Hi LauraH. I asked the team that question and they said it was ok to stay on the 800 for a few extra weeks as long as I felt OK and had no problems, then to go to 5:2.

Some folk posting on here who have more weight to lose are planning to stay on the 800 longer term, some moving to 5:2 or a variation of it (2:5, 4:3, 6:1).

It was pointed out earlier that folk with a gastric band fitted are permanently on a severely restricted calorie count, and that seems ok, so why can’t we?

Hope that helps.

Hi. I have quite a lot of weight to loose and just wanted to check how long I can stay on the 800kcal? Should I do 8 weeks then do 5:2 for a bit before going back to another 8 weeks?

Hashimoto – love that about food not poison. Must write that in my notebook 😊

Hi Hashimoto. Might try that on Excel when I get back from holiday next weekend. Not too familiar with it though, so might take me a while to get my head round it. Like the idea of taking print out to the GP 😃. If I can ever get my tablet, netbook laptop (all or any) talking to the printer again. At the moment it looks like I need a new printer 😱 Again, when I get home!

I do wonder how much the nurse has reported back to the doctor! Just hoping the new nurse is not going to be a diabetes nurse!

Glad you like the image of marching on with the flag. Folk don’t realise that when they push my back against the wall I might wobble for a minute or two, but then I come out fighting. They learn 😃

For fin65 The shakes sound like a great idea can I ask what one are you using. I want to get some in before I start on Monday. Just until I get the hangof the whole thing.

Aly, we’re hearing you. Sorry the wheels fell off! Tomorrow is another day! Hope you’re feeling better soon xxx

Fell off big time today! Maybe the awful antibiotics or just being ill. Will be back on it tomorrow.
I am 59 and feel every bit of it just now.

Well done Fin, you survived your first day!

I do find it much easier to start eating later in the day, its as though my tummy doesn’t wake up until I give it that first meal. But you will find what works for you over the next few days.

It sounds like you might benefit from finding something productive to do for a couple of hours in the evening; maybe being here and reading all the forums or perhaps some knitting or something equally daring?

All the best for tomorrow. Which shakes are you using?

Thank you for all your helpful comments & it is great hearing how well you have done & that other people are in a similar situation to myself.

It was very nice and my dog really appreciated getting the yoghurt pot! I really like that about having food not poison, will have to remember that one!

Hi lynne, great minds! I record everything i eat in a notebook too, and record all data like calories, steps walked, weight, body fat percentage, bmi on an excel spreadsheet then i can take print out to drs with me. My asthma nurse liked it. – especially the colour coding. When i see dr on 18th i will ask for print out to be added to my notes.

I think i will actually say to dr that if all the diabetic patients in the practice were encouraged to follow this the practice could run it’s own mini study. Sadly, as we have both been told, some people are just happy to take tablets..

I love the image of marching witb low carb flag! :). 🙂

I agree with everything sos has suggested. I’d also chuck in that maybe you are still going through a period of detoxing and your skin is the visible signs of it. It could well be the toxins that your liver is releasing during this period of cleansing and things will improve.

Its not vain to be worried; image and self image does matter. Having had terrible skin for the last thirty three years I know how low it can make you feel!

It also seems a common theme that weight loss will change/lessen at some stage during the programme. But those who have doing it the longest are still getting results by the end of their 8 weeks.

Just out of interest, has anything else changed? Are you busy at work? Doing more exercise? Sleeping badly? Using stimulants like coffee to get you through? Any of these could be having an impact too.

Well done on your achievements so far Rose.

Ooohh, Janet, sounds lovely. I will have some flaked almonds with raspberries with my brekkie yoghurt. It’s funny how some days can cause differing reactions from the same person. The smell of sweet stuff baking in a supermarket today nauseated me but two days earlier the smell of chocolate going past Thorntons was inviting but I had no problem turning down an easter egg the other day. Weird.
So proud of you not having that chocolate mint. You had food instead of poison 🙂

Hashimoto, I’m 65 so I’m with you, auntylil and Bill. The Golden (or silver) oldies 😃

Thanks for all ideas so far, I cook a lot from scratch but mainly meat dishes as five meat eaters in the house so been neglecting myself. Love mushrooms hummus most veg and soup.

