I have such admiration for you keep trying for keeping trying! 🙂

time is such a strange thing, isn’t it, it seems endless when you are in it – but when you have completed a task, or got through something, it all shrinks up in retrospect and seems no time at all. So I wonder if you can think to yourself that you will commit to this 8 weeks no matter how you feel within it, and not make any judgements at all until it’s done.

Then you can look back and see what the conclusions will be.

You are still detoxing from the carbs, most definitely, and this will pass as so many people have said. But if you have had years of carb addiction, do you think the effects will disappear immediately? No way, of course! But they WILL go eventually.

Weight is not the issue, it’s the fat you’re burning as you start to have your body operate a different way – you can often see this in measurements. Have you got anything you can measure yourself against? I keep having slow loss in weight terms (and I agree that’s so frustrating!), but can feel a bit lighter and see some reduction in measurements.

So could you give up on the weight – some people say they don’t weigh themselves at all, as they know small losses discourage them – and purely go on clothes?

And whatever you do, don’t stop trying. You are magnificent to carry on, to remove the biscuit temptations, and tell your carb addiction just where to go.

Morning Clematis 🙂 Thank you very much 🙂 Oooooh I haven’t seen those chocolate bars before! They sound lovely, I am a dark choc girl anyway, which helps, and 82 cals is ‘do-able’ isn’t it? I think tiny chocolate bars are probably safer for me than a slab, to be honest 😉 I will definitely pick some of those up tomorrow while trawling the supermarkets. If I can see today out, that is… Thank you for the heads up!

Glad your’re going well too JaneyCD.
Well it’s a couple of days into week 6. I have lost another 3 and a 1/4 pounds this week.
It is becoming a more natural way of life for us now and having to struggle less with ingredients and menu plans and we are making up slightly more replacements with certain foods to make sure we do not waste any of our food. It feels normal now not to think about “whitestuff”.
I can honestly say that the only tiny bit of dark chocolate has been put into the skinny chilli recipe (yum!). I had to look around quite a lot to find small bars but eventually found a nice little 40g fair trade bar in the co-op’s own range .
I have been doing more and more walking as it gets easier and easier.
The other half is still doing well too and has had to have a couple of new belts because his were looking scruffy with imprints of the moving buckle as it shifted smaller and smaller and had a large tail of waste length leather to shove round the belt loops.
We have been spreading the word about BSD to anyone who seems interested and one of my step daughters has lost 13lb in two weeks and is delighted.
More determined than ever….bring it on!!!

feeling rubbish and depressed and failed
i even have my weight loss plotted on the tracker on fd site
i can see it going down
but i feel so rubbish

still having endless reflux/throat/bloating etc issues
tummy not going anywhere
and just keep reading about the pounds and pounds others seem to lose on here

i know i shouldn’t compare to others – but everyone does, don’t they?
all i want to do is binge my head off on biscuits and cake – fortunately i have neither at home

sorry this is so negative, and i know i should think back to Christmas and how i had no idea i would be so much lighter by now
but also, i feel ok sometimes, then i catch sight of myself in a shop window (i don’t have a big mirror at home) – and i realise how i am still fat and still look horrible

excellent job, well done. I wish I had been as abstemious as you! I did parttake in a few beverages I must say, although I stuck to the eating part like glue.

Hi Lucky, absolutely loving your posts! If you can get past the cravings then great but if not Lidl do a pack of very small, dark chocolate bars filled with dark chocolate mousse which are 82 cals and 6.2g of carbs per bar. They are lush and I usually find one of those with a nice coffee sorts me out when it’s ‘that’ week. Or Green and Blacks 85% dark chocolate is quite nice as well. Hope this helps. Btw the Lidl choc looks like a solid chocolate block. It’s only when you open the packaging you realise it several tiny bars of chocolate inside!!

start of day five and thought i would sneak a cheeky weigh in i did one on sat day 3 and had lost 1.2 kg
so after today i have lost a further 1.2kg i really am shocked !!
in total i have lost 2.4 kg so thrilled and excited not feeling too hungry still missing sugar in my tea tho !!
i am not getting weighed again till thursday when i will have been doing it for a week , so plans to keep busy till then lots of gardening ( big garden) and walking !!
i am nervous about plateauing any ideas if that happens as i have a feeling it will
but more excited than i have been for quite a while on any other diet and believe me i did a certain low fat one for years and never saw results like this !!!!!!

