WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!!!!!

I could not be happier for you Kazz. It is lovely to get the support on here and everyone is incredibly supportive, but ultimately you are responsible for it working. Your dinner sounds wonderful. Enjoy your drink mindfully! We are having Gammon and “Red Slaw” from the cookbook.

I was very shocked to see Aston go out last week. I thought he danced better. His back wasn’t as straight as it could have been, but all the steps were there and it was a good dance. I know it wasn’t traditional, but he shouldn’t have been penalised for his partners’ choreography. I will stop there as I can chat for hours about that sort of thing.

Now I have to go and prepare the slaw before I have my shower. Enjoy my lovely Kazz. Later…

Love Mary
xxxx

Mary – I didn’t see your earlier post, they must have crossed! thank you so much for your congratulations! I can’t wait to be able to do cartwheels with or without drawers! snigger! Yes, I will certainly join you and aim for the 15s by Xmas. Wouldn’t that be a feather in our caps? We have 6 weeks, so looking at no less that a 2lb loss per week for me. It would have been doable a decade ago but I’m a slow loser these days, but I will try and get as close as possible!
Your afternoon sounded idyllic – I’m a bit envious as all my nieces and nephews (my bestie’s kids} are all grown up now but I used to love reading or telling them stories and watching Toy Story with them. Yes, must go and get comfy ready for Strictly. And then Terminator, Genesys! Love a sci fi!

Bye for now xxx

Never fear, Mary, the nether regions are always covered, no need to
shock anyone with my bony, wrinkled old lady bottom! Or lack of
one, I should say. Yep, I’m a sex goddess, alright. Nothing for
Victoria’s Secret or other lingerie catalog, just an old flannel night-
gown 6 sizes too big that covers me neck to ankle! It’s cold.
I’m so sleep deprived at the moment that I’m indulging in a duvet
day today. (I love that British expression!) I’m feeling extra slothful
thinking about Julia filling her lungs with beautiful clean air at
Lake Tahoe during her hike today, while I lounge about. Everything
isn’t totally sedate, however….As I type this, our male bluepoint, “Rocket”has already walked across my keyboard once, and his sister, Pippiis now drinking water out of my bedside glass. I’m using my elbow to keep Rocket from a repeat performance, but he’s realized I’m
not really paying attention, so he’s now dipping his paws into my
yogurt lunch bowl, and transferring the contents to his mouth.
Shortly they will both crash for @ 2 hrs, using my legs as their
back support, and then we’ll begin the cycle again when I start
prepping the fish for dinner. The 2 of them will be on the counter
within inches of the cutting board and my elbows will be in use
again to fend them off. I’ve tried locking them in the bedroom,
but as you probably know, the siamese breed is very vocal. I’d
rather have the countertop interference than the howling, so I
just accommodate them. (They seem incapable of learning the
concept “NO”!) And yes, they are spoiled……….I never give them
any scraps, but hope springs eternal just the same. Just a little
slice of life from the “House of Lewis” for you today 🙂 I’ll save
their nocturnal adventures for another post. Think mice in the bed!
I’m completely entranced by your lovely day. I’m smiling at the
screen of my laptop. I can see your arms around little Joe,
whispering in his ear. Great news too, about his new and improved
seating arrangements! These are the moments that fill our hearts
to bursting, aren’t they? Sometimes people don’t recognize these
beautiful days til they have past. You are blessed to appreciate
them in real time. Than you SO MUCH for sharing them with us!
I’ll be thinking of you dancing with the stars tonight. Doc Martin
better be on or I won’t be happy. Enjoy your glass of fizz!

Sweet dreams, my lovely,

Allie
xoxoxo

A very Merry Sunday Everyone,

Today I am to be waited on for Sunday lunch at my DD. She discussed what she was cooking so that it is keeping with the BSD and also is happy to weigh my food. Lovely!

Allie I have loved Siamese Pussies ever since watching “The Lady and the Tramp.” They are the most gorgeous of cats! Mischievous too! I love animals with personalities. I hope you are feeling better after your Duvet Day? My nighties are like that too! I used to love pyjamas, but for some reason I now prefer nighties. Long gone are the days when Jovis and I always slept naked….whistful sigh!

Kazz…it is lovely to spend time with children. I have always been besotted with mine and now theirs! I have to keep myself in check or you would hear nothing else from me lol.

Back on the straight and narrow now. I am planning a fast from this evening until tomorrow night. Hopefully to drop a couple of pounds before weigh in on Tuesday. I really wish I knew what I had said to drive the others away!

Take care everyones!

Nonna Mary
xxx

Lunch at your daughters house sounds like fun Mary — I hope your granddaughter is better by now.
Allie, your description of your two Siamese cats made me laugh out loud. I have a funny cartoon posted in my fridge (Rhymes With Orange cartoonist) where two women are sitting at a table drinking tea and a cat is walking around on the table and one lady says to the other “have we reached that point in our friendship where I don’t have to pretend surprise that the cat is on the table?”
Kazz, what is the outcome of your long fast? Looking forward to the answer and hearing how your body responded to such a long fast.
Happy Sunday to all!

