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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 15

999 replies

thenewaveragebear1983 · 23/05/2019 07:34

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 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)
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 at 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.

Some useful links:

Previous thread

Blood Sugar Diet and Fast800 thread 14 http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3532374-blood-sugar-diet-and-fast800-thread-14

Meal planning ideas thread
Blood sugar diet recipe thread and menu planner 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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PhoenixMama · 22/07/2019 23:53

Oh ladies you are so lovely! Thank you. Moving day is August 5th, so I have 2 weeks but I can only get help with stuff like patching the walls, doing storage unit runs, etc this weekend so push to break the back of it.

But something else good happened today(aside from you lot!) I wrote a dress in haven't written in 6 years and it looked great. In fact I wore it with spanx before and I didn't tonight! It made me realise that even though I struggle and complain about how I'm doing I have lost nearly 50lbs in the last year and almost 40 since I started this woe. That is really fantastic. This time last year I would never have believed it was possible, never believed I could go for a run & feel strong or that I could go a week with no pasta! And yet here I am.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I can't thank you enough for starting the thread, I really couldn't/wouldn't have done it without it. And newbies, it is possible! I was very strict for the first 2 months but still have ups and downs but going back to it the next day helps. As does (for me anyway) weighing everyday - I used to be totally agarics set it but it's really inspired me and kept me honest!

I was very good today until dinner & then I was out but not too bad, although over on carbs I reckon.

Well done bear! Especially running in this heat!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 23/07/2019 08:47

I'm 3lbs down this morning after my two very low carb days, so looking forward to day 3!

Phoenix good luck! In a few weeks you'll be in your new place and this will all seem like a distant memory. You've done amazingly and if you do have a few days off plan, you know you'll be able to jump right back on the plan when you're settled in your new place. You could ease the hassle by going for some preprepped meals (Young's fish is always my go-to), with microwave veg or salad, or even some of the 'ready to cook' meals (eg Tesco do chicken in sauces etc with their raw chicken section, so you can have something nice and easy). Plus there's loads of BBQ things around at the moment which can be very easy to fit into this plan eg premade kebabs, minted lamb steaks etc - they're aren't perfect but they are tasty and easy to bung in the oven

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 23/07/2019 21:16

Closing the kitchen today on 1450 cals, 30g carbs. A little higher than I hoped for but not horrendous by any means. I've done my requisite 10k steps (just!) and a 90 minutes circuits class which was hot and horrible.

Tomorrow I'm getting up stupidly early to run before it gets too hot. My food will be the usual salad lunch and not sure what dinner will be yet.

I'm on day 12 of my 14 day hiit challenge, tomorrow will be a rest day then day 14 will be a repeat of the initial test to see if I've made any improvements, plus measurements.

Hope everyone's ok and coping with the heatwave!

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 23/07/2019 21:19

Actually I lied,,today is day 13 so I finish my challenge tomorrow!

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PhoenixMama · 23/07/2019 22:35

Well done Bear! Very hot here and a bit all over the place with food today but lots of water so that's good. Also hoping to go for a run first thing but hoping its not too early! You must be on a countdown to hols Bear! How lovely!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 05:51

Weighed in at 10.3.5 this morning, that's 6.5lbs down since Sunday. 10.3 is my lowest weight but tbh I haven't seen it for a while having teetered around 10.5-10.8 for a couple of weeks. It must be the sharp reduction in carbs. It's interesting to see what's actually required for me to do it, although I suppose after a couple more days I need to balance out whether it's worth it- it is very difficult to get below 25g carbs. I will need to tweak my buying habits (eg my cheap mayo from Aldi has sugar in but Hellman's luxury one doesn't) in order to save those few grams of carbs. It's been very enlightening though and has made me realise that I have been modifying the plan a lot to fit into my life and as a result probably having far more carb than I realised. By zooming in on carbs not calories I've seen this in a New light, and yet the calories have naturally taken care of themselves as a result anyway.

Early run for me, hence the dawn update!

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Ohyesiam · 24/07/2019 06:58

Well lovely fellowFast800ers, I get married on Saturday!

I have lost 2stone 10.3 lbs since May 8th, and I have a lot of muscle and definition that I didn’t have before.

I really could not have done it without support and info that i’ve got on this thread. Thanks so much bear for your dedication, and everyone else for your input.

To anyone new starting , if I can do it, anyone can, really.

We are away then for most of the summer. Then in September I’m back on plan. I’m not sure how much more I want to lose as I’ve changed shape so much. Ive been lighter than I am now, but my figure is much better now, partly due to the muscle I’ve put on, and partly because I’m an apple shape, and have lost a huge amount of bulk from my torso, which was never the case with SW! Maybe another stone?

