Hi Wishbone,

Funnily enough I’ve done something really similar. I run a local community pub. The pub in our village has closed down so decided to open one in the village hall to raise money for the community. It’s going really well!

Unfortunately, it means that on Friday I was sorely tempted to have a couple of beers having watched all of my mates enjoy a few, so I succumbed. But I stuck religiously to the food part anyway. It stalled the loss, but just kept on going again after that.

I think the best lesson I’ve learned is, if you fall off the wagon, don’t think “Oh well I’ve ruined it now” and stay off. Best to think that never mind, I’ve had a blip, but I’m getting back on!

If you want to relieve stress, then exercise is probably the best thing for you. I had a job that was so stressful I would come out of work feeling dizzy. I’d go straight to the swimming pool and do 50 lengths and would come out of the pool feeling like a new man, all the stress wiped away. If I’m honest, getting into the pool was the last thing I felt like doing, but I knew I would feel so much better afterwards that I forced myself to do it.

Hello Wishbone,

You said “I have tried meditation and so on, but the brain just won’t switch off”
This is a very common misconception of what meditation is about. Meditation/mindfulness is about being able to take a step back and acknowledge the thoughts going round your mind but not to engage with them, to be able to be separate from them, to let them go. It’s not about ‘not thinking’.
It takes time for the benefits of meditation/mindfulness to build and develop, just like learning a new way of eating or to start exercising – both of which we know are hard to start with but get easier with practice!
Keep trying with the mindfulness, be that only 10 – 15 min a day and you will find your ability to cope with the negative or nagging thoughts significantly improved. That’s why it’s one of the three things MM suggests we do as part of the BSD, it helps us cope with the thoughts associated with the other two parts of the plan – eating and exercising.

OMG Collie, Folly foot – I’d forgotten about that show – I loved it.

ay caramba….kind of wants you to go back to the old days of simple pedometers, doesn’t it?

I’m not a fan of BMI at all. I’m 6’4 and as of today am just within the normal range (and I mean just!, 24.9). But this doesn’t take into account whether I’m an ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph and doesn’t look at all at muscle mass.

I’m an ectomorph (or at least I should be). All my family are. Apart from me who is the fatty. My 6’2 brother, who is muscular and black belt in judo weighs only 13 stone. He’s probably the next heaviest. My sister (who says she’s 5’12) and my other brother are both string beans too. My ideal weight should be 13.5 stone, but that would be with a decent level of muscle mass too. I could quite easily be 13.5 stone, but still have a beer belly (muscle weighing twice as much as fat).

So sod the BMI I say, the best judge of ideal size and health is the amount of fat, and most importantly visceral fat!

Well done! You are on your way now. I had to dump the junk and was horrified, looking back, how much sugar I ate in the evening, in front of the telly! I have an orange now!!!!!!!!
You will find you have good weeks and bad weeks – suddenly on week 5 I felt hungry and very demotivated – but this forum kept me going! I had lots of support with great enthusiasm from the other members, so I struggled on through that week – and boom I was back on track the next week!!
Today I was shopping and a cashier, who I see quite regularly, but have never spoken to before, suddenly said ” you’re looking great, have you lost weight?” WAHOOOOOOOOO
Stay strong and positive xx

Yes Switzerland
I find my shopping trip is shorter , feel like I have missed something , visit fruit and veg , dairy and meat/fish aisle household and coffees – done.
The rest is rubbish . Oh so different from 6 weeks ago.
Also I remember bill and Ben and weeeeeeeed!!!, white horses and folly foot farm. 🐾🙋🏻🌶🍓🍎🍆🍋🍊🍗☕️😄

Hi keeptrying,
Awkward subject, but hey, we’re all friends here on the forums.
Fibre is weird (profound statement). It seems to affect different people in different ways. eg. if I take 1 and a half teaspoons metamucil (mainly psyllium husks) late afternoon, all is well the following morning – no ill effects. If I take more than that I get stomach cramps all night and feel very uncomfortable and have a sleepless night.
I have to watch quantities of cauliflower and cabbage – a serving is fine, but my body can’t cope with both on the same day.
Coconut flour – the amount in 1 zucchini and pumpkin seed muffin = good amount of fibre.
An interesting effect of the BSD for me has been overall quite settling in the gut department.

