Hello.
Lovely to see people rejoining and a special shout out to LDG on your great loss this week …. water or not it doesn’t matter … a loss is a loss!

S-g 4lbs must be one of your best weeks yet because I know how difficult it is for you with insulin. BG down is a definite bonus.

Anyway, well done everyone for the motivation in the first week of January let’s hope we can keep it going until the end of the month.

For me I’ve had what I would consider a ‘learning’ week. I learnt that my ‘new week to view’ diary didn’t work for me. I love a journal which I keep with daily, weekly and monthly records. Suits me perfectly.

I also keep a sort of ‘naughty’ diary. I list all my temptations everyday and put a cross next to them when I don’t succumb. My loss for this week is 1lb but my ‘learning’ has been worth its weight in gold. I can see very clearly where my ‘mishaps’ have been. They really haven’t been too bad but there is obviously room for improvement.

My focus for this week is “WATER”. I can’t understand why I have such a problem drinking water. I do drink maybe 4 cups of tea a day. I just need more ‘water’!

Have a good week.

Thanks for the comments re. the Jason Fung Journal, I think I will give it a miss – I don’t need another thing taunting me to be completed 😉
When I track, and I do need to get back to doing this, I use MFP, so weight, food, drinks and exercise should all be in there anyway.
Good food day yesterday, no detours from the plan, and we are both working from home today, so made some oats porridge this morning – oats, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, milled linseeds and boiling water. I am introducing oats once a week for now, in a bid to address the slightly raised cholesterol readings we both had last year. We have also started to eat pulses maybe once or twice a week too, usually in a soup, and hubby’s HbA1c didn’t seem to be affected by the re-introduction of pulses last year.
It’s all a very fine balance, isn’t it?

I watched the new Michael Mosely TV program on UK TV this week, called something along the lines of “The Big Shop”, where people have contacted him to help them to eat differently to address whatever health conditions they want to address, and he goes through their shopping and suggests swaps. He also seems to hijack people in the supermarket car-park and see what’s in their trollies. I did like the segment where he debunks some online influencer’s theory that “doing x will solve y” type of so-called health hacks.

Hello everyone,

Verano, as long as we are continuing to learn we are on the right track. I have been following the 90 days to reversing insulin resistance on InsulinIQ. I am surprised it has very little to do with diabetes so I am assuming they want everyone who suspects insulin resistance, and they think most people do, to follow the low carb diet. The only reference I have come across is that if you have diabetes and you are on meds you should be careful about fasting. As my daughter would say ‘no shit Sherlock’ as in, yes I think we already know that. I know I will never do a 24 hr fast but managed to do 17 hrs TRE today with last food at 8pm and lunch at 1pm. Another thing I have learnt is not to make my not eating window an excuse to cut calories. It is a time when I am allowing my body to rest totally from any food so it will search out fats when it has depleted all the glucose etc. So for lunch I had a normal lunch but then added in what would have been my breakfast of Greek yog, rasps, blueberries, chia and brown linseed. So it was like having a dessert.

Another thing I have learnt which I am very happy about. Certain artificial sweeteners do NOT spike an insulin or glucose response. They are totally ignored by the body. These are stevia, erythertol and a fruit, I think monk fruit but that is not something I use. I thought as soon as the body saw sweetener it would react the same as any other glucose supply and flood the body with insulin but it is not the case. What it might do, however, is make your body think it is going to have an energy burst and when this doesn’t arrive it starts knocking on the brain causing cravings for carbs or sugars. That is up to you whether you respond to that but I wouldn’t as I never had carb or sugar cravings. Just beware of all the others especially aspartime, Splenda etc. Now I just have to find a slimline tonic with stevia 🙂

Did another 30 mins yoga yesterday and I am getting better. I keep doing something or someone different each time just to see what suits and what level of difficulty I can manage.

Great you are getting into it Ruby and husband. Oats is good as well as the lentils for high cholesterol.

Have a good week. Oh BTW we had snow this morning, enough to settle but not to stay.

Hello everyone. Hope today is going well.

S-g yes it is interesting that diabetes isn’t addressed more. I think you could be right that they want everyone with insulin resistance to eat low carb. My gut feeling is that most people who are insulin resistant will at some point become T2. My biggest problem is just how does the average person know they are insulin resistant? Maybe I missed something. Some much of the course makes a lot of sense…. eating small meals 8 times a day keeps your glucose stores topped up … well yes it would! Sometimes the obvious just needs to be spelled out!

Fortunately I don’t use a sweetener so I’ve never really given that much thought but what you’ve said makes sense.

I agree with you about fasting. I’ve never been a fan of fasting but taking insulin it would be quite dangerous without being under medical supervision. I do think that 24hrs for me would be really doable it would just be a case of missing out lunch which I think would be fine. I may give a go and see if it makes a difference.

One thing the course has done for me so far is to change my relationship with food. I eat without weighing etc. but can stop before I feel ‘full’ because I know that will come shortly after I finish eating. I just feel that I’m no longer thinking about ‘food’ most of the day!

Hi all,

Verano, I have just got to week 9 and they have some video from Dr Unwin so a bit more on diabetes. After doing a 17 hr fast I think I might be able to manage 24 hours but need a time when I am not going anywhere, like today I had to go shopping and pharmacy and farm shop. I cannot head out without food but if I can just lounge around in pjs and not have to rush off I might just manage it. My biggest problem is hubby keeping an eye on me and telling me not to be stupid. Pity I cant get rid of him for a day.

