Another day passed.
I put a pound back on yesterday…🙄 but I am not too worried as I am still 2lb in hand. (Less than my personal ideal).
The positive out of this, is I would have stressed dreadfully in the past, then given in and eaten all sorts of ‘unsuitable’ things and onto the slippery slope! However, I know why I have put it on and what I have to do to prevent it going any further. 😄😄

Other half bought me a beautiful bunch of flowers to make up for the dreadful weather today! ☔️💐💐

Our 14 year old dog 🐩 has eaten all his meals today without the usual ‘coaxing’. He is a very fussy eater, but I must have got it right today and tempted his appetite!! 😁🍗🍳

Jackarce73 post reported..

1) I have enjoyed a lovely dog walk in the cool forest this morning. Now I shall hunker down indoors!
2) I bought some lavender and other bedding plants (look like busy lizzies but aren’t) so I can make a lovely colourful display to go by the garden table.
3) Moving into week 5 of eating healthily. My waist is reemerging, and my face is thinner. Non scale victories are just as rewarding!

I hope you all have a good day. Keep cool and hydrate!

Hi all,
An unusual positive today ;-
I have broken bones in my right hand.. so cannot do all sorts of things.. making me rest! Enjoying daytime tele!! 😂🫣
Last Friday husband baled our hay and stacked it in the barn. All on his own as I was out of action! I always feel hay making is good exercise, so I was sad to miss it. BUT brilliantly positive that it is done!🚜
The feral kittens are playing outside the kitchen window and I watched the Mum (very warily) touch noses with our old dog! 🐩🐈‍⬛

Over 6,500 posts! Probably over 20,000 positives! That’s some going! But yet we are still here! Even if we only post periodically …. we post!

So to my positives …

😀🏋🏻‍♀️🤸🏻‍♂️Fighting fit today after a few days in bed. Ready to tackle ironing tomorrow …. unless the sunshine forces me to sit outside and read a book!!

🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️ Back to meditation today. I hadn’t realised how much it ‘grounds’ me and I know it will help me sleep better tonight.

🥗🥚🍅 Back to healthy eating today…… a real pleasure.

Enjoy the rest of the week with hopefully many positives.

Pootle that all sounds like a countryside idyll – apart from the broken bones! Good you can find a positive in it, but I hope they heal quickly too!

1) Enjoyed a chilled black coffee with breakfast. It just felt too hot for a warm drink. Very tasty.
2) The jasmine is in full bloom and the scent is lovely.
3) Enjoyed coffee with a “developing” friend. I find it a bit strange to make friendshipss from scratch at this stage in life – finding points of common interest, how much to open up etc. But so far so good.

Hi Heidi,
I love Jasmine, the perfume is just so unique!
I understand your thoughts on developing friendships at this stage in life… long standing friendships where you have ‘fitted together’ for many years are so comfortable… new ones feel ‘dangerous’!! I have made a couple of close ‘later in life’ friends and am so glad I met them!

Onto positives for today;
1. Keeping my hand bound up has eased the pain on my arm and shoulder, enabling me to ‘do’ a little more. So I have been playing with a couple of creative ideas for a job next week. 😄😄 (the washing up 🧫🧫 🍳🥘 is piling up in the sink, but I am closing my eyes to it!)
2. Used one of the ‘roadside’ laundry 20kg washing machines to wash and dry husband’s heavy quilt today. 🧺🧺
3. Weight is still stable! 🎉🎉
I hope you all have some positives in your life, we would love to hear about them.

Another day of healthy eating!! 😇😇😂
Supper out yesterday with friends…good friendship and chat, with steak and salad, what could be better? 😄
Creative ideas for next week coming together! 👍😁

Feeling good today.. 😅

Sunshine Girl – so good to hear about the blood results! My husband had exactly the same experience. Diagnosed as pre-diabetic which is what precipitated the diet and totally reversed after 8 weeks. My stomach is misbehaving still although nice to hear of good results for others. Am trying a weird Swedish device atm which is supposed to help – iOro fyi – you’re supposed to use it for 6 mths to feel the benefit. Sigh – everything saggier and heading South, I think the elastics in my body are expanding!! Lol! On to 3 positives:
Gorgeous walk with dog this am with 360 degree blackcap and garden warblers carolling away in the trees.
Roasted apricots, raspberries and greek yoghurt for breakfast. Yummy.
Day off. Reading an unputdownable book!
Have a fab day everyone!!!

