Hi TrishaDawn. Thank you. Happy you find the posts helpful.

Visitors always welcome – you’ll soon finish your 8 weeks. 😃 Great result for your first week.

Funnily enough I was asked the same question about loose skin on the Facebook page. I can’t say I have noticed any loose skin yet. However, after 2 Caesarean Sections I’ll never have a flat stomach (but only my doctor sees that LOL)

I’ve just started to sort through my clothes (I have work uniform so not many non-work clothes). The charity shop will do well out of this!!!! Fortunately
I’d kept my smaller uniform items as I expanded, now I’m going through them in the opposite direction 😃

I’ve had to buy smaller clothes, especially trousers!!!! And some of my tops need ‘modesty’ items under 😱

Was packing my case yesterday for trip tomorrow. I’m only taking hand luggage and thought I might take some of my larger clothes, which I could then leave behind to make room for souvenirs. Then I realised that it could become embarrassing, so think I’ll have to abandon at least part of that plan 😳

You’re doing really well, please keep us informed of your progress.

Thanks for all the tips Cherianne. I have just purchased some chickpeas flour as well a couple of other ones. Will experiment with them so I will be ready for when I get off my liquid diet.

Been thinking of purchasing some gluten to add to the chickpea flour. Sure I bought this a few years back but the supermarkets I visited today didn’t stock it. I have found a website for a manufacturer and supplier in Melbourne (capital of the state of Victoria here in Aus). Might order a packet and experiment with adding it to the chickpeas flour.

While shopping I wondered why white flour is bad while almost all other gluten free flours are OK. I assume they are processed in the same way wheat flour is.

Also if you are interested to watch a live interview with Dr Michael Mosley with direct link to UK from Aus to Prof Roy Taylor re the 8-week blood sugar diet you can watch it on this link: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/tvepisode/beating-diabetes It was aired here on the 1st of March from memory. Was quite interesting. Probably it’s around 50 to 55 min with a couple of Ads breaks. This is how I came to know about this. Found it quite interesting.

That sounds very familiar. My husband has a few basic things he can cook and he is willing to take a turn but I do the bulk of cooking and meal planning. He has to go out and have the exact ingredients for what he wants to make but I tend to look at what I’ve got or what’s growing and take it from there.
I used to be a grazer too, cruise past the fruit bowl and grab something, making kids lunches eat some cheese, nuts, crackers, knobby end of the bread, more fruit or whatever. Now I’m eating more fat and less carbs it’s cured me of that. I’m much more mindful of waiting till meal time. That’s a massive change for me in a few weeks.
I’m so glad you’re on the mend, still sticking with the plan and losing weight. 🙂 you’ll be back living the life you dreamed of very soon!
Can you get olive leaf extract in France? That helps clear up coughs and also works as a bit of a preventative in the lead up to winter.

End of Day 6 and both hubby and I are a bit lighter and my blood sugar is going down. Excellent incentive to keep it up. Lots of greens in the garden fortunately. Can just go forage if I feel I need something. Also, we have enjoyed the good Aussie wines for many years, but actually look forward to the mineral water substitute on these hot summer/autumn days. So still taking it day by day. I do appreciate reading about the efforts of “fellow travellers.” Cheers all.

Hi trisha, i m 63. My son asked me if i had issues with loose skin (he has an obese friend who wants to know about losing weight fast) my response was : ‘ I. Want to have a healthy life and be able to do more, im doing this for my health not looks. I’d rather have life now than be a slightly prettier corpse in a coffin’. I have a feeling that loose skin could be an issue whether you lose fast or slow. Like you say, not many people will see us uncovered and slimmer we will look better covered than before this diet. Wishing you the best!
P.s I am nearly at 8 week mark and have lost 2 stones.

🙂

I’m not in Australia but watched this on You Tube. I too was disappointed that there wasn’t a more positive reaction as we know it works. Hopefully there will be some viewers who find out more. It seemed that some of the people in the audience believed that there was nothing that could help them. Maybe the advice from their health professionals is similar to that from captainlynne’s nurse?