Thank you 🙂

Hi Wishbone, I’m starting again today too. I’ve been sort of trying to stick to 800cal for 3 weeks now & haven’t managed a single day! I haven’t been trying hard enough and when I get hungry in the evening after dinner, my brain goes into- eat every sweet item in the house- mode! Kids biscuits/ ice cream are my downfalls. So! Here I am and hope to keep in touch with the forum to keep the motivation up!

Frog,
Yes, I think you know your situation better than charts.
John

Great results Gillian.Keep up the good work and banish those next 3 lbs.

Hi everyone,
Bill and Ben the flowerpot men – I loved them – they were great.
We’ve just had the nicest Winter’s day possible. Clear blue skies, sun shining (obviously) and …….wait for it……23 degrees C in my carport! The carport does have it’s own micro-climate but that didn’t detract from the joy of feeling warm.
While I was grocery shopping today I realised just how much the contents of my trolley have changed since commencing on the BSD. It’s such a healthy looking trolley now.
Has anyone else noticed?

Well done, great to hear another person has cracked it.

I had times like that, but you need to focus on how well you have done, your medical results and like me you aren’t missing the bad carbs. The scales will move down at some point – stick with it it’s worth it.

Hello Irishgirl, yes let’s call it a temporary pause! I have about 2 stone to lose as well and I’ve lost 12lb 8oz to date (same stage as you).

Almond milk doesn’t taste nutty to me, it’s a milder flavour than normal milk. Certainly when whizzed up with yoghurt and fruit you wouldn’t know it wasn’t made with cows milk.

In my 4th week of BSD. Lost 17lbs thus far (only 2 stone, 10lbs to go!!!) but this week nothing. Hoping it is just a temporary pause. I am Irish so grew up on all the bad carbs (potatoes, bread etc) but strangely not missing them and have to say I feel great.

Will hang in there and adopt BSD as a way of life going forward. I had a medical last week and blood sugars/BP/Cholesterol were all good which has helped motivate me to continue.

Love the forum. Great people inspiring each other. Thank you all.

Hi Lucky Maneki

We’ve had great success doing vegetable stir fry to go with things which would otherwise ‘need’ pasta or rice.

I do an onion (or some spring onions), some courgettes (I cut them into little chunks and fry over high heat in very little fat to give them a golden outer coating), sugar snap or mange tout peas, baby sweetcorn, and anything else to hand – asparagus, broccoli, pepper – and sometimes a chilli pepper. You can measure this out in grams but just for an example for three of us the other night I had 150gm courgette each, 50gm each sugar snap peas, 6 spring onions, chilli pepper, and that did a really satisfying stir fry to go with pulled pork. Not many carbs at all, but good nonetheless.

Surprisingly good with things like chilli, or curry.

And you could try the chickpea pancakes over your primus/campfire – they’d be fun.

I hate doing this but I am bumping this up as I really would like to know other people’s thoughts/experiences about this

I agree, Baristagirls, it all can be really puzzling this weight plateau/small gains.

I’ve been measuring my fat burning with Ketostix, and keeping carbs very low (don’t have a lot to lose) and I’m enjoying the BSD and finding it fine to do – and trying to focus (you may have seen this from some of my contributions to threads) on Measurements rather than weight.

So this morning my Ketostix said I was not in Ketosis and therefore not burning fat – not sure why, must be overall balance of nutrients, though I’m trying to keep fat high.

On the other hand, I’d lost another pound this morning, down to 9st 7lbs, which means I’ve lost 15lbs or over 10% of my body weight in 5 weeks. Which is great by anyone’s measures.

The only thing is to keep following the principles, and IT WILL HAPPEN!

Very best of luck to all.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions guys … I am feeling much more positive about leaving my toast and cereal behind now!

I think Brits are the same with Marmite JillyB, and I used to have to send it out to my brother who has lived in Portugal, Italy the States and now France!

I think the French have a similar view to Marmite as the US to vegemite! Which is kind of ironic as a marmite is a french cooking pot.

It’s definitely working for me. Let me know how you get on.

