Hi Collie

Fellow shift worker here – nearing the end of week 3 of the fast 800 with a mixture of exante shakes and food (shakes if eating alone, food if eating with OH). Nights are rubbish, I’m on last night now and turning round to 8am start on Friday so I feel your pain! The first two weeks I found I needed a lot of extra protein so I just went with it but it’s slackening off now, although definitely worse on nights.

A tin of tuna in a bowl mixed with a little melted mozarella is an amazing lift for me. I don’t have a microwave so it takes 5-10 mins in the oven but is worth it.

I like to eat beef for a good chew – chunks of pre-cooked organic steak are best but in a pinch a pack of sliced british beef does the job. Pre-boiled eggs are good too, boil 4 at a time for 10 mins then stick them in cold water before into the fridge. I don’t peel them til I need them.

Cucumber sticks + home made houmous or guacamole is another good one. My OH makes amazing versions of both!

Weevil

I don’t think slowing down the weight loss makes any difference. It’s all just the luck of your genetics how elastic your skin is. It will improve over time though regardless of how quickly you lose the weight, but some of us will always have some looseness 🙁

I’d still rather be healthy though.

Hashimoto, thanks for the tip I will look for those socks 🙂

Stacey welcome to BSD, you are doing well counting your milk like that, I mostly drink herbal teas now so that I don’t need milk/sugar!

Shaz, Hashimoto is right. Don’t wait just do what you need to be organised and start. If you wait for those ‘golden’ eight weeks you will never get started and always look back and wish you had. Good luck to you all!

Today has gone well again, my blister is more manageable lol and I’ve done over 10000 steps.

I had yoghurt and raspberries for breakfast

salt and vinegar chickpeas and some chicken at lunch

diced steak with gravy and veg for dinner, which I am yet to eat but it is sitting waiting for me. My husband has dished it up for me as I had to go to a meeting and he has put potato on there so once I am ready to have it I’ll sweep that straight off into the food bin so I won’t be tempted to eat it!

Hi Jane,
Saggy skin is, unfortunately, a side effect of losing a lot of weight so in a way it’s a good problem to have! If the skin has stretched a lot it loses its elasticity. It depends how bad you feel it is – some lotions claim to tighten up the skin. Exercises to tone up your muscles may help.
Sorry not to be much help – but don’t undo all the good work you’ve done, over a stone lost is great! Keep going.

His lecture at The Sydney Opera House is on YouTube if you want a taster…

With the snacks, can you have food which is just theirs, rather than for everyone? Keep it separate and if possible buy them snacks you don’t like much.

Hi Tippytwo,
I’ve been BSD-ing for a while now. Initially, I was keen to try out some of the foodstuffs mentioned like coconut flour/oil/milk but after a while I found I couldn’t face them. There was something about the smell of the oil/milk cooking in the pan (I was making a Thai-style curry) that I found unappealing and it put me off. However, I’ve recently given the flour & oil another go (I don’t want to waste them) and I seem to be OK with them now. Don’t know what was going on! But don’t try and eat things that don’t appeal to you – you’ve got to enjoy what you are eating. Good luck with your chosen menus!

After trying so hard over the years to loose weight, I’ve finally found one that works. I stopped smoking when I was 33, and saw my weight ballooned from 12 1/2 stone to 19 stone, over the next few years. I tried eating healthily, and failed, as did the gym. My Wife and I then saw the documentary by Michael Mosley on the 5:2 diet, and I decided to give it a go, I lost nearly two stone in a few months, but then my weight levelled out. Then one day my wife and I saw this book whilst out shopping, and decided to give it a go. In 8 weeks I lost 3 stone. I have now gone from 19st 2 lbs to 14st 3lbs and feel great. I’m about to embark on another 8 week program as I’m not quite at my target weight. My Wife and daughter also did the programme, and together we have lost 10 stone.

I never thought I’d find a diet that I could stick to and find that it works. It was hard to stick to, but well worth it. Good luck to anyone that is about to embark on this, stick with it, it’s worth it.

B – full fat yogurt and berries
D – huge salad…came in at 600 cals!

1 hard boiled egg
75g poached chicken
30g cheddar cheese
50g asparagus
2 spring onions
4 radish
100g avocado
20g salad leaves

And I’m stuffed! 😊

Intended to split the salad over 2 meals but I was gardening then remembered I had to walk into town and back for an appointment so lunch didn’t happen…no hunger pangs either!

Hi everyone,
I’ve nearly done 5 weeks on the Fast 800, lost over a stone and many cm. BUT, I’ve noticed how loose my fat bits are becoming- thighs, stomach particularly. I’ve read how hard this is to get rid of, so am thiking of slowing down.
Any advice on what to do next?
I could go to the 5:2, or just stick to low-no carb diet but stop worrying about calorie counting. I’m also scared of undoing all the good work, so really not sure what to do.

