what a kind reply, thank you rozydozy

yes I did get out eventually, gone 12!!

you are so right about the getting started thing, I seem to get so bound up in the thinking and just drown in it

I have ordered yet more wool, for my crochet – so I guess that is a treat I can’t eat!!
I also have some more recipe books coming for grain free food

oh
and when I got in, I found a small tin of salmon, so mashed it with last avocado, had half of it in two lettuce leaves with some coleslaw
it was quite good – and no I didn’t make the coleslaw
of course my mouth is waiting for pudding

feeling very drained, may just go to sleep
wonder if that will burn any calories
well at least it will stop me downing any more

hope you are having a good day x

Skywalker, how do you know when you have that protein/water/fasting balance right? I’m on the 8 week diet, which I believe doesn’t have any fasting days (so far), but I would love to get to the stage when I could happily fast. How do you KNOW when you are doing this right?

jeez spent ages trying to sort out the car insurance issue and now at a dead end until tomorrow (it’s a bank holiday here so some services not open)

The optician couldn’t fit me in but I’m booked for 0905 on Friday morning which means I will still have free time, but I’ve also booked my daughter in so I’ll need to be home by 1600. That’s ok though.

I’ve had my soup and I’ve got a few hours left so I’m off to see a stone circle 🙂

KJ77
The frozen yogurt is a neat idea

Hi keeptrying,
Hope you managed to get yourself out of your flat and do a walk – hope breathing in fresh air has helped.

You sound like you are in a hole the size of the Grand Canyon – I know you have a right old assortment of issues to contend with and you can’t see the wood for the trees at the moment. But there is the adage that when you hit rock bottom there is only one way to go – and that is UP!

How about giving yourself a little treat (non-food!), give yourself something to look forward to, just something that will give you a little pleasure, try and take your mind off all these things that are bugging you if only for a short while. Then maybe you will see things a bit more clearly – a bit like looking for something that you know you’ve left somewhere, you go away and do something else, and then all of a sudden you find the thing you couldn’t find earlier.

When I feel overwhelmed with stuff what usually helps for me is to make a decision to do just one thing & get it done even if it’s just ironing, or washing up – that way I feel like I’ve achieved something for the day (I’m not exactly setting the bar high). Then when I’m in the groove I find I can get other stuff done. Yes, it usually requires thought, writing a list, planning what to do. The hardest part is not the doing, it’s making the decision in the first place. Do you have anyone close who could perhaps help with menu planning? Knowing what you want to eat should help with shopping – then you won’t buy stuff that could go to waste, or stuff that’s off-limits.

Don’t stress about lunch – just grab yourself a bite to eat to keep body & soul together. The afternoon is still to come…attack it with renewed energy & positivity.
Take care.

Congratulations! I weaned myself of the 800 after 10 weeks or so after reaching my main target. Part of the challenge is learning to prepare healthy meals of the right size without having to measure stuff. Some people do not get that if you do not change the way you eat and how much of what etc then the loss will not be permanent. I wonder how those on shakes substitute for food will get on. I am in week 16 now and on a rough 5:2 but continued losing a small amount of weight until I re-introduced some nuts and raisins and oranges with the occasional beer, wine and more red meat. It is true that I am a convert and want to promote this Mosley style diet but I have the good fortune not to have been diabetic. Maintaining the longest fast is probably the thing that I wish I did not have to do but if I eat more carbs one day or have a drink I notice that hunger reappears where it did not on the 800/day. Overall a brilliant success for us, Thanks again Dr M.

Can I suggest that you could use an app – such as MyFitnessPal, there are other alternatives – to log in your calories and see what the balance of (good) carbs, fat and protein is?

You could also use http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com to review how many carbs you want within your 800 BSD calorie allowance.
There are also things called Ketostix, which are readily available online, which you use to test your urine (very simple and quick to do) to see if you are in ketosis, and burning fat.

I started the BSD not because I had a really great amount of weight to lose, but because I wanted more control, to lose c 20lbs (ideal weight 9 stone), and to stop what looked to me like a bit of carbohydrate addiction.

After a week or so, I followed up (on advice from this forum) this balance of calories stuff, and have found that choosing a target grams of carbs per day (some people here work on 50gms per day, I am targeting myself slightly lower) to suit yourself will kick-start more weight loss. Although fat does seem to hang on desperately by its fingernails, doesn’t it.

