Allie- Massive congratulations to you for maintaining (which I think is really difficult) for two whole years. What an achievement! I have shared my journey with you since January 2017 when I embarked on my exciting adventure- totally sceptical but so, so, hopeful and you have always been so kind and generous with your encouragement and advice. You are a fantastic ambassador for this way of eating. What you did for yourself was amazing and what you have done for us is too- you have helped so many of us. Happy Anniversary and thank you for being there for us all.

PS- I am still plodding to get the few pounds I put on last year off to reach my goal of 133. Sadly, I didn’t maintain that weight for very long which is why I think maintenance is difficult. If I don’t achieve 133 by June I am going to revise my goal to 138 and call it a day! (I can maintain 138 and did do for over a year). Never giving up the BSD way now eating of course but starting my revised maintenance plan at 138 with the hope that every pound that goes on, comes off the week after so weekly weigh ins when I get to whatever goal weight I manage to achieve. #plodding

Good afternoon everyone, Scottishgal you go girl.

1. I got two new bras, so comfort at last!🤣🤣 big sigh 🤣

2. I Also got myself some comfy trousers for work, all lovely and elastic so when my body decides to swell at night they won’t cut in.

3. I have not got on the scales and I am not bothering until next Sunday at weigh in. I feel good about my decision, after all the advice you awesome people have given me. I also took the new devil bathroom scales to my mum’s as she needed a set. She can have the evil “you are actually 3lbs heavier than you thought” 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Hope you are all having a fab day, I am about to leave Kent to go back home😢 💞🦜

I don’t mind starting the new one up next week while the lovely Wendy is enjoying her well deserved spring break. ❤️💞🦜

Good luck GolfCaddie and a warm welcome to you. We are all here to help, encourage and we are not judgemental. Just a friendly bunch of people all trying our best to live a long and healthy life🤣😉💞🦜. Birdy

Thank you Patricia I will try them. With these jolly hog ones it is the first sausage I have found that I actually like. I like a good plain pork sausage and they put all sorts of spices/ herb that make them taste horrid😉.

Thank you Essie, I will keep going as I am. I am getting 20g of carbs a day and sometimes less which isn’t intentional 🤣

You more than do your part, too, Wendy! You have carried on with the best spirit of this community. Evidence is
right there in the number of posts this past week 🙂 Hope to see all of our new friends continuing on, too! I hope
one of you will step into the breech the following week when Wendy is away. This is a strong and very special
thread, and it would be upsetting to see it go silent.

This is a brand new week, forget any blips that may have happened during last week’s challenge . Continue with
all of your successes and life lessons. It’s a NEW DAY 🙂 🙂 🙂

Welcome!

I use the tracker that comes with my Fitbit app. Others like MyFitnessPal, Fat Secret and there is one called Carb Manager. general consensus is that carbs should be less than 50g per day, though most apps don’t work this out for you easily or like it when you only want to eat 800 cals per day 😀

I can only really speak for Fitbit, which will calculate your macros if you input your food each day. I’ve used MyFitnessPal before too, and find it has a much bigger food database, but Fitbit lets me obsess over heart rate, weekly steps etc. I am sure other more knowledgeable folk will be along soon!

Initiated by Verano, and perpetuated in the capable, safe hands of Allie and Sunny B, here we are with another weekly thread open to everyone whatever stage you are at.You will find support , encouragement and invaluable advice. We have some tremendous maintainers on here ! Come and join our friendy thread !

Hi everyone
Just to let you all know I will set up another weekly thread which will run until my Spring break in the Uk 😉

Hello!

Can someone help me determine what is the correct amount of carbs that I should be eating per day? I think I’m getting overwhelmed with all the information and not sure what is the breakdown I need to follow in regards to fat, carbs, fiber, etc. Also, what apps are people using to track their calories and nutrients? I have barely started and feel I am going to failed already :(.

Thank you!

Good luck and well done you for being so organised and brave as to record your stats and actually start.
I’ve not measured inch loss so far, but am thinking I really should.
I hope you enjoy the experience as well, I’m 3 weeks in and touch wood, it’s going well.

Well done Flak, yes we have all had similar results and although my doctor seems to have forgotten I am on this diet he still cant get over my results. Unfortunately I still have some weight to lose but I put my BG and other health factors first. As I always say, keep on keeping on…

thank you.:)

This last one came as a surprise – I was only supposed to be there to get a B12 injection. I wouldn’t have eaten had I known it was coming 🙁 I was expecting forms to go to the hospital with but the nurse said she would do it straight away.)

