On Saturday 16th July 2016, I started a bold move to make myself healthier. Part of this plan is starting with the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet by Dr Mosley. This is a 800 calorie diet per day for 8 weeks. It is using medical science and food types to reset your blood sugar levels / insulin. More on that later.

A quick bit of housekeeping. All these posts will have links added to the main menu link, found HERE. You can also find it using the menu, “The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet”.

Why do people use this diet? For a number of reasons, mainly reversing type 2 diabetes, or reducing /resetting high blood sugar/insulin level in the body and liver/pancreas, to providing more energy and losing weight quickly all in 8 weeks. It is important that you discuss this with your doctor before starting this diet. And that you have read the book completely.

Before you scream at me that 800 calories is too low. STOP. Read the book by Dr Mosley. Remember this is not something dreamed up in the pub, this has been medically proven to work. Now fortunately, I am not diabetic but like 35% of all the people living in the UK, my blood sugar levels are too high which eventually would lead to type 2 diabetes. I am also overweight. So how did I prepare for this change and what technology am I using? Where possible, I have provided Amazon UK links to the items for ease.

Why all the measurements? Well I want evidence and a record of what changes and by how much. This will be shared with you when I take a second set of readings next Saturday.

1) First of all, I cleared out any foods that weren’t going to help. Instead these were replaced with healthier type snacks. My tip is to use the book and forums, plan your whole weeks meals and the ingredients required. I am adding my food into myfitnesspal app. Garmin Connect app syncs data from the Garmin Fenix HR and Garmin Index Scales. It also sync with myfitnesspal.

2) I read the book by Dr Mosley, “the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet.” It is available on Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and as an audio book. Click HERE. Everyone should read this book. I think you all will learn something about diet. I did.

3) Buy a measuring tape if you don’t have one. Measuring Tapes on Amazon UK. – Click HERE. The measuring tape is for recording waist, neck and chest measurements.

4) I am using the new Garmin Index Smart Scale. Click HERE. These scales are meant to measure weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat and water percentage, bone and muscle mass.

5) Omron M3 Blood Pressure Monitor – Click HERE. This is used to measure blood pressure and heart rate. This has really good reviews.

6) Accu Check Mobile Blood Glucose System – Click HERE. This is a blood glucose measuring system. From my research this was one of the best all in one systems. After taking my first measurement, my blood sugar levels were high.

7) Garmin Fenix HR – Click HERE. I am using this fitness watch to track my exercise. The Garmin Fenix HR also keeps track all day of my heart rate. It also measures VO2. The Fenix HR has tons more features too.

You of course can use other devices, but these are what I am using.

So on Saturday, I took my body measurements (waist etc), weighed myself, took a blood pressure reading and lastly got my first blood glucose reading. I will be tracking all the results once a week and will provide details of the improvements as and when they occur.

Some stats from the book. 4 million people in the UK have diabetes. 35% of the UK population have high blood sugar levels that will lead to diabetes and yet they don’t know about it. That’s scary. Blindness and amputation can all occur from diabetes. Plus high sugar levels make you feel tired, lacking energy and hungry. The side effects of high blood sugar levels is endless.

So back to Day 1. Saturday, I had 2 meals. A brunch and dinner. By having 2 meals at the weekend, allows for a higher calorie dinner. I also drank 3 litres of water. I drank water using Sainsburys 2L bottles of economy still mineral water. I found this an easy way to track my consumption. Daily intake of water is meant to be 2-3 litres.

So what were my meals. Brunch was a large portobello mushroom with baked beans and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. Dinner was a seasoned steak on a plate of lettuce. This was lightly coated with olive oil prior to grilling. I had an apple after the steak. That was my 800 calories in total for Saturday. In terms of exercise I walked for an one and a half hours.

So how did I feel. Until I ate brunch at 11am, I drank water. I felt hungry. After brunch I walked for an hour which felt fine. I ate the steak at 5.30pm. I really enjoyed the steak. Around 9pm, I really felt hungry and my brain was telling me to eat something. I didn’t. Instead I drank a little water. Saturday night wasn’t easy. But I survived.

So Sunday, yesterday I woke up and the first thing that struck me was I didn’t feel starving. This did change towards dinner time. Brunch was a 2 large portobello mushrooms with creme fresh/mustard topping, small slice of smoked salmon and a poached egg. Dinner was chicken with a plate of salad and healthy extras, see below.

Not bad for 400 calories and a decent size portion. I also drank 3 litres of water yesterday.

Anyway, its very early days and this is certainly going to be tough at times.

PS. I will tweet the odd meal or what I am having during the week as well. My Twitter is @gavinfabiani