I won’t have lots of control over what I eat for the weeks we we stay with friends this summer, but I figure I can always do 8:16 ,no sugar, and as few carbs as possible as a baseline.

In September I would like to do 3 fast days a week, two on plan but no calorie restriction, and the weekends free range. I don’t know what success I’ll have weight loss wise, but il give it a try. And I’m keeping up the exercise because I love it.

Much love and luck to everyone on our amazing journey with thisWOE

X

thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 07:05

Amazing ohyesiam! Congratulations on your marriage, I hope you have a brilliant day. You've worked so hard and I'm so glad you feel fabulous as you approach your big day. Star

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Clappyhapper · 24/07/2019 14:17

Starting fast800 today, wish me luck!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 14:41

Welcome clappy!

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 16:46

Well as a result of my efforts this week, I have ordered.... wait for it.... a bikini. I have not worn a bikini since pre-babies, and to be honest I don't know if I will actually wear this one (it's not technically a bikini anyway, it's bikini bottoms and a sports bra type top as it gives me the best fit/coverage)- but our accommodation next week has a hot tub and I thought what the hell.

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GreyBasket · 24/07/2019 19:12

Whoop whoop @thenewaveragebear1983 👙

Huge congratulations for the weekend @Ohyesiam You have achieved so much 🙌🏻

And welcome @Clappyhapper 👋🏻

I have been feeling a bit down as the last two and a half weeks just hasn't produced the same sort of weight loss as I was expecting based on previous 5:2 ways of eating, and also based on reading the book. I feel rather sad to be honest.

Analysing why and trying to move on, I have had an ultrasound strict day today as well as a tough gym class this morning. I will see what the rest of the third week brings.

One thing is clear and that's that I can't be trusted with any wine in the house. Or Cheshire cheese. Or the children's sweets. But even then I barely wobbled tbh and my carb intake has been very low. I just don't know 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anyway, tomorrow is a another new day to be strict on!!!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 19:28

Grey did you see the link I posted a bit upthread? It had some interesting information in it about why low carb can stall and how to get things going again

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 19:29

www.healthline.com/nutrition/15-reasons-not-losing-weight-on-a-low-carb-diet

Here it is again

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 19:42

Closing up the kitchen on 1350 cals, 23g carbs, 18k steps (which included a 5.5km run). I feel a touch of the carb flu coming in, I have that restless 'wanty' feeling but I'm not cracking! I'm determined to keep going at least until I get my keto sticks and can see if I'm in ketosis.

I am finding it quite tricky to stay below 25g Carbs, but it is possible with some careful choices. It's making me have to analyse the day as a whole and input an estimate for the whole day before deciding for example what veg to have or how much mayo. It's that close. I suppose in a good way it's making me look very closely at my food in a way I haven't for a while. I am actually finding it difficult to keto my protein low enough and my fat high enough; today I've got potentially 85g fat left to eat, but I've gone over on protein by nearly 60g. Apparently you can turn protein to sugar if you consume too much and it can slow down ketosis? So I am keen to see what's going on.

Tomorrow I will weigh in because it's a very long time since I've been below 10.3, it's always been my sticking point and my body's 'happy weight' so I anticipate it being a hurdle to jump over in the next few days!

I am getting up at 5.30 tomorrow to go for my long run because the heat is going to be unbearable after about 9am. Food will be a Lego friendly Niçoise salad at lunch and a lamb steak and Moroccan spiced veg with houmous for dinner!

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GreyBasket · 24/07/2019 20:18

Thank you @thenewaveragebear1983

It's a great read, but I am none the wiser really 😆

It could be a bit of 1, 2 and 3... but also maybe too much dairy and nuts. I don't like meat much, and fish every day gets boring 😆 I don't drink milk at all, but I do like cheese

Thinking of the pluses of this way of eating... The good thing in the last two and half weeks is that I am sleeping really well 😁 It's not having alcohol every night think. And I haven't eaten non real food. And I think my exercise goals are fair and will work long term...

GreyBasket · 24/07/2019 20:20

I had my message open for ages Bear so your reply crossed.

I fancy a Lego friendly salad myself tomorrow 😆

I shall look for your weigh-in post in the morning, although perhaps not at 5am!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 24/07/2019 20:38

Lego friendly- keto friendly!

Grey are you counting calories/carbs or just eating the Mediterranean diet foods? Are you drinking enough and getting enough salt? Also if you have either started a new exercise regime or increased your routine dramatically that can stall your weightloss a bit- could it be that? I don't like to think of people feeling deflated when they've been doing it right but not getting results; it's hard enough when the weight is dropping off!

