Hi Sooze-
I had ghastly side effects with metformin – then my GP switched me to the extended release version, which has been fine – have you tried that one?
Just forgetting it when it goes wrong and starting the next day anew sounds like a good plan – the only thing I’ve tried to do other than that is think about why it went wrong, and think about how I can avoid the situation in future (my biggest one was thinking I’m not hungry, skipping a meal, then consuming far more calories than the the meal would have been, and sometime around midnight).
Keeping non carb snacks handy might help?

Congratulations on the 3lb, and lots of luck with resuming BSD

Re the 5:2
I’ve been relaxing a bit at weekend and being strict during the week as I’ve done my 8 weeks (2 stone loss)
Hopefully it won’t creep up again,anyone tried this.???
Still on full dose metformin but hope to reduce pill by pill slowly.
My BP is down ridiculously now coming under 118/78 pulse 65 ish
May see Dr about cutting BP pills too
Onward and downward folks. Alanhypno 😇

Hi Collie!! Thanks so much for your post as I was just going to write something and thought probably no one is reading my diary. And there was your post!! Yeah!
I think that quote is from Maya Angelou.
I hope your friend heeds her doctor’s advice!
Re Hanging on to your clothes. Let them go when you are ready otherwise you are telling your subconscious you plan to return to the higher weight and it will self sabotage to make you go back up there. I know this from my profession.

What I was going to write is that I had to find a shirt that fits this morning so tried some smaller shirts on and lo and behold I tried on one I haven’t been able to wear for two years since I bought it. Why? Because it has an empire waist and it went right across the middle of my chest, no where near under like it should. I tried it on and the empire waist is well under my chest and where it should be and my husband said the shirt seems too big. But at least the shoulders for better than any shirt I have been wearing! This shirt is four sizes smaller than ones I have been wearing. It’s like getting a new shirt so I love it!

Have a happy day! Thanks for reading my posts!!

I’m often hungry at bedtime too and/or if I wake up in the night so at first I would keep some nuts beside my bed and eat 3 with a glass of water. Now I can resist the snacks and try to be aware that hunger is just a sensation and I can live with it more easily! I consciously think ” there are worse things than hunger”
All the best to you. I’m on week 5 and it is easier by now.

Haha Sandie, not sure a balloon or group hug would be met with anything other than howls of derision and a definitive chant of ‘we want cake’ in our household! I’ve found it easy enough today to get back on course though. The most delicious poached egg on haloumi for brunch and a bread free BBQ this evening. It’s much easier when the weather is warm and sun is out 🙂

Hi am interested in hearing how vegans are getting on . I have just bought the book online. I know that many traditional sources of protein for vegans have more carbs in compared with meat and fish and cheese which have none or very few.

Hi All,

My partner and I are going to try and start the Fast 800 tomorrow. He’s been a type 1 diabetic since childhood, so he won’t be following it exactly, but I want to stick to it fully. We both need to lose a couple of stone each in total (I’m 12 st 6 lbs/80 kg, he’s 16 stone/100kg) and we really need a kickstart to get us going and have more motivation. I know that once he puts his mind to a diet my partner can stick to it, but I on the other hand, always fail/sabotage everything by the weekend! 🙁

We moved in together about 3 years ago and in that time we’ve both put on 2-3 stone each by just being comfortable and lazy. We also live in the city centre, so restaurants and take aways are easy temptation for us. In this time I’ve gone from a size 10 to a size 14 and I’m really unhappy with the way I look. We’ve ended up throwing most of our clothes out or giving them to charity shops as nothing fits us anymore. I live in the same t-shirts and jeans every week.

I have plantar fasciitis/flat feet which in the last year has become really painful and stopped me from walking to work or doing much exercise at all, which I think has also contributed to the weight gain and makes the pain worse. My physio referred me to Slimming World, but I’ve not stuck to it at all! We also have 2 close friend’s weddings coming up next month and want to lose some weight by then and we would also like to go on holiday (I haven’t been abroad for 4 years) but we’re too embarrassed about our weight to wear shorts/swimming costumes.

I took the quizzes and my addiction to carbs and sugar is really unhealthy. I need to make changes now, before I put on even more weight! My main concern is that I’m going to fall of the wagon without my trusty sugar and carbs!

