Wonderful news Lucia!! I love your minute to minute mindfulness.
I laughed when you said you destroy “bad” food with salt — I do the same thing! I put it in the sink and cover it with water or put it in the veggie scrap bin that goes out to the compost pile (it’s gross in there, with all the coffee grounds ha ha). I have never pulled cake back out of the veggie scrap bin! It just takes three seconds of being strong and then I can move on.
My most important thing to stay on track is not to buy anything sugary at all, and never, never bring it into the house. I don’t have that kind of willpower. I can’t even have it in the freezer.
Anyway, good to hear you are still here!

Ive not posted in a looooong time (so much so i had to struggle to log in).

I really just felt i had to comment to say thank you to sunshine-girl, reading some of your posts yesterday and today was exactly what i needed!! You are a most wonderful person to keep giving back, to try and help, you honestly do make a big difference even if you are totally unaware!!
Mind set is everything, and when i was 100% on this WOE I totally had your mind set and direct way of looking at it. At that time i had a friend, in her 20s with diabetes diagnosis and the frustrating conversations we would have were scary, just couldn’t get her to think a low carb way of life was possible. Very similar in tone to what i see / have seen in newbie posts on here over the years….

Anyway, here I am, with better habits than the ‘old me’ but not actually committed to the way of life…… all the excuses and reasoning in the world, but actually none of them mean or matter much…. I’m not looking after myself the way i should, I let bad habits in, blah blah…… I know fine well the effects of diabetes having lost my mum aged 67 very suddenly due to massive cardio vascular failure resulting from her type 2….. despite the fact she had reversed it and was at that time the healthiest she’d ever been…..
So the only person who can help me is….me!! And i need to quit pontificating or halfassing it and get it done! I know all the theory, know why i feel meh, know the struggles, and know how wonderful it feels to be living the BSD life…. so here’s me, getting back to it!!

Thank you good people of the forum!!

Julz

Welcome back Julz!

Hi all, it is my weigh in day. I have lost exactly 1kg, so just over 2lbs. Not a bad start. We have no events until September so I am happy to keep going without any interruptions. I fancy going out for a meal but we will be on 2nd Sept for our quiz night. Anyway, 1kg down 8kg to go.

Going back to what Verano and I agreed on that if we gain weight it is fat, if we lose it is fluid. Also, if we gain weight it is our fault, if we lose it is by some miracle of the diet. Okay if we gain we might not have been on plan but when we lose it is with a great deal of effort on our parts. Every pound is through determination and motivation and something we have inside ourselves that wants something enough to make some small sacrifices and changes in our lives – think of the benefits.

I am doing the 30 plants a week challenge and on day one did 14 different. Today I have had eggs and then a diet shake drink so not really looked at a veg. Not sure if I can count soya or almond milk as they are plant based but not, so if you know different left me know.

Hubby is cooking tonight and he is doing a sausage cassoulet from the Fast800 book, so hopefully it will be good stuff and will include onions and haricot beans – so just 2 more.

Also WindyJulz, thank you for your kind words. I will not go into a long speech about what it means to me to will leave that for a story for another day.

Here’s to another week.

Welcome back Julz! It’s always good to have a ‘safe’ place to come back to when we’re feeling lost.

Well, done s-g on track so just keep on keeping on …… About the milk my guess would be to take a look at the ingredients, they may just shock you! I did a bit more reading and it looks like coffee only counts as a quarter of a point as do the spices. Just makes it all the more difficult! I’m wondering if my turmeric supplement counts?

I had 13 ‘plants’ yesterday but only two so far today with hopefully another two tonight. I must admit I’m finding the challenge really good because it’s made me realise just how little the variety is in my diet. It’s ‘forcing’ me to be more mindful about adding different ‘plants’ which can’t be bad.

I do think I have to take a good look at my diet at the moment. I’ve been eating lots of salad but I actually don’t really like salad so I’m getting really bored and starting to ‘crave’ anything that isn’t ‘salad’. I think I need to start proper ‘cooking’ again with veggies. I’d love a bolognese with courgetti! Bet there would be a few’ ‘plants’ in that!!

Start of a new week (for some of us) but wherever you are in your week hope you’re feeling healthy and well.

Thanks for the info V, looked at the almond milk carton and it is 2% almonds and 95% water with the other 3% being vitamins and stabilizer etc. So won’t count but I already had almonds on my yoghurt yesterday. Also, can I count tomatoes twice if I have fresh and then canned. The info about the spices was not a shock but I do use nearly a tablespoon of cinnamon when I do the marinate for my apricots in olive oil and lime juice (didn’t count the lime juice or olives 🙂 ). I didn’t count coffee.

My total for 2 days is 21 and not even had a salad yet, although I have already had tomatoes.

I would suggest that your turmeric supplements are made up of a thousandth of a gram of turmeric so unlikey to count.

