Blood Sugar Diet and Fast800 thread 14

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Here’s the new thread for the BSD followers, plus those following the Fast800 plan. Everyone is welcome to join us. Here’s a quick recap!

The BSD/fast 800 is a low carb, Mediterranean style way of eating, with the primary aim of stabilising your insulin response when you eat. You achieve this by: eating fewer carbs, cutting out sugar and sweet tasting foods including most fruit, and by following a low calorie plan that reduces your visceral fat meaning that everything functions more effectively. Less insulin means less fat storage (in a nutshell, although more info can be found on this online). The blood sugar diet was designed to reduce T2 diabetes symptoms (or even reverse it entirely) but can also be used for weightloss.

Eat:
Meats and fish
Oils
Eggs
Full fat dairy products
Nuts, seeds
Pulses/ beans
Veg that grows above ground
Limit fruit: apples, pears, berries- in moderation, with meals, with fats

Occasional alcoholic drinks allowed (spirits, red wine are preferable to beer, lager, etc) although alcohol is calorie heavy and can influence your appetite
Tea and coffee, herbal tea etc.
And water- drink lots of water!

Avoid
sugar, sweets, and ‘naturally occurring sugars’ such as fructose, maltose, honey, agave, puréed dates etc....

Potatoes of any variety
Pasta
Rice
Breakfast cereals (occasional steel cut oats are ok)
Breads/ flour based products

Exercise:
Michael Moseley recommends HIIT workouts to increase calorie burn and help to tone up, and recommends walking more (increasing your steps weekly until you hit around 10000 a day)

Mindfulness
MM also suggests a programme of mindfulness, meditation, practised for a few minutes each day.

How to follow the plan:
Fast800: follow the plan above, sticking to 800 calories every day for 2 weeks. Ideal to give your weightloss a real kick start, plus improve your insulin function and reduce your sugar cravings.
8 weeks BSD- 8 weeks, follow the guidelines above- 800 calories a day. You don’t need to count carbs grams because the diet is naturally self limiting.
BSD 5:2- for a more leisurely weightloss journey, or as maintenance, or once you’ve done an 8 week stint or 2 weeks of Fast800, you can play around with a combination of increased calorie count, ‘free eating’ and fasting days (800 cals) until you achieve your goals. Many of our long standing members now follow this approach.

You can stop 800 calorie days at any time once you achieve your goal. It’s advised to limit yourself to 12 weeks maximum of 800 calorie days, but you should get excellent results in 8 weeks. Depending on your weightloss goals, you can do further ‘rounds’ of either the 8 week BSD or the Fast800. We recommend you take your measurements before you begin, not just your weight. A target pair of jeans in a smaller size or even a photography or two can be very motivating!

Some useful links:

previous thread

meal planning thread

<a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=healthyeater.com/important-tool-weight-loss" target="_blank">TDEE calculator to calculate your daily calorie requirement

information about the ‘whoosh’ phenomenon

Am bouncing back from Friday. I knew it was inevitable that dinner and drinks would go off piste on this occasion. So i accepted it in advance and (drumroll) i went straight back to it next day. Plus a little walk. Too hung over for my daily shortjog. Normally I would be mainlining pastry and toast day after a night out while groaning on sofa. Instead I actually did a little admin work and tidying.
I also processed the alcohol far better than I usually do. I don't drink much and almost never drink a lot so my tolerance is low. But these particular friends are big drinkers and I 'kept up'. Usually I feel wretched, and they both did so it wasn't the quality of the booze. I wonder whether my pretty easy day after was due to my liver feeling refreshed after 2 weeks BSD.

Amazing results Mac and thanks for the link Phoenix.

I lost 4-5kg in the first 10days and have plateaued at 2.5 weeks, maybe lost an extra kg but weight wavers +/- 0.5kg but definitely not gaining.

Struggling the last couple of days with my TRE and reaching the 14h fast target and found myself craving carbs but have resisted.

I wonder whether I have restricted my carbs too much??
My intake yesterday was:

• 2x rye bread with 1x avocado and tomatoes
• 2x chicken skewers (180kcal)
• greek yoghurt (100g) with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (130kcl)
• 2 egg omelette with mushrooms, chorizo and pepper
• 2x coffees with max 100ml coconut milk but probably less (20kcal)

Weekdays similar foods but no rye bread (or alternative carbs).

Should have said - flaked almonds and chia seeds with he greek yoghurt.

Bowels not that regular or easy, IYSWIM

Hi riding, well done on your good start.

I’m sure someone more experienced than me will along soon to give views on your menu. I wouldn’t worry about going too low on carbs - there is quite a bit in rye bread, and some in yoghurt, berries, tomatoes, peppers. You are getting plenty of fat in the yoghurt, avocado, seeds, eggs and coconut milk. Are you hitting the 800 cals?

