For those of you who are used to this weekly thread …here is the latest . There are lots of new threads popping up but feel free to join in with us any time you are looking for friendly advice and support.We will keep going as long as you need us !

Hi Wendy and thank you for starting us off. We love it here❤️ As you have said lots of new threads and it is brilliant that people are already confident in starting them. I can see how ours could be a little intimidating to newbies lurking out there and think it is great that louiseroo has set the one up for them to join. We can be a bunch of old clucking hens sometimes🤣🤣🤗🤗❤️❤️ Allie wrote such a lovely post on there earlier. Allie you are my mother Butterfly 🦋 and I adore you.❤️ Let’s start this new week and month of right. I have set a six week target for myself on the road trippers thread and with this weekly one I am sure it will go as smoothly as it can with great results at the end. Thank you lovely lady. Xx Birdy 💞🦜

Evening all.
Think I mentioned I was investigating joining a martial arts class at my kids’ club. Well, it just so happens they have availability tonight – eek!
As I don’t have a gi yet, I need to wear ‘comfortable clothing I can move easily in’. Well, let me tell you, my wardrobe does not contain much of this ilk. I have dragged out a pair of running leggings from 12 years ago (when I was considerably smaller!), a very controlling old sports bra and a baggy old t-shirt. It’s a good thing that I’ve been fasting since last night as I swear those leggings wouldn’t have gone further than my thighs otherwise 🤣 My legs feel spring loaded, my boobs look like the great wall of china and are considerably closer to my chin than normal, but at least the baggy t-shirt covers most of it 😂
If I’m not back to report my weigh in tomorrow as normal, you know it’s been too much for me!

Birdy I will freely admit to being a clucking hen ..but less of the old !!! 😉 How very dare you 😉 🙂
Whatever thread we choose, the principles are the same and we are rooting for everyone whatever the challenges 😉 Wishing you all great weekly, monthly and annual success !
Talking of challenges …
Goodness , that really is some challenge you are facing BeeGirl.!! May you think about cava and stawberry cream baileys with every movement 😉 😉

All the very best Bee Girl.I am very inactive right now and looking forward to getting moving normally very soon.

Wendy, Birdy, Allie I admire you all for keeping this thread going for so long. I think its a great thread which helps so many people in both the short and the long term. Sorry I’ve not contributed very much to any of the threads over the last six months or so. I’m just so grateful for this community’s participation in all topics to keep us, especially me, living the BSD life.
I’m sure that if we had been left to our own devices the majority of us would now be in limbo, flailing around trying to keep low carb but maybe not succeeding. So I’ll do my best to contribute to this thread ….. threads are my lifeline , health wise, at this point in time.

Gosh BeeGirl, that’s impressive! I would ditch the baggy T-shirt: springloaded legs and firmly supported bosoms in sport’s bra – Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider no less! And you’ll also be learning the same moves! I’m looking forward to the feedback tomorrow!

BeeGirl – your description of your outfit made me laugh out loud – been there, done it, got the old, baggy T-shirt. Hope things go well tonight and like 6t I’ll look forward to the feedback tomorrow!
Jennie xx

A fond hello and goodbye for the time being to the new week thread from me as I am falling asleep (keep fit this morning and gardening this afternoon)…..but I just wanted to say I really enjoy this thread (and thank you for setting it up Wendleg) and love the amusing and very helpful messages. They all spurr me on…..
Nighty night
Sunderland

Good morning all, checking in to say hello.

Wendy, I really like this thread!! I was a bit concerned there might be a shadow of asking if we still need it with so many other threads popping up? I agree with Verano and Sunderland, this is a great thread please keep it as I need it!! I sometimes read the other threads but this one and the fasting threads are the ones I post in. And this one is “home”, the fasting one is more specialised.

I agree with Birdy’s comment about us being a bunch of clucking hens, I think that’s a nice image: there’s something very comforting about hens just poking around the garden doing what they do, clucking to themselves, and then suddenly all racing madly to one spot, dust flying, when one turns up something good. I’m happy to be an old hen scratching in the sun, ready to speed off to a new post on something particularly juicy and interesting 😊

BeeGirl, how was your martial arts class?? Like 6T and Jennie I look forward to your update. I salute you for giving it a go <doffs cap>

My goals for the week are to stick to mostly OMAD with at least one longer fast mixed in. If it’s a 48 hour fast I might try for two of them, I’ll see how I go. And to stick ruthlessly to less than 20g carbs and 800 calories. The working week is usually OK for me, but weekends are more of a challenge so I will try to ruthlessly calculate everything this weekend.

