Hi neohdiver, welcome to the forums. I was very interested in your post. I too have hashimotos and in the three months before I found this diet I was steadily, and scarily, gaining weight despite never eating more than 500 to 1300 calories.
After 8 /9 weeks of this diet I began increasing my calories to 900 – 1200 calories a day and find I am still fat burning (I use ketostix to check) and slowly losing the last of the belly fat. This happens if you start eating FAT! I know, it is counterintuitive but NECCESSARY!

If you are thin you could well be a TOFI – thin outside fat inside – Michael Mosley was.
I would get all your tests redone now and again in 4 weeks. I know the fat is scary, it took me 2 weeks to dare to eat it, and so far I have lost 2 stones 8lbs and have a BMI of 21.7. Like I said, the ketostix still show I am fat burning. If you look at Bill1954’s posts – he’s the person we all look up to – you will see his cholesterol rates dropped after 4 weeks into this diet. As for his other results….well check them out!!

Diabetes and hypothyroidism are closely connected – they are both metabolic problems so you were unfortunate to inherit from both sides of your family. You aren’t the only person who has decided to do 16:8 at the same time as fast 800. It makes complete sense!

Please keep posting about your progress as we all love to hear about people’s successes. If you have any queries there is always someone on the forums ready to help.

Good luck on your journey – not that you need luck on this diet – stick with it and see those numbers change!

🙂

Hi Lachlanh
FSB this morning was 6.8 on just 1 metformin twice a day. You can get there, watch the blood sugar drop now you are starting full carb control.
I have an appointment this afternoon with the GP to discuss my latest results and how I intend to move forward with my diabetes care.
Have I got a story to tell him.

Hi neohdiver
stop worrying about adding fat to your diet. It is one of the essential ingredients for success as it will keep you feeling fuller and force your body into fat burning mode thus losing weight.
You will also discover the other benefits such as bettter sleep and a feeling of wellness.
That 19 pounds shouldn’t take too long to shift, looking forward to hearing ypur progress.

Overnight invasion alert !!!
Welcome to the BSD folks
You will find all the information you need on these forums along with some great tips, recipes, and a few laughs along the way.
You will read some amazing success stories while you read, and, in just 8 weeks, it will be your own stories providing the inspiration to the next group of newbies.
Don’t panic about the 800 calories, when you are eating the right foods, it’s plenty to keep you feeling full.
Any problems, just shout and someone will be along to help.

Hi lostrist51
you will certainly feel satisfied with less carbs after the initial settling down phase.
You must make sure to up your fat intake though as this is what keeps your digestive system working, keeps you feeling full, and eventually puts your body into ketosis or fat burning mode.
Welcome to the forums and keep us informed of your progress.

Have you found that you are satisfied while have a lot less carbohydrates? Yes guarding your enthusiasm is important isnt it. Do you have diabetes type 2 or are you following this way of eating simply for weight management?

Hi Sheryl!
No, at this stage I am trying the Med style 5:2. I wasn’t sure about being very calorie conscious, butmay do that later.

I have done the 5:2 for 2 years, and it got me down from 41 BMI to 31, but then I plateaued and lost enthusiasm. Cutting carbs has really helped both with the weight and the enthusiasm.

Kia Ora 🙂 I am just looking at present but very interested as have a person close to me diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Food looks delicious. Havent purchased the book either but it all makes perfect sense. Are you following it to the letter?
Sheryl

Hi Penny!
How long it takes for the ketostix to stop showing ketones varies from individual to individual. For me, my doc and I theorized that it took about 5 weeks, although i was clearly in ketosis before then. Around the 5th week I had more sustained energy, my blood sugars stabilized, a general feeling of well being, a sweet taste in my mouth, and a much clearer thinking process. It was fairly dramatic for me. My doctor told me that my body/mind liked the ketones and was keeping them for it’s own use and was no longer throwing them, lol.

While i did not use the ketostix, the information above is what my doc told me expost facto.

The best way that i know that i’ve eaten too many carbs and am not in ketosis is that i’m HUNGRY!!! ROFL

Another female overweight Aussie here! Pre-diabetic, diverticulosis, sleep apnoea, feel older and tireder than I should at 45. I started at 83.0 kg yesterday, lost over a kg overnight. I know it’s mostly water weight but it’s still nice to see on the scale! I tend to get a bit peckish in the afternoons, especially when the kids get home from school and snack on Easter eggs. Low-calorie vegetable soup at the ready!

For my 59th birthday, I was diagnosed with diabetes (from my mother), Hashimoto’s (from my father), and vitamin D deficiency. I am determined to follow a different course than prior generations, as the first one in my generation to manifest the family disease (everyone older than I am who is a descendant of my maternal grandfather has diabetes).

