Will post them on here when I get them Bill. When I was diagnosed, my GP said start taking Metformin and Alvorstatin and try to lose some weight. I would have been faffing about with a low fat diet if I hadn’t read about this diet in the Mail.

Yeah the low fat industry has a lot to answer for TBH
I can see the day coming when they are all going to have to evaluate and then we may see low carb WW meals that will actually help people to lose weight.

So today hasn’t been a great day. My usual morning weigh-in showed a gain of a pound and a half. I’m calling it a ‘phantom gain’ as there is no chance of it being fat, it can only be water so it will disappear again and I’m fine with that. But then later, I was so very sorely tempted to get the buttered toast along with my coffee – the first time in three weeks I have almost caved in to bread!

But I didn’t.

I’ve stayed on track all day but I’ve just forced down the most awful evening meal I’ve made in ages (I’m not much of a chef). And now I can’t stop thinking about the after 8 mints happily chilling in my fridge…..

The carb monster is sitting on your shoulder Janet.
You don’t want those mints, after all, why would you want to put poison in your mouth ?
It’s just a craving hun, it will pass.

He certainly is Bill!

Hubby will have to make our evening cuppa, I can’t be trusted to get the milk from the fridge!

Hi Janet – well done for not caving in. It’s probably water retention. At times the tape measure is a better guide than scales. Keep on being so strong willed 🙂

You’ll only feel bad about it though and then we’ll have to talk you out of feeling guilty
Tell hubby to throw them in the bin 😉

Yes… sugar is a drug because it’s addictive? Feels like it is. Decades worth of detoxing to wade through, but we’re all winners because we’ve faced up to it. We’re aware, we know what to do. We don’t always manage it – I had some oven chips, I had some honey, I’ve eaten some Bournville chocolate because having ordered some cacao caved in when it hadn’t arrived, I could go on. But I’m no longer kidding myself, what the psychologists would call ‘cognitive dissonance’; but – as I’m a vegetarian I can’t do cold turkey, I need to do cold something else – any ideas?

Such are the meanderings of the mind of a woman with not a lot else to do but contemplate – but 99% of the time I’m not doing sugar or processed food which I think is a result. Carbs in the form of wholefood ingredients is proving to be another matter. Feel better for describing that.

May the water retention flow swiftly before you next step on those scales Janet, it must have been a bit of a shock. I suppose an 8 week regime does imply an 8 week miracle but I’m taking a longer view, my body is older and slower to respond.

Same here auntylil
62 and long term type 2, I know that I’m going to be doing this for longer than 8 weeks but I tell myself it’s no more dangerous than having a gastric band.
I’ll get my blood test results next week so I’m going to ask the doc for another test in 3 months
Do you know, today I’ve heard of 2 people on the plan that have never heard of this forum.
We on here may be the tip of an expanding iceberg

Thanks for dashing to my rescue guys, I just needed a bit of a pep talk! I’ve had some full fat greek yoghurt (way nicer than chocolate!) and a tiny drizzle of honey for the sweetness I was craving and a small handful of flaked almonds. I think I’m just about over the worst of it now. Catastrophe averted. I really want to stay on track to see exactly how long it does take for the water retention to go again. On any other diet I’ve done, that would have been all I needed to go on a right bender. And then I don’t learn anything about my own body.

Thanks again for being there when I needed someone (hubby would just have passed me the chocolates!)

Same here auntylil and bill, I’m 63 and bodies do slow down grrrrr 😉

Hi auntylil.

I mentioned the sugar/carb addiction to the nurses this morning, together with the withdrawal symptoms folk are reporting. Should have seen their faces, especially when I said that what I had been eating was slowly killing me.

If you can’t go cold turkey, sorry but all I can think of is cold tofu, but it doesn’t reallt sound the same. Sorry!

Bill. I was thinking that earlier about the gastric band. If it is sustainable for those folk to keep to a severely restricted calorie intake, why not us?

Glad you’re ok now Janet. This is the best forum I’ve been on for support. We all help when we can.

Hashimoto, I’m 65 so I’m with you, auntylil and Bill. The Golden (or silver) oldies 😃

Ooohh, Janet, sounds lovely. I will have some flaked almonds with raspberries with my brekkie yoghurt. It’s funny how some days can cause differing reactions from the same person. The smell of sweet stuff baking in a supermarket today nauseated me but two days earlier the smell of chocolate going past Thorntons was inviting but I had no problem turning down an easter egg the other day. Weird.
So proud of you not having that chocolate mint. You had food instead of poison 🙂

It was very nice and my dog really appreciated getting the yoghurt pot! I really like that about having food not poison, will have to remember that one!

