Way to go Lesley91
you’re getting great results and that dress is just going to slip on. Well done

Amazing!!! After getting back on the straight and narrow am 1 kilo down already!!!! Very motivated as slept much better last night without prosecco!!! Read on this forum that a spoonful of yoghurt curbs hunger before bed and this really worked for me!

So you made me wonder.. Just checked out my BMI and it was 34.3 and obese when I started.
Now it is 29.4 and overweight.

Woop woop 🙂

LOL captainlynne, I know what you mean about the local takeaway! We “were” very good customers last year to the point they gave us a bottle of wine with our last order just before Christmas!! I’m not a great veggie lover either so have been supplementing with multivitamins.

csmcnevin, how’s it going now? How did day 4 go?

Hey Denise47 and thanks for the welcome. You’re going great guns too! My mantra used to be “Life tastes better with wine”! but I know I’d have a fat life if I kept going like that (plus maybe a couple of choccy bars a day sometimes!) and the decreasing number keep me forging forward. I must say, I do look forward to my morning weigh ins now 😀

Alexiginda, yes, I agree, the 5:2 IF is like a foundation course for Fast 800! You can launch into it full steam ahead knowing what to expect with the added bonus of immediate results every day (mostly)

I love my sugary things too but this week have weened myself off the sweeteners I used to have in my hot drinks. Hot drinks still don’t feel as “comforting” as they used to but I am slowly getting used to it and I’m sure that will pass.

What I am still missing is my mega lunch at Mc Ds but I’ve done a bit of research and could go bun & fries free and opt for the salad as a side. It’s still low carbs (around 3) and full of fatty goodness!! LOL

Hi wedgie, great news re your first week. amazedbanana great results 🙂

Thanks for all the great comments folks I really appreciate them more that I deserve them.
I really haven’t done anything except follow the plan, the real plaudits belong to Michael and Prof Taylor.
The nicest thing about yesterday was, I have never seen this doctor smile before. I saw the first glimmer as I told her how much weight I had lost and she was positively beaming by the time I left. She even commented that it was a pleasant change to hear some good news.
Now I have my next target, med free by September, by which time I hope to be nearing weight target 2 of 12 stones.
That 13.5 stone by June is looking achievable now.
The patient advisor thing (I never heard of them before) was left hanging so I’ll wait and see what happens, if I get a call I’ll see how much time it will take.
What I really want now is to see everyone who does this diet having the same results, wouldn’t that be something ?

Lesley and inka – tape measure – don’t suck in, breathe normally then measure:)

Lesley keep going and that dress willl fit 🙂

Inka older people, slim body? Think Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma! I’d have her body any day!!!

You have already lost a lot of weight! Captainlynne has already done 14 weeks (42lbs gone) and quite a few of us are still following the diet now we are over the 8 weeks. Use the nhs bmi calculator and put in your old weight first – you will see how much you have achieved already. Then put in your new weight. I use it every time I lose a bit of weight, it’s very encouraging.

Remember NHS bmi calculator!!!! 🙂

Hi all, am currently mid week 4. In week 2 my FBS really improved – lowest was 5.9. Slowly crept up in wk 3 – lowest 6.9. I halved my metformin but only for 2 days as they’ve gone up. This week I’ve had 7.7/7.8/7.8/7.2. I’ve gone back on full dose metformin again (2000mg). The only thing that’s changed diet wise is I’ve not been drinking the 2-3l water but I’ve started doing 3 Mile walks 5 times a week. It’s all very strange but am hoping it’s the pattern before better things. (Pre this diet my FBS figures were in the 11s).

hi neohdiver
Reading your posts, you probably know a lot more about losing weight than me.
If it helps, I had blood tests taken 4 weeks into the diet, I am a long term T2D, or should I say was.
I have stopped most of the meds and take 1 metformin twice a day ATM but yesterday I was told by the doc that I am now in the pre diabetic range and on the verge of being med free.
Just a small demonstration on what can be achieved on this new lifestyle.

Hi to all our new Aussies!