Pootle your day sounded so positive. And from really early on. I hope the good mood continued!

Three positives:
Still controlling what I put in my mouth. Now over 4 weeks. This is the longest that I have been in control in years.
I feel so much better without sugar. I’m sleeping better. Less moody. Skin clearer.
Started a painting job that I have been putting off. (covering up a water leak). When I asked myself why another day would be better than now, I ran out of excuses!

I hope you have all had a good day too.

Having to find a positive from a really sad negative today!!
My favourite fish restaurant has closed down (as a result of the Nat Ins changes and increased business rates). (very unhappy face)
So I am resurrecting a recipe I haven’t made for a few years! “Hake on a stick”. Cubes of hake wrapped in smoked streaky bacon, on a skewer, a squeeze of lemon and a grind of pepper then under the grill. Going to serve with cauliflower rice and a bit of lightly steamed samphire… Yum Yum. Really looking forward to it! (Happy face)

So the positives are;
1. I remembered the dish and how to make it! (Happy face)
2. I was able to get hake fillets and samphire this morning. (Fish)
3. It is low carb!!!!! (Halo)

(Still no emojis on laptop…should have used the phone!! Laughing face!)

Good evening all,
I hope you are all surviving the heat wave, which seems to have bypassed us here. A bit humid tonight, but it rained this morning and we only had a few sunny spells during the day. Mostly overcast! So onto some positives:
1. It is my god-son’s birthday today and his card arrived in time… so Royal Mail managed that! 😁
2. I picked the first sweet peas today! 🌺💐
3. My new notebook (from eBay) arrived ahead of time.. so I am ready to continue recording weight and sugars when the current book is full!! 📚📘

Have been enjoying reading everyone’s positive posts and having been absent for awhile (while we had family visiting) I thought it time to post a few myself.

So, the first one is …
🌸🌸 was lovely having eldest DD and fiance visit with us.
🌸🌸 my mum is still doing well … declining, but still managing to stay active and positive in the face of her diagnosis
🌸🌸 sunny days ….. I’m a ‘hothouse flower’ and hate the cold!

Hi all, just same old, same old here. One big positive@0

Hubby received his pension today and it was ten times more than it should be. Rang the company to tell them they had made a mistake and no, they have just taken over from another pension company and been finding errors. It was not a mistake and, although not saying how much, enough to go on a nice holiday.

Family coming over in exactly 3 weeks, I think there might be some extravagance abounding.

40 degrees today but we are lucky we can just do nothing, stay indoors and run the air con – think we can afford it now 🙂

That sounded awful, hope you all know it was a joke about being able to afford air con.

Hi S-G.
What a brilliant positive👍!!!!! To get a windfall (even though it is money you should have been paid before!) I don’t envy you the 40 degrees, and Hope the air con has been working! 😂
My positive for today is that the very hot weather seems to be missing us!!! Absolutely great as I really cannot stand the heat! 😅
Emojis in evidence as I am on the phone not laptop! 🤞🙄

Hope to return with more positives later in the week!

Yes Pootle it was a nice surprise. But can I say that we might not be the only people on private pensions who might be due a refund. Something to do with a law change in 2018 bla bla bla, read the letter but didn’t understand it at all. Just be sure that if you are due you will get it automatically or you could ring your pension provider and ask them about Guaranteed Minimum Pension and its relationship to SERPS. That said –

Didn’t swim yesterday as 40 degrees makes it too draining on the body. Lucky enough to be retired and able to just relax.
Swam 30 mins early this morning before another 40 hits us.
Only 20 days to family arriving.

