Well done Bruno, Lynne, Bill and Inka. Seems like the week for great results for you all. 🙂

Welcome to the BSD alexginda. I think most of us work on trying to keep to 800 per day, but as the diet is meant to be an 8wk period, MM actually says there will be days you are over and days you are under, but over the period it will balance itself out.

I certainly try to stick with 800 a day, but also calculate at the end of the week my overall calories and how that averaged out per day, as there are days when I am over and days I am under. At the moment this week, I am averaging 885 per day, as we ate out last night, which means I need to have quite a lean couple of days to balance things out by the end of the week.

Not sure I have answered your question, but hope it helps.

Thanks for your replies and encouragement Bill1954, Hashimoto & Pmshrink and all who commented on their changing sense of taste &/or smell. Congrats Bruno on your great results too. Its so gr8 to be digging out my size smaller clothes. (Glad I didnt toss all of them out.) I’m promising myself some new clothes when I reach my goal. Then im throwing out all the fat clothes! Do others celebrate or reward themselves when they reach their weigh in milestones?

Has anybody tried these zero noodles etc as part of the 8 week plan … There are made from a vegetable root and are on average 10 calories no carbs or sugar content so they appear to be fine but I’d be interested in any feedback.

First post and starting diet Monday – am recently diagnosed type 2

Hi shortapple,
Welcome………..I have only just joined and there are some great people on here to help and support you on the way.
I’m on day 20 and have lost 19lbs so far but I am huge so it comes off abit quicker!!
I felt really cold in the first week but it wore off.
Good luck with it and if you need support there are people on here who will always help.

How about a deli platter – choose from a selection of cold meats, cheeses, smoked salmon, roll mop herring, hummus, tomato and onion salad, you can have it with gem lettuce and he can have crusty bread. You can pick and mix, keep to you cals and carbs and he can have what he pleases.

I have been successfully following 5:2 and record my food intake online. I keep to the 500 cals per day for women on fast days and to my TDEE on feast days and so far lost 20 lbs quickly and have kept if off. I still enjoy doing one fast day each week. When I know I’m going out for a special occasion I eat less the day or so before and that is how I maintain. Just started BSD so I am also trying to keep below 50g carbs per day.

Do you have to stick to 800 calories per day? Has anyone tried working to 5,600 calories per week?

Redskin peanuts – love them. I’m actually wondering if I’m going to have to stop purchasing ‘nuts’ unless for a particular recipe/meal. I don’t trust myself:) I had to do the same with Meridian nut butters! Gosh. They are SO dangerous to have access to.
Ha Ha

X

Well done everyone – seems like you’re making great progress.

I haven’t …

I’ve been away for a few days – self catering so I was able to stick with the diet … in theory anyway! I *might* have drunk some wine and eaten a slice of bread and forgotten to count calories. I have lost 1lb. Not as much as I’d like, but not a disaster.

Interesting re. chilling salad – I couldn’t fit my greek salad (tomatoes, onion, cucumber, feta and olive oil) for lunch in the fridge yesterday and it tasted so much nicer than when chilled.

Hashimoto thanks for the tip re. small containers for nuts – it’s one of those common sense things that I forget to do!

Deb, I got some redskin peanuts (raw) and they make a good choice for hunger/craving moments as they are quite difficult to scoff fast and you feel content quickly with them. I’ll still use a small container though!

I’m finding it difficult to come up with lunch options which my husband will eat too. My chances of sticking to the diet are much better if he eats mostly the same things, which he’s willing to do if I can keep it interesting. Soup and omelettes are fine, but that will soon get boring.

I’m not frightened to use barley because from day 1 I’ve been knocking up pans of soup, stews, and broths to portion out for lunches and every one of them has contained barley.
When used like that a little goes a long way and barley has many health benefits.

Hello, everyone! I took everyone’s advice and weighed myself this morning, instead of the usual once a week, which would have been Monday… So, to my greatest delight, I have lost 1.2kg in 5 days! I am really happy, so now very keen to get on the scale on Monday to see it tell me something even more favourable. With this lastest weigh-in I also finally cracked the 90kg barrier, not by much, but it’s below this mark: 89.8kg. I am ashamed to say that I have not been below 90kg for years, so very happy.
I also bought the Ketostix, but have not used them yet and more goodies for rest of the weekend, food-wise. Had fresh prawns with red slaw salad with a little bit of creamy herb and lime dressing and for desert two table spoons of full fat greek joghurt, 3 strawberries, a handful of blueberries topped with a few pine nuts… Oh, and I bought some green leaf tea based flower and peppermint liquorice tea…. Hhm, so delicoius.
I think my tastebuds are really changing: brushed my teeth last night and got a shock that the usual toothpaste I have always used suddently tastes kind of sweet, very soapy and like a real chemical cocktail. Bought new toothpaste when I was out and about, because there is no way I can continue to use the old one, truly terrible. Has enyone else experienced that?

