Hi Seadog
breakfast has never really figured in my diet apart from when on holiday.
Of course skipping it does increase your fasting period, but, I do find that my blood sugar readings stay as high as my fasting levels until I’ve eaten so just something to keep an eye on.
I tend to have a light lunch, decent sized dinner (but still low cal) and a small snack at about 9pm. That’s the way I’ve done it since I was recommended to have the snack to lower the fasting BS readings.
TBH I rarely bother doing a fasting reading any more, just pre and post meals.
Give skipping breakfast a try, if you start feeling hungry pre lunch you can always start it again.

Well done Sydneygirl.

Keep chipping off the pounds and you will get there!

🙂

Hi Seadog

Basically the BSD says you should eat when you are hungry. So if you don’t need to eat at breakfast and your work schedule permits you can certainly eat two meals per day

The BSD suggests this at weekends and it does help by putting your meals in a shorter time span, with more fasting between them. You can certainly do it all week if it suits you – I often do.

Do it to suit yourself and your body is the main thing. Not for everybody perhaps.

Good luck 🙂

That’s fantastic P! TWO dress sizes and all those inches lost is such an achievement! I thought I was happy with just one dress size down!!

This is technically the start of the rest of my life today as I’m in week 9!!! Had a treat yesterday as we took the kids to London and ate in Chinatown, but I can honestly say I was glad to get back to sensible eating today.. All that rice and stodge.. Ugh! I did enjoy my first beer in 8 weeks tho 😋

I’ve heard of people eating coconut oil before. What does it do? Suppress the appetite? I’ve started cooking with it but not felt the urge to eat it by itself!!

How about this. Those who want to weigh in monthly do so, those who want to weigh in weekly do so?

Personally, I think I’d prefer to weigh in weekly for a short time after reaching target, just so I can keep a check on what is happening – until I find out how to keep my weight stable. I know it will be low carb. But unsure how many calories I will be able to eat, hence weekly weighing.

Hi all,
Just thought I’d check in and let you know how I’m doing ?. I’m on day 3 now, and still feeling a bit sluggish, but it is improving. The weird thing is my sense of hunger ?. Earlier before lunch, I felt starving, but then suddenly that feeling had vanished ?. I’m really getting the feeling that my body is in some way trying to reboot ?. The other feeling I’m trying to come to terms with is what I can only describe as a sense of loss ?. It’s the weirdest feeling, I feel like I’ve lost some part of me that I had needed and come to rely on (Carbs/sugar) and have now made a new proper friend, water and proper healthy and nutritious food !. The only way I can describe it is giving up smoking I guess (I’ve never smoked, but people tell me that you get the withdrawal symptoms ?).
I still feel a little jittery, but I know that this is just withdrawal, I can do this, I know it will pass. Sorry if I sound a bit serious, but although I’m loving this new lifestyle, I still feel like I’m breaking free from the chains !. Normal service will resume shortly !!

Hi, question for Bill ?. I seem to remember that I read somewhere on one of your posts that you don’t eat breakfast ?. I haven’t got much of an appetite in the morning, so was wondering if I should just have two meals a day, but still have 800 calories of course ?. Would this have even more effect as I would get the added bonus of in effect fasting from dinner one day till lunch the next ?. I’m thinking this is probably not a good idea, as I’m sure my waking appetite will increase as I go on through the plan ?. what are your thoughts ?

Can hardly believe we’re on the first day of week 7. One of the reasons I like this diet is that if I’ve eaten badly, I look forward to eating properly again because I don’t feel great! 🙂

Well…it is the first day of my week 8.
Had a bit of a plateau and a strange week last week and my weight wiggled up and down with no clear reason, but, as many on here have recommended I stayed on course…had an extra spoon of coconut oil and didn’t despair. That paid off and at the last moment the scales shifted.
So now at 12st, 5lb and a 1/4 (from 15 stone),five inches gone from my waist and two full dress sizes down.
I am looking forward to the rest of the week and the positive difference I can make.
I still don’t have a specific weight target as I feel I am still way too far off to think about that yet. Just want to be in the healthy BMI range.

