Hi Lynne,
Yeah well done, you are truly inspirational
Christine

Today has been a bad day. It’s rained all day, I’m full of cold yet again, I’m pre-menstrual and I’ve had a major fall off the wagon on week 11 to the tune of 2115 cals today. My b.s. just now (2hrs post dinner) was 10.7.
I’ve eaten: 2 fage Greek yog, lots strawberries, half a cod fillet, mushy peas, 1 x babybel, 1 x dairylea triangle, 3 weetabix, half pt milk, tsp sugar, 2 x 70g packs nuts and several cups tea. (The nuts alone cost me 900 cals). I feel rather full!!! Back on the wagon tomorrow for sure and on to week 12.

Hi Lucia,
I was wondering, I like chicken gujons? could they be made with egg and cauliflower instead of flour egg and bread crumbs? Doing the cauliflower like rice then coating the chicken with egg then cauli, hmm I might have to try it sometime,
I also love the mushroom pine nuts and goats cheese meal it’s supposed to be a breakfast with portobello mushrooms, I do them with ordinary mushroom cooked in olive oil then I add the goats cheese and pine nuts and serve it with a bit of salad leaves and I have it for lunch, it says its 150 calories, maybe the way I do it it’s probably more like 250/300!
What sort of crafting do you do? I used to do cards, I had to give it up because it took over my life!
Christine

Hi Imogen,
We were driving down the m6 this morning we waved when we went past the Lake District did you see us? we also stopped for a coffee at the killington lake service station, it was raining when we got back onto the motorway, was it wet where you are?
Christine

Thanks for that advice, it makes good sense. I am 11 stone 2 and would like to be 9 stone 2 ; so two stone to lose. I was a lot slimmer than that when I was a lot younger; but 9 stone 2 would be amazing!
I am hoping to lose 4 pounds in my first week, but I think that might be a bit optimistic at my age…..grrrrr.
Watch this space.x

Hi Melissa’s,
You can carry on on the diet for as long as you want to get to the weight you want to be at, if that makes sense!
Just keep posting and keep on keeping on, onwards and downwards
Christine

Hi alanhypno,
I don’t like the word ‘diet’ either as I don’t think of it as a diet, however we all know on the bsd forum what we mean don’t we, it’s just when you feel the need to explain to people not on the diet to try and explain its not a diet in the same sense of other diets,
I wish I had found it years ago too, I regularly fail though, then get angry with myself and jump back on and get going again.
If there is one ray of light at the end of one of our failures it is that we know when we get back to it we will lose the weight again, so keep on keeping on,
The lovely thing is on this forum you are with like minded friendly people, it makes it easy to admit when we fail.
Christine.

Hi Natalie,
Well done on getting to the 16 week mark, however you have done it you are there, you just have to continue on the diet until you are at the weight you want to be, like you I have had my lapses and highs, so I will also continue until I am at the weight I want to be, including any lapses,
I have just returned from a week away from home, visiting family etc, my well meaning daughter and son in law made me a huge! pile of quinoa which I don’t like and couldn’t eat on our diet anyway! however she insisted that it was ok on my diet, she had done a similar diet a couple of years ago and had quinoa on that diet because she said, it is high in protein and low in carbs, she just didn’t understand that the bsd diet isn’t the same as her diet! It can be a mind field at times!
So Natalie well done and keep on keeping on, I will be joining you a week on Monday when I will have finished my 16th week! Even with the lapses!
Christine

if you’ve had a lot of salt that pound will maybe just be fluid and will fall off next week (or soon)

It’s fantastic you are able to note so many changes in your clothes and appearance 🙂

Hope the trip continues to go so well, that was really nice of your niece to do that too!

Hi julia18togo,
I hope your concert went well? My daughters father in law plays the fiddle he lives near Emily in Dumfries, he goes all over the place, even abroad to play.
We didn’t go to see the parents of Helen, they weren’t in a good way today so we were asked by them to give it a miss this time, we will catch up with them soon though, David and John have very happy memories of holidays and visits to each other’s homes, for cousins they are very close! And it’s not long ago that David lost his only brother, so he does understand what John is going through, no one should lose a child, it’s not the right order of things is it.
How are your girls now that their exams are over? Did you manage to celebrate with them like we did with our two lads?
How are you getting on with your garden, you won’t have been able to do much this weekend with fiddling away! I love the sound of the sort of music you are describing, we are very eclectic in our music there isn’t much we don’t like, I’ve even got used to the proclaimers since we watched the film sunshine on leith!
I am trying to be very good starting tomorrow after I have had a weigh in, then I know how hard I have to work next week to get the extra weight off that I have put on over the week in Scotland and the infamous battered salmon!
Christine

yeah the losses are extremely diverse. I lost 6lb’s week one, then 2, then 2.5, then 0.5. this week is looking like it will be 2 (3 if I’m lucky)

I’ve read a lot of the stories on here and many people stop losing for a week or two before catching up again. There will be fast weeks and slow weeks, easier weeks and difficult weeks.

