Jive to July is a 3 month journey that anyone is welcome to join. We’re starting today, Tuesday 6th April, and going through to Independence Day, Sunday 4th July. For some of us that will be summer, and perhaps we’re looking to lose s few pounds to get into those summer clothes, Others will be moving into winter and want to make sure they are in good shape for that season too.

Whatever your weight loss, fitness or wellbeing goals we’d love to see you on this thread. Many of us have plodded along together on previous threads, most recently Easter Bus Tour. We’re a friendly and honest bunch. We do our best to support each other through life’s various ups and downs, and enjoy having a bit of fun along the way.

So if you have a goal to achieve, and 3 months is a good timescale for you, then do come and join us on our Jive to July!

I’m polishing my red dancing shoes and feeling excited to start our new journey together.
I’ve reset my Happy Scales app to start afresh and am at exactly the same weight as I was at the beginning of both the Christmas and Easter tours!
My son and his family have provisionally booked to come over from NJ for August (🤞) so working towards July is a good goal for me.
I’m looking forward to seeing all our regulars meeting up again and hopefully some new visitors will join us too.
Starting today (again) O.D.A.A.T.
X B

I’m in!
I have had a small gain over Easter, and currently weigh 11st 13lb – my Easter goal was to get into the 11’s, which I did (11st 10.8 Good Friday) and I’m still just squeaking in – by July I would love to be 10st something – which I think is where I would like to maintain. The top end of my healthy BMI is 9st 8lb which I haven’t seen in 30 years at least, and considering I am already seeing my ribs between my collarbones and breasts I don’t think another 2st off is going to do me any favours.
I have an incentive not to gain weight, though, as I have bought a very fitted leather biker jacket – a further 1st loss will be OK, but any appreciable gain and the jacket will no longer fit!
Jive to July!

Well I forced myself to hop onto the scales again this morning just so that I have a starting point and I’ve gained even more than I thought since Christmas so I have written my weight (along with my waist measurement and bmi) onto my new Jive to July chart on the fridge.I have a big pile of ironing to do so that will keep me busy for a while.DD has lots of revision to do over this Easter break as,even though GCSEs are cancelled,she is still facing tests on all subjects when she goes back to school,I can feel slightly stressful day is unfolding but I will not succumb to comfort eating😇 Good luck everyone.Dawn X

Can I join you lovely people please, I think it’ll help to have a longer challenge!

My aim by July is 21lbs loss which might be ambitious but can hope!

Starting weight 17st 7.2lb (gained 6lb over a stupid blip the last fortnight, need to refocus!!)
Target by July 4th 16st (I can hope!)
End target 12st 7lb (top of healthy BMI, I’m tall!)

Ok let’s do it!

Lauren x

Good morning everyone and I am so happy to be joining you for our Jive to July. Thank you DCT for setting us up. I have two main aims during this journey. I have to reduce my cholesterol and I have a repeat blood test in July and I want to lose 14 lb minimum so that when I go to Ragdale Hall in July I feel better in my clothes. This morning I am going to buy healthy food when I go shopping and against my better judgement am going to embark on three months of low fat milk/olive spread instead of butter and only eat cheese once a week to get my cholesterol down as per the advice of the practice nurse. I have a delivery of low carb food supplement shakes which I am going to start today too. I hope that I can enjoy them enough to have one for my lunch every day and then a low carb meal for my evening meal. I am DETERMINED to feel better about myself. I didn’t weigh myself today because I don’t really think it matters. I know that I am heavier than I want to be and I know that in the next few months I will get to where I feel better about things. I think we have the perfect amount of time to make a huge difference.

I’ve planned my strategy and I’ve focused myself out of a fairly negative place and feel positive and actually rather excited. I’ve had a lot of set backs since Christmas but I’ve drawn a line under it all now and hope to make the best of the next few weeks as we jive to July! I have a vision of myself looking like Olivia Newton John in the film Grease in her tight leather outfit when I stop jiving in a July! Hilarious!

Hi everyone! Thank you DCT!
Very excited to be joining our latest venture jiving,twisting,doing the Cavern Stomp,and shaking a tail feather all the way from here to July woooohooooo! Bring it on 🥳🥰 xxx

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for setting new thread up. I really enjoyed the Easter bus tour it really helped knowing all you lovely people were out there spread around the world.
We did quite well hubby last a stone and I lost 9 lb. could have been better if we really tried harder. Looking forward to this challenge as my son hopefully gets married in sept after cancelling twice!
Lots of luck to everyone for brighter times ahead for all of us and some better health and weight loss for all. We will be “ rocking around the clock “ here so here goes ODAAT xx

Hi everyone, I did so so on the Easter bus, lost 4.5lbs by Easter Friday which is better than a slap in the face with a wet lettuce 🙂

July might take me past the date I want to be back in the UK visiting, at least I hope so. In the meantime it is something to aim for. Doing well on TRE just now and feeling really motivated so ready to keep on keeping on…

Will be dropping in from time to time but always dancing along with you all.