And that’s about it from me, have a grand day everyone, Elky

Morning all

<wince>

Well, I survived the martial arts! And the good news is that so did the old, too-small legging and sports bra, so there was no public embarrassment! It was a very hard 45 mins (I’m so unfit I can’t do press ups or many situps yet) and we started with ‘shoulder tig’: you have a partner and have to dodge or block to stop them tagging your shoulder, if they do, you have to do a pressup. I was partnered with a guy 25 years older than me and he felt the need to give me a couple of free tags of his shoulder as I was practically staggering from getting tagged so much and needing to do pressups (by the end, my pressups involved knees on the ground and the slightest bend of the arms!) We then repeated the same thing but targets were shoulder & elbow for two pressups and then shoulder, elbow and knee for three. Good grief. We then moved on to punching (my forte) and kicking (not my forte). By the end I was exhausted to the point of not really being able to think or talk, but loved every minute of it. Have officially signed up and will be going every week – at least I now have a t-shirt and gi so the leggings can go, although the sports bra will have to brace itself for regular use! I suspect I’m going to be very sore tomorrow; I’ve certainly aggravated my sciatic / ITB problem as my right lower back and leg are throbbing; much stretching will be required to sort that out – and I’ve got to go do some digging and planting at the allotment today, so doubt that’ll help! ! The class reminded me of when I used to be fit and I want to get back to that; I love to feel fit and strong and it’s been too long, so we’ll give it a go and see how it goes. I’ve gone for the ‘basic’ plan to get to blue belt over a year – there’s a ‘black belt’ plan that gets you to black belt over four years, but I think I need to work up to that; maybe a slightly longer target and aim for a black belt by the time I’m 50!

So, moving on to my progress and plan (sorry I always waffle so much on weigh in day, it helps me organise my thoughts and goals for the week). Well, I wanted to add in exercise from week 3 and it’s happened at the end of week 8, so a bit late, but at least I’ve done it. I’ve been fasting since Sunday evening and will break that around lunch time today and then fast from after dinner tonight until after lunch on Thursday I think – experimenting a bit with more IF as I enjoy it.

This morning was week 8 WI and I always said I’d assess at this point to see if I want to carry on. This morning was a 4lb loss, taking me to 34lb in those 8 weeks. I’ve lost 4.75 inches off my bust, 5.5 off my waist, 3.75 off my hips, and 3.5 off my under bust. My waist to hip ratio is down 0.04 and resting heart rate is down too. I wanted to be under 17st by the end of July – I’m 16st 7.8lb at the start. This WOL is a revelation to me. Through my life, I’ve stuck to various diets and lost a lot of weight, but I’ve always struggled to get back on plan after a bit of a blow out – and my life will always have those; I don’t plan to never eat ice cream, never drink Baileys or avoid carbs for ever, I’ll low carb the majority of the time, but there will be exceptions. Although it’s early days with this, because I understand more of the science behind things, I find it easier to drop straight back in to low carb, TRE and / or IF. I hope this will continue as, for me, success isn’t staying on plan, it’s getting back on it and truly having a WOL rather than a diet.

My plan is to continue for another 8 weeks, tweaking things as I go, and my next challenge will be in three weeks time when I have family visiting for the weekend; I plan to have more leeway that weekend for a drink and maybe a takeawy, with IF before and after and we’ll see if I can drop back into it when they leave; that will be a true measure of whether this WOL is sustainable for me.

Have a good day everyone.

BeeGirl, very well done. I loved reading about your latest antics and positive attitude.
Enjoy your day everyone…
Sunderland

Sunderland – thanks for the kind words. ‘Antics’ is about right – I once decided to take up roller skiing on a whim; it seemed like a good idea at the time. Yep, that’s skis with rollers. I ignored the fact I have no balance and no co-ordination. Didn’t go well. Even with heavily padded shorts 😂 Anyone want to buy some size 6 ski boots and roller skis…? 😂 My husband just smiles and nods these days – I’m fortunate he’s very patient and supportive with my…erm…quirks of character 🙄😁

BeeGirl, I now have this picture in my head of you on roller skis – that has made my day 😉
Why not put them for sale on e-bay? You just never know someone may be interested in buying them.
Back to some more gardening ….
Sunderland

Hi Elky, Sunderland , our lovely regulars and any absentees and lurkers 😉

We will of course continue the weekly thread and if we can keep you all smiling and motivated, that’s great ! We’ll keep spurring you on, thanks Sunderland and we will carry on clucking, Elky 😉 !!