T

Thanks for the encouragement both. I do weigh my food and have a small plate. It’s all a bit puzzling. And I’ve stepped up even more on the water.
Just have to push on.
We can do this!

Nowt wrong with Moobs….. well….

good to hear you are having success, i definitely want to see the level of improvement i have read about.

it would be huge for me

JK

Same here, I’m your classic skinnyfat man. I’m 6’4 and have long slim legs then a very “attractive” beer gut and moobs. I had an 8 pack in my mid 20s when I got married and weighed just over 13 stone. A year later we had our twins, and a year after that my weight shot up to 15 stone! Main cause being lack of sleep and quick fix carbs! I’ve flirted around 15 stone ever since. Never going below 14.5 stone and at times tipping 16 stone.

I’ve never done a diet before, and I don’t consider this to be one either. Actually correction, this is a diet in the true use of the word, and I can honestly see myself sticking to this way of eating forever.

Hey Timmy,

ok, thats a bit of a relief. Yeah im not Diabetic, but i have all the signs of the stuff talked about, weight round the middle etc.
Im somewhat heavier than you though, i started at around 112kg (about 17.5 stone), im aiming to get below a 100kg which would be a big deal for me.
Im doing the full 800 diet and so far im enjoying it, the food is varied which makes it easier. will post results on sunday when i do my weekly weigh in!!

jk

I’m with SusanR, for me the quickest and easiest is 2 spoonfuls of natural yoghurt, and a sprinkle of roughly chops nuts and seeds (I bought a load of nuts and seeds, chopped the nuts roughly and mixed them all in a tupperware, they all came in something like 600 cal per 100g so I know that 15g is 90cal), topped of with a handfull of berries. Top tip, buy frozen berries, much cheaper!

I go slightly off grid in that I also have 15g of rolled oats. I have bought the expensive whole oat ones rather than porridge oats. I have that most days apart from my fasting days (I’m doing the 5:2) where I’ve found I cope better if I have a brunch.

Hi JK, I’d say that its probably because you’re a 32 male! I’m 39 and whilst I’d definitely peeing more, it’s not beserk. Men can definitely hold pee in longer, and it’s also easier the younger you are.

Well done on starting the diet. I’m assuming like me you’re not diabetic and just wanted to shift the lbs? I’m just doing the 5:2 part and I can honestly say that this diet is a revelation. I thought my scales were wrong at my first weigh it, but the weight has continued to shift! I’m hoping that by the time I go on holiday I’ll be the same weight I was when I first had kids at 27. I’ve literally never been in the 13st range since the birth of my twin girls 11 years ago!

What is almond milk really like? Although i have a walnut tree in my garden i dont like nuts and so the thought of drinking something which tastes of nuts is slightly strange to me?

Lucky Maneki
Hi I go camping and competing with my dogs so really active, first trip,was a challenge but tend to eat same things for ease of packing . Breakfast 2 egg omelette and chilli with a couple of cherry toms, lunch soup ( gazpacho ) supper protein and courgetti . Snacks orange and a few (1oz) walnuts . I do not drink alcohol . This just about hits 900 cals but am walking 10 miles etc. Drink loads of water. Heck sausages are great but not all same calorie wise and VERY moorish you have been warned.🙋🏻🐾🐾🍓🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

Sounds like the dreaded plateau Baristagirls, but don’t give up. EVERY person losing weight plateaus at some point. It’s almost like the body needs to readjust before the next bit of loss.

Also, regarding the waist, it is well documented that this is the hardest place to shift fat from, but it will come, you just need to keep on going.

Also, there aren’t any specific exercises that burn fat from one particular area. People do situps thinking that it torch the fat in their bellys, which is rubbish. BUT, that’s not to say that situps don’t help. If you develop your abs (even if like mine they covered up!) so they are bigger and stronger you won’t lose fat from your belly, but it will tighten everything up a bit.

If I were you I’d carry on doing the BSD and also try and work in some strength exercises, specifically targeting the larger muscle groups, namely the glutes (your bum), hamstrings & quads (your legs) and latisimus dorsi (your back). Those are the largest muscle groups in the body and the more lean muscle mass you have, the more fat you burn! Obviously consult a PT and/or your doctor before starting anything like this.

