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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

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Thread gallery
36
Lndnmummy · 13/05/2019 16:05

I’m so HUNGRY!! And angry!!! It will pass right? Confused

Lndnmummy · 13/05/2019 16:24

Oh and another question. Last time I remember eating the low gi tilda rice packs for lunch with tuna or chicken. About 200 cals and around 22g carbs. I have just realised that I have done that wrong. Is it ok to have rice if within overall carb allowance (mine is 40-50g) and within calorie limit?

Lndnmummy · 13/05/2019 16:24

Phoenix, how are you feeling today? Flowers

thenewaveragebear1983 · 13/05/2019 17:09

LDN Hangry?? That's the worst!
What is the Tilda low gi rice? I'm guessing it has some wild rice/brown rice mixed in? Personally I wouldn't have it in the initial Fast800 phase, simply because rice is pretty high gi and I'm very cynically thinking that it may be more of a marketing ploy than any really low GI product. If you want pouch/quick cook ricey options then the merchant gourmet tomato puy lentils are absolutely delicious, or things like curried chick peas etc are sometimes available too, which by default are lower GI than the rice. I find the carb subs a bit naff to be honest, and are never as filling as the equivalent calories/carbs value of veg would be (so unless you've already served up and fork poised to eat, I'd just do a pile of veg instead!)

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Lndnmummy · 13/05/2019 17:30

HANGRY is so the right word. It’s awful!!! Hate it!! I hope it goes soon (or my husband willGrin).
Yup it’s one of the quinoa, black, wild rice basmati type things. It’s a bummer (already had it for linch🤦‍♀️). I do rely on them quite a bit as can as they are cheap and relatively speaking low carb. Crucially for me they don’t make me crave more carbs like pasta does so they have always been a staple. I struggle abit for money as my matleave is coming to an end and most carb substitutes like the zero noodles and cauliflower rice etc is very pricy.
But I’ll put my big girl pants on and get over itGrin.
Have done ok todAy apart from the rice. Calories at 846, 10000 steps, 2l of water etc. So that’s nearly the end of day one!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 13/05/2019 17:33

LDN I mean, they aren't horrendous, but obviously the rice itself is going to do something to your insulin. In future you could offset it by having it with something fibrous, or fat- that will slow down the absorption. It could be that it's not an issue for you whereas others might find it sets them right off.

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Waterandlemonjuice · 13/05/2019 17:46

I've eaten some chorizo (about 100 cals), a Marmite cheese (80cal) , 2 little crab shell things, (113 cal) some olives, an apple and a huge salad with beetroot leaves, pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, pomegranate seeds and topped with 200cals of smoked trout mixed with 35g crème fraiche (120cal) and horseradish. I think I'm probably over by a little bit but not much. The trout and crème fraiche is really filling.

Feelingfortyisntfun · 13/05/2019 18:26

Waterman’s lemon juice that’s great and like others say drawing a line under the four little bars. Don’t you think it’s great though I don’t know about you but when not being mindful and counting the kcal I think four little bars I would have gobbled before moving on to lots of other food without even thinking about it.

It sounds like you are doing brilliantly and it’s a case of get back on it!

teta · 13/05/2019 19:18

Lndn you can get something like a peeler that converts veggies into noodles. I use it for courgette, carrots and squash noodles. It’s much cheaper than buying them ready made. Likewise a cauliflower can be riced into three large portions. You can use a food processor or even a cheese grater to do this.i bake the cauliflower rice in the oven to make it fluffier. I recently made fried rice with this and it was great. The rice and noodles will keep in the fridge for a 2-3 days in a bowl covered in clingfilm. So I tend to always make a big batch at once.
I do agree zero noodles are very expensive as are Oomi noodles too.

SoyYo · 13/05/2019 20:02

Thank You for the kind welcome Smile
I’ll try and keep up with the thread and still failed to read through even most of today’s updates...it moves fast!

This lunchtime I had one small chicken breast in a bed of spinach and rocket salad with a teaspoon of olive oil and a little bit of lemon juice/black pepper Salt= 300 cals or just under.
I don’t have breakfast anyway so for me easy to do the long overnight fast. I do that most days without dieting.

For dinner I really didn’t want my separate salmon or omelette with greens which was my default most of last week...I have DH and two grown vegan DS to feed! So I’ve adapted a recipe in the 800fast website that will feed them and me:
Basic pasta tomato sauce: 1 large onion, garlic, pepper and mushrooms and lots of passata with a tin of chick peas and seasoning (vegans need their protein). DS can have it as pasta sauce with real pasta.
DH will have the pasta and I’ve got 3 chicken breasts which I will cover with the tomato sauce (sans chickpeas/though I may leave a few in) and bake with mozzarella on top.
I’ll have 1 chicken breast baked in the tomato sauce with mozzarella and DH can have the rest.
Should be 350 cals so even with a biggish chicken breast I’ll be fine as I can have 500 cals for dinner.

This is the recipe, I thought I’d share if you’re struggling with cooking separate meals for you and the family:
thefast800.com/low-carb-mediterranean-mozzarella-chicken/

Laska2Meryls · 13/05/2019 20:43

hello, Ive come to join in also ,please , I have done this WOE previously very successfully about 2 years go,(and also 5:2 some of you may remember me) but need to seriously get stuck back in, as i have at least a stone of regained flob to lose and motivated by my MN buddy SoyYo (hi, there ) have restarted properly today.. I have (only) 6 weeks until my holiday ..Gulp!!

