Hi folks,just wanted to post this inspiring poem I read today..it’s called The Dash,by Linda Ellis
Food for thought on our Crimbo Coach Ride!⛄️⛄️⛄️
“I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
From the beginning…to the end

He noted that first came the date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time
That they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
Know what that little line is worth

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering this special dash
Might only last a little while

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent YOUR dash?”

Hi all,sorry I fell asleep last night before posting.Had a pretty good day food wise and am pleased I used mfp to plan next few days so know what I’m having today.Lovely poem you quoted Yowzer.Hope everyone has a good day.Dawn X

Morning all

Another week and I fully intend to stick to plan this week. I’ve been feeling a bit low and lethargic this weekend and really do need to get my act together. So it’s back to low carb and cals this week and I also want to up the exercise. I seem to have developed a great skill in wasting time doing nothing in particular so I’m sure I can fit in more exercise without anything else being affected.

I see that lots of others are feeling very resolute about this week too. Good luck everyone, and I hope we all achieve our goals for the week.

Thank you all for the kind words about hubby’s operation. Still no news as to when it will be but, as someone said, we just need to go with the flow and make the best of whatever the timing turns out to be.

Cathy I hadn’t seen your post for some reason and I’m sorry about your emails. I did wonder if either a computer store or your email provider may be able to help recover them if there’s important stuff you would like to get back? Hope the family gathering went ok and that this week goes well in light of the new booster targets in the UK.

Sue good luck for your blood tests this week.

Dawn I’m glad you had a bit of down time. Hopefully there will be lots more to come, but with healthier eating and better sleep!

Yowzer, lovely poem. Food for thought as always.

Linda hope you are feeling better? And hubby too.

And hello to Jennie, Mariet, Laura, Antigone, Ruby, JGwen and anyone else reading this. Hope you are all doing well X

Well, I’ve just written a long post then forgot to post it before switching away. Blast. So just a quick hello.
Dawn – I was so happy to read about your visit to your Dad and that your Mum’s test results were OK – (not sure good’s the right word – hopefully you know what I mean).
DCT – my fingers are crossed that you hear soon about OH’s op date xx Great to hear you are keeping focused this week.
RubyG – I’ve now become a fan of cauli leaves too – I usually oven roast them with my other veg but I’m going to try sauteeing them next time. Thanks for the tip.
Sue – good luck from me too.
Yowzer – that’s a lovely poem. I also had a smile at the quote you posted on the Positive Thoughts Thread about not always having to accept the invitation to an argument. I wish I’d read that years ago. I turned up with or without an invitation and I always made sure I was the last to leave!
JGwen – Like DCT, I’ve wondered a few times about how you’re doing. Hope you’re going well.
Got to stop now, so hope everyone else is also going well; hope you have a great week, meet your goals and get your Christmas shopping done!
So my ‘cold’ turned out to be a tummy bug which has been keeping me close to my bathroom since Friday. Better but not quite gone as yet. So, I’ve not been able to go for walks, but on the plus side I’ve eaten very little, and taking soup from my tiny freezer has freed up some space. Always an upside. Will catch up later in the week.
Jennie xx

Hi all,thanks DCT and Jennie.Jennie I know what you mean about my Mums news,it’s definitely better than it could have been.Sorry to hear you have a tummy bug,hope you’re better soon.I’ve had a pretty good day again food wise,may be going to a local garden centre cafe tomorrow with my Mum and I’m not sure I will manage to just have a cup of tea but will just see how I feel.It’s nice not feeling bloated tonight before going up to bed😀Dawn X

Hi Dawn – feeling better this morning, thanks. Woke up early after a really deep sleep. One good thing – I’ve been having different herbal teas the last few days instead of milk in tea and coffee ( definitely a weakness of mine). I came across a single sachet of Double Mint tea (picked up from somewhere and probably been there from when years began 19… something). Anyway, it was really nice, so another non-coffee and non-tea (with-milk) option for me. Always good to have.
Sounds like a good day for you yesterday , too. I agree about how nice the feeling is of not feeling bloated. A trip with your Mum to the local garden centre sounds lovely. Choose wisely!

