As promised, here is the new weekly thread to move us further into 2021. Hopefully many have had a good week and will beginning this new one with a positive result to build on. If this isn’t you, don’t waste time and energy lamenting, turn to face this new opportunity and do your best to make the next seven days count.

On a personal note, despite a good BSD week and seeing up and downs on the scales, I’m rounding the week out exactly where I started. Frustrating, but as I feel slimmer, hopefully it’s a case of waiting for the scales to catch up.

Wendy will be posting the list of weekly thread participants and we’ll hope to be seeing everyone posting during the coming week. If you’re returning to the BSD or are brand new to it, please just jump in here and join us …. we’ll make sure you get a warm welcome.

So, friends …. let’s take on this week, make each day count and just keep on keeping on.

Thanks Sunny ! Here is our updated list

wendleg, Sunny B, sunshine girl
JGwen
sixturkeys
Starina
Verano
ADD6605 ( Dawn)
Riccoh
Russianroulade
Tulip1 ( Clare)
Mifoz
MerryMelba
Maryanne Carlos-Mascarenhas
WindyJulz
articfox
Olive1
lauraknits
Marsie (Marilyn)
EllieAllegra
EC:Erin
Hello66
Jordana
Alipetunia/Alison
RubyG and hubby
Ditchedthemet
Dizzychicken
SlinkyTinks
LonelyAdipose
Emzijw
Barefoot girl
Life Diet
allicat1A ( Allie, formerly alliecat !)
RedRooster
nhatha3432
sprox
skittle
Daisybean
workingfromthe fridge
Bombalone
PSL68
ScottM
florobo85/Lauren
Tamara1
MillieMoo/Claire
SummerTwinkles/ Summer
Sheila Canning
JustKeepFasting
Bryla
kiltgirl
Deb2003
Donnadoobie
HappiR
WilLuck
PaulaZ
Faithlyn67
Onetowatch
nicnocgee

As has been the case since the first weekly thread this year, this one will be co-hosted by SunshineGirl, Wendleg (Wendy) and myself. Please join us 🙂

Hi SunnyB, Wendleg and SG.
Thank you for continuing to host the thread- certainly helps me keep on track! This week I am tentatively seeing some movement downwards on the scales again since starting more of a definite 5:2, rather than a general lowish carb, lowish cal med style diet, a bit lower in the week than the weekends….It’s a long time since I haven’t religiously calorie counted every single thing except the odd special feast day, so it’s a bit counter intuitive for me! My non-fast days are med style lowish carb and keeping an eye on portion sizes (I am in the middle of re reading parts of the fast 800 diet this week to remind myself what I am supposed to be doing! A little hampered by taking the book to read last thing before sleep in bed and falling asleep after just a page! But hey ho 🤣) and the fast days as close to 800 as I can get- I actually wrote in all 3 meals for yesterday’s fast day last thing Sunday night which definitely helped me keep out of extra helpings of Sunday’s roast potatoes last night (Monday nights is always roast leftovers, partly because I have a busy day and evening on Mondays so not having to properly cook is helpful)!! I also often do a 12:12 pattern of eating, which was my norm before this diet any way as I like an early evening meal.
Wendy, I hope you are getting on ok with your shoulder.

Love to all, Tulip1 xxx

Checking in for the week, we’re still here…….

I have a question about dark chocolate – 85% or 95% – we always have some in the house and will occasionally have 1 square. Hubby’s occasional is starting to turn into an almost daily occurrence, after supper with a hot drink usually. So my question is – is a daily 1 square of dark chocolate OK? I am not concerned about the cals or weight, but more about his blood chemistry (he was pre-diabetic when we started the BSD in October 2020) and waking up the carb monsters.

Our weigh-in this morning showed a slight weekend gain, but we’re not tracking on weekends and are upping the cals, trying to find that balance for the long haul. The plan is to show a week-on-week loss at our Friday weigh-in and not overdo the weekends.

ODAAT everyone!