Hello, not sure where to post this so hope this is OK. My friend has just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, she’s 23. Can anyone advise whether the BSD would be any good for helping her condition?

Don’t worry the weight will soon disappear again.
Used to think that my body had stopped trying to burn fat and lose weight……grrr.
How could it when I was trying so hard to do the right things?…..Frustration!

Now I think of it in an entirely different way.

My body has a range of physiological functions. It is making a concentrated effort to burn fat but it has other things to do as well.
When it isn’t burning fat it is doing some necessary maintenance….. and having a bit of a tidy around!!!!!
Not being lazy but doing some essential work before it can start on the important job of losing weight again.

Works for me:-)

Hmm, struggling to muster up the positive vibes today with the minging weather outside, but here goes…

1) booked up the family skiing holiday for next Feb (woooohooooooooo)
2) in exactly 7 weeks I’ll be on the ferry to France for our hols
3) managed to go the whole weekend without eating anything naughty (note, that says eating, not drinking!)

I’ve tried two different approaches on the fast days. One was to split the meals into 3, so I had 3 x 250 cal meals per day. I didn’t get on very well with these if I’m honest. The next week I had brunch then tea, both around 400 cal.

This suited me much better. And because I was having brunch at about 11.30/12 having not eaten since 7 pm the nigh before, it mean that I was squeezing in a 15 hour fast overnight. Up until now I’ve done back to back fast days and that’s been fine, but this week I’m splitting them mainly because of work schedules.

Hi all,

Week one done.

Really happy, lost 6.5 Kg (a whole stone) and down to 105.5.
lost an inch off my waist as well.
Long way to go, and i know the next two weeks can be tough as the weight loss slows down a little, to get rid of other, more insidious things inside. but really happy.
not been struggling really, sure i get hungry as i approach meal times, and i occasionally miss a beer or a slice of toast.
I went to two parties overt he weekend, and didnt break once, just water to drink!!!

The only thing i had over the weekend that wasnt water was two bottles of slimline tonic water, to give me a break from water. zero (or very few) calories in those, so very proud of myself.

Will be able to book my sky dive soon!!!!

JK

Hello, I am new to BSD. My husband and I started three weeks ago and I have lost 13lbs. He is pre diabetic and has lost 18lbs. We aren’t at all hungry! My husband’s doctor wanted to prescribe statins but we decided to give the BSD approach a serious try before he went down that route. I spend a long time each weekend planning all the menus and shopping lists but it seems to be paying off. I am looking forward to using this Forum.

Goooooood Morning campers! Hi de hi!
Scales still showing 16 stone 9lbs, but today also heralds the start of that certain time of the month, so considering I haven’t had the usual ‘WTH??’ weight gain I usually have on the first morning, it looks like it’s been swallowed up this month. The weight loss is there, I just have to wait a few days for my body to stop being a GIT before I see it. I don’t think I could have coped with a gain, even if it was for a biological reason. Silver linings 🙂

Even though I’m not a chocoholic by a long shot, if it was a choice between sweet or savoury, 9 times out of ten I’d take the savoury… but. Unfortunately this week is the lesser seen one time out of 10. And I do have a tendency to turn into a snarling, demented rat bag if I don’t get chocolate. This is going to be interesting. Granted, more interesting for my husband. He won’t be able to resolve this in his usual, sweet, kind manner (nipping to get me a family size slab of chocolate and a two pack of pies) (and a Cinnamon Bun) (maybe two). If he suggests making me a bowl of Fage and berries, he will become one of these mythical people you hear about from nurse friends. Those who were taken into A&E to remove strange objects from certain orifices. Because he will have a Fage pot inserted somewhere. Sideways. So my question is, has anyone found that being on this diet reduces the chocolate/junk urge at this time of the month? Or is it made worse? This is really going to be my danger time, the next couple of days, I can feels it in me waters. If I get through this week, I can get through anything.

Thx Izzy you never fail to help people out on this site 😊 I always have last meal between 6.30-7pm so not too late. Think it a combination of type2 & the horrible menopause!! 😉

Hi IZZY

Thanks, I enjoy your regular updates.

Wierd about the nails, mine grew looooong over the first few weeks on this plan. So long my hubby must be tired of me thrusting them within viewing distance with a “Look at this!” Having gnawed them since I gained my first teeth 60 odd years ago I didn’t even know how to cut the extra long things. Have filed them back but am so chuffed I keep looking at my hands. No urge to bite them at all. Wierd. My hair grew flat out at the same time, settled back now. We all need to be taken to a lab somewhere for a major debriefing concerning everything BSD.
ARISE SIR MICHAEL I SAY.
N.

