2018 A HAPPY NEW YEAR; MEETING GOALS WITH GREAT GOOD CHEER: 4 wks ending 23 Jan

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• posted by Marsie
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 13:51

  

  So good to see everyone on here, struggles, progress, however we are feeling …new year and we’re moving forward.

  My NYE went like this: expecting people to the house, the food ready, all the usual house work done, then, well, I cleaned the downstairs windows about a month ago but we live close to the ocean and I decided they needed doing again! Meanwhile OH decided the gardens needed mulching so he was no use to me and oh, heck, where did those spider webs suddenly come from? Stuff like that. Street party at the end of our cul-de-sac from 4.00 pm. Bring a plate to share, something to drink, a chair of you want, avoid all the kids and their bikes/scooters/hill trolleys also their remote controlled model cars and one small drone which was promptly confiscated by the relevant dad.

  OH and I joined them at about 5 pm to enjoy conversations with neighbours we wave to more often than speak to and were still there when our expected friends arrived about 30 minutes early. They joined us for a while then we left to walk about 10 minutes down to our local Hillarys Marina, eating at one of the local bars. Good fun. Beautiful, warm night so lots of people wandering around the marina. Walked home again about 9.30 pm. Quite windy but with the blinds down around our patio we were able to sit outside until midnight when we watched the Sydney Harbour fireworks spectacular on tv. Were any of our Sydneysiders there, I wonder? (The group of us together last night were in Sydney a few years ago for NYE, so beautiful).

  Very tired today. Too much food last night, though only one nice glass of bubbles, with the food pattern continuing today. Weigh-in tomorrow will be unpleasant, I think. However, I am looking forward. Not calling it a fresh start just keeping on with regained control.

  Happy new year everyone🎉🎉💜

• posted by Busybee
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 14:12

  

  Happy New Year to all my BSD Challenger friends.
  We are still away (from UK and scales) though I have kept an eye on things here over the festivities. I arrived full of good intentions but the carb monster and our over generous son started me on the bad white stuff which I hadn’t eaten for months.
  I don’t know what I weigh now, but today I climb back on the wagon and will just eat BSD friendly food even though the calorie count may be up. We arrive home next Monday and will then face the weigh in ready to tackle the next three Stone Mountain.
  I will start the challenge tomorrow though the first week will be just getting back to normal and KOKOODAAT.
  X B

• posted by JGwen
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 17:00

  

  Thank you for the mention of the article on the personalised diet in the daily mail. I remember when I saw the TV program about their research I thought how interesting it would be to be able to be one of the people getting the depth of knowledge of how each type of food effected their blood sugar. I think I will def invest in one of the blood sugar measurement tools once I start to get closer to my target weight to help with maintenance.

  I think that just dropping carbs from our diets will change the ratio of different gut bacteria, but it is not the complete solution to be as effective as possible at maintaining weight loss.

  I work with horses who have problems with their hooves. One of the problems is caused by a high sugar diet. The research shows that the bacteria which break down sugars have an impact on the growth rate of the horses hooves. To much sugar in the diet and the hoof wall grows so fast that the strength of its connection between the hoof wall and the bone in the hoof is weakened, causing intense pain for the horse. What I have found interesting is that consistently horses which have had this problem and have been moved on to a low sugar diet continue to have faster than normal rates of hoof growth and any increase in sugar in their diets can cause the condition to flare up. So it suggests that reducing sugars changes the balance of gut bacteria, but, all it takes is one spike in sugar intake for the bacteria mix to change again. However changing their diet to include a considerable amount of coconut meal corrects this and the changes occur within a month. There are three possible causes, either the coconut is killing the bacteria responsible, or it is dealing with a yeast infection in the gut making the gut wall less permeable so that the by-product of digesting sugar doesn’t reach the blood stream, or its changing the PH of the gut so that range of bacteria in the gut are changed. There hasn’t been any research into which of the three effects of coconut is behind the change. They do know that with sheep feeding them a mixture of coconut and onion for 10 days both kills of any intestine parasites and also makes the sheep relatively immune to infestations of the parasites for months.

  I am playing with the idea of getting one of these blood testing kits and then experimenting by first of all taking readings and then taking a healthy portion of coconut each day for a couple of weeks and re-running the tests.

• posted by Esnecca
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 17:28

  

  That is fascinating, JGwen. One of the first things to shock me after I’d lost a significant amount of weight was the change in my toenails. Ever since I can remember, even when I was a healthy weight in my childhood, I’ve had tiny little chips for pinkie toenails. The rest of them were your average unremarkble toenails with the usual assortment of small-scale weirdnesses. At some point around the 6 month mark I noticed that they had suddenly all become perfect rectangles, strong, even, no weird angles or chips or thickened areas or pointy bits. They looked carved in marble. I could not believe my eyes. My OH, who had trimmed my toenails for years when I was too obese to reach them, was astonished by the change as well.