Is it a coincidence that I started the diet Thursday morning and have been bleeding since Thursday night?
I have a mirena coil so don’t have regular periods and it’s usually just spotting. This is full blown pre mirena bleed 😟
I really don’t want to stop after 4 days as I’m doing it with my hubby.

Em x

I started Thursday and have enjoyed everything so far. I’ve got about 35lbs to get rid of and my hubby is doing it too.
Today I’m feeling tired so don’t know if it’s from lack of carbs and I could just eat a bar of chocolate 😞
Mustn’t give into the urge 😆

Em x

Hi Hush
yes that is the most remarkable thing about this way of eating, you just don’t feel hungry because, once you cut out the carbs and the body starts burning fat, it has plenty of reserves to work on so it doesn’t crave fat in the same way it craved the carbs.
I wish you more success than I wish myself, as far as I’m concerned, anyone who has the courage to do a diet that goes against everything they have learned previously, deserves all the plaudits they can get.

That’s really helpful Bill and thank you for the prompt replies.

I’ve been doing it one week so I’m still feeling a bit like Bambi learning to walk with the whole cutting carbs business, but it’s the first time in 30 years of dieting that I’ve ever tried a ‘diet’ that hasn’t left me hungry and feeling weak and watery, which has blown me away as I normally suffer really badly with headaches when I cut my calorie intake and give up.

Thank you also for the inspiration.

Thanks Eggbot, I hope you found your FitBit.
I bought one yesterday and am having a ball with it. I’m not so much shaming myself, as I thought I would be, but challenging myself. I got off the train past my stop tonight, and walked the 2 kilometers up and down the hills to get home, to see what the FitBit recorded. It recorded over 8500 steps today and over 22 staircases (the hills I suppose).
Now I think I’ll get up extra early tomorrow and walk the same way to get the train tomorrow morning. It’s past my bedtime here in Australia now – good night.

Thanks for the link Igorasusal 🙂

Hi Hush
yes like others I decided to stay with the fast 800 over the 8 week mark
I’m a bit of a heretic in that I never really counted the calories. I simply cut out the carbs and found that my appetite had decreased so much that I was eating much smaller portions so that took care of the calorie thing.
I did increase the length of the dogs walks but never counted the steps or anything like that.
I’ve lost 3.5 stones at the last weigh in although the last 2 weeks on holiday I’ve been nowhere near as strict with myself (one or two tipples 😉 )
It’s just the way I did (and am still doing) it and it worked for me.

Hi Hush

Isn’t Bill an inspiration? He will pop back himself, but just to say if you put his name in the SEARCH box top right, it will throw up all his threads. If you read the THIS HAS TO WORK FOR ME thread he started, I think you will be even more inspired.

🙂

Hello!
So happy to find this thread – I too just started (on day 6) and am at the beginning of a long journey to get to my goal. I am a 45 y.o. woman, just 1/4 inch shy of 6 ft, and really need to weigh about 5 st less than I do. Not diabetic but blood sugar checks over the last few years def put me in the pre-diabetic range. About 6 years ago, I followed a pretty a strict low carb routine and up-ed my exercise and lost almost 3 st. Kept it off for a few years but then switched jobs and pretty much everything – physical and mental health – fell apart.

I’m out of that job and several months ago went back to low carb + more exercise and dropped 1 st really quickly but stalled out. Saw the book, read it, had hubby (who is type I diabetic) read it, and we committed to start last week (following a two week holiday during which I wish I’d eaten more carbs and appreciated them – I miss them so!).

Finding the plan really great – day 3 was tough but feeling pretty good now. My husband has always been the cook in our home and he is loving the recipes. Just checked the scale and down almost 6 lbs in 6 days and really excited! I feel great, sleeping really well, and after some initial irritability, feel very calm.

Working very hard at being more active but would love any tips you have and would love to stay in touch to have some accountability. The food piece is not a big deal for me – I’m a habit eater so any change, with enough repetition will be feasible. But I must admit I am lazy and can find a million excuses not to exercise. I have been making conscious effort to take stairs everywhere, walk a few miles a day, and get up every half hour. But it is a struggle – would much rather be curled up on a comfy chair reading!