Hi everyone, hope all on that list are looking in and if you are thinking about joining us again just jump in. Always welcome. Ruby I am diabetic and I have a square of 75% dark chocolate every evening after my evening meal. It doesnt affect my bloods and is supposed to be very good for you. 85% and 95% are even better and will do no harm. I know the problem for some people is they just cant stop at one square. If your husband (and you) can then go ahead. Unfortunately, I cant keep up with everyones results so apologise if you have already posted on your progress thread but has hubby had another blood test yet as they are usually done at 3 month intervals if a doctor is concerned and monitoring. I am sure he will be much improved.

Tulip, I always find I do better when I have a clear plan. I try to do a weekly menu every Sunday but the lockdown put me off track as I now only do a once a week shop on Thursday so have to think a bit differently as I used to do a top up shop on a Monday and could get the stuff was am running out of. As an example, tomorrow I do a large fritatta and it absolutely has to have mushrooms and red pepper and whatever is getting a bit past it but already I have completely run out of mushrooms so will have to nip out to the farm shop today. I know it is not a big deal but it just puts me off my regular routine. We will be back to normal soon I hope. I have tried writing the menu on a Wednesday night but I just dont have the right mindset. Daft I know.

Wendy, hope your shoulder is getting better, I had to same problem and it seems to go on and on but you will wake one morning and do something like put on a jumper and not even realise you managed to do it without pain. Keep up the rotation exercises and deep heat – if you are using it.

Have a good week everyone. Always feels good to start out fresh and put any mistakes behind us. Take care, we are nearly there.

Thanks S-G, that’s good to know about the chocolate, and 1 square normally suffices.
He hasn’t had a blood test since his pre-diabetes was picked up at his annual check in October 2020. His doctor knows he has been on the BSD and has reduced his BP meds to just the daily 5mg Ramipiral now. When I order a new repeat prescription I enter his weight details so the practice has a record and can see the reduction, but they haven’t invited him for a repeat blood test.
The good news is he had his first jab this afternoon, the AZ one, so I have planned an early supper and early night in case he feels a bit rubbish.

Ruby, you seem to have devised a plan to get you both to your end goal, whilst not putting too much pressure on yourselves. Great that hubby has had his covid jab. I had AZ and other than feeling a bit washed out the following day and having a sore arm for a few days, there were no ill effects. SG, I wasn’t sure about the dark choc, so glad you were able to respond.
Tulip, similarly you seem to have a plan going forward, that works for you which is great.

As the week progresses hopefully a few others will join us here, to keep the weekly thread active and vibrant. Meanwhile, just keep going and make each day a good BSD day.

Hi all, first week after upping the cals, to within a few hundred grams I’ve maintained, I was v happy with that especially as I’m having 3x the calories per day (5 days a week anyway). Although net carbs still pretty low, I’m loving the butter, bacon and avacado etc in my diet. This week I am introducing longer fasting periods in the 2 fast days which will become OMAD, which effectively introduces a 24 hour fast from the previous evening meal. Did my first today, if anything was easier than a normal 800 day. Anyway looking forward to getting through this next week. Hope everyone else is doing ok

I lost the plot a bit last night, was too hyped and ate everything in sight – no appreciable carbs, but nuts, yoghurt and peanut butter were consumed in addition to supper.
Hubby had his first jab yesterday (also AZ) and felt quite rubbish, so was in bed by 6:30pm, and still feels rough this morning. He says it feels like 2 days after a rough game of rugby, his body feels beaten and he has a headache. He has taken some paracetamol and will have a lie down between calls if he feels the need.
We will probably have an early supper and early night again tonight, I just need to keep away from the fridge!
ODAAT!

