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.

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
Riddleofthesands · 25/01/2020 11:59

Happy Birthday Maccalenny, I loved reading your entry, you are doing so well, I really admire your steadfastness to achieve your goals.

Well done Phoenix enjoy your fizz, big day.

CaptainBrickbeard I second go up to 1200 calories or more if you need to, just avoid white crap carbs and hope you feel better soon.

Weigh in day for me, one week done and I’ve lost 4 1/2 lbs. So pleased. Yesterday was full of temptation, I won’t detail but I resisted because I knew I was weighing today. I have 10 or 12 lbs to go, if I lose 3 lbs a week I will be chuffed. It comes off really slowly age 52 and it only works if I am strict. I feel strong and well. Today is a boiled egg for lunch, sardines, spinach, mushrooms, onions and lentils for dinner.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 25/01/2020 11:59

Happy birthday @Maccalenny ! Hope you have an amazing day WineThanksCakeStar

OP posts:
thenewaveragebear1983 · 25/01/2020 12:09

I've had a terrible week overall. I may have had a few good points, but the overall trend has been shockingly bad. I feel like I've totally lost the plot. And then, low and behold, I wake up full of cold which may go some way to explaining my total lack of control, energy and above all, motivation this week. I did go to bootcamp but I am now curled up on the sofa doing lesson planning and wrapped in a blanket. It just goes to show that sometimes our bodies just override us and we have no control over it. I'm also due on imminently and that's never good for my resolve. As a result, I've pretty much thrown in the towel today.

I'm going out this afternoon to see our new kitten, very exciting! Food will be pretty crap today, we're at a 40th birthday tonight (although I have decided to drive to remove the temptation to drink) and so will eat before we go (have a pre-made coq au vin to have with veg)

Hoping that tomorrow I feel a bit brighter. My menus are all planned but I really am dredging up every fibre of my being to muster up the willpower to actually follow them at the moment. I plan an 800 cal menu, perfectly sufficient and manageable, but then something makes me eat an extra 3/4/500 calories every day, it just mindlessly put food in my mouth- and it's not hunger. I think it's stress.

Next week I've cancelled some ad hoc work I had agreed to so that my day off is my own, and I plan to have a nice relaxing day, maybe listen to some hypno and take some proper time to de stress a bit.

OP posts:
onanothertrain · 25/01/2020 12:25

Well done macca very inspiring!!

FluffyEarMuffs · 25/01/2020 14:10

Happy Birthday @Maccalenny birthday 🎁 I hope you have an amazing day. Reading your post is inspiring - you have changed so much in just one year.

I haven't eaten yet today. I am leaving it as long as possible to counteract the Chinese New Year dinner I had last night.

I am also due on imminently, and I just want carbs a lot, which I haven't wanted for three weeks now 😔

I have a work trip planned in one month, and I want to be slim enough to wear some of my old smaller work clothes. Next week, I am going to be very strict.

Hellsbells0509 · 25/01/2020 14:56

13 days in and still feeling pretty weak/knackered on BSD. When does that change?!

Also TMI - sorry ladies, but what's up with number twos on the BSD?! BlushHmmConfusedFeel like I've slowed to a crawl on that front - Maybe only going every two or three days- is this normal??

Struggling to manage social/food out with sticking to the 800 cals these past few days - but determined to try to stick as close as I can to the 800 even if I'm not in control of what's on my plate.....

onanothertrain · 25/01/2020 15:11

hellsbells yeah every 2-3 days was normal for me at the beginning, it did sort itself out eventually though.

Pajamagirl · 25/01/2020 16:57

Happy birthday @Maccalenny🍰💐
Hope you have a great day
You are my inspiration ! You have achieved so much in one year 👍
Well done x

Maccalenny · 25/01/2020 17:10

Thank you so much for all the good wishes and very kind comments! I’ve had a lovely day and am set for a chilled evening with a nice glass of red. I’ve been pretty much on plan today but have eaten rather a lot, including some lovely smoked salmon pate, tasty cheeses and mini peppers stuffed with houmous from Asda. I’m going to go out for either breakfast or lunch tomorrow....probably breakfast.....so baked beans and a hash brown may creep in. I’m forgiving myself in advance!

VenusInfers · 25/01/2020 19:32

As you should, Macca, what a lot of lovely things to be celebrating all at once. Your achievement is amazing, it really is.
Congrats to Riddle too, and how was the kitten, Bear? What kind of little fluffy are you taking on?

