I hope the mermaid tail turns out the way I imagine it 🙂 I still keep finding new ideas for my loft and other things I want to create, my inner creative is certainly escaping and I’m not trying to stop her!

I’ve had fage yoghurt and strawberries for breakfast, a concoction fried up together including bacon, onion, courgetti and tomatoes for lunch and it is going to be Katsu curry for dinner.

I didn’t get around to making crackers yet this weekend so that is my job for this afternoon.

My daughters painting kit has arrived but as she is out with a friend she doesn’t know about it yet, I do hope she likes it. I had a proper look in and it has lots there to enjoy – a gift i would have loved!

I can’t remember if I mentioned before but I’ve noticed in recent weeks that I think I walk a bit faster, and today I’ve noticed it’s easier to cross my legs. lol. small triumphs. Scales show 1/2 lb down today so I’m hoping it will move a bit more by Tuesday. Regardless I can’t remember any of the normal diets being able to lose weight so consistently for so long even though I’m slower than most.

I reckon another half stone will open my wardrobe a little. A few things I tried on the other day fit again and many of them will fit within 7 lb’s I think. I have plenty further down in the pile for when I get smaller still, which I know I will it’s only a matter of time.

Have a nice Sunday everyone, pity tomorrow is Monday!

I’m having a sudden desire to go and get the loft flooring again… it comes in waves!

Hey Seadog and Starcyl, thank you for the kind words. I’m planning to trial run a couple of BSD recipes this week as I’m really curious what courgetti and cauli rice are like. I’ve also put Fage Greek yogurt on the shopping list. I’m looking forward to trying all these new wonderful things 🙂

You could also add a salad (either before or after your main meal) with some cheese. We have baby spinach leaves with some feta cheese, which is very tasty – add a little olive oil and perhaps some balsamic? Yum

can’t wait to join 🙂

Thanks. Never thought about adding a desert.

The sun is shining and I have had a walk. Just over 5000 steps.
Will walk more later.
Been into Bon marche to try on size 12…. Nope not there yet.

So, I have decided to watch game of throne from the beginning,and climb on and off my step. Like a plastic box.
For an hour each night.
Anyone want to join me, 6 series, an hour at a time? In the evenings.
You can pick your own to programme.
During the commercials, have a drink of water.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hoorah Switzerland! Da iawn! I am really an Essex girl, but lived and worked in Wales for many years and recently started learning the language. Well, it seemed polite to do so. At least I can pronounce the place names and sing the national anthem now!

And the wildlife in your garden sounds amazing, I will look them up too. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about red belly black snakes though. I get scared by some of the slugs!

Have a good day everyone.

Hi there, well done on managing your first week and on your loss!

If you only ate 800 calories of high carb sugar filled processed food then your blood sugars would still be high, if my understanding is correct. It is a combination of less carbs and the fast weight loss that helps the blood sugars to lower quickly.

As for moving on and upping calories, I’ve been doing this over 10 weeks now and most days I keep my calories at 800 but allow a few days of a bit more. A bit of extra cheese with a meal, or a bigger portion of meat, perhaps a pudding sometimes of berries and cream, a snack of nuts.

Hello everyone.

I’ve been following the 800 diet for a week now and really happy with it. Weight is down 6 lb, fasting bloods in the normal range and blood pressure coming down to. I thought I would struggle as I’ve had bad reactions to being hungry all my life but its been fine and the food has been great.

I’ve enjoyed reading the various posts on the forum and have found them helpful. I now have a few questions that I hope some of you lovely people will be able to answer:

Is my fasting sugars in teh normal range only because I’m eating so little calories or carbs?

Has anyone moved from the 800 to the med diet successfully and could they share a bit how they did it? I’m struggling with this, for example for tea last night I had fajitas without the wrap, it was lovely and came in at 320 calories, but once off the diet how do I turn it into a 500 calorie meal without adding the wrap?

Thanks for the encouragement – am really looking forward to next big target – 8 weeks in. I think the view seems to be from nutritionists that it takes around two months for the changes in our diets and habits to embed fully, so I hope that by the end of July, it will all be the new normal.