Lucia, really liking the determination and resolve. It takes great will power to destroy the ‘bad’ foods, there is always the temptation to eat it ‘so it’s not wasted’. Your route is much better!
Julz, good to ‘see’ you again. You are so right about mindset bring vitally important. Our inner dialogue makes such a huge difference to how we are, what motivation we have and ultimately our approach to life in general, let alone challenges like addressing weight and health issues. Hope we’ll be reading more posts from you going forward.
SG, well done on the discard and keeping focus on your target.
V, the clarification on how to count spices etc. on the plant challenge is very helpful …. it was a question I was going to ask. This means I’ve got a count of 15 for today, but there won’t be any tomorrow, as I’ll be fasting again. Then we go away on Thursday, so I will largely lose control of what plants I can eat over the weekend.
To report in on my result for the week, I’m 2lb down on this time last week, so quite happy with that. Now only need to discard a fraction of a pound, to drop into the correct stone bracket. As the people we’re visiting this weekend eat keto, I should hopefully be able to stay close to the track …. I say that, as there will definitely be some alcohol! Of course, this means caution will have to be my watch word over the weekend.

Hi
Another goal achieved , I have stuck at it and reached 14th…. 14th !!!!! Yipppeeeeeee!!!!!
Now on to 31st Aug .
Previously the idea of doing a ‘diet’ for a month on my own was not something I could achieve or cope with. So I broke it into tiny pieces.
It could be just removing one type of biscuit at a time. Or substituting one fizzy drink for water, if you do that slowly for a week , at the end of it you are having 7 glasses of water and a lot less fizzy sugary drinks
It could be moving yourself off the couch. So each commercial break on the Tv walk around the room, walk to the hall and back , climb up the stairs and back. No gym fees , no fancy lycra costumes , and… you don’t notice it as much.
It could be looking through these posts and trying one type of food suggested. Full fat yoghurt? No! Too crazy! It tastes weird, it has a weird texture etc etc. but, if you try a little each day by the weekend you are thinking ‘ this is yummy so what berries can I plop into it?’
For me, stress is my biggest hurdle. I stress about stressing out!!! So I started getting fresh air, walking up the road, then around the block. So whilst walking I am getting healthy, daylight which is vitamin d, plus walking which is exercise, I also count how many blue front doors or pink flowers or how many paths or how many gates are shut or how many hanging baskets or how many curtains or blinds or nets. It’s keeping my brain working, keeping me occupied so I don’t think of food.
At first I could only walk around the house and sit on a chair then repeat. The next goal was walking past 10 neighbours gates. Then to the end of the road and back , then around the block. Eventually I walked further and when I came to a bus stop with a seat I would catch my breath and waddle further.
I just keep repeating something for a week then it seems easier so I crank it up.
I am still eating between 2pm and 6pm. I have had totally veg days ( just eating mountains of various veggies) . I still prefer chicken and salad/veg and finishing with yoghurt and berries. And water or the odd decaf tea .
Who would if thought I could change from takeaways to healthy foods.
If I slip I accept it as I am a human but I go back to my routine as soon as I can.
I hope people who read theses blogs but don’t have a go as it’s so hard/difficult/so complicated etc. please try something as it’s not hard , it’s not difficult , it’s not complicated. Try one thing, anything, and you will have helped yourself.
Keep going
Love Lucia xx

Great post, Lucia. Full of wisdom and encouragement. The control is in our own hands and all we have to do is make some small incremental changes, to achieve great things. Love how you have found simple ways to increase movement and keep a hectic mind busy with diversionary tactics … almost like a chanted meditation.

It is quite evident from your post, that you will definitely be successfully getting to your next target of 31st August. And meantime, I hope others take inspiration from your journey.

Just finished my first week of fast 800 and have lost 7lbs!! I have an enormous amount to lose but my NHS BMI calculation has just moved out of severely obese to obese (not really sure it is something to be proud of but after struggling with weight for two decades I am). I need to lose 4 stone just to be overweight. But at least it is going in the right direction. I realise the first week is like the star week and it will all slow down but what at boost

Hi all, well done Lucia. You should be very proud of your achievements. You are taking control of your life and what you eat, exercise etc. A lot of people go on a diet and find it too hard – yes it is – if diets were easy we would all be Twiggy (for us oldies) or stick thin. You have put yourself in a good mindset where you can see the benefits outweigh the so called hardships of this way of eating. Well done.

Welcome to fatbottomgardener, you have done great in your first week. Yes it will slow down but think of it as a way of life rather than a quick fix.

Bit of a beginners error last night. Hubby want to make chicken burgers that we (he) buys from the supermarket and I said no, they are highly processed etc. When he said he was doing chicken burgers I thought he was going to grind some chicken and do it all homemade. So he rootled through my cookery books and I was happy that he found something called Cheats one-pot cassoulet in the Fast800 recipe book. I had a big shock when I checked it (after eating it) and found it was 445 calories and 19g of carbs per portion. Nothing against the Fast800 diet in itself except as a diabetic it doesn’t look after my carb intake. Even bigger shock this morning when my BG is up from 74 to 137 – yikes. Also weight increase of 0.2kgs. Oh and BTW the supermarket chicken burgers were only 190 calories – should have kept my mouth shut.

If you are doing the Fast800 and are not diabetic the diet is quite sound but too high in carbs for me. So, fatbottomed gardener don’t let that put you off.

I have to think a new strategy for his cooking now he wants to experiment. He cooks on Tuesday and Saturday and I will have to have already planned something into our weekly menu instead of letting him go rogue.