Day 4's gone okay here. Currently 2 1/2 lb down. Had a half hour of swimming lengths whilst LO had his swimming lesson and have kept to plan. That said, though I did need to taste test the pie filling before I baked it for others to eat I probably didn't need to also taste test my DH's glass of red wine. Oops. Still, closing the kitchen (love that phrase!) on about 900 and off to slog some more of it off helping take down a musical theatre show and pack it into 4 articulated lorries. Fun fun fun!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 26/01/2020 00:12

@VenusInfers
I'll just leave this here....she's a blue colourpoint raggamuffin (rag doll)

BSD and Fast800 support thread #17
OP posts:
Maccalenny · 26/01/2020 04:14

Bear ....wow. She is adorable. Have you got her yet? She is tiny!

CaptainBrickbeard · 26/01/2020 06:53

Sorry I’ve been so negative. I thought Week 3 was really tough stalling at the same weight. But so far in Week 4 I have now gained two pounds. I feel like I’m now just going to watch my hard work undone and the scales creep back like always. I have so, so much weight to lose. But I don’t think it’s ever going to happen.

Kimlek · 26/01/2020 06:54

Oh crikey venus that sounds exhausting!
Happy birthday macca sorry I’m late to the party! Enjoy your beans & hash browns at b’fast this morning. brickbeard you can do this! Please don’t give up. 14lbs in 4 weeks is incredible and is bound to slow down. I think when there’s big losses our expectations can be unrealistically high. You can do this! But also look after yourself and as others have said maybe up your intake to 1200 cals and maybe split those between 3 meals so you’re not fasting and feeling faint & ill?
bear I think having some time out and a relaxing day is exactly what you need as you’ve not been your usual self all week... maybe coming down with something?

Fri night was a bit of a disaster as I’d closed the kitchen at around 850 but on tidying it up ate 3 slices of pizza left by the kids... needless to say my weight yesterday was static.
Yesterday wasn’t much better. Didn’t all day at a sports event with my youngest and helping serve burgers etc. I took BSD spicy dhal for lunch & made skinny bolognese. But then a friend popped over who I’d not seen in 3 years with a couple of bottles of wine. I only had two glasses.... would have been rude not to join her. So it’s hardly surprising that my weight is static again this morning. It’s definitely a slow process for me.

Kimlek · 26/01/2020 06:58

bear!!!! She’s adorable!! You won’t get anything done once she arrives! Cuddles!

Kimlek · 26/01/2020 07:07

brickbeard you’re allowed to feel negative as bloody annoying putting ON when we are trying so hard. BUT we’ve got weight to lose and it won’t unfortunately go by itself; we have to do something about it. There’ll be blips on the way... stalling and a gain once in a while, but overall it’ll shift. And we are all here to help! Have you got the ‘happy scale’ app? It smooths out the blips. Are you planning a menu and counting cals before? And weighing ingredients? I’ve found that my guesses can be quite out.

Pajamagirl · 26/01/2020 07:20

@thenewaveragebear1983
Oh a little ball of fluff ! She is as cute as anything , when do you get her ?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 26/01/2020 07:22

@Kimlek @Maccalenny thanks, we get her in February when she's 12 weeks.

@CaptainBrickbeard I feel for you. I agree with the suggestion above that if you're feeling unwell you should increase your calorie intake. It sounds like fasting and very low calories isn't working for you and if you're feeling dizzy and other symptoms like that then I think you need more than 800. Maybe 1200 spread over 3 meals would be more manageable? Have you calculated your TDEE? That will give you a rough idea of calories to aim for. You could do this as a 5:2 arrangement too, and still do 2 days at 800 to get the additional benefits of fasting. I hope you are ok, it must be very frustrating for you and well done for sticking with it

OP posts:
CaptainBrickbeard · 26/01/2020 07:35

Thanks, I haven’t been taking all the good advice - I haven’t taken measurements for one thing! And the FitBit app shows me still on trending down weight wise every week. And I know daily weighing might not be doing me any favours just now.

I’m stressing out because I have a weekend away next week and was really hoping to feel able to relax but I don’t want to pile even more weight back on so I’m disappointed about that. I also have a medical procedure which can only take place when I’m under a certain weight and I’m very eager to have it done so setbacks are very frustrating.

