Welcome to April everyone.

This month we are going to return to ‘One Month at a Time’ again to see if that helps. Personally, I lost my way on the three month challenge as I think it was just a bit too long for my short concentration span.

So to oldies, newbies and everyone else tuning in let’s make April an ‘astounding’ month. It’s a short month just 30 days so let’s try and settle into our own routines and really make some headway with our individual goals this month. Mine is just 1lb per week!

Hello all, I am also aiming at a 1lb per week, and aiming to fit more strength work in to my weekly exercise plan where I currently run at least 3 times a week. I’ve found loosing the weight has left me with slightly loose skin so hope the strength work will tone me up a little.

Here’s to April – lets hope it’s a good one and don’t beat ourselves up if we have a wobble

Thanks for this new thread V.
I see you worked it out Newbie! 😂🫣
Great to be on the site, it helps me to keep on the straight and narrow… as far as possible! 😂🤞

Hi Verano, thank you for setting up 🙂

1lb per week sounds good.

Reply to Becca re 5:2 in the March thread.

From what I understand, the goal for the non-fasting days is uncounted but portion controlled and still same type of healthy food but you can add more plus some complex carbohydrates. I’m using the fast 800 app and about to switch from the very fast 800 to the 3:4 transition (4 weeks) (4 days fasting and 3 not)- I was interested to know about the non-fasting days on the 3:4, 5:2 and way of life plans, and they told me they work out around 1500 calories- so I think what you are proposing is actually pretty close to the 5:2 as they advise. Anyhow, most of my days are more like 1500 already, but still with great nutrition as specified by this WOE, as I’ve been kind of listening to what my body is asking for and thinking about enough protein, fibre etc as a whole. I’m also doing a lot of exercise so I want to make sure my body has enough fuel. I’ll be aiming to do some days as fasting (and they describe that as 800-1000 cals) and some not, as per 3:4 or 5:2, so I think we’ll both be doing something similar. So, please keep posting! 🙂

Thanks for the kind reply, Tulip! I’ll be interested to see how you get on, too. Did you have success with your weeks on Fast 800?
Also thanks to you, Verano, for your reply to me in the previous thread, and thanks for setting up April and monitoring things.
Becca

Good afternoon.
I’ve finally found the replies to the threads in my spam folder! At least I’m now getting them .
So the first day of a new month which I always find uplifting. New start. Clean slate etc. etc.

My year so far has been a case of paddling like mad just to stand still. But hey I guess that’s better than gaining. I really do feel in the need of a new regime. I think sometimes we get so bogged down with advice from here, there and everywhere that we then start taking a bit of this one and a bit of that one and end up just confused. My goal over the next couple of days is just to make a clear ‘plan’. I know it has to be realistic, and it has to fit my lifestyle as it is. We can’t put ‘life’ on hold until we have reached that ‘perfect goal’, we will miss too much ‘living’ and that can never be recaptured.

So here’s to an ‘Astounding’ April that reaches and exceeds all our goals…. make them achievable and we will all do this!

Becca- I’ve been eating more than 800 generally, but on plan with type of food and loving it. I’ve lost 1 stone out of the 3 I need to lose 🙂

Hello & I have finally been able to log on after four tries during the last two days & messaging to the Tech team it’s sooo frustrating!!!
Anyway thank you for setting up this thread Verano & I am also trying to follow a modified reverse 2:5 with eating less during weekdays & doing daily TRE because I don’t eat breakfast then fasting after supper until lunch the following day plus relaxing my calorie intake at weekends to include some wine & a pudding. However I will relax over Easter & eat an Easter egg 😀🫣
I hope that I will be able to continue posting & not prevented by the Tech team.🤞🤞
Keep on going everyone & if I cant post before Easter & I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter holiday 🐥🐇🥂
Margaret xx

I am fasting today from last night until 6-0pm supper tonight so about 23 hours fast which I haven’t done for a long time but so far so good 🤞🤞
Supper will be a Turkey stir fry & high protein lentil noodles plus lots of veg.
I will weigh tomorrow & will post my result.
Margaret xx

Wendy I also have problems but I just don’t get notices which now seem to go straight into my spam folder …. sometimes!
Hope your fast goes well.

Quiet day for me today although over the last few weeks we’ve had the grout between our floor tiles cleaned. WOW what a difference I almost feel as though I live in a new house…. really good ‘spring clean’!

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Newbie2026 I just realised that you are newly diagnosed with T2. The shock is huge. We all feel utterly distraught, ashamed and suffer from …. it’s my fault’ syndrome. We have all been there.