Good to be back and have the chance to get some inspiration and motivation from others.
Thats day 3 for me back treating myself the way i know i should. Already i have more energy and my digestive system is happier. Ive made significant changes back to the good side, still got a few adjustments to make things better (back coffee in the morning being one, loosing the squash in some of my water being another) but I like Lucia’s way of looking at it, changing one thing, not needing to be perfect, and not letting the little things get in the way or ruin the big things.
I’ve not braved the scales yet…..

I know stress is a factor, and ironically so are fitness goals! I did great getting my lift on track in 2020, got down from a size 16 to a size 12 (that was a first in my entire adult life), and i took up running….. it was covid times and i found running to be allowably social….. since then…. i ran a marathon in 2021; 2 triathlons in 2023, and i still run a bit……. and through all the training i did nothing but put on weight…. that much exercise makes me hungry…and it seems ok to have chips if i’d been training….. so bad habits came back, its true what they say – you cant out train a bad diet! ITs all ironic as it was only getting lean that led me to run, and running is SO much easier lighter…..
Anyhoo…. that coupled with a change of job which has me on the road a lot, and life stressors with an aging father and i just havent been making time for! Toast adn chips are so much easier than clean cooking from scratch, sandwiches easier on the road etc etc.

As mentioned in yesterdays post…. all the excuses…. but I’m over them, its time to look out for me, make the effort, maybe let the running take a back seat for a couple of weeks to get my eating habits improved…… I know why, I know how, i just gotta get it done! Each meal doesnt have to be delicious, or easy…. its got to be nutritious, and aimed at improving health!

Of course….. Ive chosen a hard time of year to find my mojo….. on holiday next week, will have a few days away with less food options, I’ll pack as good as i can in prep… and then birthday at the end of the month…. I’ll be away with work on the evening of my birthday so that might actually make it easier….. but for now, the aim is to get to next Monday on plan, then hopefully my body will be appreciating it and my mind can make the right decisions from there….

Thanks all for posting and being here…… an amazing place!

WOW! Lots of great posts.

S-g my turmeric supplement has 475mg curcumin plus pipperine so might just count … fingers crossed! You are doing really well . So far I’ve just made 20 but that includes salads! Not doing that well really this week.

Welcome ‘fattbottogardener’ you are in the right place for lots of support.

Julz we are none of us ‘perfect’ being your ‘best self’ is the most we can hope for. You can and will be ‘your best self’. Just take one day at a time.

Lucia, looks like you’ve cracked it! Well done girl! Just keep on keeping on …… as sunshine girl says.

Must admit all this new enthusiasm from our ‘returners’ is really rubbing off on me so just want to say a huge ‘THANY YOU’ for coming back and re-energising all of us.

Hi everyone, the fluid retention from the cassoulet seems to have gone and my weight is down even further and my BG is back down to 83 this morning. I have reduced insulin by 2 units. I have planned hubbys cooking for his 2 days and we are having pork chops with mustard sauce on Saturday then steaks and salad on Tuesday. (Or vice versa). He always moans he cannot cook a steak properly but them I sometimes (more often than not) overcook my steaks so it doesn’t matter how he manages, he will get better.

I am not sure about the 30 veg/fruits a week challenge as I reached 30 by day 3 and not even had a salad. Maybe it is for people who don’t get enough veg and gives them something to aim for. I saw on TV that some people don’t have any veg for 3 weeks except baked beans. I will continue to monitor as it is interesting. I am sure Verano that you reach 30 veg in a week if not all totally different so we are doing great anyway.

Oldest grandson has his BTEC results in today and it is mainly merits and distinctions so he should have no trouble getting a placement on an engineering apprenticeship. Poor lad had one already lined up. Rec’d the letter of confirmation in the post and the next day rec’d a letter saying the compay had gone bust. Shame as a lot of places have now gone – at least he has top results if there are any fussy companies like Jaguar Rover.

Now just waiting for gs no.2’s result on GCSEs next week. This could cost us 🙂 as he is also very clever. So proud.

Hi ladies, just come back after listening to Mel Robbin podcast with a urologist talking about bladder issues. As she says, not the sexiest of subjects but something we all might need help with at times. It interested me on how having problems can impact on your life including your mental health, mobility, confidence, so many aspects. It also covers other pelvic floor issues, exercises, constipation, sexual health and a bit about mens health near the end. Hope this link works –

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ive-never-told-this-story-leaky-bladder-pelvic-floor

Enjoy.

Well done s-g. Good to see your BS is down again and that you are reducing your insulin.

I’m truly impressed that you’ve reached 30 in 3 days, by the end of today I will have reached 22 ‘different’ fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts etc. In the article I posted the link to above, it says that people who eat 30 or more different veg etc. in a week have more diverse gut microbes than those who eat fewer than 10. The more the better I guess! Not really difficult to get to 10 but I just can’t imagine not having green vegetables most days. I think we must all eat really healthily here if there are those whose only ‘vegetable’ over 3 weeks is baked beans!

Well done your grandson! We also have GCSE results next Thursday, eldest grandson. He’s very bright but not very hard working so fingers are being crossed here!

Hi Folks,

I saw a post today on another group which so clearly explains water weight gain and loss that I thought I would share.