Hi there,
I’m a bit confused about what the next step is after the 800. 5:2? Med style low carb? Or way of life? What’s the difference between and are there any recipe books for the latter 2 options?

If I do 5:2 how do I eat on the non 800 cal days? Sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else,
Iv lost 2 inches in a week and a half so not sure I’m going to do the 8 weeks and am in a muddle!

That is another good point Ms Bloody Minded. This ‘diet’ can be looked at three ways. Probably more than three, but from my perspective (as I don’t have any connected health problems, thankfully) you’ve got; a) what the scales show. b) what the tape measure/waistbands of your clothes show. And c) what YOU know you’ve put in your body over the course of the week. And like me, it looks like the answer to that question is ‘Better than I put in it in the past’. It’s all good 🙂 Hope your weigh in went well 🙂

In the book he suggests that some people might struggle to sleep, and that for some having their last meal later in the evening might help.

If you have the calories spare you could try a milky drink, or try almond milk – I’ve been using it for hot choc. It’s very low calorie. A cup of that with a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and a couple of sweetners is quite nice.

welcome to BSD 🙂

Lots of us, perhaps even most of us have had this.

Sit tight and stick to the plan, it will shift again. Every few weeks I seem to lose only 0.5 across a whole week but it moves again. Don’t let it throw you off the path.

good morning all:)

I’ve just munched some of my granola with a few strawberries. The granola is still ok but getting softer and I’ll probably have to throw it out soon which is a shame as I’m not even half way through it. Next time I will make a quarter of the recipe.

Lunch is going to be crackers and cheese and tomatoes.

Dinner – hopefully – chicken pie and veg. Not sure about Elana’s pie crust but we will see!

Have a great day 🙂

Argh! I’m on day 21 and no movement in weight or inches for 6 days now. I’m stubborn so I’m not giving up but how can you eat ~800 calories a day and see no change in that time? I have 4 stone to lose before a healthy BMI and before the stall I only lost around 9.5lbs so not that much compared to lots of the stories I see here. Not had chance to start exercise so very unlikely muscle weight.

Really I’m just venting and hoping someone might have been through this to reply with encouraging stories. All welcome!

2nd attempt for me and I ad a bit of a glitch but still going and I have lost 3.4 kgs in 2 weeks, so needless to say I’m feeling oretty good. Only wish I could understand why my overnight fasting levels seem to be up. During the day they are in the 5’s but morning they are in the 7’s and up some????
But keep on going you will get there

Hi Giz!
I have not exercised at all and take about 2-3000 steps a day naturally. Since you are having protein at every meal it keeps your metabolism high. Also, for one to two days during the first week or second week you might feel a little weaker as your body switches from looking for carbs for fuel to figuring out it needs to look for protein. Once it figures it out usually cravings are all gone and you have a lot of energy.

Make sure you only eat full fat everything. The main reason is that the full fat versions keep you satiated and full until your next meal.

I tell my clients who do it there are main steps I follow:

1-protein at every meal
2-full fat always
3-12 hours between end of dinner and breakfast (fast it’s called in the book)
4-800 calories a day
5-50 carbs a day
6-lots more water than you would think as you are flushing fat and replenishing water that goes out with the fat.

I drink herbal tea as well but even herbal tea makes some work for your liver so I drink more water than anything else.

You will quickly figure out what works for you. 😍

I use an app on my phone to log everything I eat so I know what my calories and carbs are. It’s very helpful.

Good luck!! 💜

Hi Giz
Welcome to the team!
You don’t want diet/low fat, you want full fat. Diet/low fat is evil and shouldn’t ever be touched due to the higher sugar content! It’s confusing at first as the messages we’ve all heard over the last 30 years is that fat is bad for us, but it’s not. Hopefully, you’ve read the 8 week diet book, as that explains the science behind it all.
8.5 weeks ago I switched from low fat everything to full fat everything and I’ve lost 14.1kg so far. I still have around 10kg to lose so will continue for the time being, doing what I’ve been doing.

