Starting The Britalian Diet on Monday - going to make an accountability thread

[TheSillySausage83]

Hi everyone - I used to be on here loads but have managed to get myself completely locked out. It's been years so I don't even remember my username or which email I used to sign up! 🙄think im going a bit senile.

Anyway - in those years, I have gone from being a bit soft around the edges to being well into the obese category 😔But I can't face the diets I used to do to get rid of it. I bought a load of shakes the other week and ended up chucking them all out as I couldn't face them. They all taste the same and they're all gross. I'm about 210 pounds now (not sure what that is in stones - sorry).

I'm going to start The Britalian Diet on Monday - I bought the book a couple of days ago. Has anyone else followed it? I did have a look and couldn't find any threads (sorry if ive missed one!) I'm going to try and check in here every week as I've done that in the past and it has been quite good at keeping me accountable.

Wish me luck! 😬

Seems just a basic common sense diet and no gimics. So gets my approval!

That's what I thought @TalkToTheHand123 ! Time will tell I guess - just need something that I can stick to for longer than five minutes 😅🙄

Do you know what has caused the increase in weight?

@TheSillySausage83i’ve not heard of this, what’s the general gist? I’m looking for something new to do for 2 months (at first) until I go on holiday, I need something to focus myself

@TalkToTheHand123 - tbh, i had three children in fairly quick succession, an ectopic pregnancy (sorry if that's too much info!) and Covid was amongst that as well - along with just getting older maybe (I'm 41 now). I think it has been a bit of a perfect storm that meant I wasn't focused on my health/weight and it got away from me 😔But I'm more than ready to do something about it

@thenewaveragebear1983 - so I'm very new to it, I've only just finished reading the book - but it is based on the fact that Italy is one of the healthiest countries and the habits they have. It includes stuff like eating a sweet breakfast, which I'm ok with as I love croissants 😂I'm doing the Fast option as I am also going on holiday (to Turkey!) in two months but there is a steadier one that I might look at when I get back.

I just googled it, unfortunately the two stand out things for me are the sweet breakfast and no calorie tracking which for me would definitely not end well 🤣

@thenewaveragebear1983 - I'll def be tracking calories! It's 1200 on average for the fast one (but average across the week, which I quite like). Think you get more for the steadier one. Totally get if the sweet brekkie isn't your thing though, haha 😅

I’ve just googled the book and author and sorry but it looks a complete lot of tosh.

It is like a tick box of what sells a diet (choose food people love to eat; provide rules to make it simple; promise fantastic and easily achievable results.)

Have you looked closely at the photos of her? they look really badly photo shopped. Her in dresses green-screened into odd looking settings, one where the head and body don’t seem to match, one in red dress where dress isn’t even zipped up at the back, presumably hastily put on just to snap the skinny photo.
It all looks so amateurish, I though I would look further and found it is a self published book by a marketing graduate!

She has clearly decided to lose weight and decided it would be great to cash in on the experience by inventing a nonsense diet she can hawk to make money from.

Her time lines don’t even add up - she had her rock bottom moment of fatness in spring 2024. Trip to Italy in April 24 where she (already with the name Francesca) had a eureka revelation that Italians eat nice food but stay healthy 😂 . She then did ‘months’ of research into healthy Italian eating. All the while, from May to December 24 she managed to shed 6 stone eating (French!) croissants and pizza and pasta. She was then miraculously able to have a book about it all published just in time for the January diet rush!

I detect BS, an ozempic prescription and a big fat scam.

Thanks @Loadofbaloney (love then name btw! 😅) I like what I've read so far and I do love Italian/Med food - that's one of the main reasons I decided to give it a go. And the fact she doesn't make you give up wine or carbs! Haha. Will definitely remember to take everything with a pinch of salt though - I've been duped by diets before 😔

As long as you follow the sensible advice and ignore the not so advice which you seem to be doing, sounds a good plan. I really like the no counting as I just don't have the patience and like the challenge of no counting. It's just a case of fitting it in your schedule.

Thanks for the support @TalkToTheHand123 - there is calorie counting. It's 1400 on average but not as strict as some of the others I've done. Hoping I'm not as starving hungry all the time on this one x

Good luck with your weight loss @TheSillySausage83 If you are motivated to stick to the 1400 calories a day you will of course succeed, (as with any diet I guess). I know how hard if is to diet and lose weight once the hunger steps up!