I’m off to weigh myself. Fingers crossed I might have lost a few pounds.
Hope everyone else has a good day/afternoon/evening.
Jennie xx

Jennie glad you are feeling better 🙂

Dawn – hope you enjoy your trip to the garden centre – I agree with Jennie, just choose wisely. When I’m out with my MIL she loves to ‘treat’ me to a cake and coffee as a reward for taking her out (completely unnecessary!), so what I do is choose something small or something that at least has some nutritional value and then make it my meal for the day – last week for example I had a small serve of spinach and vegetable quiche when MIL had cake, other times I order a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich (I read something where this is healthier than say raisin toast) and another time I had a small Friand that was made with almond flour, other times I’ll have a scone – I just guesstimate the calories and have it in place of a meal or as part of a meal.
The most important thing though is to enjoy your time together x

Thanks Jennie and Sue,I may have a cheese scone as they’re not very large there and (may be) better than the sly cake(they call it a fruit slice) which I would normally have.Jennie good luck with the weigh in.I keep forgetting I have herbal tea in,must start using some of them.Dawn X

Evening all,hope everyone has had a good day.I ended up having a mini cooked breakfast at the garden centre this morning,could have been worse.The scones were much bigger than I thought so I avoided them!Feeling really tired today so heading up to bed soon.Will check in again tomorrow.Dawn X

Dawn the breakfast option sounds like it was a good choice – I’d pick this over a cake any day tbh, I definitely have more a savoury tooth than I do sweet.

I saw my doctor today to get blood test results and I was amazed when she said I had a “clean bill of health” – blood sugar was normal and most amazingly for me my cholesterol was normal! I say amazing because for at least the last 25 years doctors have been advising me to lower my cholesterol – even when I weighed much lower than I do now, I still had high cholesterol. My dad does too and his is not diet related so I honestly believed I had inherited it from him. I began taking statins about 9 years ago I think as I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic as I had raised blood sugar,
Raised triglycerides and blood pressure etc…. this was despite DECADES of eating low fat foods, I ALWAYS chose the low fat option, used diet margarine etc… anyway I can’t believe that after almost 5 years of eating full fat yoghurt, butter, olive oil, avocado, nuts,
Lots of cheese etc and avoiding the low fat products I now have normal cholesterol! My bad cholesterol was significantly lower and the good cholesterol higher. So now I’m going to trial a lower dose of statins and see if I can still maintain the good readings – I think additional weight loss will help here.
Hope everyone else has a good Wednesday 🙂

Great news about the cholesterol results, I think we have been misled for far too long on the low-fat message.

SueBlue- excellent news about your blood results. I had a cholesterol scare earlier this year and it took me six months of low fat to get them back to normal. I have cut out cream but am back on cheese and occasional butter! I think I was definitely eating too much fat. Let’s hope you can reduce your statins.

I am trying my hardest not to worry about the impending doom of Covid and that Christmas is most likely going to be scuppered for a second year. I am still hoping to be able to see my son but am resigned to disappointment. So many people will be disappointed once again this Christmas. I can’t believe what a mess we are all still in!

I am weighing myself on Friday, I did have a pizza at the weekend at the family gathering and a take away curry so I’ve worked hard since Monday to eat less and hope not to have gained any weight. I would be fantastic if I could be in the 146’s on Friday.

Keep safe everyone! It’s been manic at the vaccination centre this week and we are now doing late nights and weekends to try and get as many people boosted as possible. I’ve met some lovely people doing this job and I just hope that I can stay safe until after Christmas.

Let’s get the Christmas bus rocking and rolling with lots of Christmas cheer as we head towards Christmas Eve.