Crikey Bee Girl , I felt exhausted just reading about your martial arts ‘antics’ !! Well done you !! I am embarrassingly inactive right now . That’s a great discard too !! Fantastic …keep going !

Sorry I have no use for your ski boots and roller skis……….I am a total wimp as far as even vaguely ‘extreme’ sports are concerned !!
Have a great day everyone, whatever you are up to xx

Not been on here for a while so here I am! Unfortunately I’ve let myself slip out of the Fast 800 the past week or so, things have been hectic with lots of travelling, grabbing food on the go and just generally feeling a bit lazy.
But going to try and start again tomorrow, at least steer myself away from the high levels of carbs and sugar! Having them doesn’t make me feel good at all so it’ll be a relief to start up Fast 800-ing again.

Hi Everyone
Being a silly newbie, wondered why notifications had stopped and then realised I needed to come on to new week hahahahah 🙂

Hope you are all having a good week so far. I am really excited, have lost 2lbs so far this week – hubby away in the middle east on business this week so I guess that helps and although I am cooking for the others (children and my parents, but mums in hospital at mo) I have always tended to eat with hubby a bit later so it is easier for me to have less. Still struggling to drink enough water, hoping that my weak black coffee is allowed to count???

I am trying to up my exercise, I had got up to 17 mins brisk walk on the treadmill but have decided to go back down to 10 mins but try to do that 3 times a day instead of once – fingers crossed I can keep it up! There’s no point in counting the dog walking in as they keep stopping 🙂 Will be doing some gardening in the veg patch too so this can be my ‘stretching the body out’ activity 🙂 Am trying to stick to the 800 cal although I have never been a good calorie counter. The reducing carbs is going ok but not sure that I can keep restriction to 20g as this is for my diabetes and cholesterol so more concerned about general carbs – pasta, bread, rice, potatoes – but am trying to get as near as I can.

Really enjoying the friendly messages and listening to how everyone is getting on.

Rainy x

I’m here, sick again. Just still working towards my goal.

Oh Amz….poor you. Take great care of yourself
Sunderland

Message for Arcticfox…..read today that a coastal fox travelled 2,178 miles from Norway to Canada in 76 days part of which was on floating ice !
Sunderland

Oh No Amz ….what is making you sick again ? You really are struggling right now and we salute your determination to keep going despite feeling unwell.

Only do what you can while you are not functioning as you would like to . Concentrate on getting well xx

StrongCurves ! Glad you came back but you realise I will nag you a bit ……?
I don’t want you to TRY and start again tomorrow..I want you to just do it , START AGAIN !!!
Do it for your health….plan ahead if you are travelling so you avoid just ‘grabbing food on the go ” .That is the road to ruin !
Can you even fit in a fasting period during the travelling ? It will give you back a bit more control….

Keep checking back in with us StrongCurves ! You can do it !

Great result, Rainy ! Yes keep drinking…still or sparkling water, green , black tea, black coffee, infusions…it’s all good .
You say you have your diabètes under control ? Are you regularly checking your BG ? If I have understood correctly it is a bit of trial and error to find the level of carbs that keeps your insulin low. 20g is a good starter.Yes, definitely eliminate those processed white carbs. I am sure Sunshine Girl will pop in to advise you on levels if you are unsure . Wel done on the exercise resolve too !!

I am steering clear of nuts ,dark choc and dairy 😉

All the best Rainy !

For info…just spotted this post , folks in case you have trouble logging in at any time !!

posted by bloodsugardiet (BSD Admin) on Site downtime tonight
on 2 Jul 2019 at 19:43 in Welcome to the BSD

Hi!
Huge apologies for the last minute notice but we will have about two hours of downtime tonight as we move our site to a new server. We’ll be back after that!
Thanks.

Good morning everyone, I am on so many threads just now I don’t know where to do my regular check in!

BeeGirl I am seriously impressed, you must be much fitter than you thought you were!! You go girl!

Rainy, I’m like you, I have fallen out of the way of exercise and really need to get back into it. I know it makes not a blind bit of difference to my weight, but it does make me feel better when I do it. I tell myself I’ve stopped because I damaged my Achilles and have to rest it a lot to recover, but would that stop me getting on my exercise bike? No it would not, I am just lazy. I must do better <looks grimly determined>.

Welcome back, StrongCurves, I think everyone has slips so don’t look backwards, only forwards 😊

Amz I’m so sorry to hear you’re ill again, really hope you can shake it quickly.

Sunderland, I saw that article too and thought of our Arcticfox!! So Arcticfox, how does your daily step count compare to your furry namesake lol And seriously, aren’t they amazing little animals? Talk about tough!!

