I have just shelled out £60 on a pair of “Target Oriented” jeans.

The story of my diet could almost be told against the framework of 3 pairs of trousers.

1) At the latter part of last year I bought a pair of very reduced (but still expensive) cycling trousers. They were hopelessly too small, but I intended to make a bit of an effort on weight in the New Year (as always) and hoped I could shrink into them. Tried them in March (having rather forgotten them) to see if I was any where near getting them on. They were already too loose. I am still using them (I’m too mean not to), but after my ride yesterday, I had great probems stopping them falling down.

2) A month or two into the diet, I bought a pair of jeans (also “saving myself a fortune”, if you know what I mean 😉
They were really uncomfortable, but by now I have to wear them with a belt to keep them up.

3) Well, as quite a few of us seem to be finding out (apart from Lynne, who sticks to it and gets her well-deserved rewards) it can be quite hard getting that last stone off. SO – I thought another pair of trousers was worth a try. Again, I have lashed out on a pair of jeans which were too expensive not to take seriously, but they are uncomfortably tight. I tried wearing them today when we went out for lunch, but thank goodness I was wearing a longish shirt not tucked in, as I had to undo the waistband surreptitiously. Hopefully the mean streak in me will ensure that I make the final push.

Onwards and downwards,

John

WOW! First time I ever ate one. Followed the directions.. Drizzled with a good amount of olive oil and sprinkled salt. broiled for 3 mins.

Didn’t have goat cheese and pine nuts, so I threw on feta & pistachios.

broiled for 3 more mins. To be honest after this I drizzled on even a little more olive oil! can’t have too much of it! healthy stuff!

Didn’t have chives so sprinkled on thinly sliced scallions

WOW just delicious! I’ll be having this often. Made it for my man and myself. (First time he ever ate a portabella as well — he also thinks it’s amazing!) The combination of flavors & textures is so amazing! And this was just the first recipe I tried! Can’t wait to try more now! Amazing!

Very interesting links and info. Thanks Ziggy.

Hi Autumn,

I plan in a ‘cheat day’ once week. I’ve been doing the BSD Fast 800 for 4 weeks, (although I aim for 1000 cals a day after calculating the book recipes and realising that the calorie counts were a bit ‘light’), and although I’m loving the BSD, (never thought I’d say that about a ‘diet’), I’ve found having a ‘cheat day’ is essential for my sanity.

Essentially, I know I’m only human and so having a ‘cheat day’ once a week helps me through the other days of the week if I start feeling a bit carb ‘crav-ie’.

Inevitably having a cheat day does hit the speed of overall weight loss, and after losing a lot of weight in the first week, I was disappointed when some of that loss went back on after my first cheat day, but I’m in this for the long haul/life, (I have a huge amount of weight to lose), so if it takes me longer to reach my target weight, so be it.
I’d rather it that way than total abstinence causing me to fall off the wagon completely.

The key for me is to make sure the ‘cheat’ food is not still in the house when I’m back on the BSD. If it is, then it’s a disaster!

As others have found, I get fuller, far quicker on my ‘cheat days’ than before I started the BSD and because my brain occasionally checks out of my body where food is concerned, there are the odd occasions when I’ve gone to bed on my cheat days feeling over stuffed and incredibly unwell, which in some ways is a helpful reminder of the bad old days.

Warwick done, knights definitely worth an ogle, 👍Over 11,000 steps so allowed myself a magnum …..yummy.
Janey you are a youngster, I had a significant birthday last year 3 weeks of celebrating made it bearable, but I still think I’m in my twenties and when I hear songs from the eighties I have a shock when they say it was 30 years ago….. I can’t be that old ! Enjoy everything and always say yes to new challenges that push you out of your comfort zone.