By 2 hours after diagnosis, I had settled on (and started) a diet far lower in carbohydrates than the standard medical recommendation – with the goal of keeping my blood sugar within normal range by dietary management. I also used the diagnosis as motivation to lose weight, even though the family version of this beast does not seem to be weight/lifestyle-related (I inherited it from an active string bean). It can’t hurt – and I’d been looking for motivation to lose weight. I’m down 49 lbs (24% of my starting weight) but have no greater tolerance for carbs than the day I was diagnosed.

But my A1c is 5.7% (down from 7.2% at diagnosis). Management by carb control works for me. I can still probably count on 2 hands the number of times my BG has been above 7.8 since 3 days post-diagnosis, when I finally got brave enough to test it. But I’m not looking forward to adding as many fat calories as I would need to add once I hit my maintenance weight, in order to avoid overdosing on carbs or proteins. So – hope springs eternal! The most recent Newcastle Diet study intrigues me – and has me hoping for remission, rather than management.

After as much research as my time permits me, it appears to me that what triggers remission is fasting or a near equivalent. So I’m going to try a bit of both – the BSD combined (most days) with an 8 hour eating window. (The minimum effective fasting period seems to be 16-18 hours – so just barely long enough to add a little bump perhaps.)

Since I’m already on a 1200 calorie (or less) diet – and have been for nearly 6 months – dropping another 400 calories is not as significant as it is for most people. I’m curious to see whether either my particular flavor of diabetes (apparently unrelated to weight, based on family history) or the fact that I have already been eating so close to 800 calories will have an impact on the outcome.

So, until I hit my goal weight – 19 lbs away – I’ll be eating BSD and 16:8 IF most days. I’m guessing that will take 4-6 weeks. At that point I’ll re-evaluate whether to drop below my goal weight – or shift to maintenance (possibly including 36:12 IF) for a while.

Days 1 & 2 have been uneventful. There have been quite a few days in the past 6 months I’ve come home with 300 calories left, out of the 1200, and have eaten something just to use up the calories. For the next part of my journey, that will no longer be a worry!

Hi pmshrink, Penny and Hashimoto,
thanks for your well wishes and advice.
I have started to take the meds and some painkillers as well. My teeth/ jaw is killing me. The funny part about this blasted infection is, that the “rest” of my body feels fine, just my stupid head is all clogged up! Hopefully things will begin to improve soon.
Diet-wise, I am going OK. Due to a lack of appetite caused by my illness, but the need to eat something to be able to tolerate the meds, I had a handful of almonds and an apple for breakfast. It was just an ordinary Fuji apple, my favourite type :-), which previously did not taste thaaaat sweet to me, but this morning tasted extremely sweet, so sweet in fact, that I had to force myself to finish it. It was also really filling and I didn’t feel like eating anything until about 5 hours later – had poached eggs with cooked garden fresh homegrown tomatoes 🙂 and onion, with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese – oh, soooo yummy :-).
Not sure what the scale will say on my 5 week weigh-in this coming Monday (can’t believe its been nearly 5 weeks already) but I have noticed that my jeans I wore when I went to see my doctor yesterday, were much looser fitting! I am tempted to weigh myself before this though. MM stated in his book that he weighs himself twice a week. I know about weight fluctuations which could occur daily, but was wondering if it really has merit to do so….. What is everyone else doing? Do you think its worth looking at the scales more than once a week? Looking forward to hearing from you…. :-)…

Hi guys, also a Aussie from Perth, started 2 weeks ago, 5 kilos down even with a couple of lapses (a kilo of lamb ribs yesterday ) but feeling pretty good and my fasting blood sugar was 5.2 this morning, glad to be doing this

Hello there. I’m a newbie too and tried every diet ever invented! I’m from Oz too. I reckon I can do this.
Cheers
Leanne

Just a call out to see if anyone else is from this corner of the world.

If so we might be able to share suggestions for in season veg recipes, or products to avoid with hidden carbs.

Just the other day I bought some pork at the supermarket, and got it home only to notice an ingredient list – on what otherwise looked like a couple of plain steaks. Made me do a double take. It turned out to have maple syrup in the steaks. Rather annoying, as by then I was home, which is 40 minutes from the supermarket, and that was my dinner.

I first went on the 5:2 diet a couple of years ago, and I did it with my husband, so yes, he knows, but I have only told a couple of others in my large family. I’d rather wait till there is a more evident result before telling the others, so I don’t seem crazy.One I told had already been on a low carb diet for a while. Not this one though.
He didn’t need to lose as much as me, and isn’t fully doing the BSD, but now having read the book he is cutting back on carbs too.I haven’t committed to the eight week 800 cal diet, but have cut carbs right down and am still doing the 5:2, while trying to eat more Med style. If this doesn’t help I’ll cut right back to 800, but it is much easier not counting carbs, and while I have social things going on like staying at others houses, it is a bit tricky.
I have slipped up a couple of times, eating carbs, particularly when around others I don’t want to tell, so perhaps I should…

Thanks blissfulbabe, I’ve never tried that but I’m really fussy and not confident I’d like it. I usually have 1 percent fat milk but thinking of going back to semi skimmed. I might give it a go first though.

