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Fasting / 5:2 diet

Talk about intermittent fasting and 5:2, including what’s worked for others. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Blood Sugar Diet and Fast800 thread 14

999 replies

thenewaveragebear1983 · 13/03/2019 19:48

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
36
QRCode · 08/05/2019 10:45

Stayed the same again! That's 2.1kg in 3 days and nothing since then. Sticking to 800 per day, going to the gym 3-4 times a week and drinking plenty of fluids. Don't know what else I can do but wait for the scales to move.

teta · 08/05/2019 10:58

I stayed the same too!
Hoping for some off tomorrow.
Leftover Bolognese with some mushrooms for lunch and Vietnamese beef ball noodle soup for dinner - Following a recipe from Australian women’s weekly and I have half a packet of mince left.

PhoenixMama · 08/05/2019 11:00

Shockingly I'm down another pound! 28lbs so far! This has made me determined to no screw it up with dinner out tonight!

waterandlemonjuice · 08/05/2019 11:08

wow phoenix! well done.
Anyone who hasn't lost, I always try to remember that it's not linear so maybe there will be a whoosh in a minute?

I am out for lunch today and the menu has options under 600 cals so that's good. Having an apple and babybel for breakfast and then will probably have soup for supper.

PhoenixMama · 08/05/2019 13:58

Thanks @water!

Yeah the loss is definitely not linear, and that's over 7 weeks 3 days - In the last 2 weeks it's been as much as 11lbs higher! But that's why I actually think it's good to weigh yourself every day. If I only weighed in once a week or once a month and I got a heavier day I'd feel like I wasn't getting anywhere. But this way I can see that the fluctuations are normal and that the general trend is down! I think @macca has a great app she uses but I can't use it on android but it's great for evening out the bumps!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 08/05/2019 14:43

Great work Phoenix Star

Had a really weird almost blip/relapse today. Just having a shitty morning, realised last night that my running trainers are ripped and needed replaced (and don't exactly have a spare £150 lying around) and generally felt a bit overwhelmed with the options, so went to a running shop about 20 miles away. Pouring with rain, pain to park the car.... and got there and grrrrrrr no running shop anymore. God I was peed off! Went into Aldi and was very very tempted to buy chocolate, or cake, or biscuits- but then had a little word with myself. 10 days sugar free, not going to spoil it now. So I bought some weird German meat thing instead, which I furiously ate in the car. Annoyingly I discover that the meat thing was actually nearly 800 calories Blushbut it was meat (mostly) and low carb, and not chocolate- which is still a win, technically.

I'd weighed myself this morning and still stuck on 10.6 since Monday, despite having a few good days (although I haven't really calorie counted/fasted as I'd planned to which is probably why!) so i was already feeling touchy. Proper emotional eating territory so I'm very pleased I managed to resist.

OP posts:
boldlygoingsomewhere · 08/05/2019 15:30

I’m back in the jeans which didn’t fit a couple of weeks ago. A little tight still but I can do the button and zip up again!

Well done to everyone who has lost some weight this week. Smile

Maccalenny · 08/05/2019 18:56

The app that phoenix mentioned is happy scale. I love it!

Amazing loss phoenix...well done!

Bear - I guess the odd emotional eating moment is always going to happen - but sounds like you swerved it with skill.

Hang in there if losses slow down everyone...remember all the other reasons that this way of eating is beneficial like managing blood sugar etc.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 08/05/2019 19:11

Gah, my day went from bad to worse! I still haven't crashed into the chocolate/sugar wall but I did eat the fruits of DD's pizza (why???) and various other things, namely cheese. So ending on 1800 cals and about 60g carbs Blush I'm blaming my hormones as I'm having the period from hell, but even so, it's not great is it?!

Fresh new day tomorrow!

OP posts:
thenewaveragebear1983 · 08/05/2019 19:11

Plus, after 10 days no sugar, my skin is erupting like I'm a teenager again, really sore deep spots on my chin and jawline. Grim!

OP posts:
Ohyesiam · 08/05/2019 20:15

I’ve started!!
So I had 2 boiled eggs about 11 o’clock, then tofu stir fry with sprouting broccoli,mushrooms, green lentils ,garlic, ginger and soy sauce. 2L water and a black coffee.

One exercise class( TRX), no hunger!!
My kitchen is still ajar as I have about 100calories in hand.

55 days to go!

Thanks for all the support, it got me started.

Ohyesiam · 08/05/2019 20:16

Ooh yes, where do I stand with coconut yoghurt on this program? I hate dairy.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 08/05/2019 20:20

Welll done ohyes. That sounds like a great day 1! Re: coconut yoghurt, you can have it if it's unsweetened.

OP posts:
Ohyesiam · 08/05/2019 20:33

Thanksbear

Waterandlemonjuice · 08/05/2019 22:52

Well done on not giving in to sugar!

PhoenixMama · 09/05/2019 09:58

@thenewaverage You have amazing sugar willpower (says the woman who just at a Club biscuit at 9:46am!) Blush But also 60gs of carbs isn't that bad!