Hey Yowzer, your Nelson Mandela quote made me giggle. Not because of the quote but there was a young girl on TV who, at an interview as given a photo of Nelson Mandela and asked to talk about ‘the person in the photo’ for 10 minutes. She went on about how he had started the family business when things were bad, he had probably never cooked before, the rice he made was a special family recipe. At the end of the interview she was asked why she thought Nelson Mandela knew so much about rice and she said…… wait for it… ‘I thought it was the man on the Uncle Ben Rice packet’. Your quote made me think of Nelson trying over and over again to get his rice right. Oh well, I suppose you had to be there 🙂

Positive thoughts – just had a right giggle.
40 minutes in the pool today and no hunger pangs
Blood glucose steady at 101 (5.6)

Thank you for the congrats you guys, I’m so happy!

My visit to my family went well and they seemed to like their gifts, it is sad in some ways though as my Dad in particular has a few health issues at the moment and every time I visit he seems to be struggling a little more. However he is still here and is not by any means on his last days (I hope) I am grateful and fortunate at 40 years old to still have both of my parents.

Daniel I already have 2 blogs, one where I post places I visit, a craft one, and my diary here I’m not sure the world needs any more of me haha. If I did start one it would just be a repeat of what I do here. The thing is – I do this diary for me, selfishly. I do it because coming in here every day keeps me honest and on track, and there has been so much support over the months and friendships formed. I like to support others too of course and I’m very happy for anyone that feels my diary has helped them, but primarily I write here for myself. Anyway two blogs, one online diary, two kids, one husband, one job, on crafting den…. I don’t think I could fit anything else in!

Pork stir fry for dinner soon 🙂

So, been the gym, cycled, walked hit my 10,000 steps, house tidy, washing done.

Sensible eating.

I really have changed a lot.

Before I started the diet, I had a load of chocolate in the fridge.
I thought , I will start once I have got rid (eaten) the lot.
But I thought about it.
If I ate all that lot I would gain another pound or two.
If I didn’t eat it, I would have ‘lost’ that pound.
So I didn’t
And I haven’t ate like that …. not in that frame of mind either.

So don’t eat the problem in the house, start now and don’t eat it.

Simples!

Love Lucia
Xxxx

No, its just the final weigh in for the week. I tend to weigh daily, but only record the final weigh in for each week. I use the daily ones to keep me focused and to give me an indication of how things are progressing. I did seven weeks, then went away on a road trip out to Turkey for ten weeks, during which time I didn’t count cals or carbs, but tried to stay low carb and keep track of things using ketostix. Worked quite well as I only gained 2.8lb in the ten wks. Started the 800 again on returning home and I will be at the end of my fourth week tomorrow, on my second round, so to speak. My intention is to stick with the 800, until I get below the 9st mark, not sure how much below yet, well take a judgment call on that later.
Love the Mandela quote by the way Yowser49 – very appropriate for us losers!

Hi Bill
Could you give me some pointers about how you did it without counting calories? This is for my son. As I’m an avid counter I need help to advise him!
Thanks
Penny
PS. Back on forum after a few ‘events’ interrupted me! Glad to see oldies still around.

Lynne, oh foshbinkeepforgetting to mention that I am so glad you mentioned your taste buds changing. This last week I am drinking espresso (1/4 of one with lots of water) and a little stevia and I love it. It’s very bitter and I never would have had this before ever. It made me think of what you said re your taste buds. I agree!! They clearly change on this program!!

Happy day to you all!

Thanks everyone for sharing your targets!!
I just had my big target originally but find that since we measure in lbs in the US I am thrilled every time I drop below the next 10 lb mark.

What’s crazy is it seems this week (13) my body thinks I just started the diet again. I am literally melting just like week 1 again after a couple weeks plateauing due to getting off BP meds.

Other targets aren’t really in my head but trying on all my bathing suits and discovering the one that fits now is 10 sizes smaller than the one that was falling off of me is great! Kind of like a surprise target!!

I also measure every week to note how many inches I lose which really helps if I haven’t lost weight that week.

My main target is to get to a healthy weight so I can be healthy, live long, and do more fun activities!

As for weighing at target weight I definitely will probably still weigh daily. I do now and I have always found that keeps me honest and on track always. It’s just too easy or a scale to go up.