You shouldn’t need to count carbs if you’re following the recipes in the book as they contain very few carbs. If you’re subsituting different foods which are high in carbs, that could be why you’re not losing weight yet.

Welcome to the party Cherrianne, your support on the forums has been brilliant, long may it continue.
Lynne, you give us all something to aspire to, hope your family is bowled over at the sight of you.
Judith, isn’t it amazing how people you would never otherwise meet can become firm friends in such a short space of time ?
That’s a major bonus for me.
2 stones gone now, great end to a fabulous week 🙂

Brilliant Lynne I’m so pleased for you.
My week 9 weigh day and just to cap a great week, I’ve lost another two and a half pounds.
Big milestone for me as that makes me 14 stone 9 pounds, I’ve lost 2 stones !
Blood sugars behaving too, happy isn’t the word 🙂

Hi Hashimoto, I agree.
I was brought up in Scotland and barley was commonly used especially in soups. I used to take packets of barley plus yellow and green split peas back to the Netherlands when I lived there after visiting my parents at Christmas! Pease pudding was another favourite.
Have you tried making barley bread? I was planning to when BSD diverted me – it apparently makes up like a soda bread or bannock. I found a link below. There are some other sites saying you can make it with a sourdough culture – not sure about that as it does not have gluten in it!

http://www.versagrain.com/barley-bread.html

There are loads of websites and apps out there, just google calories in… and you’ll be able to choose which one you like using. Calorie king is quite good and the nhs one too

Hi Cate,
I used a Delia recipe which bakes in the oven and used barley instead of rice. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/italian/oven-baked-wild-mushroom-risotto.html
You will need to keep an eye on it first time to make sure that the barley does not need more water or a slightly different cooking time. it should have a bite to it when it is ready. Lovely meal!

I miss kasha and chicken soup with barley far more than bread 🙁

Debi, I’m the same re chilled salad. It kills the flavour. I leave my yoghurt and berries out of the fridge for 10 mins to take the worst of the chill off.

Your food menu for today sounds yummy 🙂

Hi Deb, we’ve all been there! It happens to everyone at some stage, with or without this programme. As the other guys have said, take what you can from it as a,learning experience but then forget about it and get back on track. Its already in the past, its what you do next that matters. You can,and will get things together today, you know on-plan is where you need to be. You can do it!

Hashimito and Penny – you darlings for replying. You are telling me what I know but it is weird how you need someone else to help it sink in:

I’m currently boiling some eggs so I have an emergency snack supply.

I always have heaps of salad n veg in to snack on but dislike it cold from the fridge. Therefore, I’m making a snack tub to keep on the worktop for weak moments – hoping it will become habit-forming. After all, did anyone become obese my gorging on celery, cucumber & courgettes?! 😂
Lastly, I am about to try the coconut oil & cream in coffee combo for breakfast as I have homemade chicken Passanda with cauli rice for dinner tonight at 526 Cals:) anchovy salad as late lunch & I should manage?
Thank you xx

Sounds great – I will try in in May :-)!

Hi Cherrianne,
I had looked it up on the Sainsbury’s site for their pearl barley as I did not have the info to hand at home. I have just checked and I did transcribe them correctly. I was surprised by it as well and had it not been late, I may have checked further. Tesco give a different set of numbers for theirs and Waitrose different again. Needless to say, Sainsbury’s are lowest!
I found a jar with Barley Grain in the house which is what I would normally use and the label in it is different again! Grrrrr.
Okay – lesson learned – don’t trust the websites.
I thought I had just spotted the reason for the difference, some were ‘cooked’, but on further checking – they all appear to be calories for the cooked weight not the dried weight.
For completeness – Tesco Pearl Barley – 100g cooked pearly barley 118 cals; Carbs 24.4g; Fat 0.4g; Protein 2.3g and fibre 3.8g. Waitrose cooked pearly barley 143 cals; Carbs 27.1; fat 0.9g; fibre 4.0g protein 4.6g.
I should be able to get into most of these stores this week and will check the labels on the product themselves and see if I can work out what is really going on!
It is still a good food for 5:2, but probably not for 800 cals unless as Hashimoto has, you have small portions with some thing else!
Thanks for spotting the error.