My precious sisters, look at us, we’ve hit 1500 in posts! I’m fairly
certain that this is some kind of new record!

Mary, what a beautiful day you have had. I wonder what food menu
your daughter is preparing today in your honor? Please
continue to share your stories about your daughters and Grandies.
Whatever brings joy to your life is something I enjoy hearing about.
I also think siamese are beautiful, mysterious, and highly intelligent
creatures, but keeping up with their antics can be a challenge
sometimes. There is always some disaster to follow up on that
they have created 🙂 They definitely have “our number”, that’s
for sure. I, too, spend more time than is probably healthy thinking
about our missing sisters. I can’t help but have concern for them.
I definitely have some thoughts, but I’m not comfortable talking
about it on an open thread. However, my email address was
posted back around the last week of Oct., with the high hopes that
I would be able to get together with Esnecca. Please email me,
using some sort of subject identifier, and we can continue our con-
versation there, if you’d like to exchange more intimate thoughts
on this. I think your daughter is spot on characterizing you as
an “Empath”. I think I must be one too! 🙂

Julia, I’m delighted that you enjoyed “a day in the life of” our pets!
You don’t know how accurate the cartoon on your refrig. actually
is. My Mother used to be horrified that they had free access to
the counters in the kitchen. They are such pests at the dinner
hour that they DO sit on the diningroom table with a luncheon
plate of their own that we flip scraps onto to keep them from
snatching food off our plates. It’s sick, not to mention mildly
unsanitary, but they seem to run the show around here. Sad,
I know, being outwitted by a pair of cats.
Hope you had a good weekend!

Allie
xoxoxo

Good afternoon my friends!

I’m having a very slothful start to the week off! In fact, I’m not doing anything at all today chore wise – I’m having the day off! Over the weekend I did my housework, washing, cooked a bit, went to visit my favourite Auntie who’s only 70 but crippled with arthritis and has some sort of speech problem that has appeared in the last 12 months. She’s had scans and blood tests but they can’t tell her what’s what. After an hour, her speech goes thick and slurry sounding. When she rests, and I do the talking, she’ll be okay again for awhile. It’s not stroke type symptoms, she’s been checked out. She did fall badly backwards down a flight of stairs about 18 months ago and hurt her back badly. Unfortunately, her mum, my nanny, had bad arthritis so it’s probably a genetic thing. I left her my copy of the BSD800 book as she wants to lose about 14 lbs. I was pontificating the benefits of BSD. She said, Oh, I could listen to you talk all day about diets, you have great knowledge! Bless her, I don’t at all, but I’m happy to pass on what I’ve learned and spread the word. Alas, her daughter has recently lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks doing slimming world, so I think my auntie is leaning that way. It would be easier for her with having to cater for my uncle as well. I said that and she said, oh, David will eat whatever I give him! Fair enough! I left with 6 beautiful fresh eggs laid that morning. Their hens come to greet me whenever I arrive, they are adorable!

Julia – my thoughts on 48 hour fasting are that it is worth it, particularly if you want to speed things up a bit on the scales when you are a slow loser like myself. I lost 3 lbs rather than the usual 1lb last week. In terms of ease, I did find it quite hard, probably because eating is such a pleasure for me. Not just something I have to do to keep alive. And since blowing off the refined carbs like bread, my tastebuds seem to have woken up! The flavours of things – it’s pure joy having 20g of cheese and 4 picked gerkins! I find 24 hour fasting easy. Anything longer is a bit of a struggle but it could be it was my first time and perhaps the next time I will find it easier. I’m on holiday this week so I will do another 48 hour fast, probably be after breakfast on Thursday until brunch on Saturday.

Allie – I echo your thoughts and if you don’t mind, I’ll pick up your email address. I love the sound of your cats! My mum would like a cat but she won’t as I’m allergic to them, as I am all animal fur which is a bit of a blow! It wouldn’t stop me having a short haired dog when I semi retire though!

Mary – good luck with the next fast – we’ve got the 15s in our sights so I am with you.

I ordered psyllian husk powder, ground flaxseeds, coconut flour online and that has just arrived. I want to have a go at making home make crackers. Got some sesame, poppy, chia seeds also to mix in.

Okay my friends, I’m struggling to use the built in mouse on this laptop which I have warming on my lap, so I’m going now to make a coffee and read my book.

See you all later.

Lots of love
Kazzzzeee xxxx

Hey Kazzi, my love, guess what? It’s our 3 month anniversary on
this forum! Can you believe it? What a difference it has made in
my life, and I celebrate all your successes and the contributions
you are making on multiple threads. People really relate to you
out there, and they are responding to your enthusiasm! 🙂
You’ve definitely earned a week off, so completely enjoy it!
I’m sorry to hear about your favorite Auntie. On the face of
it, it sounds like some sort of transient vascular problem that
is affecting blood supply to the brain. Isn’t it fun to become a
diet and health oracle? I think there are some good low carb
cracker recipes posted, but I can’t remember where I saw them.
I like all the seeds you’ve ordered, so I’ll be watching to see how
you use them this week. Most definitely, email me any time you
like! I’m the classic techno-imbecile though, so if you don’t receive
a reply please just mention it here and I’ll try to work out what
I may have done wrong on o/h’s computer. My laptop is fine
for internet use, but has some bug with the email program, so
I have to use Jim’s for email. No worries though, he would never
read my mail. Truly!
Wallow in sloth today, and enjoy your read. Is it Jason Fung or
George Orwell?