A big hello to Busybee, RubyG, ADD6605 (Dawn), Clarinet Cathy, Yowzer, TeaGranny and Sunshinegirl. And a very special welcome to florob85 – Lauren – hope that we can help you towards your goals and that you enjoy being part of this crazy bunch!

I’m aiming to get to 133lb by July and also lose a couple of inches from both my waist and tummy. I feel much more confident about hitting my goal this time round. I’m hoping to do the virtual London marathon in October so will be doing lots of training for that. I also need to go wedding dress shopping in July at the latest so need to be a size that I’m happy with and can also maintain till September.

Easy really 🙀

Good luck everyone, and keep posting X

Day 1 completed and I feel so positive. This is what I have eaten today:-
A cup of red bush tea for breakfast
Had a coffee caramel shake for lunch (400 calories)
Two vegan sausages, broccoli and some french style puy lentils
Greek yoghurt with a few raspberries. I had the 0% variety unfortunately to help reduce my cholesterol. Didn’t taste too bad (Aldi Greek)
That comes to around 800 calories. Plenty of sparkling water.
I felt cold today so I didn’t go for a brisk walk as I had intended. Wondered if it could be carb flu!
Like you DCT I feel positive that I am going to achieve my goal this time. I certainly am determined to anyway. How exciting to be wedding dress buying – so much to look forward to. I am going to continue with 16:8, a shake for lunch and a nutritious low carb evening meal. I have bought enough shakes to last me for one month. I will weigh myself once a month and will see how I cope with them. They’re certainly good for protein, vitamins, minerals etc. . I am going to try and increase my steps over the next few months and try and be more active as the weather warms up here in the UK. It snowed here today!
Hope everyone has had a good day. Get your music turned up and get jiving to July one day at a time.

Thanks Yowser for recommending the shakes- I feel it might be the turning point I need – at least it’s something different to try. I was nervous that because I was cutting out so many food groups that I wouldn’t be eating healthily – low carb/low fat/vegetarian! now, I feel confident that my body is getting great nutrition.

Cathy I’ve always felt cold whenever I’ve started the BSD properly, which has been several times but only stuck to it a couple! Although it could also just you know, be that it’s cold!! I find the 0% Greek yoghurt to be very very tart, the Greek style yoghurt is a bit more tolerable or I’ve tried mixing a tiny bit of cinnamon or ground ginger or vanilla extract in to take the edge off the tart without adding sugar 😀

Lauren x

Hi Guys,

Well I may be more hovering around the edge of the dance floor than staking my claim to a spot around the handbags. But I will be around.

I still don’t have working bathroom scales available for various reasons, including they need a new battery and I can’t be bothered to make a trip to a different store just to get one. . – but I have fetched the tape measure out of my house today and intend to start checking that again. –

Hi all, after falling off the Easter Bus very early on, can I please join your Jive to July?
I have loved your posts and conversations and am feeling motivated to get started again, after we holiday in Tasmania until May 1st.
Just hoping to keep holding steady until then!
Take care, everyone.
Sue 🙂

Hi all, my TRE is going well and I have lost 2.1kg in 2 weeks. Not a massive amount but pretty good for someone constantly dieting and also on insulin injections.

I just wanted to address something with ClarinetCathy. Do take care with low fat products, read the labels. For example, I tried a specific cholesterol lowering margarine and discovered it contained both milk powder and rice powder. I have a long history of high cholesterol and was around 11.2 before being given statins. They brought me down to around 8.0 but couldnt get me lower. When I moved to France and my doctor saw I was on 60mg statins he said he couldnt give me that much by law, not allowed in France, so he reduced it to 40mg. For some reason I went down to around 6.8 on the lower dose and there it stayed for the next 10 years, always eating low fat and avoiding all the so called bad foods. Next step, I found this diet and within the first 3 months had reduced to 5.5 then 3 months later around 5.0. Now I am 3.8 on my test 3 weeks ago. Also I dont need to take statins anymore (except I choose to take a tiny dose as I am high risk for stroke etc being diabetic). How have I done it. I eat full fat everything as it is my belief that low fat products, containing chemicals, hidden sugars and/or carbs are the cause of HC. You are fooled into thinking you are eating healthy – see above about reading labels – but the body needs real food not artificial. One thing is that as I dont eat bread, toast, mashed potatoes etc that I would normally use margerine or butter on then I dont actually have much butter but I cook scrambled eggs in butter. I now have full fat cheese, again, not too much due to being on a low cal diet. I eat full fat Greek style yoghurts and nothing at all that claims to be low fat. Also, check with Dr Google 🙂 foods to help reduce cholesterol. You wont find fake sterol products like the margerines and yoghurts in the list but you will find oats, nuts, seeds, veg, avocados, olive oil, rapeseed oil and so on. I am not trying to confuse you and I dont want you to go against your medical advice but be aware that there are more ways than just cutting out fat.