Hi Cas, like cherrieanne I will give that chickpea pasta a go. As i am gluten free i tried making pastry with buckwheat flour once – it didn’t stick together very well but i still got a pie with top and bottom pastry on it. I think chickpea flour will stick a bit better but probably not as neat a finish. We will get used to the different taste given time.
Cherrieanne, interesting about the Italian descent and diabetes in the family, my son has an Italian friend whose family are addicted to enormous plates of white pasta and diabetes and weight issues are rife in their family – wonder about the link after reading all the posts about blood sugar levels dropping. They’re coming over in the summer so will make them some meals from the recipes on here.
I’m going to make a batch today with cinnamon and other sweet spices to see if they are a decent replacement for white toast which a diabetic friend always has for breakfast. I have heard that cinnamon is good for reducing blood sugars – or is that an old wives tale? Can someone enlighten me? 🙂

Good morning

Today is day 1 for me. I’ve just weighed myself and took some measurements so all set to see those figures coming down.

Bit about me, I’m a 42 year old female, I don’t have any blood sugar issues as far as I’m aware (never been tested) however I’m 40 pounds overweight and the fat loves to cling to my midsection particularly above and below the belly button!

I gave up smoking in 2010 and put on weight, I then sadly lost my father and turned to even more food. In 2014 I decided to do something about it and lost 4 stone over the year but in the last year I’ve managed to put a stone back on.

I don’t have any real health issues other than occasional migraines and I do get restless leg syndrome. Coincidentally one of the recommendations for helping ease the symptoms of restless legs is a diet high in iron, the food groups recommended on this plan fit the bill perfectly!

I’ve got a small problem in that tomorrow I start working overtime on weekdays for a month so I have to plan my meals around what I can take to work, we have a microwave so it’s not too bad. As I won’t be getting home until 9pm and I can’t eat that late, lots of fresh veg is out of the equation so my meals will be based around foods I can cook on a weekend and reheat.

I plan to eat lots of fresh veg and fish on weekends as I’ll miss not having them during the week.

Just so I know I’ve got it right in my head can I just check today’s menu with you?

Breakfast : 2 hard boiled eggs
Lunch : falafels with yogurt based dip (full fat Greek)
Dinner : shredded lemon chicken, barley and broccoli

Just realised this is a huge post…sorry!

I have also been visiting site but only now registered. Into week 6 and nearly a stone and a half lighter. I think a community such as this is so good as people at my workplace are very judgemental of this diet (they are all slimming world fanatics) . I have got the diet down with no cravings now I need to get the exercise right.

Penny, that was meant to say I. Agree with cherrieanne 🙂 Another senior moment.

Oh penny, so sorry to hear that you have been hurt. 🙁 Your posts have been so supportive and encouraging – we need you on here. I agree with Aly, the problem with this kind of communication is that you can’t hear tone of voice or see facial expressions which in itself can cause misunderstandings. Please, please stay with us 🙂

I think that teaspoon of olive oil when put on the vegetables that I am cooking a) makes them taste nicer so the diet process is less miserable and b) seems to fill me (and others) up more than once I might have imagined. There is a high proportion of fat in this diet, but not high in absolute terms, as you imply, nothing can be that high on 800 cals.

I’ve just signed up to the forum but have to confess that I’ve been lurking since the beginning. Having listened to other people’s stories I realise how lucky I was to find this book and this community just when I needed it. I feel ashamed that I haven’t contributed but I didn’t think I could keep this up. Thank you for keeping me going.

Thanks Cherianne
Sad fact is in this house I do all the cooking. What I am finding now though is I do not want or need large portions. I have always been more of a grazer but I rarely finish a meal now. It is like grazing on three meals a day!
I now have some Greek yogurt and had to go with frozen raspberries but that will be lunch today. I have been enjoying an apple and a piece of cheese. Hubby tucks into his chunk of baguette but I do not want any.
Today my head feels like the infection has cleared. I think the cough will hang around a while and it will take a few more days for me to feel like re starting life.
I have lost another pound this morning so that is 9lbs off so far. A couple more and I will try on my size 12 jeans.