I don’t know, are on medication? But you know it isn’t ’your fault’ and it can be reversed with low carb eating. Do you have any numbers?

I came here 10 years ago almost and my T2 was put in remission within months and I’ve been medication free for the last 9+ years. It was only last year that my practice nurse thought I could actually be classed as ‘reversed’!!!

You can do this just cut the carbs, come to these threads for help and advice and keep going. You will get there!

Happy Good Friday everyone, Verano thank you for your message. so I was diagnosed 3 months ago on new years eve. My HBA1C was 112mmol/mol (17.1mmol/L), no symptoms at all, I was put on metformin 500mg 3 times a day (should have gone to 4 tablets but the nurse was pleased with my progress so said to stay on 3 tablets), my hba1c blood test was repeated 2nd March (after just 2months) and came back at 62mmol (9.8), I paid to have another test done last week (giving my bloods 3 months to regenerate) and I got the results today and its 54mmol (8.7), I’ve done 8 weeks of 800calories but with my exercise I’ve struggled with energy levels so I’ve increased to 1200 calories a day and feel much better and this week will introduce strength training 3 times a week and running 3 times a week and a day of rest. I’ve read so many great reversal stories but feel like I’m not making the grade as I’m still so far away from “normal range”, am I expecting too much in the first 3 months? Is this still do-able? I’m not a quitter i just like to know that what I’m doing will get me off the tablets, I know the food plan is life long and I’m all for that I just want to be medication free, I guess I’m a little low as I was hoping for more of a decrease (yes I am incredibly hard on myself and a loss is a loss), I’ve also lost 1.5stone since being diagnosed and a further 2 stone since June last year. I’ve cut out white carbs, given up all my favourite foods, and am surrounded by diabetic reading books. I’ve seen my diabetic nurse 2 weeks after diagnosis and have been left to my own devices. I really appreciate reading all your messages of advice, support and chit chat, i’ts so nice to know I’m not alone 😀

Also, can I please ask what time people have their evening meal by, trying to reduce my morning reading and know this can be a contributing factor, thank you

Newbie firstly there is ‘no grade’! We are all individual and things happen at different times. Your HbA1c was very high and to get it down by 50% in such a short space of time is really good.

I think one of the great misconceptions is that ‘weight’ is the magic secret to reversing T2. Weight is a factor but carbs are the real secret. I’m sure you’ve probably heard of TOFIs, Thin on the Outside Fat on the Inside. So, yes you can be thin (on the outside) but still have diabetes. The real secret is controlling the carbs. Simple carbs are the real problem, colour isn’t that important. Brown rice is better than white but still high in carbs. Lots of ‘brown’ bread is really not much better than white. Even some fruits are high carb such as pineapple, mango and other ‘exotic’ fruits, and even apples, for example having roughly 20g of carbs in a medium one. Sorry if I’m ‘preaching to the converted’ but concentrate on the carbs before the calories. Most people try to stay at lower than 50g a day but some who follow a keto diet go down to 20g. I’ve never really managed to get that low but still manage to control my blood sugars. Trial and error.

I don’t know about an optimum time for eating your last meal in the evening but I personally stop eating by 7pm when at home but if we’re away or out it’s later and I can’t say that I’ve noticed much difference in my blood sugars.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Newbie, just popping on to say that you are doing incredibly well at 3 months, especially given how high your HbA1c was. Keep in mind that red blood cells take 120 days to turn over, so if you think about it, only 3/4 of your cells have turned over in the 3 months and you still have roughly 1/4 of the cells that are still whooshing around your blood vessels that are still in a highly glycated state that aren’t reflective of how you are caring for yourself today. I think if you keep going with the low carb eating and exercise for another month or two and get it checked again, you will be astounded at the change – I estimate somewhere in the 6.5 to 7.0 range, which is getting down into pre-diabetes territory. To do this in 4-6 months is simply amazing. Give yourself a big pat on the back! And keep going. You’ve got this!
I am not diabetic, but reactive hypoglycemic and I have definitely noticed through wearing a continuous glucose monitor that I really struggle with my glucose control in the evening, and if I eat too late or the wrong thing I will have quite a severe crash overnight. But it is very individual. Some people process food and carbs better in the evening than the morning. I tend to delay breakfast and have a light one around 10 am, and then lunch around 12:30, which can be my biggest meal of the day. Like Verano, I always try to finish eating by 7pm (so that means typically a 15 hour fast every day) and I keep my dinners very low carb. The only carbs come from vegetables like broccoli. If I’m eating higher carb, I do better if I finish eating by around 5pm which is usually not possible given the way my life works, so I choose very low carb instead.