  I wonder if there are any studies on the effect of sugar on human nail growth. I’m be very curious to learn more about it, and how coconut plays into it. I don’t eat it daily, but I often make coconut cream puddings, add the milk to soups and curries and have a few toasted coconut chips with my bakers chocolate dessert.

• posted by Mariet
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 20:28

  

  That’s fascinating, JGwen. When I was a kid I had an aged pony who finally had to be destroyed because of chronic and worsening navicular disease, is this the same thing? Were we making her worse by our devoted grain based diet 😩

  Esnecca, as I read your post I checked my bare feet because I also have tiny chips for pinky nails and wow! Not any more. I hadn’t even noticed that they are now perfect rectangles, the podiatrist cuts them for me. I don’t eat much coconut so maybe just the lack of sugar for the past 11months.

  First weigh for me this challenge, half a kilo down. This would be good except that it’s part of the same kilo that’s been making repeat farewell appearances for the past three months.

  Day 6 of nothing off plan and no slip ups to date, that’s made me really happy.

  Marsie, we weren’t on the harbour though we were supposed to be. Two days planned sailing but the throttle cable broke and my hosts were not comfortable trying to negotiate the NYE traffic under sail alone, a wise move I think. It’s so crazy out there any summer’s day. Was scary enough getting from the heads back to the mooring through the ferry channel and cruise ship traffic without the motor.

• posted by SueBlue
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 22:01

  

  Happy New Year all 🙂

  Marsie – I live in suburban Sydney but we just watched the fireworks on tv. I don’t like big crowds much, and also didn’t like the idea of having to camp out all day in the hot sun to secure a vantage spot! We had a small family party at home, and I just stuck to vodka and soda water and then a glass of bubbly at midnight.
  Now that 2 Jan has arrived it means I’m restarting/rebooting after a week off plan. I’m starting a new 8 week 800 calories BSD round today. I say a week off plan but really it was for much of December! Consequently when I weighed myself this morning I was a whole 4kg more than I was a month ago! I know that some of this is water weight though as when I weighed myself 2 days ago I was 2.5kg less. There is no way I would have gained 2.5kg in fat in just 2 days! Although I was “off plan” I was still mainly sticking to principles and only eating about 1,000 calories per day, extra calories were the liquid kind.
  This sort of big gain in a short period of time always happens to me after holidays/weekends away and is usually gone within a few days to a week at most when I’m back on plan.
  So I’m sure I’ll be posting a loss next week – good luck to everyone else 🙂

• posted by Butterlover
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 23:29

  

  Hi everyone .Im stuck in a bad routine .there is still some junk food in the house and Im a bit stressed , so old habits of emotional eating are a problem . I’m hoping to be more focussed today.Wt is static at 82.7 kg..which is 1.4 kg higher than my lowest.I start measuring and weighing all my food today and I need to start exercising.

• posted by Butterlover
  on 1 Jan 2018 at 23:47

  

  Oops I forgot to wish you all Happy New Year..we had a quiet night watching the sydney countdown on tv. Hubby has not been feeling well.yesterday went to the Marina. The same one as Marsie to eat it was very crowded.So setled for fish and chips and Salad. I ate quite a few chips .So thats the end of the festive season now to stay on plan ODAAT. Cheers

• posted by Flick
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 05:05

  

  Hello all and happy new year!

  What fun to see everyone gearing up for a new challenge and/or a new 8 week effort. Congrats to everyone already making inroads.

  I’ve managed a 1.3kg drop in this first week of the challenge – a good start to what I hope will be a transformative year for me. Thrilled to be under 69kg now with a 7 week total loss of 9.5kg. This is now the start of Week 8 of a first round for me, I can hardly believe I’ve made it this far.

  Still enjoying terrific new sleep patterns and lovely consistent energy throughout the day. A lot of friends and family are returning to work tomorrow, so I’ll be enjoying some catching up on all those projects that slip to the wayside during the festive season.

• posted by Mixnmatch
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 07:53

  

  A half pound drop since boxing day only, but at least it wasn’t an increase. 800/40 weekdays is the plan for the next three weeks, the first week of the next challenge I will probably drop in a fasting mimicking diet 5 days, using my plant based meals only, no dairy or meat. Looking forward to this! 😀

• posted by Verano
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 08:13

  

  Happy New Year to all.

  I have put on 1lb this week but it’s not a new ‘pound’ it’s the same one that has been playing hide and seek with me for ages ….. sometimes I see it and sometimes I don’t! I haven’t been very vigilant this week I’ve just been coasting along waiting for the 8 week reboot. So today I am starting properly again and hope to show a loss next week. I am away at the moment so that makes it a little more difficult but hey no excuses I will make a plan again …. as they say ‘if fail to plan you plan to fail’ but I’m not failing this time around.

