starting Monday 25th Jan 2016.

Could have done with a print out of a shopping list of items needed ………. hint..

Thank you Lily
If I can anticipate a big loss coming up, I can keep motivated. I am just resigning myself to the fact that I might need a second round of this 8 week fasting (with a small break inbetween rounds).

Would be interested in buddying up with anyone doing this eating plan (pref T2 diabetic) in Dorset area.

I’ve had poached egg on spinach or salad greens. Nice!

It’s really common on a VLCD actually (I’m an old hand at the shake based ones). Weeks 2 and/or 3 the weight loss seems to stop or slow off. What tends to happen is that there will suddenly be a big loss in week 4 or 5.

Weight loss is never linear. It’ll be a jerky ride – 2lbs one week, 5lbs the next, absolutely nothing the next week etc.

Don’t worry about it – fat loss is happening and it’ll all even out in the end.

Has anyone else experienced a plateau? I am on day 17 now, and have not had any loss at all since day 12 🙁 I am tracking my calories, and carbs, and fluctuate around 800 (except for one day I accidentally blew out at 920 cals, all my other days tend to be between 750-820cals). I keep my carbs to about 50g, and try to drink as much water as I can (I would exceed 2L per day).
Another user on FB suggested a website, which had some hints, but I am already pretty good with not having excess of fruit (It is the hardest part of the diet, as I love my fruit) and do not use artificial sweeteners etc.
It was also suggested that my fat is actually diminishing, but I am retaining water.
I am female, and mid cycle, so cannot blame hormones for this one.
Additionally, I have measured myself this morning, and seemed to have gained 2cm on my waist 🙁
Any tips on how to get this weight loss going again would be greatly appreciated, because at this rate, I will barely lose anything, and 800cals is already hard to stick with, I need the motivation of seeing change.

I had the spaced out feeling on the first day, but I was consuming too much sugar before, so assumed that that was the cause.
Also after 5 days I was feeling bloated and suffering constipation despite eating far more beans, lentils and other high fibre foods than before. I am fairly sure I was drinking the recommended level of fluids.. Hoping this will sort itself out soon.

Yeah, good luck to all us newbies starting in the am! Will be after lots of advice from you guys.

I am having Greek yogurt with blueberries or passion fruit. Pretty the diet I was having Greek yogurt with nuts and agave syrup. I do miss the agave a little bit.

I am also going to start tomorrow!! Not massively prepared though….going to wing it a little, good luck everyone 🍀

Good luck, I have been on it one week feeling good so far. Once your head is in the right place it is easier.

My hubby and I have read Dr Mosley’s book and we were very impressed. Ordered from the Daily Mail bookshop, it arrived within 3 days. We are going to start the 8-week diet on Monday 1st February (usual monthly food shop next weekend). Have already planned what we are having for the next 4 weeks. I’m Type 2 diabetic and need to get my blood sugars down (just over 11 average at present) – no medication taken (my choice). Lost 2 stones over the last 2 years but need to lose lots more weight. Hubby has had heart problems, so it will help him too.

Good luck to everyone.

Hippo

Hi Doug,

I started the diet last Monday and had problems with constipation for a few days followed by yesterday having an upset stomach and today feeling a bit spaced out. I think these things are to be expected at first ( it is quite a drastic change from my usual calorie intake) Maybe try solid food and not shakes if you are getting constant upset stomach.
Are you on Metformin? I wondered if a change in diet with medication could be causing this? I know in the past when i increased my Metformin from 3-4 tabs i experienced diarrhea quite soon after so there is a link between that and stomach problems.
I’m Just hoping it will get easier as the weeks go by!

Richard

Hi, I got the book yesterday, £4.49 from W H Smiths, just finished reading and I’m making a shopping list for tomorrow. Good luck everyone

To be honest, I’m not having breakfast much. I’ve never really fancied eating breakfast early in the morning so decided I’d wait until I was hungry.

But fruit and yogurt would work, egg and bacon, boiled egg with asparagus dippers, bacon wrapped around fresh pineapple, vegetable omelette.

And don’t rule out eating last night’s leftovers for breakfast. Who says you can’t eat beef stew for breakfast? 🙂

Hi CTB

I’ve been using Knorr Stockpots – yes, there’s a tiny bit of sugar in there but not really much. They’re little oval pots of concentrated stock in jelly form. And I’ve been using my slow cooker. I put diced lean beef, a sliced carrot and half an onion in the slow cooker and cover it with about a pint of water (in which I’ve dissolved the stockpot) and that’s it – a few hours later yummy stew. You could add black pepper, mixed herbs etc but I haven’t bothered to be honest – it was still great.

