seeing my morning blood sugar is my biggest non-scale victory, I need this, my scale hasn’t moved in four days.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the feedback. 14 – 16 hour fasting does work.

Hi Tallyhoo
According to MM losing quickly is not a problem at all.
Penny

day 4 – 74.7kgs
Total loss 3kgs /6.6lbs in 4 days 🙂

I’m ready for the slow down to hit!

Hi Barby
If it’s any help- MM says exercise isn’t very important for losing weight- in fact some one on the forums was immobilised with a bad knee and still lost- but it is important for keeping weight off once you’re at your target weight.
Good luck
Penny

Thanks Izzy, I tell my husband about you and how inspirational you are for me!
Today I did so many things I haven’t been able to do forever! Walked 1700 steps already (should make 2k). Worked in our kitchen for 30 min. And I am going to do our exercise bike for 10 min and arm weights (10lbs) or pulleys.
The funny thing is this morning so had to put my top on the tightest loop and it’s always been on the largest!! And today my bracelet and two rings are almost falling off!!
It’s crazy. I am melting… In a good way!

Hi Stacey
I weigh daily too. MM says people have better results if they do- anyway, why wait!!
Penny

Hi Brazilnut
The first 3 days are hard. Then it’s easy. It’s because you have been burning carbs up to now. Now you’re switching to fat burning which takes a few days for your body to achieve. You have to make different enzymes for the fat burning.
I agree with Bill more fat in your diet would be good.
Best of luck
Penny

Meant to say – make upbeat music of our own – getting healthy

Hi Tibetan
It’s nerve wracking til you do it. Then it’s easier than you thought.
I agree with judith, start now and on holiday just avoid the obvious carbs.
Good luck
Penny

Hi keeptrying – all I did was reach out to you and look at all the support I got back – you are definitely in the right place here. Eureka – I hear you, sista, about the porridge! And what lovely flowers! Hashimoto – thanks for that lovely welcome. Thepolly – that ‘wisdom’ took 57 years to accumulate – at least I know what doesn’t work – lol.

Keeptrying – you said – ‘I hate food, I hate being fat’ – words I used many many times and still ended in Greggs buying 6 – yes 6 French Fancies, eating the lot, then hating myself. Just for the record, I know I haven’t cracked it yet – but each day is a new day -the potential for me to backtrack is always there. But I can only do what I can do and climb back on the wagon and not beat myself up about it.

Please be kind to yourself and give yourself some space. Bereavement is a one of life’s most stressful things. The strange thing about feeding your body healthy food is that you can cope so much better with ‘life.’ A very lovely and wonderous side effect. Eating healthy food also gives a ‘joie de vire’ which I don’t get when I am comatose with sugar.

I hope you find some comfort and encouragement in what I am saying. I know so well you think you can’t do it. Been there, done that, still doing it! But you can – you really can! Come on – join the party! Get that bunting up and let’s jig to some upbeat music (and make upbeat music of our own!)

Hi everyone,
It’s the end of Week 5 on my BSD journey. 400 gm down from last week (total 6 kg) and 1 cm off my waist ( total 7 cm).I’m feeling more confident with eating low carb mediterranean. Some days the 800 calories become a bit more, but I’m happy with my progress.This is the first diet that I have EVER lost this much in 5 weeks and it’s comforting and empowering not to feel hungry all of the time (I soooo thought I had no willpower, never realising I have a carb addiction!)
It’s also reassuring to have the wonderful online global BSD community – everyone is so supportive. Oh, not to forget MM and his game changing book. Thanks everyone.

Hi thepolly
Fasting is part of Dr Michael Mosley’s BSD way of life. See page153 in the book. He also wrote the Fast diet, explaining there about the benefits of fasting. He says “There are health benefits from short periods of fasting. Fasting also reminds me that I can control hunger & that it doesn’t control me”.

I have a daily fasting time of 14 – 16 hours. I eat 2 meals a day within an 8 hour period if I can to maximise the benefit of this diet. I’m not usually hungry inbetween meals.

Totally agree Lynne!

Well done Dee,
Those are some pretty exciting results 🙂
What a great start to your BSD journey

Hi Christine

It was in answer to your post asking for suggestions yesterday on Lucia’s thread ‘my 8 weeks’. Answer timed just after 5pm on 4th May.

Judith – I need to get more information and consider my approach carefully. Learned not to be in a hurry over things like this. A dignified silence is best – until I know how to proceed!

