Hi everyone. I’m 26 years old, overweight, and while I currently have ‘normal’ blood sugars I have a family history of Type 2 Diabetes and have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which wreaks havoc on my hormones, weight and insulin. I struggle a LOT with a physical and psychological addiction to sugar and carbs and sometimes genuinely feel like I can’t control myself reaching for high sugar, highly processed food. I’ve bought the 8 Week Diet book and am waiting for it to arrive. Are there any other ladies out there with PCOS – or people who have done this diet who had similar issues with the cravings that I’ve listed above? Would love to hear from you and how you got through it. Would also like to hear from anyone who found waking up in the morning really hard but has seen improvements in that area.

Feeling nervous/excited about my upcoming lifestyle change!

Good luck James! You will eventually be fine without the crisps and nuts, they are my biggest weakness, but you can go for the unsalted nuts and they get surprisingly nice after a while. The recipes in the book are good although there seemed to be an awful lot of salads so we go for cooking joints of meat, and making different kinds of soup which are low calorie and awfully filling.
Check out the recipes on this site too, there are lots of good ones.

Hello JCH187, keep going – I hope the stage will pass too. When I weighed Friday I had lost a total of 12lb 8oz in just under 3 weeks but had a rather bad weekend so feel scared to weigh myself before midweek at the earliest!

Hello Flower55, as you can probably tell by the username, I am a bit of a coffee fiend and I fit my latte in every morning and still lose weight! Standard semi skimmed milk is 9g carbs for 170ml, not a small drink. The other carbs I eat are so minimal in other foods that I still seem to stay below 30g quite often. I know it’s different for everyone. But just in case you wanted to give it a go! (PS the latte is hand made as we have a barista coffee machine.)

I am back to semi fasting – not just weightloss but also general well being ! I am a bread addict and love homemade wholemeal bread … I have read Moseleys recent book and very helpful but I found the recipes a little limiting to me being a vegetarian and trying to live on a tight budget as I have a family with 3 teens in to feed. I have found that many of these recipes even get eaten by visiting teens – I will just add some carb variant for them – bread or rice, or some extras depending on the meal

A couple of years ago I happened upon this brilliant website which I wanted to share – just look for the 5:2 recipes

http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/ enter 5:2 in the Recipe and Ingredient search

My 2 other key websites (because neither has all my ingredients in !) are as follows (you don’t need to sign up for either)

https://www.caloriecount.com/
http://www.calorieking.com/

I think my biggest encouragement is invest in that week 1 and setting up and “costing” recipes you like and set up your recipe folder (mine is paper because I write all over it as I modify it and try cutting calories out). For me week 1 was hardest and time consuming. After that I stuck to those recipes I knew, and added a couple of new ones each week

Other learnings/Tips:

1 You have got to change your cupboard lots of pulses, tinned tomatoes, spices, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, right nuts – but you don’t have to do it all in week 1
2 I shop in Aldi with a large family for all my veg, meat and a big Asda – asian isle for cheaper pulses
3 I have a pressure cooker and a freezer – I bulk cook pulses, then weigh them out into approx tin size quantities and freeze in the cheapest plastic bags (I have limited freezer space)
4 Always cook double, measure out your meal and freeze your portions as required. I bought a lot of smaller sized Asda 450 and 220 clip top containers – they make my meals easy if I am doing non diet for the rest of the family
5 If your freezer is full – keep a ruogh list of meals in the freezer
6 Use a meal planner – even if just up to the next day but it is easier if you plan the week if you, like me do 1 main shop each week and run on a tighter budget – there are some nice looking plans out there on the internet to hack !!
7 In my recipe folder I have a copy of my Excel s/sheet where I have a record of my fav ingredients – quick Q (eg 1 cup 1 tbsp) the weight (‘cos even I can kid myself that I’m sticking to the measures !) and the cals – this is because I havelots of veggy pulses etc and find it easier to cook from scratch to avoid my food allergy of cow dairy)

Good luck everyone – all change is an effort but well worth it – let’s take back control of our health, bodies and wallets from the corporations and live better !!

Thanks for all help
Week 10 and am carrying on with more exercise as this was lacking in first 9 weeks
Maybe this will help my BS?