Since then, I can see I am in ketosis from the Ketostix and am therefore definitely burning fat from somewhere. It didn’t show on the scales, no big losses, but I can tell from my body shape it is going. I also know that if I am burning fat then I am probably doing it from around my liver and pancreas, which is GREAT NEWS!.

I have also been told that, when burning fat, it is this visceral fat which goes first, and only then the subcutaneous fat (the stuff you can see). This makes sense when you don’t see a loss on scales, but are fat burning, and your waist size goes down. That’s the visceral fat starting to go. Only at the very end is the subcutaneous fat being lost from the most persistent spot – under the navel (the ‘belly wedge’ as it’s been called here.

So my advice is to do a bit more research on the constituents of your calories, and see whether in tweaking these a bit to up the fat and protein, and restrict the carbs a bit, that you can see more weight loss. But if you are feeling good, seeing changes in body shape, then not to attach too much value to weight itself – if your clothes are looser, you are definitely losing (and winning!).

Hope this helps.

Week 2 over and another 1.7k gone!! YAAAAAAAY!!! :-))) Week 3 I’m going to try to add in some more mindfullness and some new recipes!
So total since I started is now just over 8 pounds gone!
*mentally lining up those sugar bags and rejoicing!!*

Well done to everyone who has continued with this and to those who chipped off another bit of unwanted weight – however big or small – as I read yesterday – forward is forward no matter how slow :-)) (and there was a picture of a tortoise with it :-)))

Hi there, well done so far. There are many calories in a gram of fat and it is often quoted as 9 kCal/gm of body fat. That may be true but when we are in Ketosis i.e. fat burning mode we are still using other means of energy production. Exercising burns calories and can destroy muscle that needs to be rebuilt so we have a balance issue between eating carbs, protein etc and keeping everything in balance without even mentioning good fats and fluids. So, 11 pounds is a lot to lose and if you lost that every week you might be healthy but you might not unless all of your daily intake is containing the right nutritional content – I suspect that is one reason for using the shakes method? Once you get near to your target weight and need to increase calories again and maintain a stable weight, have you considered that you will need to eat differently than before and start to understand food better so as to give you the ideal ingredients that the shakes do for you now? I am sure you will do well if you have been this successful in only 2 weeks but keep posting as the support network here can be very helpful when things slow or stop. All the very best for now, this BSD works so there is no need to worry too much.

thewolf5 Sorry to hear that for you but glad for me I am not the only one in this boat!
I tried LCHF too but simply couldn’t lose weight on it. Nor did 800 cals a day seem to have any effect for me. I’ve not counted calories before so wasn’t aware how many I was eating, but it wasn’t a lot.
Most of my friends find my diet the healthiest they have encountered so there isn’t much in the way of food to remove…hence my next step being the meal replacements. I do think probably the healthiest way for me to go is the full broth fasting and one meal every two days…but it is a bit hard so am hoping this meal replacement thing will do it and then I can kick startt my metabolism with the broth fasting if it slows.
Still have dawn higher BGL til about 2 pm but HbA1c is normal and has been for awhile…and so is fasting BGL…as long as it’s not in the morning!
I’m keeping on with the 600 (or so) a day for a week and will let you know how it goes. I’m having 3 meal replacement sachets a day and one salad with green veggies like kale and grated carrot.

I’m hoping guthlac wwill come back and tell us how he’s getting on post replacements…:)

I really wish I had medical advice about how to proceed but quite honestly I can’t find anyone who knows much about diet at all…they all advise me to eat bread and fruit at which stage i switch off cause I know they are clueless when it comes to what will in reality work or not for me.

well done on losing 11 the first week, don’t be discouraged about the 2nd week as many people have a week or two without losses around week 2 or 3 it’s very common. On week 3 I only lost 0.5lb but I’ve gone on to lose 2-3/week since.

Great news on the insulin though 🙂

I’m not sure about the eyesight… To my knowledge this diet shouldn’t affect it however I know side effects of diabetes can and I’d suggest having that checked out by your doctor/optician, just to be safe.

Good luck with the weeks ahead, don’t give up!