CCATHY I do hope you see your son 🙏
SUEBLUE fab news about yr cholesterol👏👏just goes to show doesnt it!
Well done DAWN showing restraint and going for the mini brekky 💕
JENNIE are you completely over your bug now?x
Hello and festive hugs to DCT,LAURA,LINDA,MARIET,ANTIGONE,RUBY and everyone else on our fun bus! Keep on rockin!
Here’s a song for the bus..do you know it..my favourite Crimbo song..We Need A Little Christmas ⛄️🥳⛄️🥳⛄️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6OJYTv4ipM

Thanks for sharing your favourite Christmas song Yowzer 🙂
Cathy I can sympathise with your concerns. Our new case numbers seem to be doubling every few days. There’s new restrictions for hospitals, basically no visitors allowed, and I’m really hoping that there are no travel restrictions introduced for Christmas – it’s not as though my daughter lives in another state, just the other side of Sydney, but we went almost 5 months earlier this year without seeing her due to lockdowns, and a lockdown in her area last Christmas meant she couldn’t come.
I too am resigning myself to possible disappointment, and if that happens we’ll just get together and have a postponed Christmas lunch at a later date.
Weigh in this morning was good for me – 900g this week. At least I’ve reversed last weeks gain and am inching closer to my 2021 goal. To be 88kg exactly I still need to drop another 1.5kg in the next 2 weeks, but I’d be happy to be in the 88s so that’s only 501g away – I think that’s about a pound, so doable 🙂
Have a lovely Friday everyone and stay safe x

Hi all,just a quick post,I will catch up properly tomorrow.Didn’t get chance to post last night as was at cinema (bit scary tbh with seating so close together,if it had just been myself and DH I may have been tempted to leave but it was movie DD and her friend had been waiting for ages to be released)and didn’t get home until late.Have had terrible day today food wise,have planned for better one tomorrow though so 🤞Hope everyone is ok.Dawn X

Morning everyone

Just a quick post before I head off for work – going to be mega busy today with boosters! I stayed the same weight today which I am happy with. I had a few indulgences last weekend and tried hard to pull it back. I am revising my plan to be 146 next Friday which is 2lb heavier than I hoped for. I hope I can achieve it.

Well done SueBlue – you can achieve your goal I am sure of that.

Things are not looking too good in the UK and I am hoping for the best but planning for the worst at Christmas! Going to try and keep away from Omicron this week! My brother has had his snowboarding trip to France cancelled at Christmas and he has spent a fortune on gear and lessons and lift passes etc! Tough times ahead but counting my blessings. My son in London was having difficulty getting a booster and the walk in queues were five hours long. He has secured a booster for Tuesday so I am happy about that.

Looking forward to having a positive week for our last leg of this journey. Hope everyone has a good week ahead.

Morning all. Just a quick catch up from me too: busy times!

Sue I’d meant to post earlier in the week to say how fantastic your blood test results were! I’m so happy for you. Especially that your statins dose is being reduced. And well done for the weight loss this week too. We’re all rooting for you to shed your remaining 1.5kg and get to your 2021 goal. I’m sure you can do it!

Cathy I hope you have a good day. You are all doing a tremendous job for us. Thank you. And good luck with your final push next week.

Dawn, I’ve not had a good food week either. It’s been a busy week with various things going on, including some bad news from a friend. So I’ve not really had my eye on the ball and have managed to regain the 2lb I recently lost. I will do my best for the rest of the challenge but look forward to drawing the line under 2021 and starting afresh in the new year.

Good news on my hubby’s op though. He has his consultation on Christmas Eve and they will then decide what to do and when. But should mean we are clear to go ahead with Christmas plans as long as Covid doesn’t interfere. Like you Cathy, I’m hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

Must dash now but sending good vibes to you all. Good luck for the rest of our journey and hope you have a wonderful weekend X

Hi folks!
Well done SUEBLUE on blood test results AND being a loser in the nicest possible way and to CCATHY for maintaining,not easy to do this time of year. And massive applause for CC on working so hard on getting us all boosted!👏👏👏👏
Where wd we be without you guys! So pleased yr DS has got a booster booked..surely they shd be making sure that vaxxers families don’t have to queue for hours,it’s only fair! XX
DCT and DAWN,like you I’ve had a bad few days food wise ..I’m not happy with that and neither is my tum! ..but now back giving it my all for this final week before crimbo!
DCT fingers X’d and legs and eyes crossed too for your hubby’s Xmas Eve consultation X
Have a fab Friday and a good weekend everyone! XX massive hugs all round XX

