Julia I was really stupid a few days ago. I was tidying my kitchen cupboards and was about to throw out a Christmas cake when I decided to have a sliver before binning (still in date). Thinking it can only have a tiny amount of flour as it’s so fruity. I am still paying for it with awful stomach cramps. I’ve been so well on this diet I thought I might get away with it. WRONG!!! 🙁

Julia, I was refused by the first company, so relieved when I got a quote from the second. For a split second. I saw it was almost £700!!! Could have given me a heart attack then I would have had something else to add to my list lol. Gee that quote is about the same price as a ticket to Oz!!!! 🙁

Off on my quarterly tuning tour of Devon and Cornwall Wed-Fri this week.
I have to spend one night in a hotel and have just noticed it has a pool.
For the first time in years I’m going to have a dip – I’ve been too ashamed to don a cozzie for years 🙂
Thanks to the Prof, Michael and all of you on the 24/7/365 “Support Team”

John

Judith – £397? Gulp! But it seems you are ahead of the game if you have gone straight to money saving expert. And sorry to hear of other problems which are clearly making the premium sky high.

Lucia et al – lovely morning in Edinburgh today following the snow and hail etc of the weekend. Pity I am stuck in an office today! Had a foul night’s sleep after just a half glass of red last night with friends who were round. The only other thing it might be is the slice of wholemeal spelt flour bread I indulged in (first bread in I don’t know how long). I think Christine and Judith have both noticed ill effects after deviating from BSD – but it was the first time I have noticed this. Of course, it may just have been the stimulating company but I had racing dreams all night and was up for a couple of hours at 2, unable to sleep. Have had my egg and lots of chai tea to keep me awake this morning.

Have a good day, all.

Purplepenguin and Beverley that’s good news from both of you! 🙂

Should be good results from that test Pp!

Hi Natalie – I have been wondering about reactions for a while. As a child I would have itchy lumps for a day or two. By 30s it was 2 or 3 weeks by 40 2 or 3 months – and the lumps are bigger and quite painful for a week or so. I’ve been with people who don’t even feel any bites so is that because they have no reactions?
When I lived in Oman one poor women developed, over time, a severe reaction to ant bites – the rest of us couldn’t even feel them.
My dad’s reaction could have been due to the fact he had malaria three times during the 2nd world war, his mozzie bites were horrendous and he often had a return of malarial fever during my early childhood.

Finally, 10th post on this thread after 10 weeks on the Fast800 I even took my watch off to get weighed today and sneaked into the BMI Normal category of Prime = 1.0 with a BMI of 26.2. That means I’ve lost 16 kg or 16.2% of my old body mass of 96.2. For the imperialists that’s 15 st 2 to 12 st 9 or 35.3 pounds of fat, shed since 8th Feb 2016. Now, I carry on but without counting every calorie & sugar. I never counted carbs. I just gave up bread & flour based products (very hard for me at first) and cut potatoes to an occasional treat of no more than 30 grams raw from a daily near 200 gms. This morning on waking and laid flat BP was 111/65 HR 52. It is sunny here on the East coast but cold. I feel relieved to have got out of the overweight category. I just have to set up camp here and stake a claim to my weight somewhere close by.
To everyone still marching towards their own place in the area of Normal – it has been 10 busy weeks with all the highs and lows one might expect, but all of it done eating real food, nothing exotic. I slipped up when I bought a TV advertised spiralizer. I gave it away after a couple of tries and one injury. So of all of the money I saved on food £25 was wasted except to say that I did not need it. One reward a few weeks ago was a Polar M400 Heart Rate and Activity Monitor and it has recorded most of the highs and lows and reckons that I have expended 2360 kCal/ day on average which is not that much. In food I consumed Total Calories of 59,253 and 1990.8 gms of sugar. I averaged 846.5 kCal/day with 28.4 gm/day of sugar. What I learned was consequences of choices – Doh!
So to Dr Mosley the BIGGEST THANK-YOU for giving me the scientifically BASED motivating method. Prof Taylor et al Thanks too. If only we had ignored the “Low Fat” message, and done what we knew of i.e. “Eat fewer carbs, move more and learn to smile again”

Hi Lucia, saga £397 so it’s the cheapest so far! That’s just for a single trip – not a year! I’m not diabetic – it’s other problems I have. 🙁
Xxx

Hi Natalie,
Love the space quote.
But, have you thought, whilst floating around, my weight will have reduced considerably?

