Cathy – I did the Week 1 exercise routine yesterday and it was very simple – took less than 5 minutes as there were only 5 exercises and each one took 20 seconds. There’s modifications you can do too. I had hand weights but you could use 2 cans of food instead. Only other equipment needed was a chair.
With th HIIT I plan to incorporate that into my walking, as in Week 1 it’s just 3 x 20
second intervals with 40 seconds break in between, so I’ll just increase my walking speed for 20’seconds. I’d imagine that the repetitions will increase over time, but initially it’s all very doable.

Dawn – well done on your loss so far 🙂

My day 1 went well, I had a Choc cherry smoothie for breakfast, this had chia seeds and cottage cheese in it so was quite filling. I had boiled egg, veggies and hommus for lunch. For dinner I made the speedy pizza from the Fast 800 book as I’d already planned to make that. I’m mainly cooking for myself and my husband, but also my 2 daughters 3-4 nights a week.
I made some Bircher Muesli last night (from the program), and the other 2 meals today look nice too, Haloumi kebabs and a chicken curry 🙂 it’s nice trying different meals and the shopping list is helpful.
I’ll check in at the end of the week, looking forward to reading everyone’s updates 🙂

Hi DCT
Your forthcoming holiday to New York is very exciting and I genuinely believe you could lose at least 7lb in the next three weeks by sticking to the menu plan. I opted to do the fast 800 keto vegetarian and I am feeling good whilst doing it. I am already in ketosis and absolutely enjoying my meals. I had a Greek Salad today. Last night I had Paneer and Peas and the food tastes so good. I’m having the same tonight. Looking forward to it too!
I am happy to make separate meals for my husband as he is slim and doesn’t need to lose weight but I can adapt some of the vegetarian meals into vegan meals which are healthy and nutritious. We both had a tofu stir fry this weekend which was really tasty. Like you suggested for your husband, I’ll bulk his out with rice and pasta and potatoes. I like measuring and weighing out the ingredients and knowing everything is calculated nutrition wise. Also, I’ve found out in settings how I can change plan so if I get fed up of keto I can do 5:2 or another version.
I need to think about exercise going forwards but for now I am just concentrating on food intake and walking.

Thanks DCT, I agree it’s really helpful having the food plan all set out and takes a lot of the having to think and organise away. I hope you really enjoy your first week. Dawn X

DAWN well done for such a great loss last week! I’m really pleased for you. And CATHY it’s great that you are also doing well on the online programme and feeling so motivated. It’s my first official day today – I’m in the 9th Feb cohort apparently – and so far so good. It’s recommending 5:2 and today is one of my fast days. I went out and did a huge food shop yesterday to make sure I had everything for this week’s recipes and still found I’d forgotten almonds for this morning’s breakfast! I will also substitute one or two meals this week for my own recipes as I have things to use up that I don’t want to go to waste.

But it’s great having the meal plan and recipes there right in front of you with calorie count and other macros – takes a lot of planning effort away. Like both of you, I will have to do two versions of meals. My husband is happy to lose weight but not prepared to go as low cal/carb as me. So it’ll be a case of padding his out with things like a baked potato, bread or rice etc. No big problem at all.

Wishing everyone on this thread – whether on the plan or not – a successful week. I’m off on my New York trip 3 weeks today so it would be lovely to lose a few pounds before then. Here’s hoping . . . .

Thanks Cathy, I’m actually finding it really helpful that a few of us are doing the online plan together, I think it’s making me more enthusiastic about it😀. I find the daily meal plans really user friendly and have managed to use the ‘swap’ option quite a bit to change meals to things I like using the ‘search’ option and have swapped meals to ‘eating out’ on days I haven’t been eating at home. I’m so pleased you are enjoying the online plan, like you I sometimes make something different for my husband and daughter but it’s worth it to keep myself on plan. I wasn’t keen on my breakfast this morning, mocha berry shake, but drank it and just won’t have that again. I’m having Portobello mushroom pizzas for lunch and chicken fajitas(using lettuce leaves instead of tortillas) for tea, I had it last week and enjoyed it, I just sliced chicken, peppers and red onions, tossed it all in a nice seasoning and olive oil, popped it in a Pyrex dish and cooked it in the air fryer so it didn’t take long at all. I managed to do the exercises every day and I’m reading the ‘knowledge’ and ‘mindfulness’ sections daily (I like clicking that ‘done’ tick😀). The exercises they’ve given me I think must be the easiest ones as I put my exercise level as low so they’re between 5 and 15 mins long. I didn’t think they could really be doing me any good but when I did them today I managed to do the warm up (which last week I found harder than the actual exercises!) a bit better than the same one last week and my balance was better (I didn’t have to hang on to a chair back) so hopefully that means that, although they’re very gentle, they are helping me in some way. It sounds like you are totally determined to stick with this so I’m sure at the end of the 12 weeks you will have great results!
Dawn X

