Morning lynne, so good that your little grand daughters get to play so much with you. I really do not know what the answer is to all the junk food people eat. There was a case a year or so ago of a 26 year old single mother who complained ‘the tax payer should give me more money so I could eat healthy foods’, that she needed moremoney because she couldn’t buy any fruit or veg. Then she allowed a newspaper to photograph her in her kitchen with the food cupboards open. I used mysupermarket to tot up the cost of the several tins of heroes, pack upon pack of chocolate biscuits. She admitted to several takeaways a week and weekly trips to McDonalds. 3 times the amount I spent for healthy food for two adults.
So, education is the answer,but who and when and how? Who pays for it? Schools in deprived areas are not supposed to ask parents to pay for school trips etc so who would pay the cost of the ingredients for 30 plus children in every class every week? As it is teachers dip into their own purses quite a lot, especially in deprived areas.
Speaking from experience I know that in primary schools there is not access to a kitchen equipped for a full class of children and that the curriculum is so broad there are simply not enough hours in a school week to cover weekly cookery classes. We tend to cover it by lunchtime or afterschool activities or, in my case, science or history lessons. In large primaries where there are 3, 4 or 5 streams to each year group it would not he possible to fit in every child every week into a kitchen classroom – even if one existed.
Also, when children have enjoyed cooking something in class they return next day to say their parents have said they can’t afford it at home. Lynne, I have had children work out the costs of a meal (maths skills) but the answer for most children is still a resounding no.
The problem is huge and I can’t think of a single viable solution to it.
If budgeting and cookery lessons were advised before pregnancy, in an ideal world that could be an answer but the couples who need it most would be the most unlikely to attend. So another idea down in flames.
TBH those kind of classes I would be interested in teaching if my health was more reliable.
Oh and that is my second long rant this morning. It is clearly something that you, cherrieanne and I have passionate feelings about

On a different note i had a chuckle about your skirt slipping off – the same happened to me with some jeans not so long ago. After the initial shock it is a joyous moment! 🙂

End of week four, 18lbs (8.16kg) off. That’s 10% of my initial starting weight.

Morning, I am a newbie looking for some advice. My hba1c reading was 36 so 1 away from prediabetic. I am slim so drs not concerned, but I am as my mum and nan both have late onset type 2, so I want to be proactive with my diet.
My bmi is only 19.3 and the machine at gym says body fat =30%, in range for my age. Book said don’t do diet if bmi less than 21. I am assuming that meant don’t fast but will it be OK to cut carbs significantly and follow Mediterranean diet if low bmi? But not cut them out totally?
. I hope that makes sense and I’d be really grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Thanks Sharon and Janet by the way! Janet that little devil is so naughty. I am thinking of him as my carb addiction trying to get fed.

I read Alan Carr’s easy way to stop smoking in my late twenties, and stopped smoking at thirty. One of the most convincing aspects of his book was that the addiction is a raging monster that gets smaller and quieter as you go on. Thinking of it this way really helped me and I never faltered, I went cold turkey and that was that.

I don’t think I will be an extreme low-carber, but I want to reduce as much as I can while I do the 8 weeks to give my liver and pancreas a chance to de-fat.

I made it! I felt a little nauseous later last evening but it soon passed after a cup of black tea. This morning I’m feeling weak and feeble, with a slightly swimmy head, but have just started sneezing and I think this all might be a coincidental cold!

FBG was 7.3 this morning – and I’m already down 3lbs in weight! I know it’s water, but hey… I’ll take it.

The little devil on my shoulder wants carbs this morning, of course. I’m making spelt and rye bread to take over for my mum who is borderline diabetic (at 82, so she’s done a lot better than me!) and although the aroma is making me drool a bit I’m staying steadfast. I’m going to have the mushroom omelette for breakfast again today, actually my whole menu is the same as yesterday. I don’t mind having the same thing several times in a row, fortunately.

I’m not over-hungry even though I’d normally have eaten a very large breakfast by now.

Tomorrow will be easy as I’m at work. I’m going to have Fage full fat yoghurt for breakfast with a couple of strawberries, chicken salad for lunch and fish and vegetables for dinner. I’ll also quarter an apple and have two quarters with breakfast and two at breaktime.

