Due to overwhelming popular demand, (well, @justdee has asked me anyway!) I am going to chronicle my experience of Michael Mosley's 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet. I'm very much hoping it will be OK to write about it on here - principally because I am employing a 16:8 eating window at the same time. Not only that, but this is a brilliant forum - miles better than the BSD forum, whose format is quite complicated...& doesn't suit a technophobe like me!!!
My dieting history
I comfort eat for England. It's my answer to everything. I have no brakes and even continue eating sweet treats long after I stop enjoying them (think family bags of Maltesers - half way through, I am not enjoying them quite as much as at the beginning...yet I haven't the sense to stop and save them for another day). I could be stuffed to the gunnels....yet I wouldn't stop.
"The Great Diet of '93" was, until 2014, my most successful diet. It ran from June to early September - to coincide with my two children's christening. During that time, I ate salads and nectarines and exercised regularly to one of Rosemary Conley's videos. I was nearly a size 10 when I finished. I got as far as the christening, looked OK and then went straight back to my bad eating habits....grrrr! And stopped exercising of course.
Cue plenty of half hearted attempts....until late 2013 when I committed to 5:2. By July 2014, I had lost just shy of 4 stone - yippeeeeeee! Started to enjoy my clothes feeling looser and looking so much better - not to mention the health benefits. Unfortunately, I hadn't really sorted my head out whilst doing it! I certainly hadn't found a substitute for food during times of depression - which I am prone to. A nice hot bath just won't cut it for me!
To cut a long story short, due to many issues, I spent from August last year until early May comfort eating to the extreme. Mindless scoffing on a daily basis. Staring down the barrel of UK Size 20 clothes - something I'd never been. I had a choice - carry on and just keep going up and up a dress size while feeling less and less like someone who belonged in society (felt like a second class citizen).....or.....get a grip!
As is always the case with me, I have to wait until I get to the point of no return. Only then am I willing to make changes. Once I make that decision, there is no stopping me. I become evangelical about weight loss...some might say I even become a diet-bore!
Why the BSD and not 5:2?
I have enormous faith in 5:2 - it worked brilliantly for me in the past. I cannot fault the science behind it. The issue for me was that I really really wanted some fast results...so I could salvage the summer (when it arrives!). I don't know why summer has a particular significance for me - probably because we tend to cover up less and so have nowhere to hide! Being a size 18+ does not help my psyche - I've always lacked self esteem at the best of times....but when I'm this big, I just become invisible....and I despise myself for letting me get into such a state. Since August, I was majoring on carbs, white rolls for breakfast, white rolls for lunch, a large dinner with a big baked potato, a pudding and then late at night, lots of chocolate to supposedly comfort myself.
Now, I didn't get to the age of 53 without understanding a bit of myself. I knew that to turn around such an unhealthy diet, I was going to have to be very strict with myself. All or nothing. I definitely knew that I couldn't trust myself to behave for 5 days out of 7! If I'd returned to 5:2, the fasts would be absolutely fine, but I definitely wouldn't change my bad habits on the other days. Then I'd get miserable and indignant when the scales showed the awful truth....and be back to square one and no doubt turn to comfort eating.
I'm not diabetic, nor, to my knowledge, am I pre-diabetic. Though I believe I was headed down a one-way street towards it if I didn't do something about my eating. What appealed about the BSD was that it required commitment 24/7...but promised significant rewards. In short, I saw it as a way to jump-start my way back into healthy eating and a healthy weight. Almost a shock tactic, if you like. As a fan of 5:2, I plan to return to it once I feel I can trust myself not to slip back into my awful habits. Only time will tell how long that might be....
So what is the BSD?
I bought the book, read it through and on May 9th (a Monday, because everybody knows you can only start a diet on a Monday!) started on it. The basic principles are 800 calories a day....every day. Male or female. Low carb, high fat Mediterranean eating. There's tons of recipes at the end of the book, but as with every weightloss attempt I have ever undertaken, I tend to develop my own eating plan. I don't even mind repetition...which explains why I've had crushed strawberries and full fat Bio yoghurt for lunch and roasted vegetables with salmon, chicken or pork (high days and holidays!) for dinner....every day for the past 4 weeks! It wouldn't suit everyone, but it suits me not to have to stress about food. In a nutshell, from what I've gathered, carbohydrates get converted into glucose for energy. If you limit your carbs, the body is forced to obtain energy from an alternative source...so switches into fat-burning mode and goes to work on your fat stores. If you revert to eating carbs, your clever body will go back to converting them into glucose for energy....and stop burning the fat to such an extent.
The stats (aka The Awful Truth)
On May 9th, I weighed in at 15 stone 3 and a bit. O....M....G!! That explains my tight trousers then! I can't hide from it anymore. Time to get on.....
