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

I do periodically have the crisis about my advancing age. I’m sure I’m only 34, not 44. I suppose on the plus side people don’t think I look my age (even when I was chubbier) but even so.. Too many places to go and things to experience before I give in to being old! Stepmother cooked me a ‘legal’ brekkie this morning (flat mushrooms, poached eggs and bacon) so I’m topped up and ready to go exploring. Enjoy Kenilworth and the Knights.. Always a good day out!

We’re all rooting for you.

John

Hi, I’m staying on this thread because I need the encouragement to carry on. Although I would not go back to a carb choked diet I would like to see some weight come off. I am coming to the end of week 4 (Tuesday I officially weigh) and although lost 6lb saw 1lb back yesterday and 1lb back off today so still 6lbs. To help me get over the crying stage I got the tape measure out and have lost another 1.5 inches – total loss 8.5 inches.

On the bright side my blood glucose is still way lower than it was 4 weeks ago. I remember it being 190 (10.5 on HBA1c scale) then I got it down to 153 (8.5) so reduced my insulin by 2 units from 37 to 35, the next morning my reading was 211 (11.7) and I cried and put the insulin back up to 37 units. I am now on 28 units and my b/g is regularly around 100 to 105 (5.5 to 5.8) and I am so happy. I have also cut out one of my diamicron. So, am I complaining, no not really, but it would be nice to see the scales go down.

Moan over, now to get my menu planned for another week. I am going to use the same one I used for week one, just in case I am doing something different. Keep on keeping on.

Good advice Lynne.

John

They ain’t half bad Tokyo! And very easy to make. A couple were a bit odd shaped, they’ve risen in odd places, towards the edge as opposed to the middle but hey ho. I don’t want to look at them, or photograph them, and they’ll be an odder shape after I’ve swallowed them! Just passed hubby’s taste test too. So it looks like with Janey’s Nigella bake and these cupcakes we have two pretty decent chocolate cake recipes 🙂 You might be ok baking on a Sunday Tokyo, maybe it’s just Fridays that were jinxed???

Oh bless him, that can’t be much fun. Really putting me off trying to eat anything ‘forbidden’ all this is, you know? Eating out is a pain, and in a lot of places the lack of choice for people is ridiculous. Salad. I would rather sit with a diet coke and starve until I got home than pay for a salad. I don’t eat out often, but when I do I want something good, something worth paying for? And forking out £10 upwards for a bloody salad isn’t my idea of a meal out. Especially when I can’t have chips with it 😉

now then mrs lucky and janey i am beginning to get a bit paranoid bout my baking skills!!!
janey- i do believe i am ria from butterflies at the moment on puddings only !! maybe its the BSD gids stopping me from cheating !!!!
lucky – get you with your chocolate cupcakes!!!!
quiet day here as OH still feels rank ( no i am not laughing honest!!!) he is been a tad dramatic tho!!!!!
i know what you mean about the eating out its a hard one yesterday wjilst having the buffet i had some control but wont always be like that i know it may be a case if picking the best of bad choices unless i am at paltrows house and i am sure she will cater for me !!!!!!

Eps I missed your post somehow!!! Ah, cos we posted same time, great minds! 110 calories, that’s not bad at all, this could solve the hubby’s toast issue (it’s all he’s struggling with doing without, his morning toast). As an occasional thing it won’t be too bad. Better than him having white bread once a week, which to his credit, he only did the first two weeks.

Ah the Red Devils are fab, I’ve seen them a few times over the years, not lately though (only on TV!). Packed lunch sounds tasty and nutritious, let me know what your butty tasted like! And have a lovely day, bucketing it down here now, so looks like we’re stuck in!

Hi Lowenna

Sorry to read you had a disappointing start on the BSD, but you are not alone. Like you I have only ever lost 2 to 3 pounds per week on the BSD. However, I have found having stuck with it, that I no longer crave carbs and feel fitter and healthier than I have in some considerable time. What you have been experiencing, is your body protesting about you withholding carbs and this will settle over time, as you adjust to this new way of eating. However, I suspect that if you flip-flop between a low carb 800 cals during the week and the high carbs at w/e’s your body won’t be able to make that adjustment to being free of hunger pangs and craving carbs.

Personally, now that I have been on the Fast 800 for a while, I find that I only get really bad hunger pangs, if I have ‘treated’ myself to something high in carbs. The rest of the time I rarely feel hungry. The trick to feeling more sated and fuller for longer on the 800, is drinking plenty and ensuring you have enough fat in you meals, as this is satisfying and helps keep the pangs at bay, as well as kicking the body into fat burning mode.

I also use Ketostix, as they are an excellent way of checking where you are at and if your body is burning fat. An I agree that having target clothes to get into helps too – went to a wedding a month or two back, wearing a dress I haven’t been able to do up for a couple of years and it was comfy and looked great.

We all have to find our own way on the BSD, but try not to be put off by your experiences so far and give it another try.