So at the end of week four, at the halfway point I’ve had a whoosh and as of today I’m 18lbs down! That’s 10% of my initial body weight. Bring it on!

Brilliant result- you’ve done SO well. Congratulations on your achievements.

It’s good for me to read this today as end of week 2 and I have slipped -two days in a row. Made my kids a meal last two nights that is a particular favourite thinking I wouldn’t have any and each time have broken. Have to just keep my head clear and recover from this and keep going.

Hi captain Lynn,

Love the swoon equals the calories in the mouse! ( this was just banter, I am not going out looking for a mouse and taking it to bears camp. No mice were harmed making this blog.)

The reason I mention what I am experiencing as I walk, is to show others just driving in cars, they are missing so much. It gives you something to do as you walk. I hope others get out and enjoy just being there.

I have had a wander through the website. Saw a few things…

Should I call it the bathroom department. I too stopped for a couple of days, used a tablet, got up to date, then stopped again. I found that on day three, my body just went naturally. I think it may be something to do with the volume. Or lack of it. I too have loads of water so it wasn’t that. I think it was just the change over. If I hadn’t taken the tablet I may have gone the next day.
Others say flaxseed, help the process of going.

Weight loss stopped. This happened to me, or actually it was a weight gain. I think of my weight as a personality. I stuffed it for years, then I took that away without saying anything. No wonder there was a pause. My weight didn’t know what was happening, so just held onto everything to be I the safe side. After a few days, it realised, oh she’s changed what she is giving me, ok fine, off we go again, and the weight came off.

Set backs. Mine was massive over 1/4 of a pound ( yes , that old chestnut.) be kind to your scales, I spoilt mine by putting a new battery in 😄😄😄 ( plus a few threats). Maybe sometimes it is not you, it is the other thing. Like it needed a new battery.

Keep exploring the website.
Love Lucia
Xxx

I have been on the 5:2 for 9 weeks now. I have been strict with it and in the past 3-4 weeks i’ve hit a plateau. I started going to the gym doing several high intensity interval training classes per week, it seems to be making me gain “weight” but i look smaller. I’ve started drinking a lot more water but i don’t know why my weight is jumping up and down so much (fluctuates about 4-8kg). I don’t count calories on my non-fast days but i never binge and rarely snack.

Day 28 weight 10st 7lbs blood sugar 11.4

Today Day 29. Weight 10st 7lbs, Blood Sugar 11.2

Athletes foot started a couple of days ago, which is a sign that my blood sugar is out of control. 😕
I keep looking at what I am eating and drinking, I’m wondering whether I was too optimistic in stopping the gliclazide. I’ll have a think and change a couple of things but if my blood sugar levels are still in double figures next week, I’ll contact the diabetic clinic and tell them why is happening and see if they want me to go back on it.

Hi cherrieanne I know what you mean, you would not believe how many children have nothing but chocolate and fizzy drinks in their packed lunches. The majority qualified for free school meals where they could have chosen from a selection of hot meals or the salad bar but wouldn’t eat ‘that kind of food’. School dinners might not be perfect but a hell of a lot better than the packed lunches which were taken in. Only one in about 50 were acceptable as lunches.
Cold McDonalds? Yup, seen that too! I took my class, 10 at a time, for a day walking in a forest with lots of fun activities, one mother was very concerned about her son who had a hole in his heart. When he opened his packed lunch I saw why he was obese – two, yes two, double mac cheeseburgers,an entire chocolate swiss roll, yes, really, a family pack of crisps, 3 chocolate bars and lots of other junk. Even the other children were shocked. I’m talking about 10 year olds. Can you imagine? One child asked him why he had a swiss roll because he didn’t have a plate or knife for it. Clearly puzzled as was I. He sat and peeled of the wrapper and ate it like a banana. I don’t think I have ever been so shocked.

What a shame junk food has reached Australia, I have fond memories of the lovely fresh food I ate there.