Oh, and Newbie, one thing you could look at doing after your evening meal is just some gentle movement. It sounds like you are doing a lot of exercise already (do go carefully on how much you are ramping this up too because you don’t want to get injured!), and this does not have to be much. Just a 10-15min walk will be quite effective at dampening the blood sugar spike from your evening meal. If you don’t have time for that, a few sets of body weight exercises like squats and lunges where you are using the large muscles in your legs can help too.

Arcticfox nice to ‘see’ you here. You’re doing really well. Just keep going it can only get better!

So Easter is over and done and I hope everyone enjoyed it. But …now we’re back to reality. I’ve managed to get back on track today but have to admit that the first three months of this year have seen me just ‘cruising along’ , no loss, no gain. I guess now is the time to make a decision …. to lose weight or coast along as I am? Don’t know how you’re all doing out there.

Carry on or make changes???

Thank you Verano and ArcticFox for your messages. So I’ve cut out bread almost completely, the only time I have any is if my partner has baked a fresh loaf of sourdough, I allow myself one slice toasted with almond butter then I usually go and run it off afterwards 🤣. I dont eat pasta now except lentil pasta maybe once a week, we dont cook with potatoes anymore, and I’ve swapped out rice to cauliflower rice or konjac rice or lentils, so I’m trying to cut the carbs down, I dont eat biscuits, cakes, and seldom have crisps, if I do they are for a special occasion and I have lentil ones or peanuts as I read on a feed that someone said peanuts weren’t too bad for glucose levels although very high in calories.
I’m pleased with how I’m doing and with the advice and encouragement from your messages I will continue the plan.
Easter was incredibly bad as my dog was poorly and I was in survival mode of no sleep and lots of dog bed washing (I needn’t say anymore on that) for 3 nights so I fell off the plan to a degree but got back on it today, I followed your advice about food times and finished eating my dinner today by 6.00pm, then went for a 4mile run at 7pm, I didnt have my normal pudding snack when I got in just a cup of tea, lets see if my results in the morning are better. I normally have my breakfast at 10am so will also be going 15 hours without anything.
Anyway thats a lot of waffle, but I just wanted to say thank you for your advice, kind words and encouragement, here’s to April!!

Verano, in response to your message, are you happy to cruise along, or do you need or want to lose any weight? I’d say that the first 3 months were good as you maintained where you were at and didn’t put on any weight so thats a positive. You could maybe tweak one or two things and see if that makes any difference, see it as an experiment and if you get results you are happy with then stick with it, if not change it up a little bit. I know thats probably not very helpful, but sometimes plodding along is boring but it’s safe 😀

Good afternoon and a lovely sunny one here!

Newbie I both need and want to lose weight but I always find it so hard during the winter especially with the long dark days. I’m sure I suffer with SAD and I’m afraid a heart warming stew looks much more appealing than a ‘salad’! Anyway, no more excuses. The clocks have jumped forward, the days are longer and brighter. I’m still not a salad fan but at least I don’t feel the need for ‘winter’ food.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunnier weather. Hope those of us who are floundering have all found a way forward. Onward we go, and s-g says we just have to keeping on keeping on……

Interesting what you say about salad in winter, Verano. I find the same. This winter with the global situation we were trying to buy local and we don’t have much in the way of fresh salad except some head lettuce from a couple of indoor farms and greenhouses, but I really only just had it a couple of times and the last bag went rotten in the fridge before I could finish it, so I just stuck with mostly frozen local veg this winter and it was perfectly fine. A farmer friend who grows veggies across the valley from me gave me some leeks last fall and I chopped them up and froze them and I’ve had them all winter to put in soups and stirfrys. I just had the first harvest of my overwintered spinach (fresh greens at last!) and now that the weather is warmer, I have been having them as a salad. I had some last night with feta cheese, kabocha squash cubes and pumpkin seeds with a Greek yogurt lemon and dill dressing. Delicious!
Newbie, I know that the phase you are in feels a lot like deprivation. It is no small thing to completely change the way you are eating. Rest assured though that you will find new favourites and if you do eventually try some of the old foods that you used to eat regularly, you will likely find that your tastes have completely changed and you may even wonder how you used to tolerate such bland stodge. Your brain likely is remembering them as delicious now because the food you are eating now is not giving you as big a dopamine hit. One of the things I have learned to do as I’m in the process of probably being diagnosed with ADHD is to recognize that food cravings are often a sign that my brain is desperately trying to raise dopamine levels, and I’ve written up a ‘dopamine menu’ of things other than food that I can do to satisfy it that may even be more effective. If you do a search for ‘non-food treats’ there is an old thread that comes up where everyone put their ideas for doing just this.