Hi all – just checking in and great to hear all your news and the fact so many have had vaccinations. I’ve finished the eight weeks 9kg down but there has been serious yo yo img for the last few weeks. Was so happy to get under 80kg then promptly blew it and went as high as 81. Back under now but regular weighing and following you all helps stay in track. Need to not have another weekend blowout – takes too long to claw back. Also really enjoying the fast 800 cookbook. Aiming for two meals a day I really like and know are filling – so chicken korma then sausage and puy lentils today. Yum. Have April 13 date to go out out with the girls so aiming to shed at least 2kg by then and put some blue sky between my weight and that dreaded (for me) 80kg figure.

RedRooster, well done on getting a handle on maintaining. It’s quite a daunting prospect making that shift and you seem to have cracked it.
Ruby, nuts are one of those danger areas …. good fats and trace elements and very morish, but high in cals and quite high in carbs too. Still you’ve recognised the weakness, so you’ll be on guard in future. Hope hubby shakes off the after effects of his vaccination soon.
WFTF, well done on getting back below that 80kg marker again. I like your determination to make the time between now and 13th April count …. I’m sure you will achieve your goal. Lovely to have that piting to look forward too as well.

An inexplicable blip upwards on the scales for me this morning, which is frustrating, however I did a 23hr fast so have only had one meal today. Hoping that things will look more sensible again tomorrow.

Keep marching forward folks, the week is still young!

So… I’m back… I lost a lot of weight almost a year ago during the first lockdown. I even kept it off a few months. I really did think I had cracked it. But I hadn’t. So after 6 months of dedicated binge-eating and no activity I’m not just back where I started almost a year ago, I’m heavier than I was. I’ve had a few false starts over the last few months, but never seemed to find the kind of mojo I had the first time around. Climbing a mountain is one thing, rolling down it and climbing it again seems harder.
So today I’ve starting cutting out the sugars, and started doing some planning. Tomorrow is day 1.

Britta welcome back, I remember you from your previous time round. Sorry you find yourself needing to begin from scratch, so to speak, but you know you CAN do this, having done so well before. Returning to the full on BSD basics can feel daunting and finding the motivation to confront that is not easy, but it sounds like you have found the determination to make a start and we will happily support your efforts.

Try not to look at the whole ‘mountain’, just focus on getting from ‘camp to camp’. Set yourself a mini-goal …. making a particular garment fit more comfortably, dropping a dress size or slipping into the next stone bracket or kilo band. I’m sure you know having these points to celebrate along the way, helps to keep motivation high and maintain focus.

We’ll look forward to you being with us on the weekly thread, keep posting and I’m sure you will soon be posting positive result. Hope Day 1 goes well 🙂

Hi everyone !
I can’t believe it’s already Thursday !!! How did I manage to fit in work ???

So a few comments about choc … I think I am basically still a chocoholic . I just don’t eat fatty milk chocolate any more but the very dark stuff . I dare not buy Lindt 90 % as I would not be able to stop at one square . 85 % is dodgy too so my choice is for the choc I can find in the health food shops here which is 95% and even 100 % . I can’t eat much of it but it hits the spot . As Sunny well knows 😉 my favourite is Montezuma’s Absolute Black !! It is a good thing I am not in the Uk right now as I would also be stocking up on Godiva 90% from Sainsbury’s which is delicious . It is really interesting to check the carb count of any chocolate . Not that high really for 100g very dark choc( about 19g ) but noone can eat a whole bar of 100 % in one sitting, not even me !!! High in cals though.

SG has said that dark chocolate is good for you too and I totally agree !

So RubyG , I wouldn’t worry too much

Britta ! I remember you so well ! Welcome back ! It’ s ok, don’t panic . It’s all a learning curve and you had great success previously , never forget that . You have just learned that you have to keep your eye on the ball long term and we can never expect to resort to previous eating habits without running the risk of carb induced gain . You are here Britta and you know what works . We will help you with motivation and support . We have all been through some very tough times so don’t be too hard on yourself . I would say don’t focus exclusively on the scales . Pick a garment you used to be able to wear comfortably and use that as a target . Numbers can be a bit demoralising .

