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! 🙂

Good Day all

I have lost 8 Kg,s. I went for a blood test And Sugar has dropped from 51 to 44. SO I think I am doing well
But now my cholesterol is higher I am on the Med Style Diet. And I am not sure what
Diet To follow any suggestions. Thanks Lynne

Good morning lovely BSDers! Weigh in day for me. End of week 7 and another 4lbs off for me. That’s 2 stone and 1lb altogether! Suddenly weight loss has become quite obvious as 6 inches has come off my waist. Absolutely relishing walking around in clothes that are too big for me (feeling like I did when I was a student! ). Reluctant to buy too many new ones yet as still have more weight to lose and I still have odd lumpy bits but a few key staples will be necessary. Hope you all have had a good week – look forward to hearing your stories!

Hi FuzzyJammies and Uksal
So it has been a mixed week. I have stuck to the BSD , despite my first social event on Friday night with lots of nibbles (which I studiously avoided), mucho vino (I drove so I would have an excuse not to drink) and a ploughman with lovely crusty French bread, which I also left. I came home feeling very virtuous.

I did a half week review on Saturday and had lost 4 1/2 pounds which I was really pleased with. Then whilst walking the dog I did my back in and had to be rescued by my hubby. Spent the weekend lying flat. Off to see the osteopath today. It has rather impacted on my 10,000 steps, but I am still sticking to the diet, although have had to rely on my family for food,and happily lost another 1 1/2 pounds till this morning. I may be becoming obsessed with the scales, but it’s giving me the motivation I need.

I will repost on Wednesday which is my official one week weigh in.
I wish you all well this week.x

Thanks for the words if encouragement greenjanet, and for the fitness pal app suggestion. I’m not sure I can cope with weighing measuring and worrying about more than just calories at the moment so I’m going to just try to stick to the daily menu plans, at least till I get into the swing.

So yesterday’s shopping trip to stock up was fine…got almost everything except flax seed so I substituted chia seeds which I had already for this morning’s green tea and blueberry shake.

I think for future weeks I might do some recipe shuffling; I seem to have a lot things where I will only use a little bit of and the rest will get thrown out…I seem to have 4 different cheeses in the smallest packs I could get, for example, and will use less than half of each if I follow the week one plan to the letter! I hate waste! I think the best way for me would just be to repeat a whole day where needed rather than substitute one meal and have to work out the protein, carbs etc for the whole day if I just change one meal.

So day 1, meal one, green tea and blueberry shake. Yum flavour wise but rather thin so not very satisfying. I think next time I would put the berries nuts and seeds in the yoghurt and eat with a spoon with the cup of green tea on the side. I’ve prepared the jewel stuffed peppers for lunch and they look really yummy….can’t wait till lunchtime to try them!

Oh…the weighing was a but worse than I thought, just over 14 stone, probably due to a bit of “not wasting” the various sweets and goodies lying around the house at the weekend. Probably not the best plan 🙂

Take care all. Xxx

hi – just to say I also got shaky when first on this way of eating
especially before breakfast and any long meal gaps or when I was out on long walks
I bought some glucose tablets and found if I had just one of them, within a few minutes things felt better
I know some people will disagree because they are sugar carbs, but they certainly helped me

also drinking AND perhaps a little more salt intake can help with headaches as this way of eating makes us need the loo quite a bit and so we get rid of salts more too

all the best

Well said Izzy, we’re all different, and to be honest, it makes a nice change for me to be one of the ones where the weight is falling off – it has never been that way in the past! I was the one with the half a pound, stay the same, pound on, two off results, no matter how hard I tried. Literally two steps forward, three back. And then putting it all back on and more!

Tokyo! Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night, we flaked out early after all the fresh air and walking we did yesterday! I haven’t tried the bark yet, it’s frozen solid. I didn’t heed the 3 hours in the recipe so I’ll have to take it out, let it soften and break it up. I was like trying to break brick with a knitted knife 🙂 Yes, I was verra verra good yesterday, pleased with myself, especially when I saw the hospitality on offer there. Huge Sunday dinners but they wouldn’t have been so huge once the massive (and I mean massive) yorkshire pud, potatoes and roasties were taken off, so it was a good call taking a salad box. At the car boot sale, I could see this crowd around this woman in a van and she was selling trays of her fresh eggs, 20 a tray, free range, and sign said that most were double-yolkers. She was selling loads and you could hear people saying they were back for more after buying them in the weeks before, so I picked up two trays. When I got home I compared them to my Aldi free rangers lol. They’re like bloody dinosaur eggs! Never in my life have I seen eggs that big, and I used to sell free range farm eggs in my shop. Hubby said he wouldn’t like to be the chicken that laid that! I could probably make an omelette for two of us out of one egg! Off out with the in laws again today, they’re staying in a caravan about 30 miles from us, and I have to say I’m not prepared at all for today. If the worst comes to the worst and we eat out anywhere I’ll have a salad. I was just so tired last night that I didn’t plan ahead. I just hope they don’t want me to feed them tonight, because they will be on freezer gravel, I tell you haha. Or omelette…

Hi Monabee,
I try and exercise both am and pm. 30 mins brisk walking in the morning is best for me. Then if I get too busy, my exercise is already done (better-half’s idea). In the afternoon, I try and squeeze in another 30 mins or some exercises.

