Hi all, still losing weight. Managed to get 85g protein so far today (that includes dinner tonight) so making improvements. If I had my boiled eggs at breakfast and then a proper lunch of say chicken or tuna salad I would be getting more but missing breakfast for TRE loses about 12g. Today I supplemented it with a Greek yoghurt with seeds and berries – added around 4g.

Verano, they say it takes quite a lot of doing things for them to become a habit but once it is set in place it is almost automatic. Every night I stand on one leg to brush my teeth – 30 seconds each leg and the toothbrush times it for me. Another habit I am forming is doing 15 mins Pilates before I get up. Obviously I have to get on top of the bedding. This morning I was dying for a wee but went back and did the exercises.

Margaret, 0.6lb is not even a wee. It will soon be gone. You say it is nice and warm where you are. We are having what we would call normal summer weather, it varies between 25 and 30 but it is not too hot, not after being in the 40s. Unfortunately, the nights have been around 10 degrees so the pool has dropped to 20 so it is too cold to swim. Never mind I will just have to continue with my other exercises.

Have a good weekend.

Hi, just popping in to keep myself accountable and focused. Only for myself as I am not looking for plaudits. Although everyone on this site – not just this thread, are kind and welcoming. On that note have we still got felicity and cops around and do they want to jump in. It can seem intimidating when all you see are the same 4 or 5 names posting and we all seem to know what we are talking about. The reason for that is we are those who have been here a long time and know that this site keeps us motivated and accountable.

Had a couple of glasses of wine last night, which is okay as I didnt finish the bottle and didnt gain any weight. Although I am doing well I am not totally on the diet – that starts tomorrow. Just been easing myself back in. I have been doing TRE and strength training so been trying to establish some good habits – just like Verano said – it takes a while but then they stick.

Verano, any more thoughts about setting up and October to Christmas thread.

Good evening!

S-g accountability is a wonderful thing. If I have taken away one thing away from the first 12 weeks of my course it’s been ‘accountability’ ….. to myself! I have filled in my food diary every one of those days, bar one or two, over 12 weeks, and it really feels like an achievement. I can look back and see which trends led to weight loss and which didn’t!

I’ve got back into a routine of meditating which I find really sets my day up ‘peacefully’. Mind you I do still get agitated and angry!

I can’t quite explain it but I just feel more ‘grounded’, more in ‘control’ and more balanced. For example if I put on a weight even a pound I just ‘take it on the chin’ and say tomorrow is another day!

At the end of the day I’m an ‘old’ woman and I’m really pleased that my overall health and my mental health are pretty good. OK my mobility isn’t but I’ve lived with that for nearly 20 years (the alternative wasn’t good!) No, I can’t wear a bikini, mind you I probably never really looked good in one anyway! No, I can’t ….. you know what I can’t think of anything that I could do that I ‘can’t’ that really alters my life!

Maybe that’s the answer…. acceptance of ourselves as we are. Unless of course there are real issues affected by weight etc. maybe we just have to practice a little ‘acceptance’ and stop chasing the ‘impossible dream’!

S-g yes quite happy to set up a new thread for the last three months of the year if anybody/everybody wants a new thread. Or just happy to carry on here? We don’t really have a ‘thriving’ community anymore but I’m quite happy to go with the flow!

Hi everyone. It seems to be quiet all around or maybe a new title might attract a new group trying to lose weight for Christmas. I will leave it up to you. (so a cop out from me 🙂 ) It is not as if we are selling anything or making a profit – unlike some – but it would be nice to attract more people.

Been back on plan for less than a week and have lost 1.5 kgs. Well within my goal for 4kgs for Xmas. Not much to say, doing TRE, the exercise is intermittent as yesterday it was too warm at 32 degrees. At least we are saving on heating bills.

Cleaner came in and did her job on Monday which has saved me a massive job as we have signed up with a new estate agent today. Had to reduce the price again as the market is terrible. That is it, no more reductions, especially as people will make a below asking price offer anyway. We dont need the money, have no mortgage to pay off and not having to buy another house as daughter is giving us one (on loan until we die) but we are not giving it away. Just want to get back to the UK.

Good afternoon.

Well done s-g and you still have plenty of time to reach your 4k goal.

A new thread????? I really don’t know if it’s worth it as we seem to be so few on the ground now. But…… if anybody fancies we could take the last quarter as a separate challenge.
Anybody really interested?
Do we have any motivation?
Suggested titles please?

