Accountability thread: 14 days of Fast800

[Ontherebound34]

Last year I did so well and lost 3 stone. I then regained half of it due to binge eating. Feeling pretty rubbish and get so demotivated when the scales hardly move. I also hate the fact that one day of bad eating can undo a whole week of work. I get uncontrollable food cravings so I am interested in stabilising blood sugar.

I will use this thread to document my time on the Fast800 diet. Feel free to follow, comment or just ignore!
I have just finished day 2 so will do both days below and then try to update daily.

SW: 82.5 kg (13 st 1) - my highest weight ever was 14 st 7
GW: 71 kg (11 st 1)
Height: 5'7''

Day 1:
Fasted til 12 noon. Then had greek yoghurt, ground almonds, raspberries, followed by 2 eggs, smoked salmon, sauteed spinach, lettuce and dressing.
Dinner: poached salmon, spinach, lettuce. More yoghurt and some strawberries.
839 calories, 27 g carbs

Felt okay. A bit spaced out but no hunger really. Some trouble getting to sleep but nothing too bad.

Day 2:
Breakfast: greek yoghurt, strawberries, hazelnuts
Lunch: fried squid, squeeze of lemon, salad leaves
Snack: 40 g dried cured beef slices
Dinner: fried halloumi, cabbage salad, roasted broccoli

805 calories, 31 g carbs

Felt tired in the morning and I didn't last past until 10 am before I had to have breakfast. Felt pretty good after breakfast and then had a bit of a slump in the afternoon and felt weak but nothing too bad. Also feel a bit constipated so I have taken 2 senna tablets this evening.

I have been told that days 3 and 4 are the worst so I am pretty apprehensive. If it gets too much, I will eat more but keep it low carb. Have ordered some keto sticks so look forward to testing those out when they arrive.

Oh Speckeldyhen that’s so kind of you to say! So pleased that I can offer support - I know how hard weight loss can be. That’s such a fantastic result you have too. I bet you can make a real difference before your op.
Do you have to use particular drinks or is it any ones? I know that Fast800 have its own brand shakes that are much lower in carbs than something like SlimFast. I really like the Purition ones too. They’re also low carb and don’t taste artificially sweet. Good luck with it all.

Day 4 and this is definitely the worst! Feeling dizzy and sooo hungry. Please tell me it gets better. This is gruelling!

I promise it gets better! Drink loads of water, eat over your calories if you need to (but make sure you stay low carb) and make sure you are getting enough electrolytes. A magnesium supplement can help but otherwise make sure that you’re getting enough salt, as the symptoms are likely to be dehydration. The important thing is to keep going because if you have something with lots of carbs, it will stop you going into ketosis and your hunger will continue. Brazil nuts, cheese, and a few slices of Parma ham kept me going when it was really difficult at the beginning.

Great advice. Keep going . You will come out the other side feeling energised .

Had a small chunk of cheese and a banana and felt better. Annoyingly, I already had a curry booked in for tonight but going to go with tandoori and salad and skip any rice/naan. I have pcos so have v sensitive blood sugar levels (hence me wanting to do this diet) so think fasting makes me quite shaky. Thanks so much for encouragement. In this really for the health benefits rather than weight loss although that'd be nice too. But more concerned about my higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Glad you feel better! Try to ditch the banana though. It has about 28 g of carbs and your limit is 50 if you want to get into ketosis. Unless you have a naturally small appetite or willpower or steel, it’s nigh on impossible to stick to 800 calories a day unless you are in ketosis. This is because ketosis reduces appetite significantly. It takes a few days to kick in which is why days 3-5 are so hard on this diet. If you eat high carb foods like bananas during this time, yes, they will make you feel better temporarily because they will raise your blood glucose, but they will also stop you going into ketosis.
My tip is to avoid fruit full stop during the 800 cal stage, apart from about 100 g of berries a day if you want them. Instead, fill up on lots of veg that has been grown above ground. Carb counting is way more important than the calories so I use MFP to keep track as they add up super-quick.

Ontherebound do you use ketosis sticks ? I’ve tried to buy them in several pharmacies locally without any luck . I looked on Amazon but saw ones with dodgy reviews and didn’t go ahead .
Years ago I had some but I can’t remember where I got them from!

