Official weigh and report day is Saturday, but I weigh daily to help keep me on track.

Today (I can’t believe it!) the scales showed 13 stone exactly. That’s 3 pounds off since Saturday and 3 stone (42 pounds) gone since 19th December! 😱😃

YIPPPEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Goes to continue happy dance.

Ooh Judith you mentioned the P word
Watch the FB clan don’t come and get ya 😉
I had to suffer walking around Asda, Tesco, and Aldi on Saturday, I must have walked past 10 miles of chocolate and the smell was awful.
It will be interesting as the Summer progresses to see what the smells of candy floss and toffee apples are like now.

Fortunately I wasn’t holding my breath!

This is the response received today.

“Thanks for your email. I’m sorry you’re disappointed by my response.
The information I’ve provided has come from our Food Technologist so I’m afraid there is nothing further I can add.
Your feedback has been passed to the team and I know they will use it when they’re reviewing these products and their sugar content.”

So they tell me the food is not cooked in sugar, I show them labels saying that it is, and this is their response. *head hits wall*.

Hi all
of course it isn’t hard to see why people like alcohol so much.
Not only is the stuff addictive the sugar it’s made from is too, so you have a twin whammy of cravings.
Just try to remember, Alcohol = Sugar = Weight on

Bill, I know what you mean, I described it to a friend, when she couldn’t understand how I could smell it, that it is a strong almost chemical smell, sort of sweet but nauseating. I can’t see us eating the white poison again 🙂

Hi
Its the booze for me too
I have managed really well by rigorously policing what I drank – gin and slimline tonic – the equivalent of one pub measure over three long drinks for the last week.
But over the week end met up with friends and the wine came out….
Gained a kilo but now know that wine (as much as I love it) is not my friend either!

Hi Cherrianne, great news about your blood sugars 🙂 I am now counting carbs as well after your timely advice about the carbs in yoghurt!! Thanks 🙂

Bill I have carrot sticks with hummus and I occasionally add a bit to soups or currys. Just wasn’t sure what Rob meant by turnips. Some people call swedes turnips. My Cornish ex mother in law used to be aghast that I would serve ‘sheep food’ with a sunday dinner! lol. Wasn’t sure whether he only eats certain veg so am awaiting the list!! Oh I wish I had been at the hospital when the doctor said that to your wife!!! 🙂

Hi Janet, I always thought eggs were 0g of carbs that was what came up when I googled. The tinternet is not always correct! 🙂

Only good news I have, but I will not share , is that the prunes worked.

Can anyone cheer me up?
What’s your good news?

Sigh……

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hurricane whe I am off, the sun is cracking the flags here, now I am back in work typical
Love Lucia xxx

Hi no one slept well last night.
Is it jet lag from the stolen hour?
Love Lucia xxx

Hi Beverley and welcome to the forums.
If you and the husband can stick to 50grams or less of carbohydrate per day and round about 800 calories, within a week you will see the weight falling off and you will feel extra benefits, ie sleeping and just generally feeling better.
Remember to keep up the fluid intake to 2 – 3 ltrs / day and do not be afraid of full fat dairy products, in fact throw all the low fat stuff in the bin!
The sugar cravings should be gone by the time you hit week 2 and you’ll find that you don’t even think about sweet stuff any more.
If you run into any problems just shout out, there is nearly always someone here to help.
Above all, enjoy your journey and let us know how you are getting on.

Hi Keetz
I’m thirsty all the time too, although as T2D I’m used to that. It’s the body’s way of screaming for fluids to wash away the sugar deposits.
Now THAT can’t be a bad thing.

I LOVE this Penny- it makes things seem much more manageable. I know it’s for Rob but it all helps! 👍🏻

That’s great- thanks Penny. I’ll check Calorie King out. I have been scanning barcodes and creating recipes in the way on MFP for a while now on other diets/nutrition plans but I didn’t understand the carb thing so everything’s becoming clearer! Thanks guys:
B: scrambled egg with basil on portobello mushroom..
In spite of lots of water I’m thirsty all the time- is that normal?