Wendy you are such a champion, encouraging us all on, with the occasional nag 😉 I do appreciate it, I agree with Verano that it really helps me stick with this WOE.

Not much to actually report on from me. Still just plugging away, feeling like I’m taking it off with an emery board – used to be sandpaper but it’s so slow I think that was overstating it lol A few thoughts and questions from my latest fasting attempt, but I’ll save that for the fasting thread so as not to clutter up this one 😊

Arcticfox, you gave some advice to Kafin about gut microbes over on the antidepressants thread that was just fascinating. Among other things, you counselled looking to high fibre plants, fermented foods and probiotics. That was completely new to me, so of course I’m now looking for advice and recommendations.

This will probably horrify the vegetarians on the forum, so apologies in advance – how do people manage 30 or more different plant species a week while staying low carb?? I’ve got a horrible feeling that this reveals my diet is embarrassingly limited, but I just totted up what I think is in my fridge just now and I’d be pushing it to get much over 10. Even if I’m allowed to add seeds as plant species that would still only add another couple. (List off the top of my head, in no particular order: green cabbage, green kale, a couple of different lettuces but they probably count as one species, green beans, red capsicum (pepper), mushrooms, celery, spinach, garlic, onion, cauliflower, spring onions, chia seeds, flax seeds, psyllium husks.) That’s pathetic!! And some may be technically the same species, like cabbage and kale! So please, any suggestions on things to add very welcome.

I am also very interested in the suggestion of fermented foods. I have seen this flagged before in the context of low carb, but have no idea where to start. Most of the pickled things in shops seem to have loads of sugar in them, so I am guessing this is not what you’re talking about. Is anyone able to provide guidance that isn’t brand related, since I’m in Australia and unlikely to see the same brands as in the UK, US or France (where a lot of you folks seem to be).

But in good news, I think I’ve got the probiotics covered with Greek yoghurt – if I can control the urge to eat the entire tub lol

And that’s definitely enough chatter here from me 😊 Have a grand day everyone, Elky

Elky, even as a vegetarian, I’m sure I can struggle some weeks to get 30+ different ones, especially as it’s only me and it is easy to get in a rut of just eating the same things over and over, especially if I batch cook anything. Mostly I’ll try to add lots of different veggies into dishes where I can. I’ve roughly counted 35 different plant foods between my pantry, fridge and freezer, but this does include some higher carb legumes as I like to get my protein from a variety of sources. Here is my list for the week: garlic, leek, spring onions, avocados, chickpeas, lentils, 3-bean mix, konjac noodles, strawberries, frozen – raspberries, coconut, fruit blend – cherries, blueberries, blackberries in the mix, flax, chia, almond flour, hemp seeds, hemp protein powder, pistachios, walnuts, bok choi, zucchini, red&green capsicum, lemons (even just using the zest counts – lots of polyphenols there!), olives, lettuce (first harvest from my balcony!), apples, kale salad with other cruciferous plants like brussels sprouts mixed in, sauerkraut, kimchi, cucumber, pickled ginger, spinach, butternut squash, nori (technically an algae, but we’ll call it a plant for sake of the argument), and bitter melon (supposedly great for controlling blood sugar and insulin levels). Now just to figure out how to eat all of this in a week! I think the key is to combine lots of different things in small quanitities into each meal and to mix it up every day.
I also have some rye crackers that would count as 36. I keep them to have with some cheese when I’m feeling the need for a bit of crunch. They are fairly low carb compared to some other things, but may be too high for some. I haven’t had any in over 3 weeks though. I bought this box to test with my glucose monitor and when I eat them with cheese, they don’t cause much of an upswing at all in my blood sugar levels. I have basil and parsley growing on my balcony that are not ready to harvest yet, but herbs do count as well.

Sunderland and Elky – that is amazing about the fox! I looked it up. I will have to work on upping my daily km. I was averaging 3.2km per day for a while with my horse, but he has been sore again lately so I have backed off on the distance. A long way to go to get to the 46km per day, but slowly, slowly!

Arcticfox, thank you for your list, that’s so helpful! I completely forgot about things like lemons and herbs, and I sometimes have olives and konjac noodles too so I could count them. OK, I’m not quite so bad as I thought I was, and you’ve given me lots of help with things I can add. Thank you! And yay for the harvest from your balcony, that must be a nice feeling 🙂

Further to the piece about the amazing coastal fox what I would love to know is why they fitted her with a tracking devise. The scientists must have had an inkling of what she might be able to do – clever animal. Also, did she fish whilst bobbing along on the ice floe? Enough said.

