Started Fast 800 today

[DareDevil223]

I've got lots to lose, I'm feeling lousy, so heavy, achy and sluggish and I can't bear to see myself in the mirror so I'm making a dramatic change. Losing a pound a week is not going to cut it.

I eat far too many carbs so I think this Mediterranean style of eating and the the drastic cut in calories will do me good. I've read the book, I've stocked up on the right foods and cleared out the crap. I haven't eaten yet but I'll have my first meal soon.

I know that it will be hard going at times but the promise of rapid weight loss is worth a bit of pain.

Wish me luck. I'll update on my progress as I go.

Catbot I've found over the years that my very best weeks are when I literally plan every morsel out for the week ahead, and calorie count it in advance. Yes, it's a pain, and yes, it probably makes me the dullest person ever- but I sit with my recipe book, my plan and my shopping list every Sunday afternoon, plan my fast days, my exercise, and do rough calorie counts for the whole thing. It just seems to remove the grazing and the snacking. Planning really nice meals helps too. This was my plan for this week!

@thenewaveragebear I need to do this! Mission for the weekend. I got the Hairy Bikers Mediterranean Cookbook the other day so I'm going to have a read for ideas. Got a wine tasting evening tomorrow and I'm not going to be counting calories!

Catbot I go to the library every few weeks with Ds and I get out a new recipe book each time, that really helps with variety too. I like Jamie Oliver's books particularly. Today I got Levi roots Caribbean for beginners (or similar!) and that looks really good.

Week 1 day 3 and I think I'm going to struggle today.

We have a staff member leaving which means a shared lunch and they always have a ton of goodies. I am taking fruit for balance and will take a salad but it will be so hard to resist!

And then we have a family meal at an Indian restaurant which is my favourite...

Originally I thought I would fast until the meal but I know if I don't take a healthy lunch I will cave and eat rubbish at the shared lunch. I won't have rice or bread and will try and pick something healthy but this is going to be a hard day!

Does anyone test their blood sugars out of interest? I have a monitor here because I was told I was prediabetic so it's a goal of mine to get my levels into a healthy range. Just wondered if anyone else was tracking this too?

I'm so excited. Stepped on the scale this morning & I'm now officially down 1stone in 10 days!!! I am gobsmacked and over the moon. If I can do this while sick for the last week I can't wait to see what I can do when I feel better!

So grateful for this thread, honestly ladies you've kept me going! Thank you!

How did you do @adios?

Went to Wagamama for dinner - had no idea how many calories were in their meals! Went with a lower cal ramen and couldn't finish it (although did share a bit of a pud with bf!)

I did ok thanks PhoenixMama! I managed to resist overeating at lunch. I had my salad and then ate a couple of those chocolate pretzel type things and ignored all the crisps and cakes.

At dinner I ordered a Curry with no rice but I did share a naan bread - I had about a third of it. It was fine and I didn't miss the rice really. Normally I can't finish the actual curry portion because I eat the rice and bread but this time I did so I felt good that at least I'd eaten protein and not filled up on carbs.

I'm going to fast until as late as possible today with at least 16 hours. My eldest DD is staying after breaking up with her first love poor thing. She has requested a movie night and 'mix and muddle' tea (I used to do this when they were small as a way to clear the freezer and leftovers - it's basically lot's of random picky bits)

I'm going to have a salad but I will have some other things alongside it so I'm sure I will go over calories. This weekend will end up a bit of a write off but I do feel that my attitude has changed. Normally I'd just give up the whole day to treats etc but I'm trying to limit the damage as much as possible.

So determined that this will work. I have nothing booked next week that might tempt me so I'm excited to have a really good run at it!

I’ve fallen off the wagon big time. Went to restaurant for lunch on Monday and been downhill since. I’m gonna plan my next weeks meals tomorrow and try to be very strict for 4 weeks and then see what the next move is. I really want to feel good this summer and not hide under big clothes (sweating like a pig)

Hello, mind if I join?
I'm about to start the 800 on Monday and I'm really nervous! I'm so used to eating between meals it's going to be really hard to be hungry.
But I really must do this as I'm at least a stone overweight and I've never successfully dieted before.
Any tips for the first few days for me?