Yeah I’ve had loads of full fat humus but I would check the label on the one you want, caramelised usually means sugar.

Hi Christi

Sorry to hear about the arthritis. My hands suffer with it too😒 That’s why I change crafts around.

Don’t know the type of area you’re in. Different things go better in some areas than others.

Last year I dried some lavender and made lavender bags and sachets. Keep thinking about some fabric boxes I made early last year – they fit a chocolate orange but can be made different sizes.

Or pin cushions, draught excluders, cushions, aprons, bags, purses, pencil cases

I’ve been doing patchwork until recently, both machine and hand-stitched. There’s a simple pattern for a small patchwork dog that seems to go down well.

Currently making cards, like lots of people. Not necessarily good for fairs, but my craft group sells them to raise money the church. Also make cards for special requests.

Hope it goes well.

Hi ruby when i was satisfied with my weight i increased my calories but I still don’t eat starchy carbs.
A typical start to the day was FF yoghurt with berries or 2 egg omlette

Lunch a salad or soup with a dollop of cream cheese

Evening but be chicken or foil baked cod and veg or a curry

So pretty standard BSD food plan 🙂

Hi tibetan, I would suggest start now and if you need to, on your holiday, eat healthily but miss out starchy foods like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. That way you will lose some weight before you go and find it easier to continue the diet when you get back 🙂

I only have one three year old, so with two you are doing brilliantly! I think this is carb flu for sure.. I think I’ll do an extra 200 calories today ( in fats and veg) and back to 800 when my brain has returned.. Rather that than give up! Keep up the good work 🙂

Hello,

Today is day 3 for me and I’m only down 1.8 lbs since this morning. My starting weight was 193 lbs. and I am 5 ft. tall. I have about 40 or more pounds to lose to where I would feel comfortable in my body again.

I feel good so far on this diet, a little tired but no headaches. I’m hoping the weight loss picks up by the end of the week. Any motivational words would be much appreciated! I really need to stay on track.

Thank you!

My motivators are fed up of being tired ,aching joints, not being able to feel comfortable in my clothes. I am hoping to lose the brain fog as well. All my family have succumbed to cancer!!!
Thanks got that off my chest.

I feel hangry lol. I can definitely tell that I can be sharp with people and snappy, although I can’t believe it’s already been 3 days. It’s the worst about a half hour before my next meal. I am finding that my calorie tracking app is helping me pace my meals and control my intake. Sometime during the night I record a rough draft of what I’ll eat the next day. It helps me not have to think about it. I don’t have that sort of will power when I’m in the midst of my day. I have 2 toddlers age one and two. I’m just trying to survive!!! Lol

Ok so I am a sandwich short of a picnic but I’ve done it sort of!! I started bsd800 on night duty, yes 12 1/2 shifts. I have not had any ‘norty’ carbs for the duration. I am craving them like mad but the feeling of not having them is good, so why this constant internal dialogue.
Looking back I may have drifted from 800 but high protein low carb , med style food has prevailed. This for me in very reduced portions has occurred ye ha!
So now the challenge of returning to day duty and the jet lag which leads most of us shift workers to the carb craving. I am applying as many mental mantras as I can. Do any of you have any go to grabs from the fridge which may help my mouth hunger at my points of weakness.
By the way the posts from you all are marvellous and inspire and make me laugh and feel less of a failure for being in this position in the first place.
Thanks

That’s a great idea.. I definitely need support and forums are a great way of helping each other out 🙂 today has been a struggle, not so much with feeling hungry but my brain is not working.. I cannot hold a thought ( if I’m lucky enough to get one in the first place!) and just feel like my brain has disappeared.. I had to have a mid afternoon nut butter snack and that was good but now ready for dinner and bed 🙂 I don’t know if this is normal or not.. how’s your brain doing?

WEll done on 30lbs lost, that’s amazing! I’ve just had my MRI on my spine results back all clear so with a bit of physio I can start more exercise again.

See you on here soon 🙂

Hi can relate to all of your feelings. I’m ready to start 100% tomorrow. My motivation is
Being sick of being addicted to / obsessed with sugar
Fed up pigging out on sweet food only to then berate myself and feel dreadful etc etc etc to begin the cycle again
Having a serious health scare and operation last year
Very overweight parent with peripheral arterial
disease
Father who died youngish of heart attack
Phew, feel I really should just get a grip of my life and do this, do I really need anymore reasons to get healthy!
How are you all getting on?