Schools here have fruit time too, but now just for KS1, the younger children also get milk. We regularly give out leaflets on healthy packed lunch ideas and 5 a day leaflets – but apparently to no avail. TBH I wish packed lunches were banned to give children a chance to try food other than cake, chocolate and fizzy drinks. I must add that I taught in a school in a deprived area and believe packed lunches in most schools would look quite different but I would still ban them, if I could, to give kids in deprived areas the opportunity of trying a range of healthier foods. Oh I have had quite a long rant but it is heart breaking to see what some kids eat every day and you are right cherrieanne,it does impact upon their concentration. Which leads me onto another rant- young children arriving in class so bleary eyed they have trouble staying awake. All but a handful of my class where still up long after I was in bed!!!!! And I’m talking about classes of 7 and 8 year olds as well as 10 and 11 year olds. How can young children be up til after 1am every night? Well I had better stop this rant or I could go on for ever!

I bet you really enjoy your time volunteering in school – it is so rewarding working with children and being there when they have a light bulb moment!

Well, I think I did too much on thursday and friday because I slept a whole 16 hours last night! I have woken to the sun pouring in like honey this morning! Out to the. Greenhouse now to see what seeds have awakened too

X 🙂

Great news and brilliant results.

Another person over the 8-week line.

Come and join us on the ‘over the 8-week line and after’ thread on this forum and keep posting your progress.

That particular club, I’m happy to say, is growing 😃

My twin 8-year old granddaughters come to me during some school holidays.

They bring their phone and tablets and I’m told how long they’re allowed to spend on them. So what do they do here? Play out (weather permitting) or inside, read, colour, sew, make cards or jewellery. Sometimes they come to work with me or, occasionally, we go out for the day. They depend nowhere near the amount of time on their gadgets as they do stuff home.

A few years ago I bought them a kids’ meal from Subway – within an hour or so they were hyper, nearly running round the walls. Their sweet intake at home is restricted to after meals and treats, but here they don’t often ask for sweets. Their Easter eggs last year finally went back to them in October!

Their family income is restricted, only dad (my son, diabetic) works, his partner is on long-term disability benefits, and meals often have lots of carbs. When I started this in December I was due to visit them between Christmas and New Year but knew it would be difficult to eat the right things so made my excuses and stayed at home to get the good habits established.

It’s going to be interesting in a few weeks to see their response (if any) to my weight loss, and to how the twins take to eating my new way.

In my experience it’s not only school packed lunches that aren’t healthy. I’ve been involved in providing food parcels for those in need and quickly realised that the food in those parcels is generally unhealthy (processed because of storage problems). But I was told of one man, given fresh veg, didn’t want it because he didn’t know what to do with it. And a woman given food who asked what they thought she would do with that – couldn’t they give her cash so she could take the children to KFC.

I have thought for a long time that education is the key. Cookery lessons on schools have generally disappeared, and a couple of generations now haven’t been taught how to cook from scratch, and they don’t learn at home either. As long as it’s possible to buy takeaways, junk food and processed foods more cheaply than healthy fresh foods I fear there will always be a problem.

When Jamie Oliver did his series on healthy school meals, parents were taking junk food and passing it through the railings. Now there’s talk of a sugar tax, which may help, but I fear manufacturers will find a way round it.

My suggestion would be to start teaching healthy (low carb) eating and basic cooking in schools. Perhaps then we could break the downward spiral in health in all our countries. But who am I? 😳

I’ll put the soapbox away now, folks.

Hi snoopy 73,
Many thanks,
I get a kick when people reply on my threads. I just ramble on to myself and love having someone comment. Other people’s blogs give me a different angle on life and make me think of things totally different.
I have been on the BS800 for only a short time, but it feels like years. At the beginning, (last week) I was panicking and weighing my self many times a day then leaving it for a while.
Today, my mind set isn’t one of someone frantic to check the scales. I know I have done my best to lose weight.
This week, I have tested myself with “old foods”, I was suprised to find my addiction is broken. Just in a few days.

So this week, week two, I am going to explore the taboo subjects of exercise. I would never have thought I could do anything like exercise as I was so out of condition. In just walking and doing tiny runs, and surviving them – makes me feel I can go to the next level. I May even go around to one of those clubs for skinny people, like think the technical name is gym. What should I wear to camouflage the blubber, bet I get put with a sknny Minnie. See , I have self doubt already. So I just need to find one and see if they will let me try them out.

How is everyone? Have you done your walk yet for me? There is still plenty of time today to do it.