Ooo brill will be looking forward to hearing about cup cakes 😆

Porridge bread is 110 calories per slice and good few carbs, think 11 or maybe 14g but if only one slice not too bad and definitely filling. Toasts really well too, gets kind of nutty.👏🏻👏🏻 on big walk on coast and the air show today💪🏽👏🏻👏🏻⛅️🛩✈️🚀 Your Red Devils are visiting! 😝 Brought packed lunch celery and humous and tomatoes and oat bread and ham and cheese sandwich – take that manky take away stands!!!💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽😹😹

Hope we all get done sun!

Well Eps (and anyone else interested in chocolate cake…) the cupcakes are made from the link you shared the other day! They’re a standard fairy cake size, so we’re not talking supermarket muffin size. I got 17 decent sized ones out of one mix, and they worked out 146 calories each. Obviously there has to be a taste test so I’ve just quartered one and youngest and I had a quarter each to try and they are really nice! Probably nicer with a bit of a topping on and maybe the choc chunks in but hey – it’s a chocolate cake that tastes like chocolate cake and passed the nearly 10 year old’s taste test. Not too sweet either but sweet enough. Sometimes chocolate cake can be a bit too rich and sickly. Yes it can! Don’t argue with me Tokyo (second guessing you answering me in your head as you read this lol).

Kitchen win!

Food today is minted lamb, mashed cauliflower, peas and steamed veg. And a chocolate cake 🙂

Hi Captainlynne

Congrats. Must feel amazing!
N.

I just go the book, read it all .. love it. Started to work on calculating all the macronutrient info for the recipes, because it wasn’t in the book. I track everything I eat with my phone: MyNetDiary.

I punched in the data for the first 3 recipes and all of them seemed off in calories. The numbers in the book seem a bit low. Is the 800 calorie per day diet more like 1000? It’s seeming so. I only punched in the first three recipes though, before stopping.

Example, the first recipe: Yogurt with Rhubarb Compote (page 171) , serves 1
1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut into small chunks. So I figured 14 oz for the rhubarb, figured 2oz of trimmings: 83 calories
Zest and juice of one orange. MyNetDiary tells me this 39 calories
Zest and juice of one lemon. I just left this at zero calories
1 inch piece fresh ginger.. left at zero calories
5 ounces plain yogurt 84 calories (5g carbs)

So total calories is 83 + 39 + 84 = 206

But book says it’s 160.

Anyways, again the two recipes that followed also were much higher in calories than the book suggests.

Are calories different in the UK than the US? I’m in the states.

Jennifer

I just walked 30 mins in the park with dog. I try and do that once per day. I am physically disabled so I am good if I can do that once per day 🙂 What I’d like to figure out is how I can do HIT exercise with bad achilles tendon.

Walking every 30 mins is brilliant for people carrying too much weight. They are literally moving their total weight which will involve expending quite a bit of energy and thus burning a lot of calories into the bargain. So it helps to move it to lose it

MissT – if you only lost one pound weight every week for a year – at the end of that year you would be over 3.5 stones lighter! So since you are losing much more than that – weigh to go girl!

Sounds like you’ve got it sorted ziggyzombie, hope it goes well for you. Let us know how you progress. Leisurely day today, as we were busy yesterday, so having a brunch a bit later this morning and then roast chicken this evening.

Digressing a second: I want to say how much I love the advice he gives to just get up every 30 minutes and walk. No other diabetes/LCHF book I’ve read recently even suggested this. I have been doing that now since he suggested it. And I believe it’s already helping. I feel much better when I get up and walk every 30 mins. If it can improve my blood sugars as much as the study reports, that’d be so wonderful. This advice alone, made the book worth it. I’m sedentary, physically disabled, suffered neuropathic complications and often need bed rest in the middle of the day, so this was particularly use info. I find myself lying in bed reading a good diet/diabetes book and now think.. hey I should get up and walk for a couple minutes.. so I take the book with me walking around the house while reading it. My dog probably looks at me funny now.

But that combined with all the success stories, the Mediterranean diet and the HIT exercise advice. Along with the Mindfulness. I’m getting a lot out of the book.

And I might follow it exactly as he suggests, taking into consideration, his suggestion that we could skip breakfast and that a longer fast duration is beneficial, and doing it something like a 18:6 schedule. Or I might just do it in 23:1 schedule. But overall I got boatloads out of this wonderful book. Read it all in entire day.. was really engrossed in it. Really look forward of the next several months cooking these recipes, learning them one by one. Anyone know of a good low carb Meditteranean cookbook with many more recipes? And perhaps macronutrient info as well? Btw, if anyone wants me to, or if it hasn’t been done already,, I’ll calculate all the macronutrient info for the recipes in the book and share in a PDF file for anyone to freely download.

Great post Middleage1, great results too.

My toilet habits have returned to normal – e.g. daily!