I’ve been thinking more about my experience this morning and have decided to view it as that I’m very lucky to have this ‘baseline’ set of results to move on from x

Hi onmyway, a little bit of advice for cholesterol and blood glucose blood test, fast for 12 hours prior to testing and get the test done early morning.

Well as I crawl to bed, I’m delighted to say that I named on just under 800kcals on day one. Apart from a sore head, I feel better already.

Birdy76, have you seen the Tesco finest British Traditional pork sausages?
Pork (97%), Potato Starch, Salt, Water, Dried Herbs, White Pepper, Preservative (Sodium Metabisulphite), Nutmeg. Filled into natural casings.
We like them, they have a slightly herby taste and are chewy rather than overly smooth consistency. I never thought to consider the carbs, it’s 1.5g per 100g.

Allie, 2 years maintaining! Wow! You are our shining star, showing us the way.

Kafin that is already some list you have there.Glad you are feeling positive on your restart. All the very best.We are all cheering you on

You don’t need another of Mm’s books.The Fast 800 is enough (plus this forum 😉
I found ‘motivational books ‘ and books which enhanced my understanding of why I overate to be more useful .
Tha ” Take a look at this thread “has lots of reccommendations . You have often heard mentioned
Gary Taubes : “Why we get fat…………’
I also recomend Jason Fung : The Obesity Code and his Complete guide to Fasting. I like Zoe Harcombe too who talks a lot about emotional eating.She has personal experience of anorexia and eating disorders amongst lots of practical advice to tackle carb addiction.
I think they would be more useful than MM’s original book if you wanted to read something xx

Hello,

I’d like to share my experience of a diabetic check up with my nurse this morning. I’m very much hoping to see this as motivation and encouragement that I’m heading in the right direction.

The good news

My cholesterol is normal. This time last year it was pretty much ‘off the scale’ – I was prescribed statins and made a conscious effort to eat more healthily. (This didn’t last and here I am!)

The scales showed I really have lost 15lbs in 3 weeks thanks to the BSD. I’m now in the ‘overweight’ range as opposed to ‘obese’ according to the NHS.

Everything except my blood sugar was good according to blood test results.

The not so good news

My blood sugar was at 12 according to the tests taken 2 weeks ago, maybe 20 minutes after I ate a banana.

For the first time in my life I was told my blood pressure was a little high.

Despite losing the 15lbs so recently, I weighed exactly one kg more than I did this time last year!

The encouraging result

This blood test was done one week in after starting the BSD. I considered the nurse’s reaction a little dismissive and pessimistic at my earlier appointment.

But today she was different.

When she said she wanted to try me on different, additional medication, ( I’m on 4 lots of 500mg metformin each day) I said that I was following the BSD and what this meant and she really listened. She has said I’m to go back in 2 weeks to check my BP again and to be weighed. She said she can request another blood test in 3 months to see how much difference my BSD diet experience is making.

Thanks to advice on this forum about really ‘drilling down’ on my carbs I’m feeling determined and positive about continuing.

Thanks for reading, I feel like posting this makes me a little more accountable. Lowering my blood pressure is urgent for me. The last 3 weeks has rid me of a ‘brain fog’ and lethargy and I’m confident of making a real difference xx

Sounds really lovely to me!

Good luck to you, hope you love it and get the results you’re hoping for.

Happy Anniversary Allie, totally fabulous achievement 🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🙌🙌🙌

Kafin cheering you on with your new start xxx
Birdy, if you can’t be bothered making your own find a good quality local butcher who makes their own with no additives (fillers).

Hi Jennie, and thank you for your upbeat positive reply! I have literally just got back from my Dr’s appointment and am heartened by her fulsome praise for what I have achieved so far. She confirms basically everything that you all have been telling me here, ie: that this is a marathon not a sprint, She will retest my Hba1c levels in eight weeks time along with my cholesterol. she considers that as I have now lost over 10% of my body-weight ( I was 13st 3lbs i am now 11st 12lbs!) BMI 23.2) that I should not lose any more.
Her advice is basically keep eating the way I am (low carb) but to just increase my calories to stop any further weight loss!

Sound reasonable?

Hi Allie,
I would recommend the work of Steve Phinney who is very well respected in researching low carb for athletes and has podcasts and a book on the subject.