Luckily, over the past couple of years, I’ve acquired several really nice Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cooks, and once you leave out the flatbread/pitta/couscous, it’s really easy to eat very healthily. A lot of fish, chicken and occasional lamb, a lot of salads and my favourite, anything with aubergine!

Hi everyone. So for yesterday
Tuna mayonaise iceberg wrap (using the leaf as a wrap), Apple and cheddar cheese, pea, red pepper, and onion omelette.
I did my back in yesterday so was dependent on my family for making me food. On the plus side I got to watch Wimbledon all day. I was worried about whether the lack of exercise would have an effect on the weight loss so hobbled on the scales this morning and another half pound down this morning. That’s 5lbs in 4 days. I know it’s said to be mainly water in the first week but it sure feels good.
Glad to hear you’re feeling better Seadog and good luck to all the starters.

Hi Cherrianne, I have been on for 6 weeks.Except for this rising FBS.. other pre and post meal BS are perfectly normal. Best Regards

Well done Babs, and travel safely to the uk! I’m sure after 8 weeks on the BSD you are well and truly ‘in the zone’ and will manage food- and weight wise without needing scales or calorie checkers 😆

I’m also on the final day and we are off to London with the kids for a day out. Dinner in Chinatown is on the cards and while I will try to be good I’m not going to beat myself up if I digress a little. This is my reward for the successful 8 weeks!

I started and then went off to Greece. Although I had weighed myself once while away I wasn’t too sure how accurate the scales were. 6 weeks since I weighed in on my scales and I’ve lost 6lbs!! I know it’s not a huge amount but I’m really pleased. I lost 14lbs from Easter last year until May this year and found it very hard. So when I started this diet I didn’t have a huge amount to lose, ideally another 14lbs…but I’ve set my first target at 10lbs…if I get there it will be the first time since 2000! If I get to 14lbs lost then that will be the first time since 1992!! I want to move from frumpy, plumpy granny to a more slimline one. While away I walked or did yoga each day, had virtually no bad carbs, eg bread and potatoes, pasta etc, and reduced the amount of fruit I usually eat. Also I stuck to 2 meals a day…a late breakfast or early lunch where I kept the calories and amount right down and then dinner in the evening. My husband was there for the last 12 days so my alcohol consumption went up!!! And we were eating out. The first almost 3 weeks I ate in and could monitor my intake more easily. Then friends arrived and I had a week of eating out most nights. I now have only 4lbs to go to my first target weight…. Feeling very positive now. This way of eating really works for me, I hope that I can keep it up now I’m home and cooking for 2.

Well done Manxsprout. Thank you for sharing your BSD way of life on the forums. All of the variants of the BSD work and I think that’s what makes it such a success. The old temptations aren’t so tempting when your body is being nourished and cared for.

I’ve been asked to start this thread for those at (or, can I add, getting close to) their target weight.

It does feel a little strange to start this when I’m not quite at target yet, but it shouldn’t take long 😃

It’s been suggested that those at target weigh in on here monthly. Also that maintaining can be more difficult than losing weight, so we can support each other on here.

Slimming clubs have there various incentives for those who reach goal – we have this thread. 😃

I have finished my first eight weeks a day early as I am heading off to the airport to go to the UK. This week I have lost another half pound making a total of 17.5lbs…so far. My next eight weeks will be a bit of a challenge as I will not have my scales with me so I will not be able to weigh my food or myself. My blood sugar is down to 103 from 127.

1. Finished reading ‘The Obesity Code’ by Jason Fung (this BSD journey has sparked such an interest in this subject).
2. Celebrated my daughter’s 16th birthday – she is amazing.
3.Quite chuffed about the possibility of a Wales v Iceland final (come on now people POSITIVE thoughts). Hmmm, I wonder what the outcome of the France v Iceland game will be?
4.This one’s for you Bissell – I’m learning a new language (Welsh) because I had to look up the meaning of Cymru am byth. (You’ll be proud of me Bissell, I actually new ‘Cymru’).