Fell off big time today! Maybe the awful antibiotics or just being ill. Will be back on it tomorrow.
I am 59 and feel every bit of it just now.

Aly, we’re hearing you. Sorry the wheels fell off! Tomorrow is another day! Hope you’re feeling better soon xxx

Hashimoto – love that about food not poison. Must write that in my notebook 😊

Aly, don’t worry about ‘falling off the wagon’ today, antibiotics do make you feel awful – so does a chest infection. To be honest I am really impressed that you have been as successful as you have given your current situation. I always find I need to eat a reasonable amount before I take an antibiotic tablet or my stomach gets upset.
There are obviously a few of us older ones on here, I’m glad we found this diet before we got any older!
Tomorrow is another day, one blip out of a future life time on this diet is nothing. You’re doing well 🙂

I’ve been obese since my early 20’s and I’m 62 now so I look on being diagnosed as T2 a blessing in a strange kind of way. I’ve yo yo dieted all my life but now I have a rock solid reason to keep the weight off for good. I have another 5 stones to go, but for once I’m looking forward to the journey.

Last night I dreamt I ate a bowl of pasta and some other carb treat. I woke this morning feeling very disoriented as I believed I had done so and needed to rectify my lapse in discipline. What a relief to discover, I actually hadn’t done so!

I am nearly 3 weeks into the diet and feeling great. However, during the week I went to a bulk lolly and nut shop to purchase Easter eggs for my son’s kindergarten easter egg hunt and discovered a sugar free Belgian chocolate made with stevia (the brand is BelArte). I’ve never seen such a chocolate before so decided to buy a block (85g) of the dark chocolate & cocoa nibs. My intention was to eat it slowly at the conclusion of the diet. Well I couldn’t resit trying just one piece, and then wanted another, and another but did manage to stop at 3 pieces or one row (about 10g). It’s now in the baking cupboard with all the other cooking chocolate and sweet treats that I do manage to resist. I don’t think a small piece of dark chocolate (sugar free or not) every now and again is a bad thing while on this diet. It is certainly something I will return to as part of the long term maintenance program. And Michael is rather partial to the odd piece of the dark stuff himself! In fact, he mentioned in his interview this week in Australia on ABC RN Life Matters program that the PREDIMED trial out of Spain, allowed a small piece of dark chocolate and a glass of red wine (every day?)

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/02/25/172872408/spanish-test-mediterranean-diet-shines-in-clinical-study

Not sure how but the scales say I lost another 3/4lb. Yesterday I had a two finger twix, a small piece of homemade sponge cake and a small serving of rice. One of my problems at the moment is I am struggling with cooking. It is too much effort. As this way of eating is still new to me my brain does not help me decide what to cook. I will try today to write out a menu plan and shopping list.
I will do this!

Hi Aly, a chest infection drains you of energy. In the past i have resorted to the most basic foods – baked beans, fried eggs stuff that doesn’t require preparation or more than a couple of minutes cooking/heating. Getting over the infection is your top priority at the moment so please be kind to yourself and remember a couple of days of ‘slips’ at the moment is nothing in the face of the rest of your life on this diet. My dr told me it can take 6 to 10 weeks to fully recover AFTER the infection has cleared. Being kind to yourself now will help you recover more quickly. Hope you feel better really soon but rest as much as you need to. I learnt this the hard way 🙂 🙂

Well done Bob Fox, the past is another country, so they say and the future is bright!! I’m full of clichés this morning, lol. You’ll shift that 5 stones on this plan and become an inspiration to many!! 🙂

The other day in the supermarket I asked the cashier how many more hours she had left to do, too many she said… and explained how she was eager to get home as her two young children were poorly and had kept her up all night. I showed sympathy and she looked at me and said ‘It’s okay, todays storm can be tomorrow’s rainbow’. I’d not heard that before.

Being kind to oneself can be quite a challenge – if we have a negative self image (source of binge eating, comfort eating etc.) then it’s hard to get into a place where we even think we’re worth being kind to. I definitely think my immune system is compromised currently and the diet changes seem to have upset things; I may be wrong but mushrooms, fermented things and now nuts seem to be aggravating me. So… rainbows tomorrow anyone?