Verano, your question has jostled my thinking about what has worked for me and what has not worked for me up till now in regard to weight loss. That’s easy to answer. At the end of the year (2025), between mid-October and mid-December, I stuck mainly to 800 calories and low carb. I lost 33 pounds in 2 months. Bear in mind, I am extremely overweight, but that is still an amazing result. I also lowered my A1c from 7.5 to 6.0.

A lot of up and down since then. The bad news is that I did not keep off any more weight lost, and probably did not keep the lowered A1c, but the good news is that I kept off the initial chunk from those first two months.

So I’ve reached a fairly obvious conclusion. Go back to what was working before Christmas. Use the next 12 weeks to get off another sizeable chunk. Get the blood sugar back down. Start to build a bit of muscle strength. Clean up my sleep schedule.

Tomorrow I’ll go shopping and Friday I’ll begin. Every Friday I’ll weigh in and post here for accountability. Between April 10 and July 2, I hope to succeed in losing another good chunk of weight. Then I’ll decide how to proceed after that.

Basing this on Dr. Mosley’s Fast 800 Keto:
— 800-1000 calories
— Protein at least 60 gm, but hopefully higher.
— Carbs below 50 gm, but hopefully lower, and these should be healthy whole-food carbs like vegetables and low-sugar fruits.
— Avoid processed foods and artificial sweeteners.
— Aim for an 8-hour eating window (in my case, usually 11:30-7:30 or thereabouts).
— I’ll be trying to get to bed by 10 (will be a challenge for me) and up by 7 (also a challenge for me), so that I can be more productive in the mornings with caring for the house and yard, getting some exercise, etc. Hope to clean up my environment along with my physical health.

Thanks in advance for all the support, friends.
–Becca

Good afternoon.

Arcticfox I love spinach and I must say your dressing sounds lovely…. recipe please?

Becca you’ve done really well to keep off your original weight loss. I think lots of us suffer during the winter months. You sound like you have a really solid plan now and you know I think that’s half the battle. I always think the ‘first flush’ of any eating plan is the simplest, for want of a better word, and usually the most successful part of any plan.

I think I’m just ‘stale’ . When the Blood Sugar Diet first came out it was refreshingly different. Now 10 years later, with numerous ‘scientific’ studies, lots of ‘new’ theories and endless books I know that my priority is to keep my blood sugar in the ‘normal’ range and I know that refined carbs are my ‘enemy’. I admit that over the last few years I’ve been indulging more and more in my ‘enemy’ and whilst I’ve managed to ‘manage’ my blood sugar my weight has had a ‘mind of it’s own’!

Anyway, I guess, in truth, we all actually know what we need to do and how to do it. Maybe it’s just the ‘motivation’ that’s lacking???

Just for one day let’s make Friday the day when we only eat ‘healthy’ food. One day at a time…….

Verano, I have to sheepishly admit that the dressing came out of a bottle, so I don’t have the exact proportions, but it is essentially Greek yogurt, lemon juice and dill.

Good afternoon.

Arcticfox thank you for that you made me look up yogurt dressing recipes and there are loads mainly with lemon and garlic and then more or less whatever herb you fancy. I’m having fish tonight so I think I’ll make a tarragon and yogurt dressing as I don’t have any dill. I think it will be lovely with salad.

Today I started new ‘journal’ just noting down what I’m eating at each meal but not the amounts at the moment. Becca your post made me think!
So far Friday has only been ‘healthy’ with just one more meal to go!

I like the journal idea, Verano. Just writing down what you eat, even without counting, is helpful for accountability, I think.

I’m having a hard time getting myself onboard with the idea of going back to extreme low calories and low carb, because I know it’s not sustainable for me. I tell myself, just get the weight off, and then you can work on a sustainable life plan. But as you said the other day about everything seeming stale… I feel the same. It’s all very depressing, to be honest. I’m 71 and have been doing diets since I was 14. Dieting has consumed a tremendous amount of energy in my life, and yet I still haven’t mastered intuitive healthy eating.

I fear I’ve announced an intention that I’m not really up to following through on. Maybe your idea of just writing down what I eat, and not worrying about numbers, is the most gentle and encouraging way to proceed. I bought a pretty new journal on my trip. Life is short, and food is one of my only real pleasures and comforts, so I want to honor those feelings while still taking better care of myself.