A good rule of thumb is your body stores 2,000 calories of readily available glycogen in your liver. That’s 500 grams of glycogen which is bound with water at 3:1 ratio. So that’s roughly 2 kg combined water glycogen. Converted to 4.4 lbs. That’s just your liver. Your muscles also store glycogen and that the ratio can be much higher, from 3:1 up to 16:1 water to glycogen depending on what you were drinking when your body stored the glycogen. But most people ignore the muscle storage and focus on the liver. Exercising will deplete both muscle and liver glycogen with associated temporary water loss. I’ve noticed my body weight can easily vary by 5 lbs at any given time of the day due to water retention or loss.
If you maintain a low carb intake, you can keep glycogen storage lower. If you cheat and eat carbs, you will quickly regain the glycogen/water weight. Many people struggling with variable weight loss and gain within 5 lbs aren’t actually burning fat, just losing and refilling glycogen.

I just wanted to share my inward laughing this morning…. I’m on day 5 of taking back control, mind set seems really good, im delighted….
I’m a Health adn Safety consultant, and today my client is a large bakery, fascinating from a H&S point of view and hilarious from a low carb, low sugar and unprocessed persons view point – literally surrounded by bread, cakes, donuts, french fancies, strawberry tarts, pies, tray bakes…… and I’m not even tempted, in fact i cant believe quite so much of this is actually so much in demand…. no wonder we have health issues in the general public!
It smells pretty amazing and i can enjoy that, but totally couldnt be eating any of that today!

My mind set – food has to provide nutritional value, so every time i eat i focus on what it is giving me, not on whats not in it, or just in filling a hole or satisfying a craving! There is nothing here for me!

Hi all, doing fine. Had my hair done today so not feeling like messing it up with a swim.

I am really interested in what you are saying JGwen. I had one slice of bread with some soup yesterday and my weight increased by one pound – I also had a Ryvita with cheese for supper because I was feeling shakey. There is another part to the science of eating carbs – I was probably feeling shakey because I had a high carb and it will have put my BG up but then given me a swift drop making me feel ill. So it is not just fluid retention but also messes with your BG. Which we all know, so I should known better. Just one of those days, back from shopping needing food in a hurry so something quick and easy – never works.

Weekend is upon us so enjoy if you get time off work. Just relax.

Try hi-lo bread. Lovely and only 5carbs a slice. From sainsburys.
Literally my saviour!

Hello everyone & I’m back from my wonderful second Golden wedding anniversary celebration with our sons in London & of course I’ve gained the weight & lost last week. Well it’s time I stopped faffing around & get back on track eating low calorie low carb & losing a proper amount of weight again. That is two more stone with sadly having regained some of the two stones of weight I felt so proud to lose last year🙁. I know what I need to do but also build back in some exercising with hand weights that I haven’t done for too long now.
Well done to everyone keeping on track despite lifes ups & downs. Lucia you are very inspiring with continuing to take your « baby » steps that are working so well for you. I think that will be the trick for me just focusing on one day at a time trying to do my best to achieve as much as I can with all aspects of my life, including maintaining weight loss & good health🤞🤞
We can all do this & become lighter, stronger & fitter before Christmas!!
Margaret xx

Wendy glad you’ve had a wonderful celebration!

Just popping in to say that I’ve actually only managed 27 different ‘plants’ this week but I’ve not counted herbs and spices so I think my ‘gut microbiome’ are probably ‘dancing’ anyway!

I think I’m happier counting ‘plants’ from Saturday for a week so will start a new list today.

Hope you are all having a good weekend with lots of ‘healthy, wholesome’ foods. Enjoy!

Thank you Verano & it was very enjoyable but getting back to chopping vegetables & preparing meals is feeling rather hard but it is better to eat in a more healthy way 👍😄
Well done on your different plant eating I must study my book to get ideas but did include grated carrot, pumpkin seeds & pine nuts with my different salad leaves with red peppers & tomatoes for lunch which is a start.
Margaret xx

Hi all, happy Sunday.

I seem to have got my weight back on track although it is annoying when such little things like a crust of bread can knock you off track. Must remember that for the future, if I want to keep losing over these 6 months on my challenge I have to be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking one small thing can’t hurt. Anyway, it didn’t seem to hurt my BG as it is still around 85/90 and insulin in 18 units.

Lucy, I have checked out the hi-low bread and it looks like a good choice although as a diabetic I wouldn’t use it. Not because of the carb content but because I am not sure that I could stop at one slice. It still has carbs so maybe one or 2 slices a week would be okay if you can resist or you can soon find you are having it every day and for me that is 5g carbs I could have on a nice veg.

Talking about veg. Sorry to say this Verano but I have done 40 different ones for the week – started counting on Monday. I did have 4 or 5 spices which I counted as 1, several herbs which I only counted as 1 and I counted dark chocolate – if I only had one piece I wouldn’t have bothered but I have 3 or 4 sqares in a week.

Tomorrow is another week but not my weigh in day, which is Tuesday, so hoping for more loss. Don’t forget to keep on keeeping on…

S-g so glad you counted the herbs and spices in your 40 because I started to feel that my diet was really too restricted. If I add my herbs and spices I’m into the 30’s so not too bad really.

Just watched two Steven Bartlett podcasts, one with Robert Lustig and the other with Aseem Malhotra. Both fascinating and I realise that I’ve not paid anywhere near enough attention to ‘insulin’ and metabolic syndrome. I seem to drift along eating as ‘healthily’ as I can but I now think I need to read more again. I have The Pioppi Diet and Metabolical, which I don’t think I ever finished, so time for a recap. Has anybody read ‘Fat Chance’? Interested to know what it’s like.

