Thanks Verano

Been on maintenance 4 weeks today.

I’m getting used to wearing one contact lens😱 It’s surprising how quickly the brain adjusts to one eye being corrected for distance and the other being for reading! Fortunately the first time I had contact lenses, it was one eye distance and the other reading – but I needed both eyes adjusting. Took me a while to get my head round it. But I’m loving the soft lenses and getting them in and out is getting easier and quicker 😃

That four weeks seems to have gone quickly!!

Glad you’re getting used to the lense. I wear daily disposable and find them so much better than the monthly ones. I also think they are better for your eyes because I think there’s less chance of infection. Good luck with it anyway.

The whole of my BSD journey seems to have gone quickly!

Yes, it’s much less hassle too – no carrying solution etc. Easier when travelling. When I had gas permeable lenses it was two bottles of solution to carry around. And the lenses lasted at least a year! Much prefer the daily disposable ones 😃

I am about to start the BSD, however, I am 4″11″ female and assume that the calorie allowance is based on that of a woman of average height (5’4″). What would the calorie requirement be for someone of my height?

Also, once the eight weeks is over and, hopefully, having reach one’s target weight, would it be advisable to stick to the principles of the BSD whilst resuming an increase in calories. I would truly like a healthy eating program.

danames …. the 800 calories is for everyone on the 800 calorie plan … men/women/short/tall.

Just spend the calories on healthy foods as outlined in the book. If you don’t have the book …. there is information on site …. see the above tabs … Blood Sugar Diet, Get Started, Get active, …. FAQ.

Most of us try to stay under 50 g. of carbs as well … healthy complex carbs.

And …. no you can’t add calories to the plan if you do some exercise (another frequent question).

danames …. when you reach your goal …. you can go on a low carb mediteranean diet … also in the book. This is not just an increase in calories … you still should be eating healthy foods.

Also … you can do the 5:2 plan ….. 800 calories 2 days a week and the low carb mediteranean diet the other days

It’s all explained in the book in more detail … the 8 week Blood Sugar Diet. It’s mainly a plan to try and reverse diabetes not just another diet.

I got my original copy of the book from the library … if your library doesn’t have access you can order it on interlibrary loan. It really is helpful

Thanks all for the encouraging words and the links to the Daily Mail series. Still waiting for my copy, and the book immediately went on the inter-library waiting list after it was featured in an article in Woman’s World here in the states. Reading about all your successes I am reminded that this plan is about rebooting our health, with the most serendipitous side effect of losing weight. I’m all for restoring health, but even at my age (I have a tee shirt that reads, “At My Age I Don’t Even Buy Green Bananas.” 🙂 ) there’s enough vanity left to want to rock a pair of skinny jeans, lol!

I am excited for the morning. I will have completed seven days and will have my first weigh in and measure. I have felt really good all week and have been cooking some great recipes from the book. Fingers crossed 🤗

Hmm. Lost a post if anyone finds it please let me know! BB X

Please may I join you women of a certain age?
I have been dieting since I was 15 and will be 70 (50 in my head) in December. My weight story is too long and involved to put pen to paper but I am starting the BSD tomorrow! I must do it this time!!
X B

Deb

I was in exactly the same position as you with the hot flushes and alcohol. They have now completely gone and it’s such a relief. They seem to be starting earlier in the day and lasting longer and longer. That was until I hit alcohol on the head and now I don’t have them in the slightest. I’m back to putting on long sleeved tops, cardigans, fleeces and my coat. It’s fabulous to feel more like my old self.

Today is week 9 for me and I’m exactly 2 stone down – 17st 12.6 – 15st 12.6. Still a long way to go but I am loving this approach to food. I can now get into clothes that I like again and enjoy dressing up again.

It was this forum but in particular the older ladies who have inspired me. There is so much in the media about older women, post the menopause struggling to lose weight and you know what, it’s a load of bunkum!

So thank you ladies for inspiring me and continuing to inspire me. I don’t post very often but I visit every day.

Elaine x

I lost ten pounds! Still can’t believe it!

You Dazzle, Sazzle50!

LainieUK…so if a stone equals 14 pounds, you own a three pound weekly loss! That’s incredible and so encouraging to me. “Bunkum” indeed…well said.