I will think about a new target to add as you all have inspired me to get new ideas for a target but it has to ring true to my soul for me to own it.

Wishing you the best always!
💜

Oh my gosh Lynne, I shouted out your achievement to my husband – I am so happy for you!!!
💗💗💗

Your HaB1c is an average of how your BG (bs) has been over the last 3 months, with the latest 4 weeks contributing more to the data (weighted). It measures the amount of glucose sticking to your red blood cells, and uses a formula to calculate what the BG has been over the past 3 months. Grazing little and often is probably better than eating less often but eating bigger carby meals than the amount you would graze. If you are worried, a lot of chemists and pharmacies do free diabetes checks. That’s how I was diagnosed, I went on to check my cholesterol and they said ‘Did you know that you are a diabetic?’
The easy explanation – http://www.tudiabetes.org/forum/t/the-hba1c-for-dummies/36836
The in depth explanation – http://t1dn.org.au/our-stuff/all-about-type-1-articles/hba1c-explained/
and one more for good luck – http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html

Hello Izzy:

Congrads! You kick butt! You ought to write a blog on your achievements. 100’s of thousands in Western World alone would read it! Actually your weekly diary is kind of a blog site for me and my starting a weekly diary. 😀

Bond, James Bond was right: Live Or Let Die! We choose to live on this site and forum and lifestyle. 😀

Great that you use ginger now. It does wonders for me. Also, get a Neti-Pot(any pharmacy or grocery store has them) to eliminate the stuffiness in your nasal passage and mucus buildup. I am sipping my ginger tea now. It refreshes my head and throat.

Yeh, I do a lot of weird stuff in my style of dieting and exercise. I got a lot of the Eastern (India, China) influence on it. Chi Gong is one thing I do everyday! I suggest many others do it also. It is better known as Tai Chi. The basis of Kung Fu. Relax bones and muscles. I wish I had a Tai chi club up here in Albany that did Tai Chi every morning in the park. Maybe I should start one on MeetUp.

I am yapping too much again. I just can not…… Once you type, you just cant stop. Or is that Pringles commercials. LOL :O

Daniel

Another week done, and another pound gone! I don’t weigh myself every day anymore so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped on the scale. I thought I might be ‘up’ because I’m feeling a little bloated – but I’m down a pound. I’m happy! I cheated one day – we were out driving to a place a couple of hours away so we ate fast food for lunch and then came home and barbequed hamburgers because it was so hot and I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen. I thought all those carbs would take my weight in the wrong direction but it didn’t. I won’t do that too often, though.

How are you doing, Indy? Is your fitbit motivating you? And loopylou, haven’t heard from you in a bit — let us know how you’re doing!

Hello Mate!

OMG! I am starting to talk like an Aussie. I stayed too long in Christ Church, which still is fixing up from that crazy earthquake. LOL

Anyways, fasting a whole day is quite unsuccessful because of mebabolic system goes into a crazy starvation mode.

What I do instead is:

Intermittent fasting: Eat 8 hours, Fast 16 hours

I suggest on starting 12 and 12 hours. Then change to 8 and 16.

I am writing this as I am starving to death on a religious fasting day today. I WANT FOOD! LOL How do Muslims fast a whole month ??????

If you dive in all the way, you will fail. Do so gradually and it becomes a habit. My personal schedule for eating is:

12:00 Lunch (Skipped breakfast)

15:00 Snack (Cottage cheese or other high fiber high protein)

18:00 Meat or fish dinner (Soups do wonders for me)

Fast until Noon the next day. 8 hours in bed asleep, and 8 hours awake.

If you have medical problems, I suggest to get a doctor’s A OK first.

Cheerio,

Daniel

Izzy that must feel so good! Congrats! X
Sunny,is it final weigh in as its now8 weeks? Well done X i hope you teeter and fall into a whole stone lost!
My positive thoughts today
Feel blessed…Have got plenty of lovely nourishing food to eat for the week ahead and a roof over my head ( its raining outside)
Blessed again…Just spent time having cuppa with DD and SIL ( refused a scone with jam and cream – of course!)who now live round the corner after living away for several years
Loving this Nelson Mandela quote :- ‘ Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.’. Makes me feel better about the several times ive tried to lose weight but havent..and the times ive succeeded in losing weight and regained it!