Hi all,sorry I meant to post again two days ago!DCT sorry to hear you’ve had bad news from a friend but I’m pleased your hubbie is now just having a consultation on Christmas Eve rather than his op.Cathy I echo DCT,well done for helping to get us all ‘boosted’ I do wonder if we would have been in constant lockdown without the vaccines.Cathy I’m pleased you are close to your 2021 goal.Yowzer I’m still singing along on the bus,even though my eating isn’t going to plan…🎶Let it snow,let it snow.let it snow🎶 I’ve abandoned mfp until 28th but am still going to eat healthily as much as I can manage.I’ve preordered MM’s new book,I think it’s due out on 30th Dec and,even though I haven’t given all hope of healthy eating this year,I really feel I need a fresh start and am hoping the new book will help with that.Have a good day all,Dawn X

Hi everyone
SueBlue – that’s great news about your blood test results – woo-hoo! Isn’t normal such a nice word to hear sometimes. The cholesterol results are really brilliant. When I was first diagnosed with type II I found out I had high cholesterol. I started BSD and 6 months in it had increased but eventually it settled back down at a lower, better level than when I started. (Sorry, can’t remember numbers). Fingers crossed for the 88s.
RubyG – I agree about the low-fat message. Reading your thread, feeling lighter, tighter and leaner is a great result. I hope you both have a great Christmas.
Dawn – good for you. You’ve done brilliantly to get to this point. A bit of time away from weighing, measuring and recording everything will be nice. As you say, just eating healthily over the holidays should do it. I’ll be interested to hear what you think about MMs new book in the New Year.
Cathy – like everyone else I just want to say thanks for all the hard work you are putting in to get us all vaccinated xx. Sounds like staying the same weight was a win for you this week. It’s great that you’re keeping on keeping on and fingers crossed (different ones from those for SueBlue of course) for the 146 by Friday – Christmas Eve – hurray.
DCT – sorry to hear you’ve had bad news from your friend. Never nice and particularly at this time of year. I’m glad you and your hubby know what’s happening about/at his appointment. As you say at least you’ll be able to plan for Christmas day now.
Yowzer – hope your big last push is going well (just got a flashing image of someone giving birth – disconcerting!). Thanks for all the Christmas cheer.
Hope everyone else is keeping going well too

The last few days have been a bit of a palaver here. Seconds after I posted on Tuesday that I was going off to weigh myself, my son phoned saying his manager had a positive lateral flow test. A few LFT and PCR tests (and days) later and luckily my son hasn’t got Covid so our Christmas meet-up might still happen. (His poor manager ‘s PCR test was positive so she’ll now be isolating over Christmas). My bug then returned for a couple of days, and then when I finally weighed myself on Thursday morning I’d put on weight! Only a pound but I feel so indignant about it because all I’ve done is run to the loo! Flipping heck!

Anyway, tomorrow is another day – and week – and it’s all still to play for. Have a great final week everyone.

Jennie xx
n.b. We put up our Christmas tree yesterday. This morning I woke up early so snuck downstairs, put the lights on and sat in the dark looking at it. Magical.

Thanks Jennie,I will let you know what MM’s new book is like,I think it has new recipes in so will be interested to see what they are,I’m sorry your bug returned but pleased u may get to see your son.I love having the Christmas tree up,it’s in the corner of the room so not in the way at all so I may leave it up a bit longer than usual this time because,as you say,looking at it lighting up the room is magical✨🎄✨ Dawn X

Hi Dawn – I like that idea but I’m just a bit too superstitious to leave mine up past Twelfth night. Mind, I’ve just realised last year we ended up having our postponed Christmas in the summer and it was up then. I do love it though. So, I’m off for a walk in a minute. Start getting my steps up again. Soup for lunch and salmon and broccoli for dinner. That’s the plan and I’m sticking to it!
Hope everyone is having a good final week. Keep going
Jennie xx

Hi everyone. Just catching up with posts.

