Captainlynne, I’m sure you’ll smash it! It must be tricky trying to keep to the plan while visiting another country.

There’s a series that we’ve been watching from your Channel 4 called how to lose weight well, and we watched the first episode yesterday. All of the diets essentially involved calorie restriction and just about everyone lost weight. The difference was how hard or easy they were to stick to. The (relative) ease of the BSD and the 5&2 modified Mediterranean plans seem to be in the fibre and fat content and in the Mediterranean diet, getting your carbs long term from whole grains or whole fruit so that you ingest some fibre at the same time as the starch or fructose. This is what halts the addictive “ingest sugar or fructose, feel hungry again really quickly” cycle.

Long term success for me is going to involve avoiding sugary snacks, any processed foods and sugar substitutes in all forms.

For you, what’s the worst that can happen when you’re in Prague? If you try and avoid the foods you know will give you problems and accidentally ingest something you shouldn’t, you might have a slight reversal in metabolic outcomes but it’s only short term.

If you’re really worried, take some of the recommended liquid shakes powder with you and have them for breakfast or lunch? You’ll be back home in a short period and you KNOW you can stick to the diet fairly easily so you’ll be back on track in no time.

The final thing that has really helped me to maintain some discipline is reading on and listening to some of the experts in the field. Prof Taylor from Newcastle university has a recorded speech on the ncl.ac.uk reverse t2 diabetes site that talks about the research that led Dr Mosley to the BSD. The researcher/doctor that started a lot of the debate around sugar and metabolic syndrome and t2 diabetes is Dr Robert Lustig. He is an American pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco and has written a book called “Fat Chance – the bitter truth about sugar ” (available on Amazon as a book or ebook) . Think of it as a really detailed explanation and examination of the information around our body’s response to certain foods that Dr Mosley summarised in his BSD book. I bought that as an audiobook and listen to it on my bike rides or walks. There are also some YouTube video’s of lectures by him – Sugar: The Bitter Truth, Fat Chance and Fat Chance 2.0: Fructose.

It was interesting to understand the reasons why I previously snacked, ate the way I did and the foods I chose and avoided moving and exercise at all costs.

Now I understand what sugar did to me, it’s really easy to stay on the path.

Good luck for next (this?) week and into the future 🙂

Hello All,
Positive start with healthy breakfast and 4k walk and I feel pretty good.
Does anyone know if it is ok to be on this Diet when you have hashimoto’s and Bipolar?

I have been overweight pretty much all my life, my sleep was terrible, I am not diabetic but was very concerned that my sugar consumption may be putting me at risk. I have been following the 800 calories a day and cycling approx 60 kms over the past six days, I have lost over 4 kilos and I’m sleeping like a baby!! Yes there have been times where I am hungry but I’ve had a few nuts and lots of water….will keep you posted!

Hi Penny, it really does make me sound like a Japanese man, doesn’t it? You made me chuckle with that one. It was that strange moment when asked for a username and you use the first thing that comes into your head 🙂

Good luck Denise47Jones! Welcome.
Bill1954, I’m in Victoria, Australia!
Glad Georgiarose, those olives were a good choice then!
I had a little speedhump last night – I find when I bake it hard to resist having some – I made vegemite scrolls for the kids lunches. i knew it would be a challenge, I ate one, but I guess its good I stopped at only one. First decent carbs in almost a week. Yep, my last day for the first week is tomorrow. Good luck everyone, keep at it.

Hi Marjorie- well said!
As I’ve said before, we ve all been sold an addictive substance for years and sometimes we re going to slip back. But we can beat it, and I’m sure you will.
Best of luck
Penny

Hi Fin
I’m really sorry to hear you’re suffering.
I wondered about the composition of slim fast. I had a look. It’s 6 g fat, 25 g carb, 10 G protein. I think that is not really the right ratios for this diet, which really is low carb ( people often aim for 50g, per day, if they’re measuring carbs) and high fat with medium protein. ( we ve all struggled with the idea of high fat, but full fat dairy and the fat on meat keeps hunger away)
Perhaps it would be better to try following the menus for a week, or a version of them that suits you?
As an example, you could have omelette or full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries for breakfast, oily fish and salad veg for lunch, meat and green veg for dinner- including the fat! That sort of regime would fit the theory. I’m sure people will pile in with suggestions, but on this type of eating we ve all found after a few days we feel really energetic and dont crave carbs.
Best of luck with it
Penny

I made it through! I had half of each scone, a sliver of brownie and cut a fairy cake in half and only just went over my 800 as kept the rest of the day low. I have proved to myself that this is a new way of life and the whole thing doesn’t go off track for one meal. Even better, the cake tasted really sweet and I didn’t feel like I wanted more. So, back to the new normal tomorrow!

