Just realised I haven’t set any goals for this challenge!
My next mini-goal is to lose 4kg, however as I am a “slow loser” I doubt I’ll be able to achieve this in 4 weeks, so am going with 2kg, or 4lb as a goal which I fee is more achievable for me.
I’d also like to get “back to basics” with BSD, I’m up to week 6 of my second round, or Week 14 overall, but have had a few weeks “off plan” during the 2nd round so I’m not getting very far weight loss wise.
So my plan for the next 4 weeks is to stick to the BSD 800 plan and hopefully start to lose again (rather than gaining and losing the same couple of kilos!).

My mini goal is 4 kg, partly because I think that is achievable (but challenging) but also because it would bring me down to 76 kg which is a significant weight for me. As I got heavier, 76kg was the point where I went from ‘I’m a bit chubby and need to lose weight’ to ‘I hate my body’. I no longer hate my body, we’ve been through too much together, but I clearly remember that as a milestone when I stopped feeling good about how I looked. Where I started getting a nasty shock every time I looked in the mirror or saw a photo. I’m only 5′ 0″ and have a big stomach so clothes just don’t look good any more. So, ‘amazing body, I love you, and I’m going to do us both a big favour by getting rid of the excess fat!’

Hermoine, a few more lunch suggestions for you 🙂
*Ploughman’s – ham, cheese, walnuts, an apple (or half apple), celery and pickles. I also sometimes add a green, leafy salad sometimes.
*Greek salad – feta, olives, tomato, onion, cucumber and again I add lettuce or spinach leaves to make it look more like a meal.
*bean burgers – there are a couple of recipes in the BSD books but basically I mix tinned 4 bean mix (or whatever cans I have), with some left over roasted vegies, mashed pumpkin or celeriac, and an egg. Bake them in oven for 20-25 mins and it makes enough for 4 lunches, they also freeze well. I eat these with either salad or vegies.
*egg muffins – recipe in book but I vary ingredients with what I have in the fridge (spinach, zucchini, ham, feta etc) – these freeze really well too. I have these with salad for lunch.
I bring my lunch in a container to work but often serve it on a nice plate and I sit down and eat it in the lunchroom, not at my desk when I can.
*dinner leftovers – or I make extra bolognaise/curry/chilli and freeze in containers that I can easily take with me.
Lunch is my favourite meal of the day and I really look forward to it… often I find there’s so many choices the hardest part is making up my mind what to have!

Hello everyone, just popping in for an update. Have been given the “all clear” on my mammogram recall. Such relief😊
Have had a previous recall but was sent back to the original centre for repeat films. This time I was directed to a “breast assessment centre” in one of the major hospitals and told to be prepared to stay all day depending on how far I had to go on the hierarchy of tests. Seemed ominous.

Thank you all for your lovely support, it was so appreciated. And Mk, I am absolutely grateful for the “med and tech” knowledge and availability. Felt sad as I left, feeling for the 14 or 15 women sitting waiting for their turn, maybe wishing they were me and going home early. Couldn’t help it, had to pause at the door and wish them all good luck.

Thanks again xx Marilyn

Dear All,

PHEW MARSIE – what a relief to get the all-clear. Sorry for you that the anxiety spread over Easter. I too had a recall for my last mammogram that also proved to be a false reading. Being so overweight and also having enormous breasts the nurse had difficulty wedging them into the horrible press device and one of them was squashed with creases that appeared to be a tumour, hence my callback. Another reason for me to shift some fat!

I’d like to join this four-week challenge and will borrow Marsie’s “one day at a time” Mantra.

The challenge takes me up to my birthday week. Thanks to following the BSD I am 2.5 stone/16.33kgs lighter than last year which is incredible and BEST OF ALL I’m no longer pre-diabetic but there are still 17 lbs/7.7 kgs to go. I have planned three days of theatre trips rather than my normal approach to birthdays (hate the things) which is to consume wine and food at Olympic levels with a “I deserve it, it’s my birthday”.

I’m choosing to treat experiences as my reward rather than consuming carbs – big change. I noticed over Easter, apart from the fasting and abstinence of Good Friday it was a massive Festival of Sugar. I felt guilty giving the family Eggs when I was avoiding them myself. Mindful chocolate?