  Well done to all the losers and the maintainers, but for the rest of us this is a new day, a new week, let’s make it count.

• posted by Marsie
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 08:47

  

  I’ve just done the opposite to you, Mnm, and added another half kg since Boxing day. 63kg this morning. That’s 1kg up since 19 December.

  I know quite a few of us are going back to the start again i.e. 8 weeks strictly to plan and i wish you all well with that. For me, the thought of 8 weeks is defeating and I remain grateful to Verano (hi there, V,) for her original idea of the 4 week challenge. I’ll continue with that time frame while concentrating on removing the, so far, ever-present carb monster from my life. Moving forward, one day at a time (I’ve switched it, Busybee, mfodaat😊)

  Flick, what a great job you’re doing. You HAVE made it this far and I’m looking forward to following your further progress👏😊

  Butterlover, I know you’ve planned some heavy physical work around home in the next few days. There’s your exercise, now plan your food and you’ll be flying again😇

  SueBlue and Mariet, we lived in Sydney (Castle Hill) from 1991-95. I can’t imagine the on-water harbour traffic is any less now than it was then. Weekends and holidays it could be quite frenetic. Sue, I know what you mean about sitting in the sun just to claim a spot … OH and I chose not to line up for seats in the members at the WACA last night, just too tired to do that on a warm day after NYE.

  JGwen, so interesting, and so clever of you to link the two sets of information in this way. Keep is posted on your research, won’t you.

  Best wishes everyone, hope more positive weigh-ins are posted, and that we all do well in this new year 💜💜

• posted by JackieM
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 08:56

  

  Hi everyone, my plan is to be 57kg in 8 weeks time – only 2kg to do it (3 stone down so far) but it is a slow process for me at this end of the diet, lots of yo-yoing up and down the kilos as the go down.

  My main aim is to reduce the amount of cream I eat (we bought too much at Xmas, it’s out of date now so I will chuck it today) and to concentrate on 2 meals a day with lots of green veg and protein. To make every meal mean something nutritionally. Not to just eat meat and cheese, which is largely what happened when I was at the start of this, which I I think is OK to get the weight off for a short time but not sustainable or healthy long term.

  Good luck all, great reading your posts.

• posted by Verano
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 09:17

  

  All this talk of NYE fireworks in Sydney takes me back to an amazing NYE we spent at Milk Beach in Rose Bay about 15 years ago. It wasn’t the hubbub of the harbour but it was really magical. Would love to do it once more …..

• posted by topcac
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 09:33

  

  A very happy new year to all my fellow 4-week challengers. I hope that this new year brings you health and happiness and everything you wish for yourselves.

  Today I finally faced the scales and have gained 9lbs since 20 December. It’s a bit of a shock that it’s that much but I refuse to dwell on this and, instead have pinned up my ‘resolutions’ on my wall at work. I’m going all in on the Strict BSD800 and have started a thread for anyone that wants to join that 8 week reboot – but no pressure.

  On the plus side – all the crap in the house is gone, everyone in the house is joining me, I went for a 40 minute run yesterday, 2 work colleagues are committed to lunchtime walking with me, I have no problem avoiding alcohol and I have an extremely limited wardrobe right now so what better motivation!

  I’ll be posting on here as often as I can to keep you updated – meanwhile, I’m onto my second litre of water for the day!

  Be good – and if you can’t be good, at least eat clean!

• posted by marie123
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 12:30

  

  Happy New Year everyone

  So, when I posted on the 2017 into 2018 reflections thread a week ago I was saying I’d been doing BSD since August and only put on 1lb ages ago, and then another 1lb recently, over the whole 5 months. Well, I can now hear my lovely old Dad’s voice ringing in my ears saying ‘That’ll teach you’. I’m 10st 2lbs this morning. 2lbs up this week; 3lbs up since Christmas Eve if you count the fact that I’d gone down to 9st 13lb for a day!

  Not to worry. We’ve got a whole, lovely fresh year ahead of us, and still 3 weeks left on this challenge……. yeah! I love the title of this challenge, (thanks again, Marsie), and I’m determined to go about meeting the challenge just as it says on the tin.

  So, my original mini-target was to lose 3lb to shift down into a healthy BMI – now it’s to lose 5lbs – still completely do-able.