Hi – I am not sure that the calorie count for the recipe “Spanish Chickpea and spinach soup” p 207 of the 8 week BSD book is correct. It claims to be 2 portions at 210 calories per portion. When I add up the individual components it comes to way more than that. How do I check this?

Hi orchid, my russian kasha recipe comes out like a risotto 🙂

Cherrieanne I have just seen your response to barley.

The recipe i just posted could be split into at least 10 small portions ( some for the freezer) and eaten with something else. Meat eaters could have it with sausage and veg. I dont know what would work as a veggie meal.

Alarming amount of carbs, perhaps left til maintenance stage – and as a special treat. 🙂

Hi Deb
If you’re hungry maybe you need to add a bit more fat? Keeps the hunger at bay!
Penny

Hi deb, you might need to keep some emergency snack foods prepared – celery sticks, hard boiled eggs. When you buy nuts portion them out into little containers – it’s far too easy to keep on going with a bag of nuts and I should know as I have done it so often.

Aldi do little packets of nuts and seeds, 153 calories, 2.7 carbs. It keeps my nut snacking under control. Sometimes I eat a packet for lunch and nibble on crudites

🙂

Wow! Why didn’t I think of that? (Must be the age, y’know).
Thanks SunnyB, I’ll look into those.

Hi jilly, sorry to hear you have arthritis as well. I’m guessing you either live in a bungalow or have a downstairs loo as I do more than 400 just up and down to the bathroom 🙁

I hope your blood sugars fall and that you feel better in yourself 🙂

Hi cate, beford I became gluten intolerant I used to make Kasha – a russian recipe

8oz pearl barley
4oz mushrooms
1-2oz butter
2tbspns grated cheesd
1 egg
S and P

Beat ip the egg and stir well into the barley coat and leave to dry.
Slice mushrooms and simmer in 1pt salted water for 15 mins.
Remove mushrooms from pan and add the butter
Then add barley let simmer with lid on for 10 mins, stir occasionally
Pour barley mix into ovenproof casserole dish, with lid
Mix in the mushrooms and s and p.
Bake in moderate oven, gas mark 4, for 1 hour

When ready to serve you can stir in the cheese, and more butter if you would like to

You will have to work out the calories and carbs and decide how many portions you have.

I used to eat it with grilled sausage and tomato.

Lovely nutty flavour and totally delicious!

🙂

Ok this is now 2 days and no weight loss. Feeling better in myself but weight not coming off.

Hoping I see something soon but even though I’m 800 calories nothing is moving 😢

Oooh like the sound of those prawns jps 🙂

hello hashimoto,

I already have a pedometer and have been wearing it for some time, and I can assure you I quite often have less than 500 steps. The most I have done [once] was 4000, mostly around 1000 and 2000. Apart from my hip replacement I also have arthritis throughout my body. I have use of a treadmill and have used it a bit for short periods, but find at the moment with the diet I am still a little light headed.

Thank you

I think he may be too busy but I’m sure he must dip in from time to time and his tech team will keep him informed 🙂

Glad your basket is tied on tight lucia 🙂

Oh, help!

I already struggle with 800 Cals but stay low carb and exercise heavily. However, towards the end of week 3 and last night (wk5) I have gorged on a 200g bag of plain cashews!!
What is wrong with me? (Apart from the obvious weakness).
Why am I hungry and failing?
Not diabetic but body and mind feels better on low carb eating plan. I’m probably currently a stone over-weight even with the 7lb loss in just under 5wks. (That could change after ‘nutgate’😫

Hi purplemartian try the avocado/bacon recipe. You put a bit of the mix into each leaf of a little gem lettuce. 290 cals and to die for 🙂

Fran -amazing weight loss 🙂

Hi jillyb, this will work for you 10,000 steps or just a few steps! Get a pedometer I think you will find you are doing more than 500 steps – it might only be over 1000 but not likely to be under 500. You will be moving more than you think just making 3 meals a day.

I felt I was doing nothing but cooking and washing up during the first 2 weeks. As you go on you will start making larger pans of food so you can freeze some.