Jennie I hope you’re feeling much better now and good luck with the steps today. I confess we’ve cheated with the Christmas decs this year as it was just too complicated to try and get up to the attic. So we’ve bought a prelit twig tree and lots of fairy lights which all look lovely in our colourful little living room. And not a bauble in sight!

Yowzer I’ve just had a flashback (pardon the pun!) to us discussing fairy lights and champagne at about this time last year. Just where has 2021 gone?!?! Hope you are doing well.

Dawn I think I will get the new MM book too. I’ve really not done very well at all on this thread and need some new inspiration. Hoping to be back at 144 – ie where I started! – by the end of this week then maintain over Christmas and make a fresh start in the new year. The positive side of that is I’ll still be travelling with all you lovely people wherever we decide to head next!

Cathy I hope your week is going well and that you’re managing to get some time out for yourself in amongst all the vaccinating?

Hope everyone stays well and that Christmas plans can go ahead without a hitch X

Hello all, just checking in – I can’t believe our Christmas bus is nearing the end of its journey! The last 3 months have flown by, as has the whole year really.

DCT – I bought a small prelit Christmas tree this year, it only cost $7! It’s about 3ft high and would be dwarfed by the pile of presents around it if I hadn’t stood it on a box! We have coloured lights strung around the lounge room and it really looks quite magical at night 🙂

Jennie I hope you are feeling better, and Cathy hope you are going ok too, I can only imagine how busy you are! I’m booked in for my booster next Wednesday, as they’ve shortened the time frame from 6 months down to 5 months. I had thought of trying to get it this week, due to the rising case numbers but was worried about side effects making me feel unwell at Christmas, as I had a full on immune response with the first 2.

Diet wise I’m going ok-ish… calories are averaging around 1000-1200 and I’ve managed to avoid mince pies and other goodies – mainly by just not buying them! I have my online order coming tomorrow night. I just haven’t had the time (or inclination tbh) to do much meal planning or prepping, except for breakfast! I made a big batch of overnight oats and have been having that for breakfast with fresh berries. Last nights dinner was KFC (oh dear!) as I was out after work with my husband getting some last minute things. Tonight I’m making lentil curry though, so today will be a better day.

I doubt very much that I will be at goal by Friday (Christmas Eve), however my target was 88kg by the end of the year, so I’d be happy to just be in that range (88-88.9) by NYE. My plan is to be sensible over the next few days, have a few days off plan, then stick to 800-1000 calories and low carbs from Mon-Thur and there’s a chance I’ll make it!!
I’m still happy with the progress I made this year though – NYE last year I was 100.1kg…what brought it home was when I was getting our folding chairs out of storage last night and I noticed the weight limit is 100kg, I used to be wary sitting on them but at least this year I can sit on one knowing I’m well under the weight limit! I’ll definitely be on our next bus journey as in 2022 I’m planning on losing the rest of the weight I need to lose. MM’s new book is coming out 30 December here so I’ll definitely be buying it – I have all of his other ones 🙂 I guess it will be followed up with a recipe book too at some stage.

It’s weird as it’s only 3 days out from Christmas and we are getting higher and higher daily Covid case numbers – way higher than this time last year when the government brought in additional restrictions which meant we couldn’t see our eldest daughter, yet there’s no restrictions this year, the message is all about “personal responsibility”. There’s no mask mandate here but I’ve still been wearing one when I go out. On the news this morning they were saying that modelling is showing we could reach 200,000 new cases a day (they were saying 20,000 per day last week!)…. I never would have imagined this time last year that COVID would still be affecting Christmas!!
I hope that wherever everyone is they get to enjoy Christmas with their families x I’ll check in again on Christmas Eve 🙂

