Sorry to hear about your medical issues, s-g. I hope you do manage to get it sorted. It’s very difficult feeling so exhausted all the time.
Happy birthday to Margaret. I hope you had a good day and enjoyed yourself.

I’ve started the week off with a bang with a 24 hour fast. I just came off a 43 hour one yesterday at lunchtime so was planning an eating day, but it didn’t work out. Had to take my car into the garage and my dad was supposed to pick me up and take me home, but he ended up being in bed with a high fever, so I just stayed in town and went to my office for the day. Quite easy to fast there as I’m not around food, and my one snacking co-worker was not there crunch, crunch, crunching on crisps so that helped too.

Back home now and warming up in the cold house with some roasted garlic and white bean stew that I batch cooked yesterday. Very delicious with lots of extra veggies added in. I have a course I have to be on the next two evenings, but it’s online, so at least I can do it from the comfort of home.

5lb in 5 weeks sounds like a good goal, s-g. I’m not weighing, but I wore a snugger pair of jeans yesterday and while they may fit ever so slightly better than the last time I wore them, they are not yet where I would like them to be, so perhaps that will be my goal leading up to Christmas.

Hi everyone, arctic thank you for your good wishes.

Managed to stay just under the 1lb a week loss with 5.75 for 6 weeks, so 5.25lbs to lose now before the holiday begins. Nothing much to report as we are not doing anything for the rest of the month. It is nice not to have to be dashing around. As for Christmas we don’t have anyone to buy for. The cruise we have booked has to be paid in full on 12th Dec so that is our present to each other. Then the children all get money, the older boys directly into their accounts and the young girls my daughter will decide what they need. Fortunately, they are a couple of dancing divas and clothes are always welcome but I have no idea of sizes etc. Makes Christmas very simple for us.

Have a good week.

That’s really close to your planned 1lb a week, SG… good result, so I’m sure you can achieve your 5lb in the next 5wks.
My weigh-in result this morning was the same as last Friday, which was on the face of it disappointing, but given the level of indulgence over the weekend, I’m classing it as a win. I admit that it was slightly disappointing, given that I have just completed a 50hr fast, although if I’m completely honest, it wasn’t entirely surprising.
Anyway, broke the fast with a small portion of yogurt, seeds and nuts and will eat this evening and then decide if I’m fasting again tomorrow, or doing OMAD instead.
Looking forward to reading how everyone else is getting on, but whether the scales are up or down, if you’ve been making good food choices, it’s still a win. Wishing you all a good week.

Hi.
Forgive me for not catching up with all your posts. Just back from three weeks away so back on track tomorrow for the final 9 days of November!
Saw my first Xmas tree today, and wreath, and bauble strewn house. Guess ITS getting closer!

Nice to see you back V, although you have never actually left us – I keep up with your posts.

We managed to get the winter pool cover on without me having a heart attack. It is a beast of a thing. Hard rubber and about 12 x 6 metres. We have decided that taking it off in Spring is going to be even harder as it gets choked up with water so we are going to pay someone to do it. Plus lay it out, clean it, fold it and put it away. We are getting too old for such heavy work. Although 18 months ago when we were taking it off part of it fell into the water and and stripped down to my knickers and bra, jumped in and managed to lift it out with hubby pulling his hardest. Too much and never again. That is why I feel so debilitated now knowing what I was doing 18 months ago along with dancing around the kitchen and doing really high intensity aerobics 3 or 4 times a week (Shaun T Hip Hop Abs). That is what I want back.

Verano, we were pleased when we went out for lunch on Saturday, not a Christmas decoration in sight in the restaurant. Although our village has put up their few bits and pieces we know Christmas is coming when the hairdressers makes a massive display on their building and in their parking area. The supermarkets are filling up with toys and hubby bought himself an advent calendar last week. He always does.

Weight back to my 6lb loss so onwards and downwards.

Thank you everyone for my birthday good wishes. I had a lovely birthday seeing my sons & granddaughters but must admit the change to my usual diet of pre lunch prawn & carby snacks then garlic bread & some spaghetti with the bolognese sauce & a couple of glasses of wine even for one day did make me feel rather off colour & queezy by the evening. Next day after turning the left over sauce into a chilli with beans & bulgar wheat I started eating more normally & I’m now returning to m usual WOE but still need to further reduce my calories. I’m trying a 24 hour fast today but have drunk a couple of coffees with a little milk & played short mat bowls this morning. I stepped on my scales this morning & have gone up in weight but am hoping that when I weigh on Saturday I might have lost this.
Well done to you all for keeping on track👏👏👏
Margaret xx

Good evening …. well it’s dark here so it must be ‘evening’!