Just going back to your post about drinking water. You say you are drinking tea but need more water. Tea is water and is counted but I am sure you know that. Because I have 2 lemon trees in my house (brought them in from the cold) I have a glut of lemons. So I make a pot of lemon tea, sometimes with a couple of sprigs of mint or a chunk of left over ginger cut up. Hot water and squash it around and let it sit. I have it cold instead of my green tea and it is delicious. Maybe something like that could be used and encourage you to drink more. My daughter hates drinking water but is using the 6 lemons I took her to put in her water bottle for the gym. You can even add 1/4 teaspoon of stevia to get rid of the bitterness.

Did another 30 mins yoga, again with someone different. Getting better all the time. I have a theory about my lack of energy but I will leave that until tomorrow.

Hello hoping Thursday is all that you want it to be. I’m delighted that I’ve managed a run of 9 days of meditation. Don’t think I’ve ever had such a run before. I know it doesn’t seem long but it’s so easy to miss days just because I forget. Hoping to make 21 days because as they say, it takes 21 days to break a habit, so I’m hoping the same is true of making one!

S-g I’m not that far ahead of you but I did notice today that diabetes is featuring more. I hope you clicked on Dr Unwins link because he has done a low carb video course for doctors. It’s interesting to see things from a gp’s point of view. If you’ve not watched them do because it’s quite interesting.

Glad you did 17hrs and I don’t think 24 would be that difficult. Maybe some broth to satisfy you but hubby as well!

Yes thank you, they are really good ideas for helping to drink water. I wouldn’t add sweetener because I actually enjoy sucking a lemon slice! I think I just forget to drink, it’s not that I don’t like water.

Funny how lemons are so different when they come from their ‘homeland’. We brought lemons back with us from Portugal in November and they are so good. For anyone in the UK who likes lemons Lidl have Italian lemons, complete with leaves, at the moment and they are fabulous.

BTW S-g thank you for the tip after your daughter’s wedding, about freezing lemons and limes in chunks. I do it all the time now!

SG, my hubby was very anti when I first started fasting, even though I have no health issues to cause concern. However, now that he’s seen I don’t keel over, he’s more accepting. That said, in the early days I had to be sneaky about when and how long I fasted, so that he didn’t realise how long I was abstaining … now he’s more relaxed about it.
Of course things are more sensitive healthwise for you SG, so your hubby’s concern is more valid, but I can appreciate how having him constantly ‘overseeing’ things might get a little irritating.

Lemons fresh from the tree are just amazing …. nothing like the fruits bought in the supermarket, might try the ones from Lidl though, V.

Nothing much to report from here … broke my latest fast at mid afternoon, having done 42hrs. Have a nonscales victory though … dress I bought for Christmas but ended up too tight to wear, now fits comfortably. Think I’ll wear it on Saturday for my birthday dinner 🙂

Hello I have been reading all the posts but not much to report except trying to reduce my daily calories to between 8-900 & not successful every day. I’m eating healthily & doing TRE since the beginning of January because I don’t usually eat breakfast. I weigh on Saturday so will post how I’ve got on!
Well done everyone 👏👏
Margaret

Evening all!
Well, swam on Tuesday and today and am pleasantly surprised that I can still swim a decent distance, but have much to do on stroke efficiency and breathing! Apart from many and varied aches and pains after it, I swear, having tried to sort out my front crawl technique today I have more water in my sinuses than is left in the pool 😂 I’ve been sneezing and blowing my nose for three hours so far 😂
So, I’m after some advice – fiber, what are your go-to low cal, low carb favourites? After my fun with the colonoscopy last year, I’d like to up my fiber intake but can’t decide the best way to do it. I mainly eat breakfast and lunch rather than dinner, so it needs to be something that fits with that. I start the day with chia seeds in actimel and often have a poached egg on rye bread for breakfast. I can work in konjac noodles at lunch maybe, and some sauerkraut, but what else could I do? I’m not a fruit person, so those options are out. All suggestions gratefully received!

LDG, well done on the swimming, it’s such a great all-over exercise. On the fibre front, perhaps salad, braised red cabbage, kimchi, roast veggies or courgetti at lunchtime? Linseed bread instead of rye maybe. Psyllium powder can be sprinkled on just about anything and failing all else, there are fibre boost capsules available too.

Hi everyone, don’t know what is happening but I have gained 0.2kg yesterday and another 0.2kg today so up by just under a pound. Think the body fights back and tries to hold on to its fat. Did another 17hr fast today by missing out breakfast then had scrambled egg with some ham and cheese followed by half a yog with a kiwi. The half yog was left after I used the other half as part of a marinade.

Also bought some very reliable keto sticks (also with a glucose measure) and they are showing no glucose and no ketones. Need to try harder although I only had 24 g of carbs yesterday. Today I am already on 36g and that is the peas and a kiwi so not exactly the bad stuff.

As you all know I love swimming but cannot get up the motivation to get up really early, drive half an hour just to do half an hour in our ‘local’ pool. And the session is only one day a week for oldies. During school terms the use is restricted to schools and during school holiday you might as well forget it. We don’t criticise on here so it is just an observation.

Can I just mention something to LDG. I know someone who personally knows one of the directors of the company that makes Actimel and as it was at the gym they were talking about healthy diets and he said he would never eat his own yoghurts or give them to his family. Just think about that. On this site we all avoid anything other than full fat Greek yogurts.

Nearly the weekend and I am succeeding in food intake and exercise with yoga but also alcohol free since 1st. Have a good weekend everyone.