I have an American cousin staying for one night mid-August here in my city and despite my recommending a stunning bijou bed and breakfast near me he has booked into a crummy hotel on the busiest street in the city. Why don’t people listen? Grrrrr….

Sunderland

Wow! So many threads I don’t know what to read first! Hi to all I know and hi to those I haven’t connected with personally yet!
I’m checking in to talk about our favourite “which shall not be named”…exercise!
I have an interesting result which might be encouraging to many — as most of you know, we moved from California to Bath England this year for a job opportunity and I brought along my trusty measuring tape because scales are too heavy (well and because I HATE those torture machines and if I never have to be weighed again in my whole life it will be too soon..er, but I digress) — so about three weeks ago someone helpfully posted a Take a Look at This video about “working to muscle failure” as an exercise routine.
The theory was that it only takes ONE minute to reach muscle failure (even with using your own body weight) and that is a HUGE trigger to your brain that it has to get on with muscle building and it is the KIND OF MUSCLE that we want, not slow efficient muscle (think walking and jogging) but inefficient, greedy, calorie-sucking type A muscle that eats calories and pumps up your metabolism.
I am a bit of a sporty exercise freak ( but of course, still had to lose 50 pounds when I started the BSD three years ago) but I had not heard of short “working to failure” but it was intriguing.
I started it three weeks ago — only ONE DAY a week, at the gym, working with weights and body weight, to failure. The way to get there is to hold perfect form and move incredibly slowly (a push up might take a count of 16 down and 16 up) — you reach muscle failure very quickly that way!
I also added a hill run to reach leg muscle failure and heart rate failure )ha ha, well not completely 🤪)
I did ten thirty-second runs, with one to two minute walks in between (so it was like a HIT) using my wristwatch to time myself. I didn’t start running again until I had gotten my heart rate back to what felt “normal”.
Results: down an inch at the waist on three weeks, a half inch to quarter inch on every other measurement (arms, under bust, over bust, hips, calves) except my thighs which stayed same.
For me, that is AMAZING — I’m already strong and I’m pretty fit and my measurements have been good but stable since I lost the initial weight) — so just three weeks of failure work moved the needle significantly.
This is with JUST TWO DAYS PER WEEK of exercise to failure — ONE day in gym and ONE day doing the hill run — total time required: about 30 minutes on the hill run (including walking between sets — so ACTUAL time running was only 5 minutes) and about 45 minutes in gym (much of which was recovering from the last exercise so maybe 25 minutes actual effort).
For the amount of time required, it is a truly great payoff and because it is only ONE DAY it is psychologically acceptable even though it is hard work for a few minutes. I found myself so RELIEVED after the day I did it, thinking “oh I don’t have to do this again for a whole week”!
I totally recommend trying this if you are stuck or have exercise-avoidance — it is such a tiny commitment with a huge payoff!
I forget who posted that but thank you again!
As we take advantage of the new research, this one is a good one! And you could substitute whatever HIT you want (bike, sprints in pool, run on beach etc)

Hi BeeGirl,
Well, I knew I was going to enjoy the feedback from the Martial Arts class. It did make me smile; funny, albeit slightly scary in parts! I’m glad you’ve signed up to continue going – I think!
Seriously though, I’ve just joined the Judicious July thread. My challenge for the month is to get back into my exercise/activity routine which has been hit and miss for the last six months. I only started exercising at all in 2016 after my Type II diagnosis and it’s been part of a remarkable transformation for me, so I’ve been worried I was letting it slip away. Reading your post just crystallised exactly why it’s important for me to complete my July challenge; ‘I used to be fit and I want to get back to that; I love to feel fit and strong….’ That’s exactly it. Thanks.

Arcticfox – that’s a great list of veggies; I’m going to copy, paste, print it out and put it with my recipes.

Hope everyone else has a good day; it’s already glorious weather in my part of the UK.

Jennie xx

Edited: CG – I’ve just seen your post. Wow, there’s a bit of synchronicity. I posted the Ted Naiman video. Not only do I not want to let activity/exercise slip away because it makes me feel so good, I’m also taking July to work out what I should be including for maximum benefit. Perfect timing.

Then it’s thanks Jennie! I have already benefitted from your post. I truly appreciate it!