Looking forward to joining you all chewing our way through the 84 meals to the Mid-May weigh-in.

Marsie – great news. You must have felt so relieved when you heard that you had the all clear.

Hi,
I know I’m a bit late but a 4 wk challenge sounds perfect. I won’t start until Mon, but if it’s ok wld love to still jump on board a bit late. Had success with BSD last year, but piled on 10 kilos in the last 6 mths through stress eating. Life is now back to being rosey, except for carrying too much weight and feeling body aches due to not having exercised,. My 4 week goal is to lose 5 kilos, as a start to getting back my healthier former self!

So pleased all is well Marsie. It seems that many of us have had a recall and know that the waiting is very stressful.
Now you can move on ‘one day at a time’.
X

Marsie- what a relief for you. It happened to me two years ago. You cannot think of anything else until you get the all clear. I have had a lot of serious health issues over the years and one thing I always appreciate afterwards is the sense of perspective it gives me. You can look forward to so much now that is all sorted.

Great news Marsie!

I had a stressful day, included learning my oven can’t be resurrected and we need a new one. No big deal in the scheme of things, but nevertheless I turned to my old buddy food for comfort. Then felt very cross with myself. Turn the page, finished with food for the day (evening here), tomorrow is another day.

Phew indeed, Marsie – I can feel your relief from here. Has happened to me a few times in the past (all false alarms thankfully) so know exactly how you were feeling. But thank goodness you were given the all clear 🙂 So pleased for you.

Natalie, I empathise with you – one can get very attached to an old oven, you learn it’s idiosyncrasies and it can feel like an old friend. And choosing a new one can be just as stressful. I had a new kitchen installed 2 years ago, but within 2 months had decided I hated the new oven with a vengeance! O/h told me that I had chosen it, so I had to live with it. Grrrr!!! Fortunately my lovely 92 year old mother took pity on me and came to the rescue (probably got fed up with my whinging about it) and bought me another brand new one for my birthday, without o/h knowing until he came home and found it fitted, so what could he do? Better add, that I managed to sell the old (well 18 months) one at a decent price, so all was not lost, and I LOVE my new one.

I’ve been having stressful time too, although of a different nature, as we are on holiday at the moment and my daughter did a fly by our house yesterday, just to check on it, and discovered we have been burgled!! Apparently the place is a tip, all drawers and cupboards emptied and rummaged through and our belongings left scattered like so much trash. Feeling violated and, frankly, it’s not helped that the police still haven’t turned up (despite being informed at about 5pm yesterday!) I understand it’s not an emergency, as the perpetrators were long gone, but even so……………and my daughter was told not to touch anything until they have been!! Well, obviously, we are not there so that’s not a problem, but what if we had been??? So now that the house has been made secure by our lovely son in law, we have decided not to go back until the police have attended and given us the all clear to assess what is missing and to begin the clean up operation – hopefully we will head back and face the music tomorrow, but not the end of holiday we were hoping for.

On the plus side, I have had a couple of days to total holiday over-indulgence so was dreading what the scales have to say upon my return, but I measured this morning (have tape measure, but no scales with me) and I have lost another inch from both my waist and my hips and half inch from my bust whilst I have been away. Mind you, I’ve not eaten anything at all since breakfast yesterday (yoghurt and berries) as I have felt sick to my stomach since I got the news, the thought of those b*****s being in our home and having their hands on all our personal possessions, so maybe that is why.

Good luck everyone on the challenge.

Hello everyone (waves) – is there room for one more? Hope you don’t mind if I join you. I lost a far amount with BSD last year but lost my way and have only just found my mojo again. So here I am – 12lbs heavier and raring to go.

Just popping in to add my challenge. Mine will be a 3 week one starting next Wed. After my low cal/much exercise and gradual grind to a halt loss wise in the last challenge, and knowing this week is a non starter I have decided to mix it up a bit.