Stepped on the scales this morning and just a 1.2lb gain which is really amazing. Not complaining taking it with both hands and running!
So my plan was to lose 1lb a week, just like s-g, but in fact I’m now 4.2lbs behind schedule. I will catch up! S-g glad to see you’re back on track.

Margaret glad the birthday celebrations went well. Don’t fret about the few extra pounds they’ll go.

S-g can’t you get one of these ‘roll on roll off’ pool cover gadgets? Might save a lot of frustration and possible harm.

Can’t remember but have we had a ‘determined’ month? If not how about “Determined in December”?

Not a bad idea V, a roller does work with our lighter summer cover which is a bit like heavy duty bubble wrap but it still has to be rolled on and off every day. Except when it gets hot and we leave it off so we don’t get algae. The winter cover is a one off job twice a year and it weighs about 250kgs. It would be too heavy for any roller to hold it. We put it on a large sheet of plastic sheeting and can drag it across the grass to put in place. This year the gardeners got it out of the shed for us. You might have seen the electric covers which look a bit like venitian blinds. They cost around €15,000 for a pool our size. No, we will just pay a couple of village lads to come and do it and bung them a few Euros.

Liking Determined December so I will think of a phrase or a few words. Then Wendy will be back to take over for January. Oh my goodness, January.

Hi all, weight still coming down. It never surprises me how easy it is to get back on plan and continue with weight loss, even after a small cheat or a weekend off the diet. I have every chance of reaching 1lb by next Tuesday and that is also taking into account my weekend gain.

It is getting winter cold here and there is a ritual in France. Twice a year the cranes (grues in French) fly back and forth to their winter or spring nestings. In winter they are flying from the north to Africa and that is what we witnessed yesterday. Several thousand large birds in formation heading south. We are luck to be in a dip by the river which creates thermals and they gather above our house to gain height. It is a magnificent and noisy site. The French run outside shouting les grues, les grues. Especially in spring when it signals summer is on its way. Nobody ever seems to get bored to the ritual. Anyway, it was 3 degrees when we got up this morning and we put the electric blanket on for an hour last night.

Wendy, there is a new craze here in France. The farmers are turning all the red and white town signs upside down to signify the difficulties they are facing. A joke about causing us difficulties with facing down signs to remind us how they feel. This is being done in a humorous way and often with the help of local mayors. The rest of the world must think we (the French) are crazy.

Heading for the weekend so I must behave myself.

S-g your French ritual sounds great! Glad your weight is on track as well.

I’m back into a ‘fish’ routine… plaice last night, salmon trout tonight maybe chicken tomorrow for a change. I could quite happily live on fish, had amazing sea bass in Portugal, but OH wouldn’t eat it everyday!

I think I need a cook-in … soups, bolognese, stews ready for the winter. Maybe this weekend …but … then maybe not! Just need to get my head in gear.

Hope everyone is reaching their November goals but if not it’s not long until our new month starts!

Hi All,
Just to echo the other comments- SG, sorry you are feeling so poorly! It doesn’t sound good at all!

Question to anyone who might know….I use MyFitnessPal to record food….I can set percentage macros i.e. protein, carbs and fat (rather than grams of each)- the answer might be in MM book somewhere- but I haven’t got time to search atm…..so any ideas? Roughly? Trying to get back into recording as that will definitely help me get back in track.

Love to all
xxxxxxx

Hi all, I am stuck on my 6lb overall loss but hopeful for a pound by Tuesday – not giving up.

Noticed Yowzer on another thread has similar symptoms to me and has had heart checks and is okay. Great news, but she said she was hoping for a stent as a friend had one and is like a 2 year old. That is pretty much what I am thinking. My brother has 2 stents and is like a teenager at 68. Enough about my health – I have been feeling better and managing to do some things around the house without getting wiped out.

I haven’t mentioned before but since I had an intolerance to cows milk (something it happens from time to time – diabetic problems) I gave up tea because I didn’t like it with soya milk so I only drink green tea now. However, my hairdresser only has coffee in for her and my hubby so she makes her own teas for me. I have now grown all the herbs I need and I regularly make lemon verbena with mint or sometimes turmeric and ginger. Can’t remember the last time I bought teabags but I do still like the green tea with mandarin which I get from the supermarket.

Enjoy the weekend, crisp and cold. Brrrrrrrr.

Hello
Hope everyone is well and keeping healthy.

S-g … qualified nurse … why would you want surgery unless absolutely necessary! Be guided, as you have, by your Doctor Gorgeous! (When he’s back in circulation)

I’m just ‘plodding along’ down 0.2lbs up 0.2lbs, up 0.2lbs and so it goes on! Think I need to go back to 3 meals a day on odd days.