Well done on getting to day 2! I’m on day 5, so not really that far ahead of you. 🙂

To start with, but I really have to stay organised if I want this to succeed. I have just eaten the veg curry with cauliflower rice and it was lovely, will defo do again. I am hoping to get my BG levels low enough and consistent enough to come off my meds!

Hi
I started the 8 week diet 5 days ago and after day 1 had an upset tummy which continued to day w so I stopped the shakes. Since then I have itchy skin and blurry vision I dink maybe not quite 3 litres a day but no one else seems to have mentioned either of these side effects. Any ideas.
Doug

Hello, please could you tell me if these recipes are for one or two people. Many thanks. Lizzie

What are you having for breakfast ? I do so miss my toast on a morning..what are you eating instead of cereal / toast ?

Thanks! I shall buy some wild to try 🙂

Inspiringly well- organised!
Penny

Hi
I’m not diabetic either, but my father had type 2 and my sister has it, so there’s quite a good chance i’ll become diabetic too.
I have high blood pressure and i’m hoping this diet will help me off the medication.
I’m also large around the middle and i’m hoping this will kick start a healthier way of eating.

I’m starting tomorrow, but I just have a couple of questions:
Can I eat oranges on this diet or do they come under the heading ‘sweet tropical fruit’?
do you need to calorie count vegetables and how many grams of veg should we be eating a day?

Hi All,

Thought I’d give you a quick update, as today is my Weigh in….. (Doing Meal replacement shakes for Breakfast and Lunch and Chicken and Veg for dinner)

Lost 7lbs and 1.5″ of my waist x

Wow that is a great weight loss but glad to see your BS have reduced too, I am a Diabetic Nurse and it was a patient who introduced me to this diet. We do advocate low carbs to our patients and have really good results but I think this book explains the science behind it all. I am not diabetic but I could be I am about 2.5 stone overweight so I am going to trial it also, I start tomorrow and hope to have as much success as you, well done

posted by Ell
on 24 Jan 2016 at 15:04 permalink
Hi, I started the 8 week plan today, I read the hard copy of the book and decided to give it a go. My fasting BG ranges 8 -12 on medication. I plan to follow the 4 week menu in the book to start of with, but I don’t eat red meat, only Chicken, and fish, so I will substitute steak and lamb with those. I did a shop yesterday, quite expensive to start, but some of the things will last a while (tahini paste etc) . I started the day with half an avocado and poached egg, I love both these so that went well. I then cooked ahead for tomorrow and made the beetroot felafals, very fiddly and messy but got there in the end, and I have my veg curry cooking in the slow cooker, I’ll freeze the other portions for another time. Will reheat the felafals for tomorrow’s lunch. Ive just had my lunch and so far all is going well, I hope the rest of the week is as good, still early days. I must say that everything on the plan sounds yummy and seems to be everything I like 😊

sorry, posted in wrong box

Thank you very much!

You really have to look at the glycemic load (GL) of a food. The GL for both Brown and Wild Rice is 16 which is reasonably low, whereas the GL of white rice is 43. This is based on 150g portions for the brown & white, 164g for the wild rice (equates to a cup apparently). Given that we are talking about 2 tablespoons that is not going to matter too much.

It needs cooking for about 45 minutes until the grain pops. It can be hastened by soaking overnight.

Still nicer than brown and better than quinoa or cardboard.

Hi Lilly, I am not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination but I do like to try. What do you use for stock in your beef and chicken stews and can I throw this into the slow cooker to have ready for e evening?. Thank you. This is day 2 of me on the plan….

Code free, as mentioned before are the cheapest test strips. I use mine everyday and still have the same battery from 3 years ago!

Woo Hoo! I think I’ve got you.

Zandranna I’ve just downloaded myfitnesspal app to phone trying to suss out how to add you?

thanks for responding; I shall certainly try these as I was concerned that a multi-mineral often contains Selenium often sourced from Brazil nuts.

Thank you TraceyH31 ! Sugar free chewing gum is my friend at the moment – it helps me gnash out my angst.

I know you are 100% right about the meal planning but I am on Cambridge shakes at the moment – in a few days they will just become automatic rather than my having to make the right meal choices. My main problem is that no matter how much I know, learn and understand what is right for me and my health, my weak willpower/mental demons, call it what you want, is so powerful that the struggle is SO much harder.

