Hi Jules,

It wasn’t a holiday, but I had a much better time than you! Sorry you were so sick after the op. Hope it was a success other than that.

It’s a shame about the hospital food. They really should be able to provide healthier options! I do understand it being difficult for your husband though. I’m sure you’ll soon shift those 2 lb and then lots more as you can gradually walk further. Then you’ll need to find some arm exercises – once they’re toned up you’ll want to keep them that way!

Hi Squidge

Yes I think the op went well although I did feel terrible for a couple of days and really didn’t care what I ate. I am doing well in terms of mobility, and they let me out a day early as I was up and about trying to get walking again. Each day I feel a little better, so the only way is up!

Getting out early is a RESULT!

Do you think having started the BSD before the op has helped?

It certainly was. Yes I think because I wasn’t as overweight as I have been made it easier for me. Now I just need to keep going, I don’t want to have another operation like that.

‘Just keep going’ should be our motto!

We could make it into a tattoo!

Nah – we’ll be too slim to have room for it!

haha – my butt will never be that small!

Hi Jules, glad you’re doing OK, I was wondering about you last week. I have just finished my week 5 and steadily losing so I’m happy with that.
I have just booked flights to go back to the UK on 3rd April for a couple of weeks. I need to see the ‘children’ (my eldest is 51), grandchildren & great grandchildren! It’ll be one mad rush here and there but it’s got to be done.
I also need some supplies, I do get stuff sent from amazon but there are still things I need, hopefully some smaller knickers!

I have picked up lots of recipes and they use things I don’t have!

Anyway, glad you are getting about alright now, I can sympathize with you about the anaesthetic, I had an op years ago and slept for two days and only woke up when my husband came to collect me!!

Keep at it ladies.

Glad you’re still on track, Sandy.

If you need help ‘translating’ into UK English or suggestions of where to find ingredients, let me know.

Hi Sandy

Good to hear from you, and glad you are moving onto smaller knickers! It will be nice for you to see your family and stock up on what you need. I can’t believe you have great grandchildren!

I go away 21st April, so I am hopeful to have lost at least another stone by then, if not more.

The grogginess of the anaesthetic was awful, I couldn’t think straight!

Hi both, I too hope to have lost another stand by the time I go away. I just have to keep away from the supermarket bakery section, perhaps I’ll put a peg on my nose, and NOT buy any double deckers!

We have 4 great grandchildren, the eldest is 6 years old! I did start fairly young and was a grandmother at 43!

The bakery section is the hardest by far. The smell of the bread is so tantalising, I walk very quickly through it!

Wow, you were a young grandmother. Were you a Glamorous Grannie???

I certainly was a great deal slimmer, having been to WW on and off for a few years but I wouldn’t say that I was ever glamourous!

I think I always tried to blend in, never wanted to be centre of attention.

I hope you have all remembered its pancake Day today! I’ve been experimenting with recipes for low carb ones and have just had some with sweetener & lemon juice (we are 2hours ahead of the UK). I had to make ordinary ones for OH which looked a lot nicer than mine!

No I forgot, I don’t have much in and no way of getting out, so we will have to give them a miss! Enjoy yours

Warning. I’m going to sound smug …

I’m no longer overweight! That’s according to the NHS healthy weight range/BMI thingy. I’m only just inside, but it said in big letters ‘healthy weight’! When I started the BSD, at the start of the year, I was only two pounds away from obese. If I hadn’t decided to do something, I know I’d be there by now. My BMI is 24.9 and I can’t wear my loosest trousers (the only ones I could fit into six weks ago) without a belt. I’m more energetic and feel altogether better.

It’s a big range – I could lose 2 1/2 stone and still be in the healthy range. I’m aiming to lose another 13 lb. That’s the next challenge and then on to maintenance.

Enough of my smugness, how are you doing?

How is the knee, Jules?

Fantastic news Squidge, I bet you are very happy with that.
It looks like you will need to go on a shopping trip to buy some smaller clothes, how great is that?!!!
My knee is OK, I’m a bit fed up with being on crutches and going to the clinic to get my stitches out this morning – aghh and then this afternoon I start with physio.
Food wise I haven’t been brilliant, but I haven’t gained and starting anew this morning. I need to buckle down, I think I am now using my knee as an excuse to eat badly! I need to get back on track!!!!!

Good news Squidge, you carry on being smug! I have just finished week 6 and have lost 18lbs, obviously not as much as I would have liked but a very fair loss. I still have a way to go yet but am happy with this way of eating, I am trying to include more fat in my diet, but still a little confused as we are supposed to keep below 800 calories, but that is my aim this week. I was also wondering about Jules this morning.

Hopefully having the stitches out and getting some physio will help a lot – in the long term. I know neither will be fun at the time. Don’t forget to ask the physio how much exercise you can do how soon. Lots of walking will help with the weight, but not if you overdo it and hurt your knee.

