We are all, getting there.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Welcome sukhi and good luck!

One thing I would urge you to consider – just try a few more things than you think you’ll like.

I wish I had £1 for all the people on this forum who’ve tried a few things they thought they didn’t like, and found once they’d kicked the ‘carb monster’ that in fact they had new and fresh tastebuds and liked many more things than they thought! I’d be rich.

🙂

Hi Janet

You could use the recipes for inspiration, but modify them to suit your usual eating habits.

Some good meal suggestions would be:

Breakfast
Eggs (how you like them) with mushrooms, small number of baby plum tomatoes – I have my eggs on 20g of baby spinach (yes, odd I know, but taste great). Don’t forget plenty of pepper and salt
You could also do a frittata with some other veg (from the ‘good’ veg list, not root veg) which is lovely. Add cheese to the top and put in the oven to finish

Lunch
Salad, perhaps cheese, tuna, ham, chicken, your choice of meats with plenty of salad leaves. Dress with olive oil as fat will fill you up
I like a couple of slices of Leerdammer cheese wrapped round half a head of chicory. Lots of crunch!

Dinner
Again, roast chicken with vegetables or salad, or whatever meat or fish you enjoy.
I do a salmon fillet with a topping of a small amount of red pepper, spring onions, 3 baby plum tomatoes, with garlic and ginger and a chilli pepper. Fry the topping up first then add to the salmon and cook in foil. Serve on salad.

Snacks
Full fat Greek Yoghurt with a few (not too many) berries
Nuts – again not too many

I have used a lot more spices – inventing curries all the time! – and have really enjoyed food. If you use an app like MyFitnessPal, you can plan out a recipe by adding in your ingredients and then spotting if you’ve got too many calories or carbs.

Can’t do a recipe book in one post, but check the recipes on this site which are all tried and tested!

And of course
– try and keep carbs to 50g or under per day if you want to kick-start weight loss, this is the amount which seems to work for people
– drink lots
– if you are drinking lots, remember you will be excreting salt and will need more on your food
– try a few things you’ve not tried before – you’ll be surprised that your tastes change

Good luck! 🙂

Hi I’m new too and starting today. I’ve read the 8 week diet book and have done some shopping but I am not the most organised of people. Especially with 3 children, nope make that 4 with my husband and a Business to run. I have been diabetic for over 5 years and I have been very Blasé about it which has resulted in more weight gain and blood sugar readings off the chart. I am a very fussy eater (not that you would think so by the size of me…lol) and have looked at the recipes and decided I don’t like a lot of them. However I am inspired by the book and am determined to do this and too make the recipes and enjoy them. Look forward to some encouragement and reading the various blogs which always make me chuckle. X

Don’t know if it helps but as I’m a great fan of onions, both white and red, and they are rather full of carbs, I have been having great success with chopping just one or two spring onions into my food instead. I’ve found them surprisingly oniony for their size/carb count!

I don’t eat meat, but I do eat fish, so that helps with the protein (and a bit with total calories, though not as much as meat would do). My 8 weeks was 20g of carbs, and even now on maintenance I am achieving 30g per day.

You can do a lot with eggs, as Snoop says, and a lovely veg frittata with some feta cheese on the top should give you a good protein hit.

I also found 20g of spinach (a small handful, enough to cover a dinner plate) was a surprisingly filling base for most things, even my fried breakfast eggs.

But in general I’ve found that relatively small quantities of veg, topped up by much larger salads of baby gem lettuce, are quite filling.

Good luck! 🙂

Wishing you well, Langerhans.

Take care of yourself, and let yourself be taken care of by your sons.

And take all the support offered from work, no trying to be brave. This shouldn’t happen to anyone, and most certainly to those people who try and help others. Best wishes also to your colleague, please tell her/him we are thinking of him.

Week 5 finished – hardly any movement on the scales this week. Not my best week as entertaining etc. Average calories for the week were 900 but that included several glasses of red wine – averages: carbs 63, protein 41 and fat 32. I think the moral of the story is it’s ALL about the carbs – most other diets would be pretty happy with 900 calories but the weight loss just doesn’t happen unless carbs are significantly reduced. Wine is definitely not our friend as Janey said above. I need to get more protein and fat (!) but especially more fibre 🙁 I am amazed how little fibre there is (according to MFP) in things like ratatouille. All things considered not too bad as I haven’t gained and clothes are getting looser. Maybe I’ll only lose on even numbered weeks!