Hi everyone. Good to see lots of posts here. Three positives from me:
1) my planned UK visit to see/check on my 96 year old parents turned out to be very well timed. I could be with them through the heat wave. Felt very appreciated!
2) I made an online order for some summer tops to go to the UK address. They were all precisely as advertised and very nice. Nothing to send back. That was a nice treat.
3) I only put on 300 grams in the Saturday – Wednesday break. That’s a definite win. I didn’t succumb to Pimm’s, trifle, etc etc. The hot weather helped I have to say!

Hoping you are all having a good day.

Hi Heidi, Great positives!

For today:
1. Picked a bowl of walnuts from the extremely laden tree and started the pickling process. Pricked them all over..6 days in brine stirred daily, will then change brine and leave for 3 more days. Dry out for 3 days then pickle!! A bit of a performance as they won’t be ready to eat for 12 months, but I do love pickled walnuts and I usually do enough to last several years!! 🥜🌰
2. Positive zoom meeting this afternoon with someone I will be working with next month. 😁🤝
3. Hand is feeling a bit better… at least the pain has eased a lot! 👍🤞
I hope you have all had some positives in your life today!

Pootle …. just had to drop by to say how envious I am of all your pickled walnuts …. I adore them too! How wonderful to be able to produce your own. Hope your hand is fully healed soon.

While I’m here, I should add a couple of positives myself ….
🌸🌸 currently in France and getting to spend time with a friend of many years standing.
🌸🌸 mum is still getting on with life, 3mths into a 3 to 6 month life expectancy diagnosis. She’s an amazing positive life force and such an inspiration.

Hi all, just popping in to feel the love and positivity. My positives are

Daughter and grandson arrived in exactly 2 weeks today.
Booked a restaurant for lunch the day we go to Le Prison Infernale – a bit like Crystal Maze. A little camp site by the river and they do vegetarian for daughter.
Temperature down from 35 to 20 and feeling so fresh.
Lapse in diet didn’t do much harm so just 0.2kgs up.

Good evening all,

Just one positive today;
We have just eaten the first home produced courgette and swede of the year! 🍠😄
😇

Hi Pootle, we too have just tasted our first courgette. Don’t know how but it turns out to be a cucumber. It said courgette on the tray of 6 we bought. Good job I like cucumber.

Had a good night at the quiz and we came 4th out of 13 teams – and there are only the 2 of us.
Bought some new sandals today.
Hubby does the cooking on a Tuesday – so that is a positive.

Hi all. I hope the courgette and swede were delicious, Pootle!
A few positives from today:
1) have completed most of the prep for a lunch tomorrow for friends. Less stress tomorrow! And it’s a nice healthy menu of protein and salad.
2) Finally got round to finishing the paint job which has been hanging over me.
3) Enjoyed a good walk on the dunes this morning’

Hoping you all have some positives to enjoy!

Hi S-G…courgette/cucumber…easy mistake when they are seedlings in a pot! At least you like cucumber. I remember when my purple sprouting grown from seed, turned out to be cauliflower! That was very disappointing, as I was relying on the sprouting to come in after the beans etc….but cauliflower came in at the same time!

So to today’s positive/s;

1) 1st French beans for supper tonight!!!!

2) My hand seems to be healing…Fingers crossed that it survives this evening’s work! (Cutting wire netting for 13 people to use for a flower arrangement base!)

3) 2 hours after weighted lunch, (26.7g carb) my BS was 5.2 mmol/L . (I believe that is ‘healthy”????)

Take care all. xxxx

A few positives today, despite the heat.

1. My hand survived….!!!! A minor miracle!!
2. Made fridge soup today (everything and anything in the fridge that needs using up and can go into soup!) with home made stock from the chicken I had roasted on Tuesday. It was particularly good, and made enough for 2 people for 4 days>
3. Think I might have found a home for 2 of the ‘feral’ kittens, that are slowly taming down! Yay!!