Hi all just started fast 800 today and got the book haven’t read it all yet but I eat chicken or turkey every day and just want to know how much I can have don’t eat any other meat or diary I would usually have about 200 g of lean breast meat is that too much
Thanks g

Hi, Georgia! At first glance, this does seem excessive, but we would need to know what other protein sources you rely
on, i.e., eggs, nuts, seeds? There are approx 225g (by weight) in a half pound of chicken! It’s a common misconception that protein
keeps us satiated, but it’s actually healthy fat and fiber that does the job. When determining our protein requirements,
most of us use this formula: .6 – .8g of protein for every kg. of ideal body weight. If you could share more information, I know
I could better answer your question 🙂

Hi didn’t have anything else today no shopping done only chicken and salad wouldn’t eat many nuts but love eggs .I’ll have a look at recipies and go shopping and cut back on chicken taught it was the best thing to eat never eat fish but love veg
Thanks for your reply 👍

How is everyone doing today ?
Amz : are you feeling better ? I hope the 4th July célébrations are manageable for you .
Georgia, Allie is very experienced and will give you all the advice and help you could ever need. You could also check out the http://www.dietdoctor.com website for lots of recipes and ideas for planning meals as well as very useful information on this way of eating.

I am looking forward to being more active when I get the all clear from my surgeon but I struggle to imagine myself in a gym, CG and Jennie ! Bee Girl, you amaze me !

Julia, Michael Mosley has talked a lot about short bursts of high intensity exercise being more effective .Is this what you are describing ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fast-Exercise-Michael-Mosley/dp/1780721986/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3V1G4J7PG3083&keywords=michael+mosley&qid=1562178615&s=books&sprefix=michael+%2Caps%2C179&sr=1-7
Your results certainly sound impressive ! I have never heard of muscle failure !

JGwen have you heard of this and can you add anything ?

Hi Elky, Sunderland , Rainy and articfox ! Oh dear I do hope my nagging hasn’t scared StrongCurves too much . Come back StongCurves !!!

How are things there 6T ? Always thinking of you and your neighbours xx

Good luck everyone.Keep posting and any ‘lurkers ‘ or ‘returners you will be given a very warm welcome if you decide to (re) join us any time xx

Hi Wendleg, as I understand it exercising to muscle failure is the program we were/are following on the research project I was a volunteer guinea pig on. – Its where you are using a muscle group to the point where you can no longer do the exercise. – So for example with leg presses, the machine is set to a weight where you can do more than 5 reps and aim for 10 reps. If you manage 7 reps but just physically can not manage another rep then that’s perfect. You do 3 sets of reps with a couple of minutes break between each set. – When you can make it to 15 reps then you increase the weight.
You only need to do this once a week When you do this your body realises that your muscles are not strong enough to meet the work needed for them so they increase, as does the strength of bones.
The researcher is currently on holiday, he has said he will circulate the results of the group and our individual results in August. – All right for academics with long summer holidays. – When I get the groups results I will share the information on the averages.

Thanks JGwen ! I knew I could depend on you to enlighten me !
It’s early days for me as far as being physically active again is concerned and I don’t know what my limitations will be. Patricia1066 has suggested I consider physio which is available in France and that is something I will definitely follow up when I see my surgeon at the end of the month.

I look forward to hearing about your results, JGwen !

Good morning everyone, and happy 4th of July to the citizens of the US of A among us. Hope you have a great Independence Day, however you’re choosing to celebrate.

CG, I am really interested and impressed with your results in working to muscle failure. That’s so inspiring. I was really struck by Jennie’s post too, and went away and looked at more Ted Naiman material, but unlike you I didn’t actually *do* anything with all the information. Who knew that watching fitness videos is like joining a gym, it doesn’t get results on its own, you then have to *do* something with the information/membership? Light bulb, lol Seriously I am really struck with the fabulous results you’ve achieved in a short period of time, I am hoping that it will inspire me to actually *use* the information and do something.

Wendy, I am so pleased that you’ve decided to see a physio once your surgeon gives you the all clear. I had a bad break in my ankle a few years ago that required surgery so it’s now full of metal and has reduced movement etc. Having been completely off it for 6 weeks – and frankly pretty immobile over all because crutches are not easy when you’re really fat – I went to see a physio when the cast came off and their expert advice on strengthening and flexibility etc was invaluable. I would not have the movement in the ankle that I have now if I had been left to my own devices. I know you’re not in quite the same boat, but I always think that if you have the chance to get that kind of expert advice then you should take it. I also remember JGwen talking a little while ago about how much a physio that she met by chance had helped her out.