New week tomorrow and getting closer to the end of the month. Let’s make everyday a ‘healthy’ one!

Margaret I posted a link above to a basic ‘chart’ of the vegetables etc that count. Different colour vegetables each count. So red and green peppers would count as 2. S-g is putting me to shame! I seem to have a bit of a problem adding in ‘variety’ even though I eat ‘plants’ at both of my meals each day. Think I was a bit short on berries last week but will ‘do better’ this week!

Ok, I am reporting in on my 30-veg-a-week:
No problem — I benefit from being a big salad eater for lunch and I like to include lettuce (romaine, red or butter), arugula, peppers, fennel, radish, pumpkin seeds or walnuts and I make a whole mustard seed (counted) vinaigrette for the dressing (with cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil so I counted that too!). I also add hard-boiled egg and cheese to my salads for protein/calcium.
Dinners are invariably a protein like chicken, fish, beef etc. with one or two veggies, like artichokes, asparagus, butternut squash, zucchini (oh yes, LOTS of zucchini thanks to the one plant out in the veggie garden ha ha).
I had a very small amount of fruit (this is a weakness for me) right now it is plums and asian apple pears on the trees but the figs are almost ripe and I am greedy for figs so will probably increase my fruit intake for a couple of weeks so I can eat lots of the figs.
Regarding the low carb bread, I am like sunshine girl, I couldn’t stop at just one or two pieces per week. Bread just doesn’t come into the house. I have no willpower for that! I would even pull it out of the freezer. So bread is just a treat if I am out to dinner.
California has finally cooled off and we are enjoying summer days — July was so hot it was miserable to be outside but the fog from the coast has started to come back in at night and so we start cool in the mornings.

Oh, speaking of low carb bread, here is a good example of why I keep every tempting thing OUT of the house — my husband left two dumb Cliff Bars here when he left for a work trip and after just looking at them on the sideboard I was tempted to eat them so I put them in the drawer (you know, the old out of sight, out of mind thing) and then could not stop thinking about them all day long and in the end, of course, I couldn’t resist and I ate one — SO MAD at myself.
So I did what Lucia does — I took the second one and put it in the trash can outside and smashed it into the grubby stuff.
Problem solved!
And by the way, my husband shouldn’t eat them either!
The fact is, I don’t really want to eat that stuff. I don’t even enjoy it. But like I said, I have no will power. So I have learned not to tempt myself. Don’t make yourself miserable — don’t bring “carbage” into the house.

Well done Julia! I think I just need to have a little more imagination! I must admit when I have a yogurt based lunch I do usually have three types of berry, walnuts and seeds so 5 in one meal. Obviously salad is great for upping the numbers. But today for lunch I had some left over green beans with scrambled eggs so only 1 and I’d already had them yesterday so none as yet for today! Nonetheless it does make you think and, in my case, I really do need to add variety.

Low carb bread: I like ‘Livlife’ seeded bread. Just 3.4g of carbs in a slice. I freeze it and maybe have four slices a week maximum. I only use it in an open sandwich with a protein and plenty of salad for lunch. It’s very easy to eat more bread if you make traditional sandwiches or toast so yes very easy to end up eating too much.

Talking about freezing. I’ve started to freeze my dark chocolate in squares. I find if I have chocolate in the house at room temperature it’s so easy to mindlessly eat two or three squares with a cup of coffee. When it’s frozen it takes far longer to eat and one is always enough!

Happy Monday to you all.

Starting on a new veg challenge week. As I exceeded the 30 last week I am only going to log everything one more week just to see if I am consistent or if I had to force myself. Verano, I didn’t count oils so I could add another half as I have just double checked and spices, herbs and oils only count as quarter. However, so if I have a chilli then I count bay, basil, oregano and chilli then that will be one. It also says you can count fruit juices but I would suggest if you have orange juice that is half but you cannot then count an orange. I would rather have the orange as I have not had fruit juice in the house for years. Only exception is tomato juice (which I hate) as it is really good for male health and my hubby has a glass most days. So far today I have had a none but dinner tonight will be around 8 or 9. Mince with carrots, onions, herbs (3), tomatoes, tomato puree (count as 2 separate items I think), cauli mash, sweet potato, courgette, think that is about it. So 8 or 7 if I cant count toms twice.

Not had a swim for over a week as the weather as been up and down, then we were blessed with some rain but it puts the pool temperature down. Hoping to get in later but the water is pretty cold.

Yesterday I did something different. I got out my WiiFit board. When I renewed all the batteries and jumped on for a weight check it said I hadn’t been on for 894 days – 2 and half years about. Then it told me I weighed exactly the same. First, should I be glad that I haven’t gained in all that time. My reasoning is that it is exactly what I was saying about not moving on and wanting to start losing again. I lost 13kgs when I first did this plan and regained 4kgs so I am 9kgs down. Still after over 2 years stuck in the same place. That is what has to change. I am happy with the way I look until I see a full length mirror 🙂 but I really need to lose another 9kgs which is what I am aiming at now. So I will be getting on the WiiFit and doing some exercise – which are actually great fun cause a sweat and a giggle, so I can cope with that. Especially as the pool cools down for Autumn.

Weigh in is tomorrow for me so see you then.

S-g yes you’re right to count bay, basil, oregano and chilli. I haven’t! Also in summer we seem to have ‘plain’ food … salads and meat or fish. At other times we have bolognese etc with mushrooms , onions, red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, courgettes plus at least basil, garlic, oregano! Yes it’s easier to have ‘cooked’ meals with vegetables rather than salad plus a protein! But either way we are thinking about our vegetable/plant intake which has to be good.

Oh bugger, I forgot to put garlic in my cottage pie (bolognaise with a cauli mash topping). Too late now, it is in the airfryer. Also, didn’t have any tomato puree in so just went into the garden and picked a load of tomatoes that were going squishy. Must get back on track with my shopping after trying to use up what the family didn’t eat.

I didn’t have salad once last week, just didn’t think of it.

Hi all, today is my weight check in and I have lost a great big 0.75 of a pound. Okay not so great but considering my goal is 3.3 lbs per month and this is the end of week 2 and my loss is 2.75lbs I think I am still on track.

Counted veg etc yesterday and managed 10 different types. I also realise that it has to be a full portion to count so 1 carrot between 2 of us might not be a full portion but I have more carrots which I will have with some hummous and I won’t count that so will catch up. I think everything else was full portions. I also haven’t been counting grains so was pleased to be able to add my lentils (half meat half lentil bolognaise mix) but I have added chickpeas as I thought of them like beans, peas, etc.

Had a swim yesterday and starting to realise my warm weather days are getting fewer. This morning it was a cool 18 degrees and there was a nip of Autumn in the air – that crisp smell. Must try to get more in or get in more 🙂 Counting my blessings.

On a fasting day today, after a weekend of mindful occasionally off-piste eating. Weigh-in this morning showed no loss but no gain either, so that’s a win. Plan is to fast through to mid afternoon tomorrow as a minimum …. going well so far.

Re: the veg challenge, hace decided I will try again next week, when I’ll have a full ‘normal’ week for the exercise.

Well done everyone who has had positive results both with weight discard and on the veg challenge. To those struggling, please stick with it, things will come right if you just keep going.

My week has ended in a similar way to others …. neither up nor down!

We’re away from next Wednesday so would love to have a little ‘cushion’ of weight loss to take away with me. I will do my best over the next 7 days. Although, this time when we’re away I know I don’t need bread even if that means no sardine pate. Normally I don’t eat breakfast so just eggs for breakfast, only because breakfast is included! Fish and salad for lunch, no bread or potatoes. Maybe the odd Indian meal, at night but without rice.

I know this is going to be so difficult but we are only home 18 days before we set off on a 3 week trip for our ?? wedding anniversary!

Maybe I’m setting an impossible task but given that I no longer have a ‘sweet tooth’ and only have a dessert because I can, I just need to add some willpower. Well maybe a lot of willpower, time will tell!

Hope this coming week is successful for everyone, whatever your measure of success is!

Hi
21st today so that’s three weeks into august already. 31st isn’t far off now.
Mental state is very important to me because if I am not in the right frame of mind I will do it half hearted or go totally off the wagon.
Winter is just around the corner so any sunny or even dry days get out there and have a good lung full or two . If you can’t walk far at least get to the end of the path and take in the outdoor smells/sounds/feelings etc
If you can walk, then how about going a different way or at least cross over the road and look at the great outdoors from that side
Go looking to see what’s still in flower in the neighbours as you walk
Count how many different colours you can see of cars . I tut at the white grey and black ones and I raise my foot off higher from the ground … and then the other foot just a little higher. If I find a different colour I count that and I stretch my arms out carefully . I am doing different exercises and when someone looks at me I say… Monty pythons funny walks !!!
This keeps my mental health in a good place. Don’t get me wrong, I can look at the negative IF I want to, such as I have been given three more different types of tablets to take. More tests to be done on me. Etc etc but I try and play all of that down or I only allow myself to sulk for 4 mins ( I use the egg timer on the stove) then I go and do something different.
My eating is coming along nicely , I am not perfect not by a long chalk . Eg I was given a bag of chocolate raisins and without thinking I ate them. I didn’t notice me doing that as I was listening to a talk on you tube. But I noticed the empty packet next to me. How the hell did that happen? So now I don’t have anything but water near me when I am on my iPad . I haven’t thrown the towel in. I said Dope!!! I then went for a walk to ‘burn them off’. I can’t walk far enough yet to burn off the packet but at least I did something to try and cancel them. I tried to keep my mood light by saying there is fibre in the raisins and the visualised a bad guy sneaking into the shop , opening the bag and stuffing tiny sugar cubes inside each one ( you know I am weird) So hopefully this will prevent another slip. I got myself out of the chair and moved, I tried to change my way if thinking and I tried to calm myself so I don’t totally give up.
It was 429 calories. 68.4g of carbs but it happened .
The next day I was on the look out for the bad guy dressed all in black with a mask and a sack over his shoulder full of sugar cubes, I was ready for him !!!!
I am enjoying salads still before the winter starts and prices go silly. I enjoy vegetable soup in winter, the home made clear one with loads of veg in there and the wonderful smell of leeks etc coming from the kitchen. . i make my own from scratch. I do sometimes cut corners and buy a frozen mixed veg bag for £1.25. It’s so worth it and I get a few days out if it. I don’t add chicken but you could.
I am trying to have a day each week without any type of meat. Personal preference, but I make sure I am having enough protein other ways
So I am off for another walk the long way around to collect my prescriptions and raise my feet high and swing my arms up as I pass the various cars .
Have a great day
Love Lucia xxx

I had a lightbulb moment today. – There was a post by Dr Bikman, on Facebook in which he mentioned research carried out 30 years ago that if someone has an underactive thyroid they have 70% more sensors that respond to insulin on each fat cell than normal. Someone with an over active thyroid has 40% less insulin receptors. – Given that insulin is the hormone that prevents fat cells from releasing the fat it means its much harder for someone with an under active thyroid to loose weight.

