A big welcome to anyone who wants to join us on this monthly health, fitness and weightloss journey. How quickly the months go by and we are now into October with Autumn well and truly upon us. Time of year when we crave comforting, warming foods but not to worry as soups and stews can still be healthy and hearty.

No matter whether you are an oldie or a newbie, everyone is welcome on this thread. Hope to see you all soon.

Thanks s-g. I’m really determined to make October a ‘healthy’ month. Can’t wait to start making soups and stews again!

My favourite soup/hearty meal recipe is the one for Spanish chickpea and chorizo from the original BSD book. I will put it here for anyone who wants a spicy chunky soup.

Weight down again but doesnt it go slowly when measured in kgs. Yesterday I was 4.95lbs down, today 4.98. Onwards and downwards.

Thanks for setting us up for the new month S-G.
Verano, Soups and stews great for autumn and winter…I made a huge batch of soup with the last of my home grown courgette, onions and chicken stock… 28 portions now in the freezer! 😁

I do find the colder months more difficult to ‘be good’ with the diet, but will hope to keep on the optimistic straight and narrow!
K.xx

Reported post above.

Well my October could have started better. Yesterday I let my iPad on the plane!
Can’t begin to tell you where my head is right now. Anyway, we are off to the Midlands tomorrow for a wedding so something good to look forward to.
Monday I’ll be back into good ‘headspace’.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Thank you for reporting that stupid post. I saw it on my phone but only use BSD on my hard-drive. Oh what a bummer, hope your Ipad didnt have anything important on it. That’s why I don’t put stuff like banking etc on my phone.

Another reasonable weight loss today so now over the 5lbs. Still cant understand why my BG is in the high 140’s and 150’s. I am wondering if it could be stress, it certainly isn’t what I eat – example yesterday, 30g oats, blueberries, raspberries, seeds incl chia, then a Purition shake and dinner was 3 egg omelette with some parma ham. No snacks, no white carbs, nothing. BG this morning 144. I am sticking to my 18 units of insulin as doctor says I shouldn’t mess around with. Might throw out my current insulin pen in case it is corrupted. Trying anything.

That’s all for now.

Thank you S-G for setting up this October thread & thank you Verano for suggesting I speak to my GP which I have done. He is prescribing another med, not an antibiotic he assures me, that helps an active gut that I am yet to get to take for seven days & if that fails I will have hospital investigations. Thank you also AnnieW for your kind suggestions.
I seem to be doing better at the moment probably knowing now that I’m not infectious with anything & the use of Imodium when needed. I think the brain gut axis is certainly something that affects me with the stomach butterflies effect if I’m nervous or I’d really upset rushing to the loo! It’s amazing how really interactive our bodies are & I taking kefir & probiotics. I am also again recording on a daily basis what I am eating trying to reduce my calories to get more in line with the BS Diet. I do hope that October will be a good one for everyone 🤞🤞
Verano Wendy was my identical twin sisters name who died when three weeks old because we were very premature so I also use her name 😀
Margaret xx

Ahh Margaret what a lovely homage to your sister. Hope you get sorted out with your new medication.

S-g sounds like a plan to ditch your current pen. It could just be faulty.

Well, my October has now taken a turn for the better. The iPad which has my ‘life’ on it has been found. It’s in Jersey! Really no help from Easyjet in fact the lost property team really didn’t care. As my OH says they can’t make money out lost property so don’t bother. Anyway, we knew the flight was going to Jersey next and as a last resort, found some numbers to ring and hey! ho! my iPad had been handed in by the crew in Jersey. Now just have the dilemma of how to retrieve it but where there’s a will there’s a way!

So feeling much brighter. My gain for the two weeks was exactly 1kg, 2.2lbs. Sounds nutty but I’m really happy with that. So, onwards we go. I will do my best with cards over the next three days then on Monday I will start weighing etc again.

Pleased you located your iPad & I hope it can quickly be returned to you 🤞
I have just weighed & disappointingly I have only lost half a pound! My husband & I are going to our GP surgery for our flu jabs today & I will collect my new medication then because Boots pharmacy is opposite the surgery.
On we go everyone & I hope that we all have a good next week.
Margaret xx

Great you have located your Ipad. You say your whole life is on it, if I lost my ipad or phone it would just be a bit of a nuisance although I do have a lot of family photos on the phone.