Good for your other half, Bill. I’ve come across doctors who I wouldn’t care to take dietary advice from. Physician heal thyself, indeed. I remember donkeys years ago my dad was in hospital following a heart attack – he was told by the doc to give up smoking. The very next day he saw the same doc having a fag. There is such as thing as leading by example.
Wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of your other half once she’s had her knee op!
Take care,
Rose

Hi Inka
Love your imagery!
But the poor things are only making sure you don’t starve in a famine…😊
Penny

Hi Skinnykins, I’ve never been fond of plain yogurts so when I started this diet I had to try a few to find one I could stick with. Yes, they can be too tart but eventually I settled on Tesco’s Finest Greek Yogurt. I also have the occasional pot of Arla’s Skyr (available in Tesco), it’s not really a yogurt, more of a cream cheese – it’s not the pukka Icelandic stuff but it’s the closest you can get in the UK (I’ve had a couple of holidays in Iceland and have developed a taste for the stuff). I find it quite filling.
As you suggest, sprinkling some stevia or berries over yogurt helps get over the tartness and eventually your taste buds adapt. I’ve also tried a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Hi Keetz
I use Calorieking online to check cals and carbs.
I use MyFitnessPal to track what I’m eating. You can’t rely on their info the cals etc as its put in by the public so I’ve made my own list on ‘my foods’ and ‘recipes’ so I know they’re accurate.
They ll give you a chart of the proportions of what you’re eating.
Good luck
Penny

It is fun – I managed to do about an hour (a few minutes at a time) on my treadmill and I even managed a kind of jog yesterday listening to my embarrassing music! It’s a good thing no one sees me doing this 🙂

I was just really surprised at how certain types of music… like malkay says, not ones I would deliberately put on to listen to, but ones that just make me jiggle about when I hear them – can affect how long and how vigorously I can exercise. I used to watch TV while on the treadmill but found that I lost motivation and interest very quickly. The power of music eh?

Hi Rob
I found it confusing at first.
You don’t have to follow the recipes in the book. Just stick to 50 g of carbs and 800 cals. However you want! Whatever you normally eat minus the bread pasta cakes and rice. So if you like bacon and eggs eat that but no fried bread with it. If you d normally have a ham and cheese sandwich have the ham and cheese with some green veg or salad but no bread. If you love curry have it without the naan bread and rice. As Janet said, you could just concentrate on keeping your carbs below 50 g, it will still work. If you avoid all those carby things it will be easy to stay below 50 g. Look on Calorieking, see what carbs are in veg and fruit, write it down somewhere. Really it’s that simple.
Good luck and keep asking for help.
Penny
PS other threads are listed at the top of the page.

Hi Christi
I didn’t start counting carbs til week 5. Just hadn’t realised I should, and I wasn’t losing much. So you’re not the only one! I m now on my very last day of 8 weeks. Have lost 12 lb. which is a lot less than many people but still- nearly a stone.
Dr Mosely says be ambitious, it helps, so aiming for 2 more stone is good. I’m aiming for 16 more lb.
good luck
Penny

I note the absence of posts over the Easter period…! Yesterday we ate:
No carb Bircher
Spinach and chorizo soup
Griddles salmon steak with salad of spinach, tomato, avocado and pine nuts
Snack (after a gym session) 1 stick of celery and hummus
Going well – bring on week 5!!

Hi shikha
I m new here
I m vegetarian
would love some support and guidance pls

I would like
vegetarian and vegan plans pls

Hi Lachlan,
I count all carbs from whatever source. Total carbs not just sugars. There is quite a bit of leeway in 50g. I aim for 15g per meal plus 5 for ‘spare’ eg extra milk/ nuts/cheese etc. I don’t count calories at all cos I don’t need to lose weight.
I put my planned food into a diary app in the morning, including snacks and my milk allowance. Then I substitute items or ingredients to make sure I’m happy with the final count.
Apart from one day last week when I had a tummy upset and was using rehydration drinks, my highest fasting reading has been 5.2, it’s usually under 5 and post meal under 6.4.
Now I’ve got the results I want, nearly at the end of week 8, I am fully committed to this way of eating for the rest of my life.
It can’t hurt for you to give it a try Lachlan. I think you’ll find your weight will stabilise and your blood sugars will come done. All the best, stay in touch 🙂

Hi Keetz
Don’t be scared. You’re doing great. Carry on like that and you ll be fine.
Penny

Hi Lolo
That alcohol stuff is really interesting. I don’t drink but know plenty who do.
I saw something on TV – might have been Dr Mosely- setting light to one teaspoon of alcohol- enormous flame that lasted quite a while- they said ‘that’s how much energy it contains.’ Alarming!
Great you researched that.
Penny

Thanks guys, the slow weight loss in the last couple of weeks was a little discouraging but the blood results have put a spring back into my step!!!