I am going to plan my weekly meals soon, so I don’t just grab anything but the house has been cleared bad stuff. I am going to get ideas from the ‘what have you eaten today’ blogs.

I am also going to have another wander through this website as there are so many hidden treasures.

Finally, how is everyone’s Equinox today? I didn’t feel a thing did you? Wikipedia says it is when the earth goes through the sun? I didn’t feel it going through, it didn’t get to a zillion degrees here? Maybe it is because I am lighter than I didn’t feel it? If you didn’t feel it either it means you are lighter too. 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

Keep happy, keep with the BS800,
Love Lucia
Xxxxxx

Hello,

I’ve finished my 8 weeks this morning and just thought I’d post my results as an encouragement to others. I’m 49 and have been on some sort of diet every year since I first got taken to Slimming World when I was 8 (it may have been weight watchers).

At the start of this diet I was 19 stone (at 6ft 2in) and a type 2 diabetic with good blood sugar control over the 2 years since diagnosis.

On my weigh- in this morning I was 16 stone, a loss of 42 pounds, and I have lost about 4 inches of my waist. Blood sugars are still good, blood pressure is better than it was, although still a little high. Cholesterol I haven’t had done, but I have a diabetic clinic due so I shall find out soon. The loss has been fairly steady, although in week 6 I didn’t seem to lose anything. My biggest allies on the diet have been:

Lots of water – a Brita filter bottle has been a constant companion, and I worked up to about 3.5 litres a day. On the downside, when I walk the dog I’m looking for a wee more than he is.

Walking – just the right intensity without making for light-headedness. The dog is very happy.

Weights three times a week, but mainly bodyweight, press-ups and assisted pull ups.

Greek yoghurt – I eat the fat free stuff but add the fat and calories back in with nuts and flax seeds. The Fage stuff has no added sugar. I add in some frozen berries as well. I’ve also used it as a salad dressing mixed with marmite (no really), or with lime and chilli

Kale – a huge bag of it steams in the micro-wave and makes you feel very self-righteous.

Tinned oily fish. A lot of calories but anything that smells that bad must be doing you good.

Loads and loads of leaves.

Turkey steaks fried in spray olive oil, with…

Peppers, courgettes and mushrooms.

Eggs. Especially in a ‘frittata’.

Black coffee – the ritual of making it fresh seems to help, as does having it made for you in a coffee shop; keep your eyes off the Granola though.

Marmite as a hot drink. Lots of B vitamins and it’s almost like eating.

The challenge now is to keep it off. I plan to stick to the Mediterranean diet and maybe fast a couple of days a week. I want to keep up with the water. I’ll have a drink when I’m out (a rare thing) but give it a miss at home. I’ll also let my self go a bit if I’m out for a meal.

Thanks to Dr Mosely and everyone on here for being a reference point and support. Good luck to all of you.

Hi Lucia

I love your posts 😃

Probably the calories in a swoon would balance out those in a toasted mouse 😳

Not noticed the birds yet, but the cows have reappeared in the field at the end of my street, and one of the horses has been out cutting the grass nearby.

Thanks for always putting a smile on my face 😃

Hi Aly,
The rolled oats will be good when they get there. Am amazed the French don’t have them?! Makes me think we might actually have a food culture!
As an alternative I came across the idea of mixed grain porridge recently like… damn can’t post the link,
Quinoa porridge, or Quinta oat mix. Means a Lower GL more protein so feeling full longer for less carbs.
A bit of propper wholemeal toast rye or wheat, with butter and marmite or other not jam toppings is OK too I guess better than jam and honey.

Hi Judith,
You would have been a wonderful teacher planning all those hands on experiences for your students. Sounds like lots of fun. Messy play is just the best play, even though there’s lots of cleaning up after. My own kids would much rather be doing stuff like that than watching TV or using a play station.
I volunteer at the school a couple of mornings a week and while most of the children bring fairly good lunches, some of them are shocking. I’ve seen cold McDonalds food in lunch boxes. Not even appealing when it’s hot lol! One little girl had two packets of high sugar and artificially coloured biscuits, one pack of processed cheese dip and crackers and a muesli bar. Wonder why she has trouble sitting still and producing any work! I’ve seen cold chips, obviously left over from the night before. So sad. The schools here all have ‘fruit time’ at about 9.45-10.00 am, where the children sit on the mat and have some fresh fruit and listen to a story or have show and tell while they eat. This is separate from their morning play time snacks.
We watched Jamie Oliver’s school dinners series and it was really shocking. Obviously at the extreme end of the spectrum, but that sort of prepackaged processed stuff is creeping into Australian supermarkets. No excuse for that when we have an abundance of lovely fresh foods produced right here.
We all pay the cost of cheap foods somewhere along the way, to our health or the environment, or our spirits.
Oh well that’s my rant over lol.