With a big sigh… Becca

Postscript to this morning’s whine…
I actually did manage to get started today, in a manner of speaking. I had a premade protein shake followed by coffee with half-and-half (which, if you’re from outside of the US, is half cream/half milk, sold mixed together in a carton – more satisfying than milk, fewer calories than cream). Later had a small salad with ham, turkey and cheese. This evening I had a chicken thigh, a baked potato with cream cheese (yes, a potato!) and afterward some strawberries with cream and liquid allulose, which is a carb-and-calorie-free sweetener which supposedly has some possible benefits, if I remember correctly.

I feel very satisfied tonight, and kept my calories to 910 and my carbs to 50. Protein was 76 gm.

Will see if I can lose a bit before next Friday’s weigh-in. One day at a time. I feel more relaxed knowing that I’m not going to try to do without carbs entirely, which is a mistake I often make. It’s not only hard to do, but I’m convinced it raises cortisol, a stress hormone.

Good evening everyone, so I’ve lost 1.5lb since Easter so I’m happy with that, its very slow and steady. I’m sticking to eating between 10am and 7pm and that seems to be helping with my fasting reading so thats good, I’ve been taking the dog out after dinner for a little walk so hopefully that is helping. Ive kept a food diary and a personal feelings diary since January just to help me on the way, its nice to go back and read how I’ve been feeling etc.
I’ve been having salads for lunch everyday as it’s an easy thing for me to take to work, but I understand how everyone feels about salads in winter. What do people have for their lunches if you aren’t at home to cook anything? I made cauliflower egg fried rice today and it was actually ok I was pleasantly surprised. I’m struggling to keep my good carbs to under 50g, how is everyone doing it? I don’t have any naughty carbs and I try to be careful but by the end of the day it’s still over 50g.
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, keep battling on 😀

Good evening all,
It seems to me, reading all your posts that you are all amazing in April!

I, once again, struggled with Easter, my birthday and our wedding anniversary all in the space of a week! Too much Hotel Chocolat! 🤦‍♀️
However, I am pleased to report that in the last 6 days I have been extremely strict with myself, no bad carbs, eating supper by 7.00 then getting out and about with a few jobs! So I have lost the weight I put back on over Easter and weighed in at dead on 10 stone this morning! 😄 lowest since before I indulged over Christmas! As I was 9.5 last summer, there is still a way to go but I am determined not to let it all creep back on as I did over the pandemic and illness! 15.5 stone in 2024 was incapacitating!
I still write a diary of everything I eat, but omit cups of tea and coffee! All last spring I also calculated the carb and calorie content…
Newbie, I remain low carb and did actually manage to keep under 50g for nearly a year by only eating the low carb vegetables ! I have now added carrots etc back into my diet so it is more like 80-90 now.
I printed off sheets with pics and carb levels (found on the internet) laminated and stuck them on my fridge… a good reminder of what is higher carb even if it is not high carb!
Working up to the diabetic clinic at the end of the month!! 🤞🤔
As S-G says, keeping on, keeping on!
Happy weekend everyone.
K xx

Very well done Pootle I wish that I was so self disciplined but I have managed to lose 0.5 lbs but must do much better!
I hope everyone has a good next week.
Margaret xx

Good morning!

Wendy a loss is a loss!

Pootle well done! I think you have found the secret in cutting back straight after any indulgent time that way you don’t ’drift’ back into bad habits.

Becca it’s a good idea to write down what you are going to eat BEFORE eating then you might decide to leave something off your plate! Have you tried Greek yogurt instead of cream? It’s so easy to underestimate how much cream you are actually pouring. Also it might be an idea to try and do without the sweetener that way you do eventually lose any ‘sweet tooth’ and in fact I find lots of foods too sweet now!

Newbie what a good idea to print of the sheets and pin them to your fridge. I don’t know if you used the dietdoctor site but that has brilliant graphics.

Anyway, the sun is shining here this morning, hope it is with you too. The start of a new week so a ‘new start’ for each of us. One day at a time….

Thank you Verano for setting up this thread. I have to agree that the 3 month thread didnt work for me either. I did so well in the first couple of weeks that I slackened off after that. My reasoning was that I was absolutely fed up with having to set up these threads with no help from anyone. First I abandoned the weekly one and we to monthly. I know it is only once a month having to think of a title, say a few words and then keep it going by welcoming old and new and keeping people motivated. I have had enough. I like Veranos idea that we share it out and I am happy to take on the May thread but would ask that someone else kindly volunteer for June. Before you say you dont know how to do it then think back to how you got onto this site. Most of you started by starting a new thread with your own particular question. Was it so difficult.