Dawn- that is an incredible weight loss. The online recipes and meal plans are working well for you. What a boost! 5lb is a lot of weight. Keep strong and keep going. I too am following the daily meal plans and I’m thoroughly enjoying the food. I’m finding it difficult making two different meals each day as my husband is vegan and I am doing vegetarian keto so I’m having to make my meal and something different for him but I am going to stick with the plan. I was reading a book by Professor Taylor about reversing diabetes/pre diabetes and he reckons that 800 calories a day for 8-12 weeks is the best way to reverse diabetes and reduce weight quickly and that rapid weight loss isnt a bad thing especially for us slow losers who are then motivated by seeing our weight reduce quickly. I will weigh on Friday but I am sticking rigidly to the plan and am feeling good. I am grateful to you for sharing the information about the 12 week online course. I had been contemplating it since the New Year and I am really glad to be taking part with you and my other BSD friends.

Hi everyone,
Weighed myself this morning and I’m 5lb down since last Monday so am pleased with that even though I know it’s probably water weight, my waist is 1 inch down too. If I can stick as closely as possible to the online course food plan this week I’m hoping my waist will be under 40 inches when I measure next Monday🤞I hope everyone had a good weekend. Dawn X

A belated Happy Birthday to you, Denise, and I agree with Margaret, no need to feel regretful at all, hope you had a lovely time!

Happy Birthday for yesterday S-G & don’t feel regretful birthdays should be enjoyed 🥂🎁👍💐
Margaret xx

Just so you dont have to, I have reported about 6 posts from dentistry, business help to vibrators. Not mentioned in the text as it just brings them to the top of the page which is what they want.

Hi and welcome. Not sure what you mean by the M plan, Michael Mosley perhaps. I can help you with your ratios but it will be different for you as you are not me, age, weight, body makeup etc. Using the Myfitnesspal calculation I personally have 800 calories, 25% carbs which for me is 50g which includes sugars, 30% fat or 27g and 45% protein which is around 90g. I should reduce my carbs to around 20g but then struggle to know where and what to replace it with. Possibly eat more protein. You probably think 30% fat is high but it has to be good fats like olive oil, avocados, seeds, nuts etc. As for fruit I tend to stick to things like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, an occasional apple or pear as they are high in carbs. Totally avoid sweet tropical fruits like mango, papaya, bananas, also the pineapple to stick to low carb/sugar. The sugar sugars are obvious like cake, sweets, biscuits, grain sugar but watch out for hidden sugars like the ones in fruits but also in fruits yoghurts even if they claim to be low fat they are then pumped up with sugars. Learn to read the labels and watch out for words like dextrose, glucose, maltose, lactose etc. all those ending ose are sugar by other name.

You are probably getting information overload now so I will stop there.

Completely messed up the diet during these last few days. Maybe to the tune of 2lbs. i.e. 1.2kgs gained. Yes it is my birthday (yesterday) and I did go out for a meal but it was probably the wine that caused the damage. Tomorrow is another day and I still have 6 weeks to my holiday. Onward and downward from tomorrow.