If I was in space now I would be well under my eleven stone anything target.
🚀🚀🚀🚀🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌖🌕🌔🌚🌝🌛🌜🌓🌒🌑🌘🌗🌚🌒⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
Thinking positive.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Here comes week 7 and 13kg down hba1c test booked for three weeks time can’t wait 🙃

Hi,
What about saga or age concern?
They may have ideas on their websites for insurance cover, as their customers will have had some of these symptoms.

Is there such thing as the British diabetes society?
Are they worth an email if phone call?

Just another angle for you,

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Just have whatever you would have at other meals, at breakfast. It doesn’t have to be “breakfast food”.

hashimoto I’ve heard that mosquitos bite all people equally (and that rumors like them liking people who’ve eaten bananas, or different blood types, isn’t true) but that some people react a lot more. My son and I come up in huge itchy welts that last weeks, my husband and daughter don’t even notice them.

lucia I thought the quote was “aim for the stars but if you miss you’ll be floating in the vast airlessness of space, asphyxiating within minutes”

Another veggie saying hello Speed. I have played mind games with myself for years, telling myself off as I know I need to lose weight, then saying t myself there’s no point starting another diet as I never keep to them. And all the time I was getting bigger and bigger.

I am really having bad health issues now, so decided to give this a go even though I didn’t think I could manage low carb. Well I’m just 2 weeks in but doing OK. I’d had a brief go at 5-2 and found I could happily fast until about 11 30 or 12 noon. The diet wasn’t fast enough for me.

So now most days I drink loads of water in morning and don’t eat till noon ish, and keep busy. I take the yoghurt/berries and seeds to work, pus a salad or soup for later. Give it a go if you need to lose. It is a really different diet in that you lose the urge to binge (well so far anyway). Good luck.

Disappointed at fasting BS reading this morning of 8.7
Morning seems incredibly hard and erratic ,only been a week but still 😱
Alan

Hi, British citizens, wherever you are, please could you sign our petition? We are asking the NHS to encourage T2 diabetics to follow the low carb diet. Thanks 🙂

Hi Switzerland,I wanted to plan so everyone in the universe or farther away could plan and come too.
I would hope we could record the talk and put it on the website.
Also a new blog title so that anyone that went could share their experience.

I have give the thought a little voice.
Let’s see if Michael etc can run with it.
Hope to see you there!

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Well done, CaravanSue – what an inspiration you are. Pleased to read you found some scales somewhere.

Thanks Red Devil…maybe I’ll be brave tomorrow. 😉

Hey Hawks, doing that you will notice an improvement.
It will be fantastic when you suddenly realise that you aren’t panting as much or you do an extra set without thinking.
Cheers
Red

OMG – I weighed myself this morning and both my husband and I couldn’t believe our eyes 😨
I started this diet last Monday (April 11 2016) at around 86 kilos (I was weighed at an airport for a scenic flight a few weeks ago) so I am using that as my starting weight, I got on the scales this morning and it said 79.2 😂 That’s a loss of 6.2 kgs in 7 days. I know that most of it is water but how motivating is that. Also, my fasting BGL has gone from 8 to 6.2 also in 7 days. Boy am I excited now – woo hoo

Lol
I’ve fallen off the wagon too, but I plan on not doing it again. Your own personal wagon stops when you fall off so all you need to do is climb back on and continue the journey.
The sooner you climb back on the sooner you can reach your destination.
Cheers
Red.

