Hello!

I found it quite tricky to get back on track, but managed it today thankfully. I was disappointed that I only lost 2lb when I weighed myself on Monday. Any other time I’d think that was great, but it was a big change from week 1, especially since I didn’t feel like I had overdone it too much.

Yesterday’s totals : 852 kcal, 46.2g carbs
Today: 742 kcal, 38.6g carbs

Both days I’ve managed my 10k steps as well.

My mood has been all over the place as well, which hasn’t helped! I feel like I had a good day today, so I am determined to keep momentum for the rest of the week. Thank you for your support!x

This is very interesting. I found the posts about inulin helpful but have not located any sources of inulin powder in Australia. A CNC where I worked on my health team had read that ridiculously high levels of dietary fibre (40+ gms) can help with BSLs. I found levels over 30 gms hard to handle even though I am a slow eater. I see BSDers who have a problem start with a teaspoon and work up to the higher doses.
Also thanks for the info re best time to weigh for accurate body composition readings. It does seem to respond to weight loss – but only after a time. My visceral fat reads 10 on my Tanita Scales at the start of BSD. However I am in all sorts of bother obviously related to that modest level of visceral fat and have to focus on shifting it. Possibly genetic as all my family are underweight and are wowsers (except me) yet develop NAFLD and DM type II.
Question: But does anyone know what the visceral fat readings on body composition scales really equate to – is it a percentage or a density.

Eps, sorry, I didn’t answer that. It would be a good idea but… and I feel like a right plonker for saying this… I can’t deal with animal poo. Especially dog poo. Some people can, some can’t, I can’t. I also can’t open tins of cat or dog food? I start retching at the smell, so I am no use if you’re off on holiday, my friends know not to ask me to go and feed their animals lol. My husband is exactly the same too. We had two rabbits but that was because their poo was non offensive, small and solid. I haven’t even got anyone I could borrow a dog from to walk, all my friends have cats. And even if they did, if they did their business while out, I’d be in a heap by the side of the road, heaving and receiving an on the spot fine for not picking up lol. It has crossed my mind before but I just know I couldn’t do it and it wouldn’t be fair to the poor dog.

Fixing Dad was interesting. And definitely reinforced that I am doing the right thing. My husband is only 8 years younger than ‘Dad’ in the documentary, and I want many more years with him.

Did OK today, but plenty of room for improvement!
Since I eat mainly the same things each day, I’ll just provide a summary:-

Total: 748 calories, 45g carbs
Water: 1L
Steps: 10,502
Active Minutes: 39

Hope you’re well Penny.

Hi karen,you are off to a great start..preparing thoroughly for the week ahead is the key to success!
I’ m not very far ahead of you ..just finished week 2… And i just want to say,you might feel a bit weak for the first few days but it will pass,and the carb cravings will vanish in a matter of days. It should be plain sailing then..(you know all this anyway,youve done it before!)
this is so much easier than people expect!. I dreaded starting but i couldnt be happier now with my progress so far! X

Hi Karen.
I haven’t found that I have wanted to compfort eat on this plan, I don’t know why, as that was always my trigger, but I think it’s just that things are easier to resist as my monster appetite is now normal. Hopefully you will experience the same effect.
Great start, plan, enjoy, and love feeling better.
Love jan😊😊😊

Hi LACali21 and sunshine-girl,
I’ve been doing some reading lately. It’s all related to low carb eating style. Dr Jason Fung writes about vinegar and fibre being ‘protective factors’.
With that in mind I’ve been using Apple Cider Vinegar and olive oil as a salad dressing.
Others do take apple cider vinegar with water.

Thanks very much for all your comments and support. The list of complex carbohydrates was a really good guide as my mind had gone blank.

The doctor was really helpful and encouraging. But it was the allowance of carbs I was struggling with. And no monitoring of mum’s blood sugar levels. I guess that’ll get picked up in one of the 6m check ups.

cake looks fine, haven’t tasted it yet. Would be nice with the ice cream if i can find some. I think i used every bowl and utensil in the kitchen for some reason

just grate the courgette place in a clean tea towel and then squeeze the water out of it. Mix with some beaten egg place on a baking sheet and press into shape, cook for a while until it has dried out a bit then add toppings as you like.