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Justtrying · 24/07/2019 20:54

Hi Ladies. I have just started today after dabbling earlier in the year. Home from holiday yesterday with another booked for new year and I am determined to look and feel better in swim wear.

Weight this morning 10st 13. Actually a few pounds less than before we went away. My weight has crept up due to over indulging on alcohol and eating junk, especially as I’ve been working away a lot with no easy healthy options, comfort eating and coping with work/family stress, all centered around being away, something that won’t change much until the autumn.

So, whilst by the pool, I have meal planned the next 10 days, online shop arrived first thing this morning and I’m now away with work until Sunday evening. Mainly using the Fast 800 recipe book.

I also need to up the activity levels and aim to do something active most days with dd during the school holiday.

Today I have eaten no breakfast, chicken breast with 3 new potatoes, peas and carrots for lunch, and the tuna butterbean and artichoke salad for dinner. One mug of tea with a splash of milk and gallons of water. MFP calculates at 875cals.

I was going to pack gym stuff, given the heat decided it to, but will be walking a bit whilst away. Hoping to have a weight loss on Monday morning.

PhoenixMama · 24/07/2019 21:28

@Ohyesiam Massive congratulations on your marriage & success with this woe. What have you been doing that's changed your shape so much?

@thenewaveragebear1983 Well done for being so on plan! 25g of carbs IS super low I'm not sure I'm ready to even want to do that!

@GreyBasket I was wondering the same as Bear - are you tracking your foods and your macros? My experience is that I'm always eating more than I think I am if I'm not calculating everything. I also find 5:2 doesn't deliver results for me like the fast 800.

Welcome @Clappyhapper & @justtrying!

I've eaten way over today - lovely day out with DD today, including lunch out and then we overheated and had a Waitrose take away for dinner because I was just too tired/frazzled. And the thought of cooking made me want to die! I'm thinking this week with DD home and all the packing that I'm just going to focus on maintaining. When did us away at her Grandma's I'll get in a bunch of COOK microwaveable food and stay on track as I write my assignment for my MA and pack the rest of the house! This week I need to cut myself some slack!

PhoenixMama · 24/07/2019 21:32

Oh and I'm running again! Dragged DD out (she was on her scooter) at 830 this morning, I'm definitely doing better and am nearly running straight through on C25k! Goal is to hit 5k by Sept 9th!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 25/07/2019 07:02

10.3 this morning! That's 7lb off this week. I'm very pleased with that. I plan to keep the food up next week while we're away, at least as long as I can, but alcohol will obviously affect that too so we'll see.

It's proving to me just how many carbs are in things that I've never really considered. You'd think I'd know this after doing this for 3+ years! However it's actually getting easier as the days are going on, I think I'm probably either fully detoxed off the sugar or it's going to hit me like a ton of bricks today!

Hope everyone copes with the heat today. My teen dd has her friends coming round, a group of ten of them, boys and girls and there's talk of a paddling pool.....so despite wanting to just laze around in the sun it appears that I'm going to be discreetly chaperoning Confused

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GreyBasket · 25/07/2019 07:59

Thank you @thenewaveragebear1983 and @PhoenixMama

I am doing fast 800, with barely any slip ups. I have been closely monitoring both calories (definitely under 800) and carbs. I've also been fasting 18/6.

Considering I used to drink wine every single night, and pasta/pizza, etc. And I haven't done that for two and a half weeks, it's sodding frustrating. I've gone from a 2,500-3,000 calorie a day diet to 800 a day with none of the bad "big five" stuff and it has made little difference. I actually weigh more today than yesterday 🙈 How??

I have always lost weight easily before, either doing 5:2 and specifically alternate day fasting, or by a detox type short term diet, so I am baffled...

I am definitely in keto as I measured it the other day. I'll do another test today.

Yup, it could be doing more exercise. It could. But I hope that effect is short lived and I start losing soon. In the meantime, I just hope my internal organs are in better shape!

Anyway, I have doubled down and am being so strict with myself.

I am inspired by you Bear and that is an amazing weigh in this morning. Well done 👙

thenewaveragebear1983 · 25/07/2019 09:36

Grey maybe do a few days where you eat more calories but cut the carbs right down? I'm amazed how it's worked for me this week, and my weight has been stalled /maintained for^^ ages. If you're exercising it really can stop weightloss at first, sometimes for several weeks.

Remember though: a good week always shows, maybe not as dramatically as we hope, but it always does and things will be going on under the surface that you can't see

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PhoenixMama · 25/07/2019 10:15

I'd also say don't underestimate how much this heat can affect our bodies - we need way for water & our bodies hold onto water so much more, if you're exercising, even more so!

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