Happy anniversary, I would have sent you a card, but strangely at present the commercial card manufacturers don’t make any card to celebrate maintaining weight loss long term. There’s a business opportunity for someone :-)))

Hi everyone. Just popped on to introduce myself. I have been an advocate of the 5:2 diet previously but weight loss was not enough, so decided to give the BSD a try. Read the book on Saturday, planned some meals and shopped on Sunday, and started today. I am not diabetic, but probably heading that way if I don’t get a grip.

My shopping basket yesterday has never been so colourful!! It was really quite exciting! So todays menu is:
B: two scrambled eggs with 10g butter, and 50 smoked salmon
L: Mixed salad of tuna, butter beans, tomato, cucumber, pepper, and crème fraiche, to be eaten in lettuce leaf parcels
D; either chicken stirfry or bacon and bean courgette, depending on mood.

Does this sound ok? It all comes under the 800 cals and also leaves a few calories for milk in my coffee which is a necessity.
Reading my way through all the forums and trying to get to know you all a little, so I look forward to seeing you all progress and hopefully joining you in your successes!!

No problem AT ALL, JGwen! I didn’t scroll back far enough 🙂

Very interesting observations about social media…. I hope that you are right! I’m going to try to remember the
name of the Keto Athlete group, so I can refer those newbie posters who are serious runners, and stubbornly
hold onto the notion that bananas or bread are necessary (carb loading) to complete a run!

I’ve been following the fast 800 for two weeks today, yesterday was my first stumble too. I completely appreciate how you feel. I went wayward from mid afternoon with a quarter of an Easter egg that my husband was eating and then we had an Indian last night for a family birthday, I ordered chicken tikka main to have with salad and cauliflower rice but they sent shashlick instead and it was pretty oily. Lovely, but definitely off plan. Then I had some low cal ice cream that was in the freezer too…🤦‍♀️

I’ve decided not to weigh myself this morning and just to plan what I’m eating today. Will weigh tomorrow instead. I was on an 11lb discard and I don’t want to get down if I’ve put on.

I think it’s inevitable in this day and age that temptation might get the better of us at times, it’s how we bounce back from that that counts. Good luck with a better day today 🙂

Good 3 am in the morning all from Florida!

Just hopping on to say congrats to Allie on her Anniversary!!!

Catherine

Well done Allie you are amazing! Congratulations on your 2 year maintenance hun🍾🥗🥩🥑🎇🎆🎊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎈🎈🎈🎈

Congrats on your anniversary, Allie! You’re inspirational and I can’t wait until I’m in your position. Maintenance is the true test.
I’m almost at the end of my Day 1 restart and I though I would list some goals so that you can all help me stay focused!
1. Weighing every day works for me as it helps keep me on track, but this time I won’t get so hung up on the numbers, it’s more important to stick to the WOE and the changes will follow in their own time. That said, I’m not weighing until I’ve been back on track for a week
2. I’m going to do my measurements once a week instead of daily
3. My initial first weight goal is to fit into a beautiful sun dress and wear it to the end of summer party that I’ll be going to at my company in Munich at the end of August. More importantly, my goal for that week is to stay focused on the program and not binge eat, just because I’m out of the country. If I can do that, I’ll be so proud because I always make grand plans to not pig out and then fail every time.
4. I’m adjusting my mindset to this being a marathon, not a sprint and a life change, not a brief diet period.
5. I’m going to do 12:12 for a week, then move to 10:12 and then reassess.
6. I’m going to build up to extended fasts
7. I’m stepping up my exercise and returning to yoga, plus weights in the morning and a HiiT workout three times a week
8. I want to stay on Fast 800 until I reach my goal and then transition to 5:2
9. That’s all I can think of right now – feel free to chime in with suggestions!

On another note, I have the Fast800 latest book, is it worth getting the original BSD or is the info repeated??

I couldn’t start the day without first congratulating Allie on her anniversary today.TWO YEARS IN MAINTENANCE following a whopping TEN STONE WEIGHT DISCARD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW !!! A legend xx

I am cartwheeling with you , Allie !!!