Hello everyone

Thank you sunshine-girl for your cholesterol advice. I spoke to my practice nurse last week and she told me that my HDL was normal at 1.5 but my LDL was high at 4.1 and so she advised me to get it down to less than 3. My total cholesterol was 6.3. She advised me to eat seeds and nuts, pulses, avocado, oats and to cut out cream, butter, full fat yoghurt, hard cheese so I have agreed to follow her advice and then repeat the test in July to see if I have made any progress. I’ve not been eating pulses due to their carb content and I eat little fibre as I don’t eat cereals and only have a few berries with my yoghurt. She did advise me to have one of those cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and I had one this morning and it was 25 calories and quite nice. I had it for my breakfast with a cup of red bush tea. The nurse told me that I don’t need to go onto a statin as my Q risk is 5% but she warned me about clogging up my arteries and the risk of heart disease and dementia so that is why I am trying to reduce my saturated fat. My husband is vegan, I am vegetarian and I have eaten only plant based foods since yesterday. The shakes I have for lunch are vegan and I had a mushroom burger and salad for my evening meal tonight. I plan to have a shake for my lunch every day for one month and a low carb evening meal and to see if this makes any difference to my weight and my cholesterol and I will see how the first month goes and assess my results at the end of the Jive to July. I feel as if I need to experiment with my eating because I wasn’t making any progress with my weight, my cholesterol had gone up (too much cheese and butter and cream and full fat yoghurt). It seems I reduced my risk of diabetes cutting out sugar and losing weight but increased my risk of cardiovascular disease eating too much saturated fat!

Day 2 done
I tried a banana flavour shake today for my lunch and wasn’t so keen but I will add ice to it next time and see if that helps. I know it’s a healthy shake so I will have to switch my mind off and just drink it! It’s 400 calories of goodness, with a good protein ratio.

Hope you’re all feeling positive. I am going to get weighed next Tuesday to see if I am making any progress!

Evening all, hope you’re all enjoying your week

I’m feeling a bit defloofed today like a deflated meringue (or cloud bread!) – not sure why, just a bit sort of meh, still on plan and I’ve managed to discard 3 of the 6lb I’d gained so that’s a positive but just still got a headache and feel really super tired and bored of work (it is very boring at the moment) and oh my goodness so SICK OF COOKING ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH! And I’m someone who loves cooking! It’s just the sheer tedium of two meals a day every day that you have to think about and weigh and measure and track and calculate macros and blah – what I wouldn’t give to whack a ready meal in the microwave! Or a piece of ham between two slices of bread. Urgh. Never mind, got to keep on I guess! Has anyone experienced after a blip that getting back on track seems to require so much more effort and willpower than starting in the first place?! It’s daft isn’t it because although I’ve had a blip it wasn’t a complete off plan disaster, but man the willpower!! My brain is so tired!

Meh

Lauren x

PS Tulip we’ll keep you on track, and fridge chocolate is madness, that’s my hill and I’ll die on it!

Hi Cathy, I am sure you have all the knowledge you need and you have such a good understanding of healthy foods. The sterol drinks are recommended. They can give up to 5% reduction which would bring your total down to 5.9. Unfortunately it is not a accumulative effect to it is 5% and thats it. Better than nothing. Im sure youve got this covered.

Hello all I’m back on board for another journey 🙂
Thanks for setting up this thread DCT, and for the lovely intro!
I have enjoyed Easter and a weigh in yesterday showed my weight as being up 1/2kg since last week, so I need to discard that and then continue to work towards my goal. I would love to get to my first major target by July, just not sure it’s possible, it would mean losing 6.5 kilos. I did lose 6kg in the Easter bus round, so perhaps I could do it again! I’m setting my target as between 4 and 6 kilos for Jive to July. I’ve slipped on my best dress and dancing shoes and ready to go!
Cathy – sounds like you are off to a great start and have it all figured out. I agree with Sunshine girl about including healthy fats and foods like oats, as they help keep you full as well as being cholesterol lowering.
Lauren – I hear you about being over it with cooking. I get like that sometimes! When it happens I just keep things simple and have something like scrambled eggs for dinner, or I use one of the meals I’ve previously frozen. It is definitely harder doing subsequent rounds of this diet – very hard sometimes to keep the motivation up. Jive to July is probably something like my 200th restart!

I read a good quote in a magazine this week, it went something like “One Day….or Day One” … so today is my Day One!

Hi everyone, I’m here again too, thanks for setting up the thread, DCT.
I feel like I’m in the zone, I have a record keeping book and the scales are front and centre on the kitchen bench. Sticking to 800/30g and it’s feeling achievable so far. According to the blood monitor I am in mild ketosis.
I’m also getting up earlier, it’s pretty easy just now as daylight saving has stopped and I’m still waking at the earlier time. Spending that hour on a brisk walk before work and a slow cup of coffee on the back deck to start my day, so far it feels great. So I am hitting my step target of 10000 a day quite painlessly now. We’ll see how it lasts.
My boss at work has also given me a convertible desk so I am trying to stand and sit for an hour each thoughout the day. It helps my neck and shoulder pain but makes my hips and lower back worse. My body is falling apart 🙁
Best of luck and good head space for everyone!
I’m going to the Birdsville Big Red Bash in early July, a month long camping trip with this huge music festival in the desert right in the middle of it. We are looking forward to it so much and I’ll be so grateful for any reduction in my measurement that would enable me to at least wear my jeans with comfort- I just refuse to buy any bigger ones. 10 weeks till we go, maybe 5kg? It’s possible but I’ll take anything 🙂
cheers, Mariet