Lisas nanny, you sound so motivated! Building daily steps is the way to go – it’s surprising how much fitter it can make you feel 🙂

Hi Cdngirl,
Missed your post earlier, welcome from another newbie, and well done on your great weight loss!

Love the hip bones comment, same here, and I’d like to add my collar bones too lol.

Night night

Lynne after your appointment discretion was definitely the better part of valour! When you suddenly have something unexpected to deal with it is SO easy to react in a way that is not as carefully considered as normal as your whole mind is not as engaged as one would like.

I’m glad she disapproved about eating lots of carbs! That was very kind to give her a copy of the book 🙂

Glad it’s useful Christine!

Hi Lynne,,
I haven’t seen a post from you with sewing ideas, what thread was it on can you remember?
Will have a look for it.
Christine

I’m not sure why you are fasting though? I tend to eat between 11 and 8 but fasting isn’t a requirement of this diet. Could you link the recipe for the crackers please 😀

I found that as well Nicpink so I put everything in in grams. Not sure why the calories are different but have been going by the app ones rather than the book.

Hi Bongo, I get irritated with it when other users have put amounts in in different measurements, there should be a way of amending the amount or weight you want to use…

Hi Judith.

She disapproved of the advice that man was given. A friend of hers has done well on 5:2 and I gave her a copy of the BSD book. So she does know. Those now infamous words – horse, water, drink!

Not tried the cranberry and blood orange tea yet – let you know how I like it.

The salmon I bought in Asda was ready cooked (with lemon flavouring) and it suggested on the packing to stir it into spaghetti. So I did – sort of😃

It was definitely best to miss the coffee morning. I need to decide how to deal with a few situations involving someone who was there and the way I was feeling after the appointment I knew it would be easy to say the wrong thing. Discretion definitely the best course of action. Oh dear😱 I must be getting sensible in my old age LOL

Evening Chocolat_ee

That’s one awful lot of weight to lose, 7 stone yikes! Wish I could say my gain was due to something other than stupidity lol.

I’ve just ordered the alta, only because that one is supposed to give you reminders to get off your butt and move every hour, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s not that I hate exercise or walking etc, i do think it’s more fun with someone else; but the real problem is if the temp goes over 18 degrees I sweat terribly, runs down my face, my hair is soaking wet, face like a beetroot etc, which makes me feel absolutely exhausted. Of course it was put down to weight first but it didn’t change when I lost it; then the menopause but now I’m over that and still have the same problem, now 7 years and counting.
Everyone looks forward to summer but I absolutely dread it – happy days eh lol.

Just a thought, re the calories issue, have you tried syncing your flex to the My Fitness Pal app? I’ve been reading that the Fitbits work along with it.

Anyway off to bed cos I’m a little hungry. I do hope exercise becomes a little easier for you soon.

Hi keeptrying, no offence taken. You just sound so down I feel for you. For years and years I had porridge for breakfast and it’s hard to give up the familar, comforting foods but it IS worth it when the pounds drop off and you feel more energetic.

I hope tomorrow is a better day for you 🙂

🙂 I only meant as a stop gap until your inner svelteness shows itself and you don’t need yet more downsizing in clothes. But taking outgrown clothes in is lovely, I bet.

Thanks for the welcome. I thought I would throw myself in with another starter. The more the merrier. 😉

Hi keeptrying,
I’ve been using myfitnesspal as I have very little idea what a calorie is and have always had portions that were way too big, am finding it easier to weigh stuff as i go along and then put it in the app and then it tells me how much I have left to use up. It’s not a race to start but maybe as others have said if you give yourself time to ease into it then it would be mentally easier?

Jumping in is best for me and I’m being stubborn when I want something and telling myself it’ll go away and then trying to do something else instead.

dumptynomore’s post has so much wisdom in it 😀

keep posting, keeptrying and let us know how it’s going

Polly x

Thanks Switzerland. Much appreciated. I must have learned that when you meet a roadblock you can either let it stop you or find a way round it. I’ve invested too much effort on the BSD (not to mention new clothes) to let someone derail me.

After all these weeks it can still surprise me how little I want to eat as well as how much better I feel. Another reason not to let ‘them’ derail me.

I must be a control freak😱 I find keeping control of what I eat on the BSD helps me cope when things happen like that appointment. Control what I can, deal with what I have to!

Hi dumptynomore, it may have been your first post but what an inspiring one! We need you posting more often!!