My week so far . It always starts with one of my extended fasts from Sunday evening till Tuesday afternoon . Then I try to remain focused as the week progresses but nowhere near perfect !!! I’m still not eating dairy but I just cannot keep out of the almond jar . I have to remember to just put a few into a little bowl and make that my daily allowance .. I still struggle with the need to ‘deprive myself’ of what we think of as healthy foods, ie nuts, certain fruits etc but it’s about portions and I have a tendency to be generous 😉

Thanks for the concern about my shoulder . Tulip / Claire you would know about this . My nephew in Greece is a physio and we have been having video calls so he can see where I have a problem ( painful arc ??) I have exercises to do and have to be very careful with yoga and pilates so I don’t force any movements . I will get there . Other people have much more serious issues than me .

Good vaccine news here too . Hubby has an appointment for the AZ vaccine at his doctor’s surgery on Monday . Pretty amazing as progress has been so slow in France.

Well done everyone for sticking with it . Remember for those in the UK you will soon be able to meet up with friends and family !
Stay positive .

Lots of people ‘ missing ‘ this week so we do hope you check in . We had got used to daily updates from Lauren( florobo85 ) Are you ok Lauren ? Articfox where are you ? Bryla ? Erin ( EC) in Tasmania has gone quiet too as has Merry in Melbourne . Waiting to hear from LonelyAdipose too .

Please come back and let us know how you are xx

Hi All,

Wendy- yes, sounds like you have a good plan re the painful arc 😊.
Britta- I only started this WOE in June last year so our paths haven’t crossed as yet, so nice to meet you. It’s done me a world of good so I plan to continue as best I can.
I’ve managed 2 approx 800 cal days this week, as I am switching to a more definite 5:2 after an amorphous melange of vaguely low cal lowish carb med style for a while (for those who don’t know, I did proper BSD for about 12 weeks last summer, and then been doing a variety of variations of MM since then), and the scales seem happy. I feel able to stick to 2 proper low cal days far better as I know the next day I can relax a bit….altho it’s quite a learning curve for me to not religiously calorie count on my non-fast days as all the diets I have ever done before this have involved calorie counting.
I made the feta cauli soup again this evening- I absolutely love it and happily so do the rest of the fam. They had theirs with baguette cheddar cheese croutons for extra cals, and hubby had extra helpings of soup too as he doesn’t need to lose weight.
Love to all, Tulip1 xxx

Aw thanks for the shoutout Wendy, I’m fine thank you! I’m a bit insecure and to be honest I annoy myself sometimes so I thought I’d give you all a break from my inaneness and annoyingness!

I hit my 2st discard this week since Christmas, I had 7 weeks completely on plan, then a complete blow out Valentine’s Day and put on 5lb in one day, but back on plan since then and now 29lbs down. Only 5st to go!! I’ve upped my carbs to 25g this week as 20g was making me miserable and not helping really. Feel like I’ve got a bit more leeway with 25g to up the green veg!

We’ve been doing lots of decorating the last few weeks, we had to postpone our wedding again and it’s now next year so I figured let’s crack on with the decorating. There might not be a wedding, my fiancé might leave me 😂😂 – I’m of the mind where I like to do a little job like paint something, then while it’s drying start something in another room etc. He hates it and likes to do one job to the end then move to the next, but I feel like we’d just finish the last job and have to start all over again if we did that. I’m definitely right and he’s being quite patient with me but we shall see how the week pans out!

Hope all are ok

Lauren

Lauren, I love hearing your news, and I am sure everyone else does too. It sounds like you are doing well on plan. xx

Florob I love hearing about you and your plans. You sound like my daughter. She wants everything done yesterday. An example is, she discusses putting Velux windowns in my grandsons bedroom roof to give more light. The next day a man came round and gave a quote and daughter hired him and the job was done. Boyfriend (now fianace so he stuck around) said she didnt give him time to get his breath and they had only discussed it not decided. She decided. She is doing it with decorating now, done the office, dining room, guest room which is now one of the girls rooms and starting on the room that used to be the girls room so the other girl can have a room of her own too. Yes she makes us dizzy.

