Blood sugar diet and Fast800 thread 15

[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 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

Oh and @ldn good luck with the GP! Also yay for your husband supporting you!

Morning all.

Phoenix- you wouldn't continue to gain at that same initial 'back to normal' rate though- ie. you may have gained 5lb from a few days off, but that's largely in

Sorry, pressed send!

That's largely initial water weight/bloating which you can only regain once. Realistically you need to eat 3k excess calories to gain a pound, so unless you switch to Tudor style banquets over n

Arrrrrgh my phone is crap!!

Tudor style banquets overnight, it will not be the case that you regain 5lb a week over and over again. It helps to have a maintenance strategy planned out, and a bit of trial and error to see what will work for you after the 800 days are done

Good luck with gp lndn.
Phoenix about your rebound weightloss are you eating so much that you think you gain say 3 pounds? I find going in or out of low carb I lose/gain 1-2 kilos (so about 4lbs) . That's visible also, I'm bigger and softer, but it's not fat. It's just how the tissue retains more fluid when I eat carbs. I think everyone will have a similar effect although it might vary in size.
So gaining that initial 4 lbs in my case when I come off low carbing isn't a rebound. But the weight I gain after that would be.
I'm wondering about easing out of this diet by recognizing the weight loss attained is 2 kilos above what the scale says. That way hopefully avoiding further gains after that by not triggering a fuck it eating spiral? Maybe you just fluctuate quite widely. Means you gain lots fast when you come off plan. But also you'll lose rapidly when you get to it.
I had a small binge yesterday. Glass of wine and some small cookies. Also a fair bit of cheese. Today scale is a pound and a half up. Now I might have gained a smidge. I ate a lot of cheese. And I'll have delayed my next drop down. But most of that will be gone in a day or two as it's just my bodies response to carbs.
I'm more worried about the extended overeating (for a few days) earlier this month. It seems like coming out of cal restriction my body wants to claw back. The bibge yesterday makes me think this second round if Fast800 is not achievable. I was going to do a second 4-8 weeks. I'm thinking about trying reverse dieting for thus stretch. Up cals to 1000 thus week with 2 800 days. Then in a week or 2 up again to 1200 with 2 lower days and so on. It'll slow down my losses but maybe prevent a frenzied rebound. I should still keep losing until I'm eating 1800 possibly more with exercise. I'm not far off a healthy weight even tho my aim is 10kgs lower than that I think a period of maintenance and weight lifting would be better long term than getting into a cycle of restriction and bingeing.

Also checking in: food is pretty good, meals have been on track and BSD friendly. We did go out for a meal last night, I had chilli squid salad, lamb shank (with mash though, and a few of dh's chips) and we shared a pudding. However, I think that will be my only major slip this week.

Ohyesiam yes I find it all so much harder with family etc around. It’s chaotic and lots of attention on food (kids permanently hungry!). I also find it very challenging not to have time on my own, to reflect , I’m a much nicer person if I do. Don’t feel guilty is there any way you can be given a bit of time off - even for a quick walk, to escape the noise/ chaos? I’ve always envied my husband who can sit with all the noise, TVs on, iPads on, games going on around him and he is able to concentrate on whatever he is doing on the computer. Whilst I’m there spinning around going crazy 😀

We’re away from home and I had scrambled eggs for breakfast... trying to choose low carb as everything in the menu looks “heavy”.

I sympathise with another poster on here I find after some weight loss I get the urge to overeat/cravings increase. Someone else said to me this is the body’s defence mechanism and the way to overcome it is to go back to tdee but keep coming back to a deficit and eventually your body will adapt. That’s why I think fast800 May
be really good.

To the other poster who gained lbs quickly. I always crave carbs at Time of the month and admittedly overeat them, I can easily gain 5-6 lbs (I am not exaggerating) in that dreaded week but all comes off again if I’m careful afterwards. I am sure it’s water weight.

Lnd what a lovely supportive thing for your husband to do - you’re obviously very loved. Having goals can be really help to focus. Hope it goes well.

Ok well let’s hope fast800 improves my memory as I can’t remember who else I had planned to respond to! Good luck all.

Thanks for all the support and words of wisdom around having the rest of my family at home this week.

I am pre menstrual ( at my bloody age, when will this stop?!) and just HAD to eat more last night. It was my first off track evening eating since starting this, I just couldn’t resist. All fast 800 stuff.
So till my period starts I’m going to allow myself 1000, or even 1200 a day, then I won’t feel like a failure.

lndn I thought your dh s gesture was lovely. It’s really important to put yourself first at critical times in our lives. A really strong thing to do.