An example day for me could be:

Cereal or toast for breakfast
Tea/sugar free squash throughout the day
A couple of portions of fruit
Lunch of salad or soup or jacket potato
Yogurt

All seems pretty healthy, then as soon as I get home I binge on everything I can. I’ll have a family sized bag of crisps, packet of biscuits, chocolate bar, bottle of diet coke etc.

Any advise/tips for someone starting out and how to beat the cravings for sugar and carbs?

Thanks! Sorry for the life story, but I feel like I needed to write it down and get all my feelings out!

Hi all, I posted a couple of weeks back saying how despondent I was over putting back on most of the weight I’d previously lost, due largely to being switched from Metformin to Gliclazide (my nurse had warned me it would most likely make me put on weight….she was right!). I had some encouraging replies, thank you. I was so down about it that I decided to drop the Glic and go back on Met, despite the annoying side effects, as I just couldn’t cope with putting on more weight. Well, the good news is that I’ve stopped putting on weight and have actually lost 3lbs in the past week, which is a good little boost. The trouble is, though, I’ve never been able to diet successfully (having dieted for most of my life) unless I put my heart and soul into it and concentrate on it 100%….and life (and lots of it) just keeps getting in the way. I do try to do a weekly menu plan – all well and good, but on some days stuff happens and the plan goes out of the window (am having some family and personal problems which are ongoing and keep taking my mind off the plan, resulting in the odd sandwich or slice of toast here and there).

Been having a think about it all today….I don’t think there’s any point in beating myself up about it or being unrealistic – if I cannot stick to the plan 100% because of other things going on, well making myself miserable because I didn’t stick to it will only set me up for even more failure (in the form of a bag of crisps and huge chunk of cheese, probably!). So I reckon I will try and follow the plan as much as possible (I don’t bother counting calories, can’t be doing with that, I find the best thing for me is to cut out all the bad carbs and cut down quite drastically on portion sizes), but on the days when it doesn’t go according to plan, just forget about that and get back to it as soon as I can.

I notice some of you have your own personal diary threads on here…..good idea, hopefully that might help me. So here’s mine. Had scrambled egg and low sugar baked beans (which were blooming horrible, shan’t be having those again, will stick to tinned toms in future!) for brunch, will be having roast lamb with a couple of small new potatoes and some green veggies for dinner. Will sit and do a menu plan after dinner.

Hi Happy Life
I am enjoying your diary it helps me enormously. I am in awe that you stuck so well on your travels, I to would like to get rid of big clothes but am hanging on to them with white knuckles what is that about. Just had a very interesting chat with a friend who has recently been diagnosed with lada this is an autoimmune type 1 diabetes ,late onset so defo not type 2. However her Consultant is all for her to be low carb and getting her weight in the lower end of the bmi, she is a normal weight for height. He is a new young dynamic dr. It was interesting listening to the advice she has been given for her diet , low carb ,full fat etc. (she is on insulin and reacts like a type 1 so will not be cured) The change is a coming though how exciting, I feel I am at the beginning of this food revolution . Sticking pins in all the low fat low etc diet gurus and slimming clubs where I appear to have wasted my time and money. ‘However we did what we did when we knew what we knew but now we know better ‘Can not remember where this quote is from so apologies for not acknowledging them. Thank you Happy Life.

Plumptious, Isn’t it strange that we celebrate birthdays, weddings, Christmas with cake and or alcohol. What could we find for a non calorie substitute? Balloons? They come with different issues i.e. environmental problems. Chinese hot air lanterns again environmentally unsound. Bubble blowing or of course a group hug might be the answer. Do you have any other ideas?

thank you californiagirl

I have the chicken roasting in the oven and veg all prepared
and as it is now finally warm weather, I am drinking more again

I am reading ‘protein power’ which is the same way of eating as this – it is a cheap used copy I got from amazon, but it has a great list of fruit/veg carbs in 5g portions so that might help me a bit

Cake confessions all round then lol!
I was “forced ” to eat a slice of well known supermarket ready made chocolatey child’s theme cake at my grand daughter’s birthday party. To be honest I didn’t enjoy it…way too sweet but didn’t want to be a party pooper. Boy, did I really know afterwards though and felt yuk for two days. It was only a small slice so thought I could get away with it. I definitely won’t be doing that again.
Apart from that I have been good and tried hard to eat healthily within the principles of the BSD.
I got myself a fit bit and signed up to” myfitnesspal” too so have been twiddling away with those and they have helped me keep busy.
I have lost almost two pounds this week ….would have been more I reckon, if the cake incident hadn’t interfered with things.
I feel less out of breath when going up hills etc and have hit a more than 10,000 step walk midweek, which I am pleased with. I feel much better within myself all round so will keep on beavering away.
We are enjoying nice weather so it is really nice to be out and about more.
Bring it on week four !!!