My period arrived with a vengeance 3 days early yesterday so that explains why I was/am so ravenous. Happily the scale isn't moving up so being slightly optimistic that I might be in for a little whoosh when it's done.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 09/05/2019 10:11

Phoenix thanks. I'd been promising to go fully cold turkey for a while, so it's overdue really. When I first started BSD I did six months with only 2 incidences of sugar consumption! It's slightly different this time because I'm not doing it to specifically lose weight (although a few lbs off would be nice) but I'm really benefitting from the clear head and the nice calmness around food. Plus it's reminded me that actually I was probably eating sugar daily and kidding myself it was occasional . I will reel off the old cliche though- it's so much easier if I have none than if i try to integrate a small amount, I actually am not missing it at all.

OP posts:
teta · 09/05/2019 10:20

I’ve lost two pounds after not losing anything for a couple of days. I felt dreadful most of yesterday with what felt like my first migraine. I was wondering whether it could be carb flu but my eyes went really weird and it felt like a really bad hangover with nausea.
Well done on starting Ohyesiam.
Congratulations to all the losers.
Can anyone tell me whether coconut flour pancakes in very small amounts would be suitable on this diet? I have a bag of the flour and it’s the best flour for low carbs apparently . I was thinking it could be a treat at weekends with some coconut yoghurt and some berry coulis.
Cauliflower fried rice for lunch with chicken and peas plus lentil curry for dinner are planned for today. I need to break my addiction to Oomi noodles😁.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 09/05/2019 10:41

Teta I think there's a coconut flour pancake recipe in my original BSD book, so yes, in theory. You could also look on Pinterest or similar for keto recipes using coconut flour, I bet there's loads to try.

OP posts:
teta · 09/05/2019 11:10

Ooh really?
I shall look it up.
Thanks bear.

purplespring · 09/05/2019 12:53

Does anyone else feel like they look slimmer than they usually would at their current weight? I thought I might be kidding myself so I tried some clothes on this morning that I'm sure wouldn't usually fit unless I was nearly a stone lighter than I currently am, and they all fit very easily. It must be down to no sugar and carbs.

I'm feeling very positive about this kind of diet being my long term way of eating now (with occasional days off for high days and holidays). I've been out for lunch twice this week now and it hasn't been an issue. Yesterday I felt like I had to drink something other than water as my friends all had alcohol, so I had lime squash and soda. I actually was expecting it to taste horrible as I would usually have lime and lemonade but it was nice, I think my taste for sweet things must have changed a bit over the past month.

lasttimeround · 09/05/2019 13:05

purple I'm having very similar experiences. Also look remarkably slim for my current weight. And I had an ice cream at cinema last night. Found it very sweet. Also had a taste of DH's and couldn't really distinguish the flavours, they both just tasted sweet (tbh they tasted SWEET!!!)
Instantly more hungry than usual this morning. I tried filing that away as: see sugar just ain't worth it.

teta · 09/05/2019 13:29

I guess if you’ve used up all your glycogen stores and lost the associated fluid retention you will look slimmer. The diet must be really working well for you both. I’ve been on hrt for the past few weeks and it’s caused really bad fluid retention so far.
I made the fried cauliflower rice. Even dh liked it and had half and he’s normally very fussy ( grew up with rice n noodles!). I’m now making berry compote with chia seeds as I found some in a bag. And then I’m going to try some coconut flour pancakes from the Keto diet website.
No work today and I’m bored n it’s too wet to walk the dog.

purplespring · 09/05/2019 15:11

Funny isn't it lasttimeround how quickly things can change. I do hope I haven't ruined ice-cream forever with this diet though! Was looking forward to a nice scoop of gelato on my hols.

I think you're right teta regarding the water. My calves are definitely slimmer, I can tell when I fasten my boots. Also my legs aren't anywhere near as swollen at the end of a 12 hour night shift.

I'm still in a bit of dilemma re. eating on my holiday. In fact my dilemma starts with the plane, there'll be breakfast and then lunch served. I know it will be carb heavy and I know it I don't need to eat it, but its free food (well I paid for the ticket, its included) and I'm on holiday, it feels so 'wrong' to say no.

My current thinking is I will buy myself a snack from M&S (carrot bites with dip, I bought them at work the other night so I had something nice when everyone else was eating take-away and sweets. They were tasty, and low carb/high protein) and take a little bit of cheese, and eat that on the plane instead, if I want to. And then for the rest of the trip I will only eat carbs (potato/pasta/bread/rice/dessert) once a day, and at least two days none at all. Alcohol won't be an issue, I tend not to drink much anyway when its just me and dd. I will also have food prepared for when I get home so I can get straight back into Fast 800. I will be walking a lot more too.

Hmm we'll see how it goes, it might all go out of the window and if it does I know I will be able to lose any weight gained. It will just be a bit frustrating if its a lot. I'm trying to focus on the long term though, and making this way of eating sustainable. I know by Christmas I will be much slimmer, and I know I can keep this up long term if I allow myself occasional days (and holidays) off so I am still able to partake in events with family and friends.

Waterandlemonjuice · 09/05/2019 16:23

Purple spring, I think eating out can be ok on this diet, most restaurants do salad and meat of some kind so just avoid bread and pudding and you'll be ok. Good luck.

Well done everyone. Today I’ve had an apple, a babybel, 125g raspberries, a small snack pack of chicken satay and 25g of mixed nuts. So I think I’ve got 3-400 cals left and I’m going to gave a lamb cutlet and broccoli for supper.

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