I hope your dad is on the diet

Don’t panic, Stevia is just as good a replacement. How did the cake turn out?

Janey i did make the Nigella cake, bugger i used something called Stevia which was on offer at Sainsburys. does that mean i can t eat it now

I have heard of this, supposed to get the juices flowing. Don’t know if it does anything but it can’t hurt. The French swear by it. There is a place near us that makes wine vinegars in different flavours and I use blackberry vinegar to make a red sauce for duck, but my favourite for spraying on a salad in pineapple vinegar. How does your colleague look, is it doing them any good.

can’t find the ice cream where i live, have checked Holland and Barratt not very close to a Waitrose. will persevere tho

So lucky..the pitter patter of paws anytime soon???? 😜🙉🐶

Might be sleep time I think ✅

Oo great thanks run for fun, glad to hear it might make it to me soon 👏🏻👏🏻😂 beat marketing ever in here anyway, though we re sitting ducks for a bit of sweetness 😳😂😂👏🏻

Going to watch Fixing Dad now on catch up 🙂

You are welcome Yowzer49. I don’t think I saw the 10-20% in the book, but I did find it on this website. The book gave examples of people losing a lot of weight and when I did not lose that much initially, I was depressed. I found the 10-20% and that helped reset my expectations and things went great thereafter!
The other figures also not in the book, but are the standard amount of protein we need daily women – 40-45g and men 45-50g. The 450g fruit and veg was the one that surprised me……. I have tried to have the 5 fruit and veg a day and you would think that as a veggie that will be easy! Well yes and no. It was only very recently that I discovered the portion sizes for each component was 90g! I had been looking at my diet and 5 rasps with muesli – 1 portion, apple 1 portion, tomato (3 cherries with lunch) 1 portion, veg in soup – one, maybe 2 portions as it must have onions as well as eg squash etc. The weight I did not consider just the number! Given the rest of my diet was carbs – pasta, bread etc it is not surprising I was heading towards pre-diabetes fast and 27kg overweight!
Once you start keeping a food dairy and weight everything you start seeing just how badly you have been eating 🙁 . Keeping to the 5 a day proportions mean that I do find I need that extra bit of carb – thus the 60g a day and I am still losing on average 2kg a week 🙂 .
Good luck with the plateau if it arrives…… not everyone has one!

I liked the texture Janey, I commented on it to hubby that you get that in quite a lot of ice creams. I won’t eat it every day as I couldn’t afford to (especially not with my portion sizes 🙂 ) but it’s nice to know that I could, if I wanted to. It’s less calories than my bowl of greek lol.

Yes, I know we have nothing to complain about re cold weather but it is all relative! Yes we are just under two hours from Adelaide which is an easy distance to travel when visiting friends, shopping and visiting family. I have my sons studying in Adelaide so I try to catch up with them when I can.
The mindless eating upon my return from work is a habit I need to change , not sure what to do as I just keep repeating the behaviour but now it is with allowed food .mmmm I will work on it as I know my calorie count is not right .

Oh God. I made a sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiight booboo. I weighed the Oppo… 100g. Only after realising that it definitely wasn’t 2/5s of the tub gone and more like 3/5s, I realised that it was meant to be 100 ml. Not 100g.

Oh well… 🙂

Verdict – oh my God. For the first time in 6 and a half weeks, I have eaten something that feels naughty, and hubby agreed. It was like a luxury ice cream. Well, it is price wise, but you know what I mean. On a par with the so-called ‘premium’ brands. I would never have known that it was a ‘good for you’ ice cream. Absolutely fantastic. Hubby is already talking about going back for some mint for himself tomorrow. Wonderful. All the more SC for me! So now, I know that every time I feel like something sweet, something naughty, I can indulge and feel like I’m indulging. Everyone, go buy some! Now!

yay for fancy panties lol. Most of mine are big now I should get new ones as well.

Had a nice catch up with my manager today, sounds like I’ll be having some more trainees to look after soon.
Got to come home early to call and get my work laptop fixed. Was nice not to be in a rush for once.