Let myself down last night as I was feeling rather stressed and poured myself a couple of large vodkas. Hence gained 1lb overnight. If I can stick back with the diet I hope that will be gone by tomorrow. Still holding a 5lb loss as I had lost another pound since Tuesday but not ideal. I just sometimes feel really deprived.

BG is back down to a normal level of 100 yesterday and 88 today so it is a good chance the insulin pen was contaminated.

Had a big clear out in the kitchen over the last 2 days and took 3 large boxes of pans, glasses, dishes etc and also a fair amount of plastic containers. Want to rid my life of plastic after reading an article about micoparticles in our blood stream. Must remember not to heat things up in plastic tubs so some of the damage is eliminated.

Hi everyone, weight back down but means that so far I havent lost anything this week and we are out tomorrow. Still had a 5lb loss so not complaining.

Cannot understand why I have the trots every Sunday morning. Thought it was maybe the runny fried egg or the mushrooms so been cutting them out to eliminate them. Now I get the trots even before I have started cooking. Maybe I have food related stomach before and my unconscious mind still associates it with that. I am going to take 2 Imodium every Sunday morning to stop this. Any ideas.

Hello all,
Glad you managed to find your ipad, Verano – I know I’d be lost without mine!
Hope you get your stomach issues sorted out soon, Margaret – they can really wear you down.
A good stock of home-made soup in the freezer is a great help, Pootle, – it’s a quick, easy meal when you can’t be bothered cooking, and much better for us than takeaway! My kids laugh at me because I freeze the leftover chicken carcasses after roasts etc, but they can’t get enough of the soup I make using them!🤣
S-G – what are you eating on Saturdays? I find I can get the trots next day if I’ve eaten something that disagrees with me, or that I’m intolerant of. Just a thought… Glad your BG is down again, though not great if your pen was contaminated.
Haven’t been around much as a bit of family crap going on, and I just had some very bad news about an old friend. The weather here is slowly starting to come good. Allegedly spring, but still very cold, windy and rainy. Seems like a very long winter this year, and am hanging out for some sunshine! Working on maintenance – my weight swings between 58.5 and 60kg. This morning I weighed 800g less that yesterday, and I have absolutely no idea why. I’d had a couple of glasses of wine with lunch and had expected to put on half a kilo or so. Oh well…
Anyway, best wishes to everyone,
Lacy xx

Hi all, well today is not my weigh date but I am going out tonight so it will have to be. Still a loss of 5lbs and really cant complain.

Lacy, I dont have a food routine on Saturday and it is something different each week. I also dont indulge so no crisps of booze or anything my body is not used to. No, it is just Sunday morning. I can suffer with a stress stomach so I think that might be it. Not that I am stressed but because I have had problems with, say, eggs before and my body is anticipating it.

Looking forward to our quiz night. Have a good week everyone.

Hi all

Good to see your BS is down s-g.

Well I’ve been home 6 days, but had a 2 night hotel stay and a wedding plus Sunday lunch out with family yet still managed to lose my 2.2lb holiday gain plus 0.4lbs! Can’t work out why or how but I’m just going to run with it! Can only guess that just dropping most of my carb overload has led to a water loss. But, you know, I’ll take it!

Hope this second week of October sees everyone progressing towards their goals

Hi all, well my night out hasnt really done any damage, went from 74.2 to 74.3. I’ll take that. And we won again, we are usually a team of 2 who come 2nd or 3rd and we have joined the team of 4 who usually come 1st or 2nd – so we help them keep the winning streak. Looking forward to next month.

No real news, we have contacted another estate agent and he was supposed to call me this morning and he hasnt so that doesn’t bode well with me. I dont like people who let me down. We will see.

Well done staying the same s-g and hope you have some success with your estate agents. House sales are always a nasty business.
Just plodding along here and just about to check out all my passwords. I realise that I need some sort of backup after my recent escapade!
Hope everyone is well.