I dont have much news either and my weight is stuttering around the same mark. Only difference for me is I havent been exercising this week and, although it doesnt make you lose weight on its own, together with the diet it helps shift that little bit more. Must pull my proverbial out and get some done, so I did 30 mins aerobics today.

My 2nd jab has been postponed until a week later so it will be on the 25th March now so not too long to wait. Weekend is here and I am once again going to try… harder.

Hi everyone
It’s Friday and I’m so looking forward to the weekend and a lie in!
Weight has continued to drop this week but I’ve had a few blips where other people have cooked for me and yesterday was my sisters birthday so I went over my 800 calories. But all is good and everything is something new learned.
So back to today and my shake for breakfast at 11, lunch of eggs, cucumber, celery and lettuce at 1.30 and dinner tonight will be poached fish with some form of greenery at about 6ish.
Take care all
Nic

How funny sunshinegirl! That’s definitely me, I’m usually already hovering over the “buy now” button on Amazon as I’m persuading the other half that my idea is a good idea 😂

I made a batch of seed crackers the other day which I’ve been enjoying with a variety of toppings, no grains at all but obviously some carbs due to the seeds

I used 50g each of chia seeds, pumpkin, sesame and flax, and a good bit of crushed sea salt, mixed them all in a bowl with about 6tbspns of water and then waited for the chia seeds to do their thang

Then I just spread the mix really thin on a large baking tray lined with baking paper (no oil needed) and scored to to make 20 crackers (could have made more to be honest)

Put in the oven at 100C for about 45 mins, then I gently flipped each cracker over then popped back in for about 15 mins then let them cool in the oven with the door ajar to dry out

They’ve been really nice and I’ve had them with cheese or sugar free peanut butter or garlic and herbs mixed into cream cheese, really nice little lunch and a welcome bit of crunch.

Each cracker is
56 cal
4.5G fat
2.3G carbs
1.9g fibre

well done everyone! Nicognee- I love that, everything is something new learned- I definitely feel that about my (many) diet blips along the way!

Lauren- if you opened a BSD restaurant I’d definitely come! The seed crackers sound great.

SG- definitely true about the exercise boosting our WOE efforts- also it makes me feel so much better mentally. My middle child has started joining me running the last few weeks, which is really motivating for both of us.

xx

Those crackers do sound good, although I made the mistake of making Tom Kerridge’s low carb crackers a few weeks ago (linseed, ground almonds and egg whites were the main ingredients) and they were too more-ish.
I will save your recipe and probably make them if we have people over (vague recollections of times past) and will be having cheese and biscuits – otherwise I just eat them!
If nothing else, I have learned from this WOE that in no way can I maintain a healthy weight using the NHS calculator of ~1500cals per day – as much as I love food, I obviously need far less of it than I would like to eat. I can’t say I’m eating badly on this WOE, but every day is a balance – some days I can balance better than others.
ODAAT!

Well on the BSD restaurant menu tonight we have chicken korma with cauli rice (and a healthy sniff of partners naan bread!!)

I’ve adapted the korma recipe from the original BSD recipe book to make it lower carb and cals and we have it quite regularly – it’s spicy enough to be a curry but not too spicy for me as I can’t take massive heat.

So my recipe for 3 portions is

2 chicken breasts
100g onion, half finely chopped the other half cut into rings
1 tspn garam masala
1 tspn turmeric
0.5 tspn cayenne pepper
Seeds from two cardamom pods – the original recipe says four pods but that was overly medicinal for me
100g skyr (or Greek yoghurt)
100g alpro coconut milk (any coconut milk from a carton works, not the tinned stuff that’s horrendously calorific!)
2 tspn grated ginger
25g ground almonds
75g cauliflower rice (per portion)

Top tip, have everything weighed out ready before cooking
Oh also top tip – I buy root ginger by the kilo and then chop it into chunks and freeze it, when you want to use it just take a chunk from the freezer and grate it directly, no need to peel, then just bung it back in the freezer – much easier than all this faffing around mincing and peeling!