Hi all, have been reading a shed-load of older posts over the last 3-4 weeks & have finally decided to start posting.
Hubby & I have been doing the BSD for the last 4 weeks or so & have both lost about a stone (probably about 10-12Ibs on actual BSD) Pretty pleased with that as we’re both in late 60’s. Initially we started with eating FAR too much fat (OMG a queasy stomach & green poo I don’t want to go back there!) as I read elsewhere it was the way to get into Ketosis fast. Well, it got us into Ketosis as planned BUT don’t want to go back there again. 🙂

We have been very good at hopefully keeping carbs under 20 as we’re both diabetic – seeing this reflected already in blood sugar levels with both of us hovering in the 4.8-5.5 levels in the morning after fasting. We’re also doing the 18.6 fasting, sometimes a bit longer than that. Most craving has gone away although we both have bread craving occasionally, which we have resisted. I have however been tempted twice into making those 60secs mug cakes with almond flour & then coconut flour & psyllium. What we found with those was they made us both feel SO bloated & the following day we just didn’t want food – is this normal? I’m thinking of making a small batch of those small coconut macaroons for when we both feel like we need a small treat, although wondering if that’s such a good idea after the bloat of the shared mug cakes BUT they’re pretty small, so someone tell me it’s a good idea I’ve had.

Hubby has been amazed at me having black coffee as I regularly used 1litre plus of semi-skimmed milk having my coffee & have done that for many years. After a week black coffee was OK for me – never thought I’d ever be able to manage that – the 500+ cals a day reduction was an incentive too. We also bought the all singing & dancing scales, a breath ketone meter (fab) & the sticks to make sure it was telling us the truth, about 2.8-2.9 ketones – so well into ketosis.

Covid – hubby has been in the shielding group due to many health problems – hopefully the BSD will help him a lot with a few of these problems. Since 5th March 2020 when I think we both got Covid after spending long hours at the crowded Dental Hospital in Cardiff. Strangely he got over it in 2weeks or so while I swear I had long covid which only recently I have started feeling ‘normal’ again from. I have only been in 1 supermarket a couple of weeks back, after a disastrous online shop – it was that or stop the diet & we’re both committed, Hopefully soon we’ll be able to get out again. I’ve has both of my vaccines but Hubby has only had the first. Hopefully he should get the 2nd in 3-4wks time. (he had to have Astra Zeneca due to Analphylaxis). He is still very wary about going anywhere at all that there may be people & I don’t want to bring anything back to him. I bought us a motor-home back in August last year as I felt he needed to get out for his sanity & we could go places & sit without getting out & enjoy the scenery. We used it just for 3 days & then a 5 day trip before we were forced back home with yet more lock-downs. Sometime soon we hope! At the moment he’s pretty much covered up for the next month or so with B12 shots & many appointments.

We therefore have decided that we’ll keep doing the BSD diet for the 12 week maximum. I have just under 3 stone to lose & he has a bit more than that. TBH I’m not sure that I want to lose 3 stone at the moment, I think I’d be happy with just under another 2 stone as I was in the front of the queue when they were handing out boobies & I swear they weigh 1 stone at my smallest, of course they never go. I’ve looked gaunt & still the damned things are there & people pay for them???

Enough of me. You all seem to be a pretty friendly group & I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions in the future.

Hi LinandHubby

Just a quick one as I’m technically supposed to be working and I’ve already spent too long on here this morning, but the bloat from the mug cakes will be the fibre – both psyllium husk and coconut flour are almost pure fibre and if you’re not used to eating lots of fibre it can make you bloated, it usually goes away as you get used to it but bear in mind we’re supposed to eat 20-25g fibre a day (it’s good for our gut bacteria among other things) and most of us get nowhere near that so if you’re not used to it it might make you bloated for a while, never eat something that makes you uncomfortable though and if either of you have IBS or other bowel issues you might have trouble with fibre.

If you’re after a low carb low fibre bread substitute (it’s not a replacement cos it tastes nothing like bread) you could look up cloud bread – heaps of recipes online and on here, or people on here make egg wraps – basically a very thin omelette, I’ve never had much success with them as I’m impatient and I break them but I use cloud bread a fair amount

😄

Lauren x

Thanks for that Lauren. Maybe I’ll try cloud bread – seen plenty of recipes for it & I suspect that a single one won’t be too much fibre for us? We used to eat lots of veggies & beans (we miss those) previously so we should really have been fibre adjusted BUT maybe not? I tried making wraps with a coconut flour & psyllium mix with water that everyone was raving about BUT it didn’t work for me. maybe it was a bit too moist & I should have cut back on the water – it tasted raw & awful also it broke into small pieces, useless for a wraps. After our stint with the mug cakes maybe I should look at the egg ones instead 😉 Missing fajitas.