Auntylil, I love that, todays storm is tomorrows rainbow. I will remember that! 🙂

Love, love, love this thread … All these lovely people with similar goals … And similar trials and tribulations to myself!! I have just spent the last half hour being fed with positivity and hope!! 😃 With every comment read, I wanted to say “yep, I’ve been there … ” or “wow! What a good way of looking at that … I’m going to try to remember that” or “gonna have to do that”.
What I wanted was to tick or acknowledge every comment on this thread … But I couldn’t, as there is no way to do that … And I certainly can’t thank each and everyone of you for your excellent support and guidance, as I’d be here all day … And you’d all be fed up of me taking over this brilliant topic!!
So, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has taken their valuable time and energy to share their innermost secrets, thoughts, suggestions and guidance.
I have taken it on board … I will make mistakes, I’m human … But I’m going to try and utilise what I learn from each and every one of you when I slip. X

Hi Kimgall,
Everyone has so much in common here. I know when I say I am struggling people understand and also when I’m doing well, people know that feeling too.

Auntylil, well you know my feelings on mushrooms – so its definitely easy to live without them. Fermented things – unless its hops, I’m really not interested in those either. I think tofu is fermented? The other half of my packet went in the bin. I have only just started eating nuts again as part of this diet but I find I don’t want to spend much of my allowance on them. Rose Elliot said that nuts in shells are the best ones for no fungus. Might that help you? I imagine you can burn quite a lot of calories getting nuts out of shells.

Hi All,
Fabulous thread, second everything Kimgall said. At 64, I can relate to so much you are all saying! I’m 5 weeks in, 18lbs and 4″ off the waist. Things that might help others, that have helped me:
1. Taking on board what Michael says about dark chocolate, I have 1 square of dark chocolate (10g) almost every night with my tea/coffee after dinner. I eat it very slowly, small bits at a time, and enjoy every microgram.
2. Over the 5 weeks, there have been fours blips in the downward weight graph, where it goes up a bit, and then keeps on coming down, so I no longer worry (or wonder why) when that happens. It just does, and doesn’t seem to relate to anything I do, or eat.
3. The carb cravings DO go- just hang on in there!
4. At one point, three weeks in, on one day, I was ready to eat the chair legs. I felt that my primal brain had finally realised it wasn’t getting sugar/carbs and had woken up. So I planned and cooked an off plan meal, but keeping very carefully to the Med diet principles, no wheat, no sugar, no seconds, and not calorie counted. It turned out to be a 1500 cal day, completely cured the desperate craving , and it hasn’t happened since. And I had lost the next day! I’ll do that again if I need to.
5. Make every single calorie worth eating!
6. To keep you on track with the sugar/fat issues, books by David Gilespie, “Big fat lies” and “Sweet poison” both very readable and inspirational, and by Robert Lustig, “Fat Chance”, a bit more dense and scientific, but brilliant. Lustig also has lectures on You Tube.

And keep up the great support work- that makes so much difference!

MaryR so glad to read your post, I was coming on to have a moan and you’ve just nailed it for me, esp point 2 re fluctuating weight. I was so exhilarated after 3 weeks and weight loss of 10 lbs and have been despondent this week as there has been no loss at all, just a fluctuating up a pound down a pond routine. I feel better after reading your post, thanks x

Thanks for the book reference I have ordered Sweet lies. Hope it will convince hubby to join me in this.

In reply to Janet 1973 – I’m jumping up and down on a packet of Brazil nuts now… Completely done vegetarian cold turkey in respect of tofu too.

I suppose you’ll know the saying about Brazil nuts being good to stave off dementia? Trouble is when you go and buy some you forget where you’ve put them.

I love Brazil nuts but have yet to find them here. Had my daily dose of pistachio nuts!

Brazils are my favourites – but 32 calories per nut. Will be a good nut once you have finished having 800 cals – can you order them or get someone to post you some? 🙂

Once I am back to normal will have a look. No energy for much just now.

It’s such a shame there’s no “Like ” button to show our appreciation of such inspiring posts, Kimgall could not have said it better! MaryR, it’s so reassuring to hear of your Blips” in the weight loss. I’ve done so well for the first 2 1/2 weeks, now all of a sudden it’s stopped, for no apparent reason that I can think of. Having looked at this thread I feel determined to battle on, and just keep reminding myself how much better and fitter I feel already. This has been the most successful diet I’ve been on ever, and I’m spurred on by the thought of getting to the 5:2 stage and following a far healthier diet than ever enjoyed in my 57years!