I decided that I wouldn't bother with breakfast. Have never enjoyed eating first thing anyway, so it wasn't much of a hardship. Given that, I thought why not do 16:8 every day? Seemed to make sense. Yes, I became reacquainted with hunger pangs, but thanks to my 5:2 experience, I knew I didn't need to stress over them. They'd pass. And pass they did....
I've really surprised myself by being so committed to this eating plan - considering how very out of control I've been of late. But then, I'm a bit of an all or nothing person. No point in being half-hearted about it - I need results and I need them now....& what's more...I'm prepared to pay the price for them.
So, I weigh in for Week 4 results on Monday morning (6th June)...but here are the previous stats
Week 1 -5.75lbs
Week 2 -6.00lbs
Week 3 -4.00lbs
So that's a good start. I suspect Monday will be skewed by it being the TOTM...but forewarned is forearmed as they say, so I won't get too distressed about it. I can't afford to get disheartened. It is what it is and I need to be in it for the long haul anyway.....
After 2 weeks, I had lost 2" from my really-rather-shocking 41" waist (so yes, a very long way to go to get to a sensible BMI!) and 1.5" from my hips. I'm taking measurements every 2 weeks, so will be measuring like mad on Monday to see if I've lost any inches! Not only that, but clothes are already feeling looser...thank goodness. My thunder thighs are experiencing a novel bit of slack in my trousers...hurrah...even if they are a size 18!
It's been a little lonely so far chugging along doing 16:8 BSD. I'm chuffed to bits that Justdee is going to dip her toes into the BSD for a couple of weeks.....hence this post. Hopefully, on here, we can spur each other on and discuss how our days are going etc. Full marks for having a go, JD - let's see where it takes us! I'll look forward to seeing you on here soon - but it's way past my bedtime now, so I really should sign off!
My dieting history
I comfort eat for England. It's my answer to everything. I have no brakes and even continue eating sweet treats long after I stop enjoying them (think family bags of Maltesers - half way through, I am not enjoying them quite as much as at the beginning...yet I haven't the sense to stop and save them for another day). I could be stuffed to the gunnels....yet I wouldn't stop.
"The Great Diet of '93" was, until 2014, my most successful diet. It ran from June to early September - to coincide with my two children's christening. During that time, I ate salads and nectarines and exercised regularly to one of Rosemary Conley's videos. I was nearly a size 10 when I finished. I got as far as the christening, looked OK and then went straight back to my bad eating habits....grrrr! And stopped exercising of course.
Cue plenty of half hearted attempts....until late 2013 when I committed to 5:2. By July 2014, I had lost just shy of 4 stone - yippeeeeeee! Started to enjoy my clothes feeling looser and looking so much better - not to mention the health benefits. Unfortunately, I hadn't really sorted my head out whilst doing it! I certainly hadn't found a substitute for food during times of depression - which I am prone to. A nice hot bath just won't cut it for me!
To cut a long story short, due to many issues, I spent from August last year until early May comfort eating to the extreme. Mindless scoffing on a daily basis. Staring down the barrel of UK Size 20 clothes - something I'd never been. I had a choice - carry on and just keep going up and up a dress size while feeling less and less like someone who belonged in society (felt like a second class citizen).....or.....get a grip!
As is always the case with me, I have to wait until I get to the point of no return. Only then am I willing to make changes. Once I make that decision, there is no stopping me. I become evangelical about weight loss...some might say I even become a diet-bore!
Why the BSD and not 5:2?
I have enormous faith in 5:2 - it worked brilliantly for me in the past. I cannot fault the science behind it. The issue for me was that I really really wanted some fast results...so I could salvage the summer (when it arrives!). I don't know why summer has a particular significance for me - probably because we tend to cover up less and so have nowhere to hide! Being a size 18+ does not help my psyche - I've always lacked self esteem at the best of times....but when I'm this big, I just become invisible....and I despise myself for letting me get into such a state. Since August, I was majoring on carbs, white rolls for breakfast, white rolls for lunch, a large dinner with a big baked potato, a pudding and then late at night, lots of chocolate to supposedly comfort myself.
Now, I didn't get to the age of 53 without understanding a bit of myself. I knew that to turn around such an unhealthy diet, I was going to have to be very strict with myself. All or nothing. I definitely knew that I couldn't trust myself to behave for 5 days out of 7! If I'd returned to 5:2, the fasts would be absolutely fine, but I definitely wouldn't change my bad habits on the other days. Then I'd get miserable and indignant when the scales showed the awful truth....and be back to square one and no doubt turn to comfort eating.
I'm not diabetic, nor, to my knowledge, am I pre-diabetic. Though I believe I was headed down a one-way street towards it if I didn't do something about my eating. What appealed about the BSD was that it required commitment 24/7...but promised significant rewards. In short, I saw it as a way to jump-start my way back into healthy eating and a healthy weight. Almost a shock tactic, if you like. As a fan of 5:2, I plan to return to it once I feel I can trust myself not to slip back into my awful habits. Only time will tell how long that might be....