Reading through posts I can’t recall who mentioned the TV program with MM , The Big Shop, but think I will search for that as catch up…

I am having an odd time at mo, doc called me today to advise me my latest blood work showed am quite anaemic! She was a locum doc so took me thru some questions and then decided a 3 month course of iron tablets were needed. Add to that, a lil issue with the loo so more meds to help me ‘go’ wonderful…
Other than that, I am once agin planning my menu and as am quite into air fryer at the mo, looking at recipes for this on the bsd…

Good morning.

S-g you know how this life is never linear! The odd blips happen. I realise two days in a row is disconcerting, it happens to me often, but it evens itself out in the end. I’m sure the course says it can take several weeks to get into ketosis so don’t panic.

LDG I have to agree actimel isn’t really something that you should think of as ‘healthy’. Just look at the ingredients which start of with ‘yogurt’ and then that’s ‘adulterated’ with all sorts of additives! As s-g says plain full fat Greek yogurt is the best way to go.

1960, P?, sorry to hear about your woes. Get well soon.

Hi all, yes V I know how our bodies can mess us about. I had lost another pound and then gained the half so I am still winning. And it is down again today. Weighing every day shows all the little blips whereas if I had only weighed once I would have seen a half pound loss. So my own fault for looking. Although I weigh daily to keep me on track and also for my BG and insulin.

The ketosis question might be helped by someone on here because I am wondering if it is still possible for me to go into ketosis when I am pumping insulin into my body. The lack of glucose goes to prove (as much as we can prove) that the sugar is not leaving my body through my urine so it is still pumping around my body.

1960, beside improving the anaemia the iron will also help you to ‘go’. So a win win.

Just finished watching the Netflix series Fool Me Once. Slow start with a storyline that seems obvious how it is going to go but no, wham it hits you in the face in the last chapter. Great series. I love it when the whole story makes sense and the ending is wow. So often something ends and you think, what happened, or nothing happened. Watch it if you have Netflix. I am also watching You Are What You Eat – an experiment with twins to see how their bodies react or change with 2 different diets. One vegan one meat eating. Not finished yet as it is 3 or 4 episodes.

Have a good weekend.

Hi everyone !

A shout out first of all to SunnyB who is celebrating her birthday today ! Hope you have a lovely day ! 🙂

So we are approaching mid January and it does feel good to be back in the “zone” . I always knew it would take a few days to adjust but as soon as the difficult bit is over it really is liberating to not feel hungry and to not have cravings for sugar etc .

As far as my blood glucose and ketone readings are concerned , all good and stable which shows I am on the right track .I mentioend I have a Keto Mojo monitor and the test strips are blinkin expensive but right now I find them very useful and very motivating .There will hopefully come a time when I won’t need them as I will have a clear idea of what could spike my blood sugars .
I am not doing any long fasts right now as I daily do 17 to 18 hours from dinner the previous evening to lunch the next day as I easily skip breakfast .
I have been re reading my keto books on the KIndle too .

Crikey I’m sounding a bit virtuous aren’t I ?? LOL ! My clothes were starting to feel a bit tight so time to put a stop to my complacency . LESSONS LEARNED !!!

I just found out my nephew ‘(who lives in Greece … our family are all over the place 😉 ) has confirmed his wedding date for 29th May so a lovely event to look forward to.Then my grandson comes back in July so that and my diamond painting will sustain me through the dreary winter !!

Something I read recently which I will pass on is the importance of staying low carb, obviously but also for effective weight loss with ketosis we MUST eat healthy fats .Low carb, low fat doesn’t work . That might impact those who are staying low calorie ?? I think I have said that I don’t count calories but rely on my meter readings .I admit I do like logging my results in the Journal and seeing it fill up page by page 😉

Oh and something else … protein must be ‘moderate” as excess protein gets converted into glucose . So much to keep remembering !!

Well done to those of us who are being diligent about exercise ( LDG !!!!) I admire you and wish I was less lazy about it .Only yoga and pilates for me at the mo .
Sorry for any health issues emerging ( 1960smp) but glad you are getting treatment.

SG … things will balance out . It would drive me a bit nutty trying to work out the strange numbers on the scales but I know you like doing your daily weigh ins and that works for you .Don’t get despondent though.

Right I have a quiet day so can crack on with my diamond painting .Have a good weekend everyone .Today’s quote in the Journal is “I’m not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship ” That’s a good one ! xx

Wendy xx

SG , just saw your latest post . Did you say you were measuring ketones ? What are your readings ? Certainly it’s a good question ….Is ketosis possible when you are using insulin ?? My understanding is that you have to keep insulin really low by restricting carbs.We know carbs increase insulin levels and prevent ketosis .

So … we need to eat lots of healthy fats, moderate protein and very few carbs to keep insulin levels low .So does that mean that for diabetics, who inject insulin they can reduce the dosage by following a keto diet ?? That’s if insulin is doing its job and gets glucose out of the blood stream and into the organs where it’s needed , and not stay in the blood ??

i’m no expert SG but I reckon keto is worth a try ?But it’s not compatible with 800 calories ???

Hi Wendy, I am not following a keto diet as such just the BSD 800 which is very low carb so therefore keto without the high fats. You don’t have to be on a ketogenic fatty diet to start burning ketones, just as low carb as possible Although I do eat good fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds and of course some dairy within the calories allowed. I am not into fatty meats. I don’t know what you mean about my ketone readings, I am using batons and I am not showing any ketones at all nor any glucose. I am now on around 20g to 30g carbs daily but I don’t think that can counter the insulin I am injecting which was my question. As my BG has been going down from around 90 to 63 (range should be 80 to 120) I am slowly reducing the insulin. Doctor told me to keep it at 20 units (and stop messing around putting it up and down) but my BG is gone down to much i.e. 63 or 68 and one day 53, that I have reduced first to 19 units and last night to 18. Every intention to get it back down to 7 or 8 which was my pre-surgery amount. Also the less insulin I use the more weight I can lose.

