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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

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Thread gallery
23
thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/02/2020 07:38

Morning all. I weighed in at 10.8.4 so a total loss of 5.6lbs last week. A bit of a fluctuation over the weekend but I'm happy with that overall. Another week the same would be brilliant but I think I need to be more strict to get the same results this week now the bloat/water has gone.

Today: Boxing this morning (really starting to enjoy this class!) and then a supermarket shop with Ds. Followed by jobs this afternoon so hopefully lots of steps. Food will be a tuna salad or maybe chicken soup for lunch, and dinner will be veggie meatballs with pea pasta (I anticipate it being a fairly high carb day due to this)

I'm not weighing again til Friday like last week so really focussing on my meals and keeping away from sugar.

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DottyDetective · 03/02/2020 10:02

Hello all, the weight loss stories are motivating me! Bear that’s an astonishing loss in a week when you are already not very heavy!

So I survived my first day- had 20 hours fast followed by dinner of buckwheat paella with prawns, avocado and tomato salad and some cheese/nuts. So a very large 800kcal meal and closed. Think I’ll try for one meal again today. It’s difficult as everything is packed up in boxes as I’m moving this week. At work during the day at least so that helps.

FluffyEarMuffs · 03/02/2020 10:37

Morning all.

I am still a 1lb up on what I reached at the end of week 2. But onto week 5, and this is going to be the week where I lose again 🙌🏻

My new leggings arrive today and I am hopefully going to yoga tonight in them 😊

Other than that, I will aim to walk 10,000 steps.

Eating wise, I am not sure. I have an avocado and some eggs. I guess I'll have that!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/02/2020 12:57

Thanks. I think for me I just know that if I actually do the plan it works, but when it's not working it's usually down to me somewhere along the line. I wasn't 100% on plan last week but it really makes me realise that sometimes I'm really not on track at all.

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onanothertrain · 03/02/2020 13:09

I was lead astray by red wine at the weekend and went pizza daft. Was nice at the time but I suffered for it yesterday. Never mind, aiming for a good week this week.

Riddleofthesands · 03/02/2020 14:38

Another one led astray by wine and tonne of crisps, felt dreadful most of the day (period) and gave up in the evening and sent DH out to get me wine and crisps. Slept terribly.

Back on it today. Keep on going everyone.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/02/2020 16:50

God yes, wine is my biggest downfall; the effect is two-fold as well, you get the during drinking food eating, plus the hangover food eating. I didn't think I felt better doing dry January, until I drank and then realised that actually I felt much better (and we don't even drink that much either)!

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DottyDetective · 03/02/2020 19:33

My darling husband packed away all our cooking equipment and cutlery. Grr. So I’ve just broken my fast at 25 hours with half an avocado and am now having pea and ham soup with a teaspoon, having done a dash to Tesco. Along with some olives and pistachios that will be 800kcals and low carb though probably not satisfying so I’ll get some miso soup sachets in case I’m really hungry tomorrow.

Gillster · 03/02/2020 20:14

Was a bit quiet last week due to being a bit under the weather and also being on my period. As a result I was a bit more lenient and as a result only half a pound off all week. It would have been more had I not had such a terrible day yesterday. Went over to the in-laws and basically had a fry up for lunch. Tea later was green pea pasta and pesto so it was no surprise that I'd put on a pound and a half on since yesterday. Hoping it will come off again over the next couple of days.

Had a Bol soup thingy for lunch, raspberries and Greek yogurt as a snack and about to tuck into Prosciutto and pesto fish gratin for dinner.

Managed to do at least 10,000 steps for every day in January so pleased with that given my average is probably around the 7000 mark. I won't have such a high target for Feb but I'll definitely try and get a bit more walking in as it's really helped with overall fitness.

Congratulations to everyone who's managed to lose in the last week.

73kittycat73 · 03/02/2020 21:15

Hi, I hope you don't mind me just walking in on your thread? I have a question (Have put it in the 'Diabetes' section also.). I've been on the Fast 800 for three weeks now and averaging 20-max 50 g of carbs a day. Next week I'm going to switch to 5:2 but still want to low carb on nan fast days too. How many carbs a day is OK on a non fast day?
Thank you for any help. :)

thenewaveragebear1983 · 03/02/2020 21:15

I've gone over today but my food was deeeeee-licious! Totally not my plan but anyway... lunch was salad, avocado, quorn picnic eggs and cocktail sausages; dinner was a stir fry with a tangy tamarind and lime sauce and veggie 'meatballs' (got them from Tesco, they're called Amazeballs ) and it was so tasty and yummy that I ate it ALL and had to pretend to Dh that I had some 'yucky' vegetarian stuff and he had the same as the kids Blush

Phew, that was like confession. I feel absolved of my guilt now.