Healthyanna the carb detox flu won’t last for long and then you will feel wonderful! 🙂

14kgtooheavy, stick with it, michael says that the first two weeks are the hardest, then the hunger pangs go and you will feel healthy and energetic especially when the weight starts dropping off. Watch those kgs melt away 🙂

Dorothy I ve tried other diets and haven’t even lost weight. On this diet I. Have lost 2 stones and 9lbs. I won’t put it back on because this quickly becomes a way of life. No way could i eat starchy food again. 🙂

Kooka, congratulations on the weight you have already lost. People often experience a plateau and then the weight starts dropping again 🙂

Hello fellow Aussies!
I live in Sydney and have been on the BSD for 5 weeks. I tried the 5:2 a couple of years ago but I found it a bit difficult to stick to as my hands tend to go cold in the afternoon as my body starts to conserve energy and the Air Conditioning gets cranked up on hot days. I haven’t been quite sticking to the 800 calories but I have been pretty good mostly. I have lost 6.5kg so far – plateaued a little around Easter. There may have been a bunny involved. But I like that I have been able to fall off the horse a couple of times and actually get back into the diet without feeling too bad … that’s something I have had difficulty with on other diets.

Hi all. I’ve just hit the big 55 and due to an illness last year piled on quite a bit of weight. Had blood tests recently which showed that I had developed Insulin Resistance and could be looking down the barrel of Type 2 Diabetes!

Needless to say I wasn’t interested in entertaining that little gem, so I started reading up on these topics and discovered the BSD. Have since bought the book and am at the end of Week 1 with a loss of 4 kgs under my belt (or over it 🙂 ) and blood sugar levels on the downturn.

I am enjoying the food and adding regular cardio exercise to the mix. My goal is to stay faithful for the entire 8 weeks (and beyond) and try and drop around 20 – 25 kgs all up.

Good luck to all the Aussies out there giving this one a chance. It certainly shows promise.

Hi Fch53, so glad you are already losing the taste for sugary foods 🙂

Hi cate ran away, welcome to the forums. This diet is already working for you, it sounds as if you have a supportive doctor, and your sisters should be encouraged to follow this diet after seeing your successes.

Just shout if you have any questions there will always be someone able to help 🙂

The NHS website has a BMI calculator (or it used to) I need to look at mine – I was classed as morbidly obese – and was always in denial about it!

I am continuing the diet for another 8 weeks as that will take me up to my hen do and then the wedding! At the moment my dress doesn’t do up – that was 6 weeks ago so hoping when I try it in 2 weeks the zip goes at least half way!!

I measured my waist..etc but same as you forgot the exact poisitioning of the tape measure, I can tell you for sure I have lost 2″ from my neck and thighs. * I do weigh myself almost everyday *

These forums have kept me going, thank you to everyone! Xx

Hi all Aussies 🙂
There are some great low carb alternatives available to us.
Please feel free to list any you might know of.
Bread: Herman Brot bread is very low carb at 2.3g carb and 111 cals per slice and freezes well. In SA it is available at Foodland and IGA stores. It isn’t cheap but our health is worth it, if you can’t live without an occasional slice of bread. This bread is delicious and you would never know it was low carb from the taste or texture. Check out their website for online ordering or a store near you.

Pasta: Herman Brot also do a low carb dried pasta, I haven’t managed to find any locally yet but will do an online order and let you know.
Coles and Woolworths sell Slendier brand noodles. Made from a vegetable called Konjac they are less than 1g carb ( yes really!) and 12 cals per serve. They come in noodle, fettuccine or spaghetti style. There is one that is like rice apparently but I haven’t had any luck finding it. The drawback is they can’t be frozen and have to be used within 3 days once opened. The recommended serving size is 125g but they are very filling and this was too much for me. In Woolies they are usually on the very top shelf of the health food section.
Hope this thread will help us with low carb alternatives to our favourite foods.

Hi to all my fellow Aussies.
I’m starting a thread for low carb foods available here. Please feel free to contribute any products you may know about. It should be useful to all the newbies.

Hello, I am also from Australia. I have always been a fan of Michael Mosely and his documentaries.
I am a fifty something Aussie female and I have been overweight for most of my life.
I am not diabetic and don’t want to be either, hence why I’m here.