Hi auntylil.

I mentioned the sugar/carb addiction to the nurses this morning, together with the withdrawal symptoms folk are reporting. Should have seen their faces, especially when I said that what I had been eating was slowly killing me.

If you can’t go cold turkey, sorry but all I can think of is cold tofu, but it doesn’t reallt sound the same. Sorry!

Bill. I was thinking that earlier about the gastric band. If it is sustainable for those folk to keep to a severely restricted calorie intake, why not us?

Glad you’re ok now Janet. This is the best forum I’ve been on for support. We all help when we can.

Great advice Rose. Well done on you success so far!

Same here auntylil and bill, I’m 63 and bodies do slow down grrrrr 😉

Hello Nutella,
Like others, I am neither diabetic nor pre-diabetic but at my last cardiac check-up at the end of last year not only had my weight gone up (which I knew) but also my cholesterol & blood sugar so I was advised to lose a bit of weight. My surgery sent me some leaflets about weight loss & exercise – some useful info but basically they were suggesting things like Weight Watchers, and links to NHS advice. Having done a bit of reading up I decided on the BSD – what swung it for me was the Sugarberg diagram (under Hidden Sugars on this site) which convinced me that all the “healthy” things I’d been eating were not helping (not to mention all the obviously sweet things), that sugar is the enemy. What reinforced my decision was the picture in the book of the BSD “favourite ingredients” – I realised I could eat pretty well on the BSD diet.

I haven’t followed the 800 calorie exactly (I find counting calories boring & time-consuming, not to mention not feeling great on low calorie diet or fasting days) – I’ve preferred to control portion sizes, eat my meals by a certain time to increase the length of my overnight fast. But I’ve used the foods recommended for this diet. Over 7-8 weeks I’ve lost 10lbs so far (which is slow compared to other people’s progress). I suppose I’ve been doing more of a maintenance diet than the full-on 8-week 800 calories – the point is I’ve adapted it so I don’t feel my stomach is nagging me for food (there have been times I’ve felt hungry trying to stick to 800). I feel like I’m in control so I am more likely to stick to it (rather than give in to the demands of my stomach). I’ve still got weight to lose to get into the “healthy” part of the Body Mass Index but I’m already feeling much more energetic & generally less tired.

If you think you have problems with carbs & sugars then this is probably a good diet for you. If you feel 800 calories may be too low for you, try it (give it time to work) but adapt it to something you feel comfortable with. Little tweaks will still make a difference. There’s no point in suffering when you can achieve weight loss relatively enjoyably! There’s plenty of support & advice available in the forums. Good luck!
Rose

Hi Hashimoto.

Suppose we should feel sorry for them. They just don’t realise the mighty force massing, gathering evidence, taking responsibility for our own health, saving the NHS money, avoiding hospital admissions.

Talking of evidence – the more of us stick with this, recording our progress, the better chance we have of someone taking notice. I’ve always tended to treat myself as my own lab rat, finding out what works and this is no different.

I record what I eat in a notebook, together with fasting bloods, weight, BMI, measurements and anything else I think of. The nurse records BP in it as well.

Being on here is a great help too, so many thanks to everyone.

As you said – no going back. This mighty force does not retreat. Onward!!!!!!!!!

Marches off waving the low-carb flag!!!!!!!!

Thanks for dashing to my rescue guys, I just needed a bit of a pep talk! I’ve had some full fat greek yoghurt (way nicer than chocolate!) and a tiny drizzle of honey for the sweetness I was craving and a small handful of flaked almonds. I think I’m just about over the worst of it now. Catastrophe averted. I really want to stay on track to see exactly how long it does take for the water retention to go again. On any other diet I’ve done, that would have been all I needed to go on a right bender. And then I don’t learn anything about my own body.