And Loopylou, I think you are very virtuous – I would have caved at the vino (not to mention the’ bread!)! I’m actually staying away from all my friends because wine is a huge part of our social life. I was out walking Sat and passed my best friend’s house and her hubby saw me and offered me a glass – at 11 am!!! Def going to need a plan to avoid the booze if this is going to work!

Keep up the great work all!

Stayed under 800 calories today
Enjoyed a good day in the great job I’m lucky to have
Cycled to work on a lovely crisp sunny morning

So I weighed in today and was actually only 1.5lbs down this week. kinda hoping for more but I think the 2nd week will be better potentially although I have to go out Friday and Saturday next weekend :😳 So hopefully temptation can be avoided!
Still a 7lb loss all the same since I started eating better with the detox 3 weeks ago so it’s definitely heading in the right direction.

The camping trip sounds great Igorasusual.

Hi Bill,

That is so inspiring – thank you for sharing the photos and a huge congratulations.

I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few questions……….

I assume you were on the diet the whole time rather than just the eight weeks?
Did you stick religiously to it every day or did you either accidentally, or deliberately have the odd day of more than 800 calories?
Did you do any extra exercise such as those recommended in the book or an increase in walking?
How much weight have you managed to lose in the 4 months?

Ok
1) avoided doughnuts on 12 1/2 HR night shift , sat by the work station all night.
2) dogs so wage to see me come home.
3) birds signing in sunshine
🙋🏻🐾🐾🌞

Hi
Hang in there , your adjusting , drink plenty believe in yourself eat good quality food .well done

1. Ate well all day – positivity that makes me feel good.
2. Entertained again by native birds in the backyard.
3. 3/4 of my family is on holidays – much less running around – more time for bush walks.

I started this diet last Sunday, just over a week ago, and am planning on having the Pepper Jewelled Feta for lunch tomorrow so I calculated the calorie content on Myfitness Pal.

Assuming the use of 1/2tspn oil to brush the peppers, to stay within the 220 calorie level given in the book, the quantity of pomegranate seeds comes up as needing to be 20grams.

Hope this helps anyone who might be wondering.

Hi Christi1948
Yes, all good Christine.
I admit I’m very focused and driven and have followed this new way of life to the letter.
I’ll have completed 12 weeks by end of tomorrow and as of this morning, I’m 17.2kg down. I’ve got about 8kg to go, then I’ll do what Hashimito has done and keep the sugars and simple carbs out of my diet and just increase my calories until I can work out what I need to do to maintain my weight.
Are you happy with your weight loss progress?
Cheers
Linda

Hi LesleyB
It’s hard to put aside what you’ve always been taught but the evidence is now all over these forums that this diet works – in spades.
My advice would be to cut out all of the simple carbs in week one and don’t worry about the calories until you get over any carb withdrawal symptoms you may experience.
Best of luck !

Just saw Wonderfull World of Blood. Regarding the spectrometer analysis of your blood after different breakfasts and the surprising high inflammation finding after an “egg and processed meat” breakfast. This was probably due to sodium nitrate or other nitrosamine in the meat. It irritates the liver which causes the liver to release fatty acids into the blood stream. More disturbingly, recent research has demonstrated how these same fatty acids can break down the blood brain barrier ultimately leading to Alzheimer’s.
I can provide more info on specific research and mechanisms if interested.

Please keep up the excellent work.

Hi KJ77
don’t worry too much about your fasting levels as everyone is affected by the dawn effect which is caused by your liver releasing stored sugar while you are asleep to give you that get up and go that you need when you wake.
My advice would be to concentrate on the readings just before and 2 hours after a meal to give a more dependable result.
Best of luck 🙂

Thank you Igorausual I will look at the threads you suggest and try and keep focussed. I am seeing my GP next week so will see what she says.