Another question: How do you deal with feeling cold? I’ve been consciously trying to eliminate refined carbs before finding BSD. I’m constantly feeling extremely cold, and researching online many folks say it’s a symptom of low carb. I was thinking I would try to stay at 100g carbs before finding BSD, and now I’m not sure – lol.

I never used to feel cold, always hot. Lived most of my life in Florida (20yr) or California (25 yr). Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest, and started consuming less carbs at the same time. Needless to say, the last 2 years in Washington I’ve been a bit miserable with feeling cold all the time.

I do have weight to lose, and was thinking to do the 800 cal to get the weight off fast. But as I sit here again with my wool socks and my feet on my heated foot stool I’m questioning my sanity 🙂

That last supper eating is so familiar Brisbane67.
I took myself by surprise this time and bought the book; went food shopping and started the diet all on the same day, no prevarication or ‘tidying’ non-diet food into my mouth.
At 15:20 day 2 I’m feeling fine, surprised to find I didn’t wake up feeling ravenous this morning.
Dropped 1.5 pounds since yesterday, I know it’s just fluid but it looks good on my scales.
Hot drinks and instant protein hits like a hard boiled egg or piece of chicken seem to banish the hunger.
W/B

Hi Frog and HappyLife

Great to feel the sun again😃

Yesterday we were out all day & visited a trattoria mid afternoon. Friends ordered: anti pasti for all, pasta for them. Then explained what I could eat. So I had some salami, ham and cheese (antipasti) then pork in a cream sauce. Scraped most of the sauce off. Nothing else until a mini frittata and slice of ham just before bed.

Visiting friend’s family now. Lunch was osso bucco. They had rice. I didn’t. Then a little well-aged Parmesan (very little!)

Soon going to visit someone else. Another meal😱

Great results both of you.

Thanks for your replies, they were helpful. I recently discovered that dairy is affecting my sinusus so I’ve avoided it for about a year now. I thought the dairy was important in the BSD diet, was just wondering how to get around it. Although I could manage having the diet with dairy, like you say the cheese is important, and see how I go. It will be interesting to see how I get on.

Really helpful, thank you

Hi Lynne!!
So glad you are doing well on vacation! We just got home yesterday after 2.5 weeks on ours and we both still lost weight and inches during vacation except the last week when we were stagnant. However, I already lost another pound since getting home.

Just focus on the carbs for sure on vacation and it really helps and you will
Feel so proud afterwards that you stayed on it.

So glad you can walk better!!

Hugs💜🌷

I agree so much Izzy! We are saving so much money on this program! We can use it to buy our new clothes! 💜
Also agree re your sharing about your depression and I hope it’s better for you soon. It’s important to let people know there is nothing shameful about any health issue. Period!
One thing: maybe your meds need adjusting since you are doing so well in the diet.
I can’t believe you are playing with the carrot cake. You have got guts girlfriend! I couldn’t do it. Eventually it would drive me to the cake shop to buy one. I have to be super strict which makes my life simple. Simple is best for my program.
I lost another pound today! Finally back on the downward trek again and glad to be home after the 2.5 week travels! Yippee.
See my diary for my goals this week and let me know your thoughts!
If you feel down imagine I am there smiling and laughing with you about our success and giving you a big hug!
💜🌷💖

Yeah, down another pound today!! Still moving in the right direction again!!
Goals this week!
1- After today we don’t have to eat out as today is a family event. We will stay on the program as always but you just never know what’s out there in restaurants like extra butter brushed on fish, etc.
2- try to achieve 5000 steps each day if knee allows.
3 – start going through clothes and donate what items are now too big!! My fave for the week!

Excited to be back home after 2.5 weeks traveling albeit we had a ton of fun and met new clients and friends along the way.

I am super proud we stayed on our food plan the entire time as well!

Here’s to the new me coming soon! 💜

You’ve had some great advice so far and I would echo it. log everything you eat, plan your meals, drink plenty.

