Just so you dont have to, I have reported about 6 posts from dentistry, business help to vibrators. Not mentioned in the text as it just brings them to the top of the page which is what they want.

Happy Birthday for yesterday S-G & don’t feel regretful birthdays should be enjoyed 🥂🎁👍💐
Margaret xx

A belated Happy Birthday to you, Denise, and I agree with Margaret, no need to feel regretful at all, hope you had a lovely time!

Another note to you, Denise (S-G)… finally had some time this afternoon and have been reading through your old blog from Sparkpeople. I remember Sparkpeople! One of the many things I tried over the years. It’s a shame they closed it down. Hopefully that won’t happen with this forum… I do worry since it seems so quiet much of the time and so taken over by spam posts. By the way, thanks for all you do with reporting those. They should be paying you for all your diligence in helping to maintain the board.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying and feeling motivated by your blog. I think I may start journaling myself, just to keep a record. The older I get, the more easily I forget things, and it would be nice to remember, down the line, how I finally lost the weight. : )

Becca

Hi all, back on track and already lost 1kg since yesterday, yes, probably carrying a lot of fluid. Worked out I only have 5 weeks now and my loss is down from 7.5lbs to 5.5lbs however, being the ever optimist, if I can do another 5.5lbs that will be 11lbs – so that is okay with me.

Glad you are enjoying the blog Becca. People say have you ever thought about journalling and I did recently buy the Jason Fung book which turned out to be pages asking the same questions – how are you feeling, what do you weigh, what did you eat, what can you do better and the same thing day after day. I think you can see from my real journal (blog) that I like to chat. It also shows how new this was and what comments I got from, your brain will shrivel up, one even said something like – you need to learn how to read. Yes, 10 years ago this diet was a total breakthrough that no-one had tried before. There had always been diets but this was for diabetics and it worked in reducing BG. People still say I shouldnt cut out carbs and I say yes if I am diabetic. Also, people dont understand the difference between good and bad carbs. I will eat carrots and apples even though these are pretty high but are full of goodness. I wont eat white carbs that have very little nutrient value.

But my blog also shows just how scared I was and the ups and downs and disappointments, the dispaire and highs. If I re-read it I can get a bit weepy at parts. BTW Sparkpeople is still going but it is only for paid subscriptions and it is in US dollars so incurs extra costs in exchange rates on my credit card. Besides that, I think I have said all I needed to say and now put my energies into helping people who are in my situation, be it overweight or diabetic or suffering from some sort of inflammatory condition which can be improved with this diet. I keep thinking I have nothing left to offer but posts like yours show me I do. I also do it for myself as it helps keep me on track.

Have a good week – wish this rain would stop – yes even here in France.

Just a quick ‘hello’.

I’ve not read through all the posts, I don’t seem to get notifications, but anyway, well done everyone. Losses are losses, water or otherwise. Feeling good and positive is a great way to be.

As for me I’ve just had my first cataract surgery yesterday. It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind. Saw the optician three or so weeks ago, appointment two days later for the following week but had to change it. Had assessment but hadn’t had my contacts out for long enough so had to go back four days later. Then got an appointment for 8 days later. All in all less than four weeks including all the hiccups. Pleased to say all is well. Not at all what I was expecting and actually looking forward to number two.

Anyway, back to today. Plodding along here with a small loss for January but maybe had other things on my mind. I keep seeing s-g counting down to her cruise so thought I should. We now have 10 weeks today to our next trip so plenty of time to make some headway.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Wow, Ms Verano, that is a big deal, having cataract surgery. I probably won’t be too far behind you. So glad to hear it went well. : )

Well done Verano with your cataract surgery & after having my left one done I just bought cheap reading glasses to help me read until my eye settled down before going back to my optician for prescription reading glasses. I may need my right eye also doing in the future but now have almost perfect distance vision. It is important to keep using your prescription eye drops until your follow up check up 👍
I’m continuing to try to further reduce my daily calories & to keep low carb
Keep on going everyone & I just wish the rain would go away although the sun did appear for the morning today.
Margaret xx