Thanks again for being there when I needed someone (hubby would just have passed me the chocolates!)

Same here auntylil
62 and long term type 2, I know that I’m going to be doing this for longer than 8 weeks but I tell myself it’s no more dangerous than having a gastric band.
I’ll get my blood test results next week so I’m going to ask the doc for another test in 3 months
Do you know, today I’ve heard of 2 people on the plan that have never heard of this forum.
We on here may be the tip of an expanding iceberg

Yes… sugar is a drug because it’s addictive? Feels like it is. Decades worth of detoxing to wade through, but we’re all winners because we’ve faced up to it. We’re aware, we know what to do. We don’t always manage it – I had some oven chips, I had some honey, I’ve eaten some Bournville chocolate because having ordered some cacao caved in when it hadn’t arrived, I could go on. But I’m no longer kidding myself, what the psychologists would call ‘cognitive dissonance’; but – as I’m a vegetarian I can’t do cold turkey, I need to do cold something else – any ideas?

Such are the meanderings of the mind of a woman with not a lot else to do but contemplate – but 99% of the time I’m not doing sugar or processed food which I think is a result. Carbs in the form of wholefood ingredients is proving to be another matter. Feel better for describing that.

May the water retention flow swiftly before you next step on those scales Janet, it must have been a bit of a shock. I suppose an 8 week regime does imply an 8 week miracle but I’m taking a longer view, my body is older and slower to respond.

You’ll only feel bad about it though and then we’ll have to talk you out of feeling guilty
Tell hubby to throw them in the bin 😉

Hi Janet – well done for not caving in. It’s probably water retention. At times the tape measure is a better guide than scales. Keep on being so strong willed 🙂

Hi captainlynne the about face is astonishing! Perhaps the rest of us need to be prepared for a supportive nurse to ‘be got at’ by other health ‘professionals’. In the end they WILL have to take notice because this IS going to be sustainable and our improved health will speak loud and clear for us.

Like you, this is my path until the day I die. No going back. No retreat. Onward!!!!! Onward!!!!

He certainly is Bill!

Hubby will have to make our evening cuppa, I can’t be trusted to get the milk from the fridge!

I have read somewhere that too much dairy can affect the skin but it might be a hump you will get past . Also, are you getting a variety of food? If not, perhaps you need a multi vit and multi mineral to redress balances.

The carb monster is sitting on your shoulder Janet.
You don’t want those mints, after all, why would you want to put poison in your mouth ?
It’s just a craving hun, it will pass.

So today hasn’t been a great day. My usual morning weigh-in showed a gain of a pound and a half. I’m calling it a ‘phantom gain’ as there is no chance of it being fat, it can only be water so it will disappear again and I’m fine with that. But then later, I was so very sorely tempted to get the buttered toast along with my coffee – the first time in three weeks I have almost caved in to bread!

But I didn’t.

I’ve stayed on track all day but I’ve just forced down the most awful evening meal I’ve made in ages (I’m not much of a chef). And now I can’t stop thinking about the after 8 mints happily chilling in my fridge…..

Hi Eureka

Thanks. Calmed down now. 😃 I’m used to negativity, it was the about-face that got to me.

As you say, I know what suits my body. And it is this, so this us what I will be doing and if they don’t like it ………!

Even if they can’t trust respected professionals, I do. This gelled with me instantly.

I have a few challenges coming up, but have now had a long time to get used to this way of eating. It’s a habit now and I can’t believe how much I used to eat. Especially carbs 😱 No place in my house for them now.

I want to be healthy, and around to see my twin granddaughters grow up (and they are only 8). This is the way forward for me 😃

So, line drawn.

Onward!!!!!!!!

