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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 thread 19

999 replies

thenewaveragebear1983 · 10/05/2020 22:25

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

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:
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35
SomeBunny · 19/05/2020 12:48

@thenewaveragebear1983 thank you so much for taking the time to write out those tips- very helpful! Is my fitness pal alright for tracking calories or is there a better app I should download? Finally finished my meal plan and shopping list and now getting stuck into the book while baby naps.

Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 19/05/2020 14:14

I’m on my 5th week- I have found that I don’t do nearly as much planning now, mostly because I have the same favourite things that I have over and over. We have a routine set of things we buy.
When I started I had to plan the following day the night before. If I had to make a decision at the time of eating I came unstuck. Now I find myself planning at lunchtime. It gets easier. You find that you aren’t so hungry and a small amount fills you up. And as long as it’s the right food, it keeps you full.

On another note... my 6’1 twenty something stone husband has been watching with interest and has announced from tomorrow (he and the kids are having chips tonight...I’m going for a walk, wish me luck....Grin) he is eating the same as me from tomorrow.... does anyone know if things should be different for him? I aim for 800cal and 25g carbs...I assume at the beginning at least he would be better aiming for 50g just to ease in a bit. But as a tall man, is there anything else he should do? Seems a strange thought for him to eat the same as me and manage to keep functioning!

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/05/2020 15:09

@Whattheladybirdsaidnext I suppose though if he's 20+ stone he has more 'reserves' to draw upon for fuel. In theory then he should be able to manage on 800 cals at least at first as what we're doing here is tapping into our fat reserves to make up the calorie deficit

OP posts:
Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 19/05/2020 15:25

I suppose so. He is going to be unbelievably grumpy for a few days though.

Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 19/05/2020 15:26

I am doing him a disservice tbf, he used to do intermittent fasting- eating only in about a 4 hour window. He has just never been as strict regarding carbs before

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/05/2020 15:37

I'd suggest trying it out and if he does get grumpy then maybe increase calories but keep carbs low. You don't need to limit to 50g, just avoid the key foods (flour, grains, fruit, sugar, rice, potato). Realistically his tdee if he is 6'1 and 20 stone is going to be higher so he could increase calories if necessary. The key to preventing hunger is fat, so encourage him to eat avocado, salmon, chicken thighs etc rather than lean meats.

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VenusInfers · 19/05/2020 15:45

My DH has been on the diet for just over a week. He started with about 1 1/2 stone to lose has pretty much followed the rules, but probably eating more like 1000 cal most days as he's having bits of dark chocolate and/or a G&T on top of the meals. As predicted, he's shedding the weight WAY quicker than me, despite doing v little exercise, and has lost 5kg already! ShockConfused

Life's so unfair sometimes, isn't it? Grin

RedLipsAndRosyCheeks · 19/05/2020 18:23

Cake happened today! It was youngest DC's birthday though so I'm classing that as a justifiable excuse.

12lb lost over 3 weeks so far so I'm happy with that. I don't weigh again until Monday, don't think I've eaten enough cake to write the week off so should still see a loss.

fufulina · 19/05/2020 18:59

Delurking - on day 3 of week 3.

4.7kg down. Feeling really good - alert, well rested, emotionally stable. It’s suiting me very well.

The massive epiphany I had a few days ago was that hunger does pass. It’s not like sleep, where you build up a sleep deficit and get more and more tired until you fall asleep. With hunger, it does pass. You don’t get more and more hungry until you fall into a plate of toast.

I know that sounds stupid, but I’ve lived in fear of hunger and although I am now very rarely hungry, if I am, I feel equipped to just go with it.

Will lurk again but all the chat here is really motivating. Thank you.

LarryUnderwood · 19/05/2020 19:33

Well done fufulina, that's an amazing loss. And @thenewaveragebear1983 those tips are really handy, thanks.
I'm closing the kitchen on 799cals and 47g carbs today. Bought a stash of sparkling water to replace my evening g&t. I've been planning a run every day for weeks and havent actually done it, so I'm setting my alarm early for tomorrow and I will get it done!
I got new scales, and they are weighing my at about 5lbs more than my old ones - I've compared. So not quite sure how I track loss from my starting point. But I measured today, and I've lost 0.5 inch from waist and hips since last Tuesday! And a total 3 inches off my waist since I started!!!!! So I'm very ver y pleased with that. Still have a way to go to reach my goal, but a healthy BMI is at least within my grasp.

agteacht · 19/05/2020 19:47

Some great losses after three weeks guys!

@CiorstanMI how are you doing? And @Cream123?

@NathanNathan how did you (if you did) conclude on the 5:2 question?

NathanNathan · 19/05/2020 20:13

Hello @agteacht, over on the 6:2 thread they said you don't have to count anything other than calories on your fast days, but obviously lower carb helps.