Hello 👋 I’m in beginning of week 4 haven’t weighed in today but yesterday scales showed just under 10 1/2 stone so a solid 1/2 stone and 1 lb lost.
This is despite making it my “mission” to have a day off a week at least. Psychologically for me this is better as I promise myself a weekly treat day and helps me stay on track rather than derail myself PLUS it’s helping me prove to myself how I will regulate my weight on maintenance after I reach my 9 1/2 to 10 stone goal. I’d be happy to maintain at 10 stone tbh if it means 5:2.
First: feel so much better since giving up bread, it’s confirmed to me I don’t tolerate more than 1 slice of wholemeal a day very well.
Second: I didn’t measure myself but my tummy has really deflated and love handles disappearing so I reckon inch loss is higher than weight loss, just by how all my clothes are fitting and looseness round the waist on trousers that felt too tight 3 weeks ago.

DH is impressed and he’s joined me on the 800 Fast (he needs it more than me ) but I’m also insisting he has an off day a week for treats as he’s not a dieter. He’s enjoying the food though!

@Phoenix don’t beat yourself up. Maybe planning for a “treat” day may work best for you too?
In the last 3 weeks I have had the following on treat days (all pub or restaurant meals):
Week 1 - 2 large glasses of red wine with huge chicken Caesar salad in restaurant (had proper Caesar dressing/Parmesan/croutons/fried chicken etc) plus nachos with lots of guacamole.
Week 2 : gourmet massive burger and fries I simply couldn’t finish. Burger had cheese/bacon all the bad stuff but also couldn’t eat the bun I was so full plus G&T and a Corona beer
Week 3
Pan fried chicken breast stuffed with cheese and mushrooms with big side of green veg (peas and broccoli), 2 glasses of wine and one G&T

Sorry to post all the yum stuff but besides the portion of fries I chose calorific but relatively low carb meals and alcohol.
The point is I never gained, it just stalled more weight loss but I find it more manageable and also a way of testing my appetite and seeing what I can get away with when not fasting.

I’m sedentary but do Pilates class once a week and probably 2/3 long walks a week and I’m late fifties (so burn less calories) and post menopause (hormonal weight fluctuation not an issue but post menopause your waist fat cells are stubborn as they want to produce your missing oestrogen for you so you lose weight slowly).

Anyway that’s my journey so far.
Hope it’s helpful to someone but I’m not obsessing about daily weight fluctuations and as @bear said unless I start pigging out on Tudor style banquets once a week the weight WILL come off

Gosh I'm so tired today! Had a good day food wise yesterday, and a decent nights sleep. But after lunch my eyes just won't stay open. I have a broccoli gratin thing due to cook for dinner, but I can't summon the energy just now.

I e just restarted today. Had started and lost 5lb In My first week but was training for a half marathon and simply couldn’t run and it was too close to the event to manage. SO, I’m back, half done. Only put 1lb back on so the running must’ve kept weight at bay but I want to be 9 stone something again.
I e had today:
No breakfast
Rocket, half avocado, cucumber and 2 eggs lunch
Just now had 2 veggie sausages and carrots and spinach - only veg in the house - strange combination but needs must
Snack- yoghurt and blueberries
135 left. Might have a slice of cheese before bed!

Hello to all the new names! Good to hear your journeys. I’m going over today. I’m at 700 cals today but no dinner yet so will end on about 950. Al macros good though so I’m being kind to myself.
A productive day. GP was excellent, open minded and supportive of this diet and asked me to book in for review in 3mnths and w exam take stock. She wasn’t worried about thyroid and believes that cholesterol will improve with life style changes.
Also had consultation with PT. He was harder to convince of the diet “your body will go into starvation mode” bla bla bla but I figured I’ll use him for the training and just nod and smile at the food bit. If things get too difficult when adding training I might have to increase calories slightly. That’s fine.

Feeling back in control today. I’ll take charge of this. I’m sat in car determined to not get back until both kids are in bed and dh has cooked our dinner. It is important to not immediately rush home to rescue everything. So I’m sat here listening to the radio. It’s lovely.

Glad it went well. I sat in the car at Sainsbury’s for 5 minutes earlier just got the peace! I came in at 792 tonight
Day 1 done

Bg: scrambled egg
Lunch : halloumi + salad + 1 slice rye
Evening: salmon salad and glass of red

We are away from home on holiday so it’s. A bit more low carb than fast800 but think, for me, this is about coping in the long term too.

This is all psychological - I would happily do fast8” whilst away from home - no stress but I am eating with others and joining in (but ok happy to do this).

I am absolutely sure breakfast makes me hungrier too - adding in as mentioned before and mentioning again in case helpful to any others.

Lnd glad you are prioritising you time. Great gp was on board!

Whoops this sitting in the car park at the supermarket sounds like a plan! Glad you also had a break and well done.