Hello jbartnz
You are suffering from carb withdrawal symptoms, christened on here as the carb “flu”
This normally lasts about a week and you will wake up one day soon feeling full of energy.
Stick to what you’re doing, you’re almost there.

Hi Seadog, thanks for the kind comments.
Yes I’d love to see other folk use this thread to post their before and after images. If anyone wants to know how it’s done just leave a post in this thread.
Hi Knicky13
I started the diet on Feb 2nd this year and was at that weight by June 9th so about 4 months was all it took. Can I just add, if you haven’t read any of my other posts that I am now off all the diabetes medication, was pronounced pre diabetic 4 weeks into the diet and I’m confident of being diagnosed as non diabetic when my next HbA1C tests are due in September. 😀

janey what a shitty end to what sounds like a lovely day !! unfortunately i have no pearls of wisdom as never been a step mum but surely her mum will know what kids are like ( heres hoping ) and just take it with a pinch of salt .
i feel you on the silence between you and the other half i had my share of that this weekend but when faced with those cakes i just thought no but i am early in in this bsd and you have done so well so if you fancy a biscuit am sure one won’t hurt just not the packet !!!!
heres hoping today passes quick and well for you and work passes quick too . i am on my last week of sick leave so return to work for me next week just as the weather gets better typical!! but ready for it off into the garden again now ( at least at work i wont have to bloody garden !!!)

That’s awesome, you must feel very proud of yourself. A new you. Way to go!

It has been 12 weeks since I started and I lost 17kg in 9 weeks. 17cm from my waist and I have 13kg to go. I am starting on the supported program in Australia so I can learn more. I have to redo my bloods and get my dexsa scan done to finish off my weight loss and reassess my blood sugar. Off to doctors this week for repeat bloods. Fingers crossed my hba1c is down. I am reading labels differently but don’t miss the carbs, just had some occasionally.

Thanks Igorasusual. Will checkout the keto calculator.

Hi Verano

Yes, 20g of carbs is low, many people try and stick to 50g or less to see real benefits from the BSD – not compulsory though I did find to start off with that some veg had very high carb counts (I remember a red cabbage experience!). You can track this on your app – I think Fatsecret will do this for you, as I do on MyFitnessPal. I did the low target for carbs because I had comparatively little to lose. I was able to set my goals on the app – think you will be able to do that too, so you can put your carbs in where you like, and it will adjust the fat and protein. Don’t forget that full fat is good for you – and fills you up.

If you check the nutritional breakdown of you are eating on the app, it is very illuminating how much the various foods vary. Fruit is ok, but Michael Mosley does say – don’t snack on fruit, it has too much fructose (sugar) in it for a main portion of your meal. Just use it as part of a meal, so not too much.

If you want to explore the nutritional breakdown more, you could use something like
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com
which you can enter your details on, set your target carbs, and it will suggest the protein/fat breakdown as well as give you a forecast of weight loss. You can then use these figures on your fitness app. It also tells you your Base Metabolic Rate, which is how many calories you actually need to keep your weight level. I was quite surprised how few that was! Education for the future.

Thanks for your congratulations – I’m going to carry on keeping carbs low, probably 50-75g per day, allow my calories to increase slightly, and continue not eating refined carbs at all (except perhaps the odd slice of very good bread – if I find any! – and roast potatoes at Christmas). I will do the 5:2, so 5 days on the programme of increased calories/low carbs, and 2 days of perhaps 600 calories per day.

I have found not eating refined carbs makes me feel wonderful! So alive. 🙂

Hope all that helps, and Good Luck!

Yaaaay way to go, Tokyo. As Lucky said, sometimes you just need to ignore the scales and see how stuff fits. Today I am wearing one of my fave dresses (seeing as its summer) but TBH it looks like a sack now I’ve lost weight so I fear it may be cast aside as ‘too big’!

Eggies sound yummy. I do love a double yolker.. Ooh er! I have ‘shares ‘ in some of Alex’s fathers chickens (rescued them from a free range farm cull) so I’m spoiled when it comes to an egg.