Thanks Janet,
I had porridge this morning – no milk and none in my tea all day. Overall I have probably had about 40g today and my weight this morning was only 10st 4lb so I am moving in the right direction! Omelette tomorrow morning and yes I think I’ll put some cheese in it too!

Thanks Bill for the helpful information and to everyone for the welcome. I ordered Michael’s book last night and am looking forward to reading it – I think the menu plan will come in helpful. Anyone else used it?

Definitely Legolas. I have a poster of him aiming an arrow out of the picture – right at my heart!

Hi Cherianne / Bill

Clearly that was where I have going wrong.mi was only counting / avoiding the sugar carbs. From now on it will be total carbs and a maximum of 50g per day. Had to reach for the metformin again unfortunately as the levels were not where they should be. I’m hoping this will be rectified by the restriction of carb intake. I’ll see how the next couple of weeks go.

Keep us posted on your progress with the carbs hashimoto.

I have just started round two of the fast 800 BSD. First time was just after Christmas and I didn’t stick to it very well but still lost some weight. I’m ready to go again.

I’m wondering what dieters tell their family and friends, if anything? I have not told my husband or anyone else that I am eating only 800 calories a day because they would think I am crazy and stupid for following this weird fad diet that can’t possibly be healthy for me. I know that’s what I would have told someone else before trying it myself. My husband knows I am on a diet and avoiding junk food and processed carbs, and hasn’t noticed I’m eating so few calories because my plate is always full. Like last night I made spaghetti bolognaise; mine was on zoodles (zucchini strips) instead of pasta, with a small serve of bolognaise and a tiny sprinkle of cheese. The physical amount of food was as much as everyone else’s, for a lot less calories.

So, have you told anyone? And what did they say? Did they go from negative to positive after seeing you on the diet for a while, staying healthy and getting results?

Hi cherrieanne, I’m off to bed as you are up and about. Your hubby and my son sound like twins – he has long hair which falls into ringlets, he ties it in a pony tail not a plait.

Re leonard cohen, when I organized my funeral I included the chorus from ‘Going Home’ (the Old Ideas album), it’s just so apt.

I’ve always been something of a hippy too. You’d never know though would you? 😉

It will be great to have you there Penny 🙂

You lot have all the fun while I’m asleep! Lucia, I’m with you on Legolas, dreamy looks and I’m a bit ( ok lot) of a hippy so the hair thing is pretty good too. Comes with being born in the sixties I guess. My husband has lovely long hair that hangs in ringlets when loose. He wears it in a plait so it doesn’t get caught in stuff when he’s working.
I’m with Judith on Leonard’s voice too, always loved the less pure earthy type vocals. Plus men who reflect on life and relationships and so on are hard to resist aren’t they?
Sounds like all the charity shops should be signing your petition too! They will be supportive of the BSD based purely on donations received and sales of smaller clothes wouldn’t they?

Hi Hashimoto
I hope so, I haven’t tried it yet, only discovered the info this evening. Weird thing is, OH has same reaction. Maybe it’s common but not everyone. Will keep you posted.
I made ‘potato’ cakes with left over cauliflower mash, egg, and gram flour. Delicious! But later got the sore mouth, which I d had before but forgot about.
Tomorrow I join the big kids on the over 8 weeks thread!
Penny

Hi Penny, I have used besan flour for years and not had a problem. But we all react differently to things. 2 paracetamol can knock me to sleep. Aspirin would make me vomit and upset my guts – even a tiny trace of it. I love raspberries and I grow them too, but if I eat too many I start to fell sick in an aspirin kind of way.
There must be a chemical alteration when besan is roasted that makes it OK for you 🙂

Hi Missay
It’s all those details that sound so delicious!
Re besan flour- I’ve found it gives me a sore mouth. Just found out that if you roast it this doesn’t happen. Do you roast it, or not react like that?
Penny

Hi Rob
2 pints of water isn’t enough. You need 2-3 litres. That’s about 10 cups or glasses. Include tea, herb tea, water, fizzy water etc but not coffee or alcohol.
Penny

Wearing my first size 16 top in goodness knows how many years 😃

Lucia and Catgirl

My very ex-husband did a good job of destroying my self-confidence. I was on the end of his fist many times and had both wrists broken at different times, then there was the mental abuse. But that was a long time ago.

Over the years I’ve rebuilt ‘me’. I can laugh, enjoy myself, do what I want, when I want. I gained my degree a couple of years ago (at age 63) and am in a high stress job.