Hi Allie,
Sorry for any confusion caused, it may be my fault, the link to a paper published in the lancet which is a medical journal which we were discussing claims that there is an increase in mortality if following a low carb diet and Patricia asked my opinion on the paper. – I pointed out that as the definition in this study of low carb diets as less than 40% of calories coming from carbs they were not really talking about this WoE.
Most of the eating plans in the low carb “category” were greater than 30% of calories from carbs and none were lower than 20% of calories from carbs.
They did not include any study following the long term health of any group eating Keto.
——————-
I am afraid I was being lazy, today was not a day where I had time to think through how to convert from TDEE following the BSD principles into percentage of calories from carbs, so I just mentioned the lack of a group eating Keto.

I apologise if I caused any confusion.

———————

Patricia, I think there are two ways that the style of healthy eating by monitoring macros rather than calories is going to go mainstream.
It is only fairly recently that the existence of the process of autophagy and its benefits for longevity and fighting cancer has been discovered. I think as more research into this field occurs and is published in journals like the lancet then officialdom will have to start integrating this knowledge into advice.
However, I think the biggest change is coming via social media. The easiest way to see this is by looking at the numbers on Facebook. Over 81,000 members in Dr Fungs official group. Nearly 40,000 in Ketogenic Athlete group.

Seeds are an easy solution. Flax and chia in particular have the highest amount of fiber you can get gram for gram. How much water do you drink per day?

Me again Peachcake – I suffered badly from constipation for a couple of years – and looking back I can say it was probably due just as much to stress at work than it was to my diet (which was very healthy at the time).
So a change to a less stressful environment helped me. As well as adding in pickles, fermented foods etc. This article explains a bit: https://medium.com/thrive-global/the-link-between-gut-health-and-stress-682aafa355c7

And a gentle laxative is Normacol – a teaspoon before bed a couple of days in a row perhaps?

Hi Peachcake.
I stir spoonful of a product called Benefibre into my morning coffee. It has no carbs and lots of fibre – and dissolves completely and is tasteless. I’m in Australia – but I am sure there are similar products where you are – perhaps Metamucil?
Also more probiotics may help to get your gut working well – yogurt, kombucha, pickles etc. Kombucha and some fermented/pickled products are made with some sugar, but the sugar gets altered during the pickling process so small amounts won’t throw you out of keto, and these types of foods are great for getting your gut working.
Science of Pickling”As lactic acid bacteria grow in your pickles, they digest sugars in the vegetables and produce lactic acid. Not only does this acid give the pickles their characteristic sour tang, it controls the spread of spoilage microbes. Also, by gobbling up the sugars, lactic acid bacteria remove a potential food source for bad bacteria.”
Good luck!!

Wall of shame
228lbs
8.5″ neck
46″ waist
45″ chest
BMI 30.9
Body Fat: 42.8%

High risk of everything.
Starting today. Will check in once a week with updates.

Birdy, for commercial products I use the information on their nutritional panels. If MFP doesn’t have it or what’s in their database has been entered incorrectly, I manually edit the numbers. For fresh foods — veggies, meats, fish — I look up the USDA information and choose the entry in MFP that matches it.

In the end, though, it’s all a bit of a crapshoot. You have to trust that the companies selling food aren’t liars or mistaken (a major assumption given how often they fling bullshit) and that a government agency whose brief is promotion of US agriculture, not public health, is using actual science instead of relying on self-reported data from farmers/ranchers/scary conglomerates trying to sell their wares. Short of sending samples of everything you plan to eat to a testing lab, you have to be content with being as close to accurate as possible.

Ugh. Rice flour. There is simply no reason to infect a simple sausage with 16% filler carbs. This may seem extreme, but until you can find a source of decent sausage, you could make your own. It’s not that hard, believe it or not. Get chicken or turkey, ideally dark meat like boneless, skinless thighs, cut it into chunks an inch long on each side, freeze it for 15 minutes. It will not be frozen through, but it will be solid enough that you can pulse it a few times in a food processor and get a decent coarse grind. Mix in your own herbs, spices and veg, form them into 2 oz patties, stack with layers of wax paper between them and freeze for long-term use. If you don’t have a food processor, the quick freeze trick will allow you to do thin slices that you can then cross-cut into a mince.

It sounds like a huge pain in the ass, I know, but if you do it in a big batch, say 5 lbs of meat at a time, one hour of work will provide you with weeks’ worth of sausage.

I’ve been on the 800 calorie plan since mid December and although my weight loss has been fantastic I’m really struggling with keeping myself regular!

I’m only going to the toilet every 5-6 days and often feeling bloated and uncomfortable.