Thank you much! 🙂

SunnyB gave a word of wisdom: Make smaller goals to accomplish THE BIG GOAL!
I actually need to do more of the self-rewarding more myself (without my two friends Ben and Jerry) 🙂

Absolutely right: Football today is so overpaid. The same with Tennis, the Gentleman’s Sport! 😉 Yeh, i wear a cardigan when I play…… I am Old School. Like who else wears a Charlie Chaplin tophat when putting on a tux with a Houdini Mustache!????

I need Wells’ Time Machine go back to 1890. LOL

What I need to do Myself:

1) Cut the dairy more (My Kryptonite, not Nestle, Frito Lays or Pringles)
2) Reward myself more often (thanks for the refreshing enthusiasm on that)
3) Skip voting in November (oops wrong list) 😀

Live Long And Prosper!
Onward and Upward…….. Or Downward!!!! 😀

Daniel

Hiiiii ZZ good luck on yr new start!👍🏻
I am on day 12 and for about the first 10 days i felt very weak,so go easy on yrself with heavy gym stuff for now,like Sunny said
Its so worth it..ice now lost 16 lb in 12 days. Maybe its just the scales have gone berserk but i feel a lot lighter,clothes are looser.x

Hi LACali21 – Don’t panic about being 100 cals over. There are bound to be days when you are over and some under. This is a long haul thing, so overall it will balance out. It is quite common to have some lethargy and fatigue in the early days – I certainly did. You will come through it and feel fitter and more energised, once your body has got used to no longer being given carbs.

Also, don’t stress about the baked potato yesterday. Yes, it would probably have been better not to have it, but don’t worry about it now, that’s in the past. Just stay focused and push ahead. Make sure you use enough cals for fat in your meals, that way you will feel full sooner and for longer.

Well done on your results so far. Stick with it, keep counting the cals and keep an eye on the carbs too and you will be posting great results and finding resisting the carbs is no big deal.

Look forward to hearing your results tomorrow.

At the moment 11st 8lb. I may never weigh less but I like this way of eating. It suits me very well. If I did loose another 4lb then I would be at the very top end of my ideal weight. Something to aim for. OH says his trousers are now looser. 🙌

Hey Izzy, that ‘s brilliant news!!! You must be so pleased, you can’t stop smiling. Onward and upward – can’t wait to hear you’re results start with a 9.

My positive thoughts today:
Raised £310 at a sale yesterday for a local charity.
Had a lovely meal out with my husband last night and managed to still get a positive result with my ketostick this morning.
I’m tettering on the brink of a full stone lost, so hoping to a great result at final weekly weigh-in tomorrow.

Wow!! Well done on getting below the 9st mark – how I dream of that. I think I can do it, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. My week end weigh-in is tomorrow and I’m hoping to see a full stone lost at last. If I do, I’ll be aiming to get into the 8 zone myself. You can definitely get to your goal of 8st 10lb, just stay focused and push ahead. Look forward to hearing you’ve got there … good luck!

It’d do me good after my sleep, can’t even think to get moving now. Good job I’ve done over half my steps for the day!

Hee hee great idea, the steps would do us good 😝😝👏

How’s your upper body strength? Can you get to a boat? Can meet you in Holyhead??? :-p

I’d like a chocolate bun to go with my cup of tea.. Lucky? Pleeeeease? 😂😂😂

Congratulations on hitting the 8’s, great achievement! 🙌

My first “ambitious” target was 9st though I secretly thought 9st 4lbs would have to be good enough.

Having hit 8st 13lb yesterday, which puts me bang in the middle of acceptable BMI for my height of 5ft4″ (I think – haven’t checked if I’ve shrunk at all), I am now thinking that I will go for 8st 10lbs (a stone over the lowest acceptable BMI target) as my final goal so that the intermittent increases in weight will only top out at 9stone.