Having put on 9lb of water weight in the last 2 days ( can’t be anything else on max 1200 cals, <15g carb) and with no scales now until Wed, I am not so driven by weight loss, but by getting my exercise regime sorted out so it becomes a normal part of the working day and nutrient macros to a point where the weight loss is steady. So my challenge is two-fold:

1) stick to my planned meal regime of minimal cals, 30 Fg 64 Pg 10 Cg (I’m useless at sticking to planned meals),
2) be able to bike a total of 10 miles over 2 sessions on 2 consecutive days.

If my weight goes down the extra 3lb (excluding the water weight) into a NSZ I shall regard that as a bonus.

Will catch up with everyone else’s challenges when I get back but good luck everybody.

Oh, Theodora, what a rotten, rotten, ROTTEN thing to happen to you. Ruining your holiday and your sense of safety and wellbeing. I can empathise in a small way, had nowhere near the mean-spirited trashing inside that you’ve described. Great hugs coming your way. …keep yourself healthy while you come to terms with what you need to do. 🙅🙅🙅

Hello to those joining us now, you’re very welcome and good luck with your plans and progress. Keep posting.

To everyone sending good wishes, I am very grateful, thank you. And, oh yes, relief is the perfect word for my feelings xxx🙆

Hi everyone, good news for you Marsie, I have been there. Had a chest xray when I was diagnosed with high bp and they found a shadow on my lung – marked my file in red with ‘ex smoker’. They couldn’t re-test for 6 weeks so they could see if it had grown and I went through every type of hell. Turned out to be nothing.

Theodora, how horrible. We live in the countryside and the scabs seem to know who comes and goes. I have a friend with a holiday home not far and she has been robbed 4 times, nothing valuable but such a pain. Normally we batten down the hatches, wire up all the shutters, lock every internal door. Friends say if they get in they will make an awful mess getting through doors but I say, make the buggers work for what they steal. Anyway, this year we decided not to put the cats in the cattery (getting expensive and cats get stressed) so we investigated a company called Trusted Housesitters (trustedhousesitters.com) we paid them a year membership, put our home, pets, area details on the site and within 1 hour we had found someone to stay at ours while we were in Alicante. You dont need to have pets, they are house sitters but also do pets sitting. We came back to a safe, clean and tidy house and 3 very happy cats. Too late now but maybe for the future.

I have lost another pound making it 3lbs in 2 days. I think it is almost because I put 5lbs on in a short time and it hadn’t had time to really stick, you just have to get back on the plan as quickly as possible. No thinking, oh it is Wednesday I will start again next Monday, there leads to fat old life. BG going back down too although they only hit 5.8 on one day and were generally around 4.8 to 5.4. Now getting ready for the cruise, lots to do this weekend. Keep on keeping on…

Thanks Marsie and s-g. Marsie, forgot to mention that, as well as feeling your relief through the ether, your all clear also brightened my day when I was feeling a little sorry for myself. So thank you. And well done on the weight loss s-g and getting straight back on plan.

Thanks for your suggestion of housesitters, s-g. My niece actually uses trusted house sitters and has recommended them in the past. But as we are lucky enough to have 2 homes (3 if you count mother-in-laws which, since her recent death, for the time being is unoccupied pending probate / clearing / selling) and we spend our time more or less equally between the two, one is always empty so we would need permanent house-sitters in one or the other homes. We have actually been very fortunate in that we have lived this itinerant lifestyle for almost 40 years and this is the first time it has happened. Well, we have been burgled twice before, once in each house, but on both occasions when we were actually in residence and had just popped out for a couple of hours, and one of which I came home to find them still actually in the house!!! I don’t think there is any perfect answer – we have alarms / security lights /cctv, none of which appear to be deterrents. In fact my daughter has just rung to say that she has spoken to the police again and they have decided not to even visit the crime scene, let alone investigate, as they say they are spread too thinly and are experiencing a spate of teenagers being mugged and lone women being car-jacked, both of which take priority, and there is little or no chance of catching anyone for our burglary, particularly as we suspect it happened last Saturday as 3 other local houses were also burgled that day. I’m sure this is what the b******s are banking on!!

Sorry, I have gone WAY off topic. Will be home tomorrow, will get the place put back to rights, and then move on. I’ll have a weigh in on Saturday morning and hope for a good result (though having dinner out tonight, so who knows!!)