BillingeBabe…This Texan just learned that a lost stone equals 14 pounds. So how many pounds are in a lost post? Lol 🙂

Welcome Busybee.

I found this source on the Mindfulness forum and thought I’d post it on our thread for newbies like me who may not have seen it. Just FYI. http://palousemindfulness.com/

The above is a great source of videos and readings! I want to take the entire course … and am preparing to do it …. but the videos and readings are great without taking the whole thing.

Thank you 😀

I know! I have never had that kind of loss before. I’ve lost every week. It’s working out about 1 pound every 3 days now which is still great for me.

Sneakysnooper – found out that lost posts put on pounds – well one pin my case. It covered my day out in Edinburgh with my book club girls. (We live in Sussex so flew from Gatwick) Woke up at 4.30am, back home at 11.30pm. Walked 16 kms – more than 20,000 steps. Stuck to Under 800 calories foodwise but we did find a craft gin palace. Hence the pound and a fuzzy head. Anyway have lost it plus another so a total of 10 pounds down in just under 3 weeks.

Thank you for all this great information.

I have ordered the book “The Blood Sugar Diet” which should reach me before the end of October.

Shalimar,
I posted a big thank you for the great information you gave me.

I have ordered the “Blood Sugar Diet” which should reach me before the end of October.

I hope this ‘thank you’ reaches you. 🙂

Hi danames 🙂 HUGS …. Hope the enJOY the book!! I find it very useful as i keep forgetting stuff!

BillingeBABE…What a glorious time you’ve had, and well worth the gained pound for a day spent in the company of friends, enjoying the countryside and some healthy whole grains (never mind their liquid form, lol).
Your ten pound loss is more than impressive, it’s empowering. For me, getting some numbers in the lost column helps keep me motivated: I’m more protective of keeping those negative numbers when temptation strikes. I started my journey seven years ago, after my health had deteriorated to the point I had to give up my home, retire, and move in with my daughter and son-in-love. Friends and family gathered for my “last Christmas.” Just explaining so that when I say that eating clean can cure many ills my words will ring true. I was able to return to work making house calls as a rural night Hospice nurse, move to my own home, and generally celebrate the return of my independence. I take no daily meds and my last A1c was 4.3. My next mini goal is 10 pounds, about what you’ve lost, and that will take me to my lowest weight in 49 years–my wedding day–and a net loss of 100 pounds. I’m teasing (but only a bit) when I say I want to “rock a pair of skinny jeans.” (For me that means a zipper and button closure instead of Velcro and a drawstring, NOT spray-on denim. 🙂 ) What I really want is to get 40 more pounds off these ancient hips and knees. So here I am.

Shalimar…Blessings on Palouse for paying it forward. When I first read about his Mindfulness site, I admit I was expecting to see in play the old adage, “you get what you pay for.” But there were none of the celebrity ravings, pop psychology, trendy buzz words, or New Age ramblings to be found, just solid research. This is the exact program free and online that is given to hospital patients suffering from everything from anxiety and depression, to chronic pain and terminal illness. And you’re so right–the videos and readings are instructional as well as informative even if you’re not currently doing the whole eight week course. But I had to laugh out loud at myself, because I got so stressed just considering taking the guided course on…STRESS! LOL!

What a wonderful report Sneakysnooper! It’s great to hear that we do have some control over our own health. Good for you in taking a journey to better your life that I know hasn’t been easy! You inspire me.

Just saying “Hi!” Joined and got my book today! This looks like a great group! I just turned 69 like Sneakysnooper! I love that name!

ANewDay…Thank you for the kind words. I may be the only one here old enough to remember Dr. Doolittle’s double headed llamas, Pushmi Pullyu, pronounced “Push Me Pull You,” but this site reminds me of them. Some days someone might have to push me towards my goal, and other days I may have to pull you towards yours. And that’s the strength of this thread, we’re all pulling for each other in positive ways. That’s why I visit every day…strength in numbers, lol!

Welcome Jazzista. Just a wild guess here, but by chance are you a jazz buff? 🙂

Hi, Sneakysnooper! Jazz buff, yes! Especially Bossa Nova!