Hi Captainlynne, congratulations on your amazing success. Reading how people have completed the whole 8 weeks and achieved such amazing results has helped me such a lot.
I feel a bit of a cheat writing in this thread as I’m only 1 week into the diet, but two kilos down so far! I’m a bit older than you, 71, and my concern about losing weight too quickly as an older person is loose skin. I have around 15 kilos to lose, at least. Have you found this to be an issue, with your own incredible weight loss? Although I have to say, I’m unlikely to want to start wearing bikinis, and only my husband and doctor are likely to see any loose skin.
I don’t know if it will do anything for my BG levels because I was diagnosed around 15 years ago. However my fasting BG averages out at around 5.9 and I’m still only taking one Metformin tablet a day. But I’m really looking forward to buying a whole new wardrobe some time down the track.
Thanks for keeping up with your posts, they are so helpful to those of us just starting out.

Hi everyone so great to hear from others on similar journeys. I went out last night, to a hotel for tea, That’s what you do sometimes. I stressed a bit about it. And then relaxed, when my husband (who is trying to lose weight also, but not on this diet) saw a dish, salt and pepper calamari, he checked it later on some calorie counter thingy and it came in around 200 phewww so happy for that news. I resisted eating the chips, earlier in the arvo aswell. It went well. Yes I’m feeling lighter, but I don’t like to get to carried away just yet, but I need to tap into it, just as a motivator that I can do this, and each good day is a day past, well done kind of stuff. My son had a birthday party this morning, I again resisted the nice platter of cheeses and biscuits in front of me, I did have three olives as I was starving and it was near my lunch time, which I quickly got home and prepared fast – raspberry and feta salad it was v.nice.
Lucinda61 glad your on board before you have a full diagnosis.
Bill 1954 are you from far away, with your pounds measurement? I did a quick check of what 17 1/2 pound was as I’m a kilogram measurer, fantastic, and that’s by week 5. I didn’t actually know there was particular weigh days, I just jump on there frequently. My shorts are feeling bigger round the waist for once!
SO as far as menus go Bill1954 do you have four weeks of menu that you are going back over? I’ve only found three weeks so far on the internet, I’ll have to keep an eye out.

As I am new…is there any way of posting recipe photos/ I could send you the yummy scone recipe i just made

Hi Aly, great to hear you’re not only cooking but enjoying food again. You must be feeling better. Good news 🙂

Hi new to this plan but looking at the research it looks very promising. Just made the cheese scones with coconut flour…amazing!
The birds are not having them…so good problem stopping at just one 🙂

Hi Penny, so sorry you experienced that. It’s one of the problems with communicating this way because you have no non verbal cues to go on, and can’t ‘read’ the other person’s intent. Hope you stick with the forums, you have some good ideas and your desire to help is really evident.

Hi Cas, I think the very short cooking time will help the pasta stay together despite the lack of gluten. I’ll give it a go and let you know what it turns out like. The taste will be different but that’s not always a bad thing. I am of Italian descent and pasta was very hard to give up, nearly as bad as nice dense bread! I had already omitted it before starting the diet as I noticed it’s disastrous effect on my blood sugar straight away. Ironic that my inherited diabetes comes down the Italian side of the family!
I am loving the chickpea flour recipes. Years ago when I was a student in England I shared a place with an Indian girl and got such a taste for Indian food. We knew all the best places in Northampton. I had to improvise the other day when I couldn’t find Bill’s chickpea flatbread recipe. I used his coconut flour one and just substituted chick pea flour. Added some curry powder and cumin ( thanks Hashimoto) and fried them in spray oil. Delicious and lower in carbs than the recipe I couldn’t find.
Next experiment is the courgette bhajis, I’m determined those zucchinis aren’t going to defeat me 🙂

Tnx FM. Probably a good substitute but taste is very different. Something I have to get used to I suppose. Also I googled nudi ricotta ravioli and every recipe contains flour. Maybe the flour could be substituted by chickpea flour or other but if the flour does not contain any gluten probably everything will fall apart. Will experiment and thanks for the idea.

I am a Type 2 diabetic (not on any medication yet) and about to start the 8 week Fast 800 diet. My problem is that my husband isn’t diabetic and although he would like to lose a bit of excess weight around his middle, he is otherwise quite slim and healthy. In the past I have found it a challenge to prepare and keep to a diet for myself while at the same time preparing appropriate meals for my husband so that he doesn’t fade away. He is keen to try the low carb approach so I was hoping for suggestions as to how I can bulk up his meals a bit without overdoing the carbs and without cooking 2 different meals.