I eat loads of salad and vegetables and lean protein and healthy fats but I’m still suffering with constipation.

A pharmacist recommended that I take more fibre. Do any of you have any advice/suggestions on the subject please? I can only really think of bread and cereal but I’m trying to keep my diet really low carb ie. under 50g per day which leaves no room for these foods. Not sure what to do about this and wondering if anyone has some useful tips?

Hi Flak,
I’ve not been on the forum much the last few days so missed your last question, but came on to your thread to wish you well at your doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Hopefully, they will be supportive of your following the BSD and any health results will be positive ones.
About if your body returns to normal or not, I agree with what everyone else has said. I see my Type II as being in remission or really well controlled by my diet (and 3 cheers for that). What I would add is it’s not too bad at all. When I was first diagnosed my first thought was exactly your question – Will I constantly have to watch every morsel that I eat for the rest of my life? The thought that I’d never be able to eat my favourite foods was heart-sinking. But it doesn’t work that way. You learn/get to know what you can and can’t eat so you’re not monitoring everything all the time. You still have delicious favourite foods/drinks, they’re just different delicious favourite foods/drinks. I can’t cook, I’ve got no will power and I loved chocolate and crisps and I managed fine. It just takes a little bit of time to adjust. Also, you’re pre-diabetic, not diabetic, so, as Verano says, it may be that you just need to be more discerning about the amount and type of carbs you have.

The only other thing I’d add is about your blood sugar numbers. Sunshine-girl is completely right the hba1c and the home blood glucose meter kits test two different things. The hba1c is ultimately the one that counts but, personally, I think the home testing numbers are valuable, not necessarily for looking at one-off numbers (they can bounce around a bit) but for looking at trends, particularly initially as you are doing – hope yours are doing OK.

Let us know how you go on.
Jennie xx

Can ask how you Allie and Essie can work out the carbs and bits so quickly please to make sure you are on target with you macros. I am using MFP but it can be wrong as people work them out themselves and they may well not be a true read. I have been using this barcode reader to get a proper reading but sometimes that is not an option. Also I have found some nice sausages that are gluten free, 84% meat and they don’t work out too bad on MFP, but they have rice flour in them. Does anyone know of sasusages that are better? I can’t find the chicken ones Essie said are good as all the uk ones has bits in we shouldn’t be eating.thanks Birdy💞🦜

Allie Newcastle is an awesome place! If you want to meet some of THE most kind and generous people in the UK go and spend some time in Newcastle! They are lovely. My father is Geordie ( a person born and bred in Newcastle) I class myself half Geordie. They are like me, kind, empathic and really funny without even trying🤣🤣🤣🤣. They are fab.

Geaodie do you play rugby? My son who is 13 plays full back for his local team and loves it. They won away today to Hove with my boy scoring 4 of the 8;try’s, soz just a little proud.🤣❤️.

Also a very warm welcome to you and well done for giving it another go. We are here to help you and when you get back to the uk get you on this fab WOE. Birdy💞🦜

I just think you are all awesome and we all have our challenges and life is never easy, but if we help,reassure and are there for each other we will find a way through any challenges we may meet. Somewhere along the way human beings forgot that 1 we are social creatures, 2 we all have one job, to survive and make this world a better place and 3 a little kindness goes a long way. 💞🦜

That’s a lovely outlook xx
I think it’s easier said than done. So more power to you 😘

Thank you onmyway.
My vow to myself is to treat myself like i hope i treat my children- with love and kindness when they make a mistake.
Instead of beating myself up and making myself feel bad. … that would stop the guilt and the cycle of stop start with dieting
Xx

Aw don’t beat yourself up, be kind to you, we’re all human and there you are looking after little ones – I don’t think you should underestimate what you’re achieving every day doing that xx

So you ate some stuff you’d rather you didn’t – it’s absolutely not the end of the world. Take it easy and give yourself permission to just do the best you can, that’s all any of us can. Just keep going.

Good luck xx

You have really motivated me, Patricia, to take on the task of organizing my walk in closet! Clothes pole on both
sides, and a jumble of shoes on the floor! I CAN do better than this 🙂

Yes Happy, armour up 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi AnnieW
Yes, I know you and I share a liking for him, and his take on bananas!
I’m going to sit down next week and have a look at a few of them, thanks.

Okay, Happy! Thank you for the input…I think (?) I understand… You are sweet!

Allie he was talking to me as i said i used to work in his home city. 😂😂