I’d also say try lots of new things, don’t be scared about experimenting, and read and post here. Valuable advice and support everyday 🙂

Sugar free gum also helps me along, and copious amounts of water and herbal tea.

courgetti and cauliflower rice I’ve been pleasantly surprised at…

Good luck 🙂 and welcome.

hi Lynne – hope that you’re having a great holiday, from your other posts it sounds as if you’re doing brilliantly with sticking to BSD

M – congratulations, 3 stone is an amazing achievement.
As to the best post target options – you”ll only find out when you get there!
If you do start gaining weight again on 1200 calories, maybe try 5:2, or a variant of that – you don’t have to put back on all of the weight you’ve lost on BSD before you do something about it. Big thing for now is to get to whatever target you’ve set yourself.
If you’re finding 800 easy, I’d say stick with it, as Lynne has – if you find it a real struggle, experiment with 5:2 and see how that works for you.

I read somewhere around the time I started BSD something along the lines of “weigh yourself regularly, and if your weight is up by more than a kilo, have a say or two of eating less to bring it back in check” – I know that may sound perfectly obvious to some people, but it was a real ‘light bulb’ moment for me.
I’m really trying to see this not as a diet, but the new normal in terms of eating and living more healthily. I’ve always been overweight, even as a child, and have lost count of the diets where I’ve lost some weight only to pile it back on again; as I’m getting older, I am finding it harder to lose weight, and am becoming more aware of the impact on my health, so need to avoid yo-yo dieting of the past. And with Yo-Yos, they always end up at the bottom, with the string fully extended – until you make the effort to wind it up again,

You could save some calories for a milky drink at bedtime, or have your last meal a bit later.

But Igora is right we need the fat 🙂

The thing that satisfies and fills you up is full fat foods.

Have you reviewed the breakdown of carbs, fat and protein on an app such as MyFitnessPal?

If you have your evening meal with plenty of fat in it – add some full fat yoghurt, or cheese, or avocado, just as suggestions – you should find that this fills you up.

If you are still feeling hungry – and this does lessen as you go on – focus on making sure a good amount of your 800 calories is fat. Honestly, does work!

Good luck!

My thoughts are that when I get to my target I think less about calories, focussing just on carbs. Like I’m doing now on holiday. And being careful with portion sizes. Hashimoto has done that already. Others, including Bill, have focused on carbs rather than calories with great success.

Thanks Igorasusual 🙂

I aim to please! (and help if I can)

I’ve become quite passionate about the BSD lol

You know one of the things I love about BSD and Michael Mosely? I was thinking about it the other day. It isn’t about the money.

Obviously he will have earned cash from book sales but he hasn’t exploited his ideas for richness.

You go to weight watchers or slimming world or any of those and it’s £5/ week for the support of a person to weigh you and give you the advice that we get from the book (which is a one off purchase) then the website and the group support is all free.

Ah you’re welcome science monkey and well done to you and your partner! another scottish person I’m guessing from the ‘wean’? lol

BSD is great 🙂 I’m sure you will both reach your targets!

Hi all!

Just finished week 1. Still struggling with hunger but during the day I can keep busy and distract myself. At night is a different story.

I’m using recipes from the book for all my meals, drinking herbal tea in the evening and a big glass of water before bed … But so hungry while trying to fall asleep. Not coping!

Any suggestions?

Hi Izzy,

I read the BSD book and took some inspiration from your recipes and diary and decided that the BSD was for me and convinced my fiancée that the BSD was the way forward for both of us.

I had put on about 6kg (a stone in old money) since quitting one job and hunting for a new one and the other half had never managed to shed the weight after she had our daughter in September 2014. Neither of us is diabetic, but we both knew we had to lose some weight and now was the time to be doing it. This was just over 4 weeks ago……

In that time I’ve managed to drop from 109.6kg to 98.9kg this morning and my fiancée has dropped 5.5kg in the same time. This is while wrangling the wean (toddler) to and from crèche, starting a new job and buying a house. Neither of us has felt hungry, tired or lethargic whilst on the BSD; although we have both had days when we went OTT and had a snack we shouldn’t have. The only downside has been getting rid of baggy clothes that don’t really fit any more, but the upside is the wardrobe of too-small clothes now fits 🙂

So we have the second half of the reduction phase to come and we both have a bit more weight to lose (me; 6kg and the other half wants another 3kg to disappear). I’ll post again so anyone that wants to hear the end of the story can (maybe my post should have started with “Once upon a time….”.