I have been following Michaels meal plan so I hope their is enough protein. I am currently training for a half marathon. I feel happier on a 5:2 style diet

Ooops! I see in my previous post I wrote 9am instead of 9pm. I do so wish we could edit these posts on returning to the thread. I have made several spelling/typing mistakes in other posts too that I would have liked to corrected.

Thanks Lisa.

@vicky. If you decide to join myfitnesspal then do friend me. I keep my food diary open for all to view – That of course goes for anyone else as well. I would love more friends on there that are actually actively dieting.

I have to say though that my meals are a bit of a mixture of things because I live alone and hate cooking, so I bung all sorts on a plate just to make sure I get all the food groups.

Hi Loobylou – are you eating enough protein in your 800 calories as this what keeps you fuller for longer. Also if you do feel hungry try a hot drink and find something to keep you busy. I like crafting and this keeps me absorbed for ages and not thinking about food.

Jane H you haven’t blown it and well done you for starting day 1 again. Once you have been doing it religiously for a week you will be motivated! It’s not easy when your family are tucking into carbs around you but hey ho I’ve decided my health is more important at this stage than a dollop of mashed potato! I’ve tried to adopt some of our regular meals into the plan so for example where we would have salmon, veg and spring onion mash – I’ve just given up the mash. I’m also weighing the salmon and the veg now so that I can get a more accurate calorie count. The secret is to plan your first week out – according to your lifestyle, use an app like my fitness pal to enter everything you eat (you can enter meals in advance and you can scan the bar codes of the foods you eat to make it even easier) and then stick to it for one whole week. Measure and weigh yourself first and weigh yourself every day – you will be inspired and motivated by the weight loss on the scales each day. Good luck – I look forward to hearing your progress.

I’ve started on the BSD this week and, whilst some of the recipes in the book are fine, I would like a lot more choice but still know that they fit with the diet.
Anyone help with this please

Thanks zandranna you have been really helpful, just jotted down your food list 😀

I am struggling with 800 calories to be honest I feel hungry so I have dropped back to the 5:2 but on the other days I am aiming to eat 1500-1600 calories

Hi Lisa
Having just looked at a few GI sites, it seems long white, brown and basmati are all about 55. But of course brown rice has other nutrients. It’s important not to have a lot. Wild rice is listed as very high at 87, short grain white high at 72.
Penny

I feel the same way- at first I thought I’d die if I ate 800 calories but it’s actually really easy to maintain and today, even though I know I’ve gone over, I’m not thinking of throwing in the towel (and I’m a holy terror for stopping and starting different diets once it’s been broken!). Good luck Chris- fingers crossed the damage isn’t much 🙂

My word! That’s brilliant! I’m so pleased for you.

Thanks Cazzowary, I’d rather hoped it’s mainly water, but didn’t want to kid myself. Time will tell how much damage I’ve done, but unlike previous diets, I don’t feel the urge to go on a chocolate (or worse) binge just because I’ve broken the diet. My acceptance and resolve to carry on is a revelation and a massive change in previous behaviour. I’m beginning to feel this is the right diet for me and one I can live with long term.

Wow that’s wonderful!! What a great weight loss

Wow well done you! 🙂

To put on 8 lbs in actual fat in a week is unlikely since that would mean you’d overeaten by about 28,000 calories! A lot of it will be water weight since carbs and water go hand in glove (I can’t remember the right words for it but water molecules are attached to carbs when it is stored in the body).

After a few days the real effect will be apparent – I had a similar day today when I couldn’t control the food I had access to and I ate what was there so tomorrow I’m going to drink a lot of water and return to eating 800 calories. After a few days the weight should sort itself out and the real amount of possible weight gain, if any, will show up.

There’ll probably also be a lot of peeing! (sorry, but it’s true- that water has to come out somehow!).

I am still giggling about eating cardboard with chilli 🙂 I have only tried the wild rice mix that was mentioned in this thread. Is the “solo” product easy to get right when cooking, only it seems really hard when I have tried the mix so I obviously have not cooked it correctly? Thanks.
Ps I too always used brown rice, and was quite disappointed to find it does not have a great GI score. Penny, does that mean a mix of brown and wild is still ok then?
I agree about the honey. After 8 weeks I bet you would not like sweet coffee! 🙂
Apologies as I seem to have posted twice, but I cannot delete the duplicate on my phone, sorry!