If you like hummus you could make crudites and store each kind of veg in plastic freezer bags or containers. You could do a similar thing with salad veg.

Look at some of the resistance exercises – there may be some you can do. You can definitely do the biceps work sitting down

Keep going Jilly 🙂

Hi again everyone. I’ve been on the BSD for 16 days now and have come to the conclusion I’m somehow getting it wrong. After 9 days I’d lost 4lbs, since then I’ve gained 2lbs and only today got back to that lowest weight. I use myfitnesspal, don’t exceed 800 cals, keep carbs under 40g (often only 20 – 30g) and an minimum of 50% of my intake, protein around 30% and carbs always lowest percentage. Haven’t touched sugar or simple carbs, just a bit of swede mash and parsnip one day. Typical meals are feta, lettuce, peppers & olives / fritata with rocket / salmon with spinach / ff Greek yogurt with strawberries & Brazil’s. I drink 3 litres a day, just a decaf with splash of milk (cals counted) occassionally, mainly water and herbal tea. I know this might be just a plateau but don’t want to risk it being that I’m actually doing it wrong by making my own menu.
So from today I’m going to follow MM’s recipes to the letter and see how I get on. This way I’m sure I’m not making any errors. I will post here regularly to kerp myself focused, weigh daily and measure weekly.
Sorry for the long post and I know it sounds like I’m winging – wingeing? – but I’m really not. Apart from the erratic weight loss/gain I love the diet. I feel great and much slimer than the 4lbs loss accouns for, have lost an inch each from bust, waist and neck. My asthma is non existent – (have reduced related meds) , osteoarthritic knee is least swollen ever and have more energy and last but not least I found this forum full of lovely people which I adore reading! I lost a stone on MM’s 5:2 plan earlier this year and hope to lose 2 stone on this one. I know I can do it! Here goes, restarting, book in hand, week menu planned, weight 10st 12.4 and going DOWN!

Captainlynne that is fanbloomingtastic! 43lvs is awesome you must be feeling like a new woman.

Jackie

Do you think Michael ever reads these posts?
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi Hashimoto,
Of course I have a basket on the front.
AND I ring my bell with attitude!!!

Around here the basket is wire tied on.

I will try not to let the string of sausages trail behind me for the dogs.

Just off now.
Love Lucia
Xxxx

B Greek yoghurt and fresh raspberries
L Greek salad with olive oil and feta cheese (no rye bread today!)
D Gram flour dusted prawns stir fried in coconut oil and spices, with a green salad

Lucia, if you cock your leg i hope you don’t pull a face like VB. What’s wrong with that women? I bet she curdles the milk for miles around.

Lucia have you got an old fashioned wicker butchers bike basket to wheel your meaty goodies home in?
I’m picturing you like a female pied piper with all the neighborhood dogs running behind your cycle in single file!

Yes, totally approve of using less face muscles – I already am – your posts make me smile.

I hope you have ordered those Australian blister socks!

Failing that, what about some trainers? You could carry your smart shoes in a back pack and change into them at work. I used to walk the 4 miles to work when there was a lot of snow and ice. Walked in my walking boots (2 pairs of socks) and put my shoes in backpack.

It’s not very nice getting blisters 🙁

There are proper walking sandals you can get in the summer. Not the prettiest footwear you will see but they would save your poor feet – and walking is becoming part of your life now. So ask for money not pressies when your birthday comes round! :). 🙂

Hi newlife, you are at the stage where your body is a bit shocked. What? No more carbs?

You will keep on losing. Just keep an eye on those nasty carbs, drink your 2 -3 ltrs water and eat fat and fat will keep disappearing 🙂 but 2lbs in a week is not to be sniffed at

12lbs = 24 half pound packs of lard. That’s a lot of fat your body doesn’t need to lug around! 🙂

Cherrieanne welcome to the, should I say 9 weeks line, and after!

You have been so supportive to so many people on these forums and your medical knowledge has been invaluable.

I’m so pleased that you are in the non diabetic range – you richly deserve that result 🙂

I feel like we are friends although we have never met. Isn’t it good that we know we can ditch the carbs and live healthily for the rest of our lives? 🙂

Just seen message about collecting the girls. Your family will be astonished when they see you 🙂

Wow, Lynne, that is absolutely amazing! Well done!

Are your granddaughters with you yet? 🙂