  I’m also sticking with just the 4 week challenge rather than doing the re-boot as I’m going to start upping my cals now (but super-slowly so shouldn’t have too much of an impact on this challenge) but, topcac, best wishes to you and everyone else starting the 8 week re-boot today. Also, thanks for the reminder about the water – keep forgetting.
  Marie

• posted by Butterlover
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 12:57

  

  HI Aĺl.still struggling to stay on track.today I tried the mindful activity from MM’s book. A piece of chocolate cake very rich lots of ganache made from strong chocolate. Looked at it for ages.imagined the flavour before eating I did not enjoy it.too rich and I felt full after a couple Of bites. I left half of it.I felt fulll for quite a while and did not want to eat till diner. Today 6000 steps better than nothing
  I boiled some eggs for tomorrow. Slowly getting back on track. Tomorrow we start gutting 2 garden sheds and a garage so plenty of exercise planned .I hope you are all feeling strong to continue the challege

• posted by JulesP
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 17:45

  

  Happy New Year All!!!
  End of first week and I’ve broken new ground, 10 stone exactly, I’ve not been this weight for a very long time. That’s 4lbs gone this week (normally a very slow loser but it was fairly recent Christmas gain so easier than the old stubborn fat) and I’m so looking forward to seeing the 9’s. Bring it on!

• posted by JackieM
  on 2 Jan 2018 at 17:47

  

  Nibble nibble nibble, snack snack snack. That would be me today. All BSD friendly but man, I do feel the nuts have to stop. It’s the dead time, or the cooking time after 4pm that’s lethal. Ho hum. Am typing here instead of finding myself another snack of peanut butter. Let’s see what the scales say tomorrow.

• posted by Marsie
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 10:02

  

  This morning the scales told me that 4/5ths of my most recently gained half kilo have gone. i.e. 63kg yesterday, 62.6kg today. Pleased with that.

  Today had the very energetic g/son with us (school holidays, both parents working, it’s a treat for us) so we walked down to the beach, 10 mins stroll. Sea breeze was already in so fairly choppy and hard work. Well, that has to be good for me, doesn’t it?

  Big tick for you, Butterlover, I know you can do this.

  Helps to have a distraction, JackieM, as I also have found when trying to ignore the peanut butter. I loved your goal for this challenge in looking carefully at all nutritional values. You’ve made such excellent progress and this can only help your maintenance.

  Yes indeed, JulesP, bring it on. Congrats on your milestone 10kg.

  My pleasure, marie123. You seem able to focus in on your goals so I’m sure you will do this 5lb. And I’m with you about the water, thanks topcac, I also keep forgetting. And, topcac,. having everyone around you onside will be an enormous benefit, I’m sure.

  Come back to Australia for another visit, Verano, but this time come over to Perth. Would love to show you around, or any other challenger for that matter.

  I’m typing this on my laptop instead of my tablet and can’t seem to bring up any emojis here except the ubiquitous smiley face so,
  wishing you all good cheer xx :):):)

• posted by Verano
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 10:24

  

  Would love to Marsie. We have been to Perth once ‘by accident’! We were flying from Hong Kong to Bali in the mid 90’s and there had been an ‘incident’ at the airport so the pilot flew on to his final destination, Perth. We were only there overnight but my abiding memory was of green spaces, supermarkets with lots of green space in front of them. Maybe an odd thing to remember but I just remember ‘space’. Who knows we may get there again. We were due to go to Sydney and cruise around New Zealand last January but had to cancel because I was ill. I think OH was a little relieved because he didn’t really fancy such a long flight. Perth is possible now non-stop from the UK sooooo …… watch this space!!

• posted by topcac
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 11:39

  

  Morning all, trying to post a bit more often for this month at least to keep me focussed. I stepped on the scales again today (another thing I will do more of this month) and have ditched 2.25lbs overnight! Probably pretty normal considering some of my gain was bound to be water weight but it’s still a boost. Can’t say the same for the headache! Still, out walking at lunchtime today and still dry and still eating clean – will get easier day by day

  best wishes to my fellow challengers – have a good day!

• posted by JGwen
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 15:31

  

  Hi Esnecca – Its not just humans who are having health problems as a result of high carb diets, horses are also suffering from a similar reaction to sugars to diabetes, but its called Laminitis. They are also suffering from insulin resistance.

  In Laminitis the connection between the wall of the hoof and the internal bone structure is fails, either the bones rotate within the hoof or drop to a low position. Either is Very painful and causes long term lameness The details of how the tissue connecting the hoof wall to bones fails is repeatedly described in research as being the same as the damage caused by diabetes. A common cause of the problem is sugar intake. Native grasses in the UK have a range of 8 to 14% sugar, over the last 200 years grass species which have higher sugar content have been imported and developed so that the modern grasses used for grazing are around 47% sugar. great for fattening up beef and sheep quickly but not so good for animals with a longer life span.