Good morning everyone from another grey rainy day here in West Sussex. I have just weighed & lost 0.5lbs of the 1.5lbs I gained the week before so at least I haven’t gained more . Overall I’m obviously not yet back into proper losing weight mode 🙁 at least I can still get into the trouser suit I am planning to wear to the family gathering which fortunately is in a casual venue with two weeks to go now. I think because of the continuing grey rainy weather that I may have SAD back because I feel demotivated & lacking in energy despite eating balanced meals with occasional square of dark mint chocolate plus increasing my weekly step count. I know I must keep going because I’m not even back at my pre-surgery weight let alone anywhere near my goal weight!
Pleased you were able to get your mammogram done S-G & I had one last year after requesting one & think it is a couple of years before I can request another one here in the UK & I hope you enjoyed the film Hamnet .
Yes Becca I think that I must try to get back to 800 daily calories to kick start my body but it feels a fairly miserable thing to keep to at the moment without even relaxing a little over the weekend 🤔 I have 2 .75 stones to lose now & I hope that as the weeks progress with improving weather my mood & energy will improve but meanwhile I will keep plodding on recording & monitoring everything I eat.
Good luck everyone for next week 👍🤞🍀🍀
Margaret xx

That’s great DCT, I’m so pleased the code is still working. My waist measurement has been my main worry for a while with all of the implicated health concerns, my first aim is to get it under 40 inches which I’m hoping I can do in this first two weeks. I carry most of my weight around my middle, my arms and legs aren’t particularly overweight so if I can lose it from there, as well as being healthier, it will be much easier to find clothes which fit properly! I’ve managed not to go much off plan tonight so it shouldn’t affect Monday’s weigh in too much. Dawn X

Hi Dawn yes I’ve signed up too, and the code still works! I need to have a proper look but, like Mariet, it’s suggesting 5:2. It also confirmed I’m currently overweight – in terms of BMI – and that my waist measurement is “unhealthy”! And has recommended low impact exercise.

Will report back in due course, but hope it will help me ramp things up a bit.

Hope that everyone has a good weekend X

Thanks DCT, what a lovely surprise trip! If you decide to sign up for the 12 week online course I think the discount code they emailed me expires on Sunday. It was for 95% off and was PROGRAMME95. Dawn X

Hi all just a quick check in from me to say a huge well done to all our losers! CATHY DAWN SUE YOWZER BECCA amazing losses over the last week and/or this year so far. SUNNY I think you and I are both on the slower moving carriage at the moment but as long as the numbers are going downwards that’s fine by me!

I’m interested to read about several of you signing up to the 12 week programme and might give it a go too, as the offer is so good. I’d like a bit of a boost if I can, as I found out that the surprise trip I mentioned with my daughter is actually to New York! And it’s just over 3 weeks away So it’d be lovely to shrug off a few pesky pound before then if I can 🤞

Big hello to everyone else on this thread. Hope you’re doing ok. Do post and let us know X

Huge congrats and well done to Carhy, Dawn and Yowser, really great results! 🤸‍♀️🥳🎊
Keep up the good work and it’s great you all seem to have a plan to take you forward, whilst still enjoying special life events.

That’s great Yowzer, as Cathy says, maybe the reflexology gave you a detox. I can imagine it was tiring having to nip to the loo so often though! Hope you are having a more relaxing day today. Dawn X

Yowser- another lovely positive post. 6lb is a fantastic loss and the reflexology has obviously had a great benefit and possibly detoxed your system. We certainly have seen some great results this week. I really do hope that 2026 is the year that our group has fantastic success. Last year was a struggle for so many of us. I am committed to making things work and contributing to a successful journey for us all. 2026- I really do hope we’ve got this (once and for all).

Hi girlies,Oh wow! Some lovely results here! Massive congratulations!
Ive a feeling this is going to be a good year for us all xx
I had a strange but nice thing over the last few days. I couldnt stop running to the loo,I was going once an hour and I kept a note of the times..it was once an hour for 36 hours. Lost 6 lb in water weight. This was following a session of reflexology. It was tedious and tiring to go so often,but I liked the result. I never care if its only water,I just like seeing that number go down on the scale.
CCATHY enjoy your time with your aunty,you sound like a lovely niece!
🩷❤️💜 Happy weekend all xxx 🩵💙💚

Wow Dawn- well done on your 4lb weight loss! That’s incredible. Enjoy today and back on track again tomorrow. I’m sticking to a Friday weigh in so I’ll report back next week. We don’t need to punish ourselves for letting go every now and again. Slow and steady will work for me.