Hi @froufroufoxes and good luck! Tomorrow will be one week on fast800 for me, it's been tough but despite a meal out with friends last night I (where I completely fell off the wagon!) I've still managed to lose 3.5kgs (7+lbs) so far.

Tomorrow will be challenging as we're invited to a family members' home for lunch so I have no control over the food -will simply try to practice portion control and avoid excessive carbs- not ideal but part of my attitude to this diet (and my top tip) is not to beat myself up when I can't control the situation and to not use it as an excuse to binge. Other things that have helped so far are huge consumption of hot water (plain, with lemon and ginger, herbal tea, bovril) when I feel hungry and making sure my evening meal has a decent amount of fat in it as that seems to see me through until morning the best. Finally meal planning, it's so much easier to stay on track if you can refer to your meal plan rather than trying to think up sensible things to eat when you're famished! I only plan a day ahead so it doesn't take much time just makes life easier.

Well done all. I am one week in and I have lost 4lb. Not huge amount but it is a start and as long as I lose 3lb a week for the next 7 weeks, I will be extremely happy.

I did fall off the wagon spectacularly today, however, We had a family birthday and a huge portion of birthday cake was left at our house...I shouldn't have had a slice at all as I knew it would lead to several. The thing is, I'm actually not hungry on this diet but the frosted topping seduced me.

Will do better tomorrow.

Thank you @Balloondog
7lbs is such a great result! If I can see something like that happening to me hopefully I'll be motivated to carry on.
I'm up late reading the book so I can shop and meal plan tomorrow.

Well done @Adios! I guess we need to be able to make this work for us in the real world don't we? I hope you're proud of yourself for not going nuts!

@NewFit - I absolutely have to plan my weeks or I know I'd just eat convenient food which might be faster but definitely isn't low cal!

Welcome @FrouFrou - I'm absolutely loving Fast800 - my tip would be put off eating for as long as you can, make sure you're not using low-fat stuff as the fat really does help you avoid hunger and drink loads of water!

Good luck today @balloondog - I've just been avoiding carbs when out & I think it's working ok.

Great news @800! Do you have much to lose? I have quite a bit so I think I'm losing faster at the beginning but slow down now over the next few weeks.

And on that topic, tomorrow is the official weigh-in day of 2 weeks but I have time today to measure so I thought I'd share what my progress is over 2 weeks because, to be honest, I'm stunned!

Weight Lost: 15lbs!!
Waist: 3.5 inches
Hips: 1 inch
Belly: 3 inches
Bust: 3.5 inches (typical!)
Chest: 2.5 inches
Upper Thigh: 1 inch
Bicep: 0.5 inch

Total: 15 inches!

I am thrilled beyond belief and can't believe something is actually working for me! Prior to starting Fast800 I lost 10lbs - but it took me all year of up and down, this is just 15lbs gone in 13 days! If I can do it then definitely anyone can!

I started two weeks ago and have lost 8lbs. Following this thread really helped with my motivation so thank you all! Not eating breakfast has helped me suppress my hunger and then careful meal planning with meals high in protein to stay full for longer. I had a derail two days ago and was so worried now this would be added to another failed dieting attempt but since then I've been back on it... I actually felt physically ill after as my body couldn't handle so many calories now!

That is amazing Phoenix Mama!

Phoenix that's brilliant for weight loss and measurement-wise.

I would like to lose 4 stones in total which will get me back into my size 10-12 wardrobe but half that amount will help me feel less sluggish and hopefully get me holding my head up high in photos again. I'm really hoping two stones is do-able, for me, in 8-ish weeks.

Imgoing is right, it helps reading the thread, knowing it is achievable if the rules are adhered to.