Hi jellytum, i did the same about peanut butter and i love the stuff! That peanut butter dip recipe is so easy for a. Packed lunch as well 🙂

Thank you all for your advice and words of encouragement. I genuinely think that the reason I am continuing doing this is the fantastic support from you all! It’s so reassuring to know that others are going through the same thing. The weight losses and inches lost have been so impressive! I have been feeling a bit better today (mainly due to your lovely kind supportive words) and know we will get there! 🙂 Honestly, thank you all who have commented, you really have made me feel like I can keep going now!
Please keep me updated with how well you are all doing, it’s so lovely to read and also so encouraging!

That’s fine, thanks. I’m not that hung up on it, just wondered where I’d got an extra 300 calories of allowance from. I just didn’t want to get caught out, but that shouldn’t happen now I know what it does.

Well I’ve had all my calorie allowance for the day, just a tad left for a cup of tea, so it’s water water water for the rest of the evening. I’ll have to do some experimenting with the times of my shakes, I did an exercise class this morning and was hungry so didn’t do too well in spacing them out! Even when eating my normal, dreadful diet, this time of the day was when I sat down and rewarded myself all night with food until bedtime as I felt I deserved it. I also link food to a form of relaxation in that it helped me ‘come down’ from the day rather like some people use a glass or two of wine. That’s one habit that is going to be tackled head on now. I can’t say I’m hungry, just more time on my hands not cooking an evening meal. I’ve had my 250g of brocolli which was delicious, I think I’d better have an early night and in the morning, not have my first shake until around ten. I think i might be able to stick to this!!

Hi captainlynne

You are allowed to blow a fuse – but watch your BP!
Had my visit with the nurse this am. Best BP I’ve ever had! She listened, will look up BSD etc & seemed interested. All to my surprise. I also gave her the printed GP notes , as per book, from Prof Roy Taylor. My instructions to read & file the notes, & my diet history (4 weeks)’ so far were written on the back. I also wrote WHY are T2 ‘s given instructions to eat HIGH carb diets when our insulin production/ performance is so compromised? I will want to know why, if this is not in my notes when I visit again.

At this point in time , I am the one that knows the most about my Diabetes. I have researched , read & listened to everything I can on the subject. I have a library of books by eminent dr’s. The people that resonate with me the most, & the ones I trust by instinct & reason are Pro Roy Taylor & Dr Michael Mosley. They echo what I KNOW about ME

So, with or without nhs blessing, this is my path now & I’ll tread it til I die. I hope that can now be a long healthy time away. And I want to be here to see the sea change in treatment for Type 2 Diabetics

Keep the faith, as you have been doing
Eureka

Hi all,

I really hope my post doesn’t come across as being vain..

I’m almost 4 weeks into the BSD so half way through, and feeling a bit down about things.

After 2 weeks of being on the BSD my skin looked great. My complexion was glowing and my problem skin (acne) was improving. However, when I woke up this morning I was gutted to see that my complexion looks terrible – I look absolutely knackered, my skin feels really dry and has flared up and is really patchy and uneven – like I have been under a sunbed with no protection. I also have very noticeable dark circles. My skin looks the same – if not worse – as when I was eating a huge amount of sugar and carbs before I went on the BSD.

I certainly don’t look at all healthy even though I haven’t veered from the diet, am drinking water, and I’m following it to the letter. I’ve also noticed my energy levels are lower and my weight loss has stopped for around one week.

Does anyone know if this is to be expected and one’s skin will get worse before it gets better etc?

Any help would be very gratefully received.

Yeah the low fat industry has a lot to answer for TBH
I can see the day coming when they are all going to have to evaluate and then we may see low carb WW meals that will actually help people to lose weight.

Will post them on here when I get them Bill. When I was diagnosed, my GP said start taking Metformin and Alvorstatin and try to lose some weight. I would have been faffing about with a low fat diet if I hadn’t read about this diet in the Mail.

Thanks Bill. I knew I could rely on you to talk some sense into me.

In a very different context this afternoon I was reminded of revolutionaries. And that is what we are, low-carb revolutionaries turning against a specific status quo.