I have been essentially sugar free (with a few lapses) since October last year. In that time I have lost 19kg.
I am into week 5 of the 800BSD because my weight had plateaued for a while.
After week 8 I will go onto the 5:2 BSD as I want to stay off sugar altogether.
It has taken me all of this time to realise that I was seriously addicted to sugar.

I am calmer and happier now and enjoying shopping for smaller clothes!

Day three and had 20g porridge with a tbsp of raisins and a springle of seeds. No sweeteners or sugar and it tasted yum. Definitely already finding sweet food taste wrong. Scales show 4lb off since Monday and like many I weigh daily as before I have noticed my weight fluctuates constantly. Need to add some of your suggestions to my food order for Friday and may try some of the recipes from the book too. Breakfast and lunch so far are the easiest to control as I am just cooking for me. Tonight’s tea is going to be paprika chicken (quorn for daughter) and veg for me but wedges for everyone else.

OK, I did it this morning! I weight and measured myself – and also created a spreadsheet like many of you suggested. So, the result of my weigh-in was -0.7 kg and 1 inch of my wait…. not sure if this is correct though… I cant remember how “loose” or “tight” I draped the tape measure across my belly button :-). So made a note, to help me remember this for next time. I am at W4D4 and so far in total have lost 6.5kg, or, according to my weight converter, 14.33lbs. I grew up with kg’s so I am not so good unterstanding imperial measures. … but I hope this is right.
A BMI calculator says that I am obese (class 1), whatever that means. The value is 33 :-(… It also suggests that my ideal wright is between 50kg and 67kg. This sounds a bit unrealistic … I was never ever in my whole live 50kg, even when I was much much younger and pre-children! It makes me doubt this suggestion as I feel that I would look like a “scarecrow”, if I was that light. In the good old days, I always hovered around 63-65kg, but I was so much younger then. Can older bodies still look good and healthy when reverting back to a “young weight range?” Maybe I should aim for that…. it’s a bit depressing to see that I have to loose so much more weight than I thought …. Instead of 20 something, I now should loose a further 5kg or so? There is no way, I can achieve this in the next 4 weeks, when my 8 weeks are over. Can I continue the BSD this until I reach my goal? Are all BMI calculators created equal? Which ones are better, the ones which also consider your age? Is there a good reliable app? I use FitnessPal for everything, but it doesn’t seem to have this. …. which one are you using, or are you using a formula to calculate it yourselves… and then there is the reference list which is supposed to help you find your ideal recommended weight range. They also seem to vary a bit…. What do you do/use to determine your weight/BMI stats correctly?

… Thanks so much to all who responded again…. your views and advice are truly appreciated … So glad that I have found this site and all of you :-))))!

Im also in Australia and this is my first read and forum for this site. I am getting ready to start this new lifestyle next week, Ive been reading and exploring making shopping lists and I hope this works! Ive tried soooo many diets and always put weight back on. I’m hoping I see some fast results to keep me motivated. I’m getting so organised I cannot fail! I’ve even convinced my husband to do this for 4 weeks to see if it works for him too.

Hi everyone, I’m Natalie and I live in Sunbury, Vic, Australia. 3 kids (12, 11, 9), two dogs (poodles), 5 budgies, 1 husband 🙂
Today is day 1 for me. I’m worried I won’t be able to stick to the diet, mainly because I’m worried I’m going to be feeling hungry all the time! My main downfall is bread (vegemite toast, national dish of Australia) and portion-size. I’m not into sugary or processed foods like biscuits/cakes/lollies/chocolate etc. but I absolutely love my savoury foods. My favourite meal has to be weetbix with soy milk (weird, I know) which I can happily have every night before bed. I’m not a huge wine/alcohol drinker so won’t prob miss that which is lucky. My biggest concern is whether I’m going to be ok on this diet to start a new job – newly admitted as a lawyer and trying to get a job at present, hoping I won’t be a flake on the job (if I’m lucky enough to get one soon) with ‘low sugar’ levels… will be checking in on everyone’s progress just to keep motivated I think.
Has been 45 mins since my lunchtime ‘shake’ and I’m hungry already! groan.
nice to meet you all 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi, another Aussie here too – got a lot of weight to lose (currently 122kg) and on day 2. Felt great yesterday, terrible today, but realise it’s a sugar/carb detox. Looking forward to feeling good soon! Wanting to get to 80kg in the long run, but taking it a day at a time! I’m following the plan in the book but am going slightly over 800 I guess due to some milk in my tea/coffee. But I cant live without it in the first week anyway! Will be good to share in everyone’s achievements!