Hi everyone,
That’s great news Cathy, well done! I weighed myself this morning and I’m 4lb down since Monday so am really pleased about that. We have friends coming round tonight so I’ve chosen the ‘eating out’ option on my food plan and won’t be weighing myself again until Monday. As you say, we have to weave our lifestyle around events and I’m determined not to let one meal derail me and will just get back to the food plan tomorrow morning.
Hope everyone is having a good week, I don’t usually mind rain at all but we’ve had weeks of it now so it would be nice to see some sunshine soon🤞Dawn X

Hello everyone
Just reporting in with today’s weigh in result- I’ve lost 3lb since last Friday!! I’m really pleased with myself! Today I am going off piste as I’ve booked to take my Aunty for afternoon tea to celebrate her 85th birthday. It’s come at a bad time really as I am on a roll but as we have already mentioned on this thread, we have to weave our lifestyle around life events and so today is a special day for her and I’ll make sure I am back on track so that I lose again this week. My plan was to lose 5lb by the end of February and I have already achieved a 6lb weight loss since I started in January. I hope to lose another 1lb next week and that will take me to the half stone mark. Last night I was craving crisps! It’s a habit I want to lose. I am a crispoholic! I don’t crave chocolate or sweet things but salted nuts and crisps are my go to snack.
I won’t weigh myself again now til next Friday as I know I’ll be disappointed to see the weight pile on after my afternoon tea today. I’ve already decided that I won’t eat any cakes today- I’ll bring them home for my husband to enjoy. I don’t want to tell my aunty that I’m dieting but I can simply say. I’m too full today to eat them and take them home. I do think that eating a lot less calories has a significant impact on my success. I’ve been fasting til lunchtime with only a coffee in the morning and sticking to about 800/900 calories a day.
Have a lovely weekend everyone. I look forward to seeing how you’ve all done this week. I think having small goals is helping me to chip away slowly. I hope you’ve all had a good week.

Hi Mariet, that’s brilliant that the code worked for you too:) Enjoy your camping! Dawn X

ah Becca- finding a meal that fits all 5 family members’ requirements and that we all actually like it….the holy grail 😅

Hi everyone.
Looking to start the M plan (BSD). I’ve read a lot and eat a lot of M food but I’d like to understand a bit more around how many grams of protein carbs fat and sugar I should aim for. I’ve invested in an app and want to add it all in together with the 800 calories. Can someone help me with the suggested grams per day please:
Protein
Carbs
Fats
Sugars (appreciate this will help mostly fruit and not ones like pineapples etc)

Thanks everyone in advance for helping!!! X

Hi everyone, checking in although I’ve got nothing to report. I am camping by the beach for a fortnight with friends and being as good as I can. We are only eating two meals a day and there are no carbs but there is wine 😳 but also lots of exercise.
Dawn, I have also used your code and joined up with Fast 800, thank you very much! It has suggested I do 5:2 but I will look at it more completely when I get home.
Looks like many of us are giving this a try, it will be great seeing how everyone does.
Cheers all from the sunny South coast of NSW.

Denise, glad you got an appointment and have that out of the way. Sounds like it was a confusing mess for you trying to get it, though. I have to get my mammogram in a few weeks, as well. It’s not quite as scary as it was back in 2012 when I had a tumor (tumour) removed, but does still make me a bit anxious. I’m not sure how long they continue to offer mammograms here in the states.

Tulip, I truly don’t know how you manage to create all those different types of meals. Hats off to you. Hope they all appreciate it.

Margaret, sounds like you and I are in the same position with needing to go below the calorie level that is deemed as “safe” in order to take weight off. I truly wish someone would do a study and write a book geared toward us shorter, older, sedentary women, especially those of us like myself with a great deal of weight to lose and unable to do much exercise. Anyway, I’m back to aiming for the lower calories this week and will see how it goes.