May I join in?

Marsie……I am pleased to hear you are in the clear.:-)
Theadora…….what rotten luck to be broken into. Hope you manage to sort everything out easily when you return home.

I have not really set myself any challenges before only to increase my walking. I failed badly.
So I think my challenge will be to do between 4000 and 10000 steps a day and to keep on the straight and narrow with this way of eating, I don’t know how I have managed to remain so determined since starting on the 1st October. Its no good setting myself x amount of pounds to lose as I am now on medication for my thyroid and getting rid of this weight has been made more difficult. Not going to dwell on it though but I will just keep on keeping on as I have done since October.

Happy days Marsie, so pleased for you xxxxx

Marsie such wonderful news! It must be such a relief for you.

Theodora,so sorry to hear about the break in. The feeling of violation is just awful. Years ago we had a burglary, they even took the sheets from my daughter’s cot to carry the stuff away. I still remember how sick and shaky I felt for ages after, every time I came home. I am really feeling for you.

I an still plodding on, up and down 200g but that seems to be my pattern. Hopefully a drop on Monday if this week is like the last three.

Marsie that’s great news you must be very relieved. Theodora very sorry to hear of your burglary it’s a very nasty experience but hopefully not too traumatic.

Well I’m home now and the total damage was a gain of 4.6lbs. I suppose it could have been much worse after nearly 4 week so my goal for this challenge will be 4.6lbs!!! It’s been enjoyable having wine with meals and ‘unweighed’ food but now its time to get back to weighing, counting and logging and I’m really looking forward to some ‘control’ in my life again. One thing this holiday has taught me is how very easy it could be to go back to my ‘old life’ but that’s not going to happen!

Keeping on keeping on ……

Welcome home Verano.
I think 4 1/2 lbs extra over 4 weeks is a win, particulaly as you obviously enjoyed your holiday and the odd glass of vino!
You will soon lose that extra fluid and then onwards and downwards.
X B

This looks like a busy challenge!

Hope i’m not too late to join. After my 8 weeks I went crazy on carbs, put 8lb on and realised I missed this WOE much more than I miss the white stuff. My progress is delayed, but I started exercising recently my OH says he wants to get back in shape. Result!

My children and OH are back at school so my routine is back. I officially started back Tuesday so I’ve got a few days in already.

My goal for the next 4 weeks is to lose 10lb and will have lost 2 stone in total.

Thanks Busybee.

I have just filled in Fatsecret for today and have decided to aim for 800/35 for this challenge. Goodness knows how many carbs I’ve been eating because I will use 32.5g today and believe me my menu is really basic …. yogurt, berries and walnuts for breakfast, salad lunch and bolognese and courgetti dinner. I really don’t think I can stick to 30g of carbs anymore so will aim for 35g for the next week and then re-evaluate.

Hope everyone is doing well on this challenge.

Quite unbelievable, I have lost a total of 3.5 lbs since Tuesday, almost as good as my very first week on the plan. Now I just have to get the weekend over with. Started packing my case for the cruise and already up to 10kgs but being very organised and trying to mix and match so I will wear dress trousers to dinner but have 3 different tops, then they are all colour co-ordinated so I only have to take 2 sets of jewellery. I was so rushed for the trip to Alicante as with people (house sitters) staying, I couldn’t lay out everything in the spare bedroom, gets to Alicante with 4 pairs of sunglasses. I have lots of miniature makeups and creams which I packed but then I through in the full sized jars. Definitely forced to be more organised as everything has to fit in the cars and cannot be just chucked in the back of the car.

Blood glucose back down to 4.4. Only one problem, after overdosing on eggs last week (was travelling and stuck for breakfast choices) I have stirred up my old intolerance and had a very bad tummy yesterday. Will stay off the eggs for a few days to let it settle.

Have a good weekend everyone and keep on keeping on…

Well done S-g!!!! That’s a great result just hoping my ‘short sharp shock’ has a similar outcome!!!!

Just keep thinking about your cruise and that should get you through the weekend without too much trouble!!

Well done Sunshine-girl – a really great weight loss.