This inspired me to go diving online for articles around the subject which is when I found that raised insulin levels block the body from transforming T4 the output from the thyroid into T3 which is the active thyroid hormone. So IR will cause you to have all the symptoms of an under active thyroid but blood tests will indicate that your thyroid is acting normally.

It feels like all the pieces of a jigsaw have fallen into place. I went through a number of cycles with GP’s having all the symptoms of an under active thyroid but blood tests showed that my thyroid was producing T4 just inside the low level of normal in my 20’s and 30’s. Eventually, i turned online for info and discovered that there were a lot of women in the same situation. Apparently traditionally people had been treated based on symptoms, but then the NHS produced blood which checks on T4 output and there are a lot of women who fall just inside the new “normal” range, who are no longer eligible for treatment on the NHS. Many were raving about a private doctor who followed the traditional protocol and how much better they felt. ——- I followed information I found about seeing a recommended private clinic where they prescribed natural thyroid. I felt so much better, more energy, did not struggle with the cold all the time, but there were things about the clinic which made me uneasy. In addition to prescribing the thyroid medication they also prescribed appetite suppressors which I found out were banned in the US for safety reasons, and a few months later were banned in the UK. The focus was on weight loss rather than balancing the level of thyroid medication needed, I was fitness training for endurance riding, so was working out on machines which had a heart rate monitor, so I was in a position to be concerned by the high heart rate which I now understand was a clear signal that the amount of thyroid drug was too much. —- When that doctor retired so his private clinic closed, and I had moved to Wales on a lower paying job it was not practical for me to continue on that protocol.

Going back to the thyroid support group for women who fall outside the NHS treatment protocol and following the links to the latest doctor they are recommending and guess what she is recommending. Keeping carbs restricted and fasting to control insulin as well as a low dose of thyrod medication that can be bought over the counter to rev up metabolic rate. ——- It all makes so much sense.

Fantastic research finding JGwen 👏👏⭐️very well done!
Margaret xx

Also Lucia you are doing so well & are very inspiring with the changes you have made to you daily activities & diet 👏👏
Margaretxx

Hi all, lets start with some good news. Results are in for both my grandsons exams. One got distinctions and merits in BTech and has now secured a 4 year apprenticeship, second one got 1 A*, 5 A+ , 2 A’s and a B in GCSEs. So proud of them both. They both worked so hard especially the GCSEs. So thats for my positives as well. Cut and paste.

Such a lot of research JGwen. I am certainly familiar with IR in diabetes and also the problems with injecting insulin and swelling up the fat cells, which is why it is so hard for me to lose weight but I keep going.

Sad day today, the new Michael Mosley series starts on TV tonight. All about how our bodies work. He recorded it just before his death so it is very recent and not a repeat.

Nothing else to report.

Bumping this back to the top. Looks like we have been infiltrated by someone giving advice but when you check them out it is a website – which I am not going to click on. Someone called Antung, cannot report as they are not saying anything wrong but commenting on lots of very old posts.

Did anyone watch the MM programme last night. Unfortunately I didn’t as I want to keep up with MasterChef as they report on it often on daytime TV and I don’t want to see who got kicked off before I have watched it. Will get to watch MM at my leisure over the weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Good morning BSDrs!
I have a recommendation for watching — it is Dr. Sarah Hallberg’s TED talk on You Tube. It is called “Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Starts With Ignoring the Guidelines”. It is 18 minutes and it’s an enthusiastic, knowledgeable discussion of what we already know (but can always use being reminded of) that simple carbohydrates are best left uneaten.
She embraces fat and protein and even likes to bake, but uses alternatives to wheat flour.
California has turned cool, with overcast and the first snows in the mountains!
And I am just keeping on keeping on — I have been pushing myself at weights (my workout) this past three weeks (lifting, pressing higher weights) and I have been surprised how quickly my muscles are responding! Seriously, I have already increased about 30% in just three weeks — it is interesting how fast the response is. I have been really careful to keep my protein levels up to support this — I am probably averaging 85-100+ grams of protein per day. But it is definitely working.
So at age 68, muscle WILL increase fast if you support it! I average three days a week doing weights — maybe two doing aerobics. I have cut down on aerobics to do more weights as it is the more recommended workout. It is almost ski season, so I want to be strong to ski with the granddaughters, Penelope and Eleanor!

Hi everyone. I am in a bit of a rut right now, dithering between 72.9 and 73.2, cant seem to shift even though I am being strict. Had a swim earlier so hoping that might give me a boost as it is the first for about 3 days.