I am back from 3 weeks away on a cruise and then with my daughter. My total weight gain is 3.5lbs so I am well chuffed with myself for that. My BG has been in the high 100’s and hit 200 a couple of times but is quickly coming down to normal and was 125 this morning. I did a search to see about damage and if it is short-term and also you know the reason there is no need to panic.

I am thinking about my new goals and want to do 1kg per month. That will get me under my pre-holiday weight by the time I see the doctor for my 3 monthly check up. Have a good week and keep on……..

Sunshine-girl… welcome home! Hope you had a wonderful cruise and your little gain was really just that …. little!

When it comes to a ‘thread’ I’ve enjoyed doing the April thread because it’s been so long since I last did one and I fully understand how you are ‘all threaded out’ s-g. I would love somebody to pick up the June thread, it’s not that difficult and as s-g says ‘you got onto this site with a question’? However, if nobody wants to jump onboard then I’ll take the June thread. I’ll probably need to jump strictly back onto the wagon after my trip away next month. I hope I gain only as much as you s-g!

So, it’s the middle of the month already and as I type we have a hail storm, April, showers but hail???

Anyway, we are half way through this month and I hope everyone is reaching their own goals. If you are, great and maybe make them a bit tougher. If not maybe reassess. Are they attainable? Are they really achievable? We have to be realistic in our goals. You don’t put weight on in a week, so in reality we have to adjust our expectations, especially as we get older…. a 21 year old body reacts a little differently to a body aged 31, 51, 71 or even 81.

I have said so many times, particularly for those of us with T2, that this ‘Way of Eating’ is for life. I think we maybe each have to prioritise our goals.

What is your main ‘objective’? Lower blood sugar. lose weight? both? Just be generally more healthy?

At the end of the day I think we just have “ … to thine own self be true…”
Have a good evening.

Thank you Verano, I didnt mention my holiday because it was a disaster from the get go. Arrived at the hotel to discover there had been a serious delay of the ship arriving (a medical emergency so they had to go to Portugal), 5 hours late getting on. The delays continued, we had 2 hurricaines and a medical emergency, all of which meant we either didnt reach port or had our tours cancelled. At one point they announced a fire on board and forgot to say it was a training session. Had to strap ourselves into our beds to stop us from being thrown out in the storms. Bugger that, I stayed up sat on the settee and held on to the arm with one hand and my champagne with the other.

Last time we go to Norway in what is still their winter although I should say we did choose to go up to the Arctic Circle but if you visit the Fjords they are wonderful and inland.

Not quite back on the diet although I have been good, just getting peckish late at night and having cheese on Ryvita. On top of that it is our wedding anniversary today so we have opened one of the bottles of champagne we were given on the ship. Tomorrow night we are out for a meal at our favourite restaurant, so I guess the diet starts on Monday.

Happy Anniversary s-g hope you had a lovely day.

Oh dear so sorry to hear about your trip s-g. At least you knew the best way to weather a storm …. with champagne! You may have been unlucky with the weather but I think in that part of the world it’s just a case of good luck. We went to the Fjords in June a couple of years ago and at the last minute I threw a sundress into the case, just in case! We had amazing weather and I needed the sundress! I watched a video of the same cruise the following August and the weather was horrendous! Funny part of the world but the inside fjords are amazing.

Hope everyone is doing well. Another weekend is upon us and this one will be a challenge for me. We have a Thai meal out tonight and I must admit I struggle with Thai in restaurants. When I cook Thai myself it’s so much easier to make it lower carb but it’s not always so easy when eating it out. I tend not to have a starter but even so it’s a struggle!

Two weeks to go to the end of the month … let’s make them count!

Happy Anniversary S-G & I am so sorry to hear that your holiday didn’t go to plan & wasn’t as enjoyable as you had been hoping . Welcome back & when we visited Oslo on a summer Baltic cruise it poured with rain & the train trip we went on we could see nothing because of the driving rain. However the weather in Denmark & mostly thereafter was fairly good but I probably wouldn’t go on another sea cruise because I get seasick although we are going from Bordeaux in June on a river cruise through wine country & that I can cope with.😀
I will weigh tomorrow & post my results.
Margaret xx

Thanks Margaret, we live just 50 miles from Bordeaux so give us a wave. It was just a holiday, nothing to get upset about, there will be others. Norway is a beautiful country which is why we went back for the 3rd time. Picked the wrong time of year and chose to go on the outer edge all the way up to the Arctic Circle. Didnt even get to see the Northern Lights but I have seen them before. I think we might try a river cruise but the Rhone or Danube.