Hi Syb,
Thanks for the link to the low carb page..what a great resource .
🙂

Hi Siar,
You don’t say how long you’ve been doing the BSD but a few of us had this problem around week 3-4. Check out a thread called rising fasting blood sugar. It’s an old thread but has some good information from a few different sources.
Check that your overall carb intake is still low, and you can be sure it will sort itself out. All the best 😀

Hi
I. Had a foot spa last night in front of the telly watching wolverine the movie.

My feet were tingling, along with my heart.
Have you seen his muscles, swoon……..

I haven’t had a foot spa before but it was so good.

So remember gang, sometimes you need to give yourself a treat.
Treats doesn’t equal chocolate
It can be a foot spa
Or go out and see a movie,
Or watch the sunset holding hands
Etc

Love Lucia
Xxxxx

hi BSDians,

TIll last week , I have been on BSD and must say it worked wonders my BS was averaging 5.7 and post and prendial were normal as a non-diabetic person. I thought I reversed Type2 Diabetes and have began to regularly attend bootcamp ( exercise sessions) few times a week for the last two weeks. However last weekend I did a 11 mile maratahon and hence to recover I have taken a recovery shake. I am not sure what happened from that day onwards the morning sugar levels spiked to low 6s  Can the sports drinks cause the hike by tweaking the liver releasing sugar ? I am not sure how long this will last for taking energy and electrolyte drink for a day ? Any sharing your experience/comments be appreciated.

Hi Ellie,
As a new starter I know how you feel looking at the amount of weight you have to lose as I have a large amount to shift. I haven’t been eating too many carbs for a few weeks so hopefully the change won’t be too hard to deal with, it’s funny but looking at this 8 week plan doesn’t scare me in the way some of the previous Weight Watchers and Slimming World ones did. I did manage to lose some weight with both of them but it has come back and more so! I am now at the heaviest I have ever been, I have bought some new scales and even though I haven’t cut back to the 800 calories I have followed the principal of the diet and have already lost 2kg.
I think finding this forum and joining in, which is something I don’t normally do (I tend to sit on the sidelines and just read), will be a great help.
I have a holiday booked for later in the year and have a dress I would love to take with me so it is now hanging in view as an extra encouragement.
Looking forward to seeing the improvement in us all!

Hi Julie

Thanks for your kind comments!

My 8 weeks stops end Minday, in theory. Next Friday we are off to Northumberland with the family for a self-catering walking -focused holiday, so the catering will change a bit.

My son is a Demon

at baking sour dough, and may bring his starter with him. And the evenings will be more social – even if we are cooking ourselves – so there will be wine etc. (And card games, films, and jigsaw!)

So.
I think I will continue to do my 20g carb (not so focused on precise calories) until we go, and then up the carbs to 50g per day which I think will be absolute luxury for me, whilst still no bread, refined carbs etc. I love sourdough to eat but have noticed before that the after effects (lethargy) are not good.

I am keen to see what effects long mountain walks (bit more demanding than my current exercise regime on the flat) will have. Will be taking chicory and cheese slice to roll whilst the others have sandwiches.

After the hol I am going to see where the little roll of belly fat and slightly larger thighs have gone – nowhere, probably — and then do 5:2 with 50-75g of carbs for the 5, and 20g carb and prob one meal per day up to c 600cal for the 2.

But will see how I feel.and what works best. Am never going back to refined carbs. If there is some really great bread – we had some wonderful stuff from a local bakery in Lyme Regis on a couple of trips – I might have a slice. But otherwise not.

Sorry for long post!

Very best wishes to all. I do want everyone to succeed as I think this way of eating is the answer to so many people’s health problems and is hugely enjoyable too. 🙂

Just one other thing. All this carb/calorie counting has made it clear how much food I NEED to maintain weight. And really, it’s not a lot. I can have smaller, delicious meals, well within the reasonable amount allowed.

I love the images at dietdoctor on carbs. http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables

having just read the last post I had to read back for the context lol. You guys do make me giggle!

Did Gwyneth Paltrow really suggest steam cleaning?! I pay little attention to media or celebrity chit chat…

No one is getting near mine with a steamer…

Hope you still feel well off the meds Happy, you’re husband sounds lovely it looks like you chose each other well.