Delighted to hear you cross the 8 week line in just 2 days. Congratulations 🙂

Hi christine, lynne is right, normal cream cheese works a treat. 49p a tub at Aldi floats my boat 🙂

Thanks, all!

Particularly thanks for the point to the research on fasting and chemotherapy. I don’t expect to have chemo – but if that changes, it would be good to have a look at it!

Hi dumptynomore
Had tears in my eyes reading your post. You have achieved so much , with your weight loss & your post. 💐
You are a total babe

Welcome cdngirl! You’re part of the bsd family so no need to lurk!!!! 🙂

Hi lynne you did the right thing missing the church coffee morning and doing your shopping. You needed that time to work it through in your mind. You would have only been partly there at the coffee morning.

I’m curious to know what she thought of the advice given to the person who paid for a private appointment? Or is she waiting to see what happens to him? ? If she needs to lose weight I bet she hopes eating lots of carbs is the answer 🙁

The cranberry and blood orange tea is lovely, it’s one of my favourites.

You’ve got a lot to look forward to with the hols you are arranging and the satisfaction of knowing all your self disciplined work on this diet has paid off with fantastic blood results.

Your evening meal sounds delicious 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi keeptrying
We all know that our relationship with food has to change. Maybe we’ve had this problem for a long time. It’s very hard to turn things around in just a few weeks. Sometimes it’s better to take really small steps than to throw yourself straight into things. Perhaps you could manage to gradually cut down yout calories and your carbs. Would it help you to keep a paper diary as well as posting here? I did & found it very useful.
Take your time & do what you feel you can
Eureka

MMM to salt and vinegar chickpeas, will have to try them, bought a huge back of chickpea flour this afternoon and have been out walking today too.

I discovered local hand made vegan chocolate which was expensive but I got a little block as I’m spending less on food at the moment. It was sweetened with agave but not by much and is very dark, I seem to prefer more bitter tastes as I’m getting older.

Also got some sauerkraut as I’ve read fermented foods are really good for increasing the good gut bacteria which in turn will be good for digestion! We are lucky to have this tiny little shop that sells all sort of otherwise hard to get foods.

Well done for passing up on the chocolate though. I can now go down the aisles of gross stuff and not even feel interested in buying any of it. So yay for that!

Hi captainlynne,
It’s always so encouraging to read your posts. Your HbA1c results are brilliant. Your joy is palpable. I want to acknowledge your effort on your BSD journey and your perseverence in keeping your health the focus when the powers that be keep throwing you ‘road blocks’.
Best wishes.

Hi Christine

Ordinary cream cheese would be fine. I just used what I had.

Hope the craft fair goes well. Did you see my reply with suggestions to sew? I really need to sit down and make some things for our fair.

Hi, it’s the end of day three and I’m doing ok thanks. 3.5 lbs down (I can hardly believe this) no headaches and not too hungry.

I’m skipping breakfast so was a bit weak and wobbly when I got to work this morning but had a couple glasses of water and then I was fine.

Tonight we had the lamb and pine nut meatballs and they were delicious.

Good luck when you start.

Hi Neohdiver, well done for keeping going! Have you read Michaels previous book about fasting? There is an interesting section there about fasting prior to chemotherapy. It refers to a paper from 2008 – it may or may not be current, but given your ability to research and analyse things – you may want to have a look. It is around page 57 in the Fast Diet (soory nI have it on Kindle so cant give a definite page). Paper referred to is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of sciences of the United Stated of America. June 2008. It is titled ‘Starvati0on-dependent differential stress resistance protects normal but not cancer cells against high-dose chemotherapy’. Authors, Raffaghello, Le, Safdie, Wei, Nadia, Biachi, Longo, from Unic Southern Cal.
As I said, it may no longer be current, but is worth a read.
Thinking of you and wishing you all the best.