Theodora – so sorry to hear about the break-in. Hope they didn’t do too much damage to your possessions or take any treasured possessions.

Just a quick update. Since the incident with the lemon tart on Sunday blood sugars have been very slow to come back to normal. Since September I have been 4.8 to 5.3 fasting bs and 90 minutes after eating I would be back to around 5.5. Since Sunday have been 6.9 fasting and 90 minutes after eating have been around 8.6 to 8.9.

I was beginning to panic as I thought I had messed up my pancreas but husband persuaded me not to go back on the insulin as he said it would sort itself out (I still have insulin in the fridge from when I was on insulin). This morning I woke up with fbs at 5.5 and 90 minutes after breakfast and lunch I was 5.5 and 5.6. So a huge sigh of relief – everything is in full working order again. Have no idea what was going on with the blood sugars but am so relieved it resolved itself.

Am rushing though my admin work and lesson planning today as I am leaving for London straight after my classes finish tomorrow afternoon because I am on a course which starts early on Sunday morning – so a bit hectic here.

Hi all, day at a time. … Worked well for most of the day, then fell apart. Icecream.
Another day tomorrow.

Im just popping quickly in to report a 2lb loss since Tuesday! (my first day) , which has strengthened me for facing my first weekend without wine for some months! (ok probably nearly a year).

I am back to having (as late in the morning as possible) ‘eggs in a cup with butter’ for breakfast (easy in the work microwave!) This was good for me last time as i didnt feel hungry for the rest of the day.
Then a small cottage cheese, celery/carrot and cue sticks snack just do i feel i have had lunch (its hard not eating anything when surrounded by people munching in the office -though before i did sometimes have miso soup instead) ..

So thats been today and its left me lots of leeway for my h/m beef chilli ,(it does have some beans in ) , coleslaw (h/m low carb mayo ) and grated cheese..
I will have that with green salad, not bread.

EEK… how will I fare without wine this weekend ?? . Its Friday evening !! G&T time !! (DH will be having one , i’m planning on fizzy water a slice lemon and ice) ..

I will try and keep thinking of that Greek beach in only 9 weeks ( and counting down )

I will read back and catch up hopefully tomorrow ..
Hope everyone is doing well ..

Krysia, I am so relieved that your blood sugars have recovered. From injecting insulin, to doing without must seem like a miracle cure, but clearly even if the pancreas is regenerating itself it will be a slow process. At least having had this happen once you can now be thankful that your body can fight it’s own way through it, and get back to the status quo. Just leave it for a good long time before you try again, and then maybe just try half a slice?

Hi Laksa,
Woke up to read your post and wondered how you fared on your Friday night! ( I’m in Australia) mine did involve wine, unfortunately, but only a little! Ate sparingly all day as I knew we were out for dinner, italian, so chicken in a creamy tomato sauce but I did succumb to a slice of pizza bruschetta! Oh well, the scales are telling me off this morning so will try and make up for it today. Good luck over the weekend and well done on your 2 pound loss!!

Mixnmatch – you are right that going from injecting insulin to doing without definitely feels like a miracle cure.
I think that I may have had high blood sugars since the 1990’s so it is amazing that my pancreas has regenerated enough to have normal blood sugars now.

In the early 1990s I was very under the weather. We had a super nurse at work. She checked my urine and the test showed high glucose – which she was very concerned about. She sent me to see my doctor. He said that she didn’t know what she was talking about and that I probably had a condition where the kidneys release glucose into the urine which was nothing to worry about. He didn’t do any blood tests or any further investigations so it is highly likely that was the start of the diabetes and it was the doctor talking a load of rubbish not the nurse at work.

So in 2012 when I was diagnosed with diabetes I was very ill and was admitted to hospital with sky high blood sugars and ketones and a resting pulse rate of 122 beats a minute. I was started on insulin straight away. By then my poor pancreas must have been in a very bad way – so it is pretty miraculous that it is functioning at all.

If it really was the start of diabetes in the early 1990s I am definitely very lucky to have normal blood sugars now as people do much better if they haven’t had diabetes for too many years – so I think it will be a very long time before I try the sugary starchy carbs again.