I’m in such a bad mood today which means I need to be careful not to slip up and pop a biscuit or two. After a fantastic family day out in London yesterday my brattish stepdaughter decided that the only thing she would tell her (also maniacal) mother was that my boy had picked on her in the car and I had told her I wouldn’t take her out anywhere again. Never mind all the great experiences and the fact that the kids got on fine 95% of the time AND that she had hit him in the face, necessitating my comment of ‘if you two can’t behave I’m not taking you to nice places in future’. So, day ruined for me (common when she tags along). Hostile silence between me and the OH since then… Fun fun fun. Never mind, back to BSD, work and the daily grind!

Day 1 been pretty good. Kept busy at work and gym after work so was pretty hungry when I got home. Chicken thigh with leafy green vege and carrots. I’m sure it tasted nicer cause we were hungry. I did start to get a slight headache but started drinking lots of water and it seemed to have kept it at bay

Hi PArra
In May ’15 I had all my bloods done and my glucose was 5.2 and my cholesterol was 5.3. (I’ve never been diagnosed with type 2 diabeties, but was overweight and decided to start the BSD on 19 April to lose weight and get healthy.)
.
I was the low fat queen before the BSD and now I don’t cut any fat off my meat, I eat full fat diary every day and I eat eggs every day, sometimes up to three.

I was very curious to see what these changes would have to my cholesterol levels and was pleasantly surprised at the results.

At week 8, I got my bloods done again, so just over 12 months later and my glucose is now 4.8 and my cholesterol is 4.5.

I’m now at week 11 and I’ve lost 17.2kg as of this morning.

The research I have done also said to expect a reduction in the cholesterol levels as it’s the fructose that everyone is consuming that is the main offender in the rise in cholesterol levels and I’ve cut that from my diet as much as I can (much to my husband’s disgust as I tossed his beloved tomato sauce when I saw how much sugar was in it – table sugar contains 50% glucose and 50% fructose and it’s the fructose that is causing all the problems)

I’m not a doctor and only know what I’ve read, so I can’t explain your increase, but I’ve noticed others on the BSD that have posted on this have also noted a decrease. Maybe look at what sugars that contain fructose that you are consuming?
Good luck
Cheers
Linda

Thanks. Do you know the ideal number of carbs and protein you should have each day? 20g of carbs seems very low. I’m probably having closer to 100 on a normal day and that doesn’t include processed foods or starchy carbs. I do eat quite a bit of fruit.

I have mobility problems so exercise won’t be a huge feature for me!! But thanks for pointing that out.

Well done on your loss. What are you going to do now?

Brilliant! See it’s not always about pounds lost! Well done lovely ☺ chuffed for you!

NEWS FLASH!!
after feeling a bit let down by my scales i decided to try on a new bra i bought on sat which was in the sale so a bargain but thought wouldnt fit yet, well it does !!
so then i thought i will just try some trousers that i had bought that i looked like a sausage in them at that start of this ( so tight and they werent meant to be !!!) and hurrah they fit wearable just need to loose a bit more to be perfect and then ( oh i didnt stop yet!!!) i thought i will try 3 dresses i bought in the sale last year and fit but were having none of it this year and yes they fit hurrah thats perked me up !!! bloody scales he wants to mess with my mind but i out foxed him this time !!!!!!!!

They were double yolkers too! Just had an omelette to start day off. Will take Apple with me. They just arrived now not sure where we off. I agree anywhere with the words patisserie needs to be avoided for now lol. I think the gardening will offset the tiny bit of flour and remember a lot can happen between now and Thursday. Hope we do some walking today. Have fun gardening and see you later, have a fab day. Sun is shining!

KJ77 – congratulations on your fantastic weight loss, you must feel much better.

Re the fasting blood sugars, I’m not an expert, but type FASTING BLOOD SUGAR in the search box at the top to find some useful threads about this. I understand that this particular test can be very very variable. Bill54 particularly found this frustrating to start, and if you look at his profile and threads you will find more about it.

Don’t be discouraged – this doesn’t mean that your BS levels overall are going up. It’s all about averages, and also your body’s response to blood sugar, which the BSD trains you in.