Thanks for the inspiring recipes and for sharing your experience which helped give me the push.

Thank you – that is good to know. My concern is what it does long term to the metabolism., to be on such a low calorie intake. After reaching my goal, if I increase the calories to a modest 1200 I fear my body will have adjusted to 800 and I am going to end up piling weight back on? (Not what any of us want!)

Just want to congratulate Izzy on a brilliant post. Says it all for me.

Onwards and upwards, folks. Good luck to all.

Morning my lovelies 🙂

well according to my scales this morning I’ve gained 1lb 🙁

However I could be pre-menstrual so that could be the cause. I can’t remember when my last one was and I’m too lazy to read back lol. I was hoping to lose 2 to get to my 10% this week but I doubt it now. I still have 48 hours and I fully expect the shown gain to disappear but I doubt I’ll lose much, but there is always next week 🙂 I refuse to be low about it. I have other stuff to worry about. Which reminds me that stress releases cortisol which can be damaging to those of us trying to lose weight. It will level and settle.

Last night I had a revisit from my anxiety. Worrying again about things that happened 18 months ago when my husband was ill with severe depression, suddenly feeling fearful and insecure and generally anxious. Feeling like nothing is fair (but hey nothing is really, in life fairness isn’t really a *thing*) My husband comforted me as best he could but when I feel like that nothing really works. I’m still taking my medication and trying my best to look after myself and regain my health but it still jumps up and bites me in the ass.

I still feel a bit low this morning and had a relapse of tiredness. My husband woke me getting up this morning at 0845 (not deliberately) when I looked up he said our son was up and told me the time. I asked him if he minded if I slept on and he said no and hugged me. I went back to sleep having strange dreams and woke up at 11. This is how I was at the beginning of the year, I’m not quite as low or tired as I was then but I hope it is temporary. I thought I was recovering well from my own depression but I guess I’m not quite there.

Some may think I am too open about that side of me but I think we need to talk more about these things in order to reduce the stigma that sufferers feel. I want my children to grow up knowing that depression is not weakness or failure but an illness. It can be treated and a person can recover. There needs be no fear in admitting we have it.

So back to the food and stuff. Yesterday I had two baking experiments… I made these…
https://elanaspantry.com/carrot-muffins/

I didn’t like them they were very eggy. Maybe the yacon would have helped them I don’t know I substitute some sweetner.

So, obsessed with a desire for carrot cake I then made this…
https://elanaspantry.com/carrot-cake/

It turned out great but I don’t think the rest of the family will eat any so if I try it again I will reduce it in size as unfortunately due to calorie counting much of this will end up in the bin which is a real shame 🙁 I will see how well it lasts. I may try making small individual ones. or see if it freezes…Yes I think I will slice some into calorie counted portions and freeze. I do like my little experiments!

I also used this to coat our chicken for dinner.
http://lowcarbyum.com/gluten-free-coconut-flour-chicken-tenders-baked-paleo-recipe/

I made it basic without all the optional ingredients and it was nice definitely something to use again.

Thinking ahead I have only 9 days left of my 8 weeks. It sounded like a long time at the beginning but as soon as I started I could see it was going to pass quickly and it has. I was thinking of my future options. Do I want to stay on 800? in some ways yes. I know it is the fastest way to achieve. However do I want the freedom to eat a little more… yes I do. Do I want to slow my already slowish weight loss? no! I’ve loosely settled on a kind of compromise plan. I think if I can stick to 800 5 days, and allow myself 2 (or even 1) day per week when I can eat more but still staying low carb I think that could feel good to me. I may play around with it in week 9 and just see. I think even just one day per week would actually be enough. hmmm.

Hi M

I’ve just kept on going on the 800, low carb and will stick with that until I get to goal (another 28 pounds approx). That’s what suits me😃

But others may give different advice.

Do you have any reason to stop the 800?

I’m just over the two week mark and my advice would also be weigh and log your food (I also use Myfitnesspal), don’t guesstimate as you’re always wrong! I’d also say plan your meals ahead so there’s no excuses to eat rubbish. My final piece of advice is drink plenty of water it really does help!

Good luck!