Method
1. Cook the onion in a frying pan with no oil until softened
2. Add the ginger and stir for a couple of minutes then add the spices and just gently cook till they release their aromas (prob about a minute) stir a lot so they don’t burn
3. Add chopped chicken breast and seal
4. Add milk, yoghurt and almonds, stir well, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is poached and the sauce is reduced
5. Cook your cauli rice however you prefer (mine is easy microwave bags!)

Serve and enjoy!

Each portion is
246 cal
7.9g fat
6.4g carbs (not including the cauli rice)
35g protein (but I used big chicken breasts so could cut that down!)

Hi everyone!
Thanks for posting this thread. Not sure where to post my first post. But I’m starting tomorrow, Saturday 13.3. I’ve got the book. I feel awful. My weight and eating habits are out of control. My weight is somewhere between 110-120kg. I don’t really want to know because it’s so horrible. I’m not sure if I can do even a single whole day on this diet. So I’m not going to write too much about myself now in case I fail. But I will try. If I don’t post in next week’s thread, then you will know I have failed, should that happen please don’t worry. Have a good week.

Goforgoal..welcome ! I could not let your post go by without replying !
Come on ..get your positive pants on and believe in yourself ! Don’t even think about failure ! It may seem daunting but just take it one day at a time. Take the weekend to plan your meals. Remember this is your gift to yourself and your health. If you understand the basic principles of 800 calories, low carb, healthy fats and moderate protein that is a good start. Be prepared for some initial carb withdrawal but stick with it.
Stay with us. We all had to start somewhere and I doubt there is anyone on the thread who regrets embarking on this way of eating . You can do it too Goforgoal ! Wishing you the very best xx

Goforgoal you can do it!! My starting weight was similar to yours, more actually I think (275lbs) and I’ve lost 2st in 11 weeks with one blowout weekend in the middle!

I can completely understand this feels daunting, it’s a big change – but people on here will be so helpful and kind and answer any question you have even if it seems silly! And we’ll all be there to cheer you on and commiserate if you have a bad day, celebrate your successes with you and support you if you need help!

I would advise you literally take it one meal at a time if you can because that will feel less daunting! Ease in if you want to, say give up the carbs first like rice, pasta and potatoes, but don’t worry about calories, then once you’ve got a handle on that you can start to reduce your calories, and then once you’re ok with that, if you want to, you can look more closely at your “macros” – how many grams carbs, fat and protein you eat a day. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, there is no pressure and the only person putting pressure on yourself is you!!

If you decide to go straight in instead of easing then here are my “survivor” tips for the first few days and I’m sure others will help too!

1. Drink lots of water (2-3L a day) which can include black tea and coffee or herbal tea
2. Add a pinch of salt to your food for a few days – you will lose a lot of water initially and therefore a lot of salt and that means you might feel a bit “fluey” or lightheaded – if you do don’t panic, this does ease quite quick, just be gentle to yourself and rest as much as you can etc.
3. Concentrate on making your meals delicious – don’t jump into salads if that’s not what you normally eat and enjoy, just try and adapt what you normally eat to fit the principles – we can give loads of ideas if you let us know what you like to eat
4. Do not compare yourself to anyone else on here or anyone in your life, you are an individual, you are doing this for YOU and every person loses differently so don’t panic if you don’t fit the pattern

You can do this!

Lauren xx

Oh and if you fall off the wagon don’t sweat it! We’ve literally all done it, so just brush it off and get right back on that wagon!

Just popped in to say hi to goforgoal. There is no such thing as failure on this site. You only fail when you give up and we wont let you do that. No matter what challenges you face there will be someone here to pick you up, brush you off and give you a big hug. Stick with us and we will guide you as much as you need. We all want to see you back here on next weeks thread starting on Tuesday.