Well done S-G staying the same weight & it’s good having a night out. I hope you can get your iPad back Verano but it’s always good changing passwords because unfortunately there are so many scammers out there 🙁
I am also plodding along & I have two more days of these new meds which seem to be slightly helping no doubt killing off every bacteria that I have in my gut. I’m taking Kefir & Optibac hoping to counteract this 🤔
I am hoping that I have lost some weight when I weigh on Saturday but my clothes don’t feel much looser. It’s lovely that the sun is shining today & my maple tree is already in autumn colours & we have loads of berries on our plants that the birds will be happy with. We have a wide shallow terracotta bowl in the back garden for wildlife to drink from but one pigeon uses it at his personal bath 😂
My good news is that fingers crossed my youngest son will be signing a new work contract today 🤞We have been very worried & I have already bailed him out with a loan until he starts work but unfortunately can’t afford any more. You never stop being a supportive parent no matter how old your children are.
I hope you soon have some positive news on your house sale S-G 🤞
Keep on going everyone 😀
Margaret xx

Hi everyone, great you got your Ipad back V, you will have to give it a whole range of new passwords which can be a pain.

Good news about your son Margaret. We are always parents. Grandson is working away from home and rang mum this morning to say he was unwell, sickness, stomach pains etc, he suffers quite a lot but the point is, he rang his mum and he is 20. Bless.

The agent never did contact me and I have left another message so I will be looking. Speak of the devil, he has just rung me and coming round on Wednesday morning. Gives me time to get the house PERFECT.

Nearly the weekend so enjoy. I am cooking a meal from Jamie Olivers Eat Healthy TV programme, chicken balls in broth, sounds delicious.

Margaret hope all worked out well with your son and, of course, your guts!

S-g fingers crossed for the new estate agent. The property next door to us is just about to be completed so we also have our fingers crossed but hoping that we aren’t going to have a ‘planning permission’ battle! We live in a small close of bungalows and one was sold 5, yes 5, years ago and the buyer wanted to turn a small two bedroom bungalow into a double fronted two storey house with extra bedrooms in the roof space. After many years of objections and new plan after plan in April this year it started being modernised/redeveloped as a two bedroom bungalow! I wonder why people buy a bungalow, when there are so few, only to want to turn it into a ‘house’. There are many, many houses out there …. go buy one!

Sorry, off my high horse now!

We have a wedding anniversary tomorrow so out for lunch which will be really nice. We’re going to an Italian restaurant we’ve not been to for ages. The good news is we are having late lunch so won’t need dinner!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Hi all, happy Sunday. Last night I took an imodium before bed and today my stomach is okay.

In France you can have more than one agent and they share the commission with your original agent. It is not a good idea to have too many but we have noticed we are on French Homes, Rightmove, Leggett and Hamptons. So we should be getting plenty of cover. We are putting the price down on Wednesday as there has been a slump in the market due to the political situation here. We never should have gone for over €300,000 as, daughter says we are missing those looking at under that 3 number, so it is going down to €299,990. We dont really need the money but we are not going to give it away for a stupid price. Reason, daughter is giving us a house in case you missed it but we will need the money for our retirement fund in case we need care etc.

Weight is slightly down but not declaring until Tuesday.

BTW it is back to Tshirt weather here at 26 degrees but it was 6 degrees this morning so the electric blanket is definitely on.

Firstly the good news my son got the contract & started work then came down to see us yesterday & stayed overnight 😀. I weighed yesterday & have put on a pound probably because of having to eat breakfast to take my meds adding extra calories to my day. I fortunately took the last tablet yesterday & don’t think they have really helped but I will give it a week to monitor my symptoms before getting back in touch with my GP.
Gosh S-G your property sounds reasonably priced but I suppose Brexit has made it more difficult for UK people who now want to live in France & the inheritance laws there are very different but fingers crossed for you 🤞🤞
Good luck everyone for next week🍀🍀. My husband & I are enjoying watching The Celebrity Traitors & Strictly Come Dancing on tv but I am already hating the dark evenings & walking through the village in the evening which has such poor “traditional “ street lighting & uneven pavements.
Margaret xx

Hi everyone and welcome to another week. Not weighed as I was up during the night again, BG was okay but I just couldnt sleep. Had a cup of hot chocolate (low calories Options). Everything running through my mind, I tried to have nice thoughts, beaches, music etc but nothing worked. Right now I have several things going on and I kept jumping from one to the other and back again. I finally fell asleep around 6am.