Good luck!

morning
I do love a good egg!! good luck on your day out i hope you find something to eat its difficult isnt it ? , i have a day out tomorrow shopping with my mum and she wants to have lunch out but where and what shall be a real test then as like you not saying anything to anyone so not going to make a fuss about it and then on weds meeting a friend for brunch she wanted to meet in a ” valerie pattisserie ” shop wall to wall cakes but managed to suggest a ” bills” place as they do eggs and bacon so will stick to that !!
i have had a bit if a pre weigh this morning before thursday but no change so shall just keep going figure maybe this might be my plateau week i was so good all weekend too but went under 800 by quite a bit sat and sun so figure may have eaten not enough
so on the mousaka front i am making it with a white sauce with 2 tablespoons of flour theres only that high carb in it and i am only having a small piece not like my usually plate full !!!!! and guess what gardening again so will be busy all day !!!!!! ( i am going in for britains tidiest garden !!!!!) its another bloody hedge to cut so i must remember dont cut the power cable instead of the tree !!!!!

Well done, well done, well done BigP! Magnificent results!
And also wonderful news re the weight loss and blood sugar from PArra – congratulations Lynne. If you type Cholesterol in the search box at the top, you will get some useful threads about this. It seems that keeping the carbs low in terms of grams may help.

My OH went for a blood test this morning after showing me he had to fasten his belt yet another hole tighter, and apparently said to the nurse that he felt better than he had done for years (which is nice to hear, as I was the one to persuade him to start the BSD).

She asked what he was doing to achieve that effect, and he explained about low carb/no refined carbs, and she replied that this was strange as carbs were what gave you energy and were essential to one’s diet. 🙁

For some reason he didn’t mention BSD – goodness knows why – you can obviously do your own research on low carb diets of which there are many, but I think Michael Mosley has set it out in a really simple and user-friendly way, giving people a simple plan to execute.

I shall give him a kick next time we’re at the doctors and actually MENTION THE BOOK! 🙂

Hi all I have just finished my first 8 weeks on fast 800 and moving into 9th week. I started it as I had blood tests done and fasting blood sugar was 7-1 which gave me a shock. My doctor asked me to rest in 4 weeks time which I did having started BSD a week after test results and I got a reading of 6.4 and HBA1C 56. I told her about BSD and she was happy for me to continue and see what the result at end of 8 weeks was – I have lost an amazing 32 lbs – however got my fasting bloods retested and just got the result back of 8!! I was convinced they would be down to normal and I feel devastated. Has this happened to anyone else? Any advice would be welcome.

4th July 2016 – 85.8kg – 189lbs – 13st 7lbs – BMI 26.0

Weekly loss – 2.1kg – 4.6lbs – Though the weight is down overall, it has jumped up from a Sunday low of 85.1kg after a big dinner (though no carbs were involved) on Sunday evening.

Loss so far:
Since June 2014 – 54.8kg – 121lbs – 8st 9lbs
Since 1st March 2016 – 38kg – 84lbs – 6st
Since 4th April 2016 (beginning of BSD800) – 24.7kg – 54lbs – 3st 12lbs

Current target – 82kg – 181lbs – 12st 13lbs – BMI 24.9 – This will take me into the healthy BMI range for the first time since i was a child.

Very good luck to you both! I am on my last day of 8 weeks, and have lost more than 12% of my starting weight, which is 19 lbs. Didn’t have a lot to lose to start with, so very very pleased with the results – just 3lbs off my ambitious target, and think I will get there if I continue to keep off refined carbs and keep carb count low – I’ve been sticking to a challenging 20g of carbs per day, but many people have great success on 50g or less.

But I just wanted to pop in and say, re the Fatsecret app (I use MyFitnessPal, but am sure it’s much the same, and very good), ideally you don’t want to add in the extra calories you’re ‘awarded’ for exercise over the target 800. Stick to 800 or thereabouts, no matter what the app says you can have because of your exercise.

Onwards and downwards! 🙂