This is Day 1 for me after a few false starts. I’m not diabetic, but having read the book and watched related TV programmes I’m convinced that this is a good way to shift the 20lb I need to get rid of, and the summer is a good time to do it. I’m 64 yrs old with an expanding stomach which is probably hiding a multitude of problems, current or potential. My danger points are carb cravings, particularly in the afternoons, and the lure of alcohol in the evenings. Nice to meet other newbies here, and good luck everyone 🙂

Started a week ago today & my results are:-

Mon 6/6 15st 9.5 8.1 fasting bloods

Mon 13/6 15st 1.5 5.4 fasting bloods

So have lost 8lbs (stayed the same since fri) but am happy with that 😊👍

Lets see what week 2 brings!!

Well done Epspecially! That’s fab news. End of week 4 for me today too – 2.5lbs! Yay! 🤓

I don’t want to go completely back but I would like to find out if others have readded some of the ‘bad’ carbs

Kitty, wouldn’t it be nice? Or a chef for 8 weeks! I am way too lazy for all of these recipes. I modify the family meals. I have slightly less meat, no carbs and lots of veggies for dinner. I make a couple of leftover type meals on weekends, either eggs muffins or eggplant parmiagana types of things for lunches and berries/yoghurt for lunch.

Little planning and usually around the 800. Good luck.

End of week 4, another 1.8kg 😝😝😝Wahoooooo! Half way to 8 weeks, can’t believe how quickly time is going!

If anyone is considering starting today, give it a go, the time will pass anyway and it is really interesting to try out and could have exciting results! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

After posting on here a few days ago and getting some good advice I have lost 4lbs in the last 2/3 days!!
Water is obviously the key for me. I also put details of food on my fitness pal and was AMAZED at the amount of salt in ham.
thank you

Fat nurse, even at 1000 calories you will lose weight. People normally eat over 2000, so you still eating only half of what you are used to!

Keep trying 🙂

Tokyo, I felt exactly the same. Cereal and milk for breakfast and sandwiches at lunch for most of my 40+ years. It’s a really big mind shift!
I have moved to berries and yoghurt for breakfast and either salad/chicken or other cold meat or leftovers for lunch. It’s a lot of effort but worthwhile. Take a look at the egg muffins as a lunch alternative. Almost like sandwiches with cottage cheese/eggs and ham.

Good luck.

Rachbc keep with it. In the big scheme of things eight weeks is not long. Do you record your food and drink? Good to see that you are have you 30 mins walk. Do you need to up grade to a faster walk or a longer walk? I am going back to weighing food instead of guessing. Enjoy today.

I didn’t think that I did any over eating at the street party yesterday but today I am plus two pounds and have an acheing belly. On checking I was low with water drinking (I only had water or coffee), also I was low on exercise. With regarding food I was low on vegetables and I never had cake etc. For my dish of food to share I made a crustless quiche and took a bowl of raspberries with chopped strawberries. I perhaps was a little mindless with how many cold chipolates that I ate. Today I will be weighing portions instead of guessing. I have a Pilates Class booked for this evening. A new week, off we go, happy Monday. Do something funny today and enjoy.

Morning Izzy – when I move and have a big kitchen!
I was thinking the other day that I could create a lot more counterspace by putting the toaster away!

Hi Frog that is a shame that yours sits unused, perhaps you could sell it. Or put it in the attic and see if it becomes worth more cash in a few more years lol.

I was eying up a big one with lots of bells and whistles but I can’t justify the expense or the worktop space. This one realistically will do everything I want it to, without taking up loads of space and without costing an arm and leg.

Morning all 🙂 having my normal morning herbal tea and catch up whilst my world is quiet, need to get going in a few minutes though!

Food today- breakfast was strawberries and yoghurt, lunch is chicken and lentil soup and crackers, dinner will be courgettes stuffed with pork mince probably cooked with onions and passata.

It’s dull and raining today.