Hi Cathy, it sounds like you’ve made a great start. I feel I’m not drinking enough so from tomorrow I will try to rectify that. I’m feeling a bit headachey tonight which is probably being caused by that and also maybe sugar withdrawal. I’m heading to bed early and will hopefully get a decent sleep. Dawn X

HI Dawn
I’ve opted for two meals a day and am doing the keto vegetarian version. I made broccoli and three cheese frittatas for lunch but I didn’t have any Parmesan so it was a two cheese frittata and tonight’s recipe was green eggs and halloumi. I’ve eaten four large eggs today!! The website is intuitive and I’ve downloaded week one of the changing habits course and completed it and put it in a folder. It feels like I’m starting again from scratch like I did in 2017 when I bought the BSD book. I’ve missed my yoghurt today. I’ve had a couple of cups of coffee with milk and a variety of herbal teas and sparkling water. I think I broke the rules this morning having milk but I can’t enjoy black coffee. Anyway, I’m using the programme as a tool. I go on holiday in 12 weeks and 2 days so the timing is perfect. I need all the help I can get so let’s see how things go.
SueBlue- it will be interesting to see how the programme inspires you too. I think you’ll enjoy the recipes. I am only really able to walk for exercise due to my rheumatoid arthritis but I went out today after my frittatas and enjoyed a nice walk in the park and got chatting to a man with a lovely whippet. I can’t see me making use of the exercises.
Hope everyone is on track for a good week. I hope to be 1lb down on Friday. I am determined to only have the scales going in one direction!

Hi all, sorry I have been awol for a few days. What has been going on. Well I ruined the weeks diet by having a few drinks on Sunday and gaining 2lbs the next night I went to the quiz night and had a meal and a few glasses of wine and lost 1lb, btw we won again.

Monday I decided to look for an appointment for my mammogram (every 2 years) and had a heck of a job understanding the computer instructions – one, they are in French, 2 I dont do computers. I had tried ringing for an appoint but it just directed me to website. Anyway after a few false starts and managing to scan and download my ‘prescription’ I got directed to the wrong radiographer, one several miles away. Tried again and the only appt was for Tuesday 3rd Feb. I thought it must be a mistake as there were no other appts available until October. Finally booked it so yesterday was a booby squeezy day. I could see why no appt till October as the clinic is being demolished and rebuilt. I must have found the one and only appt possibily a cancellation. Thats that done for another 2 years unless I move back to the UK where they stop at age 70 – here it is 75.

Tonight we are going to the cinema to see Hamnet – hope it is as good as they say. And yes, my weight is down again but it is a zero loss from last week. I have 47 days to the cruise so just under 7 weeks – still hopeful but have to get my birthday out of the way first.

Hope you are all doing okay.

Hi Cathy, I’m so pleased the code worked for you too, it really is a bargain, in my email it said it would be valid to use until 8th Feb. I really hope this gives us a boost🤞. I’m enjoying the meals so far, I had a basil and mushroom omelette this morning, the recipe included cream cheese but I used cheddar instead and made it a cheese crusted omelette (which someone first mentioned on the forums years ago and is really tasty) I haven’t done today’s HIIT exercises yet but intend to before lunch. You’ve had a good start losing weight since your Friday weigh in. Dawn X

Hi Dawn
I too have joined the fast 800 12 week programme and I’m really quite excited to give myself another boost. Thank you for inspiring me- I’ve been thinking about joining since the start of the year. The code worked so thank you. I weighed this morning and I’m down 0.4 lb from Friday when I last weighed. I’m embarking on my first 7 days with the plan so let’s see how well we all do with a bit of extra support and motivation.

Thanks Yowzer, hope you’re feeling a bit better. Sue you’re welcome for the code, I wasn’t sure about it working for anyone else but am pleased it did! Dawn X

Massive congrats to SUEBLUE and DAWN on their losses 👍👍 What a great start you have both made to 2026! ⭐️⭐️
Love to all xxx