I remember that need to grab time for yourself....so important. Then it seems like five minutes later and they are teenage and think they don’t need you any more!

I’m a bit uninspired this week. Usually in the holidays I like to try out new recipes but I’m just not in the mood. One meal every day has just been yoghurt and raspberries. I have done a bit of exercise though...not so much as I was hoping but a bit at least. My weight had stuck for the longest time since starting....a full seven days without budging...then a pound down this morning.

I think for the last couple of weeks the novelty is wearing off....I love how much weight I’ve lost, but sometimes am a bit overtaken by how much I still have to lose. Im only half-way to a healthy weight so have a long way to go.

I feel like I’m moving on from the initial phase of dieting, to finding a way to make it work for me long-term, with smaller losses but less counting and measuring, which I’ve never done before on any diet and don’t want to make a long-term feature of my life. I’m hoping to settle at a low carb way of eating, with lots of cooking from scratch and very little snacking and grazing. I’ve been doing that this week really, and reckon I’ve been coming out around 1000cal a day. It feels like a good way forward .

Morning all, catching up a little. Only working 2.5 days this week before we go away so they’re stupid busy days trying to get everything done!

Welcome to new/returning faces. I’m having a disappointing week 2, although I’ve been sub-800 calories every day and carbs sub-30g, I’ve STS for 3 days now. Only thing is my water intake has suffered a little with being busy so it’s been around 1.5L as opposed to 3L before, will have to make an effort with that today. I do feel better, way less bloated and generally slimmer overall. I know it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, the numbers will move eventually, I just wanted to get ‘ahead of the game’ a little for the weekend as I know I’ll be having off-plan meals and drinking a bit as well. Going to swim at the hotel every day to try and make up for it!

I am enjoying this WOE, am pleasantly surprised that hunger has not been an issue, neither has energy levels, if anything I’ve had more energy (that wasn’t difficult though I was permanently beyond exhausted before!)

Hope everyone has a happy Wednesday, stick with it

Star you are doing so great! Remember what it was like last week, stalling stalling and then a big whoosh for you. It will happen again!

Macca, I get it. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed by how far we still have to go. I’m with you on that one. Perhaps doing what bear suggested on the other thread would help? Writing a list of WHY we are doing this? I do find that I’m almost grieving at times for the fact that my life will now have to be a low carb one permanently if I am to remain diabetes free. That feels awful. I know how silly and dramatic this sounds but it’s true. I get visions of myself sitting there hugging some mint tea at coffee mornings whilst my friends indulge in crossaints and lattes. Similarily, when we meet up for drinks I’ll sit there with my 125ml of red whilst they down the prosecco. It pisses me off.
I confessed this to the PT last night and he said it’s about finding a way to enjoy the journey. See the journey itselt as a reward not a punishment. He said that’s why he doesn’t go all army style in his sessions but rather encourage self love and people to feel good about themselves. I think there is something to be said for that.

I have had a think and I’ll give 800 a proper serious go until end of next week when I go to my country for the family funeral. If I’m finding it too impossible then I will stick with this woe but move towards 5.2 or even 4.3. I’m convinced that this woe is for me but I’m not sure that the guilt I feel if when I go over is healthy for me ie I keep losing the plot, binge, then back again. If that continues over the next few days/weeks then I’ll have to accept that slow and steady suits me and my personality better. I’m ok with that now. For today though, I’m good. Coffee with coconut milk for breakfast keeps me going until about 11.30, I’ll normally grab an egg or a protein shake then and have lunch around 2pm. Or I’ll do it the other way around so lunch with the kids at 12 then a small protein snack about 2.30. Then I’ll eat with dh when kids are in bed about 7.30 or if he is home early from work we all eat together at 6. If I have any calories left I might have an apple with peanut butter as an evening snack. Or blueberries with Greek yoghurt.

The above works for me but I keep fretting over calories in way that doesn’t make me feel good. I wake up for the night feed starving and eat the supplies for ds lunch box. As the PT says. It’s better to then up the calories to 1000-1200 so that I remain guilt free and don’t binge. BUT, I want the fast result too that the 800 brings . Sounds familiar?

In reply to www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,2033576,2033576#msg-2033576

PalomaLMC Wrote:
-----------

Baby Dan & Lindam pressure gates, used for a
couple of months only. V good condition.
Collection from SE23.