I couldn’t stand that much heat – Scottish people are too used to cooler weather! I hope you enjoy the rest of your celebrations 🙂

Hi Ellie, first of all don’t be ashamed to say that you have 7.5 stone to lose, a long journey starts with a single step, and you have just taken that by deciding to follow this way of life !. If you look back at my post yesterday, I was saying how off colour I was feeling, I can say that I feel considerable better today, I woke up this morning with a much clearer head and more like my usual self (but better ha ha !). I went to my sister in laws last night, and she had made delicious nibbles which I would normally tuck into, but here’s the thing, I didn’t. It’s not that I didn’t tuck in through willpower, I just didn’t want it ! now that is a very new feeling for me, and I REALLY like it !.
Quick note about the withdrawal symptoms, everybody is different so will have varying degrees of symptoms, I must have been severely addicted to carbs, as I REALLY suffered for a couple of days (I think a bunch of flowers may be in order as an apology for my wife, for being grumpy !). I operate heavy machinery as part of my job, and I can honestly say that my concentration was a little off, so if this is a concern for you, then bear it in mind when embarking on this. Best of luck !

I did have headaches at the beginning but they didn’t last. I don’t recall feeling shaky though. You could try to spread your calories out through the day allowing for the type of snacking that Ruth suggested, or indeed just have more calories, maybe the 5:2 would suit you better? definitely keep your fluid up.

I fill two 750ml bottles with water and try to have one empty by 12:00, and the other empty by the time I’me heading home at 17:00, adding in cups of tea (mostly herbal) it means I’m always easily above 2.5 litres.

When I feel hungry I usually have a few nuts or sugar free gum, I doubt the gum would help the shakiness but a few nuts might, maybe just a few would be enough? Experiment to find what works best for you, we are not all the same.

Hi everyone, just wanted to drop in and say GOOD LUCK to all of you starting this month.

A few weeks in and you’ll never want to go back to your old food 🙂

you are doing so well 🙂 sounds like the way you are doing it suits you perfectly!

I have found this thread really helpful. Boy am I a Chardonnay girl and can easily open another bottle a night. I am on the 800 and this is day 7. More importantly 7 days AFD and have got past that dreaded Saturday and keeping busy today to avoid the Sunday danger zone. I understand cals and carbs I have used keostic so am on the right track. I have not weighed as worried any disappointment or elation will cause me to celebrate or console lol. Thank you for sharing and not making me feel quite so much of a lush.

found some clothes in the cupboard that fit (and some that will soon)

my son had a poo in the toilet (yes yes I know tmi lol but this is an ongoing issue here for him)

sat watching ‘purple minions’ with my son just now (despicable me 2)

I’ve started bringing in sugar free food for my office, they are all up for trying the different things I find or make, in fact my friend, who was a ginger biscuit & chocolate fiend during the day has now switched her office snacks to be sugar free. My husband has joined me and my son is about to, I can’t remember feeling this good and loosing this much weight ever, and I’ve ticked off most diets. The BSD allows me to eat normally, eat well, eat wholesome healthy food and feel amazing. I have found there is a great community of Sugar free cooks on line and I have embraced the new recipes. Today I’m off to a family BBQ (in a dress I bought two years ago but haven’t been able to fit in till now) with sugar free fruit muffins, sweet potato & chickpea buddha bowl, coronation potato salad & the creme de la creme, chocolate cheesecake, the main ingredient is avocado, it taste dark and rich and amazing, although my son who isn’t sugar free yet thought it was a bit bitter. One other bonus of the BSD taste buds 🙂

Hi Everyone, I discovered the BSD book by happy accident and I feel like a light has switched on in my brain. I am the classic yo-yo dieter and ashamed to say I have 7.5 stones to lose to get back to a healthy BMI. Previously I managed to lose 4.5 stones using a combination of MyFitnessPal and a Fitbit flex but fell off the wagon over the Christmas period and undid all the good work and then some. My wake up call was being told I was borderline diabetic. It runs in the family. Gran went blind and my Mum ended up with badly ulcerated legs which she could barely walk on. I realised I’m the only one who can stop me destroying my own body. Thankfully hubby is also going to follow the BSD800 with me which makes meal planning and prep a lot easier. We are starting the 8 weeks in earnest on 16th July at the start of our 2 weeks holiday (staycation) as hubby drives a lot for work and I’m worried that initially the lack of cals may affect concentration. In the meantime we have already cleared out the cupboards, cut out a lot of carbs and replaced sugary snacks with nuts, fruit and hummus/veg. Best wishes to everyone who has kicked off on their 8 week odyssey. I won’t be far behind!