On the subject of sugary starchy carbs, remember that almond croissant that leapt into my basket unaided at Waitrose last week? I just had the second half for breakfast today, confirming that, yes I still like them, in fact having shared a slice of bakewell tart with my mum and sister at Lowther Castle on Monday and also eating half of a morello cherry and almond tart slice earlier in the week it seems I have a potential weakness for anything with almonds or marzipan in. Luckily I seem to be quite satisfied with half size portions and spreading it out over several days so going forward will adopt this strategy when the mood strikes. No cravings for large quantities of rubbish anyway so the body is coping well with these reduced portions.

Wedding anniversary tomorrow, weight still 2 pounds under my target, so even if I try hard today (which I won’t) it looks like I have made my goal.

Thanks to you all for being there on my journey to the newly ‘in control’ me.

Mixnmatch – that’s really good news that your almond and marzipan treats haven’t set off a carb fest and that you have been able to eat them in a controlled way and that you have stayed 2lb under your target.

Good morning everyone

Krysia reading your posts about sugar laden food has made me realise that sometimes it becomes so easy to forget our real ‘aims’. It’s so easy to become completely focussed on ‘weight’ whilst forgetting that the purpose, for those of us with diabetes, is to take care of our blood sugars. We can’t really do that by eating the wrong foods but fooling ourselves that’s it’s fine if our carb/calorie levels are within the ‘limits’!!!

Well Day 2 of 7 for me today and so far so good! Down 0.8lb this morning so just 3.4lb to go!

Have a good day!

Verano sometimes I kid myself that my weight doesn’t really matter, it’s just vanity, but that is rubbish! Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to look good anyway, but this is really much more about my long-term health. How can I keep ignoring sleep apnoea, glucose intolerance, sore hips? The unsightly rolls of fat are just the visible part of the underlying problem.

Good on you, Mixnmatch, for being under target and staying there despite temptations. Happy Anniversary for tomorrow. Have a great time. 💝🎊

KrysiaD, that is quite a story of yours, makes you shudder at the doctor’s dismissal of an important marker. What a difference it might have made for you so much earlier.

Son#2 was ill for quite a while, couple of years, in his 30s, living with his family in Sydney, other side of the country from us. OH has Coeliac disease so #2 was checked for that but only thing diagnosed was an ulcer. They moved back to Perth and about 10 yrs ago his health deteriorated again, to the point that he was rushed off to hospital on verge of coma. Quickly diagnosed T1. Now 48, and he has it well controlled. But very scary. Many Qs unanswered re previous lack of diagnosis. Close call, so lucky to have him still. He and his wife and 2
children live just 10 minutes up the road and we make the most of that. Scary movie, happy ending💛

Hi all, another successful day and another quarter of a pound off. Total so far 3.75lbs. BG is good at 4.7. I have been living on left overs since Tuesday and it has been great not to have to worry about shopping and cooking as we are going away again (have I mentioned that before!!!!) and have so much to organise.

The weather here is warming up with 25 degrees today so I might do some informal exercise by getting into the garden and digging over the potager. Have a good weekend all.

Did anyone see the report on the news today that artificial sweeteners in drinks are bad for you. The reason they gave is that the body sees it as something sweet but doesn’t get any nutrients so it causes sugar cravings, another reason given was the body detects something sweet but has nothing to metabolise so hangs on to its fat store hence difficulty in losing weight. They are now also linking it to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Hallelujah we could have told them that.

Hurrah, Marsie, so pleased everything was OK – and remember, over 80% of your fellow travellers at the clinic will get the all clear too. Vastly improved Breast cancer detection and treatment is one of the huge successes of the last 20 years. Theodora 🙁 – awful, poor you. Hope you get it all sorted soon.

Dashing in to say it’s been a funny old week. Was in London for work and was one of 4 women attacked by a guy with mental health issues, in broad daylight on a busy street. Punched very hard in the chest, out of the blue. My wrist was broken as I fell and have very bruised sternum, hospitalised overnight. Came home to find my oldest and most poorly aunt has been taken into hospital and not expected to go on much longer, so I’ll be missing in action for a while.