You say about getting glucose into the body where it is needed. What I am aiming at is getting it OUT of the body where it just sits because the insulin is holding it in fat cells rather than eliminating it. (That might be an oversimplification but I don’t always have the words like is it keto or not). Then what happens is we start to rot, from every cell in the body – skin, muscle, eyes, liver, kidneys, heart, veins and arteries. I thought diabetic medication helped get rid of the glucose but all it does is make the body store it in places other than the blood. So my goal is to stop using insulin with or without my doctors help and it seems without as he doesn’t believe in what I am doing i.e. very low carb or keto.

I am hoping the InsulinIQ 90 day course on eliminating insulin resistance will give me some answers but in the meantime losing weight will be the driving force to reducing injectable insulin. I did lose 28lbs on the BSD in the early days but slowly increased by 7lbs so I am still 21lbs lighter than when I first started. I think I have just become complacent and been happy with myself and my insulin intake (7 or 8) until it shot up after the surgery. So now I am on a mission to get it back down as much as possible.

It’s not easy SG..I struggle to get my head around some of the science but I will keep reading to see what I can find. I definitely think getting your insulin levels really low as they used to be is the way to go.

When I mentioned ketone readings I test ketones in my blood…finger pricking as I do with blood glucose. Are your ” batons” the same ?

No Wendy, they are pee sticks that are supposed to change colour – these were recommended by the pharmacist so I know they are a good brand. Cannot understand why you would finger prick to glucose if you are not diabetic. It is not really a good thing to do, it can cause infection or cause a loss of feeling in the fingertips. I only do it because I have to.

The pee sticks will work for a time SG but are known to be unreliable as you become “keto adapted” and ketones no longer show up in urine.

I test blood glucose and ketones to see which foods spike my blood glucose and how to adapt. I change the lancets every day and no worries with finger tips. As I said I expect not to need to test after a while but they really work for me for accountability as I can see the consistent daily readings and I only weigh once a month.

We each have to do what works for us …I’m still learning 😉

Wendy interesting. I didn’t realise that non T2s finger pricked to test glucose/blood sugar levels. When you say you change the lancet each day how many times per day do you test?

As a ‘reversed’ T2 person I test now and again but for the last week or so I’ve tested daily at roughly the same time just to keep a check on things. I’ve had an average of 5.5 but really it’s only a very rough guide to what blood sugar/glucose measurements really are. I’ve tried testing after I’ve eaten something ‘carby’ and I have to admit I don’t see any real spikes!

S-g I’m wondering if you really have to check for ketosis. Maybe I’m wrong but I read if your pee is light to very light in colour you are probably in ketosis.

BUT, let’s be honest here we all know what we eat. Are we testing to see if we can keep eating something we like but think might be suspect, but we enjoy it … or …. are we really testing how ‘healthy’, by whichever measure you choose, our diet really is?

Do ketones measure this?

We are none of us doctors or scientists so which ‘scientific’ paper should we prioritise?

Hi V
I test once or twice a day. I have noticed that both glucose and ketones are slightly higher in the morning and I monitor the trends over the week. Right now my readings are stable.

I am definitely not checking to see which “naughty ” foods I can cheat with. I have lost my cravings for carbs and anything sweet .My priority is health and the more I read the more I am convinced that keto and fat burning is the way to go for me. It is the only thing that works….for me !

No I’m not diabetic but the Keto Mojo device allows for both glucose and ketone testing and both are important even for non diabetics. I like seeing the consistent results which show that my food choices are giving results and hopefully that means there will be weight discard ultimately!

I am not for one minute suggesting my approach is the only way to go but it does feel right for me as I continue on my “reboot”. I can go hours without eating,am never ravenously hungry,never crave carbs and my energy levels are good.

The problem is when I get complacent as SG mentioned…when I feel happy with my weight and then I slide….and the weight insidiously creeps back on. Then I know I have to reverse that trend .

I really don’t want to upset anyone with diabetes who might be shocked by my testing . It is actually quite common in the keto world and helpful for me for now.

It’s good to exchange like this with our ideas and experience so we can help each other ! 😚

Hello I thought I would just mention that I lost 1.75lbs in weight this last week but still haven’t shed all of my festive weight gain. My husband is a Type 2 diabetic & since losing 2 stone in weight on the Blood Sugar Diet five years ago has maintained his weight loss within a a few pounds up & then down. I have largely followed this diet & the other 800 diets cooking from all of MMs 800 cookery books. We always only buy full fat organic Greek yoghurt, use butter & olive oil & also have the prebiotic Kefir that we get from our milk man rather than the commercially produced Actmel type that has added sugar, not live bacteria or added sweetener. Tonight for supper I am cooking one of the recipes which is Pesto cod baked on top of a range of ratatouille vegetables tossed in olive oil. I will also have some mushy peas with that but my husband is fortunate in that he doesn’t have to take insulin & was able to reduce his medication after losing his excess weight & his three monthly blood tests show his blood glucose levels are remaining stable. He did used to test himself but our GP would no longer prescribe the the testing sticks or the thing to stab the finger with that I can’t remember the name of because there were shortages? Very frustrating & odd. However he is lucky that his diabetes is stable & hasn’t worsened in the nearly thirty years since he was diagnosed. His is a TOFI, thin on the outside & fat in the middle, & his father was also Type 2 & a similar build.
I hope you all have a good week.
Margaret xx

Wendy sorry I wasn’t upset or shocked by your testing, rather ….. just wondered why? Nobody wants to ‘test’ unless they have to.

