Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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
Akire · 02/04/2019 13:23

I have been careful when having good stick to plan days. Strips are a good idea least if I’m not losing I can see if I’m the zone or not.

beaveringaways · 02/04/2019 13:59

I'm just joining this thread, bought the book yesterday and doing my second gym session tonight after joining at the weekend. I'm 13st but need to drop 2st in the next 4 months to fit in my wedding dress by September!

PhoenixMama · 02/04/2019 17:32

Well done lasttime! It's so great when you see the numbers move!

Welcome beavering - this group is awesome for helping you staying on track.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 02/04/2019 17:49

Oh my, another yummy dinner tonight, this time I managed to get a picture before I ate it!

Pork escalopes and a kind of ratatouille thing (not the actual title of the recipe, no)
I used a pork fillet (which was about 500g total weight) which I cut into 10 slices. Whizz up 2 ryvita, some salt and pepper, dried herbs and Parmesan cheese in a processor and whisk an egg separately. Bash the pork slices until they are quite thin. Dip in the egg, then the 'breadcrumbs' then pan fry until the pork is cooked. I made a big ratatouille with courgette, peppers. Onions, mushrooms, chilli, balsamic and tinned toms, then serve with a salad.

Blood Sugar Diet and Fast800 thread 14
OP posts:
lasttimeround · 02/04/2019 18:43

FWIW I find ketogenic sticks don't give you an accurate reading on really dilute pee. And per will be dilute if you're drinking lots. So if om using them I just use on waking. Although I think this probably varies from person to person. But don't get too hung up on the result - even tho I love watching the colour change he he.

onanothertrain · 02/04/2019 20:21

bear how were the ryvita as breadcrumbs?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 02/04/2019 20:35

On they were a decent substitute, I mixed them with Parmesan so they did go quite crispy although would probably have benefited from slightly more oil in the pan. I might try crushed poppadoms next time?

OP posts:
onanothertrain · 02/04/2019 21:35

I've tried poppadoms before as breadcrumbs, I found they went a wee bit soggy although I used them in stuffed mushrooms so might have been the liquid from them

PhoenixMama · 03/04/2019 08:22

Morning weigh in here and I'm under 200lbs for the first time since 2014!!! I also discovered my scales can be a little finicky it took 7-8 weighs to get 4 of the same! Went as high as 202 and as low as 198 so I figure this is probably right!

PhoenixMama · 03/04/2019 08:59

As promised here is that fab Cauliflower Cheese recipe! Def add the jalapenos if you can!

Blood Sugar Diet and Fast800 thread 14
lasttimeround · 03/04/2019 09:37

Phoenix - great success!!! Hurrah hurrah.
And very timely on the cauliflower recipe. I have one sitting in the fridge and was contemplating cauliflower rice with zero enthusiasm. So will try that instead. Thank you

Akire · 03/04/2019 09:55

I managed about 630 yesterday was feeling bit sick so didnt worry about eating more. Lost the pound I put on yesterday. It’s a start.

Seawig · 03/04/2019 12:16

Still plodding on with the principles even if I can't always count and weigh everything.

Now weigh the lowest I have in years and nearly a stone below where I started with this a month ago. In a time of immense stress too.

purplespring · 03/04/2019 13:29

Hello, I'm new to the thread. I started on Monday. I weighed in at a massive 17st 13.75lb Shock I know its ridiculous to say I was shocked, because how do you get to nearly 18 stone without realising, but I really was! Obviously I knew I was overweight, I have been for years, but the last couple of stone seem to have snuck on without really me noticing Blush

Found yesterday a bit difficult as I felt very hungry and was at home all day, so I went a little over on calories but stuck to low carb, high protein. Today is feeling much easier and I haven't eaten yet.

I'm weighing myself daily (don't want anymore surprise stones!) and I'm 3.75lb down this morning so I'm really pleased with that start.

I am finding the almost constant urge to pee a bit irritating, I even got up up the night which I never ever do.

Going to have lunch soon which is a chicken, chorizo, vegetable and tomato stew. Tea with either be omelette with mushroom and spinach or halloumi salad depending on what dd fancies.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/04/2019 15:15

Welcome purplespring

I've had an Easter related incident today, stupidly. I had a £5 voucher for Debenhams, realised nothing there would be less than a fiver, so thought I would be really brainy and use it to buy an Easter egg to donate to the school raffle. Yeah....I ate it. In the car.

I am blaming my hormones. And to be fair, most Months I have a good 5 days of hormonal chaos whereas this month I've held out til now, so that's better than it could be. I might rethink my menu for tonight now to try and redeem myself, maybe something salad based. The only problem is, once you taste the chocolate, it makes it very hard to go back to plan for the rest of the day, doesn't it?

OP posts:
Maccalenny · 03/04/2019 19:32

Well done seawig and phoenixmama - great results.

purplespring - like you my weight crept up with me not really noticing...a wardrobe full of very forgiving clothes helped me to ignore the weight gain for a long time. Embrace the need to pee - your liver is giving up the glycogen store and releasing water as it does. Shows that it is working!

Bear - the sort of chocolate-based incident that could happen to anyone, particularly when being driven by hormones!

Akire · 03/04/2019 20:17

Well I avoided major carb temptation this afternoon and now on 750. Day 3 nearly under my belt. Really going try and do it for a week and hope to see some results.

lasttimeround · 03/04/2019 20:31

Hi purple - your tea sounds yum. I really like chorizo in dishes.
Seawig- well done. That must feel almost surreal to be down so much so fast.
Bear - I so recognise scarfing chocolate in the car. I have such a love/hate relationship with suddenly eating a whole bar. Pack of sweets whatever in the car. On the one hand I hate that I differ just take the time to actually enjoy and taste what I scoffed. On the other hand I sort of love the secret rebellion. I'm sure s therapist would have a futld day with me and food. Or an endocrinologist.