Anyway, hope everyone up having a good weekend. Just 5 days to a new month, new start!

Hello everyone well I weighed this morning & I’ve finally lost the one pound I had gained & hope I might now manage to lose some more before the end of November.
Very well done with you all keeping on track 👏👏👏👍
Let’s all keep going!
Margaret xx

Hi all, still on the 6lbs but that could be a good thing as I haven’t gone off plan and there is bound to be a reward at the end of it.

V, it is not that I would want surgery it is just having a solution or and end to the problems (I don’t know if you read Yowsers comments about the same thing). Sometimes you just get fed up of feeling so terrible and wonder if that is your life.

Well done Margaret (Wendy1947) it happens eventually. Keep going.

S-g …. tell me about it!!!!
I’ve been using crutches to walk for the last 16 years. Yes I do sometimes get fed up. But …. it is what it is.
If there is no solution to your problem/s then they become a fact of life.
That’s not to say you can’t get hacked off now and again.
My philosophy is …. I can do what I can and what I I can’t do I don’t think about….. I still get p…ed if now and again though.
Only way is to ….. keep on keeping on ……..

Hi there, yes V, when the time comes to accept my age is going to be a burden to me, but not yet.

Getting a bit bored with my diet up 0.2 down 0.2 and so on just like you Verano only mine is kilos, we will get through it if we stick with it. Will see what tomorrow (my weigh day) brings.

Good morning.

Well, this last week hasn’t been my finest. Usually when I get back from a holiday I lose any extra weight quickly. This time I only gained 1.2lbs in 3 weeks, but instead of losing it to stay with my goal of 1lb a week, I gained an extra pound!

Not time to give up now! Have a good week everyone.
P.S. s-g hope you’ve had a better outcome than me this week!

V, don’t stress, I’m sure it’s a very temporary blip and things will soon be on track again. I find a blip upwards after the initial weigh-in post holiday, is not unusual for me. Think it’s just the body making additional adjustment.
I have a batch of veggie soup on the Aga, as fir some reason I had quite a lot of veg going passed it’s best – bit of over purchasing I think. Anyway, thought I’d be thrifty and put it to good use.
Meanwhile, I’m completing a fast today, probably around lunchtime – 38hrs in right now. Weighed this morning and have squeaked into the right stone band … only by 0.5lb and of course it hasn’t been consolidated yet, but it is a great motivational boost.

Hopefully many of you are making headway too, but if you don’t fall into that group, please don’t get disheartened. This is a marathon not a sprint and sometimes we have to dig deep to find the patience and resolve to stick with it, but if you can do that, you WILL achieve your desired end result. Wishing you all a good BSD week🙂

Thank you for your encouraging words Sunny. Like you V, I am on a bit of a yoyo with another 0.2kg down today so leaving me with an overall loss of 6lbs in 7 weeks with less than 3 weeks to go. Being realistic I could do 3lbs if I really knuckle down.

Had a shake for lunch today, mainly because I was expecting a visitor at 1pm so didn’t have much time. I might stick with the shakes 3 or 4 times a week and see it that helps. On the shakes, I had mixed berries yesterday and they had a strange taste, thought my oat milk was off but it was a new carton, and it was a little too sweet for my taste. I will stick with the nut flavours. Breakfast was 2 boiled eggs and a Ryvita to dip in. Dinner tonight depends on hubby but he has taken pork steaks (low fat and no bones) out of the freezer so I guess I will just have to wait and see. There is nothing he can put with it that is carbs because I just don’t have any in the house except chickpeas, lentils etc but he wouldn’t know what to do with them. I think it will be a whole load of frozen veg. Trying to run down the freezer before we go away.

Just a couple more days and I will be setting up the December thread with ideas from Verano. Have a good week.

Hello everyone & thank goodness it’s bright & sunny here today because yesterday was grey & very rainy making me feel deprived & hungry. I’m trying a 24 hour fast today with a Bovril for lunch but I suppose not completely legit because I’ve also had a couple of coffees. It is feeling so much colder now & I’m grateful to be able to wear my new cord jeans. I’m trying to lose 1.25 lbs off this week to get to my two stone lost. Well done all of you managing to lose weight ⭐️⭐️⭐️👏👏
I hope you all have a good week. All the Christmas food goodies around in the shops are so difficult to resist 🤔
Margaret xx

My tip for avoiding the Christmas food temptations, is reading the per portion carb content on the nutrition panel.
I bought some instant soup the other day, thinking that would make a nice change for lunch, but now I’ve read that one cup portion is 12.6g carbs, I’m leaving it for OH to consume.
Likewise even a mini mincepie is 12g carbs … a lot of carbs to spend on just a couple of bites. Okay in isolation, but not something to give into time and and again.
Stay strong people.