Thanks for listening.

I’ve done my first day today and have enjoyed reading this! Very encouraging to see that the hunger pangs subside, and that the weight losses are steady. Very excited about tomorrow’s lunch, but not sure about the green tea and blueberry breakfast smoothie! 😯

Thanks Cherrianne. I’ll check it out more when I get back next weekend. 😃

Hi Mandy
Welcome to the forum
I recommend a book by Jenny Ruhl called ‘low carb problems solved’ (£3 on kindle) which deals with this problem amongst others.
As Spirit days, you have to eat fat ( most of us have struggled with that at first after decades of anti fat propaganda)
to replace the carbs, which maybe you’re not doing. On Myfitness pal you can track your macronutrients.
Best of luck,
Penny

Hi Captlynne
Thanks. I know that’s true- judicious use of emojis!
Penny☺️

Well done Georgiarose, the lower blood sugars are a great incentive aren’t they?
Captainlynne, I had a bit of concern about the chickpea flour carbs too. Had a discussion with Bill who posted more info. I’ve made a few things with it and it’s had no effect on my blood sugars. I prefer it to the coconut flour for savoury dishes, and to be honest haven’t had much success with the coconut flour.
The worst disaster was the no carb waffles. Made some for my mum’s birthday to have with strawberries and cream but they were truly awful lol. Will have to look at the coconut mama website for more ideas.

Hi Hashimoto
Whatever I try to do with my head, in my imagination you are a Japanese man! ( as I hadn’t heard of the condition before)
Thanks for the support
Penny

Thanks Col
Penny

Hi Hashimoto
Thank you. I’m not leaving. People are being really nice. Just thought if I said something I’d get over it.
Thanks
Penny

Don’t be jealous, Fin, I haven’t lost weight this week, but my head’s in a good place. I’m really keen to get my ketostix as they will tell me something I have never known for sure, ie, whether I can achieve ketosis or not. Should be fun!

Hi Cherrieanne
Thanks.
Penny

Thanks Malkay
😊Penny

I am so excited, so motivated after my first week on Fast BSD. Basically within a week I have lost 5.1kg/11.2 lbs, there have been no symptoms of acid reflux – which has been plaguing me for weeks, and I feel a lot more energetic. I realize the weight loss won’t be as high as the weeks go past, but it’s great to see that it works.

I did have a bit of a headache at the start of week but now it’s gone.

I haven’t done a lot of exercise, which I will amp up this week.

Meal examples:

B – poached egg with tomato/avocado/mushrooms
L – Salads. For the first half of the week I had a Mediterranean salad with tuna, lately I have been a pulled pork salad with spinach, coriander, tomato and pumpkin seeds.
D – Protein (salmon steak/cutlets/grilled chicken breast) with salad.

Compared to another diet I went on, that was 1200 calories and meal planned, I haven’t been starving and have already had better results.

Whoopee!

Happens to us all at some point! I indulged today too but it is just one day. I won’t weigh in tomorrow either will leave it until later in the week. We know we can do this so back on the wagon tomorrow. Forget about today, it’s done and cannot be undone so leave it behind.
See you back on the wagon tomorrow!

Thank you all for the kind words of support.

Day 15. Weight 10st 9lbs (149 lbs). Converted to lbs as I’m putting my weight into a graph and it won’t work with stones and pounds.
Blood sugar 13.7

Mother looks a lot brighter and she has a little bit of feeling in her hand.👍

Hi Janet, yes Im a bit brocollied out! I’ve bought Brussels sprouts for tomorrow, all the veg I get is in pre weighed bags at 235g which is how exact I like things because I just open the bag and pop it in the micro, I add ten sprays of olive oil and pepper. I could go mad and change to butter for a little difference!! The caul mash sounds terrific, I’m going to make that for sure. I’m glad my daughter bought me flowers for Mother’s Day, not chocolate, I can’t eat the flowers, well maybe if I was that hungry!!. You seem to be going great guns, I’m not jealous, oh god yes alright I am😆. I’ve also bought some kefir which I hear is good for gut bacteria so that’ll be a change for mid week. Keep going, you’re doing great.