Oh and who had the courgette pizza base recipe? I have a glut of them!!

I bought the U2 in purple and gold because I am addicted to all things purple. I suspect that it will rapidly show that I am no way getting enough steps in. I’m ashamed to see it’s often only in the 100s if I’m at the office. Appalling 😱 Anyway the intention is to get out and WALK.

OPPO. OMG. I made my OH do a taste comparison and apart from the slightly grainy texture he couldn’t tell the difference between that and the 8000 cal version he has. I won’t eat it everyday but it’s amazing to have a pudding for once!!!

That’s ok, I hope you are well and the ulcer is gone 🙂

Ah Mr Stud, I’m one of those people who really doesn’t like the rollercoasters! I’d rather have the quiet life!

Happy 10 sizes is just amazing, 8 sizes for bra! I’m down 3-4 sizes and I look a fair bit different it’s hard to imagine how different 10 sizes would be!

I’ve made 2 big shelves out of my sons old cot sides 🙂 and I was in the process of constructing an angular workbench for my easel but my drill ran out of juice 🙁 so I have it charging and I’m having a cup of tea and a little chill 🙂

I’ve ordered some foam board and a glue gun to make myself little drawers, so many ideas, so little time! I’ve put on hold my little trips out to stone circles etc as I can’t spend on trips as well as the craft stuff I have bought recently and continue to buy. The actual space and construction is mostly recycled stuff but I’ve easily spent £150 on bits and bobs for making and sewing! I hope to make some money back but the problem is I still have so many things I want to make for myself/family it could be a while before I can make anything to sell.

Although I have a lot of holidays to use up and I’ve asked for a week off next month so perhaps if I get that week I can do something then as well as in a month I will have a few hours on Friday mornings.

Well I’ve finished my cup of tea so I best go see if my drill has charged up enough to finish what I want to do tonight.

Thanks for the above Orchid..that was v useful info for me! I didnt know about the fruit/ veg/ protein amounts ..i suspected there may be a dreaded plateau lurking in the wings,and yr tip re that and dropping the carbs is worth remembering!
( i have the book but havent read it all yet as i ve the attention span of a gnat!😀 ) x

i bought an apple watch, if i am sitting for longer than an hour it gives you a buzz to remind you to get up and move around, some times i feel like i will have a heart attack when it goes off.

Thanks for that info Sunny ..i think stevia is the only acceptable sweetener allowed according to the bsd book?
Its all good! Cant wait to try some! 😋😋😋😋 x

Just a small thing, but I have just noticed there is a discrepancy between the nutritional values on the website and the side of the pot for the Salted Caramel flavour – differences aren’t huge, just a little confusing. I have gone with what was on the pot, as this shows a higher carbs content and that is the one that concerns me most.

It’s still yummy though!!

Slight revision to the nutritional values, as I’ve just discovered what is on the pot, is different to what is on the website – cals 75.9 and carbs 7.4g. Still not a disaster for a 50g portion though, so no harm no foul – just thought I’d let you know. Oh, and you can’t taste the stevia in it either – actually for me, it could be a little less sweet, but it’s still yummy!

i think i would say we are away that week.

and for anyone thats interested that jaime oliver book isnt bad some good stuff for now and after i get to goal

Hi Autumn, great news that it worked! Personally, I would suggest you don’t make any more adjustments for 2 weeks and see how things go. There is no need to drop to 50g carbs if you are losing a sensible amount at 60g and you feel fine. If you feel fine you will be active and be able to exercise and that alone will be a benefit and help much more with weight loss than cutting your carbs further. Don’t forget, you need between 40-45 g protein a day plus 450g fruit and veg for your 5 a day. On a veggie diet, you probably need the 60g to ensure you get enough protein etc. Also – most of us have had a plateau weeks 4-5 (mine was 7-8) and being able to drop a little in carbs can be the trigger to getting the weight loss moving again.
looking forward to you posting more successes.

janey which jawbone did you get ?