Later, my sweet!

Much love,

Allie

Happy Monday.

First I must explain. My official weigh day is Tuesday. However, I do weigh myself on Friday to see how I am getting on. I was delighted on Friday to see the scales register 16st 6 pounds (a 3 pound loss since Tuesday).

Well…my DD cooked a roast Pork dinner. There was Broccoli and Cauliflower in cheese sauce. Carrots, Roasted Parsnips and Potatoes and Pureed Apple. Now. I must confess! I ate one quarter of a potato and 2 parsnips. I ate meat, and the brocolli/cauli in cheese sauce. I had 2 glasses of Cava. THAT IS ALL!

Today I weighed 16st 11 pounds. How the Eff did that happen? Totally pissed off about that.

However. My youngest daughter is full of cough/cold as is her 5 months old baby and her husband (also an asthmatic). My eldest daughters’ 15 months old daughter has chicken pox. My DD elder daughter is very depressed at the moment, so at the drop of a hat, this Nonna jumped in her old wagon and hot footed over to take my lovely boy to pre-school and to cheer up my lovely girl. Walking to the school and pushing my “big for his age” grandson, meant that I had a good workout today to go with my 24 hour fast. Tentatively I stepped on the scales before my shower to read 16st 11 pounds. BUGGA!!!

Kazz enjoy your book and take it easy this week. You will reach 15 before me at this rate!

Allie, always lovely to read your posts. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone or anything.

Take care all,

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Oh and I forgot to say…I have Sinusitis again!

Lol

Mary, that can’t possibly be weight – each lb is the equivalent of
3500 calories. Do you think your scales are dependable? I suspect
water retension. What else could it be? I never weigh myself at
night, it’s always higher. How about “transit issues”? We’ll figure
this out………..Tomorrow is your official weigh day. Let’s see what
you register first thing tomorrow morning. I’m happy that you
had a lovely meal with your daughter’s family. I can’t remember
how long chicken pox takes to run its course? I hope that the
chest colds and other problems will resolve very soon. Little
chests racked with cough always sound so awful!
Talk to you tomorrow, dear sister.

Love,

Allie
xoxoxo

Mary my love. How bloody annoying! It is just water I’m sure. You always weigh lighter in the morning so see what the scales say tomorrow morning. If the scales register 16.11 tomorrow, I’d be inclined to chuck them down the garden and go and buy a new set! You are doing amazingly but I truly feel your frustration. We’re in this together, my friend. Keep the faith. I’ll see you in the morning.

Kazzeee xx

Thank you. I am sure it must be water but it’s a bugger! Unless I pee all night I will weigh the same tomorrow. The scales are new so I can’t blame them!

Let’s sleep on it tonight and see what tomorrow brings.

Loves y’all

Mary
xxx

One other thought, Mary – Have you had your thyroid meds reviewed
recently? I can feel your frustration, I’m sooooo sorry!! Let’s see
if we can figure this out. Talk tomorrow, my sweet.

Good morning Mary.

It’s 5am and I’ve just woken for the bathroom and.the only thing on my mind are your extremely sensitive scales! Mine are at least 20 years old and don’t register half pounds let alone ounces. I was thinking about buying new ones but now I’m not so sure! I really hope things have rectified themselves overnight and look forward to hearing what they register this morning.

See you in a bit.

Kazeee xx

Morning!

Well I did indeed pee a lot last night and through the night. However, this morning only one pound off….so I have still gained 3 pounds. The only difference I can think of is that I didn’t drink as much liquid yesterday and Sunday. So today I am pouring water down my neck like I am drowning! See what happens tomorrow as I shall weigh myself again.

Kazz, thank you so much for thinking of me. I see from another thread you have lost more weight. Bloody well done! You are amazing.

Allie, I don’t feel like my thyroid is playing up. I usually can tell by low mood, lethargy etc. But, I am willing to consider anything. I think it is probably the water, and am very angry that I can gain 4 without thought, but lose only 1 with hard work. Makes me wonder if I can ever maintain! Sometimes I can’t drink loads of water…I have to leave the house sometimes and my bladder won’t hold much!

See you later peeps.

Lots of love
Joes Nonna
xxx

Hey, Mary, if you don’t have symptoms that would pertain to your
thyroid, I think it’s the water. At least that’s how my body works.
I’m actually afraid to let up on my consumption because I fear the
same results. It was utterly amazing to get on the scales after
being away from home during jim’s hospitalization (3 wks). I was
on my feet all day during that time, and I was easily walking 5 miles,
if not more every day. I missed too many meals to count and had
visibly lost weight. There was no time or access to water. Anyway,
when we got home and I finally weighed myself, I hadn’t lost a
single pound! This didn’t bother me at the time because I was too
busy to think about it. I started back up with the 3 liters a day,
and 2 days later the scale showed a loss of 10lbs! At first I thought
the digital scales had gone berserk. Now I just accept the fact
that I retain fluid if I don’t get in at least 2 liters a day. I have a phobia
about public washrooms, so if I’m out all day I don’t consume much
water. I never weigh myself after one of those days but give the
scales a pass until I’m topped up again. Our bodies all react
differently, but I’m truly hoping this is the case for you at the moment.
You have worked so hard for every lb. lost, and I think I would really
really be pissed off too! Let’s hope tomorrow will show you moving
in the right direction. I’m thinking of you!

Much love,

Allie
xoxo

Try not to despair, Mary. Tomorrow is “Noodle Day” 🙂

Hi Allie and Mary

It’s a minefield and could drive you crazy trying to work out why our bodies respond the way they do! That’s why I prefer to weigh just once a week on Saturday morning because of disappointing fluctuations! I did have a mid week peak after the 48 hour fast but I shall go back to once a week. My 3lb loss that I posted this morning on the November challenge thread is the same 3 from Saturday, not an additional 3, sorry for the confusion! If only!

Mary, I think our bodies can be slower to respond to losing fluid than gaining it. I bet that water will continue to come off over the rest of this week. We are so close in our respective weights. Do you have a ideal weight as a goal? I’d like to get to 11 stone or 10.13! I got to 12 stone 13 years ago with WW but was still quite barrel shaped, albeit a much smaller version from 18.7!

Allie, I’m not drinking nearly enough water so I need to rectify that as I’m sure it will help my losses. Interesting that you don’t weigh yourself when you know you’ve not had enough fluid.

After my sloth day yesterday, I’m feeling a bit lazy so might take myself to the park and see how far I can walk!

Then back to the obesity code. I need to finish it so I can start George Orwell!

Have a good day my lovelies.

Kazzee xxx

‘Morning, Kazz. I hope you enjoyed your walk. Thanks to the
Refocus thread, I’m making a concerted effort to do the same.
O/H absconded with his computer yesterday and didn’t return until
10:30 pm last night. I know your email is on it, and when he wakes
up I will reply. Only 6:30am here, and he won’t be conscious for
2 more hours. Talk to you later, love.

Allie

Good morning dear Army! Wow its been quite few weeks since I had the chance to post here. I get email notifications when a new post is put up so I know when y’all are posting new stuff and I have attempted to keep up but not with full success I will confess. Life here has been so busy recently I just haven’t had much time or inclination for sitting at the laptop. Things are now slowing down a bit (not sure if that’s good or bad!) so I will have more time on my hands. Yep definitely bad! We have had a few sick hens in the last few weeks- apparently its common with ex batteries to have so many health issues but they seem to be settling a bit now thank goodness. It did involve having them in the house for a couple of nights- much to my dear wife’s horror :-D- and monitoring during the night every three hours for meds fluids etc. Dear me it was like having children in the house! We have also acquired two wee rescue cats to our pretendy farm, and they have taken quite an extensive amount of my time. They are very cute, only 6 months old and badly treated until we got them. So they have some behaviours that are not quite desirable and we are working very hard to resolve them!

My OH and I had our overnight in a hotel and dinner. I think I said on this forum that I was going to be careful. Well I wasn’t! We had a three course dinner, a bottle of wine, liqueurs and cocktails. Also a big carby breakfast the next day. I found it easy enough to get back on the wagon which surprised me. However I was in Aberdeen last weekend for a hen weekend (bachelorette party I think?), ate and drank for Scotland and the week gone by found it very hard to get back on track. Too much booze I suspect. The wedding is in less than two weeks so I’m trying to keep on track as much as possible to get into my dress! Weight loss- um since I last posted I think its been 3lbs, 2lbs, 1lb off then 2 on (!) followed by 5 1/2 off this week which I did not expect at all! 24 lbs in total in 7 weeks which is amazing! I feel good and I’m definitely starting to look better! I’ll do it for one more week then wondering if I should slowly increase to 1200 for a few weeks? Then back to 800?

Congrats to you all for hanging in and for all your scale and non scale successes! Everyone sounds like they are doing well in typical Army fashion. Mary I read about your coat and was cheering you on- you probably heard me from hundreds of miles away!!

Still off work with the damn leg. My immediate boss has been very supportive, her boss not so much. I was told if I went back (which was the plan a few weeks ago) then I would have 4 weeks to get back to full activity and if not they would take me down the Capability route and I would possibly lose my job. So I have just continued to hand in sick lines but I’m on 50% pay now which is a bit stressful and also I would rather be working and back to normal! I was pleased though that I didn’t use my usual coping technique of eating my body weight in ice cream!

I’m sure there is lots more to update you all on but can’t think of anything so far- and I’m sure it will be dull anyway! If there is anything else exciting I will be sure to add it. Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! Wonderful to “talk” to you all!

Heather x

Heather…so lovely to have you back…you have been missed. What a life you lead. Rescue Chickens, Rescue Cats…any room for a rescue 60 year old fat woman with water retention issues? Lol. We all have times when we lapse but bloody well done for losing 24 pounds in 7 weeks.

I did hear a roar come from up North so I presumed it was you. Thank you! Sorry your gammy leg is holding you back, but do what is right for you. Some bosses can be right b#st*rds can’t they? I won’t get started on that because I wont stop.

Kazz, yes our bodies are very strange. But if I am going to gain 4/5 pounds every time I fail to drink enough water to float my kidneys I am giving up lol. I hope you enjoyed your walk and the book. I find George Orwell quite easy to read and so politically current. I may just re-read that book again. My goal would be under 12 stone. At my heaviest I was nearly 20 stone and I think if I go too low I will look ill. At this rate it will take me another 18 months. I have lost 36 pounds (2 and a half stones) since October last year. I have stuck to the way of eating even when on holiday. I started losing better when I restricted my carbs to less than 20g daily. But I have stalled again. I will never go back to my old way of eating as I enjoy my foods this way. But I am getting just a tad fed up of silly results. I have some days when I feel really slimmer, then days like yesterday when I don’t. Drinking loads of water today so fingers crossed.

Allie, I am determined not to weigh myself now until next Tuesday. I was going to do it tomorrow, but I have changed my mind. I would rather see a whoosh next week (God Willing). No Noodle day this week as she/her mother/Father are all ill and I don’t want to catch another cold. Plus this one sounds particularly nasty.

Later peeps

Nonna Mary
xxxx

Heather, my sweet, I don’t think you realize how much you have been
missed! It is so absolutely wonderful to hear from you today!!!!
Life “on the farm” sounds somewhat wild and crazy. I admire you
and your wife for all the rescue work you are doing. Most importantly
however, you’ve really been making progress on the weight loss
front. 24lbs in 7 weeks is something to be very proud of. You
must soon be close to getting under the 200lb mark. That was a
a huge mini goal achieved when I accomplished it.
Deciding to take a break after 8 weeks or plod on to goal is such
an individual decision, and I think it has much to do with personality
type. The more pragmatic of us do well with a break, but I’m too
much of an all or nothing type that I would fear that if I loosened
the reins for awhile I would risk never returning, so I just put one
foot in front of the other until I reached target. I’m still not altogether
comfortable with maintenance because I’m 13lbs under target
and trying hard not to lose any additional weight. BMI currently
21.69, thin enough!
Don’t abandon us hens for the chooks! We miss you. Hope to hear
from you more often when life slows down.

Allie

nb – how did the kitchen reno turn out?

Aw shucks ladies thanks for the warm welcome back! How lovely to be missed! I also missed posting regularly and having time to read all your updates. Mary come and be adopted as much as you like! We are not exciting here but we are rural and there is peace and quiet. And of course there is broccoli bake in the oven and the kettle is on. The kitchen chairs pull up to the patio doors and you can watch the chickens cluck and scratch and the wee cats play. The cows low from the field at the bottom of the garden and Guzzler, our neighbours pony, kicks the fence impatiently as he demands carrots and apples. Have I sold you yet?? Allie I forgot to mention the kitchen reno! It took waaay longer than it should have, and we were without a washing machine- and more importantly a cooker!- for about 7 weeks in total. There are still things about it that we are not entirely happy about, but in the main its great and we love it. I wish we could post pics here- I would love for you all to see it and the chooks and everything else! I had to work out what 200lbs in stones was but yes I’m not too far away (maybe 11lbs or so) so I’m excited to get there. I tried on my dress for the wedding we have next weekend last night- it fits very well! It always would do up, but definitely looked a bit strained. Now it looks lovely and I feel good in it which is more important.

Still havent fully decided on next steps for me but think I might increase slowly in calories for a few weeks then cut right back again. My body adapts very quickly to lower calories so don’t want to reach too many plateaus. What I do know is that I am having roasted beet and lentil salad for lunch and cannot wait! Roll on 2pm!!

Heather…you have so sold it to me! Plus I love Broccoli Bake! I sounds lovely. Is it very cold though? I like the cold but not if it’s a biting wind. Kitchen renos have to be the worst. Mine took a month and then I had to sue as it wasn’t done properly! Took the shine off having a new kitchen.

My lovely Granddaughter has Chicken Pox. Her brother had it, her Father had it and now she has. When the spots appeared on Friday, my darling daughter said, “oh she has got off lightly, just a few spots.” Today I have spent some time in hospital with her. She has got a pox spot in her eye and we had to see a specialist. Plus she is covered in spots, several of which are infected, so she is now on antibiotics. This is quite worrying as my friends granddaughter ended up with sepsis and on life support last year from the same thing. My lovely girl is such a sweet child and was incredibly well behaved when the Doctor put dye in her eye! Even though she is tired she is still behaving beautifully. I really hope that this is the worst day and that tomorrow she will begin to recover!

I don’t feel any slimmer today and again haven’t been able to drink plenty of water, so fingers crossed I will be able to do that tomorrow. Take care of yourselves, you are important to me!

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Mary, so very very sorry about your granddaughter. That is very scary and I am glad she is in good hands at the hospital (and with you! And mama!). I hope tomorrow is much better and she quickly overcomes this chicken-pox and is on the road to recovery.

Oh Mary, the poor little Muffin! I’m sorry to hear this. Brave child.
You take good care of yourself, too, I know mother and daughter
will always be in good hands with you. I think I smell my dinner
burning, so have to high tail out to the kitchen. Let us know how
your grandie is tomorrow, please?

Love you all,
I’ll be back!

Allie

Disaster averted, my sisters! Just a less than clean oven that doesn’t
appreciate the high temperature. Just one more thing I’m not on top
of because I’d much rather chat up a blue streak, rather than do
chores.
This has been somewhat of a tense day for a nicotine addict deprived
of my fix 🙂 O/h took off for the lecture halls today with my cigs in his
jacket. I hope this will give you laugh as it’s so pathetic. When I
heard the key in the lock this evening, I almost knocked him over
before he could get in the door tonight. My hand was in his pocket
before he could even get his coat off!! Sigh………That’s me, the
perfect lady at all times. And here he thought I was just excited
to see him.
Need some dinner, I’ll be back for more conversation later on!

Allie
xoxoxo

Mary I hope your grand daughter is much better by now! What a terrible fright- children never do things by halves do they?? I’m glad you like the picure I painted- its all true but is often punctuated by the squabbles of my dear other half and I! Turns out being two women does not reduce the arguing!

In other news my dear people- my mother died this afternoon. I am still reeling in shock although she has been terminally ill for some time. As you all know we have been estranged for a number of years and I don’t regret not being in contact with her but i do have complicated feelings (who doesn’t!)- anger that she has never apologised or made it better, sadness that I will never have the mother that I need and relief that she is out of pain. She was a very abusive and unhappy woman who made everyone else unhappy as a way to feel better about herself so in many ways she was in pain which she is now out of. Sigh.

Thank you for your kind thoughts re my lovely grandie. The antibiotics seem to be working as the spots are reducing in size and redness. We think they may scar though. I have just heard that she is chasing her brother around the living room and giggling, after just having eaten for the first time in 2 days. This is a child who loves her food, so we knew she was unwell.

Allie, Poor Jim, thinking he was wanted and finding out he was just a vessel carrying the ciggies! You need to make sure he doesn’t do that again.

Heather. I had a complicated relationship with my mother. So I understand how you feel. Try to remember the good times (there must be some if you try). Allow yourself to grieve, if only for a relationship that will no longer be there. It is possible to love someone and not get on with them as well. I am thinking of you…be kind to yourself.

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Heather, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Most of all for the lost opportunities
to reconcile with your mother. I have a close friend from Switzerland
who was estranged for 50 years, and I can imagine the complicated
emotions you are feeling today. The loss of one’s Mother is never
anything we can ever be completely ready for. I’m glad that you have
a sister to be with, as well of course, your wife. Take good care of
yourself now. There will be plenty of time to process all this in
the days to come. We are here for you, and you have plenty of
surrogates here to help.

Much love,

Allie

Mary, I think I missed your post about the little one. I’m so happy
that the antibiotics seem to be working! Chasing little Joe around
is definitely a good sign. Can you exhale now? How worrying for
you! It’s hard to know about the scars this early on. Is she 2 or
3?

Hi Allie. The little one is 16 months old. I have indeed exhaled as has Jovis and her parents. She is such a bright, bubbly, sunny child that it was a little distressing to see her subdued and ill.

I am afraid my Black Dog is visiting me. First time for a few months. I was looking in the mirror (something I avoid) when I could see that my psoriasis is now covering a huge part of my face and expanding. Behind my ears are sore and cracked and the rest of my body is scaly and uncomfortable. I admit I have shed a tear tonight. The fact that I haven’t lost the water weight from the weekend hasn’t helped. I have fasted every day and today floated my internal organs by drinking so much water!

I know I am blessed with my life, but I feel a bit run down after this week. My psoriasis is getting worse and I don’t know why. I decided to read about any new treatments there are and it said “Psoriasis comes and goes.” Mine EFFING WELL DOESN’T….in 2000 I only had it in my hair line and my nails. By 2002 it was over my arms and in 2010 it moved onto my face and the rest of my body. I have had UV treatment and it returns immediately after. I also had steroids for a while and again it returned immediately after I stopped taking them.

Nothing anyone can do…I just need to suck it up and get on with life. But, I must admit I have been getting some funny looks lately…well why not? I have a face like a baboons arse! If I don’t slather it in cream I look like a dried out lizard. Rant over. Hope you are all well.

Grumpy Nonna.
xxx

Nonna, this won’t help much….but my heart aches for you. I would have hoped this diet would have been of some help as MM keeps touting how it cleans house and gets your immune responses back on track. Or in your case restarts them so they are not in over drive. Have nothing to offer other than a shoulder to cry on. You got the short straw on this one. Hoping for you that it is at least cyclical and shortly receeds back from whense it came. LvTC

Thank you Luvtcook. I appreciate the shoulder. I am ok now. It just gets to me sometimes. The worse bit was reading that Psoriasis comes and goes…mine just gets worse.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE! Let’s make it a good one!

Later peeps.

Back to normal Nonna.
xxxx

Good morning my friends.

Well, off line for two days and what a lot to catch up on!

