week 5 and 6 review on the 8-week blood sugar diet

I have now completed Weeks 5 and 6 of Dr. Michael Mosley's program, The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet.  In an attempt to lose the weight I gained due to Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), I will be following the 800 calorie per day diet as prescribed by Dr. Mosley.  You can read my blog to see why I have decided to road test this program, and my review of Week 4.

I feel like life has been throwing me a heap of lessons recently.  The first is that life gets in the way of your best intentions.  I mean, seriously. It has been hard sticking to 800 calories a day with a death in the family, and all that entails, followed by my first holiday in I don't know how long.

So, the wheels have fallen off a little.  I'm still determined to keep going, but my weight loss has slowed, and then backtracked, these past two weeks.

week 5

Week 5 was awesome because I got to escape the god-awful cold weather of Melbourne, and head north to sunny Queensland.  Except it wasn't sunny for a lot of the time.  But it was warm, there was a beach right in front of our apartment, and I didn't work every hour of every day.

We went north for a reunion with several families who we used to holiday with every summer.  My family and I would drive for three days to Hervey Bay, a sleepy beachside town three hours north of Brisbane, where we would spend three glorious weeks.  It was a time my parents could finally relax (they ran their own business so worked 7 days a week the rest of the year. I wonder where I get my work-a-holic nature from), and it was a time my sister and I could hang out with kids our own age and not have our parents watching our every move.

Reuniting with friends from days gone by.

Us kids are now adults, with many having kids of their own.  It was absolutely wonderful spending time with people who feel like family and who have known me since I was eight years old.  The sign of true friendship is being able to reunite after years apart, and it feel like it was just yesterday that we were together.

Being away from home means you don't have access to your kitchen or your normal environment. At the start of the holiday I made a consious decision to do the best I could, but not to get angry with myself if I couldn't stick to the program 100% of the time.

Check out my vlog from Day 1 of my holiday where I talk about setting my intention and goals for the holiday.

There were things I could do:  I could walk on the beach every day. It was so glorious to have sand between my toes again, that I hit the beach every morning and afternoon. I smashed out my 10,000 steps every day.

Enjoying an incredible sunset on an early evening walk one day.

I also made a conscious decision to have fun.  I spent time with my friends and also my sister, who I don't get to see all that often.  She would join me on my walks, and it was great having time just to chat and be in each other's company.

Want to meet my sister? Check out her crazy antics as I try to film a vlog.

I also slept.  A lot.  And it was wonderful.  I realised that getting enough sleep is still a work in progress for me, and that I need to make it a priority every single day.  There were some nights where I slept for 11 hours.  I'd forgotten what that felt like.

I took my scales and weighed myself early on in the holiday, then decided to pack them away and deal with the result when I returned to Melbourne. I put on 1.8kgs/4lbs the week I was away.  It's not great but I know I can take it off.

week 6

I came back to Melbourne and the weather was cold, wet and miserable.  After having warmth and sunshine by the end of the trip, I was not happy about the dreary weather.  In fact, I was in a foul mood for several days about it.  I love my city, but at that moment I wanted to pack my belongings and move north.

I knuckled down and got back on track with the program.  Initially, my body responded well, losing 2.1kgs/2.1lbs but then slowly putting it back on.  I don't know if I've lost some enthusiasm for the program or have just got out of the routine of it and am possibly not being as strict with my calorie intake.  I have also noticed that I've been slack with tracking my food intake and hitting my 10,000 steps each day.  It's easy to feel like I've got this under control, but the scales are clearly saying I don't.

I also wonder about the psychological aspect of this journey.  I have been hovering close to moving down into the next weight zone.  I haven't been in the 60s for years, so I do wonder if part of my behaviour is some self-sabotage kicking in and preventing me from dipping down to that lower weight.

I have a wedding to attend in Thailand at the end of December and I would love to feel confident enough to wear a bikini on the beach.  I gave up bikinis a few years ago when my weight crept into the high 70s.  It is a realistic goal if I put my mind to it.

Another realisation has hit me.  Losing the amount of weight that I want to lose is going to take more than 8 weeks.  When I started, 8 weeks felt totally manageable, but I am only two weeks away from finishing this program and I haven't lost what I had hoped to.

This week is the SIBO Summit, Australia's first SIBO conference.  I am a co-organiser and The Healthy Gut is a platinum sponsor.  I know my week is going to be hectic, so my ability to hit 10,000 steps each day will be challenging because I will be working so much.  I can control my food so I will ensure I am eating the best possible food every day to sustain me through this very busy period.  And once I get through this week, I will keep going with the challenge beyond the 8-week mark.  With a goal to feel confident in a bikini in December, I now have a date to work towards.

I have a few mentors who tell me to reach for goals that scare the pants off me.  So here goes... I will post a photo of me on the beach in Thailand in December  (Arrrrrggggghhhhhh!). If that's not motivation to reach my goal, I don't know what is.

What goals would you like to reach by the end of this year?  Let me know in the comments below.

week 6 results

After the holiday gain, it was good to see some weight come off, albeit only a small amount of 0.5kgs/1lbs for the week.

Rebecca x