Thanks Cherrieanne
☺ those flatbreads were part of my frustration.
Note to new players buy the fine grind flour, I bought a coarser grind thinking it would be better for me and they just didn’t work.
Then I got the fine grind and the recipe worked like a charm.

And Switzerland you are right. Week one I did the headspace meditations and didn’t do them week two.

Best part of this diet is that hubby loves most of the food I am making, so far has only asked for a pass on the egg plant.

Red.

You could use tamari instead of soy sauce for it to be gluten free. I fry sunflower seeds in a couple of teaspoons of tamari. Store in an airtight jar and sprinkle a few over soup or salad for a crunchy, salty tasty topping.

Mmmm sounds yummy Jane, definitely will give that a try. Would be delicious in a laksa.
I’m experimenting with making an African peanut stew to get it low carb/ cal. Will post a recipe once I’m happy with it. It will be a vegan/ vego version.

Hi Speedy,
I’m veggie too. I usually go with full fat yoghurt, berries of some kind and flaxseed meal for breakfast.
Or if I have time I’ll fry mushrooms, haloumi cheese and tomato for a change.
Sometimes I have scrambled eggs and 100g of baked beans, not much of a serve of beans but still filling.
One of the coconut flour flatbreads with a little yoghurt and sliced strawberries ( recipe on site), would also do the trick.
How about some nice homemade soup for a brunch type breakfast?
As long as you stay low carb, non sugary or starchy, and within your calorie allowance you can eat whatever you want. 🙂

Hey, thank you. I might keep going until 16 weeks or 91 kilograms, whichever comes first!

Hi Folks,
Bill contacted the BSD team about this and got the go ahead to continue a bit longer. He’s still on it. CaptainLynne has done 16+ weeks, Hashimoto did more than 8 but is now increasing her calories to maintain weight but still low carbing.
I think there are four or five others who have continued past 10 weeks.

We’ve all been there Red Devil. The most important thing is to learn from your experience and continue on the BSD in which ever form you choose to do it. Be kind to yourself. Maybe explore mindfulness meditation to assist when ‘life’ gets in the way of your BSD plans. Keep us posted and remember we’re all human.

Red, it happens to everyone at some stage! You were only just into the BSD and hadn’t mastered the carb cravings yet.
You will do it this time 🙂 you’ve come back with a new sense of determination!
BTW the gram flour flatbreads are yummy with dried rosemary and sea salt added

I’m the main cook for my wife and two kids (5 and 2 yo boys). I’ve stuck to it despite cooking stuff for them I aren’t eating.

Ironically, I’ve been making the best roast potatoes I’ve ever done! And can’t touch them! Also did home made Fisk and chips for the kids… Smell was delicious! Lol.

I cope by making bad jokes/taking cheap shots at my wife – every serve of mash or roast potatoes is dismissed by me as “white death”, for example. And I feign outrage whenever she suggests I have ever treated my body as anything other than a temple…

Hardest thing is my Saturday morning ritual of making pancakes with my eldest. We’ve been doing it since we was two, and it’s lost a little magic, as he’s a it puzzled as to why I’m not tucking in with him and his brother. But he knows it’s so I can lose my “big fat tummy” (kids get right to the heart of an issue, don’t they?)

Seriously. The weight falling off is enough to stiffen any resolve. You can do it!

Hi Folks: I ate…
B: 3-egg whites, 2-Turkey sausages n 1-tsp of Parmasean cheese. 8-Wheat Thin crackers-8gms of Carbs.
L: clam chowder soup w a 750cc of water
D: 2oz of tuna w 1-tsp of Mayo n 6 leaves of Romaine lettuce, boats n H2O.
Snack: 2 scoop Protein drink w Almond milk.

Woohoo! So excited!

