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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 support thread #18

998 replies

thenewaveragebear1983 · 10/03/2020 17:03

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:
BSD and Fast800 support thread #17
http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3787860-bsd-and-fast800-support-thread-17

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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31
Kimlek · 29/04/2020 16:55

I’d love to hear your tasty salad combos @waterproofed and huge well done in just 5 weeks!!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 29/04/2020 17:38

Haven't caught up on the thread from today, will do that later.
I got the job! Been negotiating all day but I think if they respond to my last question I will accept it. It's been quite stressful today. Lots to think about. Did POAS due to 10 days late AF (thought I should before accepting a new job!) and negative thank the lord but I did totally hit an emotional wall this afternoon. Will check in later.

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Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 29/04/2020 17:42

Finishing on 775cal and 21g carbs

waterproofed · 29/04/2020 17:48

@thenewaveragebear1983 amazing news!! Well done, sounds a hell of a day!

@Kimlek it’s hardly masterchef level but I do love a good veg combo. I make a mean salad garnish - chopped tomatoes, very finely chopped onion and some sliced olives. If you pop them in a small bowl and add some salt, it will help the ingredients sweat a little and then you can pop the veg and the remaining salty water that’s drained out of the tomatoes over leafy greens. No need for any dressing and ready in under 5mins. Will be back with more later but battling work at the minute.

Kimlek · 29/04/2020 18:04

@thenewaveragebear1983 HUGE congrats on the job offer and hope they come back with the right answer to your query. And phew on the pregnancy test.
I’ve been rubbish today! Eaten rubbish all day and then Eldest DD made chocolate cookies and they smelled amazing... I ate 5!! And they were big. Agghhh! Some salad combos are definitely required.

Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 29/04/2020 18:59

Well done bear, that’s great news and I’m glad it went so well!

LarryUnderwood · 29/04/2020 19:37

Thank you @waterproofed, hot drink did the trick till dinner.
Well done @thenewaveragebear1983, congratulations!
Kitchen closed at 1008 cals and 42g carbs. I did go for a run this morning which I think left me hungrier hence the extra cals which went on a snack. Hopefully a better day tomorrow.

WellHurrahAndHuzzah · 29/04/2020 19:57

Hello all! Hoping to be chipping in on this thread over the next few weeks if that's okay? Lockdown is making me put on heaps of weight and I'd like to try fasting for fertility purposes. I will weigh myself tomorrow morning and start fasting on May 1st (Friday).

CiorstanMI · 29/04/2020 20:16

Congratulations on the new job @thenewaveragebear1983. And commiserations @waterproofed on the lack of scales movement - it's so frustrating when you know you've been good isn't it.

Day 52 and am closing the kitchen at 657 calories and 50g carbs

agteacht · 29/04/2020 20:20

Congrats on the job @thenewaveragebear1983 - that was super quick!

waterproofed · 29/04/2020 20:31

Welcome @WellHurrahAndHuzzah!

Ah @CiorstanMI, I even changed the batteries in the scales. But DM keeps losing weight steadily despite eating more than me so it must be working. Just as well I love her.

@Kimlek I know exactly what it's like. My kids are still too young to bake unsupervised, but when we were still allowed in the office once a colleague of mine bought me a pack of Racers (Aldi's version of Snickers only nicer and my PMT snack of choice) for lunch. I asked for one, she came back with six. I ate every single one.

However, on the subject of salads. I always chop/tear up some leafy greens to bulk it out. Then there are several options for garnishes:

Option 1: chopped tomatoes, crushed garlic, chopped avocados, sliced chilli if you like heat - salt and leave to sweat, then pop all over the leaves

Option 2: chopped cucumber, finely sliced spring onion, dollop of soured cream - salt and leave to sweat, then mix with your leaves

There's more but my kids are screaming in the bath so I need to go and investigate.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 29/04/2020 20:33

@Kimlek yep me too. Day has gone to absolute crap. I think, in fact I know, that I've been ignoring how stressed I was feeling and now a) interview over and b) test done it's like it just overflowed today and I ate my feelings down BIG TIME. I'm hoping that's a good sign that I'm likely to come on tomorrow. I feel so bloated and uncomfortable now, plus I've had pmt symptoms for nearly 3 weeks. I'm dreading the scales.

I tried the porridge this morning but breakfast does not agree with me, and I know this, and it does open the floodgates food wise. I will not be doing that tomorrow, it will have to be either a lunch replacement or in place of yogurt as a pud. It was lovely though (much nicer than it looks!)

18k steps today, including a 6km run.
No idea of cals or carbs but it will have been very high.

Tomorrow: lunch I am going to try @waterproofed salad recipe there, maybe with tuna, balsamic and olive oil. Dinner is to be sausages and something, possibly a Mexican eggs type thing (supposed to be tonight but that didn't happen!)

I always keep trying though, every day is a new day. I know that once I get it 'clicked' I'll be well away but I currently can't get through more than a day or two on track. I'm going to now track my food for tomorrow and count the calories so that will motivate me to not cheat.