So what is the BSD?
I bought the book, read it through and on May 9th (a Monday, because everybody knows you can only start a diet on a Monday!) started on it. The basic principles are 800 calories a day....every day. Male or female. Low carb, high fat Mediterranean eating. There's tons of recipes at the end of the book, but as with every weightloss attempt I have ever undertaken, I tend to develop my own eating plan. I don't even mind repetition...which explains why I've had crushed strawberries and full fat Bio yoghurt for lunch and roasted vegetables with salmon, chicken or pork (high days and holidays!) for dinner....every day for the past 4 weeks! It wouldn't suit everyone, but it suits me not to have to stress about food. In a nutshell, from what I've gathered, carbohydrates get converted into glucose for energy. If you limit your carbs, the body is forced to obtain energy from an alternative source...so switches into fat-burning mode and goes to work on your fat stores. If you revert to eating carbs, your clever body will go back to converting them into glucose for energy....and stop burning the fat to such an extent.
The stats (aka The Awful Truth)
On May 9th, I weighed in at 15 stone 3 and a bit. O....M....G!! That explains my tight trousers then! I can't hide from it anymore. Time to get on.....
I decided that I wouldn't bother with breakfast. Have never enjoyed eating first thing anyway, so it wasn't much of a hardship. Given that, I thought why not do 16:8 every day? Seemed to make sense. Yes, I became reacquainted with hunger pangs, but thanks to my 5:2 experience, I knew I didn't need to stress over them. They'd pass. And pass they did....
I've really surprised myself by being so committed to this eating plan - considering how very out of control I've been of late. But then, I'm a bit of an all or nothing person. No point in being half-hearted about it - I need results and I need them now....& what's more...I'm prepared to pay the price for them.
So, I weigh in for Week 4 results on Monday morning (6th June)...but here are the previous stats
Week 1 -5.75lbs
Week 2 -6.00lbs
Week 3 -4.00lbs
So that's a good start. I suspect Monday will be skewed by it being the TOTM...but forewarned is forearmed as they say, so I won't get too distressed about it. I can't afford to get disheartened. It is what it is and I need to be in it for the long haul anyway.....
After 2 weeks, I had lost 2" from my really-rather-shocking 41" waist (so yes, a very long way to go to get to a sensible BMI!) and 1.5" from my hips. I'm taking measurements every 2 weeks, so will be measuring like mad on Monday to see if I've lost any inches! Not only that, but clothes are already feeling looser...thank goodness. My thunder thighs are experiencing a novel bit of slack in my trousers...hurrah...even if they are a size 18!
It's been a little lonely so far chugging along doing 16:8 BSD. I'm chuffed to bits that Justdee is going to dip her toes into the BSD for a couple of weeks.....hence this post. Hopefully, on here, we can spur each other on and discuss how our days are going etc. Full marks for having a go, JD - let's see where it takes us! I'll look forward to seeing you on here soon - but it's way past my bedtime now, so I really should sign off!
Started BSD 09/05/16 @ 213.5lbs BMI 32.9
Lost 43.3lbs as @ 10/10/16 - got down to 170.2lbs. Fell off wagon (again) but jumped back on 09/01/17...weighing in at 187.2lbs....oh dear
16/01 180.6lbs
Lost 43.3lbs as @ 10/10/16 - got down to 170.2lbs. Fell off wagon (again) but jumped back on 09/01/17...weighing in at 187.2lbs....oh dear
16/01 180.6lbs
). I've been doing A LOT of reading on the BSD and although I said I'll give it 2 weeks, more than likely I'll want to carry on as my eating habits change. A lot of people say it's quite difficult to go back to old eating habit after the 8 weeks. People find their bodies can't handle so many carbs and no longer crave sugar, I dream of being like that. I can understand this, after being back on 5:2 for 7 weeks my body really can't handle too many carbs, I now get tummy ache if I eat too many, so I already eat less of them without trying. I will also be doing 16:8 as I think breakfast really is a waste of cals and my breakfast (if I have it) is normally something carby (brown seeded roll and butter or egg on toast). I think eggs will be my go to food on the BSD. I'm a little worried about variety, I'll need to come up with some good meals so I don't get bored, I really can't eat the same thing every day. I know the 800cals won't be a problem, anyone used to doing 5:2 will see 800cals as a treat. It's quitting the sugar that will be the biggest challenge for me, although I know it's something I really need to do. I am also not diabetic or pre-diabetic I hope (who knows without being tested) but know I am on the way if things don't change. 
I've tried Courgette fritters before (few years ago) and liked them. Just bought about 10 Courgettes from the market for a euro so will be making some fritters tomorrow. The breakfast muffins also sound good. May be this WOE won't be so bad after all. Do the Courgette fritters keep well in the fridge?