Congrats to your son Margaret. I too am watching Strictly but besides the obvious ones I dont really know who everyone is.

Hubby had his 3 monthly doctors check up and all is fine for his 80 years. Popping out now to buy some odds and ends but particularly a bed throw for viewings. We had a lovely mauve and white bedspread but gave it to charity because it was too big to wash and didnt think we needed it. Hey ho. Might look for a few flowers for the pots now the geraniums are dying off.

Have a great week.

Weigh in today and I have lost a massive half a pound – joke. I cant think what I did wrong until I remember the night out at the beginning of the week. Anyway I now have to lose 8.5lbs in 8 weeks. Still doable. Got some cleaning to do today as Estate Agent is coming tomorrow morning. Have a great day.

I’ve been in a roundabout this week and now back to where I was last Tuesday!

I’m not getting notifications so just ‘rebooting’!

Hi all, new estate agent has been and we have knocked a big chunk off the price. Always said it was on too high. Feeling much more positive about a sale as he was interested in things the other agent didnt concern herself with, like having fibre as he has clients who want to move out of the city, work remote and have good wifi. Anyway fingers crossed. I think we just want to sell up and go now our decision has been made.

Had a really bad night, fell asleep (sort of) after 6am and was up at 7.15. Just so much on my mind. Besides the house we cant find a cat sitter for Christmas. I have just said okay so we dont go back for Christmas, I cant let it upset me. Will still keep looking but as we are members of the ferry club we can cancel at any time or reschedule or get a refund.

Going to buy some new jumpers in the sales but not today, too tired.

Oh dear S-G I know how awful it is tossing & turning through the night & not sleeping well & I hope you sleep better tonight after having a more positive estate estate viewing 🤞🤞
My innards seem to be settling down today after finishing yet another course of strong antibiotics so perhaps I did have another unidentified harmful virus or bacteria 🤔 I am hoping this calm will continue!
Take care S-G & good news about your husband 👍
Margaret xx

at the moment just trying to keep my head above water with kids’ needs, work, health etc….hoping to at some point have a bit of let-up to concentrate on healthy eating…
love to all,
Tulip x

Tulip life sometimes takes over but we do have to find time for ourselves… we are just as important as the others!

Margaret glad things are settling down now …. the only way is up!

S-g maybe some very, very huge deep breaths and then work out your ‘absolute’ priorities. Sometimes we become so bogged down we can’t see the wood for the trees. Take a step back and work out the most important issues now, next week, next month etc. Hope you can find some peace of mind.

I can’t actually believe this month is half way through and that the clocks here in the UK are going back in just over a week. I really dislike the short days. Anyway we have to keep on and keep moving forward health wise. I’m really enjoying my homemade soups again and am looking forward stews etc this winter..

Has anybody ever made fish cakes with mashed cauliflower instead of potato? Would be really interested in the results.

Not getting very far with the diet. No reason i.e. I am not eating stupid things but I am dithering up and down on 74+kgs. Going to keep on…

We are trying to prioritise, we cant control the house sale but if we cant get a cat sitter we will just have to spend Christmas here on our own. No biggy as we will hopefully be able to spend as much time as we want with family when we move. Also, have to get cats sorted for a move. Taking the old one in for a checkup next week as she has started to be dirty all around the house. I think she doesnt like to go out when it is cold but she did go out then came back in a pooped on the rug. Maybe it is time for her to go. While we are there we will ask about pet passports.

Going to look on new site see if house is on. Have a good weekend.

Just looked at the photos on the new site and they are terrible. I went to a lot of trouble to make my house perfect and he has taken a picture of the dining room with his jacket on the floor, his bag on the chair and a file on the table with a cup as I made him a coffee.

S-g that’s awful! At the end of the day it’s their business/ livelihood to sell houses. Surely they should do their best for the seller!
Maybe get them to remove the ‘horrors’ if you haven’t already. Wishing you only the best of luck on what is a fraught journey!