My priority is also health and I have to agree I lost my cravings for sweet carby foods way back. I never had a sweet tooth but after so many years of low carb my ‘sweetness’ monitor is heightened to such an extent that I can taste sweetness in foods that aren’t even sweet’!

My day is no food until lunch then dinner around 6.30pm so quite a window for TRE. I do have a small, amount of milk in my early morning tea … is that breaking my fast?

I think we all have to do what fits our own life best and try to reach our own health/weight goals in the way that fits our own lifestyle. It’s definitely not a ‘one way’ fits all.

Hello again. In my view we are all looking for knowledge and doing what is best for us. No worries.

I have found my answer on a Paleo site which said insulin suppressed the production of ketones, either from over consumption of carbs or through outside reasons such as injectables.

Also meant to say Happy Birthday to SunnyB.

Hi there, back again, happy Sunday. Weight is moving again but I am not looking to get into ketosis. Will be reducing insulin again tonight as I had another near hypo during the night. Got up at 6 am and tested to find my BG was down to 3.6 so had a slice of ham and went back to bed again. This has, of course, interfered with my TRE. I have been managing 17 hours on the days I have skipped breakfast but usually do around 15. I will not be attempting 24 hours as I know it would be dangerous for me.

Well done on the loss Margaret. You will soon shed the festive weight.

To your question Verano, yes milk in tea is breaking your fast but it aint gonna kill ya 🙂 You could drink it black and add some lemon for flavour. I couldn’t drink black tea without something but I personally like green tea as long as it has a flavour and not brewed too long. In France I get green tea with mandarin which is lovely. I lost my taste for tea and milk when I became intolerant to dairy some years ago (it is a diabetic thing that just happens and then goes away). I also make my own teas, at the moment is it lemon and ginger with a bit of mint, sometimes turmeric and ginger or turmeric and lemon verbena. It feels good to be making it yourself and getting something for free (the Yorkshire in me).

Hope you are all set for a good week and weigh in. For me it will be Tuesday.

Well …. Sunshine-girl …. what have you done!

‘Fool me Once’ is ADDICTIVE!

Wonderful, now I just have to stay up all night to see the conclusion!

S-g glad you’ve found the answer to your question. Guess there’s not much point in testing for ketones at the moment!
I know that , theoretically, milk breaks the fast. Maybe I’m just being lazy because 1st cup of tea is in bed brought by OH!

So not the best number on the scale this morning so just readjusting my recording and am now going to add into my diary what I eat each day. Let’s see his that works out.

Hope the new week brings lots of positives for everyone.

Hi everyone !

Today is January 15th, middle of the month and WEEK THREE starts here so good luck everyone !

I had some fabulous news today .My son and his partner are digging deep and booking flights for my nephew’s wedding in Greece which will be a big family gathering … So everyone gets to meet the latest addition to the family , and I don’t have to wait until the summer !!!

Even greater motivation if ever I needed it !!

Wonderful news Wendy, on all fronts.

So I finished ‘ Fool me Once’ definitely recommend if you have Netflix.

I’ve had a weird week but I’ve learnt a lot about my body. Firstly the odd carb, like 3 finncrisp or a couple of low carb Livlife bread, don’t seem to affect my blood sugar. But if I add a few squares of 90% Lindt then my BS goes up as does my weight! Careful logging of food, but not amounts, is paying off for me at the moment.

Amazing that after over 7 years I’m still learning about my body. Maybe we will always keep learning?

Great news Wendy. So not too long to wait.

Verano, I too am still learning after nearly 8 years. I have been super good and cut every none necessary morsel so no after dinner 73% square of chocolate, no werthers original if I get shaky just a slice of ham of some yoghurt. BG is still coming in very low so will be cutting insulin again tonight. So gone from 24 over Christmas to allow for treats, back to 20 when we got home and tonight it will be down to 16. I know doctor told me to stick with 20 but he is not allowing for very low carb and the chances of a hypo.

Well what a rotten day today. Went out to shopping centre to buy a new kettle which conked out this morning. Alls well, got exactly what we wanted, nipped into Grand Frais (a fruit a veg super store) and got a few bits then called in clothes shop hoping for a jumper in the sale. Managed to get a pink sweatshirt for around £7.

Then driving home an alarm went off saying urgent need of repair, then the car lost power and we were driving at 20km, just passing a garage so pulled in. Needs 4 new injectors and a week to order and repair with a bill of €2000. We were dropped at the nearest car hire place and then couldn’t get a car as we didn’t have any proof of address. They always ask for a bill for something attached to the house in the last 3 months like electricity or water rates. We get the electricity bill via email but hubby had deleted and couldn’t find one. We had to call a taxi which cost us €60. So quite an expensive afternoon shopping.

We will get a neighbour to take us to the nearest car hire just 7km away (local supermarket hires cars) in the next day or 2 and get something for a week. No rush, I just wanted to get home. Needed a wee and something to eat. Hubbys state pension came in today but we have more than spent it all. We were just talking about getting our roof cleaned but I guess that will have to wait now.

I will be weighing in tomorrow and hopefully that will be good news.

Oh no SG….not a good day. At least you didn’t have an accident or break down on a motorway…being positive!

We love Grand Frais too…good produce and lots of choice.