@TheSillySausage83 sounds interesting I wonder is it family friendly or more for cooking for yourself only? Thinking about buying the book

@BeckyEdinburgh - I'm still not sure whether to do the 1200 or 1400 plan (I ended up buying both books), what do you think? I've had a flick through both and there are prob some recipes I would switch out or avoid (as I do have one picky eater) but seems to be quite a few that we could eat as a family. Stuff like meatballs, pizza, some pasta recipes, and there's a crunchy chicken recipe I'll do for everyone. Prob depends on what your family like to eat!

Let me know if you end up trying it - would be good to compare notes! 😊

I did wonder with it being based on Italian food regarding pasta. I used to eat quite a lot of pizzas, spaghetti and pasta, which obviously aren't nutricious and would have played a part in my weight gain over the years. I do get some serious pizza withdrawals.

I do eat olives and gurkins now which I never used to and are very filling and helping with my weightloss.

I love olives and gherkins too! Especially green olives. I think I'm going to make a pasta recipe tonight. There's a carbs section in the book I'm reading, which talks about smaller portions, less sauce - and less meat in the sauce/more veggie based ones, which I guess makes sense! Will see how it goes. Got to go shopping sometime today though, barely anything in the house! 😅🙄Did get croissants yesterday though so have started the day with one of those and a milky coffee

I have been looking but was a bit confused by the fast one as there wasn’t much difference between the 4 or 6 week plans in the fast book. Wondered if there was something I was missing. I like the idea of 3 meals a day hard to get out of the habit of snacking but think that’s where I go wrong. Never done alternate days higher and lower calories. Definitely thinking about it 👌🏻

Yeah @BeckyEdinburgh , I've never done the calorie cycling thing either (other than 5:2 but that's a bit different as the calories are so low, I could never stick to it) so looking forward to giving it a go. Like the idea of having more calories to look forward to!

I do get what you mean about the 4 and 6 week plans! I think it means that for the 6 week one, you follow the same plan/meals as the shorter one but just add some extra calories to bring the average up higher. Could be completely wrong though! 😅

Yes think I will give this a go. I have a few things on this week but otherwise should be ok. It kind of makes sense and think it addresses the snacking habit I’ve gotten into. Did you start today? Good luck if so and report back please 😀

@BeckyEdinburgh, I did! Went out earlier and stocked up on a few things - I've decided to go with the steadier 1400 calorie option as I've not had much luck with lower calorie diets in the past and feel like more calories might be better.

I've actually really enjoyed today and almost a bit suspicious of it, as I don't feel like I'm dieting and don't feel hungry! 🤔But going to try and put my faith in it. Not going to weigh for a few days as I feel it really gets me down if I haven't lost much. Might weigh in on Friday...

Made fried pizzas for dinner tonight, which I've never actually heard of before but were easy and very tasty (just used pre-made dough from Aldi) and had a toasted sandwich for lunch, which was very nice as well. Snack today was melon and prosciutto (which was lovely but kind of reminded me of growing up in the 80s/90s, haha, my dad used to make it for starter at Sunday lunch all the time!) 😂

Well I’d be the size of small house if I followed that ‘diet’ , the only way I lose weight is low carb eating , interested to see if it works for you @TheSillySausage83 .

Still managing to stick with The Britalian Diet (1400 cal option) and don’t feel like I’m dieting at all, which is soooo different to the other ones I've done. Few of my favourite foods have been melon and prosciutto, lemon chicken with rosemary potatoes, the fried pizzas the other night, and i'm liking the milky/frothy coffee in the morning as well. It seems to fill me up more than instant, which is helpful! 😂

Wasn't going to weigh until Friday but went on the scales this morning… and I’m down 3 pounds already! I know it’s probably water weight but still, nice to see. Will weigh again on Monday.

Also went for a walk yesterday, first in ages, and felt really good to get moving again. Might get a walking pad to try and get more steps in.....been looking on Amazon this morning.

Well done. I’m going to try the 1200 calorie version and meal planning for next week. Bought the £3 meal plan off the website to help. Portions are small so will have to not eat as quickly 🤣

Haha, I've noticed that especially with the pasta - having to be lots more restrained with portions (starting to see why the weight went on in the first place....🤔😂)