I suggest you try making nudi ricotta ravioli without the pastry. Yum. Fran

Hi Bill – I found the link on the email. Funny it does not show up on the forum. I will check it out later. Thanks.

Hi Hashimoto – Been to UK a few times. Love UK with it’s quaint village buildings. A bit cold, wet and gloomy grey weather unfortunately although I came across beautiful weather as well. Always enjoyed visiting and touring. Myself I am originally from Malta but migrated to Sydney when I turned 18 – many many years ago now. I never regretted the move a bit and have never looked back. Fell in love with Sydney on landing first time and still deeply in love with this place. A lot has changed in Sydney in these last 28 years – mostly huge increase in traffic. 🙂 All the best and hope you will enjoy your Perth visit.

Hi, this is day 2; yesterday i was amazed how I was satisfied after what, on day -1, would have looked like very small portions.
I’ve never counted calories, so this is new learning. My question is how to combine fats with a low- calorie diet. The advice is that we feel satisfied on 8oo cals because we eat lots of protein and fat. Yet 25ml (a small splash) of skim milk in coffee is 9 cal; 1 teaspoon of olive oil is 40 cals. As a vego, I don’t have meat or fish fats to count in (thank goodness). I’ve avoided fats for years, so this is a whole new way. Any clarification from others’ experience would be great.

Well done, Debr … Pleased you’re doing so well!
Well done, Sue, too! Good to hear that your Oldie has settled in, mum seems to be getting better … And you’ve lost that pound again! You’re tenacious if nothing else!!! 😉 I hope you’re telling yourself how well you’re doing coping with all this cr*p you’ve got going on around you! X

Hi Penny – welcome back! I feel really upset that you have been hurt by this forum. I hope that in future, if any of us feel hurt or offended by a comment, we must flag it up immediately. This forum has been so positive and helpful to us all, we cannot allow it to become offensive in any way. Your comments have been particularly helpful to me, and I thank you for them.

Hi everyone
I haven’t posted for a couple of days because a few days ago someone was slightly snippy with me ( I thought) on replying to a post. Maybe I was misinterpreting but please everyone please be careful, we re all vulnerable and it’s easy to feel hurt and rejected. Certainly anything I post is just intended to be helpful and supportive.
Penny

Not sure why they are called ” no carb”… The coconut flour does have some.
Edit
Thank you Google… Apparently most of the carbs are not digestible by the body.

Well done Bill, you are still on the way down. Maybe your liver is still getting rid of stored energy and that’s why your sugars have been erratic? A check of your carb intake this week should tell you if it’s food related or not. Take heart that your daytime readings are good though, so it would seem to be down to your liver.
The market went well, fair few tourists passing through and stopping to buy. Unusually one man stopped several times to admire and smell one of our candles in a vintage cup and saucer set! Men usually scurry past, heads averted lol. This one came back with his wife and showed her but she wasn’t interested. He left disappointed and empty handed.
We just do the market for fun, both my sister and I are ‘ people persons’, just love the interactions with customers and other stall holders 🙂
We are getting quite a few repeat customers for our handmade soaps so people are obviously happy with them.
Ten days now, for me, of fasting readings under 5!!! Thank you Michael Moseley and the researchers. Two years a diabetic and I’ve learned more in past 4 weeks than in those two years.

With 165 calories left on a Saturday night, I browsed the book and found the No-carb waffles on page 193.Brilliant! Ok they aren’t sweet but the texture conned my brain into thinking it’s cake. How anyone could eat two I don’t know. I made one and it was fairly big and filling. Served it with blueberries, creme fraiche and some frozen raspberries heated to make a sauce. Happy!
Will definitely make again.

Hi Cas, I went to Australia about 28 years ago so I think a lot will have changed! Lucky you living in Sydney, it’s a wonderful city. I prebooked matinee tickets for a classical concert in the Opera house – for about 3 hours after we landed! We had 6 weeks of fun packed travel round australia with the final ten days in Perth. I really regret not emigrating in my early twenties, I seriously thought about it, even got the papers but chickened out.

Hope the diet goes well for you 🙂

Hi and thanks to all.