You’ve done well not to gain any weight. That’s a positive! It should be slightly easier to make better food choices when you can cook without crutches and then the weight will come off again.

Sandy, 18 lb is brilliant! Well done.

I think the idea is that fat makes us less hungry, and low fat ‘diet’ foods are usually heavily processed, and often have sugar in, so are best avoided. It does mean small portions if we’re to keep under 800 calories though!

Thanks Squidge for a bit of morning motivation.
I know I am heading in the right direction, but still feel very frustrated as I am used to being very independent.
I’ve bolied my eggs for lunch and have all the right food in, so here’s to a better week
Well done again Squidge, I’m very impressed. I have a long way to go before I am “normal”!!!!

Yes Sandy
Well done on your 18lb, and still a while to go until your UK holiday so more will come off!

I’m fortunate that I found a diet that sounded like it might work for me before I’d gained a lot more weight.

Lack of independence must be really frustrating. Good on your for not giving in and instead taking control of your diet and weight. Getting to your target might take a long time, but you’ll start to feel much better, and be much healthier, the nearer you get.

You are right Squidge. I just need to make the right choices and keep going and not get disheartened becuase I’m not a size 12 this morning. It will come eventually.

When I get on the scales and see my weight hasn’t gone down, I remind myself what it was when I started, and guess what it would be if I’d carried on eating as I used to.

You are right Squidge, if I hadn’t started the BSD in Jan I could have been several pounds heavier

Squidge well done, I remember that feeling! And am now mid range BMI without too much effort, so hope that makes you feel it’s all v achievable! Your timescales and BMIs the same as mine too.

Well done, Jackie!

Yes, hearing of other people’s success does make me feel it’s achievable.

In fact I was obese (BMI30 – 12 stone) when I started – I found after reaching ‘normal’ after my first round of fast800 and declaring myself to be in maintenance the weight still dropped slowly if keeping low carb and now I am 58.8kg which I think is about 9stone 5. But given my secret dream was to be 60kg, not 64kg that’s a win! Slowly bolstering self up to another drop – be great to lose 1/2 stone, though very stable at present, which is a win in itself.

Hi Squidge – I just wanted to say congratulations, too. Like you, I got to the top of my healthy weight range recently, so also remember that feeling. It’s brilliant, well done.
Hi JulesB – you are doing brilliantly, too – at my heaviest I was 200 lbs so similar to you at the start. While I lost about a stone before I started BSD in August, most of my weight loss has been on this way of eating. You’re right, it will come eventually.x

Well, it’s been raining all day here in Greece & looks to continue for the rest of the week. So I looked out an old exercise dvd, by Rosemary Conley, and put it on. There are several different sessions lasting 30 minutes or so, but I only managed about 15 mins! There were 4 other women doing the exercises behind her & they all looked as if they were on something, they were all leaping around!!
I will try again tomorrow, I wait till OH takes the dogs for a walk, I don’t like an audience. I hope to get better, IF I can keep doing it.

Sandy, starting small (15min) is far better than not starting at all. I call that PROGRESS!

Thanks, Marie. I’m aiming for 9st 2lb. I’d still be ‘curvy’ but I’ve never been particularly slim, so I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable getting much below that.

Sandy, I’m reasonably fit now, but I remember when I tried my first Rosemary Conley video, and was a gasping, sweaty mess at the end of the warm up. It does get better, honest it does and as Alliecat says, 15 mins of exercise is lots better than none. I know what you mean about the other exercisers though – they’re all very energetic looking and manically cheerful!

Yes, I’m 5ft 2″ and at the moment I’m 9 stone 11lbs. I am now aiming for 9 stone. Then I’ll see where I am in terms of my body fat %, visceral fat and waist measurement – right now my waist measurement is 33″ and Michael Mosley advises ideally it should be half your height or under, so 31″ or under is where I need to get. Like you, I’d prefer to be around 9 stone – hopefully it won’t be too long before we get there.

We’re the same height, Marie.

I need to get a proper tape measure. I’ve been using string and a ruer, which were enough to confirm my waist was far too big, and I know it’s a bit smaller now, but a more accurate measurement would be good. Like you, I want mine under 31″ and that’ll play a big part in determining the weight I try to maintain.

Hi ladies, how are you all doing? I have just started week 8 today and was rather disappointed not to lose anything since last week!
It hasn’t put me off but I just wondered if this was normal?
How are you managing Jules? Better by now I hope.

It’s perfectly normal to have a plateau ( where the scale just stalls for sometimes even 1-2 weeks). I even had plateaus for 3 weeks. To kick you metabolism you can try to increase or decrease for a few days the amount of calories, sometimes even eating 2-3 apples a day helps ( at least in my case) .