Funny you mention the burning/tingling sensation around the belly area – as I had the same feeling and thought the same as you did – that I was feeling the visceral fat burning off (oh I wish one could feel it burning off).

My stomach has gotten a voice of its own, and can be very loud at times.

My hunger pangs are OK, yet I find if I go shopping that I do get hungry whilst walking up and down the food filled aisles and looking at ‘old friends of the foodstuff kind’.

Have tried to up my exercise, I was exercising moderately beforehand anyway – have just increased it a bit.

I thought we had started at the same time, but you say that week two is just over for you, whilst for me week three ends today

Weigh to go for me tomorrow (hopefully)

Keep on losing in the free world

Great result John.

Have a great week. Try to keep your carbs low and don’t worry too much about calories.

Welcome HappyLif.

Great results 😃

My mini scale targets are in 7 pounds increments, then into the next stone down. Non-scale it’s going down a dress size. And keeping my blood sugars in the normal range.

As target gets ever closer, I know I’ll always have to be careful what I eat. As ay caramba says “so called ‘slim’ people monitor their weight all the time”. After all these months on 800 calories I certainly can’t eat the amount of food I used to. And my taste buds have changed too. Even some foods that I ate in the early BSD days don’t appeal to me now. Food shopping is certainly an adventure 😃

That’s awesome monabee! Yeah I am a big fan of the 16:8 fasting as well. I did the 18:6 for 25 days straight and didn’t get hungry. Had great weight loss with it as well.

I really look forward to buying all these Mediterranean ingredients Dr. Mosley lists in his book. It seems a bit overwhelming right now, because I don’t really have all the ingredients on hand it seems for even one of his recipes, but I can learn the diet over the next months. I’ll just learn a couple his recipes per week and wing the rest with my existing knowledge of LCHF. Perhaps after learning enough the Mediterranean diet over time, it won’t be that overwhelming and I can eat much more of it. I hear it’s really healthy. Dr. Mosley’s Mediterranean diet is something I have plenty of time to learn as I am 378 pounds (27 stone).

One tip I can suggest to you, that I’m sure you’ve read in Dr. Fungs book, that helped with any hunger when you are fasting is to have plenty of homemade bone broth on hand. It’s a freebee and really satiates. I drink a couple cups of it a day. Each week, I take a 12 quart pot and throw one whole chicken in it along with an onion , black pepper, salt, & celery trimmings (which I store in the freezer in a bag). It takes about 3 to 4 hours to simmer the broth and not to much time to strain it , cool it, skim the fat and then store in individual 1 quart freezer bags. The broth is really healthy for you because minerals & gelatin come out of the chicken bones. Store bought broth is useless in comparison.. I never buy it.

I pull all the chicken meat off the bones and refrigerate and use in salads, feed to the dog, and in chicken soup I make with the broth. Also use the chicken in other recipes, e.g. for a mexican dish or whatever. ( like microwaving a bit of the chicken, and throwing on hot sauce, paprika, cumin, and a dollup of sour cream.. mm)

*newsflash*. Today I have lost 35% of my starting body weight😱😃

Congratulations Izzy! What a fantastic achievement. 👍👍👍👍👍👍

My target weight is always in 10 pound increments. Just recently broke into the 370’s. I get so excited when I get into new territory and embrace all the weight I’ve lost and maintain. Also, with the blood sugars I’ve normalized (from outrageous A1C of 9 to 11 for four years).

So my target weight is 369 🙂 I’ll let you guys know when I get there 🙂 Getting close! At 378 now! 🙂

Morning Gymgirl! How lovely, hope you have a great day! Don’t overdo it! Knight ogling eh? And why not indeed.

I’ve just made the other chocolate cake that Eps put up, the My heart beets one… well, I’ve made the mix anyway… going to do cupcakes with it. Last longer that way and better portion control. Haven’t put choc chips in it and I’m going to work out now if I can ‘afford’ to make a ganache to put on top. Probably not…! Mixture tasted lovely up to putting the eggs in, so fingers crossed!

Getting to the last bit of this ‘Target weight’ thing is tough.
Especially if you ‘experiment’ …..a little…and increase your carb count…..oops!!!!
Those hard-earned couple of pounds creep back….yikes!!!
I know those…so-called ‘slim’ people monitor their weight all the time but now I’m nearly one of them….so will have to watch out…loads!

Hello,

My husband and I have been having Aussielent shakes for a while. I am going to start using them in smaller doses on five days a week to try and get low calorie for the blood sugar diet.

http://aussiesoylent.com.au/

We mostly have vanilla and they taste like not much. Which is what I want from something I am going to have a lot of.

Thanks,
Emily

Hello,

My husband and I have been having Aussielent shakes for a while. I am going to start using them in smaller doses on five days a week to try and get low calorie for the blood sugar diet.

http://aussiesoylent.com.au/

We mostly have vanilla and they taste like not much. Which is what I want from something I am going to have a lot of.

Thanks,
Emily