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 29/04/2020 20:35

Re salads my favourite combo is nice crispy leaves, mayonnaise and sauerkraut. I know it sounds weird but the combination of salty and creamy is just amazing.

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 29/04/2020 20:36

Or my red Waldorf slaw which was: red cabbage, red onion, celery, few raisins or red apple , few nuts, mayo. It's really nice. You don't need much mayo so the cals are a lot lower than shop bought coleslaws

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LarryUnderwood · 29/04/2020 20:49

Balls! Forgot to add the kidney beans (from my chilli) into my MFP tracker. So kitchen closing today on 1134 cals and 59 g carbs. Oh well. Tomorrow will be tricky as I have leaving drinks (by video of course) as it;s my last day at my job. So have planned out my food to allow for a couple of gins & slimline tonic. Will likely still be a bit over again though :(

potterbell · 30/04/2020 07:19

Hi all - I’m not much of a poster but would love to quietly join in. I have read this thread from start to finish and it’s been a real whirlwind read going from pre lockdown to now. You are all doing brilliantly and have inspired me so much!

I only started Monday but was familiar with the old 5:2 as did it a few years ago with great success. I have about a stone I would like to lose - maybe more, but I want to be realistic. Anyway - apart from a few hungry moments I have found it ok. Drinking lots of water and trying to be very creative with low calorie ingredients.

I have to say (I am a teacher and HOD) that I do wonder how I would cope if life were going at it’s usual pace. It’s stress and lack of time that has got me in this position. Only now the brakes have been applied can I see how rubbish my lifestyle was, but extreme stress and very long working days AND two young children has meant I’ve been living, well surviving, very unhealthily. I hope all this has an impact on how we do things in the future.

Before this post ends up too long, I just need to say that I made the leek and salmon quiche from the Fast 800 book last night and it was SO good!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 30/04/2020 08:04

Welcome @potterbell

I did brave the scales this morning in the attempt to draw a line and start again. I am horribly bloated today, I did not sleep well after yesterday, and still no AF. Anyway...not going to let that stop me today.

Just having a coffee and then going out for a run before it rains. I will do yoga this afternoon as well as I need to stretch. I plan to fast all day til as late as possible; eating breakfast the last few days certainly has not helped my overall daily food intake. Food is planned. I intend to keep busy doing jobs, and keep out of the kitchen!

Have a great day!

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NathanNathan · 30/04/2020 09:20

Morning all.

I've hit the 3 week plateau and feeling a bit disheartened, although knew it was likely. I've not slipped up at all, doing between 800 and 900 cals and no higher than 40g of carbs.

Also feeling much hungrier the past few days which I didn't have at all in the first two weeks. Meals haven't changed.

Start: 15st 11
End of week 1: 15st 5.2
End of week 2: 15st 1
End of week 3: 15st

Kimlek · 30/04/2020 09:48

@NathanNathan don’t be too disheartened- you’ve lost 11lbs in 3 weeks!! That’s phenomenal!! You should be super proud of yourself.
@thenewaveragebear1983 I live a Waldorf salad too! I attempted a sauerkraut recipe but after leaving it a couple weeks as suggested the top of it was all mouldy! How dyou prevent that please?

I’m 10.11.6 again this am, which is bizarre given the crap I ate yesterday. I’m really missing my twice weekly tennis. Not sure what to do instead. My knees are too dodgy for running. I walk the dog but it’s not enough. Think I may read the back of the book and MM’s fitness regime.

Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 30/04/2020 09:50

That’s interesting.... is week 3 always a bit of a plateau? I have never managed this more than 2 weeks before. My 2 week weigh in is tomorrow, I suppose I would like to know what to expect!
Hello Potterbell!

NathanNathan · 30/04/2020 09:54

Thanks @Kimlek 11 is great, you're right. I just have so much to lose that I hoped it would be quicker in the first few weeks.

6 stone to go! Smile

NathanNathan · 30/04/2020 09:54

@Whattheladybirdsaidnext some people find losses slow in week 3 and 4, as far as I know. More experienced members may know more.

Kimlek · 30/04/2020 10:29

If I’m being strict and not losing I do a fast. Say from dinner to dinner. Only done it twice but For me that kickstarts it. However I’m very rarely strict week on week. Before lockdown there’d always be a night out or gluttonous weekend. And as you know, since lockdown I’m aiming to maintain so have been having all sorts of treats. I’m not a good example. But nathan see how week 4 goes and if it’s still plateaued then I’d recommend a dinner to lunch fast if you don’t already do that. Or dinner to dinner.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 30/04/2020 10:31

@Kimlek ah that's a shame. you need to push the cabbage right under the salt water. You can weigh it down (eg with an egg cup or shot glass) to push it under.

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NathanNathan · 30/04/2020 10:56

Thanks @kimlek. I do 16:8 every day, but a dinner to dinner fast sounds like a good idea if week 4 is the same.

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