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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.

BSD and Fast800 support thread #17

999 replies

thenewaveragebear1983 · 06/01/2020 10:51

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.

Time restricted eating/TRE :
In addition to the fast800/ BSD plan you can incorporate a strategy of time restricted eating. Put simply, this means only eating between certain times each day to maximise your fasting time. TRE has shown to have positive results for weightloss, even if there is no calorie restriction, and increases insulin sensitivity/reduces insulin resistance. At first, try for a clear 12 hours without food each 24 hours, increasing to 16:8 as you get more adept at fasting.

Some useful links:

previous thread

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
23
TheForgetfulCat · 19/01/2020 08:23

CaptainBrickbeard have you tried the HappyScale app? It applies mathematical analysis to the daily fluctuations (which being a stats trained person in professional life I approve of!) Keeps my motivation up by telling me my trends have improved even when the weight is the same as yesterday.

Still rather wanting to get under 12 stone for my brothers wedding on Saturday, but at 12 st 2.1 this morning it's not looking good. Never mind that's still better than 12 st 11 at New Year!

Gjem · 19/01/2020 08:35

Morning all. @CaptainBrickbeard so sorry you are feeling demotivated, are you drinking enough water? I struggle during the week but manage it at the weekends. I love the sound of that app @TheForgetfulCat I’m going to download it now.

Day 19 and I’m 9.8kg/21.6lbs down. We ate some great food yesterday - bacon, eggs scrambled in cream and asparagus for lunch and then lamb saag with a bit of brown rice for dinner. The curry was so great. I’ve got a portion for lunch today and am already excited!

Dinners this week involve a turkey pea curry, Thai pork mince & bacon and eggs. The curry and Thai pork won’t be that high in fat so I’ll need to up that during the day.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/01/2020 09:36

I went over on carbs and cals yesterday- again. I just can't seem to flick the switch onto the plan at the moment. I have the right stuff in, I've planned my menu, I'm not drinking alcohol and I'm exercising etc.... but I'm just struggling to actually stick to my plan. It's all mind over matter isn't it? I think it's hormonal partly, plus I am quite anxious generally at the moment (particularly with work things, I find myself checking and rechecking the same lesson plans and resources multiple times). I hope I will be better after this week as my students have their exam this week and that will relieve some anxiety, plus I have a teaching ob on Wednesday which again is causing me some anxiety.

Today: I haven't eaten yet, and I'm about to head out with Dh for a longish run (10km) which will be a good start. Food is planned and I'm really really going to endeavour to stick to the plan today.

I'm going to go through the freezer and write my menu to use up a few bits we have in stock, and write a really tasty menu for the week ahead.

OP posts:
PhoenixMama · 19/01/2020 11:15

@didireallysaythat Hang in there, the constipation sucks for sure, are you getting any fibre? It can be hard to get enough I find.

@CaptainBrickbeard I totally feel you!

I'm up 1.4lbs today which feels unfair as I only had one bad day this week but there we go. The duck for dinner last night was delicious. Think we might go out for dinner tonight but will prob be roast so I'll avoid potatoes.

My back is still killing me!

Maccalenny · 19/01/2020 11:52

Gorgeous day today! I went out for a short walk but it was so beautiful that I was out for longer than intended....unheard of for me! I was trying to walk in some new walking boots ready for a longer walk next weekend.

Phoenix hope your back improves soon - backache is horrible isn’t it.

I’ve had soup this morning, and will have sausages and Bear’s celeriac hash for tea. Prepping a turkey chilli in the slow cooker for meals for the week.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/01/2020 12:40

Made some egg muffins for lunches, plus a beef brisket is in the oven slow cooking while Dh and I crack on with some garden jobs

Gorgeous crisp but freezing day!

BSD and Fast800 support thread #17
OP posts:
FluffyEarMuffs · 19/01/2020 17:05

Evening all! And best wishes to those feeling a bit despondent.

I ate all my calories and carbs for today at lunchtime (mini cheese fondue with cauliflower florets and Linda McCartney sausages to dip in, plus the tiniest toasted bits of organic dark sourdough from my newly discovered local bakery). Rest of the sourdough is sliced up and firmly in the freezer for the foreseeable!