Igora’s idea about working out your percentage is a good one, a good number to aim for.

All in all, I think if you want to start this you kind of need to look at it as a life change and commit fully regardless of what your scales might say in any given week.

Hi webbj54

the amount of weight you will lose really depends on what you’re starting at, but Michael in the book says you can lose between 10% and 15% of your starting weight.

So it might be good to calculate this – take the lower end, say 12% of your weight, and work out what this loss would be.
Then divide by 8 and this is your notional loss by week. However, most people lose a bit more at the beginning and then quite often plateau in the middle (there are lots of posts here about that!), and finally lose more at the end. And many people with a lot to lose keep on going after the 8 weeks, and they say that they like the way of life and the food anyway!

I would like to lose about 18 lbs which is comparatively little, but have found weighing is not particularly helpful. It’s better to measure yourself, or simply judge by your clothes, as they get looser. I’m 4.5wks in, and have lost c 5 lbs, but this seems to fluctuate up and down! But my waist is thinner, my jeans are looser, and I really do look thinner, even I can see it. Perhaps the fat I’m burning is going off my internal organs, which is also my aim.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Hi Christine

Good to hear from you.

You’re certainly well-travelled! Would that famous football team be Accrington Stanley? Welcome any time you’re near where I’m living 😃

I can imagine the look on your face with the battered salmon😱 I’ve never seen that either, even in Sioux City, Iowa where everything was deep fried, even chocolate brownies. But they didn’t have anything as healthy as salmon – even deep fried😱

I sometimes think I must be part terrier LOL. When I really get my teeth into something I don’t let go! And it really helps me having all my new friends on these forums. When much around me is chaotic, one area I can control is what I eat and that helps with the stresses I face.

Sorry you didn’t get to see the grieving relatives. I was at a traumatic funeral yesterday that brought back too many personal memories. I was there to support the parents (their 55 year old son died of a sudden heart attack), but knew the rest of the family wouldn’t welcome my presence. I’ll visit the parents this week, before my holiday.

Happy to chat any time 😃

Hi Lynne,
We go as far as Dumfries in Scotland, we go up to Sheffield on the east side of England, and then we have a daughter in Bristol, we used to go to Lancashire, which is where both of us were born and brought up, it had a famous football team which was featured in a milk advert and I’m not talking about Liverpool!
We would also go to Morecambe where my brother in law and his wife lived, sadly they are both no longer with us, I also have a sister in Torquay, however we don’t get down there too often at the moment.
Our time seems to be taken up with visiting family now, we usually factor in a holiday tagged on to visiting some of the kids. Then we try to ‘do’ a holiday somewhere completely different, so you never know if we ever get up to your neck of the woods we will get in touch and visit you.
Well done on your last lot of weight loss, I’m afraid I have been a bit of a dozy mare this last couple of weeks, I think the battered salmon was the start, my face must have been a picture when it was placed in front of me! I have never ever had salmon battered before.
I wish I had your determination to keep strictly to the diet, and I do admire your tenacity! You just keep inspiring us all to keep on keeping on, even when we fail for a while, like me.
Oh and we never got to see the relatives who are grieving, they got in touch and asked us not to go as they were having a rough time today, not surprising really, it has hit them really hard.
Thank you Lynne.
Christine

Hi anyone there? This is my first day and I don’t really know what I am doing yet. Have read loads but what has been the thing that has clicked for you? Any support much appreciated. Jilly

Thank you Lynn —

I’m trying to shop at ‘ supermarkets ‘ until I’ve found my true size!!

O but what a nice delemer to have– having no clothes that fit. X

Hi Happy, yes I think I will have a rummage in the clothes pile bags 🙂

Ok so, my good people of the BSD. I made those crackers, and they are awesome. I used mixed seeds rather than sesame just because I had a pack in the cupboard, and they have turned out really nicely. I’ve eaten 3 unfortunately, at 45 cals each! (would depend how big you make them lol) They will absolutely be lovely with some toppings or dunked in soup, or even just as a snack on their own.