Re the bowel issue, I find lentils or beans helpful, or ground flax or chia seeds.

Hang in there, like any diet there are plateaus then drops. And the carb cravings do subside. You will get there!

last I would definitely be craving toast to ease a hangover - I’m impressed you resisted!

Hi, can I join? Am heading towards 50, perimenopausal (have cut right back on coffee and barely drink alcohol - 2 glasses/month maximim because of hot flushes - has helped). Now want to reduce sugar consumption and improve diet to lose about 1 1/2 stones (going from BMI 27 to 22). Feel that this would be a good way to lose the weight and improve health. Have an active and busy job, just need to avoid the carby evening meals and I should be fine.

Welcome minutepapillon.

It's been a good weekend for me, I haven't drunk nearly as much as I normally do due to a sober Friday and only 1 glass last night, which had meant my food choices have been better too. I have had some carbs in the form of a small pud last night, and a Yorkshire pudding tonight with my dinner, plus my guilty pleasure the skin of an oven baked potato (not the middle, just the crispy skin!) but that's all fibre so....

I did 2 short hiit workouts today on YouTube, it's a Woman called Emi Wong and they are no jumping and no equipment workouts so ideal for anyone starting out or anyone with delicate knees, toe (me) or other malaises. If you can see past the saccharine sweetness of her she's actually quite likeable and her workouts are good.

Its a short week for me this week, as we go away on Thursday, so I've planned out 3 fast800 days to give me a bit of a boost. My period is now 3 days late, probably due to my increased running last month and also maybe the introduction of fasting days too, but annoyingly that means I am currently still premenstrual and bloated and it's very likely I'll be on while I'm away, which is not ideal but never mind, cannot be helped can it?

Welcome minute

bear...I’m picturing a crispy jacket potato skin right now!

Macca sorry...! I figured the skin's the best bit, right? But it also has all the fibre and nutrients, so if you're going to eat any part of the potato, the skin is the best choice....still not great but it was very tasty!

Chicken ideas anyone?

I was veggie for 25 years, then did keto as soon as started eating meat, so ate lots of red meat. So I’ve never really got into cooking chicken. When I try, occasionally it is ok, but quite often it is dried up and not nice, so I end up wondering if I like chicken at all. I really need some quick and easy ideas I can try out.....any thoughts?

Actually according to my tracker, in 100g potato skin there's 60 cals and 12g carbs (2.5g of which are fibre) so that's no worse than a portion of lentils or beans. Wonder if some cheese and bacon loaded skins will feature in my menu soon....???

Macca always thighs, thigh fillets are delicious, never dry out, higher fat and cheaper than breast.

We love spicy chicken, just get a spoonful of yogurt or coconut cream and a tablespoon of spice mix (whatever you want, we like tandoori), mix them together in your cooking fish, add cut up chicken thighs and coat with the spice and yog mixture. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours. Cut up a cauliflower or peppers (any veg that isn't too watery works well) and mix it too then literally bung in the oven with foil over it until it's all cooked, then remove the foil and give it a bit longer until all the liquid has dried up, tandoori style. The chicken will still be moist if you use thigh fillets. Squeeze a lemon over it and Serve with salad. Yummy.

You can also thread it onto skewers at the marinade stage, then cook it with the skewers resting over a tray with your veg underneath so all the chicken and spice juices cook the veg. Delicious with cauliflower (cauli and spice go very well together) or Use a Bombay potato recipe but use celeriac or butternut instead.

Or you can make an Asian inspired marinade using coconut cream, peanut butter, Soy, lime, ginger, lemongrass, chilli and do the same method.

Macca - I'm doing lots of chicken and have come up with a very easy solution for cooking it. I have a slow cooker with an insert you can put on the hob to sear the meat beforehand. But you could do this in the oven as well. Basically sear 4 chicken thighs while preparing a flavouring/sauce. Takes only about 5 mins to assemble - I use paste rather than peeling garlic etc. I've done oriental (soy ginger garlic srirachi whatever) Spanish (smoked pepper garlic chorizo blob of tomato sauce) herby: creme fraiche and thyme rosemary mixed herbs lemon) or Indian (curry spices of some sort plus cream or creme fraiche or could use tomato or onions. Also made some with mustard and planning to try cream and sundries tomatoes this week. Comes out really tasty plus with a bit of sauce for the veg and variety of flavours. Still experimenting to refine as the cooker is new and I'm working it out, I tend to cook without recipes generally and basically think meat, flavour (herbs or spices) and the base to cook it in (dairy, tomato, lemon, soy).

If I was more organised I'd marinade but ...

X post w bear. The coconut and peanut ideas sound yum. Will add that in this week. I find variety really helps

Good morning all! First day for me. I am not very savvy with calorie content, so will be careful with portion size and hope for the best! Food for the day - breakfast - boiled egg, lunch - mixed salad - goats' cheese, ham, walnuts, salad leaves, tomato, cucumber, dinner - chicken thighs with roasted veg, yogurt and apple for after.