Hi rbbbadger

I found these visuals presentations of carbs in veg useful – I have colour printouts of them on the kitchen wall now (thare’s also a fruit one)
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables

thanks Snoop

Froglet had urinary tract problems when it was very hot a few weeks ago – it’s hard to tell what the actual cause was, but I was a bit concerned as she rarely drinks (unless it’s Sainsbury’s cat milk). It was probably less that 24 hours between my noticing the problem and the Vet appointment, but he said making sure she did get more liquid had been the right thing to do. He gave her some metacam and she was fine the next day – but when it got very hot last week I was trying precautionary measures, hence being obsessive about her food.
Mostly because I don’t want her to be unwell, but also I can think of better things to do with £70 than a vet visit!

Sorry rbbadger, seems your question got swallowed up (pun intended) in the discussion, hope our little debates proved helpful to you, I still don’t like too much cheese and would stick to a 30g portion 2 or 3 times a week but it is probably because I had an intolerance of all things dairy and eggs for about 2 years, got over it but still think twice. Now I come to think of it, I haven’t had a bad stomach (the D word) since starting this diet.

Oh Langerhans, what a horrible experience…
Please take time to recover fully…take care of yourself…and let your son’s help as much as possible. You will probably sleep a lot over the next few days whilst you recover from the head trauma. I know you are a nurse…and it can be difficult to be the ‘patient’…
Hoping you feel well soon.💐🌻💐💖

Hi langerhans
I think I have a bad day when the laptop doesnt work I feel ashamed.
Look after yourself you do a very difficult job and what happened to you is inexcusable. All prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery

Hi all,
My name is Janet. Haven’t started yet and just read the book. I have been eating low carb on my own for 3 weeks, but would like to at least start the 5:2 or a 4:3, to lose faster. I’m a little disappointed with the recipes even though I have a wide variety of foods I will eat. The recipes are a little fussy, as they have a lot of ingredients and are time consuming. I do a lot of my own cooking so that’s not the problem. I am an American and some of the items like creme fraiche or passion fruit are not readily available. Converting measurements is not a problem. I just need 2 or 3 recipes for each meal.to get me started. I do’t mind eating the same things a lot. Any suggestions from the experienced would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all the replies. Plenty of food for thought, if you will pardon the pun. I don’t think I’m eating anything high in cards but peppers, beetroot, aubergine… it all adds up pretty quickly. I am happy to eat plenty of cheese but the diet does say cheese in moderation. I’m sure I’ll get into the swing of it.

Congratulations, Frog, on the continuing progress. Looks like you’re going great guns. On the water front, not much need to worry about how much cats drink and eat. They’re much better at self-regulating than dogs – our cats lose masses of weight in the late spring and them put it all back on in autumn in readiness for the winter. They’re really well sorted in that respect. So long as there’s fresh water available, they’ll drink what they need. If you ever find your cat is drinking lots more than usual, and I do mean lots, that’s the time to worry, as cats are prone to kidney problems and will need to see a vet.

Loved the photos, by the way. Hope you don’t mind – I looked at your profile. Congrats on getting off the Metformin. That really is a big achievement.

Thank you all, plenty to think about especially the foods I have usually considered forbidden. Don’t get me wrong, I have been doing this for 9 weeks, have lost weight and most important got my b/g dooooown but somewhere in the back of my brain I am conditioned to think eggs bad, meat bad, cheese bad and yet these are the things I love about this diet. Need to reprogramme my brain but still don’t like too much meat meat, prefer some tuna with cream cheese or a bit of chicken. Thanks again it has got this thinking outside my comfort zone. Going for a swim now, which is why I needed some calories, scrambled an egg with butter in about 30 seconds flat.

Hi Madmare,
Here’s wishing you lots of fun and success.

It’s one of the amazing things about this diet. Yesterday for lunch I had a two-egg omelette with 20 g of cheddar, cooked in 10 g of butter. Not your average diet food and absolutely delicious with a huge pile of salad. I came in at under 800 calories for the day. If you’ve got plenty of room to spare in your calories, you might consider a full-fat plain or even a Greek yoghurt. A guilt-free creamy treat.

Hi Madmare
best wishes for resuming BSD!