I wasn’t doing it for them anyway, but for me. If they don’t want to go with the flow, that’s fine. I’ll just carry on without them, except for routine checks. Won’t be the first time I’ve done something despite someone, rather than with them!

Wonder who is going to re-write the book, with all our evidence?

Thanks again.

You can show calories in the report section (as well as net calories) if that is any use.

Thanks Hashimoto. You’re right about carbs and low fat on the 5:2, that’s cheered me up and galvanised my determination! But I might keep my name as a deterrent to fall back into bad habits :/
For nearly three decades, since ending student days, I have ignored peanut butter as a possible foodstuff. It might be lunch for a few more days before I get bored of it!

Thanks FoFi for the techie tip. I’d be like hashimoto and just note it on paper if I could read my own handwriting.

Wow bob that is a great weight loss and you have massive motivation re your mother in law
Heres hoping that, since you’re newly diagnosed you can get this thing reversed and get off the meds ASAP
I’ll watch for yourHb1AC results with interst.

When reaching for the biscuits, I think to myself that if I have just a little one, I will want another one and another one and then I think of my T2 diagnosed mother-in-law who had her leg amputated because a scratch turned ulcerous and then gangrenous (the smell). I tend not to want to eat sweet stuff after that. On week 6 now and have lost 25lbs and 4″ off my waist. Not testing but had 2nd Hb1AC test yesterday and get results next week. Diagnosed T2 with a result of 51 on 5 JAN 2016.

Hi all

Just wondering if there are any other TOFIs (thin outside fat inside) pu there on this diet. I am a 5.7 man and only weighed 10 stone 5 lbs when I started the diet. I’ve been on it for five weeks tomorrow and lost weight consistently and now I’m down to 9 stone 1 lbs. I beginning to look very thin and wondering how much more I can lose before things start to get dangerous for my health. My blood sugar levels are varying between 5.5 and 8.3 but that’s not my overnight fasting levels as I’ve been getting higher readings then due to the dawn phenomenon (see the thread about rising blood sugar levels if that is a new term to you).

If there is anyone else out there in a similar situation I’d love to hear from you.

Oooo Bill1954, I blooming hope that’s the case! Ummmm, I’m sorry about this but I’ve just pressed the report sign on your post as I thought I could reply that way!! I. Not all that great with technology! I’m really hoping my groaning stomachedwill quieten soon, the noises and moaning are terrible! Im guzzling water like a good’n at the mo!
FoFi, I’m glad you told me you don’t ‘eat back’ your exercise calories, I just wasn’t sure about it. I’m going to not and see how I get on. It’s better for me to have hard and fast rules especially at the start. If I have a roughly or an approximate, I take it to the extreme as I can’t self regulate anything to do with food…..yet, I’m hoping this will change as I try to regulate my appetite and choices around food and gain a better relationship with it. I don’t half feel daft typing that and think of my husband who isn’t overweight, that only thinks about food at the correct times and eats til comfortable. I used to think I want to eat until I felt like popping, that WAS my norm!

Jellitum – to stop it subtracting your exercise you need to pay £40 per year for the premium or pro version. You could divide by 10 (or some other constant) so that it doesn’t have much impact but you would still have a log of what you have done.

Fin1965, the book doesn’t suggest eating more if you have been exercising. Perhaps if you are exercising for many hours in a day (such as a cycling or hiking holiday) but otherwise no. I try not to eat more when I exercise. I didn’t do any exercise in the first week of this diet and started in the second week. I haven’t been perfect with 800 kcal, (often 900+) but the weight is still coming off reasonably quickly. (I do have much more than you to lose!)

Hi Fin1965
with that amount of exercise and sticking to 800 cals, the weight should fall off you!
I too really feel the cold mind, it’s thermals all the way for me.
Most people have found that, after the first 2 or 3 days, their appetites diminish rapidly as the easy to digest carbs are flushed from their systems and the complex carbs and fat make your body work hard to process.
I’m confident that, if you stick to the plan, we’ll be seeing a really happy post from you a week from now.