I’ve just remembered I have a meeting at work today 11-1300 so I hope they don’t serve food. I’ll just say I’m not hungry lol I like my soup! Rumour has it they are removing our normal toolboxes and asking us to take a small toolroll into homes in an effort to help health and safety. Both in the sense of engineers with back issues due to bad lifting and the occasional customer accident when they trip over the box (which does happen now and then)

However I’ve trotted about doing this work for 24 years. No one has ever fallen over my box because I’m careful where I put it down and I keep it a bit lighter than most so no back trouble. However my main problem is this… I use it to stand on ALL the time. I’m only 5 ft tall. So basically they might stop me bringing it but I’ll need to replace it with my small steps. In fairness they are lightweight so will be easy enough to carry but take up more space so someone could just fall over that instead! Got to laugh at people who work in offices making rules for people who work in the field.

Every house is different so impossible to have a generic risk assessment so we have to do our own as we go, why not just let us decide what we need? ok that’s my work moan and mumble over haha. Good to get things off your chest.

Well I best go wake my son and start the day. Have a good one BSD-ers.

I got mine from asda in the world foods aisle.

Many members have introduced changes slowly before fully embracing BSD and many think it helped them so if this is the right path for you then just keep trying. One step at a time and you will get there.

Potato would be a good thing to cut out when you are ready.

As for sugar, as Sassie said anything processed is likely to have some hidden but if you are cooking your own meals you should be ok.

If you want to add sweetner, stevia is thought to not cause the insulin response that some other sweetners are thought to. I use it in my tea.

lots of others here have similar experiences only to find it suddenly starts to fall off again. I think I remember one member saying they went 3 weeks without losing then lost a lot all at once.

Have you been measuring your body? this can help.

Are you drinking enough Rachbc? I thought I was drinking loads, but when I actually tried to keep a tally it was closer to two litres rather than three – it does help flush things through. Stick with it, good luck

Hi all. I started the Fast 800 plan 5 weeks ago and lost 14lb in the first 3 weeks, however since since then I haven’t lost anything. Despite sticking to it closely and walking 30 mins everyday and strength exercise every other day. The first week of no loss I put down to PMT and bloating but after another week I’m starting to loose faith.

Any ideas, suggestions or encouragement?

Enjoy the weight loss. You are doing fantastically well. Stop taking your blood sugar so often. It is undermining your positivity around the weight loss. Your blood sugars are not amazingly high and you should be proud of your achievement. Keep up the good work.

When I was diagnosed with type 2 the Dr said to avoid processed food like pasta sauces as they have hidden sugar. I have never bought a premade sauce since.

Health food shops often sell 500g. Holland and Barrett, that sort of place.

Sainsbury’s do 500gram in turquoise box in world foods section

I was really surprised – I though olives would be high on pretty much everything, but they’re OK

got in latish & not hugely hungry, so had olives, manchego cheese & some cashew nuts – all that would have improved it would’ve been a glass of cold, dry sherry, I can taste it now!

no, I ended up with a huge bag.
we used to have a store called “unbagged” or something similar, that sold stuff by weight – anything like that near you?
1kg seems to be the smallest in supermarkets

I got my last lot from a little local Asian grocery store, and they had different sizes beginning I think at about 500g

Where to buy small bags of gram or chickpea flour. I have seen only large bags and don’t have much storage space

WOW!!!
Stewart – 47lb in just under 7 weeks – that is amazing, well done, you must feel so proud – congratulations

If you continue losing at that kind of rate, you’ll be at your target rate really soon
Making me wonder what I’m doing wrong!
I’m hovering at around 12lb after three and a half weeks.

Thank you for your mail. I don’t think I am under 800 calories . With a bypass once you have had enough there is no having more as it just won’t fit. By me eating proper meals and not snacking I will be healthier. I am on a multi vitamin for the rest if my life and my dr is going to keep an eye on me. I am still having potatoe but not as often, I don’t want to go on such a strict diet that I won’t stick to in the long term. Tomorrow I have got a lovely tuna steak that I am marinating in olive with garlic oil , if I eat that I won’t be able to eat much else at least for a few hours . I can’t eat steak as it gets stuck I can’t eat spaghetti either, I am taking small steps to start with, like reducing my suger and trying to eat healthier but I won’t do it all at the same time or I will hate it. Any low suger tips would be great

thanks for your replys think its the no sugar in my tea is my first hurdle starting that tomorrow having a sort slow easy run in this week getting rid of all the choc etc seeing my gp tues just to get all clear to go ahead but cant see it been a problem think i may struggle on breakfasts and lunches as i am a cereal for breakfast then sandwiches for lunch guess its just getting used to a different way of eating !!!!!!