Hi folks,
This is the end of my second week on the BSD and my first week of not taking any medications at all and I couldn’t be happier.
Results so far:
Weight loss – 6.9 kg, and waist reduced by 4 cms (still a long way to go there but a good start).
Fasting blood sugar average for the week was 4.9 mmol/l and average 2 hours after meals was 7.1. Diastolic BP is slightly elevated at 155 but systolic is normal at 80.
These results have been achieved solely from the BSD and increased exercise (10 K steps/day and Michael’s HIT on a stationary bike 3-5 times/week). No medications at all.
The only glitch is that I’m really struggling to keep my carbs down (averaging 85/day) especially with the higher protein intake.
Any tips on how to get these under the magic 50/day that I see advocated on these forums?

Cheers

David

Exactly. I could take it or leave it, but the BS spike put it in the leave it category.

Hmmm.
Week one was brilliant. Did fantastic, stuck with it , realised that even though I was following the book counting calories was a good idea, lost weight felt good.
Week two, – crash, burn, die. Had minimal sleep one night, next day blew the diet away, came across some frustations and each day after that was the same (just eat, and eat). Put weight back on.

So here I am at the start of week 3, older, wiser and carrying some scars, but have found that the past two weeks have been instructional.
I can do this.
Need to make sure that there is nothing available to crash out with in easy access.
Eating was emotional NOT hunger based.
Licorice and rosemary wheaten biscuits are now off limits for me (no they weren’t combined in the one snack binge).
Apart from those two culprits everything else that I ate was along the BSD guidelines – just in way greater quantities that I should have.

All in all things could have been much worse.
My body fat percentage according to my bathroom scales has actually decreased slightly, and the gym workouts are paying off again with a noticeable decrease in my bingo wings.

So I am considering my first two weeks to have been a shake down practice run, and am looking forward to seeing some spectacular results from here on in.

A very red faced Red.

Hi there,
Well I lost 12kg. For my 70th birthday, the party went for 12 days…..put on 5kg. Today am back on track…..please don’t feel bad…..even tho I do at times, the trick is I think to make small targets, say 5kg. at a time and maybe a reward each time one achieves it….not an edible reward tho!!!
No good luck and keep on trying!
Cheers Glorybd
L

Hi Lucia, Some posts ago you mentioned stuffing chicken with spinach and onion…….maybe some pine nuts as well? Oh and when your dream of a get together/conference etc comes true maybe the lectures could be streamed live so those of us in ‘the colonies’ can join in! Best wishes.

Hi Whoopsie Daisy,
I cook for my fairly large family and have so far managed to stick fairly well to the diet. I haven’t used the recipes because I’m not a recipe kind of person, more a chuck it together and hope for the best type.
I personally find it hard to face a plate of meat and salad without the carbs I’m used to, so instead I use a big noodle bowl. First I put in plenty of leafy greens, then add whatever veg we’re having (cooked or raw) & the meat/cheese or whatever cut up into small pieces. Last I drizzle with homemade dressing like olive oil/lemon/yogurt/mustard etc. and herbs., or even a squirt of BBQ Sauce (I’m in Aus., I think you call it Brown Sauce in the UK) and some seeds and toss it all together.
When I eat this way I don’t notice how much salad/veg I’m chewing my way through and each piece of meat or cheese etc. seems like a little bonus. Also using the bowl stops me noticing how my meal compares to everyone else’s.
I know it’s the same food I would have spread on a plate, but it somehow feels more decadent and I don’t mourn the loss of the potatoes/rice/pasta so much. I’m slowly weaning my family off the large portions of carbs as well.
I’ve been able to do this with almost every dinner I’ve cooked. The exception is ‘pasta’ night where I serve myself bolognese over spiralized veg which I also add to the family’s pasta.
Leeanne, you could probably do the bowl thing at a restaurant too if you order a side salad & entree or kids portion of protein with veg instead of chips.
Just a suggestion, hope this helps.

Oh and as for results, I’m just starting week 7 and my fasting sugar has come down from 17 to 8, I’ve lost 8kg (17.6lbs) and my waist is down by 22cm so making up your own meals can definitely work.