Remember to drink at least 2-3 litres of non calorie fluid per day (a lot of mine comes from herbal teas) and up your exercise to around 10k steps per day. It also helps if you download one of the calorie counting apps (in Australia I’ve found Easydietdiary the best) and keep track of your total calories and complex carbs – try for less than 50g carbs per day.
Follow these simple guidelines and you can’t help but lose weight and I guarantee that after the first few days, you won’t feel hungry except for when you should be! 😄
Good luck and keep posting to let us know how you’re going.
Cheers
Linda

Welcome to the forums Cindysusie1990. As you read the different threads if you have any questions, ideas or things you find helpful please join in. There’s always someone reading the posts that can help or find your ideas helpful.
Best wishes.

Does anyone else suffer with insomnia….it’s driving me crazy at the moment 😬 I go to bed not feeling tired lie there for about an hour then have to get up. Sometimes I’m not going back to bed until 2am & a couple of times last week it was 4am!

‘Stay healthy’ is the title of this topic. We all launch into the BSD and, rightly, focus on the food. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the things we do to stay healthy.
I now do BSD 5:2, I try and walk everyday (if it’s really wet I stay indoors and exercise) and aim for 10 000 steps a day. Mindfulness meditation has become part of my life. I find these forums really supportive and they add to my wellbeing.
I’m not saying this happened overnight – it didn’t. Was it easy? Not always.
What is easy is doing all of these things now as collectively they help me stay healthy.

Hi i am Cindy I have 25 years Old I am new Here

It’s great when you think Lucia – it makes us stop and think as well. I think it’s fabulous that our bodies are so clever that when we put the right fuel in they can use blubber as fuel. It’s awesome.

Thank you Nettle, I’ll look that one up and giving it a try. I’m actually looking forward to a bit of cooking, my skills are very limited! And I like cauliflower so can’t wait to try that one out. 8 days in and I’m still so excited, just really hope it lasts! x

Fantastic idea for a thread Izzy!
1. Missed seeing my 88 yr old dad on Father’s Day but had a good chat (shout, he is hard of hearing) via phone and will see him next weekend and will cook him his favourite …. Broccoli and Stilton soup!
2. Caught up with sister for drinks but low carb snacks at the pub whilst making plans for my nephews wedding
3. Had a peaceful moment reflecting on the good times, appreciating my “lot” in life, and smile.

You haven’t fallen off completely ! It’s just a couple of days… Try and keep off starchy carbs post booze, and get back on the wagon today eating minimal carbs/ sugar. Have a look back at previous days and pick the food/recipes you have enjoyed most. Start there and start back on fast800! You can do it! I fell off for 2 months but stuck to key principles and gained very little in weight . When you drink have try and alternate…glass of wine then pint of water before your next glass of wine ….. Start again and keep going till you hit your target weight. You can do it !!!

If you look at the posts on this forum you will see some great stories of success – try looking up Bill1954 and Captainlynne. Bill’s thread This has to Work is a great study of persistence to a triumphant result.

And Lucia is an inspiration to us all.

You will find all sorts of benefits from the BSD, I’m sure. 🙂

Thank you! Starting tomorrow but only have Greek yoghurt….not diet/low fat! 😂

Oh, I meant to add for you to look at captainlynne’s 23 weeks and after thread – she’s recently been on holidays and had positive outcomes.

Hi carina62,
You’ve made a great decision. On the Fast days it’s up to you how you want to divide the 800 calories. There are definitely benefits to extending the time between eating.
If you’re doing the BSD 5:2 you consume 800 calories on your fast days.
The ‘Eight Week Blood Sugar Diet’ book explains the 3 choices surrounding food. If you haven’t read it, it’s well worth the investment.
The 10 weeks you have before holidays is more than adequate to establish the BSD lifestyle – it will make it easier for you to choose BSD style foods when you’re in Crete.
Welcome to the forums and best wishes for your BSD journey.

That sounds like success Izzy. High five

Hi Giz!
So happy you are starting tomorrow and we are all here if you need support!
I have to have super simple and fast breakfast and can’t eat yogurt but I love either 1-2 oz of sharp cheddar cheese with berries or grapes or 2 oz of salmon with fruit.
We cook a big piece of salmon and cut it in small pieces so we always have it in the fridge to grab quickly with a fruit.
We also always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge to grab one or two.
For me having protein at each meal has been essential. I eat protein and fruit at breakfast and lunch (usually 1 cup of berries as they are best). I then eat protein and lots of vegies (both a salad and steamed ) for dinner.

It looks like I am losing as I weighed after the pool and was a couple lbs less than this morning!! Yeah!!