Just had a phone call from the police to say my assailant is ‘known to the police and as a vulnerable adult, has been cautioned and his social work team alerted’. Feeling pretty vulnerable myself, if I’m honest…. Lost count of the helpful people who’ve said ‘OMG – if he’d had a knife you’d be dead….’ Mkx

Goodness me, Mk – my little trauma pales into insignificance next to yours. How awful and totally terrifying I should think. Thank goodness you are ok(ish), and I can fully understand why you are feeling vulnerable. Really sorry to hear about your aunt too. Ether hugs to you.

We finally returned home after 12 days away. Rotten journey home, as last Friday of the Easter holidays, so it took twice as long as usual, but finally got here to face the consequences of the break-in. Fortunately not too much damage – rear patio door locks broken and o/h has spent the morning replacing /reinforcing them, so all secure again now. And there does not actually appear to be much missing – though there was a dreadful mess to clear up, and we may notice more as time goes on. They got away with a couple of my son’s credit cards (which have been cancelled now) $250 (US) and £300 cash, and some bits of jewellery – bizarrely mostly earrings and watches, having discarded some much more valuable antique jewellery. Anyway, nothing that cannot be easily replaced, so a much better result than we were expecting. Still no police though!

During our time away, I have totally over-indulged on several occasions – 2 pub dinners, 1 posh restaurant meal, a formal dinner party, a drinks party with friends and a large family Easter lunch, all including far too much wine and, whilst I stayed off refined carbs, I didn’t calorie count at all on those occasions, (although I tried to be sensible the rest of the time), and I was dreading getting on the scales this morning!!! So it was a lovely surprise to find that I have lost another pound whilst I’ve been away, which brings me to 2.25lbs under target weight, and lost another inch each from my waist and hips, and half inch from my bust, so very pleased with that 🙂 Boding well for maintenance, hopefully 🙂 Have an easy week coming up, with no social occasions, but the following week is looking challenging but I’m feeling more and more confident that I can do this long term and still have an enjoyable social life.

Oh M K, what a bad time you are having! Take care of yourself whilst giving time and love to your aunt.
Theodora, well done on coping with the trauma of the burglary and losing weight whilst enjoying yourself on holiday.
I’m still here, yesterday has gone , tomorrow hasn’t arrived so keeping on with today.
X B

MK – so sorry to hear that you were attacked. A broken wrist is so painful – and then there is the trauma of the attack – no wonder you feel vulnerable. Sorry to hear about your aunt being so poorly – it’s horrible knowing she won’t get better.

Theadora – although the break in was horrible it was good to hear it wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. It is really sad that the police seem to have just accepted that they won’t catch the burglars so they are not even bothering to investigate.

But good news that you have lost another pound.

Marsie – it is so scary that you could have lost your son. Thank goodness he is ok now and has the T1 well controlled. I suppose you will never get those unanswered questions about the previous lack of a diagnosis answered now – which is a shame.

You are right that I might have done things differently if my doctor had taken the nurses concerns seriously and I wouldn’t have ended up with such a damaged pancreas.

Verano – I agree that it is easy to forget that the real reason why those of us who have diabetes are doing the BSD is to control our blood sugars. I am not sure why I thought it was ok to eat the lemon tart and ice cream when it was exactly that sort of food that caused the diabetes in the first place.

Blood sugars have been in the low 5s all day so my pancreas is working happily again after going on strike for 4 days after the lemon tart incident on Sunday.

I am on a course in London tomorrow and have treated myself to a night in a lovely boutique hotel near the British Museum. When I got to my room there was a chocolate on the bedside cabinet and a box of handmade biscuits on the desk. I will take them home to husband. I ordered a coffee as I sat relaxing in the lounge – it came with a home made biscuit. Is there no escape from the sugary carbs!!!

Sunshine-girl – have just read that people who drink diet drinks every day are more than three times as likely to suffer a stroke than people who drink no more than one diet drink a week. Very scary.