Dawn – thanks so much for sharing the discount code! I had been thinking about joining the programme as it was 30% off or something here. Then I read your post so I thought I’d give the discount code a go, in case it worked, and it did 🙂 it’s $2.50 a month AUD for the first 3 months. To be on the safe side I paid with a card I have that has a
low balance on it, and that I have to manually top up…not saying it’s a scam or anything but in case that code wasn’t supposed to be used here or something.. anyway will give it a go, I’m particularly interested in the exercises.
I haven’t weighed myself yet this week, but when I weighed myself on the weekend I was the same weight I had been the week before – which considering the events I’d been to, I was happy with! So my January loss was 3.2kg, or just over 7lb.
Hope everyone else is having a good week 🙂

🌷🌷 OH passed his asthma review with flying colours
🌷🌷 completed the printing for our road trip ‘manual’, just need to get it all into a ring file
🌷🌷 saw a very small decrease on the scales today, but happy to see things moving in the right direction

Hope someone else will post a positive or two soon

Thanks Sunny and well done on your loss too. I’m enjoying the meals so far, had chicken fajitas tonight with lettuce leaves instead of tortillas and it was delicious. It’s nice to have some new recipes to add to my current ones. Dawn X

Hope the programme helps and gives you the boost you’re hoping for Dawn. You’ve made a good start with the 3.5lb drop though.
I’m reporting in with a small drop for the week, just a smidge less than a pound down …. better than an increase, so I’ll take it as a positive.
This week, I’m looking to increase fibre and start ‘exercise snacking’. Exercise is always my blind spot so I’m hoping the ‘snacking’ approach will help.
Looking forward to reading how others are getting on and what adjustments they might be making as they move forward.

Thanks Cathy,
I thought it might be a scam at first because it was such a huge discount! so I didn’t click on the email link, I went in via the website and the code they gave me worked fine. It said in the email that it was because I had made a purchase but it may work even if you haven’t made a purchase, the code was PROGRAMME95. I think I did try the online programme years ago but didn’t really use it properly and probably wouldn’t have tried it again if the hadn’t sent me the offer. I think it works out £1.50 per month for the first three months then I get the fourth month free then, unless I cancel, it’s £12 per month from then which is the maintenance programme. I filled in all of my details and it came up with a weekly menu plan but you can swap meals from an extensive library. You can also print out a shopping list from it each week. It has daily exercises (mine aren’t too strenuous for this first week as I said I didn’t do much exercise) There is also a community part which I haven’t posted on yet with being so happy with this one! There are daily articles with useful information too and also a mindfulness section. I figured for the price it would definitely be worth my while giving it a go so 🤞I don’t waste the opportunity!
Dawn X

Dawn- that sounds like a great deal from the Fast 800 website and I’d love to see what you make of it. It’s something I’ve been considering as a boost and support to my weight loss plan for 2026. I’d be interested in your thoughts. Well done on your 3.5 lb loss. I’m chipping away slowly. I am determined to keep losing bit by bit.

Time to post a few positives….
🌼🌼 it clean sheet night …. hummmmm 🛌🌙
🌼🌼 it didn’t rain today 🤸‍♀️🎊
🌼🌼 a Turkish friend managed to secure a couple of hotel bookings for us, which I’d been struggling with. These complete the plans for our 2026 road trip.🚗🚘
Oh and one more …
🌼🌼 close friends have booked to visit us in June while we’re in Turkey 🎊🤸‍♀️

What positives can you identify? We’d love to read about them.

Thank you Becca & I am also having trouble lowering my calories & am averaging around 1100 daily calories over the week but went a bit mad over the weekend having more to eat & wine plus puds with my meals. I am recording my calories on Nutracheck which suggests a minimum calorie count of 1200 daily calories which is ridiculous for me because I seem to inhale calories just by looking at food 😂. I must obviously really try to cut back to 800 daily calories & reduce my carbs although I am not diabetic but of course carbs encourage fluid retention 😢 I am playing short mat bowls today so some exercise & increased step count😀
Oh well keep on going everyone it is worth it 🤞🤞🍀🍀
Margaret xx

Hi everyone, sorry I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks. my first week back on plan went quite well and I lost 3 and a half pounds but I haven’t lost any more since then as haven’t really been sticking in as well as I could. Well done to all who are managing to stay focused. I bought some high protein items from the Fast 800 website a few weeks ago to help on the odd day when I feel I could use them and the following week I got an email from them offering me 95% off the 12 week programme and the fourth month free so I decided to take up the offer and have started that today so, hopefully, the added motivation will give me the boost I need🤞 I hope everyone has a good week. Dawn X