I also had some alpro Greek, frozen raspberries and peanut butter. Also very yummy! So a slightly higher carb than ideal and more cals kind of day.

So tomorrow, must behave and only eat my own dinner...

Run in the morning, just a quick 5km; then I'm at work, then meeting friend for lunch but I may just be able to get away with coffee. Dinner will be fish and salad when I get back from teaching again in the evening.

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73kittycat73 · 03/02/2020 21:26

I've just Googled and it's about 50-150g of carbs per day for low crab.
As you were. Grin

Kimlek · 03/02/2020 22:14

@73kittycat73 so pleased you’ve worked it out as I haven’t a clue. And by looking at the dearth of responses....
I’ve been frozen all day and tired. Did an hours dog walk this morning but we stopped for cappuccino so broke my morning fast. Had 2 portions of Vietnamese pho soup & added an egg for lunch. Didn’t go to pilates as too lethargic. Dinner was the BSD ginger salmon with extra veg. Also had a handful of hazlenuts. Haven’t drunk enough today either. Calories good at 824 and macros bang on. Hope I feel warmer tomorrow!!!

Kimlek · 03/02/2020 22:31

That made me laugh bear and no doubt your DH thinks he got a great deal as mine certainly would!! I may have to check the ‘amazeballs’ out myself!
@Gillster oooh fish prosciutto pesto gratin sounds good. Are you able to share the recipe please?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/02/2020 07:13

@73kittycat73 hi, welcome. Sticking to 50-100g carbs on a non fast day is a good idea but you might find it's too high for you so have a bit of an experiment with it. What might be more effective is to still keep to eg 50g carbs but increase your calories by having more protein and fat. That way your actual percentage of calories as carbs will be lower?

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Kimlek · 04/02/2020 07:23

Morning all!
Feeling good today as static at 11.3.2 which is 8lb off since starting on 1st Jan. 17lbs to go!! I’ve lost 1 inch around my waist (over belly button) - it’s the only measurement I did. So I don’t look much different but it’s getting there.
bear’s comments about this WOE has really struck me.... she knows it works and when it doesn’t it’s because she’s doing something wrong. It’s working for me but I’m not getting the huge losses like a lot of you. At the mo it’s a steady 2lb a week trend which I’m very happy with. Just need to be patient!!
I’ve tennis this morning, then will walk the dog... it’ll be brisk today. I’ll fast til lunch and probably have something with eggs... maybe make a crustless quiche. Dinner will be courgetti puttanesca albeit I may try sardines rather than anchovies as the kids are already moaning about it.... it’s out of their comfort zone, was a bit strong last time & this’ll be the third time in as many weeks!
I need to think of something that’ll tone me up as my belly already looks a bit wrinkly! We’ve no DVD player... I may try Adriene’s yoga as recommended by pheonix and macca.

CaptainBrickbeard · 04/02/2020 07:46

I had my weekend away. I went over on calories every day, drank wine (though two glasses knocked me senseless so I didn’t drink as much as expected - this diet has made me a lightweight!) and despite staying off bread/pasta/sugar etc my carbs were still over 50% every day BUT I’ve come home half a pound lighter??? I did over 15,000 steps every day of the four I was away and tons of swimming so I guess the increased exercise kept it in balance.

I was really pleased that I just wasn’t tempted for cakes/ice cream etc - the usual treats I would have had on holiday as a matter of course before. Not having them didn’t feel like deprivation at all.

Gillster · 04/02/2020 07:48

0.6lb off this morning so that's gone some way to reversing the damage done on Sunday. I really want my weight to start with an 11 so 4.4lb to go.

Going to try and fast until lunch. Going to pop to M&S and get their Bang Bang Chicken which is delicious- low carb and only 302 calories. Yogurt and raspberries planned for an afternoon snack then salmon and stir fry veg tonight for tea.

Also planning a gym visit later.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/02/2020 07:57

@Kimlek to be fair when I did slimming world all those years ago I'd have been thrilled with 2lbs a week I'd be thrilled with it now as well!. Keep doing what you're doing, 2lb a week is 100 a year- that's great!