Hi. Hubby and I starting tomorrow. I’m not diabetic but 30 kilos overweight. Hubby is diabetic though. We both do exercise so that’s good but both eat very big meals. Worried about keeping on track. Any suggestions to help us in the first week?

And sugar of course! I forgot sugar! I told you it becomes second nature!

1)Watching the dog have a funny five minutes in the fields, whilst catching whiffs of wild honeysuckle.

2) feeling proud of the Wales team. Cymru am byth!

3) clothes that didn’t fit because they were too small, now don’t fit because they are too big!

Hi pink sunshine. I have been following the diet for 9 weeks now and have completely avoided straightforward carbs, such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. I’ve had a few small quantities of legumes, lentils and the like and get most of my carbs from vegetables, trying to keep to less than 50g carbs a day. So basically, avoiding anything that looks like a carb! It sounds tough, but you soon get used to it, the desire for something sweet (which I had in spades) soon goes and it becomes second nature.

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck!

Igorasusual, looking thinner will help in the short term for sure 🙂

Julie13 good on you getting started on the exercise, not sitting down for the adverts is a good habit, one which I could adopt easily, taking breaks on Netflix might be harder:) I have been wondering if I should cancel it cos it’s too easy to binge watch and stay immobile for too long.

Last night was hard, especially because it was Saturday. Even on the detox I could have nuts as a snack watching Tv on the couch in the evening because there was no calorie counting, now it’s just me and herbal tea 🙂 time for me to make new habits I think.

Weigh in tomorrow morning eek, will have to stay focused this evening. Thank you, you are all helping me stay accountable!

Technically I am over the 8 weeks, coming up to 14 now. I was feeling pretty good eating what I was, so decided to continue it for awhile, taking it day to day until I was sick of it…..but, strangely I am quite happy continuing….can’t really believe it !
Today was my first big challenge….went to a new Italian restaurant for lunch. This was a real test , because I really love Italian food, specially pasta. Well, I scanned the menu, read all the pasta meals…..and went for, wait for it……shared a 2 serve plate of salumi with OH and finished with a caprese salad !!! I am so proud of myself. I never thought it was possible.
Weight loss is much slower now as I have added a glass of sauvignon blanc a day and not too fussed about calories, only carbs. One day I also had a tiny glass of Baileys irish Cream…… and nothing happened ! Wow!
jillyB

Hi I have just started too, 27 June, about the same amount to lose, not diabetic either. I know it will work because I did a month of very low calorie last year before a catastrophe got in the way and I thought no more of diets. Luckier than you, probably much older and do not have to go out and work long hours.

My suggestions are to eat more, just protein and vegies, and to drink lots of water, or herbal teas, A bit more lunch,and maybe have some nuts/ and or avocado at 4 o’clock. Anything you like that is not carbs. I have been reading lots of great blogs and entries on this site to motivate me and I am amazed at how successful people have been. I am sure some-one will pop up with good ideas for you. I think there are some who do not count calories within reason of course, just carbs.

I did not have any headaches, but others have. They seem to pass. And everyone stresses no low-fat anything. Just small quantities of the good stuff, yeah! I am weighing in tomorrow, and I will have lost about 1.8kg ( I hope!)

You might like to read some of the old entries on this site for more experience and answers than I have
Best wishes
Ruth

Hi Igorasusual,
Hope you don’t mind me commenting on your post to sydneygirl, but just wanted to congratulate you. To still be losing at the nearly 8 week mark, particularly when you haven’t much to lose is amazing. Will you continue after the 8 weeks are up or move on to more of a maintenance?
I have two weeks off work coming up so will plan to follow your advise and increase my water intake, as won’t need to worry about the effects!