  The leading centre into this Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, Queensland, Australia they have been doing all sorts of research including monitoring the changes to gut bacteria as a result of inducing an attack, and studying glucose uptake of tissues a summary of Recent Research into Laminitis may be interesting to those who are interested in the science behind the BSD.
  https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/818f/714e5edcfb9c2851ff6de04b50d8089445a9.pdf

  To cut a long story short, at the same time that I was helping horse owners who were having to carefully monitor their horses diet to minimise carb intake (for example frost increases the sugar levels of grass, and old pasture with native grasses is not easy to find and finding hay made from old pasture isn’t easy) because their horses were prone to laminitis, I also was working with horses at a yard where they were on a feed made from coconut, where I was seeing dramatic improvements in hoof quality and connection between the wall and bone structure just from the feed. When I researched coconut there are lots of articles about how beneficial coconut is with regard to controlling diabetes. I developed a program with horse owners that where struggling to manage carb intake with horses which were suffering low grade laminitis where by feeding coconut and hay from old meadows we were able to heal the laminitis and reduce carb sensitivity.

  My main focus at present is getting my weight down, but once I am closer to my target weight I am going to spend some time playing around testing my blood sugars from different foods and then have a period of eating lots of coconut and re run the tests.

  Hi Mariet,

  Navicular is different to Laminitis, I started studying all the research into hoof structure because my horse developed Navicular and the vet gave me two options, put the horse on pain killers for 6 months and then shoot him, or shoot him now. I didn’t like those options and ended up getting quite intensely into equine hoof care. Navicular is caused by the heels of the hoof being either too narrow or too high, causing pain at the back of the foot. It can be reversed by pulling the shoes and trimming the hoof to return it too a healthy state but its a long term project, a couple of years at least.

  Sorry to any folks that find this message too geeky, I don’t know if there is a way of sending messages just to individuals on the forum.

• posted by JGwen
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 15:36

  

  I am little late in reporting the results of my first weigh in on this 4 week challenge. My weight is only 0.1kg different from the previous week, but I have lost nearly another inch off my waist, so I will take it as a positive result, especially as I haven’t been as strict as I should be with the diet over the festive season.

  I have taken up knitting again, nothing special, just making a cushion cover using a repetitive pattern but it does distract from the munchie moments when watching TV.

• posted by marie123
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 21:07

  

  JGwen – I think an inch off your waist is a great result – my waist measurements are proving impossibly slow to reduce. Also, that’s an interesting conversation about coconut. Might introduce some into my diet and see. Will let you know if I notice any difference in my nails.

  JulesP – It looks like we’re going to shift into those 9’s pretty much together. I was 10st but put on 2lbs over Christmas so might be a little behind you, but it’ll be nice to support each other down through the 9s. Where are you hoping to get to?

  Jackie – we’ve chatted about this on my recent post – I’ve eaten more meat and yoghurt on BSD than you would believe – in fact, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d eaten steak (3) before BSD. I’m determined to widen out what I eat again and definitely up my greens!

  Butterlover – hope today has gone well for you, and everyone else – good wishes for the rest of the week.

• posted by JulesP
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 21:40

  

  Hi Marie123, I’m so looking forward to seeing a 9 on the scales, I’m impressed you managed 9 13 even if it was only for a day. It will be lovely to cheer each other on through the 9s. I’ve recently whispered quietly to myself that 8st 7lbs would be an incredible weight to be so that’s my pipe dream. 9 and a half was my initial goal but I now see there will still be a lot of fat to shift even when I get there. My tummy seems to be the most difficult to lose from. What is your goal?

• posted by Inka13
  on 3 Jan 2018 at 21:43

  

  Hi JGwen,
  I found your post on laminitis really interesting and makes complete sense! It’s such an awful affliction for horses and so great that this different diet can help so much. Will pass it on to some of my lucky friends who are horse owners. I have even heard recently of dogs with diabetes, presumably from all the grain-heavy commercial dog food out there.
  I try to feed ours grain- free food with lots of eggs, sardines and they adore fresh veg, I have an Irish wolfhound in particular who adores raw cabbage, cauliflower etc, and begs for scraps of these when I’m cooking!
  Great result on your waist loss too, scales can be frustrating but the tape measure never lies!

• posted by Butterlover
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 00:14

  

  Morning All.good news I lost . 4kg yesterday .we can now park the car in the garage.for the first time in 10 years . we used it as a hangout space for our 3 boys.After they left home it became a dumping ground for their stuff.now we have a selection play stations with games.bikes .every kind or sports equipment
  .motor bikes stereos.microwaves to dispose of and 2 more sheds to sort out.Sorry the moral of the story is when they move out make them take their stuff.At least 2 more days of work I may lose another kilo.thanks for all you support.