I’m trying to SunnyB 😀supper tonight will be black bean chilli with mushrooms & wholewheat couscous with some tinned sweetcorn. I know it’s rather carby but ok calorie wise for me & my husband has a larger portion of chilli with a small portion of couscous.its a recipe from MMs Keto diet book. We had a coffee in M & S & I resisted all the cakes & biscuits😂 & have not eaten since 7-0pm last evening so it will be a 23 hour food fast for me. I plan to do another one on Thursday because I will be at home.
Margaret xx

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/holiday?utm_source=Diet%20Doctor&utm_medium=email&lid=xbpurbfn2i58

This might just be useful?

Hi all, glad you are all thinking about the perils ahead of us with festive foods and drinks. At my house, up to the 19th December it will be diet as usual. Then we have visitors overnight before we go away and I will be cooking a low carb meal for them, boeuf bourguignon with green beans and they will be having canned new potatoes – a great standby for guests if I am not having anything. Then the problems start with a meal in a restaurant in the overnight hotel but I can have an omelette. On the ferry lunch, which for me will be a steak and salad. So far I am doing great. Then I arrive at daughters and it gets more difficult. Fortunately for me she is very health/weight conscious so there should be plenty of cold meats, salads etc. We have just cancelled a meal out on the 20th because of the distance to walk and she knows I can’t manage it. So one less meal out. I have already booked my Christmas Day lunch and as we wont have any of the children we are eating at a local pub and I will try to walk there and back. I am having a starter of brie with cranberries, main of boeuf bourguignon with seasonal veg and brussels (I will be sick of it but would be more sick of turkey) and for dessert I am having berry roulade served with compote of warm berries. Cannot change my mind and be influenced by others choices as it is already booked. It is great that they have other choices besides traditional Xmas fare.

All that talk of Christmas is making me start to get excited, but I am already planning my January diet – 8 weeks of the BSD from scratch. I am such a swot :):)

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Hi everyone

You sound very organised SG, but then you are always so focused ! Enjoy your upcoming break and family time .

Interestingly I am surrounded by all sorts of “treats”in the shop here but I am not in the least tempted because I know they will make me feel c**p . I am also very anti processed foods and there are a lot of those in the supermarkets !

I have been reading Dr Bikman’s book ‘Why we get sick ” To be honest I didn’t learn much that I didn’t know as I have acquired so many Wellness/Fasting /Keto /Emotional eating books on my Kindle . He links most health issues to insulin resistance.What I did take from it though is that if you are going to eat them it is best to eat carbs LAST , after proteins and veg because that helps to reduce the risk of a blood sugar spike .

I intend to make the most of my last 2 weeks here and then I have my diamond paintings and painting by numbers kits to console me !!

SG could you please continue to host the thread for December until I can step in in the New Year ?Many thanks xx

All the best everyone from tropical Queensland !

Wendy xx

Wendy, I’m also reading “Why we get sick” at the moment. I didn’t learn too much news so far but I find it helpful to keep getting reminders of why I’m doing this- not only to lose weight but to reverse my insulin resistance!

Enjoy your last 2 weeks there!

Hi everyone, yes Wendy I am setting up a new thread in a few minutes time. Of course I am organised, you know me, I get in a panic if I am not in control. Glad you are not succumbing to the crap in the shops. It is unfortunate that the Aussies have really bad diets when they could be so healthy with all that outdoor life. Their overweight / obesity levels are 65% and are the 9th worst in the world. Stay strong, you will soon be back to a meagre French green salad 🙂

Haven’t read why we get sick but after about 5 years I still haven’t finished Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. It is so full of complicated statistics and medical type info that, even as a nurse, I just blank out on. I will finish it one day and maybe by the time I get to the end I will know all the answers 🙂 Wish I knew how to do emojis!!!!

Weight this morning is down to just over a 6lb loss (6.25) so I am happily back on my way, I hope. See you all next week.

New thread set up DETERMINED DECEMBER 2023

I can only say “thank goodness November is no more”. For me rather ‘than ‘not giving up’ in November , it was more a case of ‘not getting started’!
I suppose, in reality, November was never going to be one where I lost weight with being away for 3 weeks. Best I can say was that the damage was limited and now I’m off to Determined December ….
Hope everyone else had a ‘successful’ November.

No I agree with you Verano November excluding an enjoyable birthday gathering has been a dieting non event for me. Yes I’m also going to determined December when hopefully my body will cooperate before the Christmas food & drink onslaught.
Margaret