Hope you are all finding some positives in your lives…. xxx

Good morning all,
As it has been a week since I last posted on this thread, I thought it was time to ‘bump it up’ the listing!
So a couple of positives:
1. Heat wave has past, and it has rained here…so watering no longer a priority! ☔️💧
2. Butternut squashes forming… first time I have grown them. 😄
3. Enjoying a second cup of delicious coffee, having a slow start to the day! ☕️

I hope everyone can find a positive in their day!
Kath. Xxx

Pootle …. your post has reminded me I should be posting some positives, especially as I’m feeling a bit low today, so an ideal time to look at the plus points in my life ….
🌹🌹 lunched with eldest GS yesterday and then had a long chat with his mum in the evening … good to catch up properly with family
🌹🌹 rose feed arrived, so have been out this morning dosing all my rose bushes. It’s a little late to do it, but think they need the boost after being a bit neglected while I was away.
🌹🌹 all upcoming birthdays sorted … cards and gifts in hand, just need to write and wrap.

If you’re not feeling overly positive, take a moment to identify at least one … believe me there’ll one and finding it will help to give you a little lift.

Time for more positives …..
🙂🙂 lovely catch up with youngest DD over lunch today.
🌹🌹 had notification from a seller, that a particular rose I’ve been seeking is now available again and have successfully placed an order. Now I just have to wait until early winter for it to get despatched.
🌦🌦 have been enjoying the rain showers and the garden is definitely appreciating them too.

Hope plenty of positives have been littering your day too.

Yes I guess I should ‘pop in’……
Very difficult at the moment to find a positive but I will ….. making duck and watermelon salad for dinner tomorrow. A wonderful dish we ate on a cruise and am now going to try and replicate tomorrow and the bonus is its very low carb!

Wow Verano, that sounds delicious….hope it turns out well!! Sorry you are struggling to find positives, but that is a really good one!

On a positive roll with food:

1) I found a brilliant recipe by Luv2cook on this site, Broccoli sandwich bread. It has really given me a boost…I can make my packed meals so much more easily with this and it has filled a ‘gap’ in my repertoire, that has been a problem since I started the BSD. Still to try the Cauliflower version, but the Broccoli one is delicious!!

2) in the Life Without Diabetes Cookbook, I found a chocolate mousse recipe that is giving me a change from Greek yoghurt as a ‘dessert’. I have to have something to finish a meal…and was getting pretty bored with yoghurt!

3) My Celeriac plants are doing well….I’m now talking to them…telling them that I expect them to grow very big and strong! (First time I have grown Celeriac!)

Hope you are all finding some positives in your day!

Hi everyone. Happy Wednesday.
1) my supermarket delivery came yesterday. As I was manhandling a pack of 6 x 1.5 litre bottles, I realised that I have now lost more than that weight since 25 May. A good feeling.
2) a friend asked me on Monday if I had lost weight. Good to know that there is now a difference to spot!
3) hubby and I have a lovely quiet day today, enjoying each other’s company. Looking forward to chilling and enjoying the garden.

Have a good day everyone.

V, hope you’re doing okay and the positives are easier to identify again.
Pootle, love a bit of choc mousse. If you have a moment could you share the recipe here please?
Heidi, how lovely people are noticing you’re slimmer.

Thought I’d pop in with a couple of positives…
🌿🌿 gardening at the village hall yesterday, lovely to be in the sunshine and it looked so much tidier and more presentable when we’d finished
🌿🌿 an informal date night last evening, with a meal eating on the patio and a chance to relax and catch up with each other after a busy week
🌿🌿 at last all the post holiday laundry has been completed

Sunny, I have made 2 different chocolate mousses.
1. 🥛400ml can coconut milk.
🍫120g melted chocolate (recipe calls for 70%, I used 85%)
Whisk coconut milk for at least 30 secs to get lots of air in.
Add melted chocolate whisking all the time… continue to whisk… the more you whisk the better it will be.
Pour into 8 small ramekins and chill overnight. (4 hours min)
For 8 portions, Carb 6.4g, kCal 170 per portion.

2. 🍫125g 85% chocolate, melted over Bain Marie.
4 tbs water,
🥚4 eggs separated.
🥃1 tbs brandy.
Add 1 tbs water to egg yolks and beat well.
Add 3tbs water to melted choc and mix well still over heat.
Add yolks and beat until light.
Remove from heat and add brandy (optional)
Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff and fold into choc.
Pour into 6 small glasses and chill overnight.
For 6 portions Carb 7.8g, kCal 268 per portion.