With experimentation it appears that 30g per day of carbs is my maximum if I don’t want to fall out of ketosis. So will try and stick to that.

Let’s see how it goes! 🙂

Eps – I called them the Red Devils too, and I didn’t bloody twig!!! I was that tired!

Anyway, fell asleep in chair at half 11. Just woke now. Feel even stupider.

Tokyo it was this one – http://myheartbeets.com/paleo-chocolate-cake/

Janey – Goddesses never age 😉 Enjoy your dirty overnighter 😉

Thank you ☺😘

Wow size 12 thats a dream come true im sixteen to 18 now i do heaps of gym work but not seeing it on scales. I think this diet will work for me

Sounds like a great day

Hi MissT – Don’t think in terms of 5 or 6 stone, but set some smaller goals, which will feel more achievable,. Perhaps set your sights on 7lb increments, so that it feels less like a mountain to climb and more like a slight incline to hike. And maybe think up a few non foodie treats to reward yourself when you hit each one – a new nail varnish, a bunch of flowers, a plant, a new body lotion, an extra long soak in the bath – just a little something to mark the occasion. Look forward to reading positive results from you soon.

Think a lot of us hit the occasional plateau and/or experience a slight gain instead of loss. For me the answer is to check carb intake, as my personal optimum for weight loss seems to be between 20 and 30g, where as for some it’s higher at around the 50g mark. I find if I am going to eat just two meals in the day, I’m best to breakfast around 9.30/10am and then dinner around 7pm. Seems we all have to try and find our own way and what works for one on this regime, may or may not suit another. It’s good that everyone shares their personal solutions though, as that way others get a chance to try a number of options and find what works for them.

Hi Ziggy. You’re absolutely right. Hadn’t thought of it that way! 5 or 6 stone just seems like a mountain to climb whereas 1lb per week seems quite achievable at the moment. Hopefully, as I slowly reduce my carbs, it will be ☺ Thanks for your encouragement. It really means a lot to know there are people here who have experience of the rocky climb to good health. Enjoy your Sunday 😘

Ha ha ha have just been told they the red arrows not Red Devils but still cool. Hasn’t started yet, lunch time👏👏👏

Wowser captainlynne, we follow in your example.
😎😎😎

This is good to know as my carbs tend to be around the 60g/day mark! I will try to have some days of much lower carbs. Great post – thank you.

Hello to all
Been a while since i logged into here to update my progress, apologies for that.

update as of 23-7-2016
I am still on this diet regime, and have been since May 16th , but i have changed the method of energy intake, as i found i was slowly increasing the food i was putting on my plate… and creeping over the recommended amounts, so i have now gone onto the 200cal milk shakes and replacement meal packs.

I am finding that i have a lot more control over what goes into the body using this method, and it is a very quick and easy way to get the nutrients i need, just have a few steamed veggies once a day for fibre. Calorie intake is pegged at max of 500 cals a day, i meal replacement, or some eggs and tomatoes at lunch and a 200cal shake for supper.
This is working better for me, and i will continue this untill i have reached my goal weight of 75KG.

As per my previous posts, it is difficult for me to weigh myself to gauge the amount of weight loss, but am most definitely feeling the difference, it is visible! face is a lot thinner, tummy reducing and feeling less dense. I suspect I have lost 10-12 kg, but only a weigh in will tell, which will be happening in early Sept. feeling a lot lighter and moving around with less effort, all going good.

Now here’s the big kicker… my sugars have been slowly declining week by week, i was originally on a dosage of 80mg glicazide twice a day, and 850mg metformin three times a day to control my diabeties.

On starting this regime back in May i very quickly reduced and then stopped the glicazide altogether, within 2 weeks. I have been regularly monitoring my sugars twice a day to make sure i did not go hyper, and all went well, never above 10. As the weeks went on, it went down to average of 8, then 6.
I have been reducing my metformin intake down to 2 tabs (morning and night) then to one tab (morning) as the average dropped, and today, i have stopped the morning tab as my average is now 5.5, (does a happy dance!!!!!).