I’ve decided that I need to resume the level of rigidity that I applied to BSD for the first few weeks – I’ve been a bit lax in recent weeks and whilst I’ve not put any on, I need to admit to myself that it’s not really just a plateau – I’m not losing anything!

Going to have a boiled egg, 0 carbs yipee (I forgot to buy cheese)

Hey Madmare
Welcome back to the BSD! Hope your second go will bring great success for you again. As you have been reading around the forum, you will know already there is lots of support and help on here and plenty of advise too. Make good use of it. The people on here have supported me on shaky days, encouraged me when I thought things were not going right and given me a place to vent without being judged.
As you have already done the BSD once, you will know the principles, but if you need advise or support or shout out and someone is bound to respond.
Good luck with it and I look forward to reading of your success in the coming weeks.

Thanks Sunny, it is not every day I would have melon and then peach and I know how it all works, just saying it is a bit of a balancing act. After dinner I will have a 10g square of v dark chocolate so I am now up to 648 calories and only added 1 carb. Guess it will be a slice of ham before bed.

The easiest way of gaining calories and no or very little carbs is to increase meat portions and/or add in some cheese and/or oil. Remember that fat is a friend on this diet. Also remember you don’t have to use your full calorie allowance everyday – tomorrow you might want a few extra for a meal out, or a cheek glass of wine and might register a calorie intake up around the 1000. We are in this for the long haul, so don’t expect to score exactly 800cals everyday, as it will balance out in the long term.

I finally got around to sorting through all the clothes that I bought home from my storage unit last week.

Huge pile to go to the charity shop – many still with labels on. Some are now too big – others fit, but aren’t particularly flattering.
Quite a lot I can’t imagined why I ever thought that I’d want to wear them.
Ever.
In a million years!

In the “keeping pile” quite a few old favourites, lots that I’d forgotten about. Most of them fit now – hardly any that are still too small.
And – lots of SMALL PANTS!!! (that fit or are a bit loose!)

I’ve been reading some of the forums, I had forgotten how inspiring they are!
I have tried this diet earlier in the year I lost11 pounds in around 3 weeks and since then have stalled. I lost a couple put back on etc. I was not really serious about it kept eating too much too much alcohol.
I don’t have a sweet tooth and I eat well the problem is portion size (I can eat more than my husband) and alcohol. I like wine
I went on holiday to France for 3 weeks. In England I am indifferent to bread but the baguettes and croissants are a different matter. I was dreading weighing myself when I came home but I got on the scales and I had lost a pound!!!
I was so happy, but since then I have been on the self district path carbs and other naughties.

But today feels different I want to do this so let’s start by being honest.
I am 57 years of age stand 5′ 6″ tall and weigh 11stone 7lbs
I have finally said it. I cannot remember when I was honest about this
So today is day 1 second time round
I am going to do this with your help
I am going to do this

I will list todays food
Breakfast, melon (1/6th of a galia melon) 7 carbs, 50 g blueberries 7 carbs, handful spinach 1 carb, 200 ml almond milk 7 carbs = 22 carbs 133 calories
Lunch 1 cup sliced courgette 7 carbs chicken breast 0 carbs half a peach 9 carbs plain yog 1 carb = 17 carbs 175 calories
Dinner 4oz tenderloin pork 0 carbs, 1/2 med carrot 3 carbs, half onion 5 carbs, 1/2 cup of courgette 4 carbs, beans sprouts 2 carbs = 14 carbs 280 calories (ginger pork stir fry) – the recipe says I can have 2 tbsp brown rice for a further 70 calories but that would take me way over on carbs so I prefer to do without or have cauli rice which I have not counted here. (Okay I now put c rice on counter and it is only 13 calories and 3 carbs so I am still light on calories) (okay so brown rice gives me a further 6 carbs and 28 calories).
Total 53 carbs which is perfect but only 588 calories. What I was saying is that if I want to find more calories I have to watch how many carbs are in, or in fact looking for zero carbs. So, in conclusion, what I am saying is that it is a complicated business getting the balance between carbs and calories right. Also, less carbs in brown rice than in my serving of courgette (just).

I like to run first thing and before BSD I could happily do 5k on just a cup of tea. Since following the diet my performance has plummeted, I run out of oomph very quickly. What would be a good thing to eat before my run, as clearly yesterdays calories are not providing enough?