Lucia, I think you are wonderful. I hope you continue to update your progress, because it is people like you who give people like me the enthusiasm to carry on…..

Hi matrika – burning fat but weight increase? I suspect you are retaining some water which when it goes should show a sudden weight loss. Well done for staying so positive! 🙂

Hi hellforheather, very wise words! I look at my falling fat % as well. I like to visualise visceral fat just melting away. That and falling blood sugars for diabetics are two very important results!
Now that you have highlighted falling fat % it is something we should all be bearing in mind.
Well done on your melting fat ! That’s a great drop! 🙂

Hello Mandy, I am a slow loser too. I only dropped one pound in week one. But do you have a scale that measures body fat percentage? Because I do, & I know these things aren’t entirely accurate but while I saw and felt no weightloss, my body fat percentage has gone from 45 (where it’s been showing on my scale for as long as I can remember) to 36%. 30% is considered the ‘healthy’ zone, so I’m thrilled to be a bit nearer. Whatever you see, feel or measure in weightloss, remember you are doing wonderful things you can’t always see within for your body. Stick with it x

Great to hear that tinforest, it sounds like you’ve come out the other side now. Someone on another thread described that feeling as “carb flu” which sounds fairly apt.
You are just going to be amazed in the next few days about how much better you will start to feel. More energy, more clear headed, much more in control and food tastes so much better without all the carbs and sugar.
Hope to hear of weight loss next time you post 🙂

Good morning or should I say afternoon? Cherrieanne fantastic news! Sounds like you have cracked it! 🙂

Everybody’s posts are so encouraging – it is these that make the diet I’ve never known anything like it. Thanks guys I will stick at it as it doesn’t feel much like dieting. xx

Hi Toofastblack,

That’s just fantastic news – very well done – what a motivator!!! Don’t assume it will taper off – you’ll be surprised – I’m just about to start week 8 and yes my loss has tapered off but only in the last few weeks to be fair. I suggest you do try the receipes, can’t recommend that highly enough as they are inventive, and quite frankly delicious and have been a saving grace for me……………..we have the stuffed aubergine every Monday evening as we love it so much ooh and the prawn curry which I’ll add bok choy to.

Well done!

I’m with Janet1973. I use Rapeseed oil for frying as it doesn’t smoke and burn like Olive oil.
Keep the extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on your salad’s and veggies.

This is the one meal I really struggle with. I cannot eat savoury food first thing. Although I am still working my way through my stash of cheap Tesco porridge, bought on my last trip, I have some jumbo oats ready. Dr M says jumbo oats are better. So I always have a bowl of porridge made with full milk and add a little local honey. ( next year I hope to have my own honey). This keeps me full for ages and out of the biscuit tin. I can do without my toast, butter and marmalade, but I do miss it. I have several decades of conditioned behavior to deal with. Breakfast is cereal and toast!

Hi folks, my breakfasts always used to be oats cold, or porridge hot!, since I’ve been doing this I’ve had a few good cooked breakfast type dishes, eg poached eggs & asparagus, mushroom omlet, smoked salmon cream cheese omlet… etc.
But I really find these small calorie dense meals less satisfying than a plate full.
I’ve had Mexican eggs (stir fried peppers onions and spinach with a couple of scrambled or fried eggs) which hits the spot.
As it’s initially only for 8 weeks I’ve also been having salads and tinned or smoked fish for breakfast. Sometimes with pickles, or soy & sesame dressing.
If I get hungry I want to binge, but by eating loads of colourful vegie and salads with a good protein hit I’m not feeling.