Thank you Polly and Napangardi

Hello All,

I’m on my 3rd day of the 8-week diet and I’m feeling pretty good. I weighed myself this morning and I’m already down 1.8 pounds. I have about 40 lbs to lose, and thinking about that is very discouraging. I don’t have diabetes or any other health problems, just really need to get this weight off. I’ve struggled with weight my whole adult life, and have become addicted to carbs an sugar. This diet is my last hope as I’ve tried every diet imaginable. I need all of the motivation I can get! Please share your success stories with me so I can get inspired and stay on track.

Thanks everyone!

Totally agree. You have to be able to manage the odd celebration/treat as part of a balanced diet, without then going crazy and falling off the wagon. Slim people are careful 90-95% of the time I would say (judging by my slim sisters) and allow themselves a lovely treat on special occasions but just go back to their usual healthy habits immediately afterwards. I know one of my sisters would never dream of eating pizza/fries/cream etc. more or less ever, but if we were out for a meal or if I made her a meal, she would eat it all, including dessert (she still wouldn’t take cream though!). But she’d never eat dessert at home, or choose an unhealthy meal if eating out. She’s just careful most of the time and tends to eat a lot of fruit and veg. Other sister eats plenty fats (avocado, cooks with coconut oil etc.) but makes loads of veg curries etc and always has brown rice and when she bakes makes things with bran and fruit and avoids full on sugar carb loading. I don’t think she even thinks about it that much. She just doesn’t binge. I need to be more like them!

Just wanted to let Lucia know that she is inspiring. Read forum today and I am feeling excited about trying this low carb diet. Thank you all.

Agreed. To succeed I hope to be far nore careful with my eating in the future. I certainly don’t want to go back to eating the bad stuff, although I accept that after the first eight weeks I might let myself have a few carbs. However I’ve got several spare tyres to shift.
Recently I’ve sat and felt guilty every time there has been anything on the news about being overweight / eating sugar / drinking too much wine and finally the penny dropped that I just have to change what I was eating and take more exercise.
Life would be dull if we couldn’t all look forward to and enjoy the odd celebration. I for one will be trying hard not to go over the top but enjoy these things.

Thanks Bill1954. There was a dash of olive oil to cook the omelette and then avocado in the salad, which I thought would fill me up. But it was a pre-prepared salad and they were very stingy with the avocado! I should have made my own or had half an avocado with egg or something instead. Will try eat more fat tomorrow and see if that helps.

Thanks Ziggysmum. I kind of want to not rely on willpower. I just want to find a way to eat that is sustainable long term and not be worrying/thinking about food too much. I find 5:2 is doable and sustainable, but what I need for it to really be so is to kick this crazy fat/carb/sugar binging habit I have so that I do two fast days but then the rest of the week I eat normally and healthily (i.e. don’t use the fast days as an excuse to then binge on the other days) and only have the occasional treat. And let it be a treat. Not a binge! Even though the 5:2 was working in terms of weight loss (fairly slowly but consistently 1-2lbs a week), in order to try and shift my bad habits/negative mentality around food, I decided to do this diet for eight weeks (albeit with a planned ‘blip’ in a few weeks for a major celebration I will be attending, not planning to go too mad but want to have a nice meal and some drinks and not worry about it) and hopefully it will help shift my mentality so when I then go back on the 5:2 I will eat more healthily on the non fast days. That’s the plan anyway. I had such a hard time today, was hungry from 9-3 but once I’d had a few strawberries I am now okay again. It will bring me over 800 cals but better than cracking and eating something like toast I think!

Hi
What an inspiring thread am really enjoying reading your posts. Not yet started the plan. But need to as have about 26kg to shed.
May I ask a few questions?
Do you need to count carbs?
I’m on holiday in 3 1/2 weeks for 7 days. Is it ok to make a start then resume on my return? Or better to have a full stretch at it?
Many thanks from a very nervous and apprehensive newbie

PS hope you are feeling better Brazilnut

Oh I agree about the sugar / carbs / fat combo. I think if I hadn’t chanced upon the BSD book I could well have ended up like Monty Python’s Mr Creosote. I knew I needed to do something but couldn’t decide what and used that as an excuse not to.
I also feel daunted, any ingrained habit is difficult to crack and my eating habits have been exactly that – a bad habit.
I smoked for years and was bet I couldn’t give up, but I did because I wanted to and twelve years later have not had a puff since. I now look back and think ‘you fool, WHY did you smoke?’ and the answer is because I liked it and I’d got into the habit, exactly the same with food for me.
I’m feeling determined to get slimmer and fitter and I guess exactly the same self-discipline and commitment as my stopping smoking is all that is needed for any of us to achieve our goals.
Hoorah keep it up everyone.

on MFP that should have said !

Or can anyone tell me what i should be putting in as amounts for carbs , fat and protein please ?

Hi Lynne,
I’m just trying to catch up on my emails, I have done a bit of sewing this session for the sale, I usually do some crochet too, however my fingers have had an arthritis flare up and crochet is a bit painful at present,. What sort of things do you make, it might give me ideas!
Christine

Need to keep track of calories consumed ! And how much is in what , especially carbs .