Thanks for the info butterlover, My blood sugar is perfect…non diabetic levels for a few years cause I have been really disciplined and diet controlled for a long time now….just I am still overweight and find it incredibly hard to lose weight, because i am massively insulin resistant.

Well done JillyB and good luck with the next few weeks I’m sure you will get to your target 🙂

I think most of us will be lifetime BSD converts and continue with the mediterranean guidance longterm. I know that is my intention anyway. I’ll be on the 800 for a lot longer than 8 weeks I suspect! I’m just finishing up week 6 and like you’ve said the time no longer feels like an issue. The food is great and I feel changed 🙂

This website is fantastic for support!

My first week was great, losing 11lbs, but was very disappointed having not lost anything this week, or gained. I must say though that i’ve had to reduce the insulin again, so something’s working! My eyesight has deteriorated this week, I don’t know whether or not it’s a coincidence as I’m 70, and have never had to use glasses for reading, but now I do.

Morning all 🙂

I’ve had yoghurt and strawberries for breakfast and I’ll be having soup for lunch, then either bolognaise or chilli for dinner I’m yet to decide.

I’ve had a nice walk this morning and spent a little time talking to a friend. Now I have some stuff to sort out for my car insurance, then I’m going to have my soup and then I need to go get my son a new jacket. I’m also waiting for the optician to call me back to let me know if they can fit me in for an eye test this afternoon as I’ve been needing them retested for a while and not got around to it. If not I’ll be scooting around with my camera somewhere 🙂 not sure where. I thought if I get all the mundane stuff out of the way today then on Friday all I need to do is chill and enjoy my freedom for the day!

have a great day BSD-ers 🙂

thanks KJ

I am still sitting here – it is half 11 and I have been trying to get myself out of the door for a walk, for hours

living in a small flat means I don’t have to move around much at home, although I could of course do lots of cleaning!!

but I need to get outside or I know I will just start eating again

I really need to plan my meals more carefully – but I seem to find planning anything so incredibly difficult and overwhelming – it drives me nuts – well, more nuts!!

people say keep it simple, I say keep it simple, yet even that doesn’t seem to work

and I read the threads on here – and people seem to be doing so well

sorry, I sound so miserable and moany, and really I am grateful for the kindness of others here, and their ideas, and their encouragement

ok now I will shut up and go for a walk, and stress about lunch a bit later

I have the same problem. I have not found the answer though. I am fasting, eating LCHF, Go my Blood sugar’s down, eliminated Dawn Phenomenon and weight just hangs on.

Thank you.

Saturday day 98 weight 9st 12lbs
Blood sugar 9.6

Yesterday weight 9st 13lbs
Blood sugar 10.1

Today day 100 🎉 weight 10st
Blood sugar 8.4

I’m not as worried as I used to be about my weight fluctuating, I ‘ve got used to it.

Adding inulin to one drink a day since I came back and making an effort to drink more fluids again. I find drinking more fluids and staying calm seems to do wonders for my blood sugar. I’m hoping that losing another 1/2 stone will make a big difference as well. 👍

My week three weigh in showed another 1.5lbs gone making a total of 11.5lbs. I’m not noticing any change in the way my clothes fit yet but my husband, who is doing this with me, has discovered that his jacket does up nicely with no drag on the buttons. We had a couple of family “do’s” this weekend to do with my new grandson and I steadfastly resisted all carbs and felt very virtuous for it. The company we were going to rent the treadmill from let us down so we cancelled the order and will probably go out within the next couple of days and just buy one.