February 12 today, and I am happily down 6 pounds since February 1. I do some 800 days and some higher calorie days. The up-and-down seems to help keep things moving. Staying very low carb, too.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Becca

Becca, that’s fab! 🙂
And everyone else keeping on keeping on…SG, you are an inspiration in perseverance.
I’m very happy….feeling good on the Fast 800, weight loss has slowed, but then I am eating over 800 cals as a rule, but the nutritious marvellousness of the food is making me feel great.
Also, I’ve lost a total 8lbs and 2″ off my waist in 5 weeks since I started, so I’m happy with progress 🙂 🙂
Plan- Just under 2 and a half stone to be comfortably into top of normal BMI for my height.

xxx

.

Hey everyone, so I’m new to this, diagnosed NYE 2025 by pure fluke no symptoms no nothing. I feel like I’ve kind off been left to research and get on with life, been told to take medication as that was the easiest thing for the GP, however I’m wanting to reverse my T2 diagnosis. I started the 800 calorie BSD officially 3 weeks ago but had dropped my calories down since the beginning of the year, having lost 10lb so far, but already losing 2 stone from last year, so approaching the 3 stone mark, I’ve lost a lot of my visceral fat which is great, but how much more should I be looking to lose, my BS levels are still a little over the place, I haven’t been told what I should be aiming for, its all a bit hit and miss. I saw some of the forums you guys are on and you sound friendly so just thought I’d message on here as I’m a bit lost with it all. I run 3 times a week with a long distance run at weekends, and im still trying to keep to the 800 calories, just want opinions if im doing it right, sorry for the waffle, mmmm waffles 🧇 😅, anyway TIA 😊

Wow Becca & Tulip1 very well done to you both losing weight so well. Sadly I have still not been able to stick strictly to 800 daily calories averaging 1000 but am still trying to do so and still doing TRE eating lunch at 1-0pm & then not after 7-0pm. The sun has been shining a little in the last two days but the grey rainy days have been getting me down 🙁. As the days get brighter I know that I will be able to get back on track 🤞
Welcome Newbie2026 and you have been doing so well losing two stone & starting the BSD. Have you bought Michael Mosleys Blood Sugar Diet book? he explains very well the whole reasons for eating low carb & the positive effect on our bodies 👍😀
Keep on going everyone 👏👏
Margaret xx

Hi Margaret, thank you:-)
Sounds like you are sticking to plan really well- and 1000 cals not much more than 800? But I appreciate the finer details make more of a difference to some more than others, and at different stages of the WOE etc. I know I could go faster with dropping cals a bit more (and am working on it too!), but if I continue to gradually and fairly consistently go downwards I’m quite happy. I’m thankful I can exercise fairly often as well at the moment so that is helping too.
🙂 🙂

Thanks for your good wishes Becca and Margaret. Promise I’m not missing one ‘drop’. My telephone stop watch has never been so well used!

Well done Becca and Tulip keep on keeping on…….

Welcome Newbie2026 and well done on your great loss so far. Yes this way of eating can be quite confusing at first. Can I just mention that weight loss per se is not the secret to keeping blood sugar in the normal range but rather carbohydrates. You may have heard of TOFI’s ‘thin on the outside fat on the inside’, being thin isn’t the secret to not being diabetic. Carbohydrates are the real secret. If you were to check your daily carbohydrate intake of your old ‘normal’ diet you were probably eating in excess of 300g a day plus even without ‘junk’ food. A sandwich, a packet of crisps and an apple could easily be over 125g and that’s just one meal! Just track your carbs with your diet at the moment and then try to stay around 50g or less if you aren’t already. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an apple, roughly 19g of carbs, or even the odd high carb ‘treat’ but try to average your carbs out over the week. Most people try to stay between 20-40g a day but you will find your own sweet spot to keep your blood sugar in the ‘normal’ range without medication.
I’ve been medication free since 2017 and my HbA1c has been within the normal range ever since. I’m not as strict now but I don’t eat cereals, bread, potatoes, rice or pasta apart from on a really odd occasion and that seems to work for me. Good luck and as Ben Bikman says…”… Control the Carbs, Prioritise Protein and Fill up with Fat and Fibre ( don’t fear fat)!