Hi eureka,
I have got an afternoon fairly free so I’m catching up while I can, my daughter who lives with us isn’t a very good baker, she is a good gardener though, the other daughter hasn’t time or energy to bake at the moment, I should do some, however as I’m so busy organising my stall, ( I run a craft club each week at church) I’m on the committee for the fund raising, so I’m busy on two levels, the good news is it will be over by teatime on Saturday, until the next sale which is in the autumn, thank goodness.
You never know I might find time in the next couple of days to do a cake, even if I can’t eat them!
Christine

Brilliant thanks for advice, I’m going to order a spiralizer: woohoo! The kids might well love it too.
And chickpea pasta sounds yummy, I’m defo going to look into that.
By the way can I just check if any of you are eating full fat humous on the BSD? I love a good caramelised onion version, I can probably survive on lettuce, tomatoes and a few daily dollops of that, if its allowed, I’m still haven”t got my head fully around what is and what isn’t. The sugar looks very low on the tub I’ve got in the fridge.
Hawke that is brilliant you haven’t wanted a day off, I am kinda thinking I can do the same as I have no diabetes issues, my goal also is the weight loss.
Feeling positive, and willing the sugar and flab to disappear.

It does get easier – much easier but looking at your food intake for today their doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of fat in there.
You must eat healthy fats to replace the carbs and get into fat burning mode without the hunger.
The 2 – 3 litres of fluid per day is also very important.

You’re seeing amazing results already. I am still at 3 lbs down. I’ve lost 30 lbs through diet and walking uphill and weight lifting and I’ve plateaued. This diet has already gotten me over the hump. I walked uphill about 20 minutes yesterday so I look forward to tomorrow’s weigh in. Best of luck to you as well! We should keep in touch. I’m trying to lose at least 20 more pounds by my midsummer vacation.

I decided to weigh daily. Started yesterday and it seems I am a lb down today. 12st4 to 12st 3. I am really struggling today. I had the pea and spinach omelette for breakfast, then a quinoa/avocado salad for lunch (230 calories) and chicken for dinner later, but I just had 8 strawberries as I was so hungry I couldn’t even concentrate on work. Please reassure me that it gets easier!

Napangardi, I’ve been drinking rosehip tea and hot water with lemon. Nicer than plain cold water.

Hi Lucia,
Sorry I haven’t done any kind of excercise for over a week, unless you count dashing about getting ready for our church spring market, on a positive note, I have found a Pilates class, the bad news it’s on a morning I can’t do, yet!
Christine.

Thanks Nysilver. I do usually microwave the Cauli rice as I found baking it in a conventional oven labour-intensive and messy. I will try your suggestions.

Hi Lynne,
I’ve also found I need smaller shoes, we were going out for a meal and had to dig out an old pair of ‘wedding’ shoes, needless to say they went straight in the charity bag when I got home, the leather had flaked off, I’m now in need of at least one good pair of going out shoes, I normally wear flats too!
Christine

I weigh daily 🙂

Shaz don’t look for a stress free 8 weeks or you will not do it

Read the book, sort out some recipes, shop for what you need and just start .
It can only do you good 🙂
.

I notice that you mention eating the broccoli rice raw – are you doing the same with the cauliflower rice? I like to season it with garlic salt and pepper, throw it in the microwave for about 3 minutes and then add it to stir frys. I also add some coconut aminos in place of soy sauce and find it quite addictive. I also add it to “crack slaw” a dish I discovered when I started following a low carb high fat way of eating. If you don’t have a microwave, you can always season it and then steam it. Hope that this helps.

Hi,
I have just started the second week of the BSD and I still feel really tired all of the time. Has anyone else had this experience?

I think my main problem is internalizing stress, so I become very calm on the outside but obviously a roiling mess of stressed out hormones on the inside! I think this is a direct reaction to growing up in a house with very volatile temperaments…hey ho, cat is back and and helping to reduce my blood pressure by sitting on my lap and allowing me to stroke her!

I have just ordered the books and need to find a stress-free 8 weeks that I can plan for. I am not obviously overweight but 16 kg over on the scales (must be inner fats). I am a diagnosed Type II (was gestational with kids, and father is also Type II). Struggle with blood sugars – fasting sugars are always above 10 so have no idea what is going on. But I know carbs have never been good for me, and the only time I ever lost weight was on low carb diets. I also used to be quite fit but stopped exercising so much when I became a full-time student. Looking forward to getting fit again, and I have a Fitbit which I must use! This diary is inspirational, and I will take notes as I find most of the hard work initially is in organising the pantry so it is easier to stick to things. Thanks for all these notes. 🙂