As I am maintaining weight but remaining low carb, I have found the 2nd better, but the 1st is very good!

So I am going to use the above as a positive as I am delighted to have found something good! 😄😄😄

I picked the first ripe blackberries today… very early this year!!! And at 5g carb per 100g they will be a great addition to my Greek yoghurt! 🫐🫐

Prep for this weekend’s wedding work is going well! 💐💐💐

Prep for next weeks work is also well in hand… it needs to be with a bank holiday on Monday! 🤞👍👍
I hope you can all find some positives if your life… please share if you can! 😄

Thank you for sharing the choc mousse recipes, Pootle. Will try out the first one over the weekend.

Positives from my little corner……
🌻🌻 got my watercolours out after a few weeks break. Not having had a chance to paint for awhile, it felt really good to play with my paints again.
🌻🌻 made carrot cakes for OH and GS to take to work with them tomorrow. Don’t often bake, but it worked out pretty well and was quite fun.
🌻🌻 couple of pleasant catch up phone chats with friends
🌻🌻 my garden is starting to bounce back, after having been a bit neglected during our absence.

Hope everyone else is noticing some positives each day too.

A couple more positives ….
🌹🌹 visited a garden centre looking to buy more plants for our village hall, but ended up treating myself to a new rose bush instead. The flowers are a beautiful plum colour, with a heady fragrance ….. dreamy 😍
🌹🌹 was given some delicious figs from a friends tree … roasted them with crumbled feta and served with a scattering of chopped walnuts 😋

Has been a fine and pleasant day.

Thought it was time to bump up this thread with a few positives@

Had a great week with daughter and grandson.
Truly back on the diet and not feeling the hunger I had after the cruise – my body is adjusting.
Weather here is managable, around 25 with cooler nights, so able to sleep. Don’t speak too soon as we have another heatwave coming next week.

Take care everyone.

Not much to say today but at least posting pushes the scammers further down to line.

Lovely warm day
Diet going really well
Starting to get rid of some crap from the garage. Why do men have jars with screws and washers in.

I should start posting positives more often again too. First one for today is that my fasting glucose this morning was down to 5.4 even after eating dinner at 7pm and having a few more carbs in the form of tortilla chips with my salmon and kale. I was really hungry and they were calling to me from the cupboard. So nice to be back in normal range. I had missed lunch though thanks to the second sort of positive, which is that my car died in spectacular fashion on the way to my counselling appointment. Thankfully it died only 1km from home and I was able to get it right off the road onto the verge. I got hold of my counsellor and we switched to an online appointment instead. So I spent yesterday getting it towed back home and then looking for a new used car that wouldn’t break the bank. And I may have lucked out. One dealer had a vehicle just traded in. It is only 1 year newer than mine and almost as much mileage but very well maintained. If it passes the safety inspection I think I will go for it. It is a much roomier vehicle too, which I really need here on the farm. So a bit of a blow financially, but it could have been worse and I should be back on the road by the end of the week. Cannot be without a vehicle way out in the sticks! I always realize how vulnerable I am without a car as I can’t even fill and carry my big jugs of drinking water without one.

Hope the car situation has successfully been resolved, AF …. it’s so frustrating when your relied on transport is suddenly no longer an option. Hopefully you’re now roaming around in a ‘new’ vehicle though.

SG, they might have been one liners in your last post, but those all seem excellent positives to me.

Which makes me think I should be posting some positives too. I’m now indefinitely based at my parents, as Mum is now in serious decline, but there are still positives to be had.
🙂🙂 my parents having finally agreed to it, we had a stairlift company do a survey at their home on Tuesday. Happily they will be installing the lift on Monday. Excellent service and not a moment too soon for Mum.
🙂🙂 have found solice and a little balm for my soul, pottering in Mum’s garden. It’s only a tiny urban garden, but somehow there is always a little calm and colour out there.
🙂🙂 my lovely OH driving a nearly 400 mile round trip on Tuesday, to bring me things I needed from home for my extended stay and to install the new electric supply to feed the stairlift for my parents.