Next time I make them I might split the batch and experiment adding different seasonings. For now I’m going to let them cool properly before getting them away as although I feel perfectly able to leave them now and not eat more (I’m already on 685 calories now and haven’t had dinner…) but once the kids see them I KNOW they will be getting munched. Having said that, it’s a healthier snack than many so I might make a bigger batch another day so they can eat them as well.

I might allow my calories to creep a little over tonight. Rather than feeling hungry later and just make sure my carbs stay good.

funny world – me with my flatbread treats and you with your papadums
my flat is a curry free zone, but I hope you enjoy yours x

Thanks HappyLife😃 The 8-week thread is on this forum. Look for ‘over the 8-week line and beyond’

Hi Trees. Your stats are similar to mine😃 . It’s so long since I was anywhere near this weight, and I’ve moved house do many times, that I have no ‘smaller’ clothes apart from my work uniform (and I’ve nearly run out of smaller sizes in that!) so I’m having to buy new. Reluctant to buy much until I reach my target and stabilise my weight!

Thaks for your help. I need to do some shopping!

It’s lovely getting new clothes in a smaller size — in just 18 weeks I have gone from a 22 to a 14 and have bought myself a above knee – non elasticated waist – A line denim skirt!!! Going for the rock chic look!!! I am starting to get a waist. Lost 2lbs this week that’s a total of 4 stone 2 1/2 lbs another 2 1/2 stone to go. Have a great weekend everyone from a wet south coast uk xxx

Ugh throw those scales out.. They are making you miserable! Go and enjoy your chicken. I have healthy chicken and chickpea curry with cauliflower rice for tea… Well, it’s a Saturday night so gotta be curry! Might have to ‘sin ‘ and allow myself a papadom.. I’ve been good all week so that’s my treat!

I admire your resilience at not weighing
I initially found it very hard to do just once a week – (mh/eating advice)
but I got used to it
although to start with I was almost in an emotional breakdown by the morning of a weigh day, having lost hours of sleep over it – can you believe it

my clothes are looser although I don’t seem to be losing much around the waist (I lost a few inches on the fd, but then that was over 14 weeks not 2 !!)

off to cook chicken for tea – I love chicken – why would I want biscuits over that? for goodness sake

It’s ok to have a winge as long as your goals are still there. I think the biggest issue is getting ‘boredom eating’ out of our heads. I was always one for ‘a couple of biscuits’ with a cake, and could never leave chocolate unless it had all gone. I’m fighting it with a couple of almonds when mouth hunger strikes. And a LOT of fizzy water, which helped before on the 5.2. I’m sure I mentioned but I NEVER weigh myself because it seems to make people so stressed that they ‘only’ lose a pound. If my jeans are looser and belt tighter.. That’s success!

Any of these should work:

Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin and squash seeds
Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Pomegranate seeds
Papaya seeds

Is ther anyone who can help me about nut replacements, please? Thanks

sadly Tesco don’t sell that cottage cheese, so will try waitrose (don’t have the other two nearby)
I had full fat yog with pear, raspberries and walnuts for lunch

I am still massively struggling with the INSIDE need for biscuits with my tea, or something, anything but know if I had any I would have LOTS

also jumping on off scales all the time is making things worse since I seem to go down then back up by the end of the week (I had been restricting scales to once a week)
what stupid world is my head in that I should lose weight when I am not restricting calories
I mean I am not eating loads – not anywhere NEAR what I was before
I have not had a single biscuit for 2 weeks, only a couple of small pieces of cake (not wheat) last week, and only a small amount of chocolate
honestly my new ‘need it now’ food has to be coconut flatbreads and even then I only have a couple a day extra to meals
maybe it is just a massive rebellion inside my head which wouldn’t be surprising after so long
even when I was on the fd I still had some biscuits
sorry
I am in full moan mood – and its directed at me, not anyone else
probably I am trying to restrict too many things at one time

anyway I will try to continue as I am afraid of stopping

Overall a pretty good 5 days…I had a perfect 3 days at the beginning with my a huge victory over during a retirement reception. I stayed completely away from all the yummy desserts…so proud of myself until I found them in the breakroom the next day where I was not as successful.

Some days are easier than others with the 800 calories. I have to admit that I am closer to 900 most days but when I do I make sure that I am at 20K steps.

I am really dreading the weekend. No schedule really throws me off with the eating. I have to keep myself active and busy to avoid just opening the door and have a food fest.

This morning I did a 2 miles run/walk followed by a 5 mile walk.

Hi Frog

Wow! That sounds amazing. I’m not sure that my technical skills are up to it but I can see that getting organised and logging information in that way would actually cut down on keep having to check things, help you retain info in your brain better and help you make better choices all round. I think I could manage to do some of that in a simple way so I don’t feel overwhelmed but get myself in to good habits. It’s good to be knowledgeable about your body and how food affects it, I think.