Hi, I’m Beverley, an overweight Aussie with several health problems but no type 2 diabetes (yet). I’m sure I’m heading that way though. Mum had type 2 and I’m sure her heart problems stemmed from that. I’d like to eventually lose 40kg and get back to 70kg. It’s gradually piled on over the last 30 years and although we’ve changed our diet to a substantially healthy one we still have sweet tooths and eat way too much sugar every day. I think the Fast 800 is going to work wonders and I need the incentive losing weight rapidly will bring. My husband is joining me on the diet – his health problems are as worrying as mine, although again, type 2 diabetes isn’t an issue (yet). We’re looking forward to dropping years as well as weight – both of us feel decades older than we should.

Quick question – weighed myself this morning, to find myself lighter than I was before the blip over the w/e and 1.2lb down on my weight yesterday. My question is, would my apparent weight gain from the w/e be due to poor hydration? Thinking about it, I probably wasn’t even up to 2L per day over Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I was back on track Sunday and Monday, which makes me wonder if the lack of proper hydration had caused retention and a change in the scale’s reading.

Sabrina77 – great blood results! You must be really chuffed to have made such headway.

Hi Rob, I’ll also send you some ideas over next couple of days but I’ll warn you they might be a bit dull. Judith, you are using the wrong eggs my dear, my box says 0g!

Hi Sue
try a couple of days checking your sugar levels pre dinner instead of fasting. That does tend to give a better picture of progress as FSB will alway be the highest reading of the day (unless of course you are munching your way through the chocolate aisle)
Your slow weight loss and sugar level reduction is puzzling though, have you tried increasing the fat a little and reducing the carbs a bit ?

Hi Judith
like I said in another post, I was talked into trying a little trifle and cake on Sunday and was surprised to find out that they had this taste but I couldn’t identify it as a sweet, sugary taste (others said the icing was very sweet) it was just a sort of foreign taste.
I’m hoping this means the sweet tooth is gone for good if I can’t even identify sugar now.

Hi lachlanh, glad to see you’re still here.
keep the total carbs down to 50g per day or less my friend.
All carbs break down into sugars at some point but the complex carbs found in veg etc take longer to digest so help the fat to keep you full but tend not to spike your sugar levels.
Keep going, you will get where you want to be.
My sugars seem to have stabilised again, you shouldn’t be far behind as long as those carbs are under control.

98 signatures folks, can we get a few more today? I’m meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow who will be hearing all about this diet – whether she wants to or not !!!

Bill, I feel sick just looking at or catching a smell of sweet foods. I still am amazed at how my tastes have changed. I thought giving up chocolate would be the hardest thing and consoled myself with ‘you can have a bit at the end of 8 weeks’. Have I wanted it. No not at all. I would pay you to take it away from me now 🙂

Hi Rob
Judith will soon sort you out !
I know what you mean about cookhouse food (ex RAF many moons ago)
It’s is all high carb to provide energy but useless for diets.
As to veg, a little disagreement, Michael says in the book that above the ground veg is better as it is lower in carbs, but, since day 1 I have used small amounts of swede, carrot, parsnip etc in main meals and especially in soups and stews without any bad side effects. It’s all about counting them in your daily carb intake.
Another fat doctor story, My OH ( who doesn’t suffer fools gladly) was at the hospital with a view to a knee replacement op.
The doc who was seeing her was at least as big as her and he made the big mistake of calling her obese.
I won’t detail the conversation that followed but safe to say he called in a nurse for safety.
People who live in glass houses etc……..

Hi Kags
I thought if you’re not weighing them you can’t really count the cals. I swing between weighing and not weighing.
Re feeling hungry- I d say increase your fats and decrease your carbs- I had a horrible plateau and started tracking carbs on MFP which made a huge difference. It’s fats that stave off the hunger. I know many of us struggle to feel ok about fats after all the anti fat propaganda, but they’re definitely our friend! Now I’m on the last day of week 8 and I’m totally ok with eating fats which is great because I’m never hungry.
Hope things improve for you.
Did you come across Jenny Ruhls book ‘low carb problems solved’v (£3 on kindle) I found it very helpful
Penny

Inka, If your doctor has given you antibiotics I would take them, you don’t want that sinus infection to get even worse and derail you for a couple of weeks – and end up on a much longer course of stronger antibiotics! Doctors don’t give antibiotics out like candy so she obviously thought you needed them – even if she appeared distracted.