Mary, my psoriasis also flares this time of year. I really do empathise with you. A couple of years ago I had a particularly distressing flare up of inverse psoriasis and it was so painful I couldn’t sit comfortably or sleep. In desperation I cut out all wheat, dairy, alcohol and after 3 days it began to calm down. By 2 weeks it was 80% cleared. Trouble was I didn’t know what the actual trigger was. I didn’t care really, was just glad of the relief! My mum handed me an article about a new drug, not containing corticosteroids, that has just become available. Called Soratinex by Franklpharma.co.uk. Not yet available on the NHS unfortunately. Costs £121.05 for a large pack. Have a google and see what you think. I have no doubt the stress caused by your grandie’s chicken pox has not helped one bit. So sorry to read about that. I’m very relieved to see she is responding well to the antibiotics. When my face was really bad with acne rosacea, I was given antibiotics which did clear it mostly. Now, I can keep it at bay by using Sudocreme on my face every night. Would it be worth trying some on your face? It may help a little with it being an antiseptic cream. I’m sending you virtual hugs, my friend.

Allie and Heather…… I’ll be back to respond to you both in a bit….

Kazzeee xxx

Take care Nonna Mary
Marie X

See I told you I’d keep popping back on!

Oh, I missed your post, Kazz. That’s interesting. I have acne rosacea so I might try the Sudocreme. I don’t suppose you can remember what antibiotics you were given. I was given some stuff years ago but it didn’t really do much. Still, I’ll definitely give the Sudocreme a try.
Marie

Many Thanks Kazz and Marie. I will have a go at Sudocreme..I will try anything! Mine doesn’t flare…it just exists and gets worse. At the moment it is creeping ever forward on my face. The most difficult bit is the eyelids. The flakes fall into the eye and cause conjunctivitis. I plaster myself in Vaseline and then have to scrape the skin off in the morning (sorry for graphics). Behind the ears are cracked and sore. Needless to say, I can’t wear dark colours lol.

Anyway…the sun is out and it’s frosty. It’s a good to be alive day!

Love you all
Mary
xxx

Hi Marie. The antibiotics were oxytetracycline or something like that. They did work quite quickly and I took them for 7 months gradually reducing from 4 per day to one every other day. By this time I was using sudocreme as well. I’d defo try the sudocreme first. I don’t think long term use of antibiotics is particularly good for our gut flora! Let us know how you get on.

Kazzzeee xx

Aaah Mary. You’re in a right pickle with it, aren’t you? Try the sudocreme and also, I bought new pillows, new pillow cases and put a clean one on every day. A bit of a chore but I was willing to try anything. Xxx

Thanks Kazz

I’ll definitely give the Sudocreme a go.

Marie x
By the way is it Kazzee or Kazz, or do you answer to anything !

I answer to anything, lol xxx

Heather – it’s so good to see you posting again. You have been missed! So sorry to read about your mum and your relationship. You seem to have a good understanding of why you’re mum was the way she was. I hope she has found peace. I also hope you have too? I love the sound of your lifestyle with your chooks. My aunt and uncle have just recently acquired 8 brown hens and I love the way they run to me when I arrive. I know they’re only hoping to get fed but it’s a nice welcome even so!

Allie – woman, to grab your husband like that, he must have thought he was on a promise, how disappointing for him to know it was his nicotine and not his feramones that was driving you crazy! 😉😁

Ok, confession time….. as you know, I was spending Wednesday afternoon with my mum, then meeting my uncle later as he was taking us out for a long promised meal then staying overnight. Well it was a very fruitful shopping trip for mum. We went to one of those outlet villages just outside Evesham. I’d fasted all day and was saving myself for the meal. I was very good with my selection of sheekebab starter followed by tandoori chicken on skewers with a side of veg. No popadoms, rice or naan bread. BUT…. 5 glasses of red wine was drunk. I thought of Mary’s words… be mindful Kaz. Mary, I thoroughly enjoyed the wine and didn’t mind at all! However, I felt rather worse for wear yesterday morning! We had kippers for brunch and then I came home and snoozed all afternoon on the sofa! I peaked on the scales this morning and was 2lb up! It was worth it and I am back on track now. I finished The Obesity Code before I went and read all about fasting and feasting so I feasted weds night and now it’s time to get back to fasting! It says in the book that there will be occasions when feasting is unavoidable but the main thing is to enjoy those times, fairly mindfully, but importantly to get back on track.

It’s been a most enjoyable staycation this week and just what I needed to recharge my batteries.

I’ll be back…..

Kazzee xx 😘. Ooh look, I’ve found the emojis!!! ❤️

Nonna Mary, you are an amazing woman. Don’t know that I could maintain such a positive attitude and deal with everything you currently are coping with.

You are definately a glass half full person, and I admire that tremendously. Hats off ta ye.

Good morning, everyone! I’ve been off thread since early yesterday evening,
but I’m happy to see new friends paying us a visit 🙂

Kazz, we missed you here this week, but I’m happy that you feel that you
have recharged your batteries. Kazzi is a really talented self taught watercolorist!
I was lucky to see one of her paintings from beautiful Cornwall. Now I’m hoping
for a selfie to go with it 🙂 Really glad that you enjoyed your feast, even if the
scale registered +2lbs. That’s how it went for me, too, whenever I made a
mindful decision to enjoy a holiday with a glass or 3. Flush it with lots of
water today, and everything will be fine. You’ll be back on track in no time.