Not really back on the diet now until Monday as I havent had time to do a proper shop or got my head around it. Will try to sit down and write a menu tomorrow.

Enjoy the weekend.

Hi all, and welcome back Ms Sunshine! You were missed! But Verano has been doing a lovely job while you were gone.
I’ve been back on the low calories and very low carb for just over a week, and it’s going well, scale is going down at an encouraging pace. Truthfully I could not do this for life, and am looking forward to summer fruits coming into season in a few weeks, but will be continuing the very low carb and calories until after my annual physical exam and labs in 3 weeks. Then will ease up just a bit and move from 20 gm carb to probably 50 gm carb. Keeping calories around 1000, but will probably also move those to 1200 after the doctor’s.

Hope everyone is having a good week in body and mind! Remember to be kind to yourselves!

Becca

Hi all, the washing is all done and we are starting to put out the summer furniture. I have my head back in the game and looking forward to some good losses. For many of you starting out you will lose quicker than with most other diets but for us who have been doing this for years it gets hards to lose. For that reason I have set an attainable goal of 3kgs before my next doctors appointment in June. It is less than 1lb a week but that is okay as long as it is possible. In the long term (and we have no planned trips or anything) that could be 9kgs by December. I would be very happy with that.

Had a good day yesterday but hubby cooks on Tuesday so I have asked him to consider my diet. I think we are having lamb chops and a big plate of veg/

Keep on…..

Hi everyone.

I’m still washing and ironing. I hate going away leaving either so I will probably have one last wash to do on Friday the that’s that for me.

I weighed this morning and I weigh exactly the same as I did when I started this years diary on December 30th! Not a brilliant start to the year but could be worse there could have been a gain! So I’ve decided to stop recording now and will start afresh when we get back home. I certainly won’t get down or depressed because of the number on the scale. Just have to accept that things are what they are and keep on……

Well done for keeping low Becca just carry on.
Hope everyone is doing well but if not tomorrow is another day!

Welcome back SG and thank you for seeing us through April Verano 🙂

I’m still loving the Fast 800 and have lost a bit over a stone (from original total of 3 stone to goal)…the main thing for me is type of food and some kind of calorie defecit but I’m pretty flexible on it in terms of calories, plus mild TRE fast overnight (12 hours or so). Feeling good on this WOE and building various kinds of fitness- both of these things help me manage the considerable household stress with 2 of my 3 doing exams this year (GCSEs and A levels).

Love to all xxx

Well done Tulip you seem to have found the ‘eating pattern’ that suits you. I think maybe that’s the secret…. there isn’t ONE way, ONE diet, ONE theory we each have to find our own way.

I think the first step is to be really honest with ourselves as to why we want to follow this WOL.

Tackle high blood sugar, T2 diabetes, eat a healthy diet, lose weight, reduce/eliminate UPF’s. Or any combination of these.

Then we have to individually work out what works best for each of us. Some like fasting, some like really low carb, some like ‘slow and steady’. I think we all know that we have to stay low carb and ditch potatoes, bread, rice and pasta but after that ???.

Hello. I just want to pop in to say this will probably be my last post for April. Packing tomorrow and travelling Sunday.

So, for me April, as with the rest of 2026, has been a time of down a bit, up a bit, but stayed much the same as I actually have for the last few years. The good news is my BS finger pricks are mainly in the 5’s with some jumps when I have a carby meal. In saying that last night we had a Thai meal and I had rice noodles for the first time in a long time and this morning my finger prick was 5.4! I do really believe that those of us with either T2 or ‘reversed’ T2 each have to find our own individual ‘flash’ foods. I’m sure we each have different reactions to the basic bread, rice, pasta and potatoes and I also think that what we eat with them makes a huge difference to our insulin responses. Just makes life even more complicated!

Anyway, I hope April has been ‘Amazing’ in many ways for everyone. Life is more than a number on a scale!

Maybe time to start thinking about May???

Hi just popping in to wish Verano a fantastic holiday. Enjoy the book.

I dont have any news as everything is just going fine. Shopped today for tomato plants and geraniums ready for the weekend.

Talking of May, any bright ideas for a snappy title, one month at a time in Marvellous May – thats my contribution. I will set up the May thread in a few day, soon comes around.