You say you dont know what you weigh. If you really cant face it then take some measurements, bust, waist, hip, stomach, midriff or anywhere else you want. Write them down and keep them. You dont have to share with anyone, it is yours to know, not our business. Enjoy your adventure and stick with us. Or as I always say – keep on keeping on…

Dear Goforgoal,
I am starting today as well. I know it sounds daunting but you can do it. I did this 2 years ago and after the first week you will start to feel amazing. You will have energy and the weight will begin to fall off. After 8 weeks my tummy was gone and I could see my feet again.
I am here for u and happy to work will anyone who is starting today’s

All the best
Samantha

Just popping in to offer a warm welcome to both GoForGoal and Smead …. good to have you with us. Others have provided lots of good advice, so I won’t add more at this point, but will say that all of us have at some point questioned if we can do this, so can empathise with your uncertainty. Be assured though, that this WOE quickly becomes second nature and we will definitely be here to provide whatever advice and encouragement required to keep you going.

Actually, one little piece of advice after all … don’t allow one little slip or trip along the way, completely knock you off course. There will almost certainly be times when things get away from you, but if you get right back on track as soon as you can, you’ll find any damage done surprisingly minimal. And as the saying goes, what counts is not the number of times you fall down, but the number of times you get back up.

Anyway, we will look forward to sharing your journey with you. All best wishes to you both.

Speaking of numbers of times you get back up, re-joining was definitely the right thing to do! It was nice to see some familiar “faces” on here and I think it has really helped get me back into things. I’ve set up my Fatsecret app again and made it through the weekend on <900 calories per day so good start. I still have a pretty intuitive sense of what 800 calories look like spread over 3 meals to that makes it a lot easier. GoForGoal and Smead and other new people, it’s nice to ‘meet’ you. I always felt like it was nice to have people who were roughly at the same stage to compare notes. 3 days in I was reminded by the phenomenon that is sugar withdrawal/carb flu yesterday. It’s worse than it was last time (revenge for the last few weeks of sugar and bagels?!), but experience tells me it gets better on the other side, so on I go.

Welcome Britta, smead and goforgoal. Good luck! Lots of positivity and support here. Goforgoal you can do it! Lauren that seed cracker sounds delicious. Chicken korma also one of my favourites. Friend of mine has been doing keto diet a month but very bored of eating same stuff. Have just foisted recipe book on her for inspiration. There are some great recipes – if you can find things you like it makes it all so much easier. I have just made fish pie and frozen it in portions for me. Husband has decided he hates celeriac. I tried doing root veg chips for everyone to go with roast chicken. It did not go down well. Will return to potatoes for them, carrot and cauliflower for me 🤷‍♀️

Hi all happy Sunday!

I’ve been frantically painting my fence in the garden in the tiny window of sunshine, dancing along to my music and no doubt looking insane!

Just popped in quickly to say Working from the fridge – have you tried turnips or Jerusalem artichokes for potato substitute? Both surprisingly low in carbs for a below ground vegetable and have a more neutral flavour than celeriac so more “potato” like – turnips work particularly well as a sub for roast potatoes, I just treat them exactly as I would a potato but I’d imagine they work pretty well as chips too. Obvs some carbs etc. but no more than carrots or celeriac so if you’re happy with that level then you’d be fine! Get turnips though not swede, and the baby ones are the sweetest/most like potatoes. Jerusalem artichokes are a bit of a faff to peel because they are so nobbly but again not a bad substitute for potatoes

The other thing I’ve used sometimes is broccoli stems – again fairly neutral in taste, loads of nutrients and not many carbs, don’t crisp up quite like a potato but they aren’t bad. I simply cut the stem off the head of broccoli (I’m talking calebrese broccoli not tender stem) and cut it into “batons” then blanch for about two minutes in boiling water, coat in a bit of olive oil and salt (or other seasoning) and then bake for about 25-30 mins – they get sort of nutty and crispy round the edges. I can’t be faffed cooking separate meals for myself and my partner, and while sometimes I do cook him some separate potato, I’ve made him these alternatives sometimes and he’s eaten them with no complaint. I can understand your OH not liking the celeriac because it does have quite a distinctive taste! Oh you can make carrot chips too if you’re eating them anyway!