Something that’s worked for me on a past weight loss attempt was having a higher calorie day when I was plateauing, like you I’d been sticking to it come hell or high water but not losing, I went out to dinner and although was still sensible I ate over my calories and the next day I’d lost again. It must give your metabolism a bit of a shake up.

I think it’s worth looking at the other options.

option 1. Do nothing. This will at BEST keep you at your current weight but lets be realistic… You are likely to regain, and if you throw out all you have learned and go back to your previous habits the regain will be FAST.

option 2. Switch to another diet that is less restrictive… but I will make a bet… I bet 95% of us have already been there and done that without success, it’s why we are here. If you lose slowly on BSD it’s pretty much conclusive to be slower still on anything else and the fact remains if you don’t learn to change your habits it will go back on again. How many times have I done that? I’ve lost count.

option 3. recommit mentally to the BSD800, allowing yourself to maximise your weightloss over time, relearning good habits and alternatives to your favourites along the way. This will give you the best chance at inching to your chosen goal. You may not get there as quickly as you hoped, but you will have achieved the best POSSIBLE outcome for your own body in that time and that is an achievement to be celebrated and proud of.

option 4. Switch to BSD 5:2, take the pressure off yourself to lose quickly and accept it will be a slow road.

option 5. switch to BSD, taking the pressure off completely but still relearning and ditching bad habits. A longer road again but a healthful one nonetheless.

The only way to change your life is to go ahead and …change your life. It doesn’t just happen by itself. BSD works. Our bodies are all different and the losses will change from person to person, and individually will change from week to week. We need to accept this and embrace the fact that if we stick to the plan that in any given week we have lost the maximum possible for our own body. Every day is a step forwards in health and learning even if the scales don’t show it.

I’m on week 7 and I’ve lost 16lb’s. it’s looking like I won’t lose this week but I no longer care. This is a new way of life for me. I still have almost 3 stone to lose so my journey won’t end at 8 weeks either. I still need to lose 2 lb’s to hit 10% lost so it’s hit or miss at the moment if I will make that by 8 weeks!

I’d say be kind to yourself, accept that we all have slips. The secret is not to have no slips but to jump back on the wagon straight away and move forwards. Consider your options and make your plan.

After week 8 I’m considering a kind of backwards 5:2 plan where I follow 800 for 5 days and eat more for 2 days. I’ve not made a final decision yet but we will see.

Best wishes to you (and the others struggling) good luck with today, tomorrow and the coming weeks.

Oh Thank you very much I really feel very optemistic and I know that this will help me solve my weight issue I think the less hours to eat will make it easier to follow espically that I am planning to cook the food before which will help me not to give to graving I will keep posting and let you all know how it goes. Thank you very much for the support. 🙂

Hi Indi,

I stick to the low carb veg and ate 5 serves/day while on BSD800 and continue to do so on BSD5:2.
I think it’s an individual thing as others have posted that they consume less.
Try the amount of low carb veggies you want while staying within 800 cals and monitor how you go.

Hi Slimmingmayya,

Welcome to the forums. There are many people who have started their BSD journey feeling like pioneers (read Bill1954, Captainlynne,Hashimoto, Cherrianne) to name a few. You are a pioneer for doing the BSD while fasting for your religion.
I have no experience of this. If you are simply ‘flipping’ the hours that you eat it makes sense that it would work.
Jason Fung in his book ‘The Obesity Code’ makes reference to religious fasting – but mainly to point out that usually few less calories are consumed overall.
I feel like I haven’t really answered your question. There will be other BSDers reading this that may have more definitive answers.
Keep posting so we all can read how you’re progressing.
Best wishes.

Some advice please.
I am at week 15 (after my first 8 weeks I decided to continue for another 8 weeks.) I have lost 28lbs (plus another 14 that I had already lost beforehand.)
I want to lose another 42lbs (so half way there!) what do you think would be better to keep going for another 8 weeks on the 800 or take a break for a while (how long?) and go on to the 5:2 but low carb or……………..?
All thoughts gratefully received.

hi everyone and it is so encouraging to read everyone’s stories.
Some advice please catainlynne & anyone else who has been doing the 800 for a while.
I am at week 15 (after my first 8 weeks I decided to continue for another 8 weeks.) I have lost 28lbs (plus another 14 that I had already lost beforehand.) I want to lose another 42lbs (so half way there!) what do you think would be better to keep going for another 8 weeks on the 800 or take a break for a while (how long?) and go on to the 5:2 but low carb? All thoughts gratefully received.
(please note I have also posted this in a separate topic so I will hopefully get replies from people not reading this thread.)