Welcome Jazzista – another 69er. This is a great group – we have all loved, lived and probably lost pounds before but at this stage in our lives maintaining and improving our health is as important as our looks. As Sneakysnooper sets out above.
What a great story – to come back from such dire place and then be able to get back to work. I did hospice nursing many years ago and loved it. A good death is what we all wish for.
Mindfulness is something else I do. I took an 8 week course with Ed Halliwell, well known in the UK, on Mindfulness. He has a couple of books you might find helpful. He is a really nice guy, self effacing and a very good teacher. One of the exercises was mindful eating which we did with a raisin. Sniffing it, feeling it, rolling it around out mouths and tasting and eventually eating it. Interesting but not my favourite. However I loved the mindful walking and must do more of that.

Hi, Billingebabe! Thanks for the nice welcome! Thanks, too, for the great ideas and suggestions! I agree on all of the above! So excited to be here! This is really something special going on!!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Mmm – not a good weekend so far. Friday night with a neighbour who drinks and it would have been so rude ……… Today did a chicken, chorizo, onion, pepper and tomato tray bake – included potatoes for Mr BB and some slipped onto the wrong plate. But I grew the potatoes and wanted so much to see if they were ok! Actually they were pretty boring compared with the rest of the veg.
So back on to hard BSD (As opposed to hard Brexit which is going to do so much of us harm; hard BSD is all good)

Hang in there, Billingebabe! It’s only a pothole in the road. Just get right back on! You can do this, and it’s worth it!
Jazz

Hi all – Glad to have found this group. I’m 68 on paper but 28 in my head..or less. I’ve had a great life so far and want to keep it going. Without medication! Anyway, I need to lose about 5 stone (how did that creep up, you might ask???) But it is what it is.

I’ve been on the BSD for 6 days and have so far lost an amazing 7 pounds. I fully expect it to slow, but until it does I’m going hell for leather!

One of the things I wanted to do was to do this 8 weeks to see if it could be done without gnawing your arm off or grizzling every five minutes. So far, so good, but am a little edgy at times. Also, my husband is diabetic and I am testing the waters at least through the different food menus which I feel sure will help him. I don’t think he would do the 800 but possibly the 5:2. Early days yet, so we shall see.

Looking forward to chatting with you all again.

Hey BillingeBabe…What Jazzista said! And it was potatoes, not a carton of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey with a side of double creme-filled Oreos. (Having some hallucinatory detox pangs here, lol!) But seriously, I get it. Our self control is so tenuous that at times we fail to recognize ourselves as the Warrior Women we are: we’re quick to condemn a “slip,” but slow to credit getting back up. I suspect learning to celebrate ourselves in the moment is something we’ll all learn as we make this journey. No more ANTs! (That’s Dr. Daniel Amen’s pet term for Automatic Negative Thoughts.) 🙂

Tapatch…Welcome! Your “hell for leather” comment inspired me! Here I was with a goal of rocking a pair of skinny denim jeans, but thanks to you, I’m now hell bent for lace-up leather leggings, lol. 🙂

Truer words, Jazzista…truer words…

Having trouble posting! My welcome to Tapatch got lost. I’ll keep trying.

Okay! The last one “took!”

Tapatch, you never know about your husband. I started the BSD a few weeks back, but not my OH, who is prediabetic. But I let him see what I was eating and that I was really enjoying it. He grasped the general principles and started talking about it being a good idea. I weaned him onto it by cutting down on some of his carbs. And just over a week ago, he joined in. He still has more calories than me (a small bowl of porridge in the morning and maybe a few almonds and a glass of wine with dinner occasionally), but he is far more active than me. In the ten days, he has lost lots of weight (visibly thinner round the face and his shirt buttons don’t seem to be straining so much). This morning he told me he’d had some great dreams last night, including one in which he had lost loads of weight and seemed younger.

You don’t have to proselytise much, just keep saying “yum” and “delicious” a lot!

Hi everyone.

For someone who wasn’t interested in wearing jeans (who, me, at 66?), I’ve been wearing them for a few months. But now, more than that! I picked up a pair of jeggings (size12) – and I love them. I’ve just been at a conference and surprised even myself at how different I felt. Walking down the length of the hall in jeggings – and heels! The phrase “strutting my stuff” did come into my head 😱

Hi Sneakysnooper– I misread your name and thought it was Sneakysooper [kind of like a furtive super being] LOL!