Perhaps you could set up your system in such a way that you could make it available to other people at a small charge – helping other people and making a few squid for yourself!

Thanks for the info – I will add it to my plan to get organised.

Thank you for your support.x

Where is the thread for people in their 8 weeks please? I never saw it and would love to join in!!
Thanks!

Have just returned from a 45 minute walk and stocked up the fridge with fresh fish, eggs, tomatoes, lemons, olives and baked beans. Now for some measuring and calorie counting. Am feeling extremely holy and hoping i can keep this up until bedtime. Can anyone tell me what is the average weight loss per week if I stick to this?

Trip through Cali going great and we are sticking to the food plan. Our Neice even made us dinner last night with cod and vegies. What a sweetie.
My husband went down another lb and I went up due to the salt in the food we are having to eat out I am sure.
My new undies now are getting looser and my old clothes I didn’t fit are fitting and I am starting to look more like a normal person than whatever I looked like before. And my face is much thinner now as well.
All things are good !!!

Izzy congrats on tossing the pancake!! Way to go!! A second on the lips is a lifetime on the hips they say!

I love your idea to pick one of your thinner clothes and hang it up like a goal to fit into! Pick a piece that makes you feel happy. Anything that doesn’t make you feel happy throw out.

Hugs!

Lots of news from everyone!!

Lynne, wow you are just such an inspiration and congrats on your weight loss!!

Bill, thanks for all your wisdom! You help me keep going!

All the people in California!! I am literally on my California Coastal Tour seeing clients right now from Napa to Santa Barbara – any of you along this route that would like to meet up for tea or coffee??

Hugs and happy day to all!!
💜

Hi Ocean Diver
I need to investigate myfitness pal, but in the meantime I’ve set up a simple spreadsheet where I log all the food I eat in a database.
I either use the nutritional value from the packet, or just look it up on a supermarket website – usually waitrose, but sainsury, tesco and ocado are equally good. When you use a food or ingredient a second time, you can just use the information you already have, calculating pro rata if you use a different quantity.
I log the info on my spreadsheet for the quantity that I’ve eaten; i keep track of Calories, Protein, Carbs, sugar, Fat, Fibre, salt, and the portions of veg/fruit
I have separate tab so summarise daily totals, (that tab includes my daily weight) and I’ll add another tab at some point to show weekly averages – there is another one with waist and other body measurements with targets.
I also have a tab for recipes – I log all the ingredients, same as for the food log, then either divide into the number of portions made, or calculate the nutrition for 100g.

When I’ve got more data I might create graphs.
Because I am entering and using the food nutrition data, it does mean that I recall quite a lot of it, useful when shopping or eating out.
I do have several spreadsheets dating back a few years – testament to all the failed diets, healthy eating plans….
.

Hey General
When are you testing?
The dawn effect can make fasting results very erratic, best to test before and 2 hours after a meal, you’ll get more accurate readings and a good idea of how your body handles different foods.

Hello Julia
Believe it or not there gave been many BSD’ers who started out just like you, not quite believing the hype but willing to try anything that will help.
I know, I was one of them!
If you follow this plan, within weeks 1 to 2, you wlll suddenly notice that you aren’t feeling hungry between meals and the hunger you experience just before a meal is a different feeling to what you are used to.
Thats because what you have thought was hunger all these years was actually carb cravings and once you start burning fat, your body doesn’t need carbs, we have stored fat aplenty.
Don’t worry, most of us were like you at first, now we are all happy dancing, best of luck for the next 8 weeks and remember, you’re not doing this alone, hundreds, if not thousands of people around the world are doing it with you and we’re all here to offer all the help and support you need.

Hi Igorasusual

Thanks for the welcome.

I will try MFP, I’m sure that will help me. And the info about what you and other folk are doing in terms of carb, fat and protein intake.

Will get myself organised over this weekend and kick off again in a more focussed way on Monday.