Wendy, Ted Naiman is worth looking up even if you don’t see yourself in a gym (if I’m honest my gym days may be behind me too, but never say never I guess). He has a series of routines that he does to failure with just body weight, some of which are useful for even unfit souls with no sense of balance like me. E.g. push ups off a sofa or kitchen bench if the floor is too ambitious, or deep squats with a wall behind you in case you lose balance. OK, I’m never going to get to the the push ups standing on your head but they’re fascinating to watch!! He talks about doing it all agonisingly slowly so you get to failure after only a few reps. It’s really interesting.

Actually no interesting updates from me on this WOE. Added some of Arcticfox’s fantastic vegie list to my dinner last night, so that was good. Trying not to get discouraged that neither the scales nor the tape measure are going anywhere, but I knew this would be slow going. And I shouldn’t be greedy because I did have good discards in the first few weeks. The scales do move, but they just go up and down over the same point lol Ah well, I am sure they’ll have to move permanently eventually, just as long as it’s not up!!

Have a grand day everyone, Elky

Forgot to subscribe for this week so just now catching up on all the posts. Beegirl, I’m seriously impressed by the martial arts and the roller skiing! I don’t love me some exercise but I make a point of doing one exercise type challenge a year – one year it was running in the world’s largest (or longest or something like that…) relay race (Hood to Coast), another year was half marathons and one year was pole dancing. Which I loved! It’s incredibly hard and you lose a lot of skin cells on the pole but great for fitness, strength and body image – I enjoyed it so much that I bought my own pole and set up in my dining room. I’ve moved and sold it since then but there’s probably not too many people who can say they skyped with their family to show them what they could do on a pole! My niece was four at the time and wanted to know if I was a fireman…I let my brother take that one!
Welcome back Strongcurves and Amz, I hope you feel better soon 👩‍⚕️
Elky – you’re so right, the info from Arcticfox was so interesting and I loved that Doctor in the House show – going to watch some more episodes of that. On the episode I watched, there was a young boy who was overweight, had very high insulin readings yet was very active and ate good food and it turned out he didn’t have enough bacteria in his gut so the doctor had him try and eat a rainbow of foods to increase it (mostly veggies with a little fruit, plus cooked apples with cinnamon because apparently that helps with insulin spikes from the apple – need to do a little more research on that). I already eat a lot of different veggies but going to try and incorporate some more colored ones (while still trying to stay under 20g carbs) because I notice that most everything is shades of green. In terms of fermented foods, there are a quite a few people that have a lot of knowledge about it so I’m sure they’ll pipe up! I sometimes eat kimchi which is Korean style fermented cabbage, radish and other stuff – i like spicy so it’s my favorite option other than a dill pickle! Not sure what you have around you but an Asian supermarket would have it and I can get it in regular supermarkets here.
Julia (CG) – that’s really interesting and might just be enough to make me have a crack at it. I’ll just think about it some more…😁
Today would have been my Dad’s 82nd birthday and I always try and do something he would have liked so I went to a very cute cactus store (he loved cacti) and then I bought a cheap one at the supermarket (he loved a bargain more so would have been proud of me!). Then I drove down a really steep street, I always hoped he would make it here to drive down it with me as it’s something we used to do together when we would visit my brother in Wellington, so I enjoyed it on his behalf. Yes, I know it’s weird, he was a quirky professor! Enjoy the rest of/start of/end of your day, people xx

Hello lovely Elky – I think we were posting at the same time! I’m also fascinated by CG’s results. Maybe we should both have a go? I’m not joining a gym but if there’s stuff we can do at home, would be good to spur each other on and compare results. I’m in the same boat as you – I got up to 175.8 and down to 175.2 and that’s it. Been that way for 3 almost 4 weeks and now I’m just cross!

Kafin, I’m so impressed with your past fitness challenges – especially the pole dancing. You must have been so fit!! I had a friend who did that and the core strength involved was *phenomenal*. People who are good at it are serious athletes, I think they’re amazing. I can’t even do sit ups anymore my core strength is so bad, I really do salute your past triumphs.

I am also definitely up for trying a few things at home and spurring each other on. I think that’s a great idea. Have a look at the Ted Naiman stuff and see what you reckon we could do at home – he has this video where he does 6 key exercises on a cruise ship in the cabin to prove you need no equipment (yes OK but in one he does chin ups on the door frame – my door frame is so not strong enough lol Even if I could do chin ups!!) He recommends aiming to do the little routine 2 or 3 times a week. I did find it really encouraging, but not encouraging enough to commit to it 🙁 He does the exercises sooooo slowly – e.g. in a squat it’s 20 or 30 secs down, hold 20 or 30 secs, 20 or 30 secs back up – that you get to absolute trembling failure after only a handful. So it isn’t supposed to take heaps of your time, and you can do it in front of the telly, for example. It’s clearly aimed at people like me who are really reluctant to get off the couch lol He also does other way more ambitious stuff with suspension gear. Looks amazing though.