I have finished my 8 weeks. The first few days I was ravenous and cranky and even THINKING about EIGHT weeks was too much to bare . It seemed so far away. After about 3-4 weeks I started forgetting about the time and just got over it and got on with my life. I never thought this would happen. The meals got easier to plan and make, and I stopped stressing over them. Well, now I have finished I just decided to continue for a while !! I really can’t believe it !! I decided to just continue without deadlines, keep going until I really felt it was time. I was curious to know how I would go if I added one thing that I had missed. Now, I thought it would be bread as I am a breadoholic and found it hard not having any bread or toast, it has always been my downfall. Much to my amazement, I chose to have my usual ….pre diet, sauvignon blanc 1 glass a day. I love NZ sauvignon blanc …best in the world ….no, I am not a New Zealander, an Aussie true blue. My other tipple is an Italian prosecco….not at the same time ! So this week I started having a glass at night, how good it was…..but then I developed a lousy cold and couldn’t enjoy it ! Divine intervention ??? However, that’s my tale to date. Still can’t believe I am still wanting to continue this diet, but I look so much better and I am so close to being at my desired weight that it seemed silly to stop. A couple of years ago I went on The Blood Solution Diet by Dr Mark Hyman, lost the same weight as now but it was for 6 weeks not 8, it was harder though. After, I was pretty stupid and continued eating in the old way and put it all on again. So I decided this was my last hurrah and if it didn’t work I would finally accept my body. But, as long as I keep my head right….I have done it !! All your posts have been very supportive making me realise that others share the same problems and that is really what it’s all about, isn’t it ? helping each other.
Love to you all, jillyB

2 lb loss for me this week. I’m now more than halfway to my target weight and confident I’ll get there – eventually.

I’m going slowly – but not really any slower than for a ‘normal’ diet and when I’ve tried them, I’ve felt far, far more deprived and hungry and haven’t been able to stick to them. OK, I’ve ‘cheated’ sometimes on this one too, but only a bit and it’s been quite easy to get back on track again.

That’s an awesome effort !! Well done !! Can’t wait to hear about the next 4 weeks 😀

Let me know how you get on, my mum doesn’t want to plateau as she needs to keep motivated and is thinking of doing alternate 800/1000 days. On the other hand we don’t want to spoil it. So hopefully you’ll lose another pound or two 🙂

Interesting point, a few years ago I lost a considerable amount of weight calorie counting and doing low fat, I always found that if I was plateauing a meal out where I would eat more than usual would kick start my metabolism and the weight would come off again. I haven’t lost anything in my second week but am off to a friends for lunch today and I wonder what the scales will say tomorrow?

Has anyone wondered about increasing their calories to 1000 if they plateau? I have had a great first week but not looking forward to these weight loss plateaus that everyone talks about. Would it kick the body into fat burning mode (still eating low carbs of course) and then reducing back to 800 kcal after a day or two.

Hi Plumptious, wow, congrats on binning the size 20 clothes, you’re doing fantastically! The wedding yesterday was wonderful and my dress looked 100x better than when I first tried it on. Had several comments on how much weight I’d lost which means it’s definitely paying off changing those old habits. I ate the meal and did drink a few G&Ts but I stayed away from the bread and sweets and ice cream. And this morning I’m back on track again! TBH I’m feeling so much better that I don’t want to slide back to the carbs…

I lost 7lbs on my first week and nothing so far on week 2, I’m pleased to read this isn’t unusual!

It does make you think about what you put in your mouth, last night I had some calories left and had strawberries and cream which came in at under 100 calories, very satisfying and tasty 😊

I’ve never counted calories before in my life, and I’m amazed at how few calories there are in veggies. Tonight I ate courgettes, mushrooms, tomato, butternut squash and carrots…Sooo much, and so few calories!

I can understand that it would be difficult or impossible to lose 6 lbs. a week, but a great start like that has to be encouraging. Keep it up!

30th May 2016 – 92.4kg – 204lbs – 14st 8lbs – BMI 28.5 – 8th week of BSD800 done

Weekly loss 1.9kg – 4.2lbs

Loss so far:
Since June 2014 – 48.2kg – 106lbs – 7st 8lbs
Since 1st March 2016 – 31.4kg – 69lbs – 4st 13lbs
Since 4th April 2016 (beginning of BSD800) – 18.1kg – 40lbs – 2st 12lbs

Target complete – 93.8kg – 207lbs – 14st 11lbs – BMI 29 – when I reach this I will have lost 30kg since 1st March 2016

Current target – 85kg – 187lbs – 13st 5lbs – BMI 26.2 – recent targets were a bit closer together, so this is one a bit further away. I’m assuming that this will take much longer to get to as the weight loss is slowing down.

hi Glevesque

1.4kg is pretty good I think, if you lost that every week for 8 weeks you will have lost over a stone (I still work in old money). I dont imagine for a minute that I can sustain a 6 lb loss each week – just keeping it off this week will be the challenge enough.