I just started again too today this 8 week challenge …. wish me luck. Need to loose at least 50 pounds

Hello Sandy13. I just came upon your post,and it reminded me
of a similar circumstance that I experienced 2 months in. I
watched the scale remain static for 18 days! Now, THAT’S
a plateau! I wasn’t doing anything the least bit differently, either.
What worked, and continued to work, for the next 8 months was
to drop my carbs to <20. Stay vigilant with your hydration, too 🙂

Best,

Allie

Hi Ralia, thank you for your comments. I do wish you luck, I have a couple, or so, stones to lose yet so we can keep each other company!
Alliecat, I have kept my carbs down to 20 or under for the last week. I have 2 litres of water every day as well as about 5 mugs of tea. I usually have skimmed milk in that but will try using almond milk. I can get it out here in Greece but it’s about twice the price of UK supermarkets. But then I’ve been buying lots of ingredients from Amazon lately so that won’t make much difference really. Thank you for your help.

Some things that people have mentioned in the past helping to clear a stall on the scales are upping the water intake, upping fat intake, adding a little more salt to meals, increasing exercise levels (or decreasing them in some cases 🙄), and for some people, yes increasing carbs and or calories for one day has worked. The other way is to try varying your eating pattern, going from two meals to one per day to increase the intermittent fasting period, or even try a 24 hour water only fast (not as bad as it sounds, if you like black coffee, as you can drink that too, or some herbal teas, and you are asleep for quite a lot of it). Also you may need to consider whether you may be constipated, and if so add more fibre to help clear you out. Try any of the above that you feel may help and let us know how it goes.

Thanks Mixnmatch, that’s given me some things to think about. I’ll let you know how I get on. Thank you for your advice.

Sandy

I haven’t lost any weight for a while – but the cold weather has encouraged me to eat more (common for me – although uncommonly I’ve resisted tucking into masses of carbs and I’ve kept up the exercising) so I’m pleased to be maintaining my previous loss. Once the current cold snap is over I’ll make a real effort to cut down again.

Morning All

I am heading for the end of 8 weeks on Thursday and have to say I haven’t been great for the past week. We went away for a night and ate out and I was NOT good. Having said that I haven’t gained, and hope to lose perhaps another lb by weigh in day. That would take me to 27lb in 8 weeks.
Although my knee and mobility is improving I’m not at a stage where I can exercise yet, but perhaps in a few weeks.
Sandy13 – I hope the weather is better for you – we have loads of snow this morning. Sorry you haven’t lost this week, but I am sure more will come off.

I am going to start this next week… kinda excited I hope it works…. I take 4 shots of insulin a day and I believe its killing me. never wanted to go on insulin. but here I am.

Jules, I expect we’ll all have the odd time when we eat more than we should, or eat the wrong things, or both! If we get it right most of the time, we’re doing pretty well I reckon.

Hi Daisygirl.
I’m sure it will help you.

To make it a bit easier, try to clear out any high carb foods from your home. If there are other people living there who’ll still be eating carbs, ask them if they’d not get your favourites and try to keep the most tempting stuff out of sight – it’s lots easier to avoid ‘bad’ food, if the only options you have are the healthier choices.

If you’re used to having sweet things, such as fizzy drinks (even sugar free ones) start cutting down, so the change is slightly more gradual.

Do you have weight to lose as well as high blood sugar?

Hi, JulesB!. Since being in maintenance for the past 10 months,
I tend to rocket about from thread to thread, but have to drop
by today to congratulate on your outstanding results for the
first 8 weeks. Having had mobility issues secondary to knee
surgery and obviously pain to manage as well, I think
you are remarkable 🙂 You have shown that this plan can
be very successful with or without dedicated exercise. I
hope your recovery is progressing well. What are your plans
and goals for the future?
Best,
Allie

Thank you for your kind comments Allie

I’m not feeling very remarkable at the moment as I hobble around, but I’m sure I will eventually.
I want to lose another stone at least, maybe two. Although exercise isn’t necessary with the BSD I do feel I need to get back onto it some at some stage, but may try swimming which is less tough on the knees.
On a food level I need to change my eating habits for good and I realised last week after a little ‘blow out’ that over eating and making poor choices makes you hungrier the next day. I’m now back at it and have a holiday in April to aim for, by which time I should be fully mobile again and ready to take on the world!

Jules, I’ve noticed the same after eating carbs. I get hungrier quicker and want more carbs. If I don’t eat them for a few days, I don’t want them so much – at least not at home. If I’m out and see, or smell, chips or bread I do, but the ‘craving’ isn’t any worse than before I started BSD and it’s gradually getting easier to resist.

Hi Squidge
I think its a case of the more you eat the more you want, it’s like being a carb junkie. On a normal day on the BSD I am not overly hungry, but let a carb sneak in (!) and I’m ravenous! Bizarely I now feeling happier being on the BSD as I feel more in control of my eating, than when I was just eating anything and everything. That’s not to say I am not tempted by bread and cakes, I am, but feel better placed not to have them. I had some rice and decided I much prefer to eat cauliflower rice now. I also think that trying to make low calorie and low carb meals interesting and tasty has made me become a bit more adventurous in the kitchen!