Thank you MaryR, I loved your post.

Very happy if it helps 🙂
There were a couple of other things I forgot- the chocolate brownie recipe in the book is great, though I found that cooked as is it’s too thin and comes out quite dry, so I make a double quantity in the same size tin, cut it up into squares that are about 100 cals each, and freeze them. Then I know if I really need something, there’s a healthy calorie counted indulgence available, but it takes 20 minutes to defrost which is time to have a large glass of water before I can eat it, so at least one will be enough. Only take one out, though!

Secondly, another tactic, if I just want to eat something, and my usual risk time is bed time, I have 3 almonds- they take a lot of chewing, so my brain thinks I’ve eaten more than I have. Then go to bed. Immediately!

MaryR

Hi everyone
I haven’t posted for a couple of days because a few days ago someone was slightly snippy with me ( I thought) on replying to a post. Maybe I was misinterpreting but please everyone please be careful, we re all vulnerable and it’s easy to feel hurt and rejected. Certainly anything I post is just intended to be helpful and supportive.
Penny

Hi Penny – welcome back! I feel really upset that you have been hurt by this forum. I hope that in future, if any of us feel hurt or offended by a comment, we must flag it up immediately. This forum has been so positive and helpful to us all, we cannot allow it to become offensive in any way. Your comments have been particularly helpful to me, and I thank you for them.

Hi Penny, so sorry you experienced that. It’s one of the problems with communicating this way because you have no non verbal cues to go on, and can’t ‘read’ the other person’s intent. Hope you stick with the forums, you have some good ideas and your desire to help is really evident.

Oh penny, so sorry to hear that you have been hurt. 🙁 Your posts have been so supportive and encouraging – we need you on here. I agree with Aly, the problem with this kind of communication is that you can’t hear tone of voice or see facial expressions which in itself can cause misunderstandings. Please, please stay with us 🙂

Penny, that was meant to say I. Agree with cherrieanne 🙂 Another senior moment.

Hi Penny. Glad to see you back. I agree with Cherrieanne and Hashimoto, it’s difficult when you can’t see or hear the other person.

Just read through all of these interesting posts, thanks to Maryr in particular for putting into words so many of my feelings, I don’t feel alone in my struggles anymore.

Penny, I am new to the forums having lurked for a while learning, I am sure it was, just as others have suggested a blip in communication. It is seeing people like you here that has inspired me to change the way I look at food so please hang in, you are part of a team that are living and changing lives and that is amazing 😀😀😀😀😀👌

I’m on week 6 and have lost 16 pounds. Have been on self destruct mode all weekend eating chocolate. Came on here tonight looking for some inspiration to get me back on track – have read all of the posts on this thread and am motivated to get back on track now! Thanks guys – not prepared to let one weekend sabotage this 😀

Hi Marjorie, it’s alright, it doesn’t matter, it cannot wipe out all your losses thus far. A lot of it will be water and will rid itself naturally after a few days, yes it might level out as a two to three pound gain, but get back on board and nail it. I haven’t lost any weight yet despite doing just shakes and veggies, but keep telling myself it’s got to come down at some point. Dust yourself off, it’s nothing but a blip, you CAN do this, we can do this! KEEP ON KEEPING ON.XX

Oh dear – an early Mother’s Day dinner has just for me this weekend! I had offered to cook a meal for the family a while ago before I started the diet. Haven’t told my parents I am now on the diet as want to get healthy gradually without them judging me when fall off wagon. I tried to keep the meal a bit healthier than normal but also wanted to cook my mum’s favourites. It ended up being a night of indulgence. Baked Camembert and bread to start with; baked breaded fish goujons, homemade mushy peas and sweet potato wedges, then sticky toffee pudding and custard (although I couldn’t eat all the pudding as on the plus side it was too sweet after two weeks on the diet) washed down with some fizz. It was a lovely evening, I was proud of my cooking skills and my mum loved it. I went for a long walk today and tried to get back on track but don’t want to get back on the scales for a few days. Disappointed I may have undone my small weight loss so far after just one night. Grr ..

Happens to us all at some point! I indulged today too but it is just one day. I won’t weigh in tomorrow either will leave it until later in the week. We know we can do this so back on the wagon tomorrow. Forget about today, it’s done and cannot be undone so leave it behind.
See you back on the wagon tomorrow!

Thanks Malkay
😊Penny