Evening all, sorry I have been absent for the last week!
S-G, sorry to hear your old cat is ‘fading’, I hope the visit to the vet gave some hope that it is just a reluctance to spend time out in the cold.
Also, I hope you got the agent to tidy up his act!
We are puppy caring…watching… guarding…cleaning…feeding etc along with work, it has been exhausting!!

Weight still steady, bs fine except following a plate of chips… weak moment, first chips for 14 months!!
Have to go… puppy wants out!
Xx

Well done Pootle!
It’s sometimes easier to lose than it is to not regain, so well done you. Maintenance is so hard!
Huge great pats on the back for you Pootle!

HI everyone. Back here again and it’s time for a detox and Fast800 again. I weighed in yesterday and found that I was 88 kilos. To be honest I’d feared it was more as I was aware in photos I’d gained more weight lately. being 5’8 I have two stone to lose.

Every time I do the Fast 800 I find it so easy and uplifting. But for some reason, I always stop when my ideal weight is in sight. I have no idea why but this time I am going to see it through, but by playing the long game rather than a “I want to weigh this much by Christmas”.
This time I’m actually going to try doing it as a 2:5 (having Friday and Saturdays off) rather than going all out. So we will see. Usually I fear giving up wine the most but as always, once my mind is made up, I find that quickly becomes easy because I started feeling so much more active so quickly and sleep better. I’m fasting for 16 hours a day – my favourite meal on this is usually something like some fish (grilled or tinned) with a basil salad and cottage cheese and tomatoes.

Wishing everyone else lots of success.

Gosh many of us seem to be having difficulties to deal with this month and well done Pootle with maintaining your weight 👏👏
I managed an 800 calorie fast yesterday and I am back recording what I am planning to eat each day.
Welcome back Simonforsure and I am trying a 5:2 week with two fast days to try to get myself back into an eating less routine and trying another 800 calorie day today. I also like a glass of wine that I couldn’t have recently because of conflicting antibiotics but can again now and it’s a real temptation particularly with some nibbles to go with it 🤔😀My goal is also to get back to eating 800 calories each weekday and relaxing a little over the weekend.
I am trying to do better to lose weight to help my knees & also have two stone to lose 🤞🤞
Keep on going everyone! I will weigh on Saturday to see if my two fast days have had any effect!
Margaret xx

Hello SunshineGirl. I’m actually trying the 2:5 this time, so give fast days and the weekend off but not going mad. I’ve found this first week back on it really exciting and easy actually – curious to see whether this way of doing it works! I remember Michael Mosley saying some people do it this way.

Hi Simon, there is a boost of adrenaline when we start a new regime, keep up the good feelings.

I am still dithering between 74 and 74.5. It is still a loss of 5lbs but no movement since week one. I think it is psychological, lose 5lbs in one week and then think you can have a little break or not be so strict. Or it could be the bodies way of panicking and wanting to hold on to weight. Back onto really strict after a night of disaster when we were fed bread and cheese with a few bits of chacuterie thrown in to share between 6 of us. €22 each, I thought we would be getting a proper meal for that as we do at the restaurant quiz night. Gained in weight and BG out of control, but back down this morning.

No word from new agent, all talk and no action. Last viewing came to nothing. They said our bedrooms were too small – they have a super kingsize bed. They want a new build so they are not going to fit that bed in.

Found a lovely couple to housesit for Christmas. Decided to wait it out and made plans with neighbours and friends to share cat feeding in nothing came up. Anyway, we have found what we were looking for.

Started getting things thrown out, cat passports and getting fosse emptied and waiting for inspector to come out. At least we are doing what we have to rather than things piling up on my brain.

Have a lovely weekend. Dont forget the clocks go back.