Little gem lettuce is your friend for fajitas! I have it once a week – my partner still eats the wraps, I have the exact same filling but in a lettuce “cup” rather than a wrap – it’s just as filling, you get a nice crunch and it’s surprisingly nice! If you’re making fajitas it’s wise to make your own seasoning mix, the packet ones have flour in them so are carby

I use chipotle paste, oregano, cumin, ground coriander and paprika – just play around with the quantities until you get the flavour you want!

Thanks Lauren, yeah & jalapeno for hubby or hot sauce – the hotter the better for him. I can happily do it in romaine leaves rather than Little gem – more of a crunch, but hubby wants wraps – men HuH! 🙂 Get back to work. I have to go make him some food quickly as we ate just about nothing yesterday. Not good but both of us slept late afternoon until 4-5am, which really both of us needed.

Hi everyone, slight loss today but not really worth mentioning as things are slowing down a bit.
Lindaandhubby, sounds as though your numbers are good, especially if you are not on any meds. Besides the other explanation of the bloating it might simply be that carbs tend to draw in fluid and hang onto it for a while. Keep drinking the water and it will flush it out.
Thats all for today, having a lazy one after battling the supermarket this morning. Hubby cooking tonight and doing the cauli and brocolli gratin we have had many times before. It is something easy for him to do.

Linda & hubby – chickpea flatbread or Socca bread is good – I make it and use as a pizza base, it’s gluten free and BSD friendly
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-socca-a-naturally-gluten-free-chickpea-flatbread-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-169513%3famp=1

Calling in at the JIVE HIVE to say hi!
and also,welcome back to AUSSIESUE and TEAGRANNY,and welcome LINDANDHUBBY. Well done on your losses LAH and Im with you in still wanting bread🙄
CCATHY your daily plan sounds v similar to mine,except I make a smaller shake so its 300 cals leaving me 500 for a meal and milk in tea 💕 Ive tried banana,salted caramel and vanilla so far and like them all. Making them the night before seems to thicken them up nicely ( if you like them thicker,some people prefer more runny) I can imagine making the vanilla so thick it wd be quite like a vanilla ice cream! Somebody somewhere said they have made a pancake,tho am not sure quite how they did it.
SUEBLUE I like that little quote..each days a new chance to start day 1,or we can procrastinate for another day! Im afraid Ive been guilty of that far too many times! And LAUREN! I love your word defloofed! Im gonna steal that one!
MARIET I love the sound of that BIg Bash!
Onwards and downwards folks,Im hungry today but gritting my teeth and thinking,just-one-day-at-a-time,as our lovely BUSYBEE so wisely says! XXX keep on dancin!XXX
Ps Meant to say JGWEN,I love the Jive to July name you came up with,and also,I’m not getting on my scales either..ive got the tape measure out instead. 🥰

PPS Oooh DAWN i hope yr new chart is a sparkly one!
Ok folks,lets have some Saturday night Fever! 🕺xx

Lovely to see the thread so lively today. LindaandHubby- you’ve done so well losing a stone in four weeks! Fantastic loss. I remember when I started this way of eating (WOE) I was so impressed to lose 4 lb the first week and another 4lb the second week it was like a miracle after doing slimming world and WW for so many years and it taking me months to lose a few pounds. My weight loss did slow down but I still managed to lose a total of 42lb. I am desperately trying to claw back a few pounds that I’ve gained over the last couple of years and am determined that I’ll do it Jiving to July. This morning I asked Alexa to play me some dancing tunes and did some dancing in my living room! I enjoyed it too! I have also been for a couple of walks and clocked up 9,300 steps and so far I’ve only eaten 400 calories from my shake! I am awaiting further injections in my toes and some orthotics so hopefully I’ll be able to keep walking over the summer to help me get to goal by July. My orthopaedic surgeon has recommended joint fusion surgery for my toes but I don’t feel ready to embark on that at the moment with everything else going on so I am going to buy some time with steroid injections.

Day 3 has gone well today- it’s soup for my evening meal and some yoghurt and raspberries and a few nuts and seeds. Yowser, I like my shakes on the thinner side with ice, The coffee one is delicious! I am hoping I can enjoy the banana one tomorrow. I am going to try drinking it in two halves- with ice and from a nice glass (psychology) as I found it too much in one go! I don’t really like bananas (it’s a texture thing) so I need to get over that and drink up my shake and enjoy it!

I am keen to see what the scales say on Tuesday. I am not sure what my starting weight was after Easter but I weighed on 1st April before I ate my chocolate Orange and a couple of hot cross buns (hence why I didn’t weigh on Tuesday) and I hope that my new regime is working. It really should be because I am back to consuming 800 calories per day.

Thanks for all the too tips re wraps etc.

Keep going everyone- we can do this,

Haha you’re welcome to defloofed Yowser, I’m a bit kooky and these words slip out quite frequently so I’m sure it won’t be the last!