Hey Izzy!!
My dog is a lot better today thanks! He went blind in both eyes by age two due to genetic issues and had to have fake lens put in so he could see. He has a neck and back genetic issue of fused bones which is why he had this pain flare up. All tests came back ok at least. He’s on prednisone and codeine for the pain for 9 days. He’s 11 years old.

Wishing you the best!!
💜

todays positives.

1. I’m very lucky to still have my Dad, and extra lucky that he’s always been a brilliant one.
2. I avoided the biscuits at my parents house… every last one.
3. I worked out how to use the oven programmer and we came home to a lovey cooked chicken 🙂

Happy I’m sorry for your poor dog and his previous suffering, how great that you guys rescued him. I hope he stays well now.

Fabulous news on the swim suits and too big clothes 🙂 It’s a great feeling when other people notice the loss isn’t it?

Giz welcome to BSD 🙂

The easiest breakfast lots of people here reach for is some fage total yoghurt and a few berries, but there are many more options than you think. Use the recipe section and the forum search box and you’ll soon be spoiled for choice 🙂

Hi Happy 🙂

Well for lunch I had a ‘build your own breakfast’ so I had 1 fried egg, 1 sausage, 1 slice of bacon and 1/2 tomato. It wasn’t a large meal and I can’t guarantee there was no wheat in the sausage but I think that was ok. Then at my parents home I had 2 cups of tea and NO BISCUITS! We had a nice visit.

Dinner went to plan and we arrived home to the aroma of roast chicken 🙂

I’ve made an almond pie crust from Elena’s pantry book to try for dinner tomorrow with the left over roast chicken, so we will see how that turns out and I’ve made more crackers to see me through the week, so it’s been a productive evening 🙂

I’ve also ran around putting away all the clean washing. I tend not to do laundry monday-thursday and have a blitz over the weekend, always a big pile to then put away lol.

In other news over this past week I’ve realised I’ve stopped biting my nails again. I was a lifelong nail biter until I was pregnant with my son and had morning sickness, about halfway through the pregnancy I suddenly realised I had stopped biting after many failed attempts to stop in the past, here I stood having stopped without trying. After my son was born I expected to return to my bad habit but I did not even with the stress of his early arrival. However about 6 months ago suddenly I had no nails again. I’ve tried off and on to stop without success and here we are again. I didn’t try to stop I just suddenly have nails again! It’s weird but I’m considering it a good sign of improving health physically and mentally.

I’ve also realised that water is much easier to drink now too and I think my body recognises thirst more readily than before.

Onwards to tomorrow, my last day of week 9!! And having followed my plan of staying on 800 most days. Only one day over so far this week and I doubt I will go over tomorrow. We will see if the scales show it to have been a good idea or not on Tuesday lol.

Sweet dreams all.

I am not very sure of the amount we are supposed to it as the 3 together almost fill up a medium container. Also the beetroot recipe ended up being double the amount of the other 3. It does look like a LOT 300g of hummus between all of them. Is that correct?? Any suggestions??

hi i am a huge baker so today i have been looking through my many cookbooks for recipes that follow are easy to adapt and one thats stands out is donal skehan fresh just thought i would pass it on as lots of recipes including various elements of this diet

may tray flat breads made with gram flour it looked deicious

i’ve made the decision to start this as after 7 years of diabetes I want to (hopefully) reverse this awful disease. I have 10 weeks before I go on holiday to Crete so want to lose as much weight as I can before then. My question is on the Fast Days, do you have breakfast and then not eat until the evening and in total have calories totalling 800 rather than 600 recommended on the normal 5:2 diet ?

Wow… You have motivated me to really give it a go from tomorrow! I still struggle with the thought of what to have as an “easy” breakfast! Loved reading your post from start!

Before bs800, my body used pure sugar, carbs and junk to fuel my body.

It must have gone into a state of…..what the devil is she up to now mode.
She doesn’t love me anymore as she is now not feeding me much.
I suppose I will just have to have a walk around her body and see if there is anything I can use as fuel.

Now my body uses blubber to fuel itself.

I wonder if my mood swings at the beginning was my body pulling the dust sheets of stuff, unlocking areas it has never gone to before. Stubbing it’s toes on stuff just lying about.

Yup, I have been thinking again.

Love luica
Xxxx

Aw thank you for replying. I will keep to it. I tell myself its worth it if , after 10 years of diabetes, it could all be cured in just 8 weeks. It seems to good to be true but it must be?

good luck to you too x