Hi all, I just started on the 800 BSD, I have a family history of diabetes with both my oldest and youngest sister being diabetic, plus Dad dying early from heart disease brought on by type 2 diabetes. I have been doing the 5: 2 for the last month as suggested by my doctor and lost 0 kg but after two days on this 800bsd I already down 2 kg. I’m really looking forward to the next 8 weeks together.

Fasting until early afternoon

Lunch
Pepper with jeweled feta (from the book, without the scallions) 249 calories 20 net carbs
Jarlsberg cheese 28 grams = 0 carbs

Early evening
Romaine lettuce, cauliflower, and cucumber salad with low-fat ranch dressing 70 calories 11 net carbs

Supper (I hope – assuming I can find the last 2 ingredients on the way home))
Spicy chicken and lentils from the book 321 calories 22 net carbs (pushing my personal limit here)

Driving home treat: Tate’s mint chocolate chip cookie 70 calories/8 net carbs

Total (pending precise measurements for supper) 810 calories/61 net carbs

Depends on who you ask – and what our objectives are.

I am strictly limiting my calories to 800 – I’ve already lost 49 lbs – so losing the weight (alone) does not appear to be sufficient for me. My motive for going this additional step is specifically to take advantage of a diet similar to the one used with bariatric patients (in quantity) to see if the rapid, sudden decrease in food (or fasting) will flip my BG metbolism back to normal. The veggie salad I’m about to eat is 13% of my calorie allotment for the day – so, for me, not weighing would be a big mistake

Many here are more focused on eating the right kinds of foods than they are on following a diet that is similar (in quantity) to the diet that studies have shown has put diabetes into remission for a number of people (and some have gotten excellent results viewing it that way). In that case, it probably doesn’t matter if you weigh them.

Hi larry from Perth! That’s a lot of weight lost, this diet is amazing!:)

Another Aussie here from Perth, started at 92.7(was at 99kg 9 months ago) 2 and half weeks ago and am 86.5kg this morning, so happy with this diet, feeling great

Fascinating to see other people’s families reactions! My husband is a lovely supportive man but he believes that everything is cured with more exercise and that diet has very little to do with it (unless you eat fast food every day or something extreme like that, which we have never done). He will remind me of articles in New Scientist magazine that say there is no medical evidence that we need eight glasses of water a day (or more) and that the original study that said we needed 8 glasses included liquid we get from food. He laughs at Paleo diets because cavemen DID eat grains. He doesn’t think sugar is poison or addictive in moderation. Basically I should just eat “normal” food and exercise. I know he would worry about really low calories. So it is easier for me to just say I’m eating healthy and leave it at that.

Heya DebCN, I was thinking about your comment about cakes and wondered if you’d come across the raw food movement at all? There are heaps of delicious raw food cakes. I have lots of friends on the raw food bandwagon that keep enticing me with lots of tempting alternatives to baked cakes and desserts. I’m trying to retrain how I eat, give up my dessert habit, otherwise I’d be right into making and creating all these awesome wonders myself. 🙂

Fch, you could toast half an ounce of rolled oats, cool them then add them to fage full fat yoghurt, then stir in 2 ounces of raspberries. Don’t add sugar or sweeteners as it will take you a long time to change your carb cravings if you do. Fage is delicious xxx

Forgot to ask my question….duh Are you supposed to weigh your Veggies?

Cherrianne –

I’m greedy. I would like to be able to eat normal servings of beans – nearly always more than 20 in a serving, and an occasional piece of whole grain bread, occasionally rice, and occasionally some root veggies (carrots and sweet potatoes come to mind), and I would like a better macro balance – not a high carb diet, but a reasonable balance..