It’s great that you lost 10lbs in the first week. Well done. I’ve previously gained between 1/2 to 2 pounds for no seemingly obvious reason at all. I have postponed fasting for the current diet. I don’t try and integrate the BSD and Fast diet together. That is a little extreme for me.

I’m interesting to know how things are progressing by monitoring your protein.

Yesterday, I had 40 gms of protien (from cheese in and on pizza) and veg curry for dinner. I weighed 1/2 pound extra this morning. I’m at a loss, but assume it is part of the rhythm of the body.

Hi Switzerland, I managed to get half of the flooring down last night but then I couldn’t sleep so I’m tired this morning. I think I was just too buzzing with the excitement of doing it! I’m a very practical person (thus the engineer job) I enjoy things like flooring the loft which would probably seem dull to most lol.

I do notice a big difference in myself but I don’t know if it is all BSD. A combination of sunlight, my anxiety and depression appear to be very much on the mend, and being a few pounds lighter makes things easier physically too. BSD definitely has played its part. Happy mentioned the other day that there may be a link with gluten and depression. So much hasn’t been researched enough yet for both mental health and nutrition.

When I was up in the loft doing the flooring I found that the builders installed a power socket up there over at that side. I am the first owner of this house and I know that every extra socket etc had to be planned and paid for during the construction – they liked charging for extras! I didn’t ask nor pay for a socket in the loft so I don’t know why it is there but it is perfectly placed for me to use for my equipment I will have up there! Also I found a spot lamp I had forgotten so there will be no immediate need to go and buy a lamp either. So far I have spent only £50 on my little project, and it will take me to the point of being able to set up and use it. I will add to it more slowly over the months ahead 🙂

it didn’t bother my son so I will be up there again tonight probably. I can’t be doing it late as my husband is up early and I’ll be working above his head with my drill so can’t do that when he is trying to sleep. Having said that I potentially could lay all the flooring I bought. I will need to add to the flooring but it will be plenty for me to start to use the space. I should be ‘moving in’ by the end of the week!!!!

Ok on to business- raspberry shake for breakfast, cheese and crackers with tomato for lunch, a portion of chickpeas. Dinner will be the katsu curry I didn’t have time to make yesterday!

Right time to go have a lovely day 🙂

Thanks Ruth; I am 63 so, no, not particularly young 🙂
Today I drank water when I started to feel hungry and shaky and it was enough to hold me off till lunchtime.
Then late afternoon today I had some nuts which actually didn’t do anything to help the dizzy shaky feeling. I suspect I haven’t been having enough fluid so will increase that big time over the next few days.
Thanks everyone

Hello tokyo14
When i make a veg lasagne i use some greek yogurt mixed with some creme fraiche its fine

1st August sounds good to me.

The monthly weigh in would be my preference.

Good morning Fuzzy & Loopy. I too am in my 50’s and looking to get my weight down and stable for good. I’ve lost weight several times over the years yet today am nearly 3 stone overweight. I am 77.5kgs this morning and should be about 55kg. Will look up the lb equivalent later. My husband by comparison struggles to keep his weight up. Interestingly (to me anyway) is he’s always eaten extremely slowly. Anyway I’ll be watching your postings with interest. Good luck. X

Thank you for the help, appreciate it.

thanks.

Hi, loopylou, nice to meet you! I’m happy to have you along – we can do this!! We HAVE to do this!!

Days 2,3 and 4 I’ve stayed on track – maybe a bit more than 800 calories today but I’m not going to beat myself up about it — the scale is already moving – at least 2 pounds gone! 255.2 today. It hasn’t been hard — as long as I plan what I’m eating. Friday I waited too long to eat something and got tempted to overdo it but just went ahead with my planned meals and got past the urge to stuff myself. I keep telling myself “it’s only 8 weeks — 8 weeks will FLY by in no time”. And hopefully take a good amount of weight with it.

I haven’t started to worry about exercise yet — one big habit change at a time is enough for now. But I am trying to drink lots of water, I know that’s important.

….OK, so it’s just not going to be a Wales v Iceland finals….but I can still put in a positive thought for a Wales v ? final!

I shall post later about my other positive thoughts for the day.

That’s so inspiring Izzy – please keep us updated on your loft renovations.
Do you notice how feeling well by doing BSD makes some things, previously hard, not so difficult anymore?

I am starting tomorrow and I have just written out my meal plans for the day and poached the fish so I can quickly make my lunch before work tomorrow. I’ve done 5:2 for a few weeks but now I’m going to try the 8 week BSD to kick start everything.

good evening ladies !!
well done lucky on resisting the temptations( i am sure they were a motown band so could sound a bit oh er mrs)!! and well done on more weight loss you go girl( as gwyneth would say in her amercan accent)!!!
janey i hope you enjoyed every mouthful of your chinese and hope you stomach does too!!!
peace regained here in this household i mean fancy arguing about the weather!!!!
i am just trying to find how to make a mousaka without a white sauce with flour in ( i may just deconnsruct it – isnt that what all the top chefs say !!)
how was the ” frozern bark” lucky ?

Hi Lynne,
Thank you 🙂