Well I have been following the plan to the letter.

I have weighed, measured and recorded everything I have eaten

I have been more active

And

I am 47lbs lighter, and heading to the magic 50lbs

No hunger.

This is amazing, if you stick to the plan it really does work.

Only 80lbs to go and I will be at my ideal weight…

Hi – the blender looks good Izzy
I have one that is giant, using it will practically fill my dishwasher, so its sat in a cupboard for years – it was my Mum’s, an original 1970’s one that I persuaded her to buy when I was a teenager, so I’ve been thinking about getting something more compact – let me know how you get on with it!
I’m sure you’ll have fun when it arrives.

Breakfast – Cappuccino

Lunch – Cappuccino and 5 tomatoes and sea salt

Dinner – Steak (200g) with griddled mushroom and tomato and a griddle egg

750cals

Oh, and gallons of water of course…

you could use any milk in your tea. The reason for full fat products is they have less sugar and crap added AND they fill you up more for longer. A bit of milk in your tea won’t really fill you up so you won’t need it to be full fat, just use whatever you like in your tea and count the calories. If you drink a lot of tea this could add up and this is why the poster who said it uses skimmed. Instead of having to count milk I largely switched to herbal teas instead and I’m happy with this, I do have a cup of normal tea now and then though (with whatever milk is there)

Hope you’re feeling better fat nurse!!

I’ve just reached the end of day 2 after a previously aborted attempt at this a few weeks back.

I am currently pissing for England, in bed at 10pm, been on verge of a headache all day (but at least learnt from previous failure &paced myself through the day with paracetamol this time!).

It feels a bit extreme given its only 48hours since last ate carbs, but on the other hand I practically inhaled them (and very little else) on a daily basis, plus I went to the gym yesterday and swam today which might have an effect?

If I can make it through tomorrow that will officially be the longest I can remember going without chocolate (3days). Go go go go go!

just confused with skimmed milk as thought full fat yoghurt was ok
agree about salmon but saw it was in the menu planner and was just a teaspoon of pesto its going to take some getting used too i think !!!!

hi tokyo

there was a whole thread about porridge very recently – there is a search box in the top right hand corner if you want to find it – basically whole rolled oats soaked overnight – yes, in moderation, as a bit carby (17g in 30g of oats) – instant porridge that you just pour water on and/or microwave – no

I don’t have full fat milk in tea because I don;t like the taste (but full fat everything else, yoghurt, cheese, etc) – it’s up to you. I worked out my average daily milk use in tea and just added that quantity in every day, but I’m having to re-think as I am drinking a lot less tea and more water.

Pesto – look at the ingredients on the jar and add into your daily calorie/carb intake – or the recipe ingredients if you’re making from scratch.

Hummus is good with crudite – carrot.cucumber celery etc. I often have a spoon with salad, instead of salad dressing (mayonnaise is a killer in terms of calories)

Good luck, hope it goes well for you

thank you thank you thank you 🙂

The tortillas with chilli was a nice change having not had any for a long time, they don’t quite pass for doritos but they were nice.

The pecan brittle is safely in the freezer along with lots of the carrot cake I made before haha, I don’t recall ever having so much restraint!

Realising that I am likely to continue to bake things a lot rather than buying stuff has made me realise my blender is somewhat inadequate. It is one of those stick blenders (which is great for soup) and it has a small 500ml container attachment that I’ve been using for the baking and for smoothies/shakes. There is a slightly broken bit on it and I know it’s on its last legs, it’s too small as I have to do some things in batches or it doesn’t fit, and the coconut porridge attempt the other day that couldn’t be made….so I’ve ordered a new blender 🙂 It wasn’t an expensive one so not a huge extravagance, but better suited to the things I am doing and planning to do.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Multifunctional-Silver-Smoothie-Warranty/dp/B00Y2QHY02/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1465765202&sr=1-1&keywords=vonshef+4+in+1

it looks like a good deal. There are some ridiculously expensive ones that I would love but can’t justify the cash! I don’t have it spare and honestly not really convinced that the fancy ones are worth the money. The one I’ve been using I bought about 10 years ago and it’s been well used and lasted well for being cheap and cheerful at the time.