TDEE is just over 2100 calories. I have upped my calories which has stopped me feeling faint but I have kept below the 1600 that the TDEE calculator suggests I should aim for to lose weight. I’m drinking over 3l of water a day. I think I am overdoing dairy, in particular cheese! And dark chocolate has crept in pretty much every day which I think is giving me more and more sweet cravings and making it overall a lot harder to manage.

I’ll refocus this week and really try to sort out my exercise - I’m a writer and getting my steps up has been a big challenge!

PhoenixMama · 26/01/2020 09:14

Morning all! Happiest of birthdays @Maccalenny! Thank you for all the inspiration you've provided this year!

@thenewaveragebear1983 She's gorgeous! So sweet!

@CaptainBrickbeard Look, this is hard but it's not like it's not working. If someone had told you you could lose a stone in a month and you did would you be happy? All the other diet plans suggest 1-2lbs a week & you doubled it - that's amazing! There's no way you'll be able to keep up the level of loss from the first few weeks long term, but you will be able to keep losing long term. I weigh everyday but only recording weight once a week (on Friday morning because it's when I'm consistently at my lowest) so those are my official numbers - I always go up over the weekend, I have far less control then, but come back down by the following Friday. I'm going to slightly disagree with the others. I don't think you should raise your cals above 1000 if you want to keep losing - partly because most people are usually eating just over 800cals and if you set it at 1200 you're more likely to come in at over 1200 so it starts creeping up. If you're eating a lot of cheese & chocolate daily that means those are cals not being spent on protein that keeps you full & your body moving. Up your protein & that will also help with the dizziness. And also, take the advice you gave to Bear about not being so hard on yourself! This plan 100% works - you just have to stick with it for 8, 12, 16 weeks. If you do that you'll definitely shrink!

I had a shocking day yesterday because I didn't have control over my food and I ended up working with a friend on a project that she was super stressed about so there was far more wine than expected. Haven't stepped on the scale yet but it won't be pretty. Probably didn't even drink a L of water never mind 3! Must do better today!

Kimlek · 26/01/2020 09:31

pheonix that’s such a good point about aiming for 800cals yet still being a bit over in reality. I do a weekly plan with each day under 800 cals but when I log every morsel on MFP (and weigh ingredients) it does tend to be nearer 1000.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 26/01/2020 10:02

@CaptainBrickbeard I've never managed the 2 squares of dark choc and have always been amazed when people have successfully integrated it into their plans. For me, when I'm on track, it means zero sugar.
Have you planned your week? Why not sit today, get the recipe book out, get a notebook and literally write out every mouthful you're going to eat next week. Add it all to your shopping list. Add in your busy days and things that might derail you. Add in any exercise, and use your diary so you know it's actually possible at that time. I add in any variations for the kids, any freezer stuff, even my latte I've started having at work on weds. This is an absolute cornerstone of this plan for me- if I don't do this, I have no chance of getting through the week. I'm about to do my own menu and I will post it on here.

I'm by no means an angel on this plan right now, and I'm struggling a fair bit, but this is going to be my method this week. I'm going to have a decent day today, then not weigh til Friday after a few days on plan. I could really do with an absolute back to basics week that feels like week 1, so if you're up for that @CaptainBrickbeard then please join me!

Re: tdee mine is around 2300 according to fitbit (so taking into account my exercise and based on the week before) and it's been consistently that for a long time. I would absolutely gain weight if I ate 2300 cals a day. I do however really struggle to stick to 800 so i have to find a happy medium in there somewhere.

OP posts:
thenewaveragebear1983 · 26/01/2020 10:04

Sorry for my shouty post below. Bold fail!

OP posts:
VenusInfers · 26/01/2020 11:52

Ooh, bear your kitten is just ridiculously cute!

Doing the overnight went well - not to bed until 4am and, despite a pre-bed falafel, woke up down 2lbs! (thought prob half of that is from being a little dehydrated Blush). Heading back to the theatre this afternoon for 4hrs to help set up the next touring show and hoping for a similar miracle tomorrow! Grin

New week tomorrow - maybe a chance for a fresh start for everyone who's had a tough few days?

veryveryquietly · 26/01/2020 12:02

Happy belated Macca
Ooh Bear that adorable kitten

Trying my best. Just had a delicious lunch: spinach, bacon, asparagus, and hardboiled egg salad with a light dressing. Satisfying on many fronts. Put some lean pork in a marinade for dinner and tomorrow's lunch, to have along with roasted veg. Let's hope I can avoid snacking this afternoon...much.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread