Hello to you too, Verano. And hi to everybody else!

Pootle, thanks for the tip about the recipe book. I’ll take a look. I’m still learning the ropes as far as balancing carbs and protein is concerned, while trying to make sure I have enough fibre every day. And it sometimes feels like I’m spending half my life inputting foods into a calorie calculator lol! But I’m losing weight, very slowly but it is coming off, so I must be doing something right 😉

Have a relaxing weekend, everyone!

Lacy xx

Good morning from Florida!
Hello to you, Verano! Shetland, this website recipes are good. Wendy, good luck with surgery on your knee. Please do let us know how you are.
I use My Fitness Pal for posting my menus and day-to day-activity. My A1c is borderline at 5.7 so I am focusing on low-moderate carbs most of the time. I started on this website at 170 lbs in 2018 and thru the years lost 20 lbs by changing my foods and tastebuds and staying active. I am 69. It is amazing how many of you are still here all these years!
Has anyone seen Alliecat?
Catherine

Just popped in to say hi to Margaret. When you posted on 6th July you said surgery this Saturday so I assume it was last week. Anyway, you should have had the op by now so wishing you a speedy recovery. My cousin had the same op a few weeks ago and it doing well.

Daughter sat in East Midlands airport with a lager waiting for their flight so we will be leaving here in 2 hours to pick them up. All the best to everyone and thank you Pootle for keeping it going.

Good afternoon all!

An interesting weekend….very sleepless night on Friday, (about 2 hours in total!) Weather as unpredictable as my weight etc !!

Husband said ‘let’s eat out’ yesterday…so lunch of steak and salad, then I completely spoiled my restricted carb intake by having a chocolate brownie with cream…it was huge, and I ate it all!!! (If only husband would have one and let me have a spoonful taster….but he won’t! Once I have whole dessert on a plate in front of me, my self control just evaporates!)

Today, as we left church, he suggested Sunday Lunch out too. This time I was much more focussed! Roast beef and turkey, cauliflower, broccoli, swede and a few peas…no stuffing, or potato and only ate half the Yorkshire pudding! We didn’t have dessert! Came home for coffee!

I have been browsing the recipes on this site…found broccoli or cauliflower bread…so going to try that this week!

I hope you have all had a great weekend…not mentioning you all individually, but know that I am thinking about you all!!
xx

Hello S-G & very kind of you to message me. My op was now one week ago & I came home after the third day. I’m ok but trying to balance pain meds with the side effects & unfortunately still as usual spending lots of pennies through the night which exercises my leg of course but continues to interrupt my sleep. I am tired & Tramadol of course is a soporific & also causes constipation which is inconvenient 🤔🙁. My leg is very swollen & black & blue because of the blood thinner I have to take for another week & I do wish I wasn’t pear shaped with my extra weight on my thighs & legs 😀.
I’m pleased to hear that your cousin is doing well & I have a check up in a weeks time when I’m told the clips will be taken out & I will be reviewed in the physio department. I am doing all my exercises & my husband is doing stirling work feeding me & supervising me exercising 😀. We are eating more M & S convenience meals to make catering simpler but also lots of veg & pulses.
I sympathise Pootle with your dessert eating because it is very difficult to resist when placed in front of you. My husbands idea of portion size is also much larger than mine😂
Take care everyone & take it day by day doing the best that you can 👍
Margaret xx

Margaret, Brilliant to hear you have had the op and are home! Keep up the good work and heal quickly! Give your husband a great pat on the back…mine would find cooking for us an impossibility! Thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery!
xx Kath.

Thank you very much Kath & I hope you are sleeping better now?
My return to much lower carb eating will have to wait awhile until I can stand & get back in the kitchen! I am very grateful to my husband helping me so much & I don’t know how someone living alone could cope returning home after knee replacement surgery.
Amusingly when we first got married my husband was the more adventurous cook having completed a Cordon Bleu cookery course! But we soon adopted the more usual pattern of me cooking & doing housework things whilst he has always been good at practical stuff being an engineer & gardening because I don’t have very green fingers although my house plants have survived well😂
I may challenge my husband to cook a meal from scratch to see how he gets on perhaps starting with an omelette ?😀
Keep on going everyone & take care.
Margaret xx

Hi folks,
Sorry I have been absent over the last week… we had no telephone or internet, and as we have no mobile signal at home, I wasn’t able to check in!

(I use a pay as you go phone, as at home it operates through the internet router… over 4 days it used £40 worth of credit just picking up my emails etc and making calls at the top of the veg garden!! Thank goodness it wasn’t raining!!)

So.. Margaret, I hope your husband excelled at the ‘from scratch’ meal.

All else much the same here… coming up to an August thread… anyone any ideas for a ‘title’.

Take care everybody. K xx

Hello everyone & sorry also for my absence I am having rather a difficult time at the moment with pain/discomfort & lack of sleep only getting about three or four hours sleep each night. I think part of the problem is I am a side sleeper & my knee will only let me sleep on my back because it’s too painful if I try to put pressure on it lying on either side. My back also hurts which I think is again lying on my back. I have been good doing all my exercises three times a day & can now lift my right leg back onto the bed on its own 😀. I am going to Outpatients today to have the clips removed & apparently then all dressings stay removed to air the wound🤔🫣. I don’t think my lack of sleep can be helping my healing but I will find out today if I am on track.
My husband is doing well Pootle & produced a very good stir fry 👏😀
Look after yourselves everyone!
Margaret xx

Hello everyone, I do hope the heatwaves are settling down for those suffering through them. Here in Melbourne (Australia) it’s freezing – the coldest winter we’ve had for a while!
Sorry to hear you’re having trouble sleeping because of the pain, Margaret. Hopefully the pain will ease enough as you heal for you find a comfortable sleeping position!
Pootle, you mentioned Prof Roy Taylor, and I checked out our local library. Both his books, and also Emma Porter’s recipe book were on the shelf, so I spent this week reading! Fascinating stuff, and some fantastic recipe ideas. And I noticed that you’d bumped a recipe thread – some great recipes on there too!

I’ve been on the BSD now for a month, and have lost 5kg – and more importantly, 5cm from both my waist and my hips! But when I saw my GP this week (blood pressure meds review) she was completely dismissive. She informed me that “lots of people were very enthusiastic on new diets, but soon got sick of it and packed the weight back on again.” And you know what, that might be true for some people, but definitely not everyone. And a bit of encouragement and positive reinforcement would have been a lot more helpful than patronising dismissal. Apparently this is not an uncommon reaction from doctors, though, so I’ll just continue on with support from the lovely people on this forum, and see what happens when I have my next blood panel review in 3 months.

Title ideas for August, hmm? I’m terrible at coming up with things like that so I’m afraid I’m not much help!
Take care everyone,

Lacy xx

So sorry to hear you are in so much discomfort Margaret. Hope the outpatients appointment goes well and they are pleased with your progress!

Lacy, I agree that the medical professionals can be too dismissive at times. Sometimes a well phrased encouragement is invaluable and patronising dismissal destructive!!
My experience with the diabetes nurse last year was horrendous! She was actively against me trying this diet, despite the GP saying that I should try it for a few months to see how I got on! I ended up making a complaint to the GP… saying I was 65 not 5!!!
However, the best bit for me was seeing the look on the GP’s face when I went to see her 6 months on…with a 5 stone weight loss and HbA1c of 40! She was stunned at my achievement!
Still waiting for the follow up with the diabetes nurse! I cannot wait as I am now 5 1/2 stone lighter with a BMI of 24 and 🤞 not in the diabetic range of HbA1c!! Just want to thumb my nose at her!! 🫣😂

Thinking of “All Aboard for August…” or ????? Something will come to me!
K xx

Or “ Awesome August with the BSD” ???

Thank you for keeping things going Pootle, I like All Aboard for August as we have used so many alliterations like Jubilant July, Merry May etc, so your idea is good for a change.

I too cannot wait for you to see the diabetic nurse and it would be nice for her to be educated and not so stuck in her ideas.

Margaret, I didn’t say anything about being in pain as everyone is different but it took a while for my cousin to start getting back on her feet (literally). She has children around her as her husband died some years ago, and I think she is being well looked after but not able to do much for herself for a couple of months and she is not allowed to drive so needs help with shopping etc.

I had a wonderful week with my daughter and grandson but, of course, ate way too much. My weight is now too high although my BG is staying pretty stable. I had a bit of a mind blown moment when I was at the opthamologist. They still are saying I have signs of glaucoma but it is getting better (checked Dr Google and it doesn’t get better on its own). I think they are being over cautious but now want to see me in 6 months so it is going down, from 2 to 3 to 4 and now 6. However, he did ask me what my blood pressure was and that made me realise my weight is as important as my BG as they are all connected. If I stay or gain weight there is every chance my BP will go up and that will then affect my eyes.

I will still pop in from time to time but thanks again Pootle for taking over the reins. Let me know if you want any help in the future.

Thanks S-G,
I rather like “Awesome August with the BSD”. As the annual thread is sort of ‘on a cruise’ maybe “All Aboard” is a but confusing??

Great that you enjoyed your family time and that they seem to be changing their minds about the glaucoma!

I feel so fortunate to have ‘met’ you and Verano on these forums. Your encouragement and advice really made a huge difference to me. I would be delighted if I can pass it forward to someone else in need!

I feel I am still learning about my body and my diabetes. A lifetime of having a sweet tooth is difficult to overturn….but I am mostly doing just that!!

Keeping on keeping on!! 😄😄xx

Awesome August sounds encouraging Pootle👍
Thank you S-G & I know everyone’s pain threshold is different & I hope your cousin is soon completely recovered & mobile again. How lovely seeing your daughter & grandson!
My clips have now been taken out & the nurse was pleased with my wound but I was rather shocked with how long the stitch line is. The physio was pleased with me & says I have 95 degree knee flexion now but my straight leg lifts are still very difficult as is the pain I am in at 5-30 am when the meds have worn off. The physio was pleased with my mobility with crutches because I can walk with a rhythm probably because of walking in the past with Nordic poles😀 she wants me to walk with one as much as I can. My GP has said that I can use a sleeping tablet each night for a couple of weeks then wean myself off them taking 1/2 tablet because they are addictive which I am worried about. I can see that I am making slow progress but returning to the BSD will have to wait until I can start cooking from scratch again. I haven’t dare stand on my scales but will get my act together as soon as I can 🤞🤞
Keep on going everyone
Margaret xx

Afternoon all,
Margaret, great to hear your progress…brilliant news, keep on keeping on!

I have set up a new thread for tomorrow.. Awesome August with the BSD. …

Hope to see you all there! I cannot believe we are at the end of July!!!