S-g hope you’re well?

Thank you Verano for your response, im managing to keep my carbs to under 50g per day, I was never really a fan of bread, potatoes rice or pasta before all this so I don’t feel im missing them which is good. I know everyone is different, but can anyone tell me what my bsl should be approx, I still test 4 times a day although the nurse did say I could reduce to 2 (fasting and bedtime), I just need to know if im going the right way and doing the right thing. Im struggling with getting enough fiber into my day whilst still on 800 calories, how does everyone else do it? Ive got the list of fiber rich food which is helpful, but what do people eat in an average day? Im sorry for the stupid questions, im just at a loss

Newbie …. first thing I can say to you is ‘relax’!
Please don’t drive yourself mad testing 4 times a day unless you are using insulin and if you are I’m sure sunshine-girl will jump in here.
Finger pricks at best are a ‘rough’ guide. Maybe first thing in the morning before you eat? They really are a very rough guide and you should take them as that. You will work out what your own rough average is. If mine first thing is in the fives fine, in the sixes I need to be careful, in the 7’s cut way back! You will get to know how your own body reacts to food.
Don’t worry too much about fibre now just concentrate on one marker at a time.

Hi all, I am still around but been a bad couple of days. Yesterday we were without electricity from 10pm the night before to around 8pm yesterday. Surprised at how boring it is after reading, playing cards, getting on to mobile data on my phone, visit from neighbour and made her a hot drink then gave her a thermos with boiling water for more drinks. She brought it back an hour later and I tried to explain the water would stay hot all day. Anyway, we are back on now but intermittent on and off, hubby just cooked dinner by candlelight and managed 20 mins to put his chips in the air fryer. This is why we insisted on a gas hob, can cook soup, boil a kettle etc.

Worst of all, we took our oldest cat to be put down this afternoon and it is a very sad time, especially for my husband as she was always his cat. It had to be done, dementia type symptoms, wandering around the house lost, crying all through the night not to mention the mess she was leaving behind her (poop and pee and vomit). It was time.

I will come back on tomorrow – electricity allowing – and answer any questions and give a greeting to Newbie 2026. Yes, stop testing so often and let me know what meds if you any are on so I can tailor my advice.

See you all tomorrow.

Thank you, Ive spent my evening reading all your posts from the beginning of the year and trying to take everything in. I need to learn and know what im dealing with so want to absorb all the advice you have to give, currently watching MM “Eat, Fast and live longer” as mentioned, ive watched a few other health programs aired this year which were good.
I’ll cut back on the finger pricks and just do first thing and bed time – that will save my fingers.
I’m currently on 500mg metformin 3 times per day, they wanted me to go to 4 tablets but after my 3 week review they had seen improvement in my BS levels that I didnt need to up it, and I told them I was starting the 800 diet so seemed ok about it, HBA1C blood test beginning of March so trying to make as much progress as I can, I know its all steady pace, but just want to prove to them I can reduce my BS level with diet.
So pleased to have finally found some support with like minded people all who want to live healthy lives and improve their health with eating the right foods

Welcome to you, newbie, and I wish you well. I can’t give you as detailed a response as you might get from others, but I can tell you that the low calories plus low carbs brought my HBA1c down quite a bit (7.5 to 6.0) and I’m hoping to even get it below that.

Sunshine, my heart goes out to you and your husband at having to say goodbye to your dear kitty. Having been in that position several times, I understand so well that empty broken-hearted feeling. Sounds like it was definitely time, though.

Wendy, please don’t feel discouraged, as 1000 is still very low. Bear in mind that even with having lost 40 pounds now in the last 4 months (since mid-October), it’s largely because I have SO MUCH to lose — still have 130-140 pounds to go.

Tulip, sounds like things are going well with the program, in spite of you having to cater to so many family members’ tastes, so great job! One of the other forum boards (the 2026- We’ve Got This! one) has several people who just started the online program together about a week ago, so might be fun for you to check in there (but stay here, too, of course!)