• posted by Busybee
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 01:17

  

  Hi Marsie and happy New Year.
  I agree that it is time we moved forward rather than keeping on, so when we are home next week I intend to move on, lose the weight I know I have gained, and then tackle the next three stone.
  Oh, and well done on keeping control over the past couple of weeks- I have not been so good but have got back on track a little since New Year’s Day by ditching the white stuff, though still having too much alcohol! But we are on holiday and loving our time with the family.
  X B

• posted by Natalie
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 06:02

  

  JGwen I found that really interesting, and Inka13 it never occurred to me before but OF COURSE it’s not just people feeding their dogs too much, or too many treats! It’s all those commercial dog foods. Those dry foods in particular must be very high in carbs. So we’re not just damaging our own bodies, we’re unwittingly mistreating our pets, thinking we’re giving them a ‘scientifically balanced’ diet. I don’t currently own a pet, but when I’ve had dogs I couldn’t stand the smell of canned dog food so gave them dry food (often with a raw egg because it looked rather dry and unappealing) plus plenty of bones and table scraps. Definitely something to rethink for the future.

• posted by Natalie
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 06:05

  

  Lol Butterlover your first sentence reads like you can now fit your car in the garage because you lost .4 kg and you were personally taking up too much space before! Until I read on for the explanation.

• posted by Butterlover
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 06:43

  

  Haha Natalie. I just read my post and had a good laugh.we are finished emptying our sheds now we have junk all over the yard and there have been some challenging discusions about what to keep and what to get rid of.tomorrow we start trying to give away or sell some stuff.The skip is full and I need to go to the recycling center.Im exhausted and sunburnt .Hopefully the scales will show a good result tomorrow .Im on the couch for the rest of today.I hope everyone is having a good day .

• posted by Milalin
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 22:53

  

  Hi everyone. I hope you’re all having a good week. I just want to update a bit and say how much I love seeing the notifications come up for this thread. I feel a bit mean that I’m not joining into the conversations more. But just reading others comments and discussions has really cheered me on.
  Now having said that I’ve been having another iffy week. I haven’t settled down yet but I’m sticking to the principles . So I’m not posting a weight loss yet but given that I’ve been quite unwell and that involved an emergency admission I’m actually doing okay. Lots of tests revealed just how successful this is. I wrote before about my renal dietician being very sceptical of this diet for me. Yesterday she said my numbers were perfect . So she can only talk about exercise now! My potassium had dropped to 4.3 which is great for me. It just meant instead of my huge salads I am having small ones and now boil veges before I make dishes to wash off the potassium. I’ve worked out how to do it all successfully. I’ve also lost blood so I’m allowed plenty of protein. So I’m enjoying steaks.
  I also saw another of my surgeons on Wednesday and it’s now planned to do 3 operations in one with 3 surgeons on the 25.1 he was really pleased with my weight loss and I’m aiming to lose another 4 kg before surgery.
  Meanwhile with all my medical drama I haven’t had energy to cook and I’ve been in hospital so my go to is a variation on the no- carb ploughmans plate and when in hospital I order 2x sandwiches and just eat the fillings . In renal they are high protein mixed and no salt etc beef, egg, cheese, chicken etc I start the day with yoghurt and fresh berries. My snack is 10 almonds. I feel I’m going ok but a bit over on calories when I have extra nuts. Okay I’ll stop raving on now. Enjoy your journey, I eat the best I can afford and as fresh as possible. When I can I shop at a farmers market. Right now I’m enjoying fresh raspberries every day. Wishing you all every success, good health and happiness x

• posted by marie123
  on 4 Jan 2018 at 23:55

  

  Butterlover – I’ve still got a pram hanging around in our garage – now, that is going back some! Clearing out the garage is one of the things that go on my list of things to do every January for March/April. In March/April I decide it’s the garden that really needs doing. De-cluttering and losing weight – double well done that woman!

  JulesP – At my heaviest I was 14st 4lb. When I started BSD at the beginning of August I was 13st 1lb. The only way I could go was to set small, but meaningful to me, mini-goals to begin with. After a few weeks I set a goal to get to the top of my healthy BMI (9st 11lb). Like you, it’s only now when I’m close to that goal that I’m beginning to think about the 8’s.

  I definitely want to get to 9 stone. Then, I’m going to see where things are at. Like you right now I’ve still got a lot of fat around the tummy. I’d like to reduce my visceral fat and get to a good waist measurement.

  Being at 8st something would be brilliant. 8st 7lb has a nice ring to it – and isn’t a pipe dream, Jules.
  We can both get there – we only need to lose 1 stone and then a little bit more. Yeah!

  Hope everyone is doing well – stick with it over the weekend.
  Marie x

• posted by marie123
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 00:06

  

  Milalin

  I’ve just seen your post. I’ve been wondering how you were doing so I’m so pleased to hear from you.

  I’m genuinely thrilled for you. Having perfect numbers so quickly, that’s fantastic. I read before about the potassium levels dropping but didn’t comment because I wasn’t quite sure what it meant ! – but it’s obviously good.