Hello & I do feel rather guilty not messaging more because I do appreciate being able to read your posts. I think it would be a shame to stop contact & I am wondering if perhaps a Christmas Challenge title might attract others but also focus my mind & motivation. I have been recently been playing around with eating differently & increasing then lowering my calorie intake to try to shake up my body a little. I will weigh tomorrow & shall see the effect.
S-G I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble selling your house & hope it will get better with your new agent.
Let’s keep going with a thread?
Margaret xx

I have just weighed & gained 0.75lbs despite recording & decreasing my calories & I suppose still being fairly sedentary because of my knee affecting me. I do feel disappointed & unsure what is best to do now. I suspect that with the shorter days & dark evenings & feeling colder that I am getting a return of SAD so need to get my lamp out plus I am sleeping badly with sore toes & ankles no doubt with my arthritis spreading & still walking unevenly with my worsening left knee. My GP yesterday said he can’t short circuit & avoid my being referred back to the Musculoskeletal Service for referral back to my surgeon with all that ensuing delay although he will send them my surgeons letter requesting that I urgently be referred to him for surgery because of the adverse impact my left knee is now having on the recovery of my right knee. Oh well it is what it is & I suppose I have to dredge up more motivation to lose weight to help myself🤔.
Keep on going everyone & I hope you have a good week 👍🍀🍀
Margaret xx

Wendy sorry to hear you woes with your toes … and ankles and knees! Hioefully you won’t have to wait too long for your other surgery.
Really 0.75 of a pound isn’t worth worrying about it’s just normal weight gain/loss on a daily basis. I’m guessing your most difficult part of the week is the weekend and then you are probably ‘really good’ for the first part of the following week so maybe move your weighing day to Wednesday. I don’t know about you but for me when the scales go up I get disheartened and tend to be a bit slack. Do you have specific long/short term goals?

S-g sorry you are having problems selling your house. I guess some parts of the year are more difficult than others when it comes to selling. In saying that we had a viewing on Christmas Eve on our last home and then the second on New Years Eve! So who knows when the right person comes along they will buy it. Just as a matter of interest do you do the viewing of your house yourself or do you let the agent do it? My OH always says only you know the house best…. good bits and the unmentionables! I have to honest we have been to viewings where the ‘agent’ opened the front door and just let us wander! Definitely no hard sell!

So to a new thread. Last Thursday it was 12 weeks to Christmas Eve. We could have the “Just 12 weeks to Christmas; and my true love bought for me …” That’s probably naff but struggling to find something else. “Countdown begins: 12 weeks could mean for me (fill in your own goal)….” Help here would be really great. Or… we could just keep chatting here???

So I have got myself into ‘autumn’ mood. I’ve made a couple of pans of soup one with green lentils which I’ve not used before and I must admit I prefer my red split lentil soup. Tonight I’ve made slow cooked brisket and I’m making roast potatoes, which are a real treat for me. I can’t actually remember when I last had a potato! I’ve started to try to eat more legumes for the fibre content and have just bought some oat bran to add to yogurt or soup or whatever. I’m sure most of us don’t get enough fibre. On the plus side I’m still keeping track of my 30 a week. I have to admit some weeks it’s a struggle which I’m guessing is because I’m a creature of habit! But I do make my 30 and if I get more than that I’m elated! Sad really!

Hope all is well. Have a good weekend.

Just popping onto this thread to say, well done Verano on regularly hitting your 30+ plants a week. It can be a struggle, can’t it? I have been trying that lately and the only way I can do it is to add lots of seeds and nuts into my morning yogurt, and then have mixed veg for dinner. And yes, fibre is important. I am meeting the recommended amount each day but trying to push it a bit further. Adding legumes helps but I don’t have them everyday. I did manage 87g one day last week! I don’t really understand how I did that. It may have been because I had lupini beans twice. This week has not been as good for me, but on the good days I have been hitting around 35g, so not too bad.

Hi All, I would be happy to join you Verano, are you setting up a new thread.

I have some news. Did I tell you I had ordered some Restelle patches to help me sleep and oh my did they work. It seemed like a blessing – 5 nights in a row, head on pillow, sleep and not waking until around 7am for the toilet. However, I still had to go back to bed and was very groggy. Then I noticed my BG has been in the 140 to 160 range over the last 4 readings. I asked AI if there was a correlation and he said YES, it makes your body think it is daytime so doesnt do the night-time things it should like pump insulin and get rid of glucose. It is also interferring with my insulin and other diabetes meds. This is just a warning as it is advertised as the natural sleep aid. I am so disappointed as I have had the best sleeps in years but cannot use it. Hopefully there is a 30 money back guarantee so I should get my money back. But that is not the point, they dont say anything about not taking it if this that or the other, no medical information. Just be careful of ‘Natural’ remedies if you have a health problem or on medications.

Weight still steady and will do a proper Renpho weigh in tomorrow which includes all the body numbers like fat, muscle etc. For my chart.