I hope things continue well for you S-G & taking control of something does help us feel more positive 👍
I am pleased after weighing today & that I have lost 1.75lbs after gaining one pound last week. I think easing myself back in with 5:2 is more manageable for me for a couple of more weeks whilst recording everything that I am eating & drinking! It is lovely being able to have a glass of wine again after coping with all my medicine side effects that are also slowly getting more back to normal.
I hope everyone has a good weekend & a positive week ahead 🤞🍀🍀
Margaret xx

Hope you all had a good weekend. I had a learning curve with my food. Have you heard of resistant starch and making carb foods less carby and less calories. Well, my craving for a jacket potato finally got to me and I bought 2 potatoes. I even said to daughter that I don’t think I can bring myself to eat it. Read up on the science and finally decided to try it with a fairly good meal off roast duck breast and corn on the cob. Roasted the potatoes in the airfryer and then let them cool. Then I reheated and had one with the duck (it was quite a small one). Tasted nice but not good enough to want again in a hurry. Outcome, gained 2lbs and BG up very high. What a load of tosh. Lesson, if I wouldn’t normally eat it, dont eat it.

No other news except talking to friends who moved from France back to UK around 3 years ago. Now we know we have to apply to the Home Office for permission to return. What the —–.

Enjoy your week while I pray this weight is just water:)

Well I was right, the weight gain was fluid and I am back down to 74.1kgs. So still hopeful to lose 14lbs by 16th Dec. Just got to stop doing stupid things, especially when shopping and buy stuff I fancy but know I shouldnt have.

Should have known our friends were talking a load of rubbish. When we moved to France they were here already for 15 years and told us some really bad info, like hiding money from the tax man, keeping money under the mattress etc. Until they came to sell their home in France and the tax man caught up with them!!!!! Anyway we did everything by the book and have survived. The rubbish they spouted was that we have to apply to the Home Office for the right to return. Not true. We have to inform HRMC which is obvious and we already have tax numbers as we both still pay UK tax on our government pensions. Yes, we have a few hoops to jump through but no more than when we moved to France and we did it all in French.

All in all life is good, no one is ill or dying, we will get through this if we just take one day at a time and deal with things as they come.

Have a good week.

Just thinking on another subject. All these people advertising rubbish like printers, diet pills, exercise therapy in Malaysia etc etc, Ok report them but dont comment, dont interact and they just fade away down the line. When we comment they just come back up to the top. Ignore the buggers.

Hi s-g. I’m glad it was only a blip. Resistant carbs aside, the corn on the cob might not have been your friend? Though I know we are all different.

Re your move, are you in any of the Facebook expat groups? I find the Dutch ones really helpful for answering practical questions and they are normally well up to date with recent experiences. I see British Expats in France has some 5000 members and might be a good resource.

Have a good week. x

Hi all, feeling a lot better, weight is down and BG back to normal.

Heidi I know corn on the cob is not the best at 126 cals and 27 carbs. However, I only have half as I share it with hubby so 68 cals and 13 carbs. Being diabetic I have to go without things I would like to eat every day of my life, not just for a diet, to stop it killing me (eventually) so giving in now and then is not a big deal as long as I am careful 99% of the time. My gripe was on the resistant carbs con, yes it does reduce cals and carbs but that doesnt make it healthy. Jacket potato has been something I have been craving for months, now it done, finished.

Not sure why we would need to be on a French community site when everyone has their own opinion or experience. Look at the bad advice we got for expats when we moved here. Hubby is a volunteer for a British charity and has contacts at the consulate and also has a wealth of information from people on his team who have dealt with repatriation etc and know all the rules. The only advice we have been given by expats has been bad or wrong advice.

I guess I will be setting up next months thread. Any witty ideas on a title.

Definitely not ‘Naughty November’ !
I will only be ‘dipping in’ in November as we don’t get home until the 28th . Being the best I can be at the moment. Today we’re in Kotor which is really spectacular, not as spectacular as the Norwegian Fjords, but a good runner up. The weather isn’t sunny so I guess it will look even better on a brighter day.
So back to the question……
November?

Are you on a cruise V. Montenegro.

How about Nourishing November

Yes, now on our way south to Corfu. We came to Kotor last year but I was unwell that day and missed the sail-in. Just on our way out now but because of the clouds there won’t be a visible sunset. Nonetheless lovely port to visit.

Nourishing is one of the four adjectives I picked out, nurturing, nourishing, nonnegotiable and notable and my ‘auto’ just came up with no-U-turning! I like nourishing the best too. It’s warm and wholesome.

I have set up a new thread for November. See you all there.

V, we are heading for Norway again in March next year, yes on a cruise, cant wait.