Hi, I bought some from Amazon when I started (the ones with bad reviews!) but I haven’t really used them. I read that a) they stop being reliable after a few weeks of a low carb diet as your body adapts to the ketones and b) they don’t really work anyway if you’re properly hydrated as your urine will be too diluted to pick them up. Instead, I have just gone by whether I feel hungry or not and made sure I don’t go over 50 g of carbs.

Question - the Fast800 recipes include pulses but are these best avoided on fasting days? Bit confused about that, I'm vegetarian so tend to eat beans and lentils etc pretty regularly.

@LadyMcLadyface

Question - the Fast800 recipes include pulses but are these best avoided on fasting days? Bit confused about that, I'm vegetarian so tend to eat beans and lentils etc pretty regularly.

Yeah, there are some recipes that have pulses and I think there’s a recipe for porridge too but I have personally tended to steer clear. You’d have to have quite a small portion to make it fit with your 50g carb limit and I have a tendency to overeat carbs foods if I have any at all. Totally up to you though and if you are veggie, you might want more variety than just eggs, cheese and tofu.

Weighed in this morning but only lost 8oz , making it 11lb in 4 weeks .
Was my birthday last Wednesday and have eaten out 3 times , so I’m very pleased .

My operation date has been confirmed as 7 weeks today , so hoping for a reasonable loss by then .

How’s everyone else doing ?

That’s amazing! Well done. I’m doing well. I’m at 18 lb loss but I’m also now within 5 pounds or so of my goal weight so it’s going to be slow now. Still loving this way of eating and still no carb cravings. It’s brilliant.

Have they said anything to you about how you have to eat post-operation? Will you have to go low fat?

Wow Ontherebound that’s brilliant. How many weeks has it been for you ?
No conversation about post op eating yet , just stuff I read recommends low fat which is fine .

I think it’s nearly 8 weeks now. It doesn’t feel like a diet though so I have almost lost count.

Yes, a friend who had her gall bladder removed had issues with eating fat afterwards, although this was only in the first couple of years after the operation. But she felt so much better having had it out given the pain of gall stones.

Well, I've done 14 days, and excusing the odd hiccup of too much wine one night I've done ok. Only lost 3lb so far but going to continue. Overall I would say that despite not losing much, my trousers definitely feel looser and this is the first time on a diet I've noticed belly fat going which is where I carry it so I'm pleased. Daytime I'm finding fairly easy, but I am missing the carbs at dinner! How do you all find the long term in this area? Just putting together a meal plan for this week based on the fast 800 recipe book and the blood sugar recipe book, but keeping within 800 Cal's daily. How's everyone else doing?

That’s great and 3 pound is good. Big losses in the first few weeks are likely to be water and like you say, your belly fat seems to be going, which is what you want.
So, long-term, MM recommends 5:2 but I have decided to just do low carb instead because I don’t want to be eating high carb foods on 5 days and then get a shock to the system on the two fast days. Instead, I’m adopting a lot of the principles of the low carb boot camp on here but also making Fast 800 style recipes, just bigger portions. I probably eat around 1400 calories at the moment (although more on some days) as I’m still trying to lose a little bit of weight. I have had no issues with it at all and feel great.

@Ontherebound34 this thread is an inspiration and I really want to thank you for starting it and also being honest with how it feels to settle into a 800 Cals a day diet /fast.

I’ve really struggled with weight issues since pandemic started and basically eating anything ends up with old habits kicking in. Anyhow thanks to this thread I’ve kind of jumped into a semi - fast as I’ve just eaten my first meal of the day just now. I can’t remember what time I ate last night but don’t think it was especially late. Going to reread this thread again for ongoing inspiration. Hope you’re doing well and everyone else on the thread too

Hope you don't mind me cheekily placemarking , I'm starting my fast shortly so this is a lovely thread for food ideas .. it's definitely inspired me !

not at all! I have just recovered from a nasty bout of Covid so my diet has gone to shit in that time (lots of carbs and sugar cravings) and I desperately need to get back on track! I was finding it so hard to get motivated and when I saw your post restarting my old thread, it seemed like a sign so thank you! I will now reread my old posts and follow that in the next few weeks. Good luck with your own fast.