I quite like some kimchi though I’m a bit of a sook with really hot things, I’m clearly a bit slow on this because I never even thought it it as being the fermented stuff Arcticfox was talking about! <slaps forehead> So thank you for the idea, I’ll have to have a look for some. There are heaps of Asian supermarkets around me, so I’ll definitely be able to find some. Will just need to look for nutrition panels in English so I can be sure of the carbs!

And I just love your way of celebrating/memorialising your Dad’s birthday, I think that’s a really lovely thing to do.

Let me know what you reckon about the Ted Naiman “routine” when you’ve had a chance to look, I think I’m actually excited for the challenge!!

Elky xx

Hi Elky – I’m in! I watched the video where he explains about muscle failure and then the cruise ship one and I reckon we start out with 2 times a week? I don’t have the door frame either and even after years of personal training, chin ups eluded me so I’ve come to the conclusion, that they’re stupid. I’m going to go for regular push-ups/press-ups, squats, wall sits, diamond push-ups, tricep dips and I have dumbells so some sort of pull exercise since I can’t use the door frame. I think I also need to add in sprints or maybe stairs but maybe that’s next week 😁 I also found this so we can add and change up the exercises.
https://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere#chest-and-back
And since I know you’re interested in autophagy – there’s a lot of info out there that says exercise induces autophagy particularly when fasting!
I also read some stuff about fermented dairy which includes kefir, some cheeses, sour cream and yogurt – not what we often think of as fermented but also options 😉💜 xx

Hi Kafin

OK, I’m in, your list of exercises looks good. (Well no bits of it look horrible, I hate tricep dips and the thought of doing them to absolute failure is downright nasty, but you know what I mean – it looks challenging and good for me lol) I might swap in leg lifts or V sit ups or something instead of diamond push-ups because I think I need to target those core muscles. I have dumb bells too, I guess if I go super slow they’ll be heavy enough to get me to failure on a pull up type exercise. And I really like your list of 50 others that we can swap in later.

I agree with you on adding in some HIIT stuff, for me it’ll be the exercise bike (Achilles issue). But definitely next week – baby steps here! 🙂

And yes I’ve read about the autophagy stuff when exercising too …. did it make me exercise? No it did not, sigh.

But OK, I’m in here, committed to twice a week with Kafin. Signed up!!

(And thanks for the ideas on fermented dairy – I have sour cream now, and Greek yoghurt when I can trust myself not to eat too much of it, so that’s really good to know.)

Go us!! xx

Yay Elky – go us! If you’re interested in communicating directly, Birdy has a system set up but no pressure, we can continue motivating each other through the forum 😁. xx

Hi everyone – Happy 4th July to all the Americans, and happy Independence from Meat day for all the vegetarians/vegans (I found that “day” on a google search of special days!!)
Lots of talk about exercise this week. I have never been one to exercise – I kept active, worked full time, walking, gardening, dogs etc but never any organized activity. But last year as I hit 62 I joined a gym class for the first time ever. For those in Australia, most States run classes sponsored by COTA (Council of the Aging – makes us sound old!! 🤣) – these are classes for over 55s. I joined my local class where we have a wonderful instructor (delightful mature woman!) and we all get in there and do our thing. All senior ages (one fit bloke is 88!) and abilities. NO fancy gym clothes or young ones posing about 😊. I finally decided I don’t care what I look like!!! – my health is more important. And I only work casually now so I can fit the sessions in. I go twice a week, and over the last month have been working on a session similar to JGwen’s weight resistance training she did in her study. I really do feel like I am getting stronger. Elky, if you are interested there are classes in Canberra – link here : https://cotaact.org.au/images/2016/Keeping_Active.pdf
I will check out Ted Naiman for further inspiration. 🌺

Thanks Merry – but I’m not over 55 yet lol OK, I’m getting there, but not quite yet ha ha But I have heard of such classes, and only good things. I dare say when I’m over 55 😉

Kafin, I’d be very happy to communicate directly! Birdy, can you please provide the instructions?

THanks for sharing – I’ll check it out

Kafin, I loved your way of honouring your Dad! I’m sure you did him proud.
And good to hear you and Elky are going to try Mr Naiman’s ideas! I will be interested in what you think about it!

Julia, thanks for the exercise prompting. Just now working up a new schedule for the gym down the street.

Cat

Elky, thank you for the Ted Naiman idea too!