I’ve had a disastrous tea tonight, I made sausages with an egg and salad but the salad was past its best and slimy, I’m not a lover of eggs anyway and the sausages were expensive ones with no added grains/rusk and I just don’t like them 😂 – give me a sausage made with rusk and pig eyelashes any day! So abandoned dinner after a couple of bites and had cloud bread and cottage cheese instead 😂 Cats were happy though with left overs, Mabel isn’t fussy, she polished off the salad and egg, Elsie is a little more discerning and only ate the sausages.

L xx

Lauren – that’s why I’d prefer to buy Romaine, it seems to keep in the fridge for 1-2weeks, I hate soggy lettuce anyways, Always a nice crunch to it with peanut butter, hummus etc. I just take the outside leaves off if any of them look a bit brown.

Sunshine – unfortunately we’re both type2 diabetes. Stress brought it all on in the form of my ‘darling’ brother who brought mum’s diabetes on & then when she passed decided to see how stressful he could make our lives – little sh.t! Been diabetic now for 9-10years. It runs in both sides of the family, mum & my paternal grandfather died from complications of it. IF ONLY I’d found out about this years back then mum would probably still be alive.Her diabetic drug (glibenclamide) granulated her liver & lungs & she went from a very fit & healthy 62 yr old to passing over at 65 after 2-3yrs of misery. The docs said ‘Never heard of Mrs S’ when she told them she thought she was allergic to the drugs & persuaded her to go back on them as she’d taken herself off the damned things. Only when she was offered a liver & lungs transplant (which she refused) in QE Birmingham did the consultant say he’d seen it before with same drug. Of course he wouldn’t put this down in writing for me.
I reckon I have the sameish DNA so need to do all I can to get in remission. I’m on metformin 1gm only as I can’t tolerate 2gm. Also on Victoza. All my hormones went crazy when I went through the menopause. I can’t tolerate levothyroxine either so I’m now on natural pig thyroid, which I buy myself. TBH I should have realised that the wonderful Big Pharma lie so much about their drugs – I tested the complaints/returns as a senior analyst for one of the Biggies & OMG I could tell some tales BUT I won’t as I’d take over the entire site. I’d never pass anything if it wasn’t correct but unfortunately another of the senior analysts would. He’d spend hours on the calculator first BUT he couldn’t do anywhere near an accurate analysis so he passed it anyway – which made me totally furious. I complained but was told ‘he’s a company man!’ FFS!

Cathy – Ty. I have to lose now about the same amount as you did, although I’d be happy if I could lose about an extra 24ibs, take a break & then get back on it. I realise this is asking quite a bit. How long did it take you to lose so much & was it on the BSD or the 5:2??

Bed beckons as it’s 2am.

The dancing group seems to be growing and there’s a great excitement and enthusiasm in the air – will we be giving a concert in July to show off our new moves?
A few of us are trying a shake and one meal a day which makes it easier to keep the calories down.
I use the Fast800 shakes which give me 250 Cals made with almond milk as I only use 4 scoops.
I’m interested to know which other shakes are being tried and where you bought them from.
I’m limbering up ready to dance around with the vacuum cleaner!
Keep dancing O.D.A.A.T.
X B

Morning BUSYBEE and all x
BUSYBEE I use Huel Black shakes,theyre low carb and have a variety of flavours. I buy them from the Huel website.
One shake is 400 cals,16 carbs,but I make a smaller shake which is 300 cals and 10 carbs. One a day plus one low carb meal = 800 cals a day,and as low carb as I can make it is the plan!
I’m doing the hippy hippy shake while I make my shakes! 😀😀😀
Have a fab Friday everyone XX💛

Thanks for that Yowzer – I have a few packs to use up and then I may experiment with some others.
Are we oldies the only ones to remember the Hippy Hippy Shake song?
X B

We may well be the only ones BUSYBEE! I prefer the original to the Blue Jeans hit version…I went off the Swinging Blue Jeans when one of them told my friend to f*** off when she spoke to him!
Original by Chan Romero ..fabulous…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlkKB1JlbFg
PS do you remember doing the Cavern Stomp? X
All that dancing kept us slim! Could dance all night without even stopping for a drink.

I remember the Hippy Hippy Shake song Yowzer & Busybee – although it was released before I was born! My husband and I often listen to ‘classic’ music on YouTube and this song is one of them 🙂
And I always tell my daughters that I was so slim as a teenager because I used to spend all night dancing – this was the early 80’s so Boy George, Culture Club, Duran Duran and all that wonderful New Romantic music. But I grew up playing my mum’s 45’s which were 50’s and 60’s rock and roll, and my aunties 70’s records – I like all sorts of music 🙂 It’s Friday night here and I’m listening to Madonna on MTV 🙂

I know the hippy hippy shake too and I’m 35!

