May is a busy month for me , not just with all the bank holidays in France but birthdays and celebrations happening which throw me off piste for a time then I refocus until the next excesss .

That’s My May 😉 but hopefully you are remaining focused and motivated . Reading the messages you certainly and yes,so sorry Lucia about your traumatic experience .I hope you can let go and move on and if you ate a bit of choc as your comfort, well that’s ok

Wishing you a good week everyone .It is a bit of a wash out here with lots of rain so hubby hobbles around the garden in between the showers and his physio appointments.Hopefully he will be able to drive himself soon .

Trips, holidays, family visits coming up, meals out … In the past that would have really de stabilised me as I would be fearful of breaking my very disciplined routine.I am more relaxed these days as I understand I have to incorporate socila events and celebrations now and again.It’s ok

So mid May and on we go .SG we are crossing everything ( again !) for the safe arrival of the passport . It will be ok .
Take care everyone and just do your best

Wendy and sunshine-girl and Sunny in Turkey

xxx

Good morning Wendy & thank you for setting up this continuing thread. I’m still trying to plod on diet wise & another small achievement for me was driving my husband’s automatic car for the first time yesterday. I haven’t driven for two to three years after my night & dusk vision deteriorated because of a worsening cataract in my left eye which was removed last year & Ive been plucking up courage since then to drive again when the daylight got longer.
I hope everyone has a good week
Margaret

Thanks for the new thread Wendy.

I think I have reached the dreaded plateau. Scales haven’t budged at all since Friday, despite me sticking to the plan 100%. I did a 24 hour fast on Sunday and started a 36 hour one last night at 6 so should continue until tomorrow at midday. So far so good. I do hope I will get a loss by the weeks end because I need that to keep me going!

I bought Jason Fungs book, the guide to Intermittent Fasting. Found it very helpful and would like to try doing longer fasts. I did a 48 hour fast last week, but found at the end of it that I was snapping at my kids, which I don’t think is fair to them! so I am going to slowly build up to longer fasts.

Don’t know how I haven’t posted since last week, but I had more adventures at my Weight Management on Friday. Gosh, it makes me so angry to hear the rubbish they are promoting there. Honestly, these are people who have been referred by their GPs for weight management because they have health conditions- diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic pain, etc. and are being taught to reduce their calories, increase exercise, blah blah. Stuff that is proven to fail.

The fitness instructor was telling people to “eat their carbs” before joining her (HIT) class because they’ll need the energy. And loads of other rubbish. We had to work our our BMR using a complex calculation. That is supposedly the calories you need to function. The advice was to cut it by 2-300 per day and increase exercise by an hour a day. Mine was around 1450 calories, and when I mentioned that i’m doing 800 calories a day, I nearly got my head chopped off!
I really think I should confront my GP about this. I don’t understand how this is going on- the science isn’t all that new anymore!!

Hi all, thank you for another week Wendy.

Had a bit of a blip – that’s my new word for messing up – a meal and a few drinks and suddenly I am nearly a kilo up. I know it will be fluid retention so I am not worried. Usually, French restaurants don’t do too many carbs but last nights meal was scrambled egg in a puff pastry basket and barbequed spare ribs on mashed potatoes. Very carby and very sweet. I think because they know we are a group of Brits that they cater for what they think is our taste. The restaurant owners wife is English so she maybe gives him some advice and hence a pile of mash. Never mind. It is not my weight I am too bothered about and I dont have any plans for big events I need to slim down for so can take it gently.

Daughter is training for a 50km walk in September for charity and wants to lose 10kgs to take the pressure off her dodgy knee so wants to do lots of walking and not overeat. We are out for a meal on her birthday and one other meal at the end of her stay here but I have activities planned which will keep her fit. For example, we are going to a place called Rocamador and there are 216 steps from the car park up to the sacred church. In the olden days people had to climb to the top on their knees but I think that might be a bit tough. I will be driving up to meet them at the top as my asthma wont allow me that amount of exercise. We are also going to a cave called the Gouffre de Padirac where there are 150 steps down and, obviously, 150 steps back up. Again, I will be taking the lift. Then we are going to an archery centre for a couple of hours lessons.

Really looking forward to seeing them and doing different things that they haven’t done before. Can’t wait.

Hi Happysnap,
From watching the discussions on different facebook groups I do sometimes envy the common sense of being free to act on research promptly within the medical profession in America in comparison to the UK. – Acknowledgement of the health consequences of a high carb diet, raised Insulin levels, treatment through fasting are being taken up so rapidly over there in comparison to the top down this is the diet policy everyone must teach in the UK NHS system.

You mentioned about being a bit short tempered at 48 hours of a fast. – Maybe it will help to think in terms of the rusty switches at the different stages in a fast. – The first is around the 16 to 20 hour point when our body has used up the easy to access glucose stores and is trying to encourage you to replenish them rather than having to switch to using longer term stores. As we continue fasting insulin levels continue to drop until they are at the lowest background levels at 50 hours. Insulin levels act as a controller on other hormone systems. If our bodies have been dealing with a high carb diet for a long time so we have insulin resistance our body is pumping out higher levels of Insulin all the time, and it can take upto the 50 hours before our insulin levels drop enough to enable other hormone systems to switch.

I use the idea of rusty switches, because I picture it as being like one of those old fashioned manual controls of railway tracks. If they have not been used for a long time it will take a lot of effort to move the tracks to direct the train onto a different track, but with repeated use it gets much easier.

Hi all, still lurking, and still hovering around the mid-12st mark.
I am mostly still doing 16:8 TRE and keeping carbs low (bank holiday ice cream was an exception…………..) but struggling with work stress, poor sleep and a general meh feeling. It will pass.
It’s good to read others’ journeys, and know that the support is here.

I’m finding this whole process rather fascinating having I’m sure never reached the “magical” stage of Ketosis but trying to keep low carb & most days eat between 800-900 calories but over the weekends relaxing a little so I can sometimes have porridge for breakfast and staying below my BMR of 1320. I suppose I’m therefore really just eating low carb & low calories & trying to become fitter with toning my body & particularly my thighs to support my knees. I am also most days doing 16:8 TRE & occasional 24 hour fasts.
I play short mat bowls twice a week & have now resurrected my exercise bike in the conservatory & try to walk at least 5000 daily steps. My body shape is certainly changing to looking very flabby and unattractive but losing inches & I can see where my adipose layer is disappearing but I’m keeping going! I suppose even when I reach my various goals, five pounds to my next one of losing two stone, I can’t expect my skin to reduce with me at my age so will always have to disguise dress. I however am hoping that longer term I will have prevented my knees from further deteriorating. I’m living with that hope!
Margaret

Still here and nearly lost the weight I gained. Just 0.3kg to lose to be back at last weeks weight and 10 days until family arrive. Daughter notified that a letter is arriving from Passport Office but no signature is needed. I think this will be his old passport being returned as I am sure I had to sign for my new passport. Anyway, it is progress.

We are getting the garden looking pretty for summer and, after putting up a new gazebo we are going to hang the solar lights. The pool is still a bit cold at 20 but it still has time:)

Wendy1947. Do what I do, tuck the excess skin in your knickers:)

S-G
I am falling about laughing!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
Your garden is sounding lovely, good to hear all is positive on the passport front. Hopefully yr pool will be at the right temperature soon
My weight is still up from the party 🥴 but I have a dodgy tummy today so hopefully the upside of that will be lbs down 😜

Yeah passport has arrived. I can start booking days out now.

It’s good to hear your family visiting is coming together sunshine-girl! & believe me my knickers are always on camouflage duty😀
Margaret

A 24 fast completed today that went well with a chicken stir fry for supper. I will weigh on Saturday & keep below 800 calories tomorrow.
I hope everyone has so far had a good week.
Margaret

Hi
I know I am repeating myself but I love saying it….. I am still here.
11,461 steps yesterday. And I could of done more. I just waddled and strolled. I just didn’t use the bus to the shops( but with shopping bags caught the bus on the way back)
Love
Lucia

Hi all, like Lucia I am still here. I have had a bit of a slip back but still just over a kilo lighter than a couple of weeks ago so not a total fail.

I had an MRI yesterday to help determine why I have had numbness in my left hand and cramping and clawing fingers. Hopefully, the MRI will show there has been no nerve damage or stroke during surgery. Surgeon said if it was a stroke it would affect the whole of the left side, not just my hand. If it comes back clear that will be one less thing for me to worry about.

Because we were away for half a day yesterday the work on the garden came to a stop but I will be getting back out there after my coffee. I will be weeding with vinegar, salt and washing up liquid. A fast way to kill the weeds but they soon come back as it doesnt affect the roots but better than poison.

Enjoy your weekend.

Sorry to hear about your poorly hand sunshine-girl & I hope your MRI will give you a diagnosis & possible treatment!
I weighed this morning & have lost 1.25lbs so still slowly reducing in size. I’m now changing over my winter to my summer clothes & seem to have shrunk in height since most of last year’s summer trousers are now too long & I am having to take them up. The sun is here in West Sussex although with a cool breeze today but very pleasant & it looks like it may be warming up through next week. The runner beans & tomato plants that we planted last weekend are looking perky so hopefully will continue to grow well.
I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend.
Margaret

Happy Sunday everyone, Wendy your clothes are too long because your belly or bum, or whatever was bigger was pulling them up. My plants are also looking good but no sign of flowers on the courgettes yet, the tomatoes have a few and I am having to eat strawberries every day now just to keep up with them – might start to freeze if there are too many.

Hard to believe but I received my MRI results last night – just 24 hours after the test. There is nothing wrong with me, no nerve damage and no stroke. What that leads me to think is that I might be getting arthritis. It all comes with ageing. Besides that, I am okay and nothing else medical until my usual cardio check up in July. So I can relax and enjoy the time with daughter and grandson.

Good news about your MRI results sunshine-girl & arthritis also affects my hands when sewing or ironing with my fingers going rigid & massaging them helps them relax. Unfortunately arthritis does move around the body 🙁 & all my summer tops are now loose over my middle & hips so do look better. Very envious about your prolific strawberries 😀
Enjoy your time with your family!
Margaret

Sorry I am late folks….Will set up the new thread tomorrow xx