Wow, Lucia, THANK YOU awesomely for that lovely encouraging post. I’m a size 22 sometimes 24 and aiming for a trim 14 by the end of the year.

Beverley
xxxxx

I’d like to know too as I’d like to stay on 800 cals for longer. I’m not hungry at all and I think following the menu plan in the book is going to give me all the nutrients I need to stay healthy so can’t see why it would be a problem.

104.2kg this morning – on the move downwards again! Yay 🙂

And yesterday was the first day under 50g carbs so I’m happy about that too.

Dear all

Apologies – I know this will almost certainly have been asked and answered here before, but I find the search function a bit hit and miss.

I am in week six, and have lost 13.4kg or 12% of my body weight. I’m not finding the low calorie eating difficult (although it’s hard to fit my diet into the eating plans of a family of four with two little kids).

I’m thinking of keeping up the 800 a day for more than the eight weeks. I’m hoping another go around would see me lose another kilo a week on average for ten weeks (the 2 I have plus 8). That would set me up to hit the 5:2 phase with something like 25kg gone, or 22% loss.

BUT – is that recommended or not considered safe/healthy / sustainable??

Any experiences welcome. I think some here (hashimoto??) has kept going. But what is the consensus and / or the “official” position?

Monday morning and 83 kg.
Been at that weight for quite a while, so I thought I’d better join this thread and put it in writing so I can’t pretend it is different and that I am doing better. Scary stuff, record keeping.
At least it isn’t going up. It’s also a lot better than when I was at my highest. That was around 25 kg higher…but 2.5 years so far on 5:2 then low carb 5:2 Med has meant the trend has been a mix of times with steady losses and times with a consistent weight. I tell myself that isn’t too bad. I don’t think I have gone up more than about 4 kg at any point during that time, despite a very carb and chocolate rich holiday.

Hi
My exercise regime consists of walking down my driveway and the shared access, and then a mix of walking and running up, with the running in 5 short, not that fast, about 15 second bursts on the steep bits, finishing with a tired walk up the rest. I think it is about 4 km total, with a climb of about 80 m on the return/ uphill leg.

I am trying to convince myself to measure the time I take so I can see any improvement, but I am not good with failure, so I haven’t, in case I don’t see any improvement.

WOW Orchid you are very active and those are some scales! In 10 weeks I had 6 plateaus some for up to 3/4 days. If I had half your energy I would have it cracked. I’ll let you know if I succeeded in getting down to 1.0 tomorrow

Hi judith
I will as soon as I can work out how to do it. Haven’t done it for so long and can’t find the instructions! Google will know.
Penny

Thanks julia, that’s interesting, I’ll look into it further. My problem is my ‘ pre existing’ conditions are also current problems – my GPs tell me if I struggle for breath I must call for an ambulance. A heavy fall could lead to an amputation so my consultant said, which could prove impossibly expensive if the worst happened. A big part of me felt like not declaring after I got my first quote, but if I need antibiotics and oral steroids out there I will have scuppered myself.
I’ll sleep on it xxx

Ok anoth kilo down this morning for a total of four kilos in two weeks 1 day….now for the next two weeks!

Judith – I sympathise. We took my Dad away with travel insurance but without cover for cancer (he had been clear of colon cancer for a while and we reckoned any recurrence would still have him able to get on a plane. It was only for a 2 week period but they were asking megabucks.)
I had thought that not having cover for the pre existing condition meant no cover. But it just meant we could get cover for anything except things arising as a direct consequence of the previous cancer. So we paid for a standard policy and took him anyway. If he had broken a leg/choked in a restaurant we would have been covered fine.

They’ve done lots of studies on twins (both identical and non-identical) and reckon it’s about 70% genetic so there will be cases where twins are different – I agree that the poor twin who suffers probably wouldn’t want to sacrifice herself for you though!