Have a wonderfully relaxing holiday Verano 👍🌝🥂
I have just weighed & gained 0.4 lbs & not too bad after the extravagant lunch I provided for friends coming to lunch last Thursday with the temptation & eating cheesecake & chocolate truffles with coffee 🙀
S-G I like the sound of Marvellous May & hope with the lovely sunshine here in West Sussex I will be motivated to properly focus on losing a good amount of weight. I was looking back at my weight record & I have gained 5.5 lbs since last October but I have now crept 0.4 into 13 stone which is the most I have weighed for a long time & shocking so no wonder my knee is not recovering more 😢
I have eight weeks until my French river cruise in June to focus & really actually lose some weight!
Thank you for setting up the May thread S-G 👍
Margaret xx

Marvellous May sounds good 🙂

Hi all, I am one week completed and have lost exactly 1kg. Not great for a first week but as I set a goal of 1kg per month I am doing okay for the month of April.

Nothing more to say right now, just hope everyone is well and going good.

Good evening everyone, I have just caught up on all of the posts, Marvellous May sounds great, I can volunteer for the June feed if that takes the pressure off, but you will all have to bear with me (I will get thinking of June related titles). Verano have a lovely holiday enjoy yourself and don’t worry if there are any little gains upon your return, Sunshine Girl I’m sorry yours didn’t go to plan, weather is so unpredictable, I’ve not done a cruise yet so the strapping yourself to the bed thing concerned me, I much preferred your way of champagne on the sofa.
I have had a few hiccups this month, and mentally it’s been quite a struggle, I’ve come to realise that I need to be busy all day so I don’t think about food, It’s not that I’m hungry its just that i think about food & diabetes 24/7, its all consuming and taking over my life. I had a horrible weekend and wasted the glorious weather we had as my motivation dipped, I was in a bad mood, and all the jobs I started to do couldn’t be done, or needed more jobs to be done first to enable the original one to be done, so I sat and ate, I had a chocolate bar, a bag of crisps, a small cake, some cheese, along with my normal meals, I then didn’t have any dinner as the fish was off and I didn’t make anything else, I was on a right downer. Today was a new day, went to work, struggled through that, had some chicken for lunch which I’ve now decided I don’t like, sat by the sea for a while starring at it hoping for some help or inspiration, then after work I got a parking ticket, drove home motivated to do some chores but then it started to rain so those then got put on hold, I’m so sorry for the rant but I’ve tried talking to family & friends and they really don’t get it. BS all over the place as you would expect, but today I have eaten well and within 10am and 7pm so I’m happy, I’ve also got my laptop back up and running so reading our messages is now much easier and I will be more consistent. My weight has increased a little, but I hope to get that back on track too.
Anyway enough from me, admiration for everyone on here doing things their way and working towards their goals.
For now, for me It’s One day at a time ……..

Hi Newbie, glad to see you are still around.

I have just looked back in the history search and last May we called our thread Marvellous May – shows how unimaginative I am. So I will call it a variation like Make May Marvellous. Will call on you Newbie if we need a June volunteer but I think Verano has already said she would do it. Will keep you in mind for July if you are not going anywhere, holiday or whatever.

I have got the chiropodist in half an hour so better go get ready.

Hi Newbie, never fear, we understand. Do you tend to have a bit of an all or nothing mindset? Or perfectionism? I ask because I can certainly tend to go there. Also, I was concerned about how hard you were pushing yourself to change your diet so quickly and to eat so few calories and exercise so much. These are big changes to make all at once and your body may simply be saying that it is too much. Of course you have a serious health issue that you need to address, but your approach needs to be sustainable too. It will not help your HbA1c if you fall into a pattern of binging and restricting. Trust me, I know. I have been doing this for years and years all while watching my HbA1c climb higher and higher. I am lucky now as since going on ADHD medications I am finally able to resist the urge to binge eat. The physiological urge to eat is blunted, but the psychological urge can still be there if I have had an upsetting day or incident. The difference is the meds give me the ability to pause and pivot to do something else instead. This is something I have never been able to do without the meds. So, please give yourself some grace. Even if you do not have ADHD like I do, you can still be driven to eat by your physiology in other ways. It is not always psychological. The unfortunate part about going so low calorie for an extended period of time when your insulin levels are still so high is that you will get hungrier as your ghrelin levels will rise to make you hungry in response to the stress of the big changes you are making. Excessive exercise can also be a stress on the body. That is why Dr. Roy Taylor says not to increase your exercise and decrease your calories all at the same time. We can also be leptin resistant, which is the satiety hormone, and this can lead to increased hunger as well. It takes time to get all these hormones back in balance. It simply won’t happen overnight. Keep going and get back on track as quickly as possible after your binge, but do think about what might make this more sustainable for you and what parts of your body and mind might be crying out for some non-food, non-harmful self-care right now.