I had no carbs at all – except for those allowed such as lentils, chickpeas, etc. I did recipes I though would be filling – Chicken and green lentils, steak ,stir fry, and if they didn’t look like there was enough to stop me being hungry I just increased the amount of veggies – eaten more courgette last week then I have in the rest of my life.

Hi ay caramba,
Sorry for not replying to you post 13/5, been very busy and had my cousin visit for a week so not been on line much. Yes, t is a step marathon, but I look at the steps as an activity indicator – if I he been reading and writing al day I am lucky if I get to 1000 steps and need to get out the house!
I decide to try a ‘GPS’ marathon in the last 6 days of May – 42.19km whilst out for a walk – ie not part of a ‘normal’ days activities.
Thursday – 5.9km
Friday – 8.8km
Saturday – 11.4km
Sunday 6.9km
Still got 9.1km to do.
I had intended to do that today as tomorrow the weather is rainy. However on Saturday the walk I did was around on of the National Trust properties – through woods, muddy fields, hills (as far as SE England has hills) and when I got home, I discovered I had pulled a muscle in my lower left back. Spent the rest of Saturday with heat at my back and on Ibuprofene. I also had managed to acquire two blisters just under the big toe of each foot
Yesterday I decided to try a walk closer to home, still through parkland and woods, but flatter with better tracks or paved areas. I managed that- bit slower than I had been the days before. Today my back is still sore but improving – however the blisters have burst and are awful.
Going out now to see how it feels once I start waking ……….. If tomorrow had not been predicting a lot of rain, I would have just had today off and finished it all off tomorrow. Worst case – I did the step marathon and will donate based on that – best case….I finish in May – but I may end up finishing this into June 🙁

6.5 pounds in one week! Wow! I’m impressed. Have been taking in less than 800 calories per day and been doing this for six days and have lost only 1.4 kilogram so far. I’m expecting the weight to suddenly just fall off. Must admit that I’ve only been able to have no carbs at all for the past two days. Maybe that has been the problem? Anyway, not giving up yet.

Hi all
Just starting week 2. Almost had a heart attack reading the posts above about eggs while happily chomping my way through two hard boiled eggs for breakfast! Glad to hear it is less than 100 cals per egg.

Weigh day today and lost 6.5lbs extremely pleased with overall position. A bit disappointed that my weight didnt move at all over the weekend, although that might have something to do with the large amount of gin I consumed on Friday night. Other than my gin binge I have stuck to the diet, not exactly 800 calories, but a recommended breakfast, lunch and dinner from the book. I was out for lunch on Thursday but managed to be good and had salmon and vegetables. Was pleasantly surprised that there was a few choices (was in an italian – all that pizza and pasta!!!) provided you asked for no potatoes, only veg, which they happily did for me.

.

Hey !
Today was weigh in for end of week two and I did not loose any thing either !
I lost big numbers the first week 4.5 kg gone and then nothing. I think it’s what they call an early plateau ! It’s so unfair haha !!! definitely sticking to this life style change because it’s a lot better than where I was heading !
Well done on your amazing weight loss for week 1 ! Keep going strong !!

Tallyhoo that is fantastic….SO pleased for you. Well done!!!!

I keep some frozen yoghurt in the freezer – as an ice cream addict I think it is a good substitute.

Thanks LindaA.
Hi JaneyCD, how was the wedding….and the dress?
I have had a good week and have lost another 4lb. Now I am 13 st 4lb and 3/4 ‘s.
I have all the menus and shopping planned for the week and finding it easier swap things around if necessary…like when the fridge was accidentally turned up too high and ruined lettuce, celery and quite a few other bits that had been for incorporating into meals. We don’t carry any extra food nowadays lol!
Twice this week I have had to apologise to unplanned visitors that we don’t have a crumb of cake or biccies in the house so if they are hungry…would an apple do? Fortunately they know us pretty well so weren’t shocked. I think our cultural & social background of welcoming visitors with “white”food/drinks is a very hard one to get over…our cake tin is redundant and Mc V-Biscuits has probably gone bust! In the future I may do some BSD style baking but not for a long while yet.
We have made a real effort and been on lots of extra walks and feel so much better. I can really feel the muffin top shrinking and have put all size 20 clothes into the recycling bin at the supermarket.