Anyway just my tuppence worth – ignore if you’re already doing something similar!

Lauren xx

Hi everyone !
Thanks for all the helpful tips, recipes and general support for all, Lauren ! We never get fed up of hearing from you ! Don’t you dare think otherwise 😉 Crikey you and SG’s daughter are a couple of whirlwinds ! I am very impressed .

I tidied up my shoes today so feel I did something productive ! I bagged up some unwanted/unworn pairs and will pop them down to Emmaus later this week. It made a bit of space anyway . I also sold a couple of dresses on Vinted which is always very satisfying. All a bit trivial but my life is not very exciting right now 😉

Wedding plans Lauren … I think you are probably wise postponing to next year . Hubby’s son is going ahead with his wedding mid July in the UK despite family not being able to get over from Tasmania and we are uncertain too . I hate not being able to plan , it unsettles me so we just have to ses how things develop in France and the UK .

How are you coping Goforgoal ? Thanks for offering to buddy up , Smead01 . That’s lovely .
Britta are you feeling focused ? Keep sharing with us xx

I hope the weekend has gone well for you all. I have had a few choc moments so that is work in progress . I give my system a rest now until Tuesday !!

Still hoping to hear from the ‘quiet’ ones and just want to know you are safe and well

Top tips for veg thanks Lauren. Will definitely try them. I actually thought turnips/ swede were same thing – just called different things in different parts of country. Now I know better! Will have to hunt out Jerusalem artichoke. We have very posh veg shop down the road. If all else fails I’ll try there but I’m still smarting from the time I realised too late I’d paid £1 for a lemon!! Will look elsewhere first.

Hi Britta and others who have been so welcoming. It is great to have support. I am into day three and my motivation is high. Just the occasional hunger pang, something I rarely felt before because I ensured I was always full of food…..No surprise then I wasn’t going to loose weight until something changed.
I have cut out alcohol as well and so my sleeping has been a bit disrupted. Hopefully this will change soon

Hi everyone,
Just checking in briefly after a couple busy weeks. I feel like I haven’t stopped to catch my breath. One of my work files is headed to court (after nearly 5 years!) , so it was a full on week talking to our lawyers and helping to draft up documents, etc, and plenty of working through my lunch break and finishing work very late. Whatever the result, it will be great to finally see the end of that one!
All this happened right when spring finally decided to make an appearance, so the farm work has increased dramatically. I’ve planted 1000’s of seeds in the last few weeks. Many things have already germinated and I’ve even had to kick my green onions and shallots out into the polytunnel as I’ve run out of space inside. Daffodils and tulips are starting to poke their heads up and I’m going to have more rhubarb than I’ll know what to do with. I harvested 2 4L buckets of spinach today out of the polytunnel. Amazingly all my greens survived the -20 C temperatures and are really growing now. I’ve got some paneer in, so looks like palak paneer is on the menu at some point this week.
Anyway, I’m very tired, so will leave it at that for now. Hopefully I’ll have some time to check in a bit later in the week.

Happy Monday everyone. Not much to report, still dithering around the same weight, no loss and no gain. Have blood tests tomorrow so will be fasting from 8pm tonight and early start for tests. Doctor on Friday and I really, really want to weigh less than I did last time so need to crack on and get rid of at least 2.5lbs by then. Hey ho, forever the optimist.

You can do it sunshinegirl!

Good to see you arcticfox ! I suspected you were busy and you certainly are . Take good care of yourself

Where is WindyJulz ? LonelyAdipose ?

You have done brilliantly with your blood test and discarding kilos SG so we have every faith in you !

I’m off to set up the new thread folks