Great recommendation Californiagirl. Unfortunately, Sarah Hallberg died in 2022 of lung cancer but bringing up and checking in on her YouTube keeps it in the public domain – apparently if no-one looks they eventually taken them down – so lets keep her going.

Talking about someone who has passed. I have just watched the first in the new Michael Mosley series about how our bodies work. The introduction was given by his wife and it was very poignant. Unfortunately, him talking about how he wants to live longer than his father did (died age 74) made it even sadder. As usual, lots of very interesting information. Hope some of you watch it.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend – its a long weekend in England so that is something to look forward to.

Yes my husband and I also watched Michael Mosleys latest tv series and very sad and poignant seeing his enthusiasm for life but very brave of his wife to give an introduction. It must be difficult for his family seeing him on tv but hopefully also able to celebrate his life and how helpful and influential he has been.
Well I weighed this morning and have lost the 3.75lbs I gained from my last anniversary celebration but now the real focus must start again to stop faffing about gaining then losing that weight and not moving further downwards. I have a short term goal because I have booked a private consultation with an Orthopaedic Surgeon to try to get a definitive diagnosis as to what is going on with my worse right knee and what treatment is possible.
Onwards and downwards everyone and I agree Californiagirl that using weights is helpful and I must get mine out to start using them again! I don’t know how helpful they are to counteract flabby batwing arms?🙀I am aged 76 now so probably too late for me?
Margaret xx

I had not heard that Sarah Hallberg had passed away Sunshine girl — how sad, she was very young!

And I agree Margaret, those loose arm batwings are one of the insults of age! And the wrinkled skin over the biceps. Sigh. Bigger sigh. I am still vain obviously but I guess we should be grateful we lived long enough to develop them! I hope your knee problem can be solved. Having a “bad” knee is really tough on activity levels — I have injured my right knee twice and it took a good while to recover.

Hi all, still diddling along around the 73kgs mark, hoping for a drop as I strongly resisted any temptation last night. If I can just get to Tuesday and maybe have a positive result.

Don’t know if you have heard but on Sunday 22nd September there is a voluntary stop on all internet usage. We are (me and my family) are going to do it. No internet for 24 hours from midnight that Sunday. So no BSD unfortunately but we worry so much about the health of our bodies. This is for the health of our brains and general well-being and mindfulness. You can still watch TV, listen to radio or read a book on your Kindle, just no access to the internet. Surely I can manage that for one day. I am not a person glued to my phone but find I have to have access it more and more because others are sending me messages, etc so it will just have to be turned off. Nothing I cant check the next day.

Thank you Californiagirl I had rather thought that my age was against me ridding myself of flabby bits 🙁 oh well I will continue to try to lose my excess weight & rely on disguise dressing 😀
Sunshine-girl I don’t think that I can’t use my iPad or phone for a day because of messaging my son who lives alone to check he is ok & doing daily French on Duolingo 🤔 I’m not actually glued to either but would miss not checking them!
It’s a good idea though to limit one’s use of them👍
Margaret

Hi
Can you see it?
The 31st is just over there, not far now.
I have carried on doing fasting and 800 calories,, staying away from carbs. Etc etc
Feeling happier nowadays but. ALWAYS one eye on anything I eat.
I used an app to help me add up calories and carbs , now I have a better idea of the ‘make up’ of foods
I am always looking for the sugar cube villan!!!!
The best thing is I had one taste of bread recently , just one bite and now I don’t like it!!! I previously had bread for bread dinner and tea 😀🎉🎉🎉🎉
Love Lucia xxx

Wow Lucia very inspiring & you are putting me to shame because over the weekend I allow myself to eat to my BMR which is around 1200 calories for two days & I then go back to around 800 calories from Monday to Friday with one fast day.
You are doing so well 👏👏⭐️
Margaret xx

Well done Lucia, you are getting control of your eating and your life. We all feel so much better when we are in control.

I personally am feeling very positive even though I am still exactly 73kgs. That is no really loss for 2 weeks but I am confident that by sticking with the plan something is bound to happen soon. I am still holding out until our quiz night next Monday when I will have no control over my food and I will have a few glasses of wine, but not until then. Having said that I will still push the bread to one side and if there are carbs in the meal I will just eat round them. Being a French restaurant they are not big on carbs although the owner is married to an English woman and the quiz will be all English people so she sometimes tells him to do a bit of mash or something similar but never piles of it.

I a feeling good in myself and have had a few good experiences. My airfryer conked out yesterday and hubby unplugged it and stuck it in the garage. We bought it on Amazon 1 year and 10 months ago and I checked if it was under guarantee. I then had a lovely conversation with a non-person called Rita who was sympathetic but asked if I had treated it roughly, I said no. She asked exactly how it wasn’t working and I told her I turned the timer dial to switch it on and it came off in my hand. She said she could confirm it was still under guarantee and would I like a refund. Yes please. Label sent to me and the money will be in my account as soon as they receive the broken airfryer. We have ordered a new one as I cannot live without it, it will be here on Friday. I love a good result and Rita the computer was so convincingly human.

Had 30 mins in the pool yesterday and doing another 30 in the next hour. Realised the good weather is only going to last for another week or so before Autumn starts to close in – lights are already going on earlier. Making the most of it.

Have a good week.