That’s a fabulous result Becca! Sounds like you are managing to navigate a good route for yourself. Can understand what you’re say about finding that balance though, but seems to me you are getting a feel for what works best for you.
For me, it’s necessary to push both carbs and cals low if I expect results on the scales, but my guess is that somewhere between 800 and 1300 cals is your ideal. Remember though, as this is a marathon not a sprint, it’s okay for the numbers to vary a little day on day and still see positive results.
Again, ideal carb levels vary person to person. You’ve already discovered what your upper limit is, so you can now experiment by gradually sliding lower to see where your best level sits.
Anyway, keep going Becca, you’re doing great!

Hi Becca, I’m still loving the app- it’s giving me lots of new cooking inspiration and making it easier to plan 🙂 Bonus also lots of vegetarian/ vegan meal ideas and as I have one lactose intolerant young adult and one vegetarian teen to feed along with the usual (plus my hubby is doing a low fodmap diet)- it’s helping with those things too. xx

Tulip, meant to ask, how are things going with the app?

Hi, all, haven’t been here in a bit. Interesting discussion you’ve been having about life fitting into the diet vs the diet fitting into life. Also that question of whether it’s best to just stay away entirely from the sweet stuff or try to include in moderation. I have no answers, just my own lifelong struggle with trying to figure it out.

In the same way, I’m still trying to figure out exactly how low I need to go on the calories and carbs to have steady and sustainable weight loss. The 800 seemed very restrictive to me and I was actually losing a bit too fast on that, especially when I cut the carbs way down. However, I apparently just maintain or even gain weight if the calories get as high as 1300, especially when the carbs also get up to 50. So, I am trying to find my sweet spot. Seems like when you’re older and very overweight and sedentary, the calculators aren’t quite as accurate,

However, even with the ups and downs and twists and turns, I’m down 34 pounds since October 15, about 3-1/2 months ago. Very happy about that, but I still have a lot (a LOT) to lose (about 150 more), so would love to just find the ongoing answer to all these challenging questions related to how to keep it going and do this in a slow and steady way that won’t leave my skin looking more awful than it already does, or my muscles more depleted than they already are. (Note to self: Starting to do some exercise seems like a given.)

Happy February, everyone.

Denise, that’s a bit scary about the low blood glucose. I’m glad you did what you needed to do. Glad it went well with your dress try-on, too.

Margaret, I understand the frustration with the scale. I have no loss to show for the last 3 weeks, so my loss in January all came from the first week, aside from one additional fraction of a pound. I had mentioned previously that I was staying between 900-1200 calories, which certainly seemed low enough to continue losing, but apparently not. The mathematics of weight loss is mind-boggling.

At the end of 2025 (October 15 to December 15), I lost 30 pounds in 2 months by sticking close to 800 calories and staying low carb. I was motivated by my upcoming labs, and it paid off with good labs and a huge weight loss that very much surprised me. I really didn’t like losing that fast, though. My skin got extremely saggy and wrinkly-looking, more so that normal.

Over the last 2 weeks of December I did not go crazy, but did take a break from tracking calories and allowed myself carbs, and weight went up 10 pounds in 2 weeks. Again, didn’t really make sense math-wise.

That weight gain must have been largely water weight from the added carbs, because when I restarted low carb on January 1, I lost 13 pounds that week.

Since then, even though my calorie level should have had me losing almost 2 pounds a week (per a supposedly very accurate calculator that takes all my details into account), my weight has zig-zagged up and down and basically stayed the same.

Now, with my annual physical 3 weeks away, I’m wondering if I need to go back to 800 calories and 20 gm carbs until I get more weight off. I’m starting to really believe that 1200 calories may be my maintenance level given how sedentary I am (and short, and in my 70s), and that I’m extremely insulin resistant after all these years. I may let myself have one maintenance day per week to reassure my body and keep the weight going down rather than stalling.

Will report back on my February progress or lack thereof. Continued good luck and best wishes to everyone.