I think deadlifts have been shown to be the most fat burning exercise in existence (don’t quote me on that though), so if you can do them safely, then you might want to consider them.

I haven’t been going nearly as much as that.
I go a fair bit in the day, but not once i go to bed.
Im following the recipes exactly and drinking at least 3 litres of water a day if not more.

Why do you think that is?.

JK

Hi MM does not demonise them , however generally all above ground veg better. In my opinion better carrots than spaghetti etc. It is all about balance and variety and portion control. Hope this helps good luck. I do have the occasional carrot but focus on cabbage , kale , cougettes asparagus etc. 🙋🏻

Oh Baristagirls I really feel for you , but it happened to me , I kept going but reassessed what I was eating just changed it a little . Now in week 6 ( missed a week due to the loss of my dog ) and the weight has started to go down but for me much slower now at 17lbs . I also went back to measuring , huge evidence we don’t get portion size right. Always use a smaller plate etc etc.
Hang in there there are plenty of us here also struggling a little. What is interesting is I do not want to slip off it? I have never felt like that about any other plan .my other thoughts are that I am not eating rubbish processed food or potatoes, bread, rice or pasta . It has taken me a while for my body to adjust to the higher fat and I think when I switched to high fat from low fat my body needed to adjust and now it has but slowed the weight loss down as calories are bit higher and we can not deny basic physics do more eat less.
I’m sending you good karma and positive thoughts it’s a process and forever on going but oh so much better than where we have come from – defo for me.
🐾🙋🏻🚴🍎🌶🍓

Can you include carrots in the diet, also is spelt flour included.

When I do meditation for 15 minutes, then I feel like crying. I get very emotional. I don’t get that. Could you please tell me why do I get such emotional after-effect of doing meditation?

5:2 seems to be the least used board on this forum! Anyway, I’m clocking in huge results on this, I can’t believe how easy it is to stick to as well. I do have to show quite a bit of will power on the fast days not to go above the 800 cal, but seeing the results it’s quite motivating. Having started a week last Monday (10 days), I’ve gone from 99.5kg to 92.7kg. I am absolutely astouned, and apart from on the fasting days I haven’t even been hungry.

I think my starting weight might have been over the top as the night before had been a bit of a blow out, but still, I’m actually half way to my target weight of 85kg! Needless to say I’m well chuffed.

Hi Frog 🙂 Ah is that how it goes? Oh dear, no wonder everything was aflame then! I wouldn’t mind but I can really handle spicy food, the spicier the better. I felt like a fraud. Hubby and I eyeing each other up to see who would be the first to relent and get up for a cold drink (him, by the way). Gee whizz. By ‘have fun’ I can only assume you mean ‘deseed the buggers next time, lightweight’.

Thanks for the advice re courgetti, it never crossed my mind to microwave it. I usually just dunk it for a very short time in boiling water. I’ll certainly give that a try next time, not sure if it would be enough to convince hubby though, there’s only so many times he can roll his eyes at me and look sad when presented with it 😉

In other news, day 5, no move on the scales, 10lb loss so far. If the scales don’t register a loss tomorrow after I moved more yesterday in a day than I do in an average month, they’ll be the pink things you may see flying through the sky. It’s absolutely chucking it down with rain. Youngest stropping that he is *not* walking to school in *this*. I’ve just had my Fage and strawberries. And I am trying to meal plan a 5 day camping trip. The joys! We’ll have a double stove, a single stove and a decent (huge) cool box that keeps things frozen for ages. We normally rely on a lot of bread, rice, pasta etc and have a couple of takeaways when everything has run out. This has to be planned with military precision. Any one else been camping while on this plan? Or similar low carb camping? I’ve been toying with the idea of sticking to eating the same foods as on the BSD plan, but not being so rigid counting the calories, surely that would be better than cheating and eating carbs and takeaways? Anyone have any thoughts/advice on that? If we maybe aimed for about 1000 – 1200 a day? We would be doing an awful lot of walking on the trip and I am notoriously ravenous when I’m living under the stars. Thanks in advance.