Tomorrow is another day ! 😚😚

Oh no S-G what rotten luck just going out shopping!
Lovely news for you Wendy being able to see all your family sooner than expected 👍
Margaret xx

Sorry about your car, s-g. It’s pretty similar to what’s been going on with mine, and similar cost – entire paycheque being spent at once on car repairs, etc. which is why I couldn’t go shopping for the whole of Dec. Although they fixed the fuel injectors before Christmas, they didn’t get the whole issue as the check engine light came back on and it wasn’t running well in the frigid cold we’ve been having. So it went back into the garage today, and I’m expecting another big bill 🙁
I was supposed to be getting some electrical work done on my house and that’s going to have to wait. It makes me nervous because it is fairly urgent. I have to run extra heaters in the cold weather so the pipes don’t freeze or so I don’t go through my whole firewood supply at once, and I’m tripping the breakers all the time. Only 2 more days of this cold spell left, so hopefully I can get through it without issue!

Morning all!
SunnyB – thanks for the fiber advice; especially the psyllium husk powder as I’d completely forgotten about that! Used to have some but think I chucked it out so will need to get some new, but that should help.

S-g & Verano – thanks for the feedback on actimel. It’s not ideal, I knkw, but it serves a purpose after my colonoscopy and I quite like it, so will stick with it for the time being. I don’t like plain Greek yoghurt unfortunately, so will carry on as-is unless I come across one with a suitable flavour that also has the bifidus and l. casei bacteria. Sorry to hear about the car s-g; I’ve got to take mine in for a fair bit of work on Friday, so that’ll be a five hour wait in an unheated garage waiting room at single digit temps and a huge bill for the privilege! What fun.

So, week two went okay. Managed two swims, which I really enjoyed. Having not been swimming for many months, I was surprised and pleased that 1500m is still doable – makes me think the 5k I’ve signed up for at the end of April is achievable. Only problem is, the pool sessions are only an hour so need to find a couple I can do back to back to get distance training in – which is rather tricky at our pool! Also need to switch to front crawl instead of breaststroke as that should maximise distance in an hour. Second singing lesson last night was fun – many breathing exercises, which are fortunately quite familiar, being an asthmatic with occasional mediation practice 😂 I’m learning that karaoke classic – ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey 😂 They’ve also found me a bass teacher, so bass guitar lessons will be restarting soon – all good news.

WI this morning showed a loss of 3.8lb, so happy with that. Onward, to week three – which unfortunately contains my birthday, so WI next week might not be so positive 😁

Hope everyone is having a good week 👍

Sorry to hear about all your car woes but hope you both get sorted out quickly.

S-g sounds like you’re doing really well looking forward to your results.

Unfortunately my week has been rubbish. I’ve lost just over half a pound this year! I’m logging what I’m eating and all the nasties that I’m not eating. For example the last seven days I’ve eaten 3 Fincrisp, 2 slices of low carb(3.4g) bread, 3 oat biscuits, 5 squares of 90% and 2 portions of cheese, all of which I consider are my nasty foods. Or maybe better to say foods I need to stay away from. So I consider my week to have been pretty good because everything else was low carb ‘healthy’ stuff. Obviously I’m just eating too much of the ‘good’ stuff.

Anyway, on a more positive note I’m definitely ‘hydrated’ so that’s a bonus. Water drinking is going much better. I usually have a bottle of water and just drink that but now I put the water in a glass sometimes with lemon, as s-g suggested, and I seem to be drinking far more. Also my BS has averaged 5.4 this week so very pleasing.

So for me this week it will be a case of adding a few more baby steps. Will get there in the end!

Hope everyone has a good week.

Sorry to read about the car woes, hope SG and Arctic get their vehicles back in good working order soon. Cars can be such ‘money pits’!

Well done on your weigh-in results, LDG, good news you are on track for your swimming challenge …. oh, and hope the work on you car doesn’t cost a heap.

Don’t worry about the slow discard, V, as we know, its a long haul not a sprint. Maybe a review of what you are eating and a couple of small tweaks, will nudge your body into letting go of the pounds though.

My weigh-in this morning, shows I’m just a fraction of a pound lighter than this time last week. However, think I will continue on the same regime …. two days extended fast per week and OMAD on most of the other days. At this point, I’m not concerned with a slow discard, as I’m currently 3lb away from my target weight. Would be nice if I can hit that in the next few weeks, before our two week trip to Turkiye, but equally I’m okay if it takes longer.

Hope everyone else is comfortable with their progress, but if not, refocus, make a fresh start and try to make each meal choice a good one.

Hi all, my weight loss was a bit disappointing at 1lb. However, I had written on my diet calendar to lose 5lbs in January and I have already achieved that, so will amend that to 7lbs. That is what I lost in 11 weeks to Christmas so can’t really complain. The absolute upside is my BG is still low and I cut insulin to 17 (not 16) last night. I will stay at that for at least a few days before going down further. The point is, although I am not losing masses of weight on my really strict 25g carb plan, I am improving BG and also insulin resistance which is really what I need to do to get off insulin.

Did 30 mins yoga today and have had 3 days of 17 hrs TRE with every other day at 14 or 15 hrs.

As an update on the car situation. We have decided not to hire a car as the cheapest we can get at the local supermarket is €98 for a week (unless we get a Twingo at €85). We will wait and see how long the car is going to take when they ring to say the parts are in. Fortunately, we don’t have anywhere to go except shopping on Thursday but if you could see my freezer I don’t need anything and it will give us a chance to clear food out. Then we will just have to get a taxi to pick up the car and know that will cost €50 as not quite as far as we travelled yesterday. We also have a local shop just a 15 minute walk away if we get desperate.