  You are one impressive woman.

  Take care
  Marie x

• posted by Milalin
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 00:38

  

  Thanks Marie, they didn’t check the HbA 1C yet but I know it will be good too. Potassium too high or low is a huge problem. In renal failure it’s one of the main things our kidneys can’t remove. Phosphorus is another. I had v high potassium levels which put me at risk of sudden heart attack. As I’ve already had 2, I certainly don’t want another. Plus I have the surgeries coming soon.
  I just do what what I need to most of the time. I have to focus on small steps or I’d be overwhelmed. 3 of my conditions are predominantly genetic . One, PKD is a genetic kidney disease. My family had no history of it so I’m the unlucky mutant. Having said that, I have made the most of the many years of reasonable health. Getting past al that is ahead of me now there is the chance of a new life after transplant . Many don’t have that option. I might be repeating myself, but my dad is my hero . He has survived many major medical emergencies including cancer and heart conditions . It all started dramatically in his 60s. He’s 89 and so positive and encourages me. He always says I’ll be alright because I’m a fighter like him when it comes to hospitals! Thanks for your v positive message and best wishes for your success x

• posted by marie123
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 01:19

  

  Hi Mitalin

  Oh, I didn’t know that about potassium – thanks for explaining it to me, and I can understand about focusing on what needs to be done, and small steps – that’s how I tend to deal with things.

  Yes, I remember – body surfing, Bora Bora and Moorea – and you could hear the love you have for your Dad when you talked about going to the beach together.

  It sounds to me like father, like daughter. x

  n.b. It’s 1-15 am here – my husband is downstairs listening to the Ashes – England vs Australia (or vice versa ) – I’m off to bed before he comes up and starts giving me a detailed account of how things are going!

• posted by Milalin
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 01:33

  

  Marie, hahaha I’ve been a ‘cricket wife’ once or twice in my life!
  It’s great for my dad as we have both tennis and cricket which he loves and used to play. He’s recently moved into care and I’m sure watching sports has made the transition a lot easier. It’s 12.30pm here. I’m on the dialysis machine another hour … then freedom.
  Another favourite memory esp Boxing Day picnics. We didn’t have a cricket bat but a piece of paling fence that had broken in the right shape to use as a bat. That with a tennis ball at picnics on George’s river and Royal National Park, which also had tennis courts. Childhood memories…❤️

• posted by Marsie
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 10:06

  

  Milalin, that sounds like a bad news/good news story …. commiserations on the need for emergency admission, but congratulations for addressing your needs with this WOE and reaping the rewards of good numbers. That is sure to be a boost to your confidence. Not so long, really, before your op and i guess that having the 3 done at the same time, while complex, might cut down on the to-ing and fro-ing to hospital. Best wishes with it all and with your 4kg goal.

  Oh, Marie, I’m laughing at your Ashes situation. I do the same in reverse, exc it’s me downstairs watching, when it’s ‘your’ turn to have them. At the moment they’re in Sydney which is 3 hours ahead of us in Perth so the tv was on at 7.00am today. That’s mainly for OH as I tend to carry my little radio around with one of the earbuds plugged into an ear. That way I can at least get on with stuff instead of being stuck in front of the screen.

  Verano, when that first non-stop flight was announced it was booked out within a couple of hours, Perth-London. Don’t know about the reverse flight. And I don’t know about subsequent bookings. Also, I don’t know if I want to be in that cocoon for 19 hours. These days we try to break our journey midway for a couple of days. Seems to help with the aches and pains and jetlag. But who knows, minds can be changed.

  Since Tuesday’s expected, but still disappointing, weigh-in I have been seeing little losses. So moving forward successfully at this stage but I won’t tempt fate by recording now, I’ll wait until I can see the full week’s result.

  Keep going everyone. MFODAAT 😊

• posted by Natalie
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 10:36

  

  I’m the one who watches cricket here (in Sydney), my husband is so sick of it! But maybe he thinks it’s not as bad as all the house hunting, renovation, and ‘tiny house’ shows I watch in the off season! Hmm, just asked him, and he can’t decide which is worse! I nap to test cricket, so soporific, but I’m really into Big Bash 20/20 games – watching it right now. My team, Sydney Sixers, are not playing tonight and they are doing really badly this year, 0 for 4.

  Milalin we used to play paddock cricket on my grandparents farm, into the river was six and out.