Hi all
I’m just 2 days into the fast 800, and I notice that the recipes in the book don’t include much veg. Is it ok to eat more low carb veg so long as I stay within the 800 cals?
(I’m surprised how Un hungry I am!)
Indi

the positive is that you have lost a stone is six week, MrsG, so that’s half of what you wanted to loose before your holiday – and if that’s five weeks away, you could be well on the way to the second stone.
For me, it isn’t just about the weight, I want to feel better too – I haven’t lost as much as you yet, but I am starting to notice that I can walk at a fast pace for longer without getting tired and slowing to a creeping pace, and climb stairs and escalators more easily.

Cost aside, I’ve always thought it best to follow diets with ‘normal’ food – hence I’ve never done the Cambridge Diet, but it seems to be based on packaged food and supplements.
As a long term solution, BSD may get you to your target weight a bit more slowly, but it’s also building the foundations of a more healthy relationship with food when you attain your target – and stay there long term.

Good luck

Hi,

I am so excited to start, I have a question though I will start fasting for my religion from tomorrow or Tuesday and I wondered if it would still work if I done the plan at the time I break the fast which will be between 9.40pm to 2.40am I am planning to eat lunch and brunch at Sohor which will be by 2.20am and lunch at 9.40pm, I am not diabetic but I have lots of weight around the belly and it is really tiring me out, another thing I know that date is not really good to have in this diet but would be ok If I have one with the brunch as it makes me feels less hungry after a full day of fasting. Thank you very much .

I am going on holiday in 6 weeks time and was hoping to have lost a total of 2 stone or more in that time. I will have been doing the BSD800 for 11-12 weeks by then. I am disappointed to realise that I am unlikely to have lost that much weight by then, going by the last 2-3 weeks. I think I had gotten my hopes up too high from reading how much weight others had lost on here in such a short time.

If I don’t continue with this diet I have no idea of what I will do to lose weight. This has been one of the very few diets I have managed to stick to (up until last night!), and have not felt hungry. The only thing that has worked for me in the past was the Cambridge Diet some 5 years ago. Unfortunately I am not in the same financial position I was in then, and so am not able to afford it now.

Okay 4stonetolose, I agree to give it a bit longer too 😊👍

Welcome! Lots of success here and also good advice and support.

For me I would say it is a great idea to use an app such as MyFitnessPal to check your calories and the breakdown of them into (good) carbs, fat and protein, because the values can be really surprising. For example I gave up sugar in my coffee after noticing I could have a fillet of salmon at dinner time for the same calories and how much better was that for me.

If you can keep your carbs below 50g per day, then the BSD will be even more effective.

Hope that helps.

(Ps I am 4 weeks in and 12lbs down of my target 22 and did not have too much to lose. Have really enjoyed it. My breakfast this morning was delicious – raw baby spinach, baby plum tomatoes, whole avocado and scrambled eggs. Mmmmm)

If its the slim rice made form Konjack – there’s quite a lot on the web about side effects, some good, others not.
One I saw just now included “slowing the digestive processes’ – I also read that it can also absorb a lot of water, so maybe you need to increase your water intake when you have it. But absorbing the water and slowing the digestive system combined could explain the weight increase.
I have several packs in the cupboard, but haven’t used it yet.

It must be incredibly frustrating, but hopefully only a temporary blip.

I seemed to be on a plateau in weight terms for ages though I could see and feel that I was thinner via my clothes.

I also use Ketostix which test if I am burning fat, so knew it was going from somewhere – likely from round my organs which after all is what we’re aiming for.

I was told fat goes from the visceral areas first (probably explains why waist measurement can go down fairly quickly – going from inside) and only then from subcutaneous fat (the bit you can see).

And the last bit of subcutaneous fat to go is the bit under the navel (the belly wodge). It would be!!

So don’t despair, don’t give up hope. It does work and will.

Good luck

And please DONT PANIC it may not be as bad as you think.

Weight varies so much – oh was 2lbs up first thing in the morning and then after his coffee and a shower was 3lbs down again (so net 1lb loss).

How are your measurements doing? Focus on that and don’t stress (appreciate that’s hard)

Good luck!