Cherrianne you ARE a legend. Will definitely try it out but it will not be for another three weeks as for the first two weeks I’m trying the replacement meals till I get my head around cooking and eating the 8-week blood sugar diet.

Bill, I have never tried or worked with chick pea flour. Need to check it’s gluten content otherwise the pastry will not hold together. Starting to sound like a judge from Masterchef 🙂

Also, Bill, there is a reference to a link you have posted. That post on my screen is just a blank post with nothing showing within it. Can you please re post or email me.

Hashimoto – You will love Perth. It’s a nice small city. Been there visiting friends and touring around some parts of WA. I live in Sydney and Perth is a four hour flight from here one way and 5 hours returning. There’s a one way three day train trip from Sydney to Perth and of course a three day return trip.

Again, thanks to all.

Thank you.
Day 14. Weight 10st 9lb
Blood sugar 11.9

The extra pound has come back off.
Oldie is settled and very happy in new Care Home.
My Mother was annoyed with me tonight – so she must be feeling a bit better. ☺

Two weeks done, 6 weeks and 1 1/2 stone to go.😎

Hi Col

Thank you! Lost 3Ibs this my first week, love it no problems 😀
Finding it hard to plan ahead for my meals though, can’t seem to get my head round things, is any one else having the same problem?? Old habits of just grab and go just appear hard to change at min!!!

Hi Aly that cauli mash is delicious 🙂

I had a veggie version of the shepherds pie with cauli mash. It was yummy! Will definetly use that again.

Yes your right it is for 500g which is also the rhubarb compote ingredient which as rhubarb is very expensive I wondered if changing to strawberries but as you read it is not a good idea.

Your 100g of strawberries.

Nutrition Facts
Strawberries
Amount Per 100 grams
Calories 33
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0.3 g 0%
Saturated fat 0 g 0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 1 mg 0%
Potassium 153 mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 8 g 2%
Dietary fiber 2 g 8%
Sugar 4.9 g
Protein 0.7 g 1%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 97%
Calcium 1% Iron 2%
Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 0%
Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 3%

I love google 🙂

I have just made the cottage pie with cauliflower mash from the recipes and it was lovely, even have some leftover for tomorrow.

I found it incredibly hard shopping today being a chocoholic. I think I may change to online shopping, less time to drool over all the easter eggs.

Fab ……..I don’t know why I didn’t ask earlier rather than get frustrated…….great info everyone thank you , anyone who feels they can add anything further please do so, I am learning a great deal , thanks all.

Very happy if it helps 🙂
There were a couple of other things I forgot- the chocolate brownie recipe in the book is great, though I found that cooked as is it’s too thin and comes out quite dry, so I make a double quantity in the same size tin, cut it up into squares that are about 100 cals each, and freeze them. Then I know if I really need something, there’s a healthy calorie counted indulgence available, but it takes 20 minutes to defrost which is time to have a large glass of water before I can eat it, so at least one will be enough. Only take one out, though!

Secondly, another tactic, if I just want to eat something, and my usual risk time is bed time, I have 3 almonds- they take a lot of chewing, so my brain thinks I’ve eaten more than I have. Then go to bed. Immediately!

MaryR

Thank you MaryR, I loved your post.

It’s such a shame there’s no “Like ” button to show our appreciation of such inspiring posts, Kimgall could not have said it better! MaryR, it’s so reassuring to hear of your Blips” in the weight loss. I’ve done so well for the first 2 1/2 weeks, now all of a sudden it’s stopped, for no apparent reason that I can think of. Having looked at this thread I feel determined to battle on, and just keep reminding myself how much better and fitter I feel already. This has been the most successful diet I’ve been on ever, and I’m spurred on by the thought of getting to the 5:2 stage and following a far healthier diet than ever enjoyed in my 57years!