Oh dear – an early Mother’s Day dinner has just for me this weekend! I had offered to cook a meal for the family a while ago before I started the diet. Haven’t told my parents I am now on the diet as want to get healthy gradually without them judging me when fall off wagon. I tried to keep the meal a bit healthier than normal but also wanted to cook my mum’s favourites. It ended up being a night of indulgence. Baked Camembert and bread to start with; baked breaded fish goujons, homemade mushy peas and sweet potato wedges, then sticky toffee pudding and custard (although I couldn’t eat all the pudding as on the plus side it was too sweet after two weeks on the diet) washed down with some fizz. It was a lovely evening, I was proud of my cooking skills and my mum loved it. I went for a long walk today and tried to get back on track but don’t want to get back on the scales for a few days. Disappointed I may have undone my small weight loss so far after just one night. Grr ..

Hi Fin
I’m sorry its not happening for you just yet. I can only wonder if you need to add some fat to your diet? You are dead right that eventually the weight loss has to kick in but one of the principles of the 800 is the inclusion of fat. Could you go back over the bits in the book or on the website and have a look at the discussion about including fat, and maybe add some as olive oil on your broccoli? Btw, aren’t you sick of broccoli? Could you change it up? Maybe go mad and have some cauli mash with butter? Or some fruit with greek yoghurt? But anyway, stick with it for a few more days, surely your efforts will pay off soon. I, myself, am starting again with renewed vigour tomorrow after a planned off piste mother’s day, hoping that the sudden influx of extra calories will kick start the old metabolism again!

Well I start the 800 cal diet tomorrow. Today being Mother’s day I’ve pigged out!! Chocolates, roast lamb, chocolate torte and cream to name a few bits! I’ve done myself a menu for 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 teas, trying to combine the same main meal for tea with what I’m cooking for hubby. I’ve got my scales, tape measure and blood glucose meter ready! Wish me luck! Hope I can do this!

I’ve been wondering about pasta and olive oil when MM and many others talk about the Med diet. We are restricting olive oil to 1 teaspoon now on salads, but hubby did find that one olive is only 5 cals Franash, so a few certainly don’t hurt. Will check out the chickpea flour recipes, Bill1954. Coconut flour, oil, etc used by our Paleo son (blood sugar 4!) for several years now, so familiar with the coconut mama website and some good recipes. My bloods 6.9 this am, down from 17 last Sunday when I got scared into this diet! Keep travelling this healthy road all and thanks for your posts.

I’m an active cycling and typically carry energy gels w/me. Since they do contain sugar, what are you recommending? I can get some that contain protein(Accel gels) and I assume I’ll burn the sugar off, but I do need nutrition on longer rides(50+) and this would include even long hikes(6+ miles). What is recommended for a more active person? Thanks. – Marc

Hi Marjorie, it’s alright, it doesn’t matter, it cannot wipe out all your losses thus far. A lot of it will be water and will rid itself naturally after a few days, yes it might level out as a two to three pound gain, but get back on board and nail it. I haven’t lost any weight yet despite doing just shakes and veggies, but keep telling myself it’s got to come down at some point. Dust yourself off, it’s nothing but a blip, you CAN do this, we can do this! KEEP ON KEEPING ON.XX

I’m on week 6 and have lost 16 pounds. Have been on self destruct mode all weekend eating chocolate. Came on here tonight looking for some inspiration to get me back on track – have read all of the posts on this thread and am motivated to get back on track now! Thanks guys – not prepared to let one weekend sabotage this 😀

Hi I’m doing slim fast three times a day, have 1.5 stone to lose. It’ll be my fifth day tomorrow. In the evening I have 235g of broccoli and lots of water. I’ve got a piece of string with a knot in it to measure my waist but can sadly report no scale weight loss, no change in my tester trousers either. I’m sticking with it because I cannot believe that I won’t eventually lose weight on 800 cals. I have been regularly exercising for about four weeks now, am I fed up, yes, am I upset, hugely, am I demotivated, kind of, but what keeps me going is that it HAS to come off with the calories so low. I don’t feel bloated as if I’m retaining fluid and although going to the loo is less frequent, don’t feel constipated. I’ve had thyroid checks and all come back normal. I will beat this, I will lose weight unless , after having my thyroid checked last year, that I have some medical issue. Well that’s my outward forum post, inside….I’m confused and upset.😢

Hello Mandy,

This isn’t a high protein and veg diet. It’s a high fat with some protein and veg. You will feel more satiated with fat, so i’d suggest dropping the amount of protein and increasing the fat.

Stick with it, I know form experience how frustrating it can be. It’s often a case of adjusting your diet a bit. It you track your eating on something like myfitnesspal, that will help you i’m sure.