Maharani kitten, what a shock for you. Then the fairly feeble response, as it sounds from here, of the police response wouldn’t have helped. No wonder you’re feeling vulnerable. I hope you can keep your own needs front and centre while the physical pains heal and you go about the emotional and practical support needed in your aunt’s decline. Thinking of you, sending huge hugs your way xx

KrysiaD, Verano, Natalie, so many of us have grown up thinking of food as a consolation or a treat or a reward or any of the other reasons we find, other than it’s primary purpose of actual sustenance. That gets reinforced daily with advertising and shop displays, with gifts and ‘treats’ given with coffee or on hotel pillows. Hard to resist, leading to the baslc problem, I believe, of disordered eating behaviors…..all else flows from here. So, more power to all of us for attempting to return to basics.

sunshine-girl, Theodora, both sounding good with your losses. Cruise, s-g? Cruise? Lol, I think i may have seen a mention or two😀…..totally envious and full of memories of our Hurtegruten trip to the fjords a few years ago.

Hi Busybee, I’m also still here. The start of the day for us and today, Sunday, is the start of the local soccer season so off to watch 8yo g/son mid-morning, then again late afternoon for 16yo g/daughter’s match.

Have a good day everyone x

Have just been catching up on everyone’s posts this week.
Marsie – so happy that all was ok with your call back – what a relief!
Theodora – sorry to read about your break-in, how awful for you. It happened to me many years ago now, and I was so upset at the time, especially when my baby son’s pram was one of the things stolen. The mower and power tools were one thing, but his pram was another!
MK – how awful for you! Hope your wrist heals quickly, and your aunt is better soon too.
I’ve had an up and down sort of week, no major dramas but in a fair bit of pain (thanks to an RA flare), so back on to a double dose of prednisone for a few days till everything settles down. Hoping to lose at least 0.5kg by weigh in day on Tuesday.

MK that is so scary. I’m glad you will be ok.

I watched The Sixth Sense with the kids last night, they hadn’t seen it before. It has a few gory dead bodies but what scared my son was the man with mental health issues who attacks the counsellor at the start of the movie. He’s used to monsters, but he didn’t know that real people could act so crazy, for want of a better word.

MK what can I say! Just take care of yourself and be kind to yourself. This time will pass.

Well done S-g all sounds good. Well done to you too Theodora losing weight on a holiday really is an achievement!

Well Day 3 of 7 for me and another loss this morning of 1.4lbs so just 2.4lbs left to go! A happy bunny here!

Picked up from Facebook …… ‘Brain cells, hair cells and skin cells …. they all die constantly…. but fat cells … they seem to have an eternal life’. How true!

Have a good day.

Sorry to hear about the incident MK- what a terrible shock for you. Wishing you a speedy recovery both mentally and physically.

I am not doing so well this last couple of weeks. Nothing happening on the scales and am feeling a little fed up! Finding it hard to keep my resolve. I am on week 15 now and don’t want to give in but my positivity is waning. I forgot to do my weekly weigh in yesterday. Will do my weigh in challenge on Tuesday and hope for a loss!

Well done everyone who is keeping strong- I don’t know what’s wrong with me this weekend! Just don’t feel positive .

Hi ClarinetCathy

We all get times when it becomes really hard to lift ourselves to carry. You just have to look back see his far you’ve come from the start. Try to remember just why you started to do this in the first place. Re-read the book. Look at some of the inspirational stories like Captainlynne and Mixnmatch, 51kg and fitting into her wedding dress on her 25th anniversary, and many other stories. Mix up your menus, sometimes it’s just boredom eating the same things.

At the end of the day it’s in your hands but there are lots of people here to help you on the way!

Hi there, hope you are feeling better M-K, so scary and distressing. Hope everyone else is keeping themselves safe.

Bit of a glitch with a quarter pound gain but that could just be fluid (or the wine I had last night). Finding it hard to get my motivation going after my holiday, still lost 3.5lbs this week so something is working. The psychology of diets, if it goes well it is the diet that is working, if it goes badly it is us who are failing. That is the mentality that keeps the diet industry going. We should be proud of all the effort we put in.

Not long now, I have been so organised and my packing is done except for those things you cannot pack until the day. Want to watch London Marathon as I have a friend taking part but it is a bit of an anomaly to be a couch potato watching people exercise, so I am going back into the garden to trim my bay, rosemary and sage bushes. Tried to dig but the ground is like concrete.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.