Hi Arcticfox. Amazing, 87g in one day! I don’t think I’d ever reach that. Must say I’ve never had lupine beans can you give a comparison maybe…. chickpeas??? Yes 30 a week should be easy but I just name it each week and that’s with various seeds and nuts. I always start my week by adding tea, coffee, 70%+ chocolate and now I add my oat cakes which also count apparently. I think maybe I should spend a few days weighing my food to check how much fibre I’m actually getting on an average day.

S-g so sorry to hear your ‘sleeping remedy’ isn’t suitable especially after you’ve had such wonderful sleeps! Maybe there is another product on the market that ‘natural’ but also compliant with insulin.

OK. A new thread…. I’ll set one up now. ‘The goose might be getting fat for Christmas but not us!’

Hi Verano, I use the lupini beans in salads as a substitute for chickpeas, or they are also nice roasted in place of lentils in my broccoli tray bake. They are a bit firmer than chickpeas and take a bit of getting used to but they are much higher in protein and fibre and lower in the starchy carbs. I use them in place of edamame too because I can’t have soy.

Thank you Arcticfox. They are not very common in the UK but I’ll check them out.

Hi all, will be joining you on the XMAS thread. Does that mean this one will lapse.

It is always very hard to sell houses in France. Mortgages are almost impossible to get and most people start with inheriting their parents houses – in French law you must leave your assets to your children (in various amounts). The usual second home owners are not buying as there are now higher what you would call council tax on 2nd homes. Even higher than before. Brits arent buying holiday homes because they are restricted to how many days they can spend here and also because of the extra taxes. I had a friend who had her house for sale for 13 years. We still love it here and there is no real rush. It just gets boring sitting around waiting, not being able to plan ahead. For example, we are going on a cruise in April but we cannot dare book a housesitter in case we have to cancel on them. We cant book our crossings as we might not even be living here and lose the money – 3 months is about the amount of time we can plan for as it would take at least 3 months for a sale to go through. We just have to be patient. It took us a year to sell our house in the UK.

Real shame about the Restelle sleep patches as they really did work. I have already received my money back and a nice email from them. I am sure they were the problem as just one night without them and my BG was down to 88 this morning. I am checking twice a day and also my BP as I want to reduce some of my meds that might be causing my night cramps – i.e. I am on 2 fluid tablets which flush out all the good chemicals like potassium, so might be too much. Keeping a record to show doctot. AI has also written a short note in French to show my doctor, outlining my concerns with all the different meds.

Weight is a bit up after a few drinks last night and we are out again tonight for our quiz. When I told AI that I hated that I could gain 1kg just with one meal and wine he said – you know you cant gain that much weight or you would have eaten 7700 calories extra. Then he said something insightful – you know you will have gained and it is fluid and will go in a couple of days, so dont get weighed for 2 days. Simple, stops the despair and guilt.

Have a great week everyone.

S-g glad you got your money back for the Restelle. Just shows how careful we should all be with supplements etc. when taking medications and/or have health issues.

AI can be really helpful and that was interesting about fluid weight which, in reality, we all know is true but that ‘number’ still keeps making us unhappy! A1 has just helped me make my first wholemeal loaf! I must admit it’s far better than just following a recipe. It might seem odd that I’m baking bread and bagels, which I only have one a week of. I was listening to a YouTube podcast this morning and the doctor was talking about complex and simple carbs. I think I’ve definitely lost track of the good bits about complex carbs which is why I made the wholemeal bread. I know it’s made with very good high protein flour with all its bits still intact unlike lots of supermarket bread. In saying all that I will probably only have a slice or two on a rare occasion, maybe to make ‘soldiers’ for my dippy eggs! Also I had porridge oats with some oat bran and seeds, nuts, dried cranberries and blueberries this morning and late afternoon and I’m still not hungry! So maybe there is something to be said about introducing more complex carbs, we’ll see.

Arcticfox I did a bit more research about lupini beans but they are hard to source here so I may stay with endame beans which I love. I buy them frozen and just throw a few in with other vegetables.

Have a good week.

I’ve reported the last post. These advertising search bots are getting just a bit too clever!

Anyway while I’m here I watched a really interesting YouTube podcast today. Dr Alex, he’s from the UK, explaining why most people quit a diet after 90 days. It’s titled ‘Why dieting is so hard’. He has other stuff worth watching too and it’s a breath of fresh air to have a UK doctor talking instead of the ever increasing number of American doctors! No offence meant to our US friends!

We’ll all seems to have gone very quiet here!
Margaret are you ok?
I’ve had a pulled muscle in my knee and s-g has been unwell also.
Anyway, just thought I would pop in .
Keep well.