LDG you are certainly getting in some exercise and other activities. When you said WI today I thought ‘what else is she up to’ but realised you meant weigh in and not Womens Institute 🙂 Good weight loss. I don’t know how tech savvy you are but if you download an app called Yuka. you aim it at a barcode on food and it will tell you everything you need to know, sugars, carbs, calories and is colour coded from green for good, amber for okay and red for bad. It has helped me change brands for example I sometimes buy ready made coleslaw and the one I normally buy came up red on everything. I just pointed the phone at a couple more and found one that is much better for me. Really, everyone should be using it, saves us getting conned by clever advertising. If you want to continue with the Actimel and as long as it is working for you then it is up to you. You don’t have to do anything we say, we are all different.

Well another week for me. Keep on keeping on…

SG your approach is the right one in my opinion, staying low carb and tackling the insulin resistance .You know you are a slow loser but you always achieve your goals .

Sorry about the expense caused by the car repairs .If we lived closer I would come and save you in my 22 year old Lexus which has 401, 000 km on the clock and never breaks down !!! Oh and I have a cassette player too 🙂

I am waiting till the end of the month for my scales check but I am definitely feeling ‘trimmer’ and motivation is sound .One thing that was a real issue was the acid reflux I was developing and that has totally disappeared now, what a relief !

I have seen a lot of discussion about the new “miracle ” weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic . I am perplexed because to be honest staying consistently low carb ( keto for me) basically gives the same results , i.e. suppressed appetite, hunger control, improved health markers etc without the very nasty side effects ??? At the same time we are developing very healthy eating habits for life, not a quick fix.As I understand it, when you come off these drugs the weight piles back on ….so you would have to be on them for life !!! At what cost ?? Then there are the very dodgy and dangerous online buying offers . Also slim, non diabetic patients are getting hold of it to shed a few pounds .

I accept some very obese patients are desperate to lose weight and improve their health and it’s good to think this could give them hope and results …but I wouldn’t go near it ! Sharon Osbourne for example is really struggling to regain a bit of weight after losing too much on Ozempic , and she doesn’t look well .

Let’s keep doing what we are doing folks !!

Morning everyone , am up at daft o clock, can’t sleep…again!!
Had a bit of a rubbish start to my week. I cannot seem to pin myself down to plan a menu I stick to. it is insane, as I know not to plan causes me to go off track and lie to myself on what am eating – rubbish…Good thing is, I guess, my weight has not moved either side of my numbers in a month or so. I will add, tried making a breakfast keto type baked no oatmeal, in the airfryer Was horrid lol reread the blurb just moments ago and see where i might have gone wrong so will try again as bought some ingredients for this…If anyone has a decent ‘porridge’ type breakfast meal, let me know.
After a discussion with my internet provider , we upgraded to another option. Been a nightmare this past 10 days so hopefully rectified and grandson can play on his ps5 with better pings haha ( all their lingo am def not used to) altho am not holding my breath.
On another note, my adult kids have planned to send hubby to Poland for his 70th as a surprise. His father came from there during the war 2 and he has met some relatives few years back but always wanted to locate others – now done – awesome , just like a Davina Mcall Long lost families episode!! Hopefully, we can go and experience in real life this massive important reunion.

Hi all, feeling good. Several thing which I should put on the positives page. Had a very good sleep, very good pooh (essential for feeling good), good blood results and good weight loss. What more can I ask for except maybe a working car.

Had 2 deliveries today. 7kgs of bacon and sausage. I know it is UPF but it will last us nearly a year as we only have one or the other for Sunday brunch. Bought some fingerless gloves which arrived. 3 pairs for €7 in red, shocking pink and pale pink. Great for the keyboard. Although it is 15 degrees here today although it will be back down to 6 and 7 on Friday and Saturday with night at -4 and -2. Really don’t get a chance to acclimatise.

Well I have a big job this afternoon unpacking and repacking the foods into smaller portions and finding space in the freezer. A bit of shuffling around. Good chance to see what needs to be used up.

Have a good week.

Ah SG a good sleep sorts lots out!
Love a good meat delivery / shop…my 2 freezers are way chockker to add any more tho…

This afternoon I had a good browse and think and suddenly realised I can ADD a menu list and shopping list to my Alexa app…O the wonders of technology…so, armed with that info, I created a simple menu for the coming week, online shop arriving tomorrow and I now plan to get on this bus and get cracking…so funny how the small things amuse one lol

I understand how we can all have sleep difficulties. 1960 I also wake up at daft o’clock most days but it’s nit a problem. A lie-in for me is 7am!

Anyway. I’ve been using Headspace for the last15 days of so and last night I had a revelation.

I often wake around 1ish to use the bathroom and then find it difficult to get back to sleep. Last night when I got back into bed I used the breathing techniques and must have dropped off almost immediately because the next time I looked at the clock it was 4 hrs later!

Must admit I’m finding this mindful eating course really useful. Mindfulness can be applied to so many things.

Hope everyone is doing well and eating healthily.

Hi all, back to sleep problems. I had a good sleep the other night but mainly I have a terrible time sleeping. Sometimes I go to sleep quickly but wake up at around 3pm and have trouble going back. Last night I didnt get to sleep at all and was still awake at 4am. Okay, I think my body was telling me to get up which I did and did a blood test which was very low so I had some ham. Funny thing is when I went back to bed I felt all warm and comfortable and went straight to sleep. Maybe being hungry doesnt help you sleep.

While I was up at 4am I watched a programme I recorded called Around The World In 80 Weighs. It featured 6 (or8) rather large people going around the world to see how they lived and ate and following their diet in about 5 days in each place. The first programme was Japan and they are really strict, slim and fit. The whole country stops at around 9am to do a 15 minutes of exercises – gentle stretches etc nothing too hard. This happens in every office, factory, school etc. They have their waists measured regularly and if they are over the norm (35″ for women and 38″ for men but dont quote me) they are put on a diet and exercise programme. They have rules around eating like always using chop sticks because it stops gorging, eating in a triangle with little tapas type plates of food and they have to have one mouthful from each plate, finally they have to stop eating before they are full. The poor contestants were in tears but mainly because they had to face what they had been doing to themselves. The largest couple were around 250lbs each and what surprised me was they were both health workers.