I think we all are in danger of tweaking the diet to fit our lifestyles and preferences, and that's what I meant by 'working it properly' - take for example, dairy free products. I eat them, but they are often not low carb. The nicest DF cheese is made of starch. The only DF yoghurt that's palatable has sugar in it. Now, I justify these because I say well, dairy yogurt has 5% sugar, and so does alpro so.... but the sugar in dairy is lactose and the sugar in alpro is sugar. They act completely different in my body. I have rewritten a section of the plan to suit myself. I have done the same with eg. Veggie sausages and quorn products- they are possibly higher carb than their meat equivalents.

Please let me say, I am absolutely not chastising anyone for doing this: we all do it. There will always be posters who have a small roastie with dinner, or porridge, or a slice of bread etc, and that's fine because good grief, it's a long miserable life eating 800 cal of meat every day and nothing else. But it's a tweak in the plan that then becomes another and another...that's why I always recommend going back to basics and rereading the books because that can help reset us back to the path.

Sorry for the essay waiting for the shower to be free! - trust in the plan and it will always show. Maybe not as dramatically as for others, and maybe not as dramatically or quickly as we hope, but it always will. That's why I really try not to weigh myself as well, and give it 4/5 days to work. It's a big step for me to trust the plan and not check in on the scales but for me it's a really positive sign that I'm on track.

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Colourmylife1 · 04/02/2020 08:38

Good morning. I’ve been watching everyone’s progress but not posting as I’m embarrassed by by efforts in January. My eating has been very inconsistent and as a result I’m back at my post-Christmas weight when I had hoped to lose 2kg in January. I am struggling to get back on track and don’t understand why as from July to December last year I found following the plan so easy. Any tips for getting restarted? It’s really all in the head, isn’t it!? I want to lose 2kg in February. From today I’m back on 2/5 800 cal a day and will up my exercise again.

DottyDetective · 04/02/2020 09:18

Morning all! Day 3 here and moving house is seriously testing me! Woke up hungry but have been sipping water and it’s passed. Husband is overseeing the actual move but is desperate to have takeaway and champagne in the new place tonight. I think I can have the tandoori chicken with some veg and maybe just half a glass of champagne for 800kcal if I can fast all day but it will make tomorrow very hard I think?

FluffyEarMuffs · 04/02/2020 09:26

Morning all! Welcome back from your weekend @CaptainBrickbeard and welcome to the lightweight drinkers club 😆🍷 I feel more trashed after two glasses now than I used to feel after two bottles 😁

I did yoga last night and closed up on about 500 calories. I am going to make a concerted effort to up my calories today by having a shake at lunch.

Half a lb loss on the scales this morning, but I feel slimmer which is good. Nobody at work has said anything yet but that could be because I am scary

I am worried about going away for work in a couple of weeks. Several really long haul flights with nothing to do but eat and drink and stay fairly still. Exhibition stand sitting where I have to be in one place. Lots of work dinners and drinks with little control over what the food is. No opportunity to weigh myself. I am going to take my yoga mat and start the 30 day yoga while I am away, but I need a few really good consistent weeks before I go. I have a massive temperature variation where I am travelling to. Maybe that'll shock my body into not putting on weight 😆

thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/02/2020 09:52

@DottyDetective I'm sure a small glass of champagne is ok on moving day! Congrats on your new place 

@FluffyEarMuffs do you like peanut butter? There was once a poster in here who just ate a big spoon of PB (which is about 150cals) as her 'lunch' every day then had 600 cals for dinner and it worked really well for her. Maybe you could try similar if you're not really wanting to eat big but need to up the cals? Or An Oz of cheese (125 cals?) maybe? It stops it being a meal you have to think about but is still on plan.

Just been for my run, now off to work. Busy day today!

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 04/02/2020 09:55

@Colourmylife1 welcome back! I do find restarting can be harder than starting (if that makes sense?!) Have you reread the book? That might help get you really focussed? Then it really is as you say, mind over matter. I always promise myself I'll do 3 straight days zero sugar as I know it takes that long to detox and get myself so I'm not craving it. I don't always manage it though! I think sometimes it just clicks and sometimes we have to fight our cravings a bit longer. Please don't hide though if you feel you need support, we've all been there!

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DottyDetective · 04/02/2020 10:35

@FluffyEarMuffs I’m going away to family for half term. My mother is dieting obsessed (which I largely blame for my food issues) so I don’t want to tell her what I’m doing. And my mother in law is a terrible feeder. I’m dreading it to be honest.

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