So I put on 3.5kg in a week 😭 I was 76.4 last week and now 79.8kg which is pretty much my starting point. I seriously need to get a grip now. I’m so done with this yo-yoing. And you know I feel so crap after eating rubbish all week so why the hell do I keep doing that?! Argh 😡 my game face is on

@newfit that's an usually high gain for a week. Could some of it be water weight? What do you struggle with? Maybe we can help?

@800 I had 4 stone to lose as of last summer but now only another 2.5!

One question I had is around weight training - I want to start doing some weight workouts but as muscle weighs more than fat feel really nervous about it. Anyone have any thoughts?

Phoenix Weight training is great exercise, a combination of cardio and weights (eg at a circuits class or gym class) will be the best as the cardio strips fat and the weights tone you up. 'Muscle weighs more than fat' is kinda true but not exactly a fair comparison , as in a cubic foot of muscle weighs more than a cubic foot of fat, but muscle is much more dense and toned, plus is metabolically active whereas fat is not (so burns calories even at rest). You will not end up like Arnie!

Phoenix
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Hello all,
I am stating today. I have weighed myself and need to lose 2 stone to get a healthy BMI.

I have also measured and my waist is 37.5 inches. The NHS says women should try to lose weight if their waist is more than 31.5 inches, so I definitely need to do this!

I am planning on doing 16:8 eating two meals per day.

Reading about the impressive losses being achieved on this thread has been very motivational.

@Newaverage - that pic is great! Thank you! Did have a bit of a laugh about me looking like Arnie! (Although I think my thighs might currently be as big as his!) I did lift weights before and loved how strong my body was - I guess I was just worried it would slow down the numbers on the scale, which is a bit vain but I'm pretty much only motivated by seeing those suckers drop at the minute!

Phoenix oh it can do that I suppose, but so can any exercise really. I find water retention after a big increase in miles or if I've been training harder than normal. Plus I've lost a whole dress size without losing weight (if that makes sense?) I'm a scales junkie so it's quite hard for me as I base a lot of how successful I feel on the numbers, and not the non-scale things but in contrast, I suppose it's a good and positive thing to be less reliant on the scales. You only have to look at the 'what do you weigh and what dress size are you?' type threads on here to see what a massive difference there is between bodies. Unfortunately I have grown up in a household where what you weigh is the most important thing, not how healthy you are. Mother has been on a diet my whole life and is still overweight. It's quite sad that actually for the first time in my life I am very fit, toned and muscular and yet I still hear the voice telling me that I could do with losing a few pounds, or to try to get under a certain number

Oh I am feeling defeated! Today is one week for me but I had both my Friday night and yesterday's lunch totally derail me. I've really struggled to stay on plan today particularly after seeing a slight increase in the scales this morning -I'm up to 75.2kgs having finally managed to get under 75kgs for the first time in almost a year on Friday. I have stuck to the right food today but I've been so hungry I've totaled 988 cals for the day and I'm typing this right now trying to distract myself from the delicious smelling pizza DH is currently devouring next to me... He's being lovely and says to just have a piece of I really want it and he'd love me even if I was the size of a house but that's just making it harder! I could cry, I want that pizza so much! Talk me down ladies!

Balloon- the tasty bit of the pizza is the topping, so if you have the ingredients why not make a little pizza topped chicken breast or something similar? Tomato sauce, ham, mushroom, melted cheese?? Serve with salad. The dough is literally flour and water- yuck!! Step away from the pizza!! You know you'll feel a million times better in ten minutes if you don't eat it than if you do, and by then it will he gone and the crisis will be over

**

Well I regret to report I caved and had a crust of DH's pizza. I'm trying to look on the bright side and view it as just a crust rather than a whole slice but I'm disappointed in myself.

@thenewaveragebear1983 That's a good idea re:topping something else with pizza toppings- I saw an easy recipe for 'broccoli bread' this morning -so I might try that if I can get hold of almond flour. And hopefully I can get back on track tomorrow.