I’ve been thinking that the kids eat a moderate amount of cereal bars and that type of thing and there are lots of recipes online for oat ones. Not great for me at the moment but fine for the kids in moderation. So I plan to make good use of the new blender one way and another. I’m excited, which is utterly ridiculous! lol

Earlier today I did lock myself away in my room and got my paint out! and I had a go at following the tutorial I posted. It’s not my best effort and I may try again from scratch but I enjoyed it and that is the whole point.

Now I am tucked up in bed whilst hubby watches the rest of the football. He actually doesn’t follow football much so he only bothers with it during the world cup and UEFA so I don’t mind leaving him to it as I’m not interested. I’m watching Harry Potter – I felt like a change.

I have my food planned for the next 7 days so it should be a good week, although next weekend I will allow one day without counting calories. I have decided properly now that I will trial my plan of 1-2 days of not counting calories per week, I will give it two weeks and then see how it is working before deciding what to do after that. I see no point in committing longer term I think we are all so different and just need to try things out and see what works. Regardless I am committed to sticking with the basics of BSD.

Goodnight my lovelies.

HI TOKYO14

I would be concerned about porridge, it may have slightly too many carbs, my rule is, if I eat something and it makes me feel hungry after then there were too many carbs.

Count the calories, I use skimmed milk as it is lower in calories.

You may find salmon quite high in calories as it is an oily fish, and the pesto may be high in calories, but then just have a smaller portion…

I would dip celery, red pepper etc in the hummus.

My advice would be to log and do a calorie count on all you eat to stick to the calorie limit.

Hope this helps.

Doug

Hi Kitty kat,

I started using protein powders ages ago as my go-to b’fast. (It just made life simpler.) Over the years I’d tried lots of commercial protein powders and wasn’t happy with any — until I discovered Dr. Joe Mercola’s website and protein powders: http://shop.mercola.com/catalog/protein-powders,454,0,0.htm

They are tasty (!), thoroughly researched for healthy ingredients and carefully sourced and produced. Do click on the links to read more about why/how he came up with them. I used the Whey Protein (especially “banana”) a long time, then switched to the Vegan when he introduced it a year or so ago. Dissolves very easily. LOVE the chocolate and the sweet cinnamon flavors; haven’t tried vanilla.

I’ve been trying to stay away from dairy, so switch between coconut and almond milk. Also, in trying to get more fiber in my diet, I add organic psyllium husk. Prior to starting BSD, I used to toss in a small frozen banana — but have given that up for obvious reasons!

Whatever you choose, good luck. BTW, I have no financial or other interest in the Mercola products — am just a satisfied customer 🙂

B – poached egg, spinach, grilled asparagus and tomato
L – tomato and roast garlic soup, salad with roasted cauliflower, broad beans, pomegranate seeds, lettuce
D – vegetarian moussaka
For pudding boyfriend is eating my all time favourite Eton mess with luxury strawberry meringue, I have contented myself with a few strawberries. For the greater good!!
Cals come in at about 900, carbs just over 60, although lunch for a cafe so bit of guesswork involved. As other veggies have mentioned I am finding it hard to get under 50g carbs due to pulses etc but will keep plodding on!

i am about to start this and am doing some planning i have read the book but a few questions
1) can i have porridge for breakfast?
2) i have milk in tea should it be full fat
3) can i have pesto as i have a recipe for salmon with pesto on top
4) i have seen the hummus recipe is it just eaten on its own?!?
sorry for long list of questions but i want to get this right
thanks

Thanks Orchid!
Sounds good Patsy, I will have to try them.
Tracey2267, thank you. It can be tough at times, which is when I come to the forum. Always something to cheer and inspire.

I eat gum most days at work, it stops me wanting other nibbles. Customers often offer me biscuits and if my mouth is minty I’m less tempted lol. My losses do seem a bit slower than many (17 lbs in 8 weeks) but I doubt that’s about the gum. It doesn’t seem to cause me any issues.

I fry mine in a little olive oil with garlic, really nice with bolognaise. Don’t really taste like pasta honestly, BUT don’t taste like courgette either really. Worth a try. You can buy them spiralised to try before investing in a spiraliser.