Hi keeptrying – I have never posted on these forums before, despite the fact I will have completed 8 weeks in another 2 days. A bit more about that soon. I have chosen to post now because reading your posts gives me such a hollow feeling inside of me because I know so well exactly what you trying to express. It’s just that feeling of being overwhelmed knowing you have not been successful in the past and why should this one be any different.
Listen to me – because you ARE me in that I have been where you are now (many times). I was born fat and I have struggled to lose weight all my life with various diets/wrong governmental information. Most of my life I have been double the weight I should be – 17stones 2pounds/5 feet tall at my heaviest. I am now a 57 year old postmenopausal women and have only lived half a life due to my weight.
When I started my 8 weeks, I was heartbroken at having to give up my porridge which I really loved – 500 cals/40grams carbs – I worked out a low carb/high protein version coming to 200 calories. But here’s the surprising thing – 2 weeks into this , I gave that up too! You don’t even have to follow the recipes in this book. I made up a list of 200 calorie foods of foods that I like – late breakfast 200 cals – mid afternoon meal 200 cals and an evening meal of 400 cals (protein of either fish, meat, pulses, cheese with cauliflower cous cous (Davina McCall) /vegetables. There is nobody more shocked than I am that I have managed to lose 22 pounds in just under 8 weeks when I couldnt lose weight before no matter how hard I tried or how healthily I ate. Then you become demoralised and binge because what’s the point when doing everyhing right is not working.

Take another look at your name – ‘keeptrying.’ Please live up to that. Minor falls are just that. Pick yourself, dust yourself down and go at it with a strong positive mind knowing that you are only human after all. You will find when you start seeing losses and non scale victories, it will only encourage to do even more – hence I was in a position to finally wave goodbye to my porridge and not even miss it anymore. Consistency is the key. Read the book as many times as you need to, work out what need to do to make this work for yourself – we are all individuals – one size does not fit all. Make sure your meals are simple combinations that do not take ages to make – use your freezer! I made 16 chicken thighs with spices and froze them. When you want fed – haul one out, some green beans/other veg and cauli rice or cous cous – yum yum.

I read somewhere that until your body does not get it’s quota of nutrients, it will make you keep eating until it gets its requirements. Once you gradually start eating natural fresh food, it’s a proper shocker to know that you dont want the junk anymore. Several people have found that it’s too much to start right away and they have given themselves one to two weeks to ‘practice.’ This allows you to ease yourself in and allow for ‘falling of the wagon’ without guilt. You’ll likely lose weight anyway! Then , set a date for the beginning of your 8 weeks and go go go.

You go girl. You can do this! You and me – soon to be ‘total babes.’ – Lol. Have you seen my name – jumping the gun a bit, but I’ll get there. Then you can go from ‘keeptrying’ to ‘duntrying.’ You wait and see! You can do this! Some fantastic ‘veterans’ here who have done so well (you know who you are)- they are all here to support you.

See you on the ‘over the 8 week line’ thread soon. Can’t wait to post on that in 2 days time.

Hi KathrynA,
Do remember to focus on water intake…2-3 litres per day but worth the effort. Looking forward to reading about your progress.

Hi Lynne,
That also sounds good, would ordinary cream cheese do do you think? I don’t have an M&S nearby and I want to use the salmon tomorrow night, I will be setting up the craft stall so won’t have time to nip into town, although I will have a look for it next time I’m in M&S we often go in for a coffee if we are in town. Thanks for your inspiration.
Christine

Mine’s the Flex . I’m loving it but haven’t yet worked out how to input everything … Now if it could calories and carbs , i would be impressed ! How easy would that be ! Just imagine , you could programme it to beep when you’d reached your daily limit.

Your story sounds similar to mine . I lost 7 stone on Lighter Life 5 years ago and put every pound back on after being diagnosed with Osteoarthritis . Had both my knees replaced so exercise isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Thought that might be the case. Shame as I quite like them – as long as they have enough cheese piled on top!

He meant well, and I expect they’re better than white bread.

Hi Alan,
Those before and after lunch readings are still ok. Ideal readings before meals are between 4&6 but anything up to 7.8 after meals is in the non diabetic range.
Your liver is still getting rid of stored sugar into your blood at this stage. Metformin will slow this process down. You can expect your morning readings to be higher and a bit erratic for a couple more weeks before they come down and stay down.
You are on track though and the weight loss is great, well done. 🙂

Thank you! Your note has really made a difference. I will hop back on the bus and keep at it! Watch this space!

Well I went out tonight to vote in our election, and walked the long way home as I’m low on steps. I still am a bit under my target but I’m feeling pretty tired tonight and suddenly, inexplicably a bit low. Hubby keeps asking if I’m ok bless him. I think I’m just tired. Interestingly tonight is the first time I’ve really wanted chocolate, and I may also be pre-menstrual. Those pesky hormones.

I’ve been good and didn’t nip in to the shop for chocolate whilst I was out, which previously I absolutely would have done and then eaten it before I got home too. Small triumph but I’m still pleased that I am proving to myself every day that I can do this.

For now I’m going to have an early night and hope that tomorrow I am back to my usual self.