Have a good weekend, everyone, and I wish you all the best. –Becca

Hi Becca, thank you- don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere……I’m also on the fast 800 app and we have a cohort that started together….so, perhaps as I’m now trying to remember to post on 2 sites- or 2 strands of a site….that could be enough for now 😅😊

xx

S-g so sorry to hear your miserable news especially about your cat. Yes I’ve been there a few time too. It’s very sad but, yes, the time did sound right. Chin up things can only get better!

Oh S-G I am so sorry to hear that you had to say a final goodbye to your cat & make the decision to go to the vet. The same happened to me with her having dementia symptoms & also in the end a partial loss of using her back legs which was a kind of heart failure. In both our cases I’m sure it was the kindest thing to do with the loss of quality of life but still devastating like losing a member of our family.
I weighed today & my weight loss is again bouncing a pound up & down with me regaining the half pound I lost last week & thank you Becca. I know the grey weather is affecting my intake of comfort eating carbs but today for the first time in many days the sun is brightly shining here in West Sussex & I already feel more upbeat😀🌝
By the way Happy Valentines Day everyone & a good excuse for a glass of wine & a nice meal 🥂🍷
Next week I will try to do better weight loss wise 🤞🤞
Margaretxx

SG, what a terrible week you’ve had….so sorry about your cat….we have 3 but they are relatively young- I can only imagine. We had a terrible scare with one (the daftest one) disappearing last year for 3 weeks….I was beside myself.

xx

Hi everyone, back in the swing of things. Diet going well and back down to that half a stone loss which is okay in 6 weeks. Always think it is going to be great when I lose 4lbs in first week but then it slows down or goes completely haywire. Someone said I am an inspiration in persistence, no I am just bloody minded. Hopefully back on track and still got just under 5 weeks to hols. Talking of hols, where are you going this time Verano. Another cruise or back to Portugal.

I am not being cruel as Izzy was more hubbys cat than mine, but in her last months she did come to me more and more, anyway, last night I had the best sleep in a long time. No screaming in the middle of the night and no getting up to a mess in the morning – and thats just me 🙂 joking. I just have a sense of relief and it was seriously affecting hubbys health and mental state.

Newbie2026 thank you for the additional information. It is a shame doctor put you on meds straightaway but as you said, it is easier for them. They seem to think they can do nothing for diabetes so why bother. He should at least have suggested change of diet but in fairness he/she would have had no idea what diet to put you on. They just tell you to cut down on biscuits and stop using sugar in your tea/coffee. Anyway you have found us now. I personally have been following this plan for 10 years and I am in a much better situation medically, reduced meds, better health no complications (yet) so I will be sticking with low cals low carbs. It also seems you medical adviser is open to this diet and already cut your meds. Hope they will keep a close eye on you and you should, if you are strict with yourself, very soon beable to get off the meds completely. But it is not easy. My problem is I was started on insulin very quickly (meds gave me diahorreah) and once on it is difficult to get off. You might be interested in my blog called ‘5 Years of BSD – A Blog of Memories’. Just type it into the search box at the top of the page. This was started 10 years ago on a different site and gives a day by day report of what all this meant for me. Remember this diet was part of a revolution 10 years ago. It might help you understand what faces you. If you are wondering about what faces you as a diabetic there are lots of YouTubes about it and it is not pretty with all the symptoms and complications. Too much to discuss here. Try looking at Dr Ben Bikman (a bit dry) or Dr Jason Fung. The first thing you should watch is a Ted Talk by a doctor called Sarah Hallberg – that would be my first point of choice. I could go on but you cannot learn everything in one post, I am 20 years in and still learning. But we are always here whatever you want to ask.