Okay, i am on the shakes and sachets of meal replacements, granted, but i am now off all diabetes meds, which is a first time i can say that in over 6 years of taking this stuff.

I will continue to take the sachets of foodstuffs for next three months or when I hit 75kg, whichever comes first, but, all in all, I feeling a lot better for this, sleeping better, more energy available and just feeling more alive!..

So, if anyone out there is considering if they should go for this?, my advice would be a loud YES!!!, agreed, it is extreme, initially it is a shock to the system reducing the amount of food you take in, but believe me, your body adjusts, the hunger pangs subside and you feel a lot better for it.
Go for it!!! the feeling of control over food instead of it over you is great, feeling fitter and sharper in mind and body is worth the hardship!

So in closing, this is still very doable, and i am getting there for sure, looking forward to the time when i see 75kg stare back at me from the scale.

Keeping on keeping on.
be well folks, till next time
Wheelie

That’s really interesting thanks for posting – I am over my week 4/5 plateau and ready to lose again!

Nope, a calorie is a calorie. However, not all yogurt has the same calorific value, for instance I use one that is 125cals per 100g (approx. 4oz) with 4.2g carbs (approx. 156cals for 5oz). So given that there can be variations on calorific value on some foods, I think you have to allow that the stated calories may not be exact for the produce you are using, but more a general guideline.

In addition please bare in mind you will not be eating the entire 14oz of rhubarb in one go, but maybe portioned out over a few days, which means you would divide 83+39 by the number of portions you make from it – 83 +39=122 divided by 3 for instance would give you 41 cals (ish) add in your 84 for yogurt, would only give you 105cals, or eaten over two days would be 145cals.

Personally I have always worked out the calories for myself and have actually only used the book for inspiration, but have not followed any of the recipes exactly. Instead I look at the nutritional values as I choose foods and now have a core group of ingredients which make up the basis of my diet. I have found this way of eating has made me get more creative, cooking more healthy food in interesting ways.

So, bottom line here, check the calories per portion of anything you are eating and keep an eye on the carbs, as they can sabotage your progress all too easily.

Good luck and hope you will be posting some positive results soon.

John – forget to say that as well as keeping low carb when away from home, the other thing I realised I had to keep an eye on is portion sizes!

That’s a good plan, SunnyB

I’ll work on that for next trip away from the scales.

John

Probably too late, but if you can get some ketostix, it’s a great way of checking how things are going while you are away. I used them while we were away for ten weeks as I had no way of weighing and needed a way of tracking what was happening. Admittedly I gained 2.8lb in the time I was away, but have no doubt it would have been worse if I had not been keeping an eye on fat burning, by using the ketostix.

Hope you have a good week though, just keep a weather eye on the carbs and it should be fine.

Hey sunshinegirl
Those results sound pretty good to me – congrats! Keep plugging away and you’ll get there for sure. I know how disheartening it can be to gain a pound one day, lose it the next and feel you are just not getting anywhere – it’s just so frustrating! But then suddenly, you hit a losing streak and see the scales steadily coming down.

If you are finding it hard to see slow loss, perhaps try not weighing everyday, as previously suggested and hopefully you will find a larger decrease each time. Personally I find daily weighing motivating, regardless of the reading result, although I confess to occasionally struggling when it’s gone the wrong way. Then I visit the forum, have a little rant, people tell me it’s not all doom and gloom and I get myself back on track.

Hope you will manage to find a way to stay motivated and ‘stick with the programme’. The results will be worth it, even if it takes you a little longer than some to get there. Keep us posted and keep on keeping on!

I suspect I must at least be in the pre-diabetes area because of my weigh so started monitoring my bs with a monitor. It’s going well but I wanted to ask about the HbA1c measurement. If you graze a lot and often -as I did, wont that make your HbA1c measurement artificially high and put a person in the diabetes zone possibly incorrectly so?

i may attempt a bake but shall put out a general state warning first !!!!
send me the recipe for your cupcakes lucky
have a good day and speak later xx