Perhaps the last thing to go is my ‘shield’ of fat? I might have been using it as a defence. I don’t know. But now is the time for it to go. I don’t need it any more. As Catgirlnsays, there’s a lot of living to do. Even for a golden oldie (or silver surfer) like me.

Hi Annie 16
Burning carbs, not biting them!!
Penny

I’m with RozyDozy and SunnyB: Tesco finest and Lidl but Milbona Greek style. Fage is yum too but less fat (and that’s not the 0% or 2% they do!)

Have you tried the rhubarb compote recipe that Michael has put in the book? It made two small tubs so I have froze one and have calculated that I’ll get 5 scoops from each pot for my tasting. I added some nutmeg to it.

I’m going to try to make a porridge tomorrow with Eat Water Slim Rice, Greek full fat yoghurt, fresh cream and top with some of the rhubarb and flaxseed. I use a ramekin to control quantity and tell myself if I want another portion 30 mins after my last mouthful, I can have one. Of course, I never do! I sip my coffee and enter my food into myfitnesspal and clear up, forgetting the idea of further portions.

Callmedeb DON’T throw away the small clothes, i almost threw mine away 3 weeks ago. Am i glad i didn’t! 🙂

Trees ditch the fat clothes, you’ll never need them again! 🙂

I feel better after my shake (and a spoonful of sunflower seeds), so no prison today 😄 The 3 pots of tea have helped too.

I am glad you all like my reward scheme. I know what motivates me, lol. I REALLY need new lunch containers. I hadn’t thought of flowers… We won’t be ready for planting anything for another month or so here in the Great White (mostly brown right now) North tm, so I may have to revise list a bit.

I’m about to head home for the evening. Have a great night all!

Cheers,

Deb

Hi stringbreaker, I shall have to try it then 🙂

Hey outrunner2k7

When I read your opening few sentences I thought you’d had a sneaky look into my own life – that was me 3 weeks ago. I’m in the middle of week 4 and have lost 13lbs so far. About another 16lbs to go before I reach my 11stone goal.

Keep going and welcome to the forums xx

The fish pie with celeriac is great.

I was doing my usual spring “refresh” of my closet, when I realized that I should belay the binning for at least 8 weeks…

There are a few blouses that I love, but never properly fit into, a skirt I purposely bought too small because I would wear it someday… We all have these right?

I am just thankful that we are nearing dress season so I won’t have to worry about going around “hitching my gitch” in baggy pants.

A girl can dream right?

Cheers,

Deb

PS. Thank you all for sharing your stories, they help more than you can ever know.

Thanks for publishing it this side of the puddle, Michael! Purchased the e-book the day it released, the hard copy today, and will be beginning the BSD Fast 800 tomorrow morning. I am 6’2″ and 275 lbs. (188 centimeters and 125 kilos). I have the food, got a scale, am ready to get a good night’s sleep and begin. I am at the high end of prediabetic, have high blood pressure, also have some neurological issues that are probably related to blood sugar, and am just generally tired of feeling poorly. I overeat and consume a lot of sugar primarily for emotional reasons. I need this to work for me.

Rob, that veg for the fish pie, celeriac., is about the size of a swede but light brown and knobbly. It tastes a bit like mild celery. I. Like it but couldn’t fancy it on fish pie. Perhaps I should try it so I. Know 🙂

Patsy – I think it is very similar. The packet says made from chick peas and split peas (yellow peas I think). Gram flour seems to usually be just the chick peas, but I reckon they are pretty much interchangeable.

Hashimoto. I will put it into the recipes tonight or tomorrow. Sadly I ate it without taking a picture. Oh dear me, I’ll have to make some more, another day, just to take photos of course!

I have no doubt that the science is sound. Love it!

Energy! This is a big NSV for me. Today we emptied our utility room, (for that read dumping ground!) moved a whole load of cupboards, cleaned the walls and ceiling and painted the first coat (OH did ceiling and I did the walls). In the past, I probably would have had enough before we got to the painting, and then we would have got a takeaway, but today I had energy left to make our evening meal, on plan, and also to load up the slow cooker with Sunday’s lamb bone, onions, carrots, green lentils, wild garlic, parsley, rosemary and ground coriander to make a delicious soup ready for tomorrow. Still got some energy left too!

☺

Not killing people is good – following the diet would be even harder in prison!

The rewards idea is a good plan. I’m used to thinking of food or drink when it comes to having a treat. Focussing on something different makes a lot of sense.

I have also been sorting out clothes today– do I keep the ‘big clothes’ just in case or send them to the charity shop.

It will be lovely to wear bright colours after all the dark stuff.

Its amazing that bread could cause so much damage lynne, it’s damaged us both in different ways.
Hopefully the longer you are carb free the better you will get x