Talking about still learning. I am slowly getting through the Dr Fung book The Diabetes Code and a revelation. You know when you have been really good and low carb and your BG suddenly shoots up and you cant work out what you are doing wrong, here is the answer in short quote -It is known as the Randle Cycle. The body can either burn sugar or fat, but not both at the same time. So when you are really low carb or TRE or fasting your body is in fat burning mode but if you start to eat a small amount of carbs the body needs a bit of time to switch back to sugar burning and in that space of time you cannot handle the glucose load and blood glucose levels will start to rise. This is normal (Phew!), the BG will drop as the body switches back to sugar burning mode. Our bodies are bloody marvellous. End of lesson.

Just wanted to say to Verano, great news about the cararact operation. I think I will need that in the near future and it would have terrified me having surgery on my eye. You made it sound so easy. Keep going girl…

S-g it really was ‘easy’. Despite the whole appointment taking 2.5 hours with being admitted by a nurse, drops and more drops, waiting and waiting, pre surgery nurse, post surgery nurse, the actual procedure took about 5 minutes! It wasn’t at all what I expected, although I’m not sure what I did expect. I felt nothing except water running down the side of my face. Certainly I wouldn’t put anybody off. I had mine done in a private clinic on the NHS. The NHS farms out most cataract ops here .
Ok. So the first night was a bit uncomfortable and I took a couple of paracetamol but haven’t needed anymore since and now, on my 5th day post surgery, I see perfectly well with a contact lense in my un-operated eye and have no issues! Biggest issue is having to put three lots of drops in every four hours!
I can live with the that …. the gain has been so worth the negligible ache!

BTW s-g our next trip is both! Cruise from Rome to Lisbon then a few weeks in the Algarve seeing the family.

BECCABSD your HBA1C level is in a different format to mine (i live in the UK), is yours in the % format? Just curious. So on NYE mine was 112, with a blood glucose reading of 16, and ketone of 1.3, thankfully my average fasting reading has dropped and is now 8.64 and my bedtime is averaging about 8.93.
VERANO I have reduced my finger pricks to morning and bedtime and feel so “free”, its nice actually not knowing during the day. Should I be aware if my levels change drastically as I havent had any symptoms at all so don’t really know what im looking out for.
SUNSHINE-GIRL wow thank you for all the info, i will definitely be lokking into all the resources you mention – thank you. I wonder if they panicked as my levels were quite high they just wanted to put me on medication to help bring it down, but I’d halved my levels by the first 3 weeks and the Metformin hadn’t really had much time to take affect, they really didnt push me on the diet side of things, I left feeling quite deflated and alone, but not now I’ve found you all. I’m so pleased you all seem to have positive stories to share, I know there will be many downs but hopefully more ups than downs.
Have you all just adjusted your diets so much that you don’t miss the “naughty stuff” anymore or do you sometimes allow yourselves to slip a little bit every now and again, I know low calorie and low carbs will be my life from now for a better healthier longer life and I’m all for that, I’m just curious as to how you all cope with it all.

Hi Newbie. I’m no doctor but your HbA1c at 112 or 16 was very high which is why your doctor probably put you onto medication straight away. ‘Normal’ HbA1c is considered to be 42 or 6.5 or lower. Yours has come down really well.
I don’t recall having any symptoms before I was diagnosed and I get the impression that most people don’t. Although there apparently are symptoms. I think ‘low blood sugar’ causes more symptoms.

Finger pricking….. well I’m just a bit hung-up on finger pricks unless you are using insulin when they’re essential. There are so many factors that can alter a finger prick test that they really are only a very, very rough guide. The HbA1c, test which measures your blood sugar over the previous 8 to 12 weeks, the life cycle of a blood cell, is far more accurate.

Just be mindful of starchy carbs, bread, potatoes, rice and pasta in all their forms and fruits such as pineapple or mango and obviously biscuits, cakes, fizzzy drinks and sugar etc. and you should be ok. A really good ‘visual’ can be found on the Dietdoctor website. You’ll be amazed at some things that in the past we thought of as ‘healthy’. Fruit juices are not your friend!

It takes time to get into a routine but you will and when you do it becomes second nature. Carby foods aren’t banned forever but once your BS is back in the normal range they have to be treated as an occasional indulgence rather than a staple part of your diet.

Hi all, not good news on my weight but not bad either, a stuck week.

Newbie2026 I think Verano has explained things very well. I too was put straight onto Metformin and one other drug as my first reading was nearly as high as your at 14. Dr said I must have had undiagnosed diabetes for a very long time to be that high. You say no symptoms and this is often the case. For me I was drinking loads of water and actually enjoying it whereas before I thought it was tasteless, as a result I was peeing more which you think okay one leads to the other. But I had other symptoms like blurred vision and tingling in the lips and fingers. I actually went to the doctor with a list of symptoms and a newspaper cutting and, guess what, he gave me antidepressants. When I move to France I was eating salads daily and swimming every day so when my weight went down I was thrilled. It was only when I signed on with a permanent doctor here in France and he did a full blood range and it came back diabetic.

The finger pricks are a bit hit and miss and depend on so many other factors, like weight, what you ate before testing, hormonal fluctuations, even stress. However, because you are hoping for a big drop it is a good idea to have some indication as to whether or not the diet is working. It will probably give you some motivaton to carry on. The main test will be when doctor does the HbA1c test and he will then regulate your medication. I would just watch out for going too low. You will get some of the symptoms I mentioned like blurred vision, tingling, sweating, anxiety, shaking. If this happens do a quick test and if it is very low have something, even the dreaded orange juice, to bring your BG back up. You can also show your doctor how things have been going but dont overdo it, I am on insulin and test once a day – first thing in the morning before food. Even that can be a bit hit and miss – if you read what I said about the body being fat burning and not burning sugar at the same time, can make your sugars appear higher until the body switches. I only learnt that last week so it is a journey for us all. Please watch Sarah Hallberg, unfortunately she died quite young but the more people watch the YouTube you will help keep it on their listing or it will fade away and that would be a shame.

BTW you are lucky to have a doctor who is okay with you going on this diet. We hope it becomes more accepted but some doctors (including mine) do not agree with it. Dont forget to look at dietdoctor.com and search for visual guide to carbohydrates.

Also, one thing that helped me in the early day was a book called Diabetes For Dummies – giving lots of information in simple terms. Yes, it is in the Dummies series with the black and yellow cover.

All for now, back to being careful and no more messing up at the weekend.

Thank you Verano for your message, i’m certainly staying clear of all the obvious starchy carbs etc and learning where the hidden ones are and trying to avoid those too. We cook from scratch so not too many UPFs in our house to be consumed so that makes it easier. I now understand what you mean about the finger prick testing, it gives you a reading of the here and now but 2 minutes later it could be different, so I’m happy i’ve reduced it. I do however keep a spreadsheet of my readings and a daily/weekly/monthly average so I can see progress, like you say Sunshine-girl it gives me that motivation to keep going. I’ve watched a couple of Sarah Hallbergs youtube programmes this evening, they are really good and informative thank you, I’ve saved the rest to watch. My Dr was not at all interested in me changing my diet, I told my diabetic nurse I was doing the diet and checked if there was a reason why I shouldn’t, and she couldn’t come up with one, so here I am. Diabetes for Dummies and Diet Doctor are next on the list – thank you both, information is power!!

Last post reported

Just popping in to say ‘Hello’ . I’m still here just plodding along.
This week I have started my meditation again and am finding it really grounding. Hopefully this week will see some real loss rather than my yo-yo pattern of the moment.
We will see.
Wishing everyone well with their goals

Hello everyone & my husband & I are driving up to Yorkshire today for the my husband’s cousins 80th birthday gathering tomorrow. Our youngest son is also coming & we will meet up at a service station on the way for lunch. I will weigh when we get back on Monday to see what the weekend effect has been 🤔. I must admit that I’m not looking forward to the drive because of the rain, wind & heavy traffic & we will take our time on route.
I hope you all have a good weekend & my plan to lose lots of weight after Christmas has not been very successful 🙁Oh well I’m sure that I will feel more focused & motivated when the weather improves & hopefully more sunshine will appear🤞🤞
Margaret xx

Hi Margaret…where in the country are you living? i.e. how long is the drive up to Yorkshire? I’m in Wiltshire so it’d be quite a trek for me! xx

Hi all, seems I have been absent for 5 days. Weight is dropping so I am BACK to the 7.5lbs loss and still aiming for 10lbs or more before we go away on 19th March. Doctors on 16th so need to be better than last time at 74kgs and need BG down below 7.0.

Bought 2 pairs of jeans and spent 2 afternoons altering the length. I did try them on in the store but only to see if they would button up, really long so they looked baggy. Tried on again after altering and I have never seen such rag bags, backside hanging out, too big on legs. They have gone straight in the charity bag. 2nd pair just a bit different but fit better around the rear end and upper legs. Never done that before, bought something and then thrown it away although I do have a couple of dresses that I have never managed to get into. I think it is the new fashionable style of baggy jeans. I will stick to my skinny legs. Much more flattering.

Everything is fine here, rain has stopped and we avoided being flooded, we live next to the river Dordorgne. We have temperatures of between 18 and 21 now for the next couple of weeks so it will all dry up. Might be able to get out into the garden before we go away.

No more news so have a good weekend.

Reported the 2 Australian Student posts on another thread so you dont have to.

Very well done S-G on your weight loss & going shopping for new jeans especially slim legged ones 👏👏 I am pear shaped so do buy the wide legged ones 😂
Tulip I live in West Sussex & it took us seven hours to drive up to Yorkshire including a stop for some lunch. The weather was mostly kind with staying dry & a little rain. It is always awful driving on the M25 around Heathrow & I think smart motorways are really dangerous with not enough safe stopping places if you break down 🙁
I forgot to weigh this morning after our away weekend where rubbish food carby food was only available so getting back to more nutritious low carb eating now! I will weigh tomorrow to see what my weight gain will be 🙀
Margaret xx

Hi all, weight today is an 8llb loss which is not great as I have been around 7lbs for ages but it is around 1lb per week since I started on 5th Jan. Seems unfair when you lose 3lbs in week one then none and then the odd one. But then you have a quiz night then a birthday so life goes on. Still a good average. 3 weeks to go so should reach 10lbs.

Margaret, these were not skinny jeans, they were the new fashion of wide legs and for me they were just baggy. I will be shopping for slim fit in the next week. We will be taking the car in for service in a couple of weeks and the garage is slap bang in the middle of the shopping strip just outside Bergerac so will have an excuse to spend a couple of hours in all the shops.

Hope you are all doing well and keeping on keeping on…

Good morning & I bravely weighed today & have gained 1.75lbs but I am hoping a lot of that is carby fluid gain. I now need to start again recording what I am eating because I feel my energy levels & focus have improved probably because of the brighter last three days. I will be walking in the village to a friend’s house to play Mahjong this morning.
I hope you all have a good week.
Margaret xx

Well done s-g ….. keep on keeping on ……. You will go to the ball 10lbs lighter!
Margaret , sorry to hear about your gain, your year is sounding very familiar, mine’s just like being on a roller coaster too!
Anyway, the sun is shining here, the spring flowers are abundant, the days are getting longer and just 32 days before the clocks spring forward! Today I feel re-energised and hope this will help me towards more healthy eating.
Have a good week everyone.

Well I am certainly no angel and had an increase this morning. Thinking about it I had a snack late of a Ryvita with a slice of ham and pickle but I was starving. I went without breakfast on TRE and it always seems to catch up with me. Then I had a very bad night with restless legs and still awake at 3am so I got up and made a comforting mug of low calorie drinking chocolate. So maybe they both gave me a small gain. Hopefully, it will melt away by tomorrow 🙂

Hate to brag but it is 22 degrees here in France but only for a couple of days then it goes back down to 18 / 19 so we are on our way to summer. There is a bird that signals the coming of true Spring in France, called a Grue, they are actually cranes and they fly back to the north as things start to warm up. They came in small skeins of around 10 early on to test the weather then they somehow get messages back to the rest of them and they start coming over in their hundreds, it is a brilliant sight to see and so noisy. They are flying over right now and will for a couple of weeks. Always love to see and hear them.

Had my feet done today so feeling light as air.