Feel like not weighing again! I’ve stayed the same weight for a whole week now. Halfway through week 4. Demoralising, as I want to eat more anyway but determination keeps me going. It would help if there was weight loss to keep me going too. No point in throwing in the towel and cheating my health but I feel rather down about it.

I’m using a calorie counting app and want to know what grams of carbs and fat I should enter for my daily amounts. Protein is 45 g.
How low is low for carbs.

Enjoying it so far but had a bit of a low yesterday realizing too late that fluid intake was vital…

Thanks Lynne – I am feeling better about eating there now after yours and frogs replies – I had only ever really pasta dishes there before, with lots of wine and scrummy deserts! I know I’ll have to go without the wine and pud but just needed to know I’d be able to find something for a main course😊

Quite right to keep the politics off here – I was just thinking THEY could do with some of your advice to get things a little more humorous and grounded, which you seem to be so good at!

Still chucking it down here, so I doubt I will manage my 42 minutes today as I chickened out of my morning run. But there’s always lunch break and after work between ferrying girls to their activities. Pity that fiddle practice doesn’t count as exercise – but moving one arm is a bit feeble for my age and fitness!
Have a good day all!

Julia

I am now weighing 12st. I would love to be able to write 11st something. I have been following this the BSD for 15 days now. I have just been looking at my food diary and think that I am perhaps having too much protein. I am good on my drinks as for example it is only quarter to eight and I have already had 2 large glasses of water with a third one on the go. 1 coffee and two cups of tea. My breakfast was 2 eggs fried in olive oil and a medium tomato. I won’t eat ato dog club.gain until about 12:30. I don’t eat between meals. Today we are getting a new back fence and have a trip to the dentist. At 1:30 meeting friends for an hour’s dog walk; the down side to that one is that the others walk slowly. I don’t have lunch food planned at the moment but this evening I am cooking a piece of turkey with roast vegetables (not potatoes). Then off to dog club.

Go ashri, your blog sounds so positive. The right attitude is so the key. Good luck. Oh and looks like you and I are from the same part of the world. Noticed the.co.nz. in your blog. We are in the perfect time of year for soups and crock pot meals with cauliflower rice. Yum and easy.

Thanks Izzy. Good plan, no vino in the house. I’ve stocked up on sparkling water and limes, and will enjoy it more as it’s guilt free😀

Hi frog
Oh yes, through the arch window. What fun.

Wasn’t it a magical time when we were kids, we had loads of imagination and energy. Now I have neither.

The Tinga. And tucker club were koalas . Aunty Jean had an Australian accent that’s the only reason I mentioned it.

I thought the magic roundabout a little too technical for me.
I looked the wooden tops spotty dog,
Andy pandys luby loo.
Bill and bens little weed friend.

There is a pattern here. I liked the side kicks and not the main characters.
Love luica
Xxxx

Hi Julia 18 to go

I am not getting into politics here as it feels like a happy place to be.

But as you asked me

I would love to see a true spreadsheet on how much money we pay and get paid from the eu.
And more importantly his much penalties for breaking the membership.
It’s like any membership, the gym, Sky, buying a car. If you leave there is always costs.
They just say an amount.

And what if we don’t have the gym or sky or car any more, what is the impact.

What worries me is, how much the referendum is actually costing. It could give us more nurses instead of hospital admin staff , more police on the beat, instead of police admin staff.

That the end of the politics, each person must vote, with their own opinion.

Now what else,,,,,,, oh I think I am pretty boring. It’s my dreams that are creative and fun.

Love Lucia
Xxxx
Ps I apologise for my political comment on a non political website. 😕

Hi Mermaid2
Two days and already noticing the differences, it happens day after day after…it’s a neat journey to be on. Because the results are rapid and the plan relatively easy to do, it is the motivation to see what next. If someone told you a week ago you’d be conquering cravings what would you have thought?

There is a blog section on here that lets us note the changes, one of the biggies is NO MORE REFLUX. Add in sleeping better, no hunger, no cravings, more energy, food tasting great and so on, the wonder of it all. I am not evangelical but starting to sound like it. My mates are noticing the big change in me, shape wise and well being so I reckon I should be on commission for MM’s local book sales.
N