I am now on at least a 24 fast until tomorrow lunch.

I took the dog out for a tramp in the woods for an hour and a half as exercise this afternoon. It may have been lovely and sunny, but it was also cold and very very muddy 😆

Bears celeriac thing is definitely on the menu this week for me too.

CaptainBrickbeard · 19/01/2020 20:35

Promised to take my children to cinema this morning so didn’t get out in this glorious weather but instead sat in the dark! Started out well food wise with a 15 hour fast broken with Greek yoghurt, seeds and berries then a salad for lunch. Made a roast dinner for tea though and whilst it was all BSD friendly I ate goodness knows how many calories but a LOT of them were the BSD cauliflower cheese. And then had berries and cream for dessert. Now I really want to round it all off with some dark chocolate but I’m sticking with the peppermint and liquorice tea which, as promised, is absolutely hitting the sweet spot.

So I don’t think I’ll see the back of this pound I’ve gained tomorrow but this week I’m getting back to exercise. I’ve met a looming work deadline early and my period is almost over so I’m feeling much better all round. I didn’t get near 10,000 steps all of last week much less go swimming so next week my goal is to be a lot more active.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/01/2020 21:34

I did ok today, my food was almost on track and I did a whopping 20k steps (11k run and the rest was gardening and domestic stuff)

Shopping list done, menu done ✅

I am really determined to have a good week this week, I've pretty much stayed the same (lost/gained/lost/gained) since 1st Jan, so I really need to find my mojo lurking somewhere). I might try the long fast technique so tomorrow will try to hold off as long as possible to reset after the weekend.

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onanothertrain · 19/01/2020 21:38

I've been a bit hit and miss this weekend. Food was OK Fri and today. I was at a birthday dinner yesterday, didn't eat the bread that came with my soup or the potatoes with my main but the vegetarian option was a tart so I did have pastry and 1/2 a slice of cake. Also had a few crisps and a few gins and a slice of toasted cheese when I got in. 15000 steps every day though so I don't feel too bad about it.

mumtumdocare · 19/01/2020 22:04

Weigh in today, day 11 and down 9 pounds! Over the moon. Sticking to 1200 calories still, although having a good couple of fast days per week.
Made the chocolate granola today, excited to try this with greek yoghurt and berries 🙂
Had the ratatouille tonight but subbed the halloumi out for feta, was delicious, served with smoked fish and 2 squares 90% dark chocolate. A good food day. Stark contrast to yesterday when I went to bed in a grump as I was that desperate to 'cheat'.

Gillster · 19/01/2020 23:04

Not been great food wise since about Friday lunchtime. Been difficult due to being out and about most of yesterday (parkrun, swimming, food shop and 4 year old b'day party) so almost impossible to eat BSD friendly food.

Out all day today at another party (3 year old niece) so pizza for lunch and curry and carbs for dinner round at their house.

Did manage to do 16,000 steps yesterday and 10,000 today which has been my only saving grace. Very apprehensive to stand on the scales tomorrow.

Gillster · 20/01/2020 07:13

No surprise that I'm showing 3lbs on this morning after the disastrous weekend. Suspect this is mostly water weight and that I can shift this again over the next few days. Not going to beat myself up about it too much as we were out of the house most of the weekend with limited options in terms of food. Going to be a hard week though as I'm due on in a few days.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 20/01/2020 07:21

I wasn't going to weigh in because I'm in denial but I have done and I'm now 10.11.0 (so a small gain) but overall that's a small loss on my average from last week. (For anyone with a fitbit, the app does the same as the 'happy scale' app and averages it out)

I'm not exactly ecstatic with that, but it's better than an overall gain.

Dh bounced onto the scales, obviously he's lost loads, he now weighs 11.3 which pees me off even more because he's dangerously close to being lighter than me.

So that's my motivation this week!

Have a great week everyone!

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CaptainBrickbeard · 20/01/2020 08:00

I lost the pound I put on but I feel like I will never get to a stone off! I know it hasn’t been that long really.