Mary, sorry that damn black dog is nosing around your house! It’s been
awhile since she’s paid you a visit, though, right? (I know she is a bitch)
You always do an excellent job of kicking her to the curb, so do the same
today. What you go thru with the psoriasis sounds so miserable. I’m
wondering if there are any new clinical trials going on over here that produce
new drugs that may not be available to you thru NHS. I’d be very happy to
do some research for you if you like. My brother in law serves on numerous
corporate boards, being in the biotech industry. I don’t know if he’s out
of the country at the moment, but he may know someone who knows someone
who knows someone. When jim was diagnosed with heart failure and initially
told he was neither a candidate for coronary bypass or stenting, Gus was on
the phone to the top cardiac hospital in the country, the Cleveland Clinic, and
had one of the top interventionalist cardiologists in the world vetted for us,
and that was the guy that performed the stenting proedures. He just
happened to be spending 1-2 days a month at the hospital we prefer to use
here in Connecticut. He is from Milan, so it was a really luck break for us.
Gus is an enormously successful guy in the biotech field, but to me is he just
one of my closest friends, a very genuine person, and was there for me in
every sense of the word during jim’s hospitalization. He called me every day,
twice a day, for those 3 weeks, whether or not he was in the UK, Cuba or
Japan. Have a think on it, okay?

Have a great weekend, my lovelies!

Allie
xoxoxo

Hi Joes Nonna

We’ve never spoken before, but I just read about your psoriasis and it sounds so painful and unpleasant for you. I’m absolutely not an expert, but I recently tried a commercial Kefir that claimed one of its main attributes was clearing psoriasis. I wondered if you had tried it – there’s been an recent discussion about making your own on another thread (SunnyB is an expert) or the one I tried is Chuckling Goat – SunnyB’s is nicer and the other is expensive.

Sorry if I’ve missed a discussion where you’ve tried it, just flicking through the latest posts and yours jumped out at me.

Hope the Sudocreme works!

Jackie x

Hi Jackiem…I have spent today trawling through different websites and I saw one that said about Kefir. I make my own so it wouldn’t be a problem to try it. I have also seen some that say, oats, olive oil, coconut oil and Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser. One thing I did learn is that no two people are the same and what works for one, doesn’t another. I feel a few weeks of experimenting coming on. I will try the Kefir first.

Thank you for thinking of me. You and everyone else on this forum are fantastic!

Nonna Mary
xxx

I’m signing off for the weekend, my beautiful friends. We’re visiting our dearest
friends in Rhode Island, so I don’t know what the WiFi situation is in their
house. Maybe I’ll get an opportunity to check in. Mary, I left a post earlier
today for you with an offer to check into your psoriasis condition on this
side of the pond. I hope you received it. I know that we’ve been participating
on another thread about the subject of fermented food. Really interesting
discussion, and lots of people are going to try your recipe, not just me!!!
I love this forum, and all the compassionate people who care about you
as much as I do. Between us all, maybe we can come up with something
that might help to alleviate your discomfort with psoriasis. I hope so.

Wishing everyone a peaceful, BSD friendly weekend,

Allie

Hello my fellow soldiers.

I am so, so sorry that I have neglected you all since I started my job.

I am still here and still recording and counting calories but I am not really keeping up with the journals. After 7 hours per day staring at a PC screen the last thing I want to do in my off time is stare at a small screen.

I am enjoying the job but it is fucking challenging sometimes and it is not always the customers who are challenging! I dont know if you know this but the modern call centre seems to be sponsored by Metformin! Charity bake sales/birthday cakes/vending machines/buy cake it is for charity/lets order Dominos pizza as it is Thursday and we are on a late (Dominos are responsible for 2 stone of my excess flab…..those delicious, evil pizzas!) anything designed to keep you satisfied and in the office!

I make sure, rain or shine, that I have a 15 minute walk on my lunch break and I stretch my legs every hour by going on a “comfort” break ( I am waiting to be challenged on this but so far so good) I also stretch whilst in my chair as I find tensing my muscles and then relaxing invigorating…no idea why and I get “looks”)

I enjoy my “glug glug woo hoo!” on a Saturday night and I am enjoying my own made 50/50 bread again. On a late I adapt my usual meals and have eggs for breakfast with buttered mushrooms (1 of 5 a day) and I still have almonds. My main meal is adapted into a chunky soup with the addition of chickpeas (which makes it into 4 of my 5 a day) and topped with grated cheese and served with my bread and butter.

90% of the time I avoid junk food/crap but 10% I enjoy myself.

I am pleased that I am now 229 lbs and I bought myself a size 20 coat from Tu @ Sainsbury’s (it is red!!!) and it looks good. I got 2 opinions and I checked I could cross my arms with no straining.

I must mention a weird thing…….before I lost the weight my arms never fell “straight” at my sides but now they do I keep catching my bag on my boots. Which makes me occasionally look like I skipped a step!

I have a distinct wattle and I am trying to slow down the weight loss due to wrinkly thigh skin.

I still salute you all, you fab women.

FFBB (Carol)