Baby Dan Extend A Gate 58014-5400-10-85 2
Extensions for Premier, Pressure Fit, Danamic and
Two Way Autoclose Safety Gates 2 x 7 cm White RRP
£22.40

BabyDan Danamic True Pressure Fit Safety Gate
(White) 73-80.5 cm RRP £31.11

BabyDan Y-Spindle (Pack of 2) RRP £11.50

Lindam Sure Shut Axis Pressure Fit Safety Gate 76

Hi all - I totally get the feeling of still having so much to lose. It's such a rollercoaster. Yesterday the scale was saying I was 190 again (up from 185) but when I tried on some old clothes a skirt that used to be snug when I was 180 was too big, a couple of other things from that time were perfect or just about fit so it's weird. Today the scale has said 190, 186.2 and 185.6. So I think I need to be more consistent with where I put it because I do not think I was carrying 5lbs of wee!!!

I do think the numbers are making me slightly crazy, but I also know that seeing them every day keeps me in check. That said I spent 5 mins this morning contemplating taking my scale away with me before I realised I'd entered crazy person territory!

I'm meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon before dinner with my ex(or maybe not ex) bf tonight. I've not seen him for almost 3 weeks so I'm wearing a gorgeous LK Bennett dress I bought on ebay years ago but have never fit into before. Make sure he realises what he's missing lol. Will try to avoid carbs at dinner but there will def be booze so let's see how that goes.

Ok. I'm off for a very overdue run! Good luck today everyone!

phoenix and lndn - thank you - it’s good to know I’m not alone! I think I want to get past this phase of the process, but realistically, even if things continue to go well, I will be losing weight till the end of the year. And monitoring what I eat, and low-carbing for ever if I want to keep the weight off.
I need something new to inspire me...I’m trying really hard to make that thing exercise!
phoenix - hope the dinner goes well...bet you will look stunning!

Macc chipping in what about entering yourself for some kind of sponsored swim (if knees are tricky), or specific event. Just my two pennies. If I don’t have a goal, I too find it challenging.

Phoenix - you’ll look awesome. You’ve early it now wear it (I’m so Oprah).

Macca and others - I also find the medium term thing hard. The excitement fades and then it's still a long way to territory I feel good in weight wise. I want to be there already!! I'm trying to combat it by focusing on process not outcomes. Eating is the main one but also mindset. Exercise feels too hard sometimes. But I'm trying to teach myself to walk off stress and frustration rather than bingeing or taking to my bed/ zone out in front of tv. Trying movement breaks in the day. I'm thinking of trying music instead of emotional eating. I already garden when feel shit which works great for me except when weather is crap. I love gardening and find it connects me to all kinds of helpful thinking patterns about how growth and beauty actually happen. Rather than googling before and after pics and obsessing about how long til x weight. Slowly slowly build better emotional habits. I'm also trying to think of myself older, say in my 60s or 70s. Think about bone density and muscle retention. I'm trying to drop wanting to go back to being a lovely slip of a thing in my 20s. And instead dream up a version of myself that I like for old age. Strong able and a healthy weight. Not getting my figure back but building my body going forward. But it's scary and difficult. Theres not much out there about beauty and old age that isn't basically shit about hiding wrinkles or other inevitable physical decline. We are poorly served in middle age. It cheeses me off.
Sorry bit if a tangent but I'm trying to get off the yo-yo train and finally go somewhere new.

Thought: the one thing I am doing that feels powerful is stopping to check in after a healthy habit to say see I feel better that works. Or even to check in after an unhealthy one and realise I feel numb and spaced out and while that's helped it's not really worked. Mainly comparing effects of short walk to carb indulgence.

LDN I think it's difficult not to mourn the loss of carbs in your life but just for a moment think of your image of yourself sipping Mint tea while everyone eats cake- do you feel more 'miserable' there than you do, for example, at the pool on holiday, or when you're in the changing rooms trying to find a lovely dress for an event, or any other time where you want to change the way you look and feel? Because that's the reality really- you say no at the cafe, because it's a short term discomfort that has a big pay off. And a lot of those friends who are tucking into those cakes and lattes wish wish wish they could just not eat the cake. I think a lot of it is mindset- you don't 'win' by eating the cake, you win by not eating the cake. Honestly, within 2 minutes once the plates are cleared away, the cake eaters wish they hadn't had it. Think of Phoenix sashaying in tonight in her slinky LK dress. How confident she feels. That's what you need to visualise when your friends are tucking into their cakes. That's what you're going to win: That feeling.

I have to be very blunt with myself- I can have the cake, but I can't have the cake and the size 8 jeans. Which do I want more? It's difficult; I'm currently away with my dh's whole family and everything is about food. There's been probably 3 sweet/carb treats a day, and every time I am saying no and then get told I'm very 'good' and very 'strong' but it annoys me that my food choices are everyone's business when I, without a doubt, have the healthiest diet of any of us here. I almost want to shake them all when I see the crap they put away- and then moan that their jeans are feeling tight and they really should lose weight! They really do believe that I'm depriving myself of some great joy, but I will never tell them how incredibly sad I used to feel about my weight, so they don't really understand.