Just want to remind you, that on the BSD, fat is not our enemy. It is carbs you need to avoid not fat, so as long as you count the calories you are consuming, it’s not a problem.

I’ll leave it to others to comment on the airfryers, as I don’t have one and shallow fry with olive oil if I want fried food.

Thank you SunnyB and great to hear your a fan of Oppo!!

Lucky and Janey love your reactions and so pleased you like it! Not every Waitrose and Co-op stock it but there is a store locator on our website which shows local stores to you that so stock Oppo. I’ve enjoyed some Salted Caramel as well this evening!

Hey Forkers – we all have events like this and take the decision to eat like ‘normal’ people, but we are all on the BSD because we understand the there is a better way to treat our bodies. Princetonian in right, no point beating yourself up, it changes nothing and just makes you feel worse, which can only be counterproductive. Give the ginger a try if you can, as it will definitely help to settle the digestive system and all for no calories too. My guess is the giant chocolate bar may have been the problem – the cheeses are fine on the BSD, high in proteins, relatively low in carbs.

Don’t panic, it is unlikely you have undone all your good work to date, with just that one transgression, I’m sure you will find that things are not much changed. As for avoiding carbs and alcohol for the rest of your life, it’s a big ask and most of us will indulge from time to time, guess it just depends how much we want to maintain our newly found health and wellbeing, as to by how much and how often we choose to indulge. We’ll all be going into maintenance at some point and it’s how we make that transition, which will dictate if we manage to remain trim and healthy.

Hope you are able to find your focus and determination to continue with the BSD. There must have been a reason you started – has that changed? Good luck with it and hope to hear you are back on track and seeing good results soon.

As SunnyB says really. Don’t be too disheartened, it WILL work in the end. Water, some fats, making sure you measure everything, writing down everything that you consume, these are all suggestions that have helped me and others when the weight sticks. Measure yourself too, to give you extra encouragement. And don’t beat yourself up about the bread and honey. You won’t have undone all your hard work, so long as you get back on track and don’t feel ‘sod it, I’ve blown it, I may as well give up.’
Keep posting and stick with it, you CAN do it!

Hi oldlady,
Firstly – 4kg in two weeks is great! Yes, we do need fewer calories as we get older, but if you are losing at the rate of 4kg in 2 weeks then that is a reasonable rate of weight loss for any age. As Igorasusual and others have said – there are a lot of other measures that are worth taking, but your waist measurement is a key one. There are days when your waist will drop when the scales don’t. If you find you are losing weight and your waist is not dropping or is going down at a slower rate than your hips, then you may need to adjust your carb intake down a little and the fat up as you may not be burning fat.
Also – yes do have a pair of trousers you can’t get into and try them on, especially if you notice your current pair are getting a bit slack – one of the most exciting things has been rediscovering clothes I thought I would never get into again actually fit and after 4.5 months on this plan, I am now taking them to the charity shop as they are also too large!
The daily up and down I recognise – but I still weight myself daily. My weight-in day is Friday, and I do all the measurements then and write them all down. Other days I just step on the scales and check how things are going. Sometimes, the day before weight-in my weight dropped .5kg, weight-in day it was back up .3kg. Assuming there is no other reason eg a lot of extra food the day before, that that weight will have gone again tomorrow or the next day because it is likely water retention. Since I see the daily changes, and that they right themselves or over correct in a couple of days I no longer worry over these small fluctuations. I also know that often the difference is lack of a bowel movement that day – sorry, maybe too much info….. but true! Next day bowel movement and weight drops lower. I know my body patterns now because I weight daily and do not worry as much about these changes.
The other thing I did early on to help set my own expectations, was to graph my weight loss weekly over the 8 weeks. This website quotes an expected loss of between 10 and 20% depending on starting weight, age etc. MM lost 11% of his starting weight and reversed his diabetes. I lost 12% in 8 weeks and after 10 weeks I had lost 15kg and dropped 2 dress sizes. For the graph I took 10% of my weight and divided it by the 8 so I knew the weekly rate I needed to lose. I did the same for 20%. I plotted both against the weeks on the x axes and I could see easily how I was doing. You can do it in excel or on paper – but it is an other indicator and motivator and shows progress even if some weeks are slower than others. From your profile it looks like you are above the 10% just now 🙂 .
Good luck

Thanks for this!
Sorry only just saw it!