Hi all,I,have been enjoying reading all of your posts over the last couple of days,just didn’t get round to posting myself.I’m looking forward to eventually being at the stage where I’m not fazed by all of the Christmas ‘treat’ foods around but I’m definitely not at that stage this year unfortunately so have indulged over the last few days.I don’t intend to today though so will see how that goes.I had ordered MM’s new book from Amazon but they emailed me the other day to say they now weren’t going to be despatching it until 4th January so I’ve cancelled my order and will buy it from Tesco instead as really wanted to have it for New Year.I hope everyone has a good day and manages to have some time to relax in what can be a frantic time,even during ‘normal’ times.Dawn X

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas
I haven’t been all that vigilant this week. I will get weighed on Friday but I am expecting a gain! Had the odd mince pie at work and my hand went into the celebration tin on more than one occasion but I’ve not blown it completely. in between I’ve been good, skipping breakfast, BSD friendly lunches and evening meals but I know I’ve blown my chance of any weight loss and I am fine with that. I think the Omicron Covid scare has given me a sense of perspective. We’ve been so busy at work trying to get as many as possible boosted that I felt it didn’t really matter if I was a few pound heavier than I had hoped I would be on Christmas Eve. With no socialising and still not sure of whether I’ll manage to stay Covid negative in light of the amount of people we see in the centre every day or whether my son will be negative too as a few of his colleagues are positive so taking each day as it comes and learning to live in the moment, and hoping I get to see my sons at Christmas. What does it matter that I won’t be at 144 lb! I have pre ordered the new Michael Mosely book because I plan to get myself back into the driving seat in the New Year and plod on slowly and steadily towards my goal.

I’ve loved this three month countdown and felt it’s been a positive experience. I’ve lost about 9 lbs which I am really happy with. I will post my weight on Friday, take a break for a few days and be ready to get back on the January Bus when it comes out of the depot on 3rd January. I made the mistake last year of not knuckling down early enough in January so I won’t be making the same mistake next year. Should we do a countdown to Easter/Spring?

Well done to everyone for what they have achieved during our Christmas countdown. Well done for keeping going and for being here and thank you for the support and friendship. I am sure there will be enthusiasm for a January thread. Merry Christmas to all the passengers. Have a safe and peaceful Christmas and I’ll see you at the bus stop in January. Ding ding!

I’ll brave the scales on Friday and post my Christmas Eve weight. It is what it is. Onwards and downwards in what are still very difficult times for the whole world!

Hi Cathy – that sounds like pretty good going to me, especially with all the stress and pressure of working in the vaccination centre. When I got my booster the vaccinators were telling me how they thought they’d lose weight because they were miles from any shops but there was no chance because there was always lots of biscuits, chocolates and sweets being brought in. 9lbs is a great loss for this Christmas trip. Well done that woman.
SueBlue – good on you for avoiding those mince pies (always used to be one of my favourite Christmas things) and that sounds like a good plan for the rest of this year. I have my meals planned and some low carb favourites in for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve ‘eve’ and that’ll be it. Yes, same message here about personal responsibility. Not sure what’s happening about any further restrictions in England (clearer in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland I think).
Thanks DCT, I’m a lot better. Your (and SueBlue’s) tree and lights sounds lovely. I’ve looked at them a few times – might buy one next year.
Dawn – hope today (oh, yesterday now) went well – and today does too!
I’m weighing myself on Friday too, so will report in then.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
Jennie xx

Hello everyone. Just dropping by to wish you all the very best for Christmas wherever you are in the world.

To those who have been on the Christmas Bus, I have so enjoyed your company. And well done to those who have lost weight and moved towards their goals.

Cathy mentioned a January bus, and I’m definitely up for it too. I hope that many others will join. I’m happy to set up the thread unless someone else wants to? I like Cathy’s suggestion of running till Easter. I could set up a new thread from Saturday January 1st (or Monday 3rd, if that works better) to run until Easter weekend – Friday 15th – Sunday 17th April. Let me know your thoughts?