Thanks for the welcome! I do have leggings [no leather thank God] and provided I cover up the naughty bits, not too hard to wear. Not saying I look great but I can live with it. I don’t want to be a dowdy old dear or mutton dressed as lamb, so it’s a thin line I tread!!

Not sure I know what lace-up leggings are yet, but will look into it.

Here’s to a great week to come.

Hi Snoop – you are right about the OH. I don’t think mine will ever go full 800 cal. but he can most likely do the 5:2. He doesn’t have much weight if any to lose, but it’s just the sugar thing. His doctor says he is ok there but I know the old boy worries about it, though he doesn’t say much. He would feel better if he did not have to take the metformin. I would like to see that all behind him as it would ease his mind. We can only lead by example. I do try to cook the same dinner for us both, and add a couple of things to his that would just put me over the limit so I only do it for him. We’ll see what happens.

I’m glad your husband is at least aware in his dreams. And he seems to be responding and getting good results. It’s always the same…someone has to lead the way forward in these things. You’ve penetrated his subconscious. Well done!

Hi Jazzista- thanks for the welcome. It’s a very sweet group here, hope we all meet our goals and have fun doing it. Although at the end of today (last day of my first week), I was still famished before dinner . Once that was over, all is well again. Pressing on to week two.

Hi captainlynne – Bet you knocked their socks off in those jeggings and heels! I don’t see myself in heels any more except low ones, but , hey if you can pull it off, I say go for it. I love the look but can’t stand the noise of screaming feet!

What I like about fashion nowadays is that really anyone can wear anything. Obviously we have to be appropriately dressed for work, worship, etc. but the choice of what is around is mind boggling. Especially these newer fabrics that don’t require babying. I’m all for it.

What a triumph! Strutting one’s stuff…keep it coming!

Back on track and a pound down – the same pound I lost and put on again last week.
Anyway all fired up and this week’s meal planning a priority this morning. Don’t feel any slimmer at this time although I know that bits of me are, by the way my clothes fit. Jeggings don’t do it for me but I have bought 2 new dresses in the last fortnight and a pair of heels to go with them. Because the shoes were tight, walked round the house in Mr BB’s socks to loosen them up. Not a good look with trousers.

Aiming for 3 lbs off this week. Yesterday omitted breakfast and had a pot of Waitrose low calorie soup about 3pm and then chicken with carrots and leeks last night. Sneakysnooper – your icecream and Oreos don’t tempt me but cheese and red wine do. So keeping well away from both of those – although I have had cheese weighed out carefully in the past couple of weeks.

It’s interesting how attitudes can change.

Like you, Tapatch, I was thinking about “dowdy old dear/mutton dressed as lamb” thing. I could hear my late mother whispering in my ear that I shouldn’t wear certain styles/colours, “at my age”. When I commented on that on a different thread on the forum someone who works in fashion answered, saying that they are really trying to get away from that and encourage “older” women to go into shops they’ve not tried before – she particularly mentioned Zara. Where I live the choice of clothes shops is limited (and they are only small branches) but I have become more adventurous.

Most of my clothes used to come from BHS, with some from M&S. I really don’t like many of the styles or colours in the shops at the moment, butbtried a lovely red dress from M&S. trouble was, I’m “petite” but the dress wasn’t. Just didn’t fit properly!

I don’t think I’ll ever wear leggings again, but happy to have discovered jeggings. Part of me thinks they’re the modern day corset! A gentle reminder when eating.

as a church leader I have to dress a certain way most of the time so have become unaccustomed to having much else in my wardrobe, but that is changing. From navy and white, there are now colours. And jeans, and jeggings. And prettier undies.

I still sometimes struggle with thinking “I’m not worth it” when I see something slightly more expensive, but am working on that too.

Tapatch – they were surprised, to put it mildly 😃 I can wear heels about 2-2.5″ for most of the day. Anything higher than that is a struggle. And they’re not stilettos! Too many hills and cobbles near my home for that. Walking through that room last week I was reminded how I used to feel walking through a plane or crowded train to go to the toilet, down that narrow aisle, bumping into people all the way. It was embarrassing. But walking through that room I didn’t care who saw me, and I was striding out. Head held high. 😃

For all us “re-cycled teenagers” out there – we need to be more adventurous. I’m learning 😃

As the title says, it works for older women too!
Week one and I have lost 9 lbs, one inch off my waist and two off my hips – I am delighted!
X B