Good to know weight loss and maintenance can theoretically hopefully be done without very low carbs forever Smile

NathanNathan · 19/05/2020 20:14

6:2?? Added an extra day in the week. 5:2.

whensmynexthol1day · 19/05/2020 20:17

@ilovemydogandmrobama2 definitely weigh before (unless the item specifically says 'cooked'

Finished on 999kcal and 31g carbs. Higher than usual but succumbed to a tiny bit of dark choc this afternoon and ate a very yummy dinner- the salmon salad bowl from the fast800 book- highly recommend!

Been feeling pretty bloated the last couple of days after too much cauliflower and lentils. Both things which make me very gassy and I think have contributed to a lack of weight loss in the last few days. Hoping for a bit of a shift down tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

agteacht · 19/05/2020 20:37

I'll take a look there too @NathanNathan - my initial 8 weeks finishes today 😮

agteacht · 19/05/2020 20:41

A related question, I have the BSD book but not the fast800 one. Does anyone who has both recommend that I buy the fast800 one to read the maintenance section or is it similarly quite light?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 19/05/2020 21:01

@agteacht it's quite useful to read both as the fast800 is slightly different. Both are quite light on the maintenance side of things if I can recall.

I've ended up high on cals today but still 55g carbs so actually my carb % is very low (only 14%). I've been very tired today after a really crappy night last night, and it's shown in my eating, although my foods been good (just more in quantity than is ideal)

Tomorrow I am going to get up early and run before it gets too warm. I am working over lunchtime so if possible will try to fast until after that, with just coffee and water. Then dinner will be sausages (either vegetarian ones or chorizo ones, haven't decided yet) with egg and maybe even celeriac chips. Again, I'd really like to aim for 800 cals and I'm about to put it all into my tracker to work out if that's possible!

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Whattheladybirdsaidnext · 19/05/2020 21:13

760cal and 23g carbs.

NathanNathan · 19/05/2020 21:27

Well done @agteacht! 8 weeks is so good!

Justasecondnow · 19/05/2020 22:08

Hello, another newby here! Thanks for tips, and been helpful reading how everyone does it. Just done day one. Jealous of agteacht 8 weeks done!

I’m following meal planner on fast 8 week bsd book, so not counting cals/carbs as just following that. Hopefully will get to grips with that on later. Had mackeral pate for lunch and then Thai curry with cauli rice. Really nice. And actually don’t need the breakfast id saved for evening (I’m not a morning person!) I think I’ve found it ok as done 5/2 a fair bit with crappy food. 800 cals or so with good food is much better. But normally get to eat more tomos so expecting to find it a lot harder then. Right back to lurking. Hope I’m still on it a week in!

agteacht · 19/05/2020 22:25

Not quite at target yet so will report back with results tomorrow! But thank you both. Sounds like a great start @Justasecondnow
If you can stick to two meals it will help with your cals. I have a coffee and then lunch and dinner. I eat quite late though, I think others finish up quite a bit earlier than me, it's whatever works for you within your eating window.

agteacht · 19/05/2020 22:26

Oh missed your reply bear. Thanks, will take a look!

collywobble · 20/05/2020 08:13

Hi there I'm restarting my fast journey after gaining weight through lockdown . I lost a lot of weight around 5 years ago doing 5:2 and wanted to give myself a boost with a rapid weight loss to start me off. I have done 4 days now and not lost a thing. This always seems to be the way for me at the moment no matter what I do I seem to maintain or gain and I wondered if it was due to menopause. So although I know it's only early days but I could do with words of encouragement to see if you can still do this and lose weight while going through menopause and if a slow start is normal . I've followed the fast 800 meal plan so I know my calories are right , I'm doing TRE and drinking tons of water . I just need some happy stories to keep me going I think.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 20/05/2020 08:43

Welcome @collywobble and @Justasecondnow

@whensmynexthol1day I'm never sure with weights, especially with meat because they lose water sometimes when cooked (so become more calorie dense) so I've actually manually entered raw weights for the ones I use most. The cals in raw chicken is approx 1cal per gram whereas in cooked is nearer 2g (165 per 100g). So yes absolutely weigh the raw ingredients to do your tracking but check that the entry in mfp or whatever tracker actually is for raw as I think as a rule the values are for cooked. In fact, even more annoyingly, some will be raw, some cooked, and it's impossible to tell which is which!

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NathanNathan · 20/05/2020 09:19

Hey @collywobble, not quite the same but I had a good loss the first couple of weeks and then nothing really for 2 weeks, followed by a couple of pounds a week after that.

All I mean is, sometimes it just takes time to see it on the scales. Everyone here told me that and I felt like it would never happen, but it did! Smile

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