LindaandHubby- it took me about 9 months to lose my weight- a total of 42lb.. I am a particularly slow loser and although I had an initial good loss, my weight loss was slow and steady. I followed the blood sugar diet but when I started I was very naive and didn’t know as much as I know now so basically just cut out bread, rice, pasta, etc etc. I’ve found the forum so helpful over the years. I have just been looking back at my stats, I have scales that record my progress or more recent lack of progress and it is interesting to read back over the last four years to see my trend and pattern. I really do seem to be struggling this last year to lose any weight hence why I am doing something different with the shakes. I’ve tried 16:8 and intermittent fasting which I think are great for maintenance but I really do want to lose 14lb to be where I was back in 2017. I am going to try really really hard to get my weight down during this next phase of my journey. I have spent the last thirty years dieting and this way was the only way that I achieved such a fantastic weight loss. I am so disappointed that I allowed 14lb back on albeit slowly over the last two years and I am finding it really difficult this time to lose the excess baggage. I think my body is used to eating very little now but I won’t give up!

CCATHY my story’s so similar to yours except I lost more and regained more. 🙄
I definitely find its harder this time round than first time low carbing,16:8 ing. and I share your disappointment that I allowed myself to regain.
Finding I had lymphoedema and lipodema in my legs after I lost so much weight everywhere else was a crushing blow. I wish I had dealt with that diagnosis better and maybe I wdnt have started stress eating again.
I also agree with you that this is definitely the best way for me to lose weight. Tho not so sure longterm whether its very healthy for us given theres so little fruit,limited veg allowed.
You can do it losing that stone! I know you’ll make it! 🥳😘 ODAAT! X🎶🎶X

Just made the Huel Black banana again for lunch and tweaked it a bit. Added ice and drank it out of a nice glass rather than the massive plastic shaker bottle and it was better. The taste is Ok but it’s the smell I am not too keen on. I’ve committed to doing shakes as an experiment for one month having a shake for lunch so I will keep on doing 800 calories and hope it boosts my weight loss. It cost me £50 for two bags of Huel which apparently last 17 days each. It’s a shame you can’t try a sample of the flavours before committing to buy! I think it might get boring which is ok if I am losing but not ok if it isn’t making a difference. It is good to know that my body is getting good nutrition, however. It certainly simplifies lunch and I actually enjoy my evening meal more so I think it will be a good experiment for me. I feel full and I feel healthy. Fingers crossed for a new number on the scales on Tuesday!

CCATHY Im glad youre finding ways to enjoy the banana! Im ok with the banana but Ive got a chocolate one,which since buying ive read unanimous reviews saying it tastes awful,so Im guessing I’ll need to tweak that somehow. It IS expensive but plant based and full of good things and meal by meal isnt too bad moneywise.
Salted caramel is nice and vanilla is ok too.
I introduced my daughter and we both got £10 each off our orders.
Theres a forum called Reddit..you don’t have to join to read the threads. Theres one thread where you can read other “ Hueligans” thoughts and get tips and info. If you put r/huel in the search box it will come up.
Im enjoying less meal prep and less washing up! And its nice knowing Im not the only one here doing one shake one meal!
BUSYBEEs doing it too. Are you finding you get hungry? I havent been,except for yesterday when I was hungry all day long 🙁 xxx

Hi everyone. Linda, I am sure you know whatever your relationship with your brother, he didnt cause yours or your mums diabetes. In fact, your grandparent was the original cause, then your mother. With that familial history you are somewhere in the region of being 60% at risk of developing T2 as was your brother. You may not be aware that this will now also apply to any children you might have.
He may be a s$$t but he is not to blame. Just wanted to get that out there for others which might believe that someone can cause or give you diabetes. The main reasons are 1. family i.e. grandparents, then parents, 2. overweight or obese and waist circumference, 3. lack of exercise, 4. race or ethnicity (some races are more prone to T2). Although the Mayo Clinic lists overweight as being number one cause there is a lot of evidence that having a blood relative with it will probably give you a higher risk but it is also that you have probably grown up with very similar lifestyles i.e. similar diet, exercise regimes, smokers or not, risk of heart disease, stroke and high cholesterol can all lead to you being the unlucky one. Which is why it is recognised that it can be prevented by change of lifestyle. My mother had type 2 and it was around 30% chance I would be too with one parent. I drill it into my daughter that she needs to be aware of her risk factors having a grandparent and a parent with T2 makes her risk even greater than mine. There is a lot of disputed evidence on this subject so I expect people to disagree but it is certain that someone being annoying cannot cause it.

Less serious, songs – Oh For Goodness Sake…… yes I remember the Hippy Hippy Shake by the Swinging Blue Jeans and I love to dance. My go to dance music now is more likely Dua Lipa and co-singers as I love that South American rhythm. Shake those hippy hippy hips baby – I was a hippy back in the day and definitely hippy now, in a different way.

Hi everyone, and a special hello and welcome to all those who have joined us recently for the first time.

Cathy and Yowzer I’ll be interested to see how you get on with the shakes. I’ve never really considered things like that as in my mind I prefer “real” food. But these sound really well balanced and nutritious – probably more so than some of the lunches I throw together! And I also have a concern that in trying to keep carbs and calories low, I also risk missing out on some of the nutrients that my body needs. So do keep us posted as to how you get on. I could certainly do with a bit of variety to kickstart the next phase of weight loss.