Finally, a ‘looking forward to’ kind of positive … I’m looking forward to my son and his daughter (our youngest GD) visiting this afternoon.

Hope your weekend will be littered with positives and you’ll have time to post about one or two of them to share with us.

Sunny, You are an inspiration, finding positives in all situations!
I have a couple of veg garden positives:

🫛🫛 I have an embarrassment of beans. Trying to find time to make bean chutney… which I will give away because of the sugar content!

🍆🍆 (no emoji for butternut squash!) the squash have produced about 15 good sized ‘fruits’. Hope they ripen OK.

🥒🥒 (no emoji for courgette either) Courgette’s are really doing their thing… soup made and eating at every meal!!! 😄

Hope you are all doing okay.

Pootle, all those veggies sound wonderful. An embarrassment of beans …. is that like a murder of crow or a clouder of cats I wonder? Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.

My positives right now are ….
🌻🌻 stairlift successfully installed in my parents’ house … one big tick in the peace of mind box!
🌻🌻 a lovely chat with eldest DD today, she and her man are looking to move closer to us and they think they may have found ‘the’ house.

Those will do for me today …. hope your day brought some positives too.

Sunny you sound like you’re coping really well. Thinking of you and great to see that you are still finding positives. It’s so easy to become ‘bogged down’. As s-g would say, just keep on keeping on……

Ahh Pootle this is where I read about your bountiful harvest. Our niece grows courgettes and a few years ago she gave us some ‘giants’. I made enough soup to last through a whole winter! Needless to say courgette soup is no longer on my ‘favourite’ list although I do love roasted courgettes. I often roast courgettes, onions, tomatoes, aubergine and peppers with olive oil and garlic and freeze in portions.

So yes I do have positives and I’m going to do my best to find some most, if not all, days ..

🛫🛬🛫 Experimented yesterday with a flight from Rome to Manchester via Barcelona. (We have assistance in airports).The reason was that this flight left at 2.30pm and arrived in the 7.30pm. All the direct flights didn’t leave until the evening, arriving late and then a drive home in the dark in the early hours. It worked! Two hour stopover which we needed to change gates, and the luggage actually turned up in Manchester! So very much a positive! Especially as we have a flight to Athens via Copenhagen in October …. feeling much happier about that now.!

🧺🧺🧺 Half of the washing done so just the ironing now!

🍅🥑🌶️ Ate a lot of lovely food while away with plenty fish and fillet steak with salads and vegetables etc. No interest in potatoes or rice but my daily treat was two inches of baguette with blue cheese. I also had an odd 1/4 portion of pasta and even shared a pizza with my OH. Italian pizzas are pretty basic without tons of toppings, thick crusts or ‘dough balls’. Actually quite healthy with rocket, my new favourite, and tomato salad. Now I just have to find ways to incorporate Italian pasta flavours into a lowish carb diet!

Hope everyone can find a positive or two today.

Just popping in to say ‘hello’…. just one positive … all washing done yeah… now just need to do the ironing!
Keep positive!

Good to see you posting positives V … great that travelling is working out well for you again.

My positives today are …..
🌹🌻 got my hands into some soil today, was wonderful to get dirt under my nails and reconnect with Mother Earth.
👖🧥 a trawl of charity shops gave me a showerproof jacket and a pair of M&S cropped trousers.
💖🫂 looking forward to Saturday, when I get to see my lovely OH again.

What are the pluses in your little corner of the world?

Sunny … dirt under finger nails sounds good! Keep on keeping together.

🥑🌶️🥗 Just one for me today … spent a lovely afternoon with friends enjoying lunch together. Friends are such an important part of our lives.

Hope today has brought at least one positive.

You’re so right about friends Verano. I’m so grateful for all of mine who have rallied around and offered help and support, both practical and emotional. It’s made this difficult time much easier to bear.

Sunny sending🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Just one positive for me today….
👣💅 lovely pedicure…. made the day brighter.
Hope everyone has had a good day.