Thanks for your encouraging posts

🙂

Hi sydneygirl,

I think planning on adding something to your wardrobe that you feel extra good in sounds like an excellent plan. I always think it’s nice for us but also nice for our partners as if your like me if I like the way I look it seems to reflect in my mood and behaviour.
Pleased in not the only one that finds dips etc hard to manage the portion control!
I’m impressed with your cycling to work, I’ve always found bike riding a bit of a chore so always admire those that I see cycle past me! I think it would be a great boost if you could do HIIT, as you say your body gets used to whatever your regular exercise is and so really responds when you do something different. Thanks for sending the link. I read somewhere that adults saying they don’t have time to exercise is like a child saying a dog ate my homework! So I’m trying really hard to take responsibility and not make excuses. Last night I just did some floor strength exercises while watching tv as had walked earlier in the day. We have stairs in our house and as silly as it seems sometimes I just go up and down them a few times in the tv ad if I’ve had a long day and don’t want to do any ‘real’ exercise!
Well done for your healthy food choices at the Greek restaurant. Personally I think to persevere with this type of eating that i will need to have days when I focus on the occasion rather than the exactly calories I should be eating. so I too make the same kind of choice that you did. Yesterday we went out with friends for lunch the menu was very limited and to be honest I didn’t want to tell these friends I was watching what I ate so in the end I ordered avocado and fetta on sourdough. It was yummy! I’d only had my broth and half a dozen almonds before lunch and then for tea I just had some left over green veg with the tiniest bit of chicken, so when I worked out my daily calories I was still on 800.
Fingers crossed this week I’ll be down in the 10s.
Let me know how you go Monday.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend
🙂

I weigh myself everyday and was down 3.6 pounds after my first day on BSD. Day one was really easy for me and so was today. It helps if you can keep busy during the day. My hardest time is between 3-4 o’clock.

Loopylou looks like you also had a weigh in so far this week.

Adeyg I have a vitamix so when I don’t have almond flour I use whole almonds and grind then in the vitamix to make almond meal/flour. I could be wrong but I think ground almonds uses blanched almonds and almond flour is made with almonds with the skins on.

Thanks for the tips, I might make the brownies in a few weeks when I’m more under control. In week 1 I’m still trying to keep the sweet tooth at bay.

I have just started a couple of days ago and I’m finding I’m hungry and weak and shaky after a few hours. I’m not actually diabetic but I am about 20kg overweight and I suspect prediabetic. I’ve heard such good things about this change of lifestyle (which I prefer to call it rather than a “diet”). I makes sense to me and I was largely on a Mediterranean diet anyway; this is just an fine tuning and an extension. However I find having breakfast at 7:30, then lunch (at work at 1:30), then dinner at home (I finish work at 6pm) around 7pm, the time frames are just too long and I have a headache and feel weak and shaky by late morning and late afternoon. What can I do to prevent that without blowing out the calories? Thanks

Hi, I have had the book for a while now and have finally decided that I have to give it a go. I’m 55 years old with two young sons, ages 9 and 11 that I have to get and stay healthy for. So far I have gotten away with a lot of bad habits. I should really be more unhealthy than I am but I think I have good genes as my dad is 92 and still going strong and has never done anything “healthy” in his life…My hubby and I are looking to take the kids to Mexico during the week of August 20th so I am going to start my eight weeks on Monday and keep going until we do to Mexico and then during my stay there at an all inclusive do my best to eat only lean proteins and lots of veg, fingers crossed! I’m going to use combination of shakes and real food and am using My Fitness Pal to keep track of my food intake and nutrients. Good Luck to all staring in July! Let’s see how much we can lose and improve our health over the next 8 weeks.

Just started the 8 week diet, and finding the book could be better structured in terms of food advice. Can anyone point me to a definitive list of foods (high carb) to avoid completely, and those foods that are ok?

Hey Californiagirl! I love Lake Tahoe and my hubby and I used to go quite often when we lived in SF. It’s so beautiful there. First time I went to Truckee I was 10 and I always make sure anyone I know stops there as well. It’s the cutest town!!!
Happy 4th!!