Anyway I feel ive really adjusted yo this one. No longer feeling panicked when I finish a meal "it's not enough!!!" I feel totally fine and not hungry.

Did my third weights session since starting and I guess the strength drop is just there. And that's ok. I'm not sure I'll get any stronger training on 800 cals. But I took a long time deciding I needed to tackle my weight as a priority. Ive been lifting since the start of the year and despite trying to be healthy foodwise my weight just crept up and up and I was bordering on obese. Anyway I'm going to keep training and have added in very short daily runs, plods really, in my long term ambition to be really properly fit as well as hoping to retain muscles much as possible. Baby steps but it's going well.
Keep at it everyone

thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/04/2019 21:34

My day descended into a full on binge unfortunately. I'm due on tomorrow, so it was almost inevitable, shouldn't have to be, but I just don't have the energy sometimes to fight it. I did a quick run and 15 minutes hiit workout, but that was far outweighed by the millions of calories!

Tomorrow is a new day. I am going to do my fast800 day that should have been today, and have lots of jobs to do so plenty of distraction, plus an hours run in the morning.

OP posts:
lasttimeround · 04/04/2019 08:37

Bear - I guess the important thing is always to just get back to it. These slip ups happen. I don't know if this happens for most women but after the 'I want all the chocolate' phase of my cycle I often get a 'cant be arsed with food' phase. So there seems to be a natural self regulation. Although I haven't had a period in years I remember that.
I'm up for tips and advice. I'm going out on Friday. I've already decided to keep my dieting low profile on the night. And I will probably drink something. Its Mexican so carbs seem hard to avoid.
How best to limit the damage and ensure I don't lose a whole week after?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/04/2019 10:04

Thanks last. It's one benefit of this plan I've never really experienced, I have already still had my mega carb cravings at TOTM. I don't get pmt as such but I do get this insatiable appetite for sugar. I've never lost it, even when being super strict. It is just one or two days though, mustn't allow it to totally derail me.

I suppose with Mexican it is quite carb heavy, although most cuisines do some variation of steak, maybe some sort of spicy steak and salad (and hold the rice/fries)? Can you peruse a menu before you go?

OP posts:
PhoenixMama · 04/04/2019 11:38

@newaverage I so love your 'I'm back on it' attitude. It's about living with this lifestyle - which means we are going to want sweets, but we need to cultivate getting back to it!

@lasttime Can you get a Mexican salad - they often do amazing ones with black beans, etc. Other thing that's usually good is fajitas - even if you eat the tortillas (ask for corn ones instead if you are going to do it!)

I'm officially really sick here - saw GP yesterday and I have a suspected chest infection, which would explain why I feel so tired and wheezy. Given antibiotics so hopefully will feel better by the weekend. Really tired of feeling like my muscles are heavy and (literally) lacking oxygen!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/04/2019 12:46

Phoenix thanks, it's like we were saying further up the thread, (or maybe the fast800 thread, I can't remember) but about the beliefs we have about ourselves. Being powerless around food is a classic one isn't it? 'I always do x,y,z and I am powerless to stop it' and then we do it, and we go 'see, I told you so! I win!' (But we don't really win anything as we ended up repeating a pattern of behaviour that's destructive, whatever it may be)

So it's a big thing for me that I'm working on to say 'I'm bear, and I'm not powerless around food, even if I'm hormonal, even if I've run a long way, even if I'm sad, angry, out with friends etc....'. It's a difficult one to change though!

And how many of us would have said- I can never stick to a diet, I could never give up sugar, I could never cope on 800 calories....and yet look at us!!

OP posts:
purplespring · 04/04/2019 12:47

Well according to my scales this morning I've lost 7lbs, since Monday! Seem a bit crazy, I know pretty much all of it is glycogen and water but I've never lost weight this quickly before, mind I've never been this fat before either.

I haven't felt hungry at all so far today, so planning on something very light shortly before going out for some messages. I'm already looking forward to tea tonight though. Going to have fajita chicken but in lettuce cups rather than tortillas, with some salad, guacamole, bit of cheese. Yum.

I can take leftovers to work tomorrow and I'm going to make a couple of soups this evening as well. I'm feeling very in the zone. I'm going to buy a new battery for my pedometer today as well and start work on increasing my steps.

Hope you feel better soon phoenixmama

lasttime I'm sure they'll do something that will work, definitely try and check the menu before you go. Drinks wise - I'm fairly carby in my alcohol tastes, one of my friends drinks vodka and water though

newaveragebear I'm dreading my period for this reason, you're right though, today is a new day and you seem to have this cracked!

@maccalenny its funny how that can happen isn't it, I'm trying not to be too annoyed with myself and just focus on sorting myself out. I will embrace the peeing!

On a final note (sorry, I'm not very good at concise), I had a dream last night that I was going to Paris, but in the dream I then realised I wouldn't be able to have any baguette or patisserie and was very disappointed. I then managed to talk myself round that it would still be good, its Paris and there wold be other nice food Grin fair to say this diet has taken over my mind!

PhoenixMama · 04/04/2019 22:04

Thanks for all the well wishes you lovely lot. X

Did that thing today where when you know you're actually sick so you crash out. Not feeling great. Hopefully antibiotics kick in tomorrow.

Closed the kitchen at 790 though so there's that! How'd you all do?