As a generality, the Mediterranean style diet isn’t about eating more than 1000 calories of fat a day – it is about eating reasonable quantities of healthy fats (one guideline says 30-40%). If I don’t improve my glucose tolerance, I’ll be stuck living on 1000 calories of fat a day (roughly 67% – if I maximize carbs and protein daily). I don’t think that is optimal – and it is not something I enjoy. (It also requires a mindfulness to the micronutrient content of the carbohydrates I do eat that I know myself well enough to know that I can’t sustain beyond about 3 years.)

I may not get there – but my goal is to flip whatever switch needs to be flipped to put this beast in remission.

Glad yesterday went smoothly 🙂

I would be interesting to graph both obesity and diabetes against the rise in ready meals containing corn syrup, made from the starch of maize. You can make a curry at home and it needs no additives, likewise a look at the contents of almost any ready meals and it is one of the extra’s in it. It is used as a ‘thickener, a sweetener and as a humectant – an ingredient that retains moisture and thus maintains a food’s freshness’ to quote Wikipedia. Basically extra carbs/sugars to make process food palatable. BBC had a good documentary a over a year ago about the impact it has had on our food and waist-line.

Day 39 weight 10st 5 lbs (gone down again back to 11lbs off )
Blood sugar 9.2

I had more fluids yesterday and today maybe that helped the blood sugar?

I needn’t have worried about the funeral tea, I easily and discreetly deposited the potatoes on my husband’s plate and he rose to the challenge of eating my trifle along with his own as well. So I ended up eating allowed food.

Hopefully the scales and blood sugar reading tomorrow will be as good as today. I’m making veg curry (again) but trying a small amount of Bulger wheat as a change from cauliflower rice tomorrow.😇

Thanks missay, I. Noticed that this morning. I’m going to try it soon 🙂

Penny, I haven’t noticed any problems like that with the besan flour. Mind you, roasting it sounds really tasty!

Hashimoto, Peshwari ‘bread’ recipe is in the recipes section. Whilst entering it I remembered that I was going to post the coated chilli strips one too, so will have to hunt the details out and get that posted soon.

Hi and welcome FCH, I know you said you don’t like Yoghurt, but take it from someone that absolutely REFUSED to even contemplate Yoghurt, and now love it. I bought Frage Total Yoghurt which is Full Fat. I spoon out 100g using a scale, then cut 2 – 3 strawberries depending on size and 8-10 blueberries. I sprinkle a little bit of Canderal (sweetner) on it as well as a sprinkle of cinnamon on it, and trust me it takes away the bitter taste (which is what I found hard to handle). Give it a try and see if you like it like that. It’s like having strawberries with cream….Mmmm only low in carbs.

If you look at school photos from the 50s and 60s where were the obese children? None in my class of 44 children. But you will find a high percentage in any class now.

Did we get sugary drinks and snacks between meals? No! No food between 5.30 pm and 7.30am, so we always had a 14 hour fast..

No wonder we have these diabetes epidemics. I’m totally shocked at how much sugar has been found in meat. Certainly didnt happen when we were young 🙁

Went off chocolate due to incident in second pregnancy and later started to dislike creamy sweet tastes. Have also got a bit of lactose intolerance that gets worse the more fat in the dairy product. I have sometimes found total Greek yoghurt ok and oddly I prefer unsweetened varieties, so I may see if I can include that in a breakfast combo. Like the suggestion for eggs SunnyB, so will be trying some of those.Have eaten oat cakes before jpscloud, usually plain but they could also work with cottage cheese, if very sparingly to limit the carbs. So much of this diet is different to what I did with weight watchers and it is going to take a lot of getting used to, but I think the difference may be an advantage as it should encourage me to think hard about what I choose and that usually makes me stick more to it. Here’s Hoping for some positive result.

Thanks everyone.

Hi shal22, welcome to the forums and congratulations for deciding to follow this diet. You will not be disappointed as you will reap the benefits quickly.