I admit it hasnt been a fantastic day for the low carb end of 800 cals, as I have eaten a couple of cold new potatoes left over from yesterday,and (I do know they are not really allowed) But I am still in my 800, and there are now no spuds in the house!!

This morning: black coffee..

Breakfast (at lunchtime) was half small avocado, a couple of slices of smoked salmon and some asparagus with a little evo

Dinner: chicken an veg stir fry, with those two small jersey royals chopped in.

Lots of herb tea and water..

Looking forward too to losing with you all!

Ohyesiam · 13/05/2019 20:53

I was wondering if anyone has had any professional help with comfort eating
I’ve has some counselling, and did an online thing called Shrink Yourself ( I thought it was a really negative name till I realised it was a pun, as it was written by an American psychiatrist).

I didn’t “ gel” with the counsellor. She was eating disorder trained, but it wasn’t subtle or insightful enough for me. This was years ago,
I know an excellent therapist now and I’ve promised myself that if I fall off this program I’ll go to her every week. But now I’ve got you lot to keep me conscious, I’m not going to fall off!

SoyYo · 13/05/2019 21:08

Good to see you here @laska 😍
Yeay! We Can Do It 💪💪💪

thenewaveragebear1983 · 13/05/2019 21:43

I had some hypnotherapy and it was very good. I learned a lot about why I eat the way I do my mother but unfortunately I just can't justify a course of sessions as they cost so much.

I've had a great day. 850 cals, 40g carbs, 21k steps (6.5k was a run) and it's day 15 sugar free.

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onanothertrain · 14/05/2019 07:34

I mostly had a good day yesterday, great food choices but found out I passed my masters dissertation so had a coulpe of glasses of wine to celebrate. Having a 800 cal day today I feel ready for it there's no food in the house so should be easy

Lndnmummy · 14/05/2019 07:52

I have lost 1.7lbsShock!!!! The angry mood is worth it!! I know that it’s water yada yada but at the moment I don’t care. The scales are going down. It IS possible. This has given me the motivation to stick with it for one more day, than another...
Thank you so much for all your suggestions yesterday. Reading the thread from start to finish got me through yesterday. I’m so inspired by all of you. Maybe if you can do it, so can I?

Phoenix, just checking in, you ok?

Lndnmummy · 14/05/2019 07:53

@onanothertrain that’s fantastic!! Huge congratulations!

Feelingfortyisntfun · 14/05/2019 08:20

Well I realized I was posting on the wrong thread - ditzy? me?

Ohyesiam I found just talking to a friend who also suffered from emotional eating. It used to really help. I think people who haven't been through it or don't have that stress eating gene won't understand. I have friends that also stop eating in times of stress. For me it helps to almost stand back and think this is what the monkey brain is tricking me to do.

Soyyo your posts were making me hungry. They also sound good filling recipes.

Regarding Hangry yes I get this too and on reflection yesterday thought I would actually try and avoid this as it's not fair on my children! If that means aiming for 1000 kcal rather than 800 and stops me being a monster I'm happy. I find moderation such a challenge so just 2 oat cakes can take the edge off hangry for me - but makes me want more - maybe too high carb?

Keep going...

thenewaveragebear1983 · 14/05/2019 08:22

Onanother well done! Star

LDN the first few days are always the hardest, but that's day 1 done ✅

I resisted the urge to weigh myself this morning, I'm determined to do a few really good days first. Working today so I'm off out for a quick run after the school drop, then will have a salad lunch late morning. Tonight's tea is a chicken casserole with a creamy Parmesan sauce, courtesy of Jamie O. Then a circuits class tonight. Busy busy busy!

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Ohyesiam · 14/05/2019 10:17

W2D1 and I’ve lost 6.7lb!
I’m very happy.
Was doing slimming world for 3 weeks before this so have lost 12.5 lbs total, and I think that all my loss I’m this last week is probably fat( and glycogen? How much does that weigh in at?), which pleases me greatly.

I’ve also been exercising a lot, so my body looks much better. I think I look more like I’ve lost 2 stone as I’m apple shaped , and the core based exercise I do has sucked my middle in by a third.
Thanks for the support everyone

Ohyesiam · 14/05/2019 10:19

onanothertrain congratulationsFlowers
That’s worth a couple of glasses of wine!

Laska2Meryls · 14/05/2019 11:44

Onanothertrain congratulations, brilliant feeling isn't it?
Idug out my old blood sugar diet recipe book, planning ondoing the stir fry beef and asparagus recipe tonight. Have just had scrambled eggs with a slice of Brunswick ham and slosh of Tabasco. Have had 2cups of black coffee but coming on here has reminded me about the water. 750ml just in process of beingglugged,then I'll go and fill my bottle up again..

Laska2Meryls · 14/05/2019 11:45

I'm 3 lb down over night.. just water I suppose..

teta · 14/05/2019 11:58

Well done on all the losses. I’m still 3 pounds up after a really good day yesterday. My tummy is massive but my face looks slimmer. Hey ho it’s at times like this that it’s tempting to give up but I’m not going to.👍

thenewaveragebear1983 · 14/05/2019 12:09

Laska well done. It may be just water but the water has to go so it's still amazing

Teta that's a shame, but don't get disheartened. Are you drinking enough? It's easy to underestimate how much water we need to actually do the chemical processes involved in fat burning, and if you're not getting enough it will really stall your weight loss. A good day always shows eventually so stay strong Smile

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