• posted by Milalin
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 12:11

  

  Great memories Natalie. I’m lost with it all now. The last cricket I watched was indoor and I wasn’t really watching the game, just the boyfriend!😂

• posted by Milalin
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 12:30

  

  Thanks Marsie it’s been a couple of tough days. Hoping tomorrow is better.
  At least I get Sunday and Monday off from hospital this week! I really want to focus on the diet. I know I’m eating the right things but my meal times and quantities are out of whack still.
  Tonight was another assembly dinner. Seafood – prawns and crab with a small salad and walnuts followed by raspberries and cream … mmm… was feeling a lot better, late, so I really enjoyed that. Tomorrow’s another day…
  it’s still a far cry from the other white stuff at least. I’ve only been a bit tempted for pastry once so far and I managed to resist. As others have said “ cheese and nuts” are my weaknesses. I’m limiting myself to walnuts, Brazil and almonds. I find the oldest, tastiest, vintage, black wax cheeses and cut a small amount into a tiny condiment dish and eat it with celery and cucumber straws. Sometimes it works and other times I go back for more…
  Wherever you all are in your quest I wish everyone a good night or morning and success x

• posted by Verano
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 15:56

  

  Marsie no I think 19 hours might be just a stretch too far for me too. I’m ok for 12 or 13 and then I get cabin fever! I have been to Australia both ways, stopping for a few days and just getting off one plane and straight onto another. Either way it’s a long long way! But worth it!

• posted by topcac
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 17:54

  

  Brief summary of today – lost more weight, been walking, eaten clean – managed to convince the Board to do a ‘Clean 18’ campaign for healthy eating and fitness across the company and I’m in charge! That means no more having to endure cakes and sweets outside my office, extra time allowed for walking at lunchtime, in-house boot camp once a week (not sure about that) and weekly weigh-ins for those that want to.

  Bring it!

• posted by Natalie
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 21:20

  

  Topcac that is fantastic! So good for you and for everyone else you work with too. Well done. Work can be a really challenging environment when it’s full of cakes and junk. I used to the the perpetrator (20 years ago) as head of the social club in a big office. Birthday morning teas at least twice a week and always rubbish available for purchase – next to my desk! – to raise money for our Christmas party. No wonder I gradually gained weight. Probably a lot of my co-workers did too.

• posted by SueBlue
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 22:13

  

  Topcac that is great! It inspires me to suggest something like this at our next team meeting. I work in a small team of 7 (organisation has about 1000 employees) and each week people bring in cakes & lollies and leave them on the communal table in the lunch/meeting room. It would be lovely to not have them staring me in the face when I’m eating my salads 🙂
  We did have boot camp at work a few years ago, I really enjoyed it. It was at lunchtimes though so a bit of a manic rush to get to the training location, change, work out, shower & change and get back to work all within an hour! It was especially challenging when I had meetings straight after lunch, and I’d arrive red-faced from the exertion and hungry as there was no time to eat!
  But well done on suggesting this to your company and them adopting it 👍

• posted by JulesP
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 22:41

  

  Ecstatic this morning to see 9st 13 on the scales – I’ve made it into the 9’s!!! I won’t dare weigh myself again in case I’ve slipped out. That’s the first of my goals for this challenge met, will try on my goal trousers tomorrow and see if the other is reached.

• posted by marie123
  on 5 Jan 2018 at 23:22

  

  Just popped on to say

  Jules – Hurray, hurray, hurray – if I knew how to insert emojis I would, but I don’t, so I won’t.
  Quite right – do nothing, weigh nothing until Tuesday.

  Topcac – I agree with SueBlue and Natalie – think that’s brilliant !

• posted by JackieM
  on 6 Jan 2018 at 09:54

  

  Popping in to say well done to all.

  Funny holiday weight wise. Hit lowest of 58.9kg when Ill and lost appetite. Highest of 61.4kg when I started eating too many peanuts.

  Today 60kg flat. Achieved by stopping eating at 7.30pm and not starting before 10.30am (yesterday after 12noon as was driving). Having more water. Swerving away from peanuts. Whole Earth do a peanut spread with seeds that’s lower in carbs than peanuts so had a couple of spoons of that (this was not willpower this was the jar being nearly empty but served a purpose).

  My not very strong aim is to be 57kg. My absolutely iron will requirement is to be 60.xkg where x does not exceed 5.

  No exercise apart from dog walks as have sinusitis which makes bending painful. Back to gym next week though, to keep muscle tone up.

• posted by JulesP
  on 6 Jan 2018 at 09:57

  

  Thanks Marie, hope you’re heading in the right direction too, you’re doing so brilliantly. Well I’ve managed to fasten up those trousers but serious muffin top and don’t think I could safely sit down in them for long, another few pounds to go before they move to regular use. However, there were two other pairs of old jeans in the “to aim for” pile which now fit beautifully again! And I found a lovely Kookai dress in a charity shop yesterday size 8 which I bought without trying on as a new “to aim for” dress and just tried it on – fits beautifully!style disguises tummy well. In the words of the wonderful Esnecca, not one step backwards – size 8 and below only from now on!

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