Hi, everyone, I have been bad about posting, although I have been here reading! I have been frustrated by the up-and-down of the scale along with some of you. I did well the first two weeks of February, then the third week was gifted Valentine’s chocolates by my daughter which I could not resist (chocolate is my nemesis, no question), plus it was daughter’s 40th birthday that week, and even with moderate eating I put back on what I lost the first two weeks. I know a lot of what I lose and regain is water from when I eat or stop eating carbs, because it goes and comes back so quickly. Anyway, doing better this week, down now to a new low, though not by much.

Verano, I just found out a few days ago that my cataracts have gotten worse, and am trying to decide whether to hold off or just have the procedure done now. Would love to know more about your decision and your experience with that. One thing that might push me to do it sooner is that my eye pressure is up a little bit, and I don’t want to end up with glaucoma.

Thanks for sharing how close we are to the time change! Oh, how I look forward to those longer days of sunlight. : )

Good luck, everyone! –Becca

Just want to add… how much I would love to see the beautiful areas that you all seem to live in or visit. I have wanted to go to the UK and France for my whole life, but have never gotten there. Wish I had been more adventurous when I was young. Lots of people seem to get all excited about coming out to the Los Angeles area where I live, but aside from the nice weather and maybe the beach views, it’s really not pretty here. I would love to be where it was greener and more open, with more of a sense of history.

My daughter and her husband and little girl will be going over in June, at the invitation of her husband’s parents. Clearly, they have a lot more money at their disposal than I do. I’m happy for her, though, and asked her to please take lots of pictures. If anyone has any tips on places to visit in the Cotswalds, pass them along — that will be their main visit area, plus a few days in London near Buckingham Palace.

-Becca

PS – Sorry for the misspelling, I meant Cotswolds, of course.

Hi Becca.
Obviously you need to be guided by your opthalmist/optician.

I’ve had cataracts for quite a number of years and actually had no problem seeing indoors. But, we’ve had a really wet winter with very dull weather so all cars are using headlights during the day and I was finding the glare from the lights and traffic lights was becoming really unpleasant. Instead of seeing ‘round’ lights with defined edges I was seeing ‘star bursts’. It was really unsettling.

Since I’ve had my first eye done, which was the worst of the two, I can really see the difference. My operated eye now sees bright colours whereas my other eye has a brown film over it! When I look through both eyes together everything looks fine.

I was wearing contact lenses in both eyes but now I only need a lense in my un-operated eye. The procedure itself was painless and even after it I didn’t really have any issues. The worst part was having to put drops in my eye every 4 hours for two weeks!

Of course all surgery, no matter how commonplace, carries risks so be guided by the professionals. You will know yourself when the time is right. Best of luck!

Margaret, that is a very long drive! I’ve rarely driven on the M25 and was very stressed last time I tried! We were going across to Norfolk from Wiltshire and that took a long time…was feeling exhausted after flu as well which didn’t help.

Still enjoying the Fast 800 and weight loss really a bit plateau’d but explicable given extra bits here and there, but still feeling much more energetic with sticking to the right foods so I’ve been steadily increasing various types of exercise as well 🙂 🙂

Thanks, Verano. My eye doctor said they were “getting a bit worse,” but left it to me as to whether I was ready to have them removed or not. I didn’t really know how to make that decision, so have been reading about other people’s experiences on reddit (as well as your experience just now). The consensus seems to be that nearly everyone is glad to have done it, and mentions how much brighter the colors are. I’ve got a holiday coming up at the end of March, but I think I’ll see about having it done when I get back.

Eva I can o lu say “you will KNOW” when the time is right. Yes I would definitely wait until after your holiday.

Hi all, so many rouge posts that I keep reporting. Make the site a bit of a mess when looking for real information.

Diet going well and going to look for some more jeans tomorrow, will be looking for narrow leg this time. Not really got any news, just busy making appointments – made 6 over the last 2 days – for when we come back plus blood and doctor before we go away. I am seriously hoping my HbA1c is down. Still 3 weeks to go and as you can tell I am counting the days.