Lots of love to anyone reading this, and I hope to keep in touch with you on our new thread in 2022 X

Hi folks! Well the Crimbo Coach has drawn into its destination and is having a well earned rest after all those miles we’ve travelled together!
Hope all are happy with their results and if not,a renewed effort in 2022 will bring the results you want
Yes please DCT!please start another bus ride,I’ll deffo be aboard. I think I’ve lost a few pounds this time,haven’t been weighed,need a new battery for scales,but I’m sure I’ve lost some..maybe about the equivalent of a 5 lb bag of spuds?
I don’t mind what date we start,but I know I probably won’t jump aboard til 4 th Jan
Thanks for the good company and all the sharing, bus dwellers! And a Cool Yule and a Proper Crimbo to all! Big festive hugs all round! Keep well,keep warm,keep safe! XX 🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄

Merry Christmas
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and looking forward to seeing you all aboard the January Bus. Thank you Dreamscometrue for offering to set up the January thread, I will be glad to jump on board on 3rd January. I left it too late to reboot last year and paid the price.

I did have a sneaky weigh yesterday and weighed 146 but today I was 147 so I am happy with that. I won’t be jumping on the scales now until Friday 7th January. I am learning to be more forgiving and less demanding and my new year resolution is to learn how to live in the moment. I am feeling inspired for 2022 and have ordered the MM keto book and will use all my knowledge and wisdom from the last five years to aim for my healthy weight goal of 138 lb.

Have a wonderful break everyone and see you at the bus stop in January. Stay safe everyone and enjoy. We have lots to look forward to and let’s draw a line under what has been for some of us a very difficult year.

Merry Christmas to all my lovely friends,

Cathy x

Merry Christmas to you lovely people.I hope you all have a great time whatever you are doing.I’ve decided not to weigh myself as know this bus trip hasn’t gone as planned for me but I’m definitely going to be ready to hop back on board on 3rd Jan with you all.A big well done to anyone who has managed to lose any weight on this trip and to those who haven’t or who aren’t sure,like myself,let’s make the next bus trip the one where we finally reach our goals and maintain them.
My sister and I visited my Dad this afternoon,it was lovely to see him but he was in a very paranoid mood,bless him,so it was impossible to have a normal conversation with him.He was quite sleepy so hopefully he was in a different mood and less anxious after a nice sleep.We have another visit booked for next week.Just have some housework to do tonight which DH is helping with,DD is FaceTiming with her friends.Presents all wrapped and I’m hoping to have an early night as have been awake since 3.30 (woke and couldn’t get back to sleep)this morning so pretty tired.My Mum is coming round tomorrow morning and staying for the day and M-i-l and F-i-l are coming round in the evening,we won’t be having a massive amount to eat as none of them are very big eaters so hopefully I won’t over indulge too much!Sending love to you all.Dawn X

Merry Christmas! 🎅
Thanks for your lovely posts DCT, Cathy, Dawn & Yowzer – I can’t believe Christmas Day is here.
I’m still 1.5kg away from my 2021 goal of 88kg but who knows, I may still be able to get closer by the 31st ( I believe in Christmas miracles!). But like you Cathy I’m not stressing about it. I’m looking forward to spending the day with my children. I’m cooking so at least I can keep it healthy, well relatively!
A funny thing happened with my online grocery order, about 3 bags were missing, the ones with cheeses, nuts, chips/crisps, and chocolates in them. I have arranged a refund but didn’t worry about going out on Xmas Eve to buy more..i was annoyed at first but then thought maybe the bags were delivered to someone who needs them more than I do, or the Universe is helping me stay on track!
I’ll be booking a seat on the bus for our next trip for sure as I would really love to lose another 10kg at least.

Thank you all for your support and friendship this year, it has really helped me stay (mostly!) on track. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas & New Year, stay safe and see you on the 3rd!

Happy Christmas everyone – and it very nearly is here in the UK.
Late as ever. So, I weighed myself this morning first thing and I was 9st 3lb which is great. That’s 2lb off since my last weigh-in. Hooray. But my youngest son is home (I’m happy and very appreciative) and we ate a very big meal this evening. All low carb for me, just a lot of it. So, fallen at the first hurdle!
I’ll be joining the bus next year. My goal is to get back to the level of discipline and commitment to this way of life (eating and exercise!) I had when I first started.
It’s been good getting back on the bus and lovely sharing the journey and having everyone’s support. Thank you.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year. See you in 2022.
Jennie xx

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope🎅 has visited you all & left you loads of good goodies.