Hi Lucia
I enjoy the odd ice cream too – not having diabetes (I think you are in the same boat?) I reckon we can permit ourselves the odd one, as does Michael Mosley – and what’s good enough for him is good enough for me! In fact I keep a supply of mini milks in the freezer for those choc moments (I palm the vanilla and strawberry ones off on the girls, no hardship!). They are about 40 cal each. But a Magnum does sound like a well earned bank holiday weekend treat. Hope you enjoyed it – for me the difficulty is staying off other unhelpful food afterwards. But I am encouraged to see you are human like me! I am trying to be stricter with myself this week. We can do it together.

Christi1948 – sorry I have been absent for well over a week – too busy, another fiddlers rally and also trying to finish off stuff in garden as well as several other events.

Have a good week, all!

Julia x

I’m also using myfitnesspal, you can do your daily food diary, log your measurements, exercise etc so it’s really got everything you need in one place.

Tallyhoo absolutely fantastic you should be very proud of your self
This will also help people starting out to see what can be achieved with this way of eating ( I still don’t like to use word diet as I think this seems temporary )
Alanhypno

Hi, you seem to be very knowledgeable and well motivated so I would expect you to have targets and to try and predict your various outcomes. Do you still get all of the vital nutrients that includes 300 mg/day of carbohydrate? You write 600-800 cal/day and this is quite if not very, tough.If the fat calculation you mention was that simple and Ketosis that predictable it would be great but most of us here did the same thing every day for 8 weeks or more and lots varied, stalled, plateaued and had all sorts of experiences some good and some not so good. If you are nearing your target, well done but don’t be too hard on yourself. I found it tricky getting back to increasing calories to stop losing recently as I was re-programmed! We know this works, I have not watched Dr Fung but my results are great and I am now 16 weeks away from when I started and then I was Obese and now I am not. Good luck Wcorey…

Good job Lucia. I hope you listened to yourself during your ‘talk’.

Hi Tallyhoo,

Congratulations!!! What a brilliant achievement😊😊😊 in such a short time. Enjoy those naughty potatoes – then climb back on the wagon!

Imogen🌻

Well done Tallyhoo – great results.

Resting heart rate varies with BP and I notice that often when Systolic rises HR can fall slightly. Mine is affected by getting over-tired and consumption of alcohol and is up this morning after a family party lunch yesterday. It went from 104/60 to 114/70 today. It was taken as always, on waking, around 0600h while laid flat after laying still for a few minutes. This is the lowest it is likely to be during my day and some would say it is a false picture. Others will criticise the use of a domestic quality device for measuring it, but so long as we accept it is a relative rather than absolute reading there is no problem for me. In Feb when I started my BP 128/80 and HR 60. Since then it has dropped significantly but was never all that high to me in the first place. Lowest HR recently was 44. We all vary and losing weight reduces BP and HR in my case, if that helps? I am 62 and not super fit.

Hi team,
Yesterday, I wanted chocolate, something cool and , I know it’s the wrong word for it but a treat.
So I had one magnum icecream.
I am now in panic mood as it is like a drug , touch it once and you crave it always.
So I have given myself a talking to and will eat pure today.
My last day off, work tomorrow.

Love Lucia
Xxx

GOAL ACHIEVED THIS MORNING!!!! Weighed in for the 18th time I think it is and I have reached the goal I set myself back on 25th January which I had laughed at at the time and said I’d aim to be here by June 17th when we go on holiday. Lost 3 lbs this week having been out for dinner twice!!!!

Started at 14 st 12.6 (don’t forget the .6) now am at 11 st 6.6 so have lost a lovely 3 stone 6 or 47 lbs I think it is. Gone from dress size 20 ish down to size 12 jeans from Next (v proud) to size 14 -16 tops.

Saw doctor for blood test results during the week and am now off metformin and cholesterol pills – cholesterol down to 3.5!!! wow and I forgot to tell him I just eat full fat stuff now – will tell him next time.

My goal was 11 st 7 – I am resetting my goal today – now want to get to 10 st 5…………

Yippee

PS am cooking for family who are round for bank holiday and I WILL have a couple of jersey royals with butter and see what happens

Happy to support.

Kiwi,
I have just sent you an email – without posting my email address here.

Jim