Root veg not allowed or can I have small amounts occasionally?

And only full fat dairy? I make my own (whole milk) yogurt but generally use semi skimmed milk for sauces, etc.

I'm sure I'll pick it up as I go!

Hope all have a good food day!

Bear could I ask you a question about running please?

I am 1 week into Fast 800 and have found that my legs kind of feel like they are empty when I run. On the flat or a small incline I am ok, but I cannot run up hill, there is just nothing there.

I have entered a 5k race with my DD12 tomorrow evening. I think it will be quite hilly. I eat between 12 pm and 8 pm. Do you think having porridge at lunchtime would help?

TIA

Suffolk hi. Firstly is 5km a challenge for you, or is it something you could do easily pre-fast800? Essentially the reason why your legs feel heavy is because you're probably glycogen depleted from fasting and low carbing. Personally if 5km is normally a doable distance for you, I'd use an electrolyte supplement instead which can help with the 'dragging a corpse' feeling. I buy sugar free soluble electrolytes in the supermarket, they are usually with the protein shake and 'fitness' supplements.

Bear in mind that Fructose only goes to your liver, it doesn't create muscle glycogen at all, so a glucose supplement (eg dextrose energy tabs for diabetics?) are a more effective way of giving you actual muscle fuel for your run. I'd steer clear of bananas and other high fructose 'energy' eg naked bars or dates etc because they won't fuel your muscles.

If 5km is a challenge for you, then I'd probably fuel up using starchy carbs, probably from tonight- so add some grains/ lentils to your meal tonight, and porridge tomorrow.

I can only relate it to my current training/raving diet, but I do longer distances now. A few days before my race I will be adding carbs and electrolytes, and on the day will have glucose in my pocket for if I need it. I think if you're going for PBs and seriously racing, then you need to suspend BSD for a few days as the two aren't really compatible. To be fair, you don't use much energy in a 5km, maybe 300 cals- but it's about accessing that energy.

When I did my 15km in January I took a more laise fair approach, smashed my times, but gained 7lb..... this time I'm being more strict!

Haha racing diet not raving diet. My late 90's raving diet mostly consisted of coffee, speed and silk cut. God I was skinny then....

Hi Minute - Do you use My Fitness Pal? You definitely need to count calories carefully on this and weigh things. Depending on weights your lunch could be very calorific - I don't think I've ever managed to have cheese, ham and nuts in the same meal that hasn't blown half my calories at least.

You can have some underground veg but if you stick with non-white veg it can be better (def sweet potatoes instead potatoes). I haven't had any starchy veg since I started. For me it's not worth giving up the calories and being hungry 2 hours later.

Party went well yesterday - only had 2.5 small glasses of prosecco in 7 hours which I think is a record for me, lol. Didn't count exact calories but I reckon I was over by about 500 which still is only 1300 and probably about a third of what I would have eaten previously!

Scales says I'm up by 3lbs but due on in 3 days and my weight swings wildly around the time of the month so I guess we'll have to see!

Hello all - would love to join you all!

I'm just finished my first week and am aiming for 3 weeks Fast 800 (ish) initially. I've hit 950 some days and also had a day off on Saturday due to family party.

Overall I've lost 7.5lb, which I'm delighted with.

Less delighted about feeling lightheaded and headaches but hopefully that will pass!

So 2.9kgs lost in 2 weeks. I expect I'm just shy of another big drop. It's not masses but I find it hard to lose weight so I'm glad its shifting at all.
I'm also really pleased with my good habits -weight lifting twice a week and an almost daily quick jog
bear the glucose fructose thing is eye opening - thank you. Sort of obvious once you think of it but I hadn't thought. Once I'm through another 2 weeks I might try fuel my weights sessions better.

The thing to remember about fructose is that's it's primary evolutionary purpose was to make us fat. Processed only by the liver, which takes what it needs (and we're talking grams) everything else is stored as fat. Design flaw, or exceptional feat of engineering? If you consider our ancestors eating fruit, in season and in abundance in the late summer/autumn- it's a genius design that ensures we carry fat to see us through winter, but like so many things, modern life has ignored evolution and we eat fruit all year round (and never mind everything with added fructose/sugar!) Glucose is the fuel we need day to day to power our brains and muscles, so yes definitely switch your workout 'fuel' to a glucose based source and repair yourself afterwards with good quality protein.

Thanks, PhoenixMama. I will use myfitness pal to check. For lunch, it is 4 walnut halves, about 20 gr cubed/crumbled cheese and about 40 gr ham. I will check out calories for today now then do daily checks each morning. For the root veg, it would mainly be carrots, occasionally beetroot. No potatoes.