Sorry I’ve not been around BUT it’s only been the last couple of days that I could sit down comfortably on one of those cut-out cushions. The diet has gone to pot as I’ve been feeling very rough. Eating lots of veggies still BUT am eating A LOT that I know I shouldn’t. I’d sue that ointment manufacturer for gross negligence & unlawful advertising if I could find their address in the USA. I suspect I’ll just settle for a refund instead on their expensive non ointment.

I had my HbA1c done again on Tuesday. was supposed to ring for the results after 2pm on 24th but forgot. I hope in a way it’s a wake up call for me BUT I’d love for it to be still ‘normal’. Carl & myself are suffering many aches & pains that we’d forgotten about on the diet. That plus the fact that we’d both like to lose at least 1 stone, possibly 2 will be an incentive for us to get back on the New Year bus. We haven’t put on more than a few pounds each YET but we haven’t got through Christmas yet. NOT going to worry about it now, going to over indulge ourselves & then get back on the new bus after the 1st week in January. Got Dr. Mosley’s new book arriving on the 4th as an added incentive to get back on track.

Thank you all for being here & hope you ALL have a wonderful Christmas with your family & friends. We shall just be telephoning & video calling our families BUT hopefully, if not next year, then the following one we can get over to the USA to see them. My family over here I’d dearly also like to see but my Uncle is very frail at nearly 92. my cousins are right gadabouts so steering clear of them because of Carl still basically shielding.

Well done to loads of you for sticking with it & losing. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas & a Happy New Year. I hope we’ll see everyone back on the new 2022 bus.

Linda & Carl XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just wanted to say well done to those of you who stuck with this. I fell off the back of the bus a few weeks ago and never made it back on … but I did keep reading the emails.
I have ended this journey a pound less than I started so I will take that as a very small win 😁
Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and best wishes for 2022 xx

Hello friends, just jumping on to say Happy New Year to you all 🙂
What a year 2021 has been and I wonder what 2022 has in store for us?
I weighed in this morning at 89.9kg, so 1.9kg away from from my 2021 goal of 88 – the closest I got to this was 88.8 in mid November. Never mind though – when I look back on the year I have ended it 10.2kg (or over 22lb) less than when I started… I also lost 46cm (or 18/19 inches) from my bust/waist/hips & thighs so it was actually quite a successful year for me personally, thanks in no small way to the support, encouragement and friendship of everyone on here 🙂
I have a new goal in mind for 2022 but I’ll post that on our new thread 🙂
In the meantime, thank you all for your support in 2021, Happy New Year, stay safe and see you on the other side in 2022 where it’s all about YOU 🙂 👍🥳 🍾

Just calling by to wish all my lovely friends a Verrrrrry Haaaaapppppy Newwwww Yearrrrrr! Yahooooo! Let’s make it the best one yet!
Lots of love and seasonal hugs to all the fabulous people I’ve been lucky enough to be travelling with.💜💜💜
Very much looking forward to the next leg of our trip..we’ve got a great thing going.
Thanks DCT for starting the new thread for us. What are we going to call it?! Any ideas?
💕💕💕see you on the bus!💕💕💕 be there or be square! 😁😁😁 xxx new members will be made very welcome,just grab a seat xx 🙂🙃🙂🙃

Happy New Year all – though those of us in the UK still have a few hours to go 😊

I’ll set up the new thread tomorrow, and probably jump on board on Tuesday 4th. I’m thinking about 100 day Journey to Easter as a possible title. I like the idea of a 100 day challenge as a real motivator!

Enjoy your celebrations everyone, and here’s to a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2022 X

Thanks DCT..LOVE the idea of 100 day challenge! It really feels like a motivator,I’ll be holding my hand out to request the bus to stop for me to clamber aboard on 4th Jan! XX can’t wait to meet up with my buddies old and new!xxx