Tried the ketostix, show mild ketosis, so I don’t know…gaining weight but fat burning.
Interesting and motivating.

“I’ve yo-yo dieted for 30 years and have always suffered from “hunger” before. Mid-afternoon and late night snacking have so often been my downfall.
To my surprise, I don’t feel hungry on this regime. It almost seems too easy.
This is my first low-carb diet – could this be something to do with it?”

Dear stringbreaker, I think it may be to do with dropping your insulin levels…insulin triggers hunger when blood sugar levels drop and but when your blood sugar levels are stable due to fewer simple carbs triggering insulin surges, you don’t need to feed the beast. 🙂 I don’t know if this is so, I’m no expert.

I know this might be weird but try soup. In winter I sometimes have eggs, mushroom and onion poached in miso soup.

Also fibre takes longer to digest and keeps you fuller for longer.

Dates are the candy of the fruit world and are quite sugary. There are other fruits you’re able to use instead. It is advised to steer clear of them because it is hard to stop at one.

It’s a matter of your own preferences. I had to lower my amount of lactose because of arthritis so I use almond milk in my cuppas, this allows me the occasional treat of ice cream or milkshake.

Try raw cacao from a health food or organic food store. I get a powder and sprinkle it on stuff, I also get blocks of chocolate that are very satisfying after having only a square or two.

With any oil you firstly need to know how it’s extracted, Olive Oil is cold pressed from the olives. But some such as Rice Bran Oil are chemically extracted from the bran and that leaves residue.

It’s always a balance with oils. I use coconut oil, olive oil, butter or nothing depending on the dish. Just remember that the oil helps the flavor profile of your dish.

Most tropical fruits are very sugary, but some aren’t. It’s probably best to google their nutritional requirements before you decide to get the fruit. I ate rambutans without a problem, but only because I had a few.

Hi Aly, welcome back to the fold! I have been wondering where you were and how you were doing. That chest infection really knocked you around didn’t it?
You seem to have regained some enthusiasm and motivation so keep building on that and you’ll soon be back on track. 🙂
Welcome allychat, you’ve made a great start, good to see you posting on here 🙂

Soy milk is okay if your eating other dairy and nuts to get enough calcium. If not almond milk has calcium in it.

Unless you’ve got a big hand, it’s about the size of your closed fist as a visual guide.

Offal is no different to any other cuts of meat. Be brave and go for it if you want it, I’m not letting this diet stop me from enjoying a wide variety of foods.

You might need to retrain your palate to unsweetened or low sugar. I slowly cut down my sugar in my coffee down to one of raw sugar, my tea was easier. I had always used sweetener and just changed to it’s stevia version. The hardest change I had was getting used to almond milk, I missed the heaviness that cow’s milk gave coffee.

If you’re used to something sweet start with a normal full fat yogurt and over a couple of week blend it with greek yogurt. I have always had sweet ones but need to get off them so this is how I’m going to do it, also your fruit choice helps the yogurt’s palatability.

thanks Cherrianne Bill1954 and hashimoto. I am pleased to report I feel so much better today. Yesterday I felt like a drug addict coming off an addiction – which is essentially what is happening of course. I thought I was heading for an afternoon in bed. But it eased, I didnt go to bed, and today I feel so much better. Hungry and look forward to food, but not the horrible fevery feeling that made the thought of food intolerable. No weight loss still (day 7) but onwards and upwards! Thank you so much for helpful support!!

In many ways Michael Mosley is like Columbus, sailing into the unknown with getting this accepted. The more of us that get on this diet and change our lives for the better, the easier it will be for the medical profession and the public to accept.

The headaches are withdrawals from all sorts of bad things as well as changeover to the new fuel.

As for your problem Trishart, that’s your guts getting used to the new foods. Some bacteria will be dying off while others are starting to grow, in time the smell will settle.

There are heaps of prebiotic foods available too. I enjoyed sauerkraut with some foods and am going to try kimchi next.

When you make big changes to habits of a lifetime, it takes awhile to retrain to new habits. I went low gluten years ago because of arthritis and I still occasionally crave certain items. This is where mindfulness helps, I mentally divert those thoughts for awhile and if there still there after a few months I give in to that craving. But I am finding the gaps are longer and I’m not enjoying it as much.