Hi,
I suggest you look at the thread ‘How many carbs’ and ‘losing belly fat’ where there is more background.
I think is really depends on the individual (male/female/activity levels/overweight or not). I have been on the diet 4.5 weeks and for the first 4 was concentrating of the 800 cals per day. I then saw a few threads where people were saying that if you get stuck on weight loss, you may need to lower the carbs. I was not stuck, but it was a step change, eg no weight loss two days, then a drop of a kg. I looked at my daily percentages and they varied a lot day by day. Like you I went looking how ‘how much is recommended’ so I had the right proportions.
I thought I had seen 30% carbs in book (ie 60 grams carb per day) and there was a thread (How many carbs) that has this advice (with thanks to janet1973):
100-150 grams per day: This is a decent maintenance range, and is good for people who exercise a lot.
50-100 grams per day: This should lead to automatic weight loss, and is a good maintenance range for people who don’t exercise that much.
20-50 grams per day: With a carb intake this low, you should lose weight quickly without experiencing much hunger. This carb range should put you into ketosis.
I decided to set my target as 60 grams as I did not intend to go into ketosis. I was not as worried about protein and fat so was happy if they were 35% each. I started to make changes last week and have steadily lost weight over the week day by day – an improvement on the step changes of before.
However! What I have seen this week is a lot of water loss, and headaches. Accidentally (I entered something into my calculator incorrectly) I only had 25% carbs yesterday and I had cramps through the night!
I may well be that the 60 grams for me is too low and that my ketonic boundary and I am sitting on it, confusing my body (see losing belly fat threads from pmshrink).
I have just found a website that suggests the following (inactive-active);
45-65% Carbs
10-35% Protein
20-35% Fat.

This last week I was averaging 30%:35%:35%.
I am going to up the carbs to 70 grams to avoid the cramps etc. and will see how that goes. As I said to begin with, it will depend on your own makeup so I suggest you adjust a little each week and see what works best for you.
Good luck!

Hi SOS. I had a similar thing in my first week. I got to tea time and wasn’t really hungry but had a few headaches so knew I needed to eat. For the next couple of days I split my remaining calories between a small tea and then a late yoghurt/raspberry snack. I also drank lots of water, which isn’t easy for me as I struggle to drink it. It settled down again after a day or two though I have to say, I normally eat because it’s meal time now and not because I am hungry which is a result if this eating plan. I was always hungry before.

Stick with it, you are doing great. Have a good read of these forums, you will pick up lots of advice and it is really good to see the journey that others are on 🙂

Hi all

I’m on day 5 and have lost weight and feeling better although very tired – had to cut the dog walk short.
Could it be because i’m finding that the high fat diet is filling me up so that after breakfast I have no appetite at all. Yesterday I forced an avocado down for lunch but didn’t manage my evening meal, just had a tablespoon of FF yoghurt before bed. Woke up with bad head and felt a bit wobbly untll I had breakfast. I’m struggling to eat 800 calories and worried my body will go into starvation mode and hang on to the fat. Anyone else had this, any suggestions? Many thanks

Thank you all for your support x I will have a look at the flatbreads recipe and see if I can lay my hands on the ingredients. I also think that I have to allow myself to deviate once on the 5:2 but the change in my attitude needs to be one of having something extra as a balance and not a reason to go haywire for one meal, or to feel like I have fallen off the wagon and go back to the old ways. I think I am going to have half of each scone and then have some yoghurt and fruit. That way I am not too far off but still get to taste their wares! The funny thing is, I don’t crave the brownie or cake. I am still getting used to not having cravings for things which feels most weird.

As a side note, went into a coffee shop this morning and instead of having a cake or croissant because I missed breakfast, I had a citrus fruit pot! My tween had a milky drink and declined a cake, times they are a changing!

Thanks again for listening 🙂

Hi Shadow
You are doing brilliantly well. About the strawberries – if I read the post correctly, the 25ish grams of sugar is for 500g of strawberries. That’s a lot of strawberries! You probably wouldn’t eat that many in a day. I don’t measure the sugar in mine but I know that 100g is a nice portion size and is around 50 calories.

Once I am back to normal will have a look. No energy for much just now.

I found that weeks 1 and 2 were good for weight loss for me, like you I lose very slowly which I put down to my underactive thyroid. But I haven’t lost anything in week 3, in fact I am retaining water again. I have decided to follow bill1954’s lead (if he’s doing it, its worth doing, right?) and I have ordered some ketostix which will tell me whether or not I am in fat burning mode. If not, then I know I need to tweak what I’m eating but if I am in the zone, I know just to wait it out and the weight loss will show on the scales again soon.