Thanks again

Hi nicky, you’re very welcome, (kick up the jaxi wise 🙂 )
I tend to make large meals like a pan of chicken stew, then portion and freeze it, in fact over a typical weekend we would make 4 meals split into 8 portions each, saves on the daily grind.
Don’t forget to up the good fats and never forget the 2 to 3 ltrs of water per day.
Do that and we’ll be seeing a very happy post from you this time next week 🙂

Oh well, hopefully its a temporary blip, Alan!
I’ve got some “Of The Earth Superfoods” Hot Chocolate – made with mostly water and a dash of milk from my daily allowance.
It’s 18 Calories, 2.28 Carb and 1.96 sugar – I don’t have it every day, but I had it one evening before bed when I was a bit hungry.
Apparently it has “Peruvian cacao, raw lucuma fruit powder and banana for creaminess, coconut blossom nectar for sweetness and Baobab fruit for extra fibre”.
Ordinary cocoa powder mixed with half a teaspoon of stevia and a dash of milk is great too – no sugar, about .76g of carbs
(I haven’t counted the milk in the figures above, I just assume I use 200ml a day, and add that in to my log, and only have a splash in cocoa or hot chocolate)

No suggestions on the toast! – although if your version of a ‘Full English’ includes baked beans, I buy low sugar baked beans and add those to a can of haricot beans (or Flagolet/white kidney,…I thin I even tried chick peas once) it brings the carbs and sugar down dramatically. I don’t eat beans that much generally, but like them with egg if I haven’t got toast and they’re a good source of fibre.
I had baked beans with a hotel breakfast pre BSD a few weeks ago, and found them so unbearably sweet I couldn’t eat them.

A Chorley Cake is bigger (and flatter) than an Eccles Cake. I used to spread butter on a Chorley Cake, but the Eccles Cake didn’t need it because they’re made with flakey pastry.

Great news about the bra. Great feeling isn’t it!😃

Congrats anthony!! Awesome job!

Hi liv and welcome!

The weight loss does seem to depend on how much you have to lose.

I was recommended to do the following:

the book suggests you can lose 10-15% of your body weight in the eight weeks. Work out what this is at the lower end (say 12%), and then divide by 8, which is what each week might be. However, you may lose slightly more at the beginning, plateau in the middle, and lose a bit more at the end.

I have not very much to lose, and have lost about 5 lbs in the 4 weeks I have been doing it, but my waist is thinner, my clothes looser, and I feel and look a bit thinner, so I think some fat is coming off my internal organs which is a very good thing.

The scales may not be your friend – weight does tend to go up and down strangely – so better to judge by clothes? Or waist measurements?

Good luck!

No worries, Alan – another very helpful lesson learned!

If we ever had any doubts, your calorific excursion has rid us of them!

Back on the wagon!

You know and we all know you can.

I’ve just googled, and I think maybe my colleague got us Chorley cakes, and described them as being a bit like eccles cakes – which would make sense as she was coming from Chorley.
I’ve just calculated back, and it was ten or eleven years ago!

I was heavier when I weighed this morning – only a teeny bit (0.4kg, so I know its not much) – BUT wearing a bra out of the “too small drawer” – and it fits again!

Hi all. I have started today and doing it mainly for weight loss. I dont have any known issues with diabetes, however I figure this style of eating will be of benefit regardless. I am a very impatient person, so I would like to know how much weight everyone is losing. Did most of the weight loss happen in the first week and then tapper off? Or does it continue in a similar fashion throughout the weeks? How much weight have people lost so far? Thanks everyone and best of luck in this healthy journey we are all part of 🙂

Let this be a lesson to myself
After celebrating my two stone loss in 6 weeks with a McDonald’s,chocolate ,full English n toast,etc my BS are up to 9.2 after reducing to 7 ish
Alan fool that I am 😰

Thanks Frog, that’s reassuring about Mountain Warehouse sizes! Did you ever eat a Chorley Cake?

Thanks Bill. My mother used to tell me I looked like a sack of potatoes tied up in the middle😱 If only she could see me now! You inspire so many people yourself😃

Thanks Switzerland and Imogen.

I did notice about the firefighters😳

Hello and welcome!

One thing which experience has taught me from the BSD (I’m 4 weeks in), is that keeping an eye on the total (good) carbohydrates can be helpful in losing weight.

There are a few apps you can look at, but one I use is My Fitness Pal where you can enter your foods and see how they are made up in terms of carbohydrates, fat, protein, sugar etc.

So you can look at how your 800 calories is made up, and that gets even more useful when you get the hang of things and start making up meals of your own, following the principles.

I have relatively little weight to lose, and therefore decided I would set my total daily carbs at 20g on My Fitness Pal, but a lot of people here work to 50g. You then top up your calories with fat and protein, to make up your total calories. Fat is important as it makes you fuller.

So have a look at a site like MFP, and see what you think. I use Ketostix and can see that my low carb intake is driving fat burning, which I’m really pleased about!

Good luck, you will soon get into the swing of it, and if you have problems, just post and one of the really helpful people here will pop up to help