Kerryanne43, it sounds like you have hit a plateau, which is common on the 800 but nonetheless frustrating because of that. Firstly, don’t beat yourself up for today’s transgression, just try to refocus and get back to the 800 tomorrow. Then, check that you are drinking enough, have enough fat in your diet – it helps the fat burning process – and have a look at the carbs you are eating – is there anything you are routinely eating, which is surprisingly high in carbs?

Best to try to pitch your carb intake at 50g or less and this should get things going again. I plateaued early on like you and it was checking my carbs and bring them down, which got me losing again. Try not to be disheartened – easier said I know – I understand how upsetting it is when things stall like this, but you will start to lose again as it’s inevitable at 800 cals a day, but it’s worth trying the above and you’ll hopefully see progress sooner rather than later.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Could anyone help. I am 15 days in & I have been really strict & stuck to diet. I’ve only lost 5lbs & today feel like I hit a brick wall. Felt so disheartened & I’ve just eaten 3 slices of bread, butter & honey. 😤😞 Why would I not be losing more weight?

Yes, Autumn this forum is great! I’m starting to feel like the old me. No new energy yet, but it’s getting better. A good point though is my sleep has been way better! 🙂

Ruthdownunder I love the things you list that we ONLY need to give up. Sometimes it feels like life is not fun, but then I try to think once I get close to goal I can start to introduce some things back in periodically. It just when I have such a big weight amount to lose, I get lost in how long it is going to take… Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions.

I am envious of some of the foods you guys mention, I don’t know what they are like and it’s hard to find some things in Canada – full fat cottage cheese and yogurt for instance. I had to go to a health food store to find them here in Saskatchewan. It was way more expensive than regular food from the supermarket, but I just remembered that I am eating less of it so it all equals out in the end. 🙂

Hi Izzy,
Yes 10 sizes! In fact I just went back to the shop to get a new bra and it’s 8 sizes smaller!!! I just got one. They are so dang expensive and I am too frugal to spend on those since I will need more new ones later. I can wash it nightly!
Now I know why the shoulder straps were all fall off.
Happy day to you!!

MODERATION IS KEY!

Stop beating the hell out of yourself. I too have downer days. I started last Wednesday!
If you are not used to the food, then you do get aches like cramps.

CHINA”S SECRET RECIPE FOR BLOATING AND ACHES

What is it? They have a secret? Well, it goes like this:

Suck on a piece of raw ginger root or make a ginger tea. You can find the tea anywhere. It helps the stomach and digests hell of a lot of the crapola in the stomach. 4,000 years of wisdom…… They can not be wrong. Notice Chinese restaurants and Japanese too use a lot of ginger in their cooking.

Oh wow. I have to share with you this gem of wisdom from my husband’s Jawbone app today. And I quote.

‘Chopsticks have been shown to slow eating speed (no sh*t, Sherlock!), leading to less chance of overeating.’

Well. That’s CLEARLY where we’ve all been going wrong!

The only time I have EVER been able to use chopsticks is when, in frustration, I have speared something large enough with one. Oh, there was this one time. I made what my husband calls ‘A Wigan Kebab’. It was a mini pastie, a pork pie, a cocktail sausage roll, and another mini pie threaded onto a chopstick.

Hi all,
I went a bit overboard yesterday having half a block of haloumi and a ball of mozerella and then a giant chocolate bar!
Apart from the emotional torture I am now going through, I have had insane bloating and cramps all day today. Could this be because I’m not used to sugar?
I have never had problems with cheese before but could my stomach be freaking out as I’m not used to that much?
I drank a lot over the weekend and had carbs but didn’t go mad as I was on holiday but didn’t have any stomach problems until today.
Also HAVE I UNDONE ALL MY HARD WORK?! It’s unrealistic to think I can avoid carbs and alcohol for the rest of my life in terms of social events so I’m trying to work out if this is even worth it?
DIET DOWNERRRR