Today has been admin. We were going to walk into the village to the small market they have on a Thursday but it was absolutely throwning it down. We were also going to call in the local mini mart to get some essentials like milk and bread. We will do that tomorrow as it is going to be nice. Anyway, instead we had to fill in the 5 year census which is now all online. Then we had to re-register for voting in the UK, again all done online. So a bit of a sedentary day although I did manage 30 mins of yoga.

Have a good end to the week.

Just popped in to say hi happy new year and commiserate with the poor sleepers. Me too. Although I enjoyed being sleepless on monday night as watched the snow fall at 2 a.m. and it was magical.
For insomnia,im trying a chocolate drink called Ten PM,supposed to aid sleep,contains magnesium and other sleepinducing goodies. Only 28 cals per two heaped teaspoons ( plus the milkof course) Only had it one night so far,and I had quite a decent sleep,which made a lovely change! but oc need to test it for a much longer time.
Ps I saw the 80 Weighs prog S-G. It was interesting wasnt it!looking forward to further episodes. Also enjoyed Michael Mosely working at Asda and talking about processed foods and the harm they do.

Just popping in to say I’m still here 🙂
We are into our second week now of a new work routine with 3 longish days in the office and 2 WFH, so I’ve been focusing on eating the right things at the right time for health – next step is to reduce cals (for me definitely) and get the weight shifting down again.
Hubby has lost a few lbs this week (he weighed fully clothed this morning and showed a loss) while I have remained static.
We are having oats porridge once a week (cholesterol reduction) plus 1 tsp of cod liver oil every morning, and tinned fish with kimchi for lunch on the 2 WFH days.
Lunch in the office is homemade soup, or a box of bits which include some fresh veg (celery, radishes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers), maybe some olives, a slice of cheese, and a protein of some sort (chicken breast, ham or boiled egg), with a portion of nuts and some dark choc for hubby on his journey home.
I have stopped the cider vinegar in my morning routine, and now replaced with a cranberry supplement, as I have had more UTI issues in the last 3 months than in the past 30 years! Apparently this is a not uncommon menopause issue 🙁 and one I could happily do without.
This past week has been baltic in the UK, so I am aware I have been eating more (I have had breakfast every day this week), as leaving the house before 7am after scraping the car in minus degrees has not been fun. Re. cars – booked in for MOT and service next week, hoping it’s not too expensive…………….
Hubby likes herbal teas, and there are a few nighttime ones which he likes (pukka and Heath & Heather are 2 he has at the moment), about an hour before bed.
Happy weekend everyone!

Hi everyone, Hi Ruby glad to see you are still with us.

Just heard from the garage and the car is ready. We were just about to set of on a 3km walk down to the village and back to get some essentials. Neighbour has taken hubby so no €60 taxi bill to face. We will have to do a shop when he gets back but having looked at all the food in the freezer I am intending to buy next to nothing, just some tins like chickpeas, bean sprouts, tomatoes. We have plenty of meat, chicken, fish, veg and fruit so why go an stock up on a load of things we don’t really need. That will save us a load of money too.

Weight has blipped up again. It is always 0.2kg either way so probably fluid retention. Nothing to worry about.

So nothing much else to report. The weekend is nearly upon us so keep on keeping on…

Ahhh, a neighbour has just popped round as she was worried about us having no car outside. Thought one of us was ill or needed something. Bless.

You have lovely caring neighbours S-G & pleased your car is ok now. 👍
Well done everyone who is managing to lose weight 👏👏. Despite spending loads of pennies & eating low carb & less calories I have stayed the same weight which is very disappointing.
Keep on going everyone & I hope you all have a good weekend with better weather!!
Margaret xx

Happy Saturday. All is well.

Margaret, the thing with my neighbours is no-one speaks to us except a polite bonjour. We have lived here for 18 years and we have never been invited round or anything although that is not quite true, we were invited to a couple of different neighbours and became friends but they have now left.

Had another bad night. Think I slept from around 1pm to 3pm then got up to go to the loo and was still awake at 4am when I got up for half an hour. Went back to bed and lay there for 2 hours and got up again. I stayed up until 8am then went back to bed and finally slept for 3 hours. While I was up I watched the end of the Around the World in 80 Weighs. They did a mass weigh in at the end and they had lost 2 stone 5lbs between 6 people. Their start combined weight was 888 kgs and then down to 858 kgs. So only around 3lbs each. Although they weren’t really on a diet, just following the Japanese way of life and eating and some gentle exercise. Next week they are going to Tonga where the population is 90% super obese with around 90% having diabetes. I think this is going to be shock tactics showing people with amputations etc. Can’t wait.

No real news except we have been off line for most of the day and you realise how much you depend on it. Thought I would do the months finances then realised I needed to get on line to the bank. Then thought I would watch a Van Tulleken programme recommended by daughter about UPF then realised it was on YouTube. We don’t have data roaming except on our phones so couldn’t do much of anything.

Have a good weekend.

S-G I’m sorry to have assumed you had very good neighbours & also that you are not sleeping well. I am finding if I am losing more weight the more my sleep is disrupted by having to get up to use the loo. I mostly manage to get back to sleep but also have some long gaps in the night when I’m just lying awake. It is frustrating & tiring!
I hope you have a better sleep tonight 😴😴
With best wishes
Margaret