I’m struggling too. Not sure this diet is all it is cracked up to be. I’ve been on the diet just over a week. Eating protein (chicken or fish ) with vegetables. With an occasional couple of walnuts. OK for first couple of days then was feeling unsatisfied after meals. Stuck to it though. Feeling tired all the time. My partner says I’ve never looked worse – I’m shattered all the time. I go for a run each morning – just for a couple of miles. I was going to start building up the miles but don’t know how I can when I feel so tired. Lost an inch off my waist and 3 lbs doesn’t seem much for a week of misery. Please tell me it’s going to get better

Agreed, love Aldi feta cheese, mmmm

Hi Justabloke. Next week is going to be somewhat of an experiment for me and it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think that for most of us it will be trial and error after the 8 weeks. So next week I’ll try to keep to my plan, see what happens to weight and fasting bloods then make a more informed decision for me.

They’re both full of fibte and complex carbs so I think they can only be good.
Mind I find the coconut flour flatbreads very filling.
I need to have another look at that coconut mama website, it has tons of recipes.

Hi Nigel. It could also matter if you are diabetic or not, and how you react to the porridge oats. My son and I are both type 2 and he can eat porridge, but if I do my blood sugar spikes.

Bill, we’re neighbours! I’m in north east England too.

Also like you I prefer imperial rather than metric 😃

When I get home next weekend might try chickpea flour and/or coconut flour recipes. Wondering what effect (if any) it will have on my blood sugar. Any thoughts?

Franash, far away ? I’m in north east England, where are you ?
I’m also 62 so old school with measures although I do bow to decimal for length.
Meal wise, plenty of variety once I got my head around the book recipes and started understanding ingredients.
A little research on the net brought up tons of gluten and grain free recipes. I’ve just found one for chickpea flour pasta so I’ll be trying that this week, it could open a whole world of possibilities. Link to the recipe is in the white flout thread.
Use your imagination, you’ll be surprised at what delicious goodies you can come up with.

Thanks Bill1954 . It’s been a week and he ‘s finding it hard to focus at work feels he wants to vomit now and then, as well he has found it hard to sleep due to muscle spasms. He has felt extremely tired and no energy, but still wants to continue. On a rather personal level he has been having very unpleasant smelling bowel movements. We haven’t come across posts with these symptoms but would like to hear how those who have are going.

Keep an eye out for their feta and goats cheese too
Both good value

Loads of people have Trishart.
The general consensus is that it is carb withdrawal symptoms, that and your body switching to burning fat.
It seems to go awat after about 3 days.

so I am slow…just found you can post photo… try the scones Bill

Hi My hubby and I have been on the diet for 4 weeks and doing well. But our adult son has been on it for just over a week and feels very unwell with light headedness and nausea has anybody else suffered from that?

Have read the BSD book, cover to cover, preparation being everything. Feel the food and drink ranges are manageable. Have reviewed my exercise routine and plan to buy a branded wrist-strap monitor for steps calculation. My approach to food prep is simple, quick and easy – other half happy to go with the flow. Food shop this Thursday, then start day Friday – to get the first 48hrs over before I resume work! Any tips, hints on what to expect or how to combat any major challenges appreciated 🙂

It’s a pain you cant send a photo of finished results…but great to have the forums

Bill did you have the scone recipe from the 8 week BSD book? If not here it is..

Put oven onto 200 C…check rack is in middle of oven. put piece of non stick baking paper on oven tray so they dont stick..leave this tray on bench ready for you to pop the mix on.
200mls coconut water
75g grated cheese
75g coconut flour
6 eggs
100g butter (Not marg!)
small pinch salt
Pop all in food processor or Ninja…pulse (ZAP) quick bursts ONLY..mix is quite sloppy so use large spoon and heap big spoonful onto tray…as if illing bun tray but you just space them out on tray till you have 12 …3 rows of four 🙂 into middle of oven 12-15 minutes take out and cool on wire rack slide off paper first. Yummy… when cool pop each one separately in cling film and into a zip lock bag or plastic lunch box in freezer…or you will eat them all in one go! then you take one out at a time for work or whatever ready to go..be good with home made vegie soup too

Thanks Barbara, will try the waffles…i’m lucky i don’t have sugar cravings…but could go a nice thick slice of sourdough ***8%%%$$$ !

Hi
RE cake.. See my post
WANT CAKE? TRY NO-CARB WAFFLE

Thanks Bill

I also made a batch of lentil soup yesterday ready to take to work for lunches, doesn’t have any veg in though. But that’s definitely something to consider for next weekends cooking, I don’t like veg soup on its own but nothing stopping me adding to a lentil based soup.

Im hoping I’ll find this easy going food wise as I already have a good stock of ingredients in and only things to buy will be the fresh veg & dairy. Just need to swap out the carbs from my usual foods.