Once you have finished the course you can eat the foods which will promote healthy gut bacteria. Health food shops sell capsules of live probiotics which you keep in the fridge, they’re expensive but if you feel the need it is an option.

Hope you feel better soon, sinus infections are miserable 🙂

Hi Missay
You make such lovely food, you’re an inspiration. I just copied and pasted your menu into my notes!
Penny

Fantastic blood results, Sabrina, no wonder you have a big grin on your face! 🙂

Oh yes but a proportion of that will be fat.
5Kg is not to be sniffed at, imagine how much lard or butter that represents.
You are well on the way, exciting times ahead 🙂

OK people
The Easter hurdle is gone and in the past now, there were quite a few of us who had little slip ups.
That is in the past now, feeling guilty about it won’t undo it, so, like Lesley91 says, lets all jump back on the horse, we have a clear straight run in now to Xmas in the choccy stakes, by which time, I guarantee that most of you reading this today will not even like the taste of the stuff.

Hi Bill1954, thanks for the reply. My GP told me that I have insulin resistance and a step away from Type 2. I guess that I have a lot of sugar bound water to lose as I started the plan at 120kg ( almost 19 stone in old money) and have lost 5kg in just 10 days. That’s a whole bucket of water.

Morning Rob – wow what a post! I’m glad you have spotted that you have always had your meals provided through home, army and fire service. It had occurred to me. One of my brothers would ring at 6 every night to ask a question about cooking his dinner – this was after he left home – it would be things like ‘I want to make a curry but what do you put in first?’ ‘Right, I’m frying the onions and spices but how do I slice a sweet pepper up?’ This was after he got sick of living on a diet of baked beans and cornflakes for months. There is so much to learn when you start out.

As to burger chips cream scone and latte, you already know the answer! The food was completely wrong for you so you put on weight even though you were training!! I know, some people seem to get away with it (they think) just like some people smoke 20 a day and don’t get lung problems (yet). We are not all the same. We don’t all react the same to medicines ( food is a medicine of sorts).

Rob can you list the veg you do like? Then I can work on a plan for you. You would need to ditch things like swede (too starchy) and parsnips (again too starchy) you need to stay at 50 carbs or under. One chocolate muffin has 51.64g of carbs! 1 10″ pepperoni pizza has a whopping 80g of carbs! So you can see the problem!

1 medium egg has half a g of carbs, medium chicken breast has none. celery, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and peppers are low carb. Courgettes are also low carb,
Do you eat fish or chicken? Bacon? (0g) Beef (0g). The recipes in the book are designed to portion the protein so you are not eating too much ( it hinders weight loss)
Do you like soups? If you do then a stick blender is a really useful tool.
You’re right about onions, they are good for the gut bacteria, as are leeks and garlic. If you like sauerkraut that is good for you too ( I can’t stand it). Note to self – look up the carbs in courgettes, onions and leeks! Chillies are good for reducing inflammation ( I LOVE them!)

Your comment about overweight doctors made me chuckle. When I smashed my leg a very obese consultant with a massive beer gut told me I needed to lose weight in a very dictatorial way- I’m 5’4″ and weighed 8 and a half stones! You should have seen the faces of the medical students who were with him! One popped backed in to comment on it!!

Don’t worry about going off thread – a few of us have done that!! What is it about you ex army blokes who love to read academic books? My ex army brother is the same – he can’t get enough of history tomes! But I enjoyed your comments on things, Rob.

Please let me know which foods you like and I’ll do a three day plan, but it might come much later today so eat what you would have done on plan today.
Finally do you eat full fat yoghurt? Cheese? Berries? 🙂

Morning All,

Its week 5 for me & after a call to the doctors this morning I have a very big smile on my face!
Had a Hba1c test last Monday & got the results this morning. In Nov 2015 it was 54mmol & the result today was 44 mmol 😝. Best encourangement ever.
Weight is down from 151lbs to 140lbs…
So have decided to reduce my metformin from 1000mg twice a day to 500mg twice a day.
Had a few slip ups but got back on that horse!!!!

Just need to increase the walking😬

Hi,
it sounds completely normal to me, especially in the first couple of weeks.
Week 1 you would start to lose fluid anyway as the sugars that are bound to water in your cells are rinsed from your body. After that, it’s really just the results of the high fluid intake.
You don’t say if you are diabetic, but high urination in diabetics is one of the body’s ways of getting rid of excess sugar.

Day 38. Weight 10st 7lbs
Blood sugar 11.4

Going back on the shakes today after putting 2 lbs back on in the last two days. 😔