My FitBit app smooths it out and shows me the trends and my graph is a lovely downward sloping line so I know it’s working really. Just impatient!

TheForgetfulCat · 20/01/2020 08:50

A spectacular 4oz off today ... now at 12st1 and 7/8, seeing as my scales weigh in 1/8s!

Waist measurement doesn't seem to have changed much although the size 14 skirt I'm wearing which was always on the loose side is now in danger of falling off completely, which is odd but satisfying Smile

PhoenixMama · 20/01/2020 10:53

Ugh. I'm up 3lbs (which is probably due to the wine I had yesterday) and I'm still in agony. It feels like back labour & nothing I do seems to make a difference. Sad ping to try & not pity eat today but not convinced I'm going to manage!

FluffyEarMuffs · 20/01/2020 11:35

I am bouncing around and losing and gaining the same lb, Grrrrrr... but I am hoping for a whooosh soon 🤞🏻

I am working from home mostly today as my youngest isn't at school.

I am wavering between having something lightish for lunch, and then fasting until tomorrow lunchtime, or waiting all afternoon and then having some dinner.

Gjem · 20/01/2020 13:35

Had my first gain today but still feeling positive - I was fully on plan over the weekend and drank lots of water. Just exercised for the first time this year - a circuits class where you can take your toddler along. I loved it and he had a great time so that’ll be a new weekly thing for us.

Just had lunch and have got a list of jobs to do this afternoon. Lunch was tofu, mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil, guacamole & tzatziki. Then dinner will be turkey mince and pea curry that we cooked last night. Happy Monday!

MooPointCowsOpinion · 20/01/2020 13:54

I have lost 11lbs now in 17 days, lost another 2 over the weekend. I’m glad my plateau broke just in time to stop me from giving up!
I’ve been putting seeds into natural yoghurt for snacks, it’s not as gross as I thought it would be!
Yesterday I ate 58g of protein and 56g of fat! Only 20g of carbs. Is that ok health wise? A nurse told me low carb diets caused fat to build up in arteries and cause strokes!

Riddleofthesands · 20/01/2020 15:26

Day 3 for me and I’ve gained back the 1 lb I had lost. I had 2 strict days but now I think about it I am paying the price for roast parsnips and carrots and wine yesterday, also large helpings of roast chicken. I thought I was being good not having yorkies and potatoes and skipping big fry up for breakfast everyone else had, but age 52 it is really hard to lose.

Did my couch to 5k run. Lunch was omelette, dinner is steamed greens and 100 gr chicken leftovers.

Feeling determined! Keep going everyone.

Really sorry to hear about your back Phoenix.

Kimlek · 20/01/2020 17:04

Hello everyone. I’m back from a long weekend of gluttony I’m afraid. Eating out every day but I stayed well clear of the nasties but did drink.... waaaay more than anticipated! So I’ve obviously gained! And back to where I started on 1st Jan. 11st 11lbs.
Hey ho, onwards and upwards and back to meticulously planning!

onanothertrain · 20/01/2020 18:02

Good day today, Yoghurt and Berries for breakfast, soup for lunch and chili and Halloumi for dinner.
I started BSD 18 months ago and I've tried my best but I think I'm going to have to give in and admit it. I can't stand cauliflower and broccoli rice Shock.
Anyone got any other ideas for a substitute?

TheForgetfulCat · 20/01/2020 18:41

DH has just pan fried me some cauliflower rice with cumin and garam masala mixed in. Much more acceptable with a spicy lentil dahl.

Have also tried konjac rice which is not bad if you like eating polystyrene ...

CaptainBrickbeard · 20/01/2020 18:43

I’m both sorry and relieved that so many of us have slipped up or plateau for gained this week (very sorry to hear of your pain though Phoenix). Maybe we are all just having a slump and will perk back up again and our weight loss will kick back in this week. I hope so!

I know I’m letting some habits creep in - a square of dark chocolate, some berries with cream... it’s so easy to let it happen again and again. I did manage to go for a swim today at least and stuck on plan but went a bit over on calories.

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