You sound well prepared. Keep posting, there are lots of lovely people on the forums to cheer you on or answer questions 🙂

Jpscloud, totally agree with you. I responded to a question about loose skin with this is about living a healthy life, even with loose skin rather than being a slightly prettier corpse. This diet should add years to our lives – a very good exchange!! 🙂

Hi molly, are you keeping carbs below 50g a day? If you are following the guidelines it may be retained fluid and you will get a drop in your weight quite quickly. I think measuring round your waist is a good indicator. Also, you could buy some ketostix to check you are burning fat 🙂

I hope you get the correct test, cherrieanne 🙂

Hi, I’m all set to start tomorrow. Have been reading the posts for the last week which have all helped, very inspiring. Got 4 stone to lose! Plan for tomorrow is

plain yoghurt with some seeds, kiwi
Some prawns for lunch with salad
Dinner a piece of smoked mackerel and broccoli.

I’ve calculated it at around the 800 cals but nowhere near the 50 carbs. Will also have skimmed milk in my tea which im going to try and cut back on. Heres to a first week x

Hi all, I’ve been lurking for the last week, reading all your posts (well not all, but a good portion of them), watching and reading with great interest in all your progress, and feeling like this could really work for me (self discipline required for sure). I envy those that try all these new foods cause for myself I’m a very fussy eater so it’s been a real struggle this week to find or try some foods I said I never would eat in my lifetime (yoghurt) so thank you to the lady (sorry can’t remember what your name is) who suggested Frage Brand as it’s the only one of the three I tried that I’ve managed to eat with 2 – 3 strawberries and 10 blackberries and finally after days I tried adding a couple sprinkles last night of canderel onto it and some cinnamon……lo and behold it took away the bitter taste for me, so I’m now a convert of Frage Total Yoghurt.

Anyways I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (runs in my biological family) nearly 5 years ago. Was tested for it annually for 23 years as they suspected I would eventually get it. Tried to control it with diet and exercise as I’m not fond of taking pills, well that failed, so eventually was prescribed metformin, then glicazide as I continued on with my poor eating habits (those donuts kept calling to me…..what was I to do???)

I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Mosley’s and have watched all medical documentaries he’s done, read all his books and finally decided to go on the 8 week BSD in hopes of reversing my Type 2, lowering my cholesterol and losing some belly fat as a bonus and to prove my latest diabetes nurse WRONG!
They gave me quite the scare two weeks ago when they tested my blood and it came back saying I had high levels of potassium in my kidneys, so they redid the test, it also came back high but not as high as the previous one. I told her it was probably due to the large amounts of oranges and orange juice I had been consuming, they did a third blood test and it came back normal, as I knew it would when I stopped eating oranges, and when I say I was eating oranges it was normally 2 – 3 regular size about twice a day. I confess I’m a lover of fruit. Anyhow the nurse said if it was still high on that 3rd test, they would put me in the hospital and start me on a Vitamin K infusion. Naturally I looked that up on the net when I got home and got the fright of my life as it could be deadly, and she was sure I would have a heart attack or stroke over Easter. Guess it was the wakeup call I finally needed as it got me started on Good Friday.

First thing I did was empty all the cupboards, fridge and freezer of all high carbs foods unless it was something my husband ate, but I didn’t. Then I read what foods I should be eating and went shopping.

So here I am just finishing Day 6, my starting blood glucose was 9.7, starting weight was 9 stone 12½ lbs. My blood glucose is slowly going down to around 7.4 lowest this week to around the 8.4 mark, so I’m happy with the progress, btw I stopped taking my Metformin when I started, so I’m pleased that it’s the food that’s lowering it instead of meds. Regarding the weight I went down to 9 stone 11½ but am now up to 9 stone 13???

I’m keeping it around the 800calories, someday it’s a wee bit over but not by much, am drinking 2 litres of water per day, and because I have spinal stenosis I am concentrating on strength training until I feel my legs are strong enough to go walking, so I bought a rowing machine and an ab toner and have been using them daily, increasing the amount each day twice a day. Hope to get back on the Wii U as well at some point and have my Fitbit ready for those walking days.

Unfortunately I’m one of those unlucky people that only go to the toilet once a week, and have to resort to max strength Senokot and Cod liver oil, but they aren’t even working for me now, so whilst reading on here I saw someone mention Psyllium Husks, so looked that up and ordered some from Holland and Barrett and they arrived today……..so fingers crossed they work and the weight finally comes off.

Sorry for the long post……..eek

Thanks Sunny, looks like waitrose do it, I might need to find an excuse to pop over there soon!