I do remember the Hippy Shake song but not the Cavern Stomp! And agree that dancing is a great way to enjoy keeping fit. For some reason I just never do it. I think part of it is that with lockdown etc I very rarely have time on my own. Which is lovely in one way, but also a bit restricting for opportunities such as dancing madly round the living room! There is often music on in our house – all kinds of genres – just not much dancing space in any sense of the word. Maybe time to change that too 😉

Have a fab weekend everyone X

I will put myself in the no-shakes camp – a few years back some colleagues went through the Jason some-one smoothie phase, and my comment was that I prefer to chew my food while I’m still able – then I realised I have soup for lunch most days!
I have also found that soup of the same carbs/cals somehow seems more satisfying than a salad, it must be a temperature thing with me.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Yes Yowser,it’s another sparkly chart😀 Dawn X

Sunshine girl. Sadly I disagree with you about the fact that someone can cause you SO much stress that they can bring on diabetes to you OR heart attacks etc. Intense stress is an awful thing & can cause many health problems. There is NO history whatsoever of diabetes in mam’s side of the family. In fact most females in the family live at least into their mid eighties if not longer. Her sister now 92 was gadding around the world until Covid stopped her, she was also playing bowls into her 80’s & was women’s champ (at over 80) in Queensland.

Let’s just say my darling brother borrowed many, many thousands from mum & wanted yet another shed-load of money for yet another business (he went bankrupt twice! He spent money like water, changing carpets and luxury furniture it seemed like every year & always buying the ‘best of the best’). He had a hissy fit when she told him – not again & stopped her seeing his kids altogether. Mum was SO distressed (More distressed than she was when my dad passed from Bowel Cancer after 10yrs of her caring for him). He came out to see her a few times trying to get her to change her mind, being totally obnoxious & telling her that she was dead to him & his family. In this time her hair went totally white, her problem with diabetes started etc. She couldn’t give him any more money as she was the warden of an OAP complex with tied in accommodation & was due to retire so would have to buy another property, Dad had built us a house BUT mum had to sell it & move into the complex’s house as dad was self employed as a ‘proper’ builder & could get no help from the state whatsoever – although he was well entitled to as the last 5 years he was bed-bound, The week after he died they asked him for another medical! Mum had given him so much money that she applied for a council flat as couldn’t afford the semi detached houses that she wanted (bear in mind that we had a large detached house in a large plot). I’d given up my business to look after her & left my house empty. Mum was very independent so wouldn’t move into my place. Thankfully I’d always earned good money so I could afford to do this for her. Brother was told she was moving near him (0.5 miles away) so he came around, brought the kids & did help her have the flat brought up to a high standard (NOT at cost, I think he added on quite a few thousand). The day she passed away he went through the flat like a whirlwind, taking all papers etc. on her investments. Her brother & sister were horrified but that didn’t stop him.

What he did to us I’ll write later as have to go help hubby

Gosh Linda sounds like you’ve been through a lot with your brother. I hope you have some support around you to help you move forward from all this. And, as part of that, I hope that this thread can help you and your hubby to achieve your weight loss goals.

Sadly I’ve had a bit of an epic fail evening with both my carb monsters – wine and chocolate – elbowing their way in. Aaargh!! But tomorrow is another day.

Sad news in the UK about The Duke of Edinburgh. I’m not particularly a royalist but it just feels like yet another sad thing that’s happened recently. Hopefully happier times to come for everyone.

Stay safe and well people, and I wish you a successful weekend in your lifestyle and weight loss goals X

Yes I remember the Cavern Stomp and actually danced it in the dark and slightly smelly Cavern Club back in the sixties!
I seem to think it was started as there wasn’t much room to move in there and jiving was impossible.
I’m dancing my way through the week and too find that having a shake at lunchtime saves time and effort.
Have a good weekend everyone and keep on dancing O.D.A.A.T.
X B

Happy weekend,dear Jive Hive jivers!
BUSYBEE,yes,100% correct! The Cavern Stomp began because the place was so packed there wasnt enough room to jive! I loved that dance! My older sister saw the as yet unknown Beatles play regularly,and always came home raving about them! My Dad told her,ugh,beetles!? don’t go down there….!
A few years later,it was me going to the lunchtime and evening sessions,watching all the local bands play. I loved that smell! 🎶❤️🎶 Theres still a great music scene in Liverpool. (Well there was before the pandemic.)
Ps Sorry about the “all our yesterdays” folks,from us old hipsters. Coincidentally,not only did Brian Epstein see the Beatles play for the first time on my 12 th birthday ( and the rest is history) but John Lennon met Yoko on my seventeenth bday!

Totally agree,BUSY🐝,having a shake is less faff and less washing up to do ..yeah yeah yeah!😀😀😀😀
Lets keep those trotters moving, dancing the weekend away. How about we all do the Harlem Shuffle today! X 🎶❤️🎶