Hi, positive family! I’m feeling very much in the positive lane today, for I’ve managed 2 days in a row of 18:6.
I’m always awake from 3:00am on, so the wait to “feed” til 2:00pm can be a rough ride, 11 hours! For some
inexplicable reason, I’ve slept til 8:00am the past 2 days, making it possible to only need to eat 2x per day.
If I ever figure out what makes the difference, I’m going to bottle and market it for everyone with a sleep
disorder 🙂
Have a magnificent weekend, everyone. I hope your heatwave breaks soon xx

Allie

Congratulations Allie 🤗🤗
I’ve noticed you posting at 3am your time – just thought it was a bit of insomnia. I’m really sorry it’s more than that. If you do find the cure, I’ll buy it!
As for the heatwave, bring me rain. Still we don’t have the humidity like you, so grateful for small mercies.
Keep on fasting!!
Maggie

I am sorry for being a bit quiet on the forums of late people. I am just loving and making the most of this nice weather which is making it so easy to get work done outside.
Had a few good but busy days, hay is now made and in the barn. It always feels good when that annual task is achieved and I don’t have to keep on monitoring the long range weather forecast and saying about every plans, subject to not making hay.
I have also taken advantage of the good weather to have a major clear out of feed room and outbuildings, piling everything in heaps in the yard, taken a couple of loads to the tip, and am coming to the end of the process of re-organising putting everything back into its new home.
It looks like the nice weather is going to be with us for a little longer, so have plans to get out into the fields with the tractor next week.
Sorry for those who don’t like the sunny weather, but I love it. Sometimes I do wonder if I have a slight genetic tendency towards being a bit of a reptile, – needing to spend time basking in warm weather to feel fully alive.

That made me smile JG! Think I too am part reptile. I have often commented that my need for sun and warmth must mean I’m cold blooded.

Has been super hot here in Turkey, with temps up to 40c in the shade on our sun terrace. Have had a couple of days when it’s been too hot to bask in the sun. Not complaining though, as we have to make the most of this before we head back middle of next week. Have started to pack and get things together to take home.

Hoping to catch up with friends tonight and have a nice meal out on Monday, so still good things to look forward to. Right now, I’m off to slap on some sunscreen and top up the tan. Have a great weekend everyone. Xx

I’m enjoying the sunshine too. I’ve just been swimming in the sea! I’m a very poor swimmer, so just walk in a little and swim back to shore, so I don’t get out of my depth. The water wasn’t warm exactly, but not as cold as I thought it might be.

I have finally done it, a 36 hour fast. For the last few months I have normally been eating 20:4 and over the last couple of months while my inches are changing my weight isn’t. I wanted to shake things up a bit but hunger always got the better of me. Maybe because it was a relatively inactive day, most of the time was spent on a course, but I wasn’t hungry last night, and still am not this morning.

Well done JGwen; it’s so empowering isn’t it? Fasting is what gave me the sense of really being in control of my eating. Not to mention that ketosis really takes off and you have the tools to get to grips with any slippages pretty swiftly.
Maggie

Hi MaggieBath, Its really taken me by surprise. I have thought about going for slightly longer fasts in the past but was always feeling hungry in an evening. I don’t understand the reason for the change this weekend. But I am extra pleased about it. I had a stressful time last week which came to a head this weekend. – (My new to me car has developed a major / expensive fault and the car dealer has refused to cover the cost of repairs.) – and I haven’t managed the stress by eating.

I’m so impressed, JGwen! I so admire those of you that have this tool in your arsenal…One day, I may
have it too 🙂 Now I think I should “alert the media” if I do 3 days of 18/6!

It’s a while since I had my eyes tested and to be honest I couldn’t face looking at myself in the mirror. Today I went to an appointment and didn’t think twice about taking selfies and sending them to daughters for their opinions.
My self confidence is stratospheric compared to just a few months ago; it’s hard to believe the change.
So KOKO those of you who are feeling a bit jaded, you can’t put a price on feeling good.
Maggie

Lovely, Maggie! Your daughters must be so proud of you! How many, and what ages?

I’ve had such a productive day! Shredded pre-cooked chicken for a caesar salad tonight,
steamed some broccoli, made the dressing, cleaned 3 heads of romaine, bought some
vine ripened tomatoes, caught up on emails, and sorted a myriad of meds for O/H and
myself for the next week and called in the appropriate refills. Dishwasher emptied….
Outdoor and indoor plants have all been given a drink! It’s a beautiful low humidity day,
and I’m firing on all cylinders 🙂 . Going out for a nature walk now. I hope that it’s been
a positive day for all of you across the pond, too! xx

Allie

Daughters are 31 and 33 (argh, makes me feel old!) and I think they are impressed, they’re eating the same kind of food too and losing weight 😊
Sounds like you’re having a good day Allie! There really is nothing to beat a country walk for clearing the mind, especially after sorting out all the chores.
Have a lovely evening.
Maggie

What a wonderful family dynamic, Maggie! I hope your daughters live in reasonable proximity
to you. I can only imagine how happy they must be to know that you will be around, healthy
and happy, for many years to come!!!

We do all get on well Allie and close to each other- though much of the year elder daughter is at sea where she’s a maitre d’.
I’ve no ambitions to live forever but now I know how to live well I’m going to do my best 🙂
Maggie

Allie can you share your dressing recipe please. I guess it’s a Caesar dressing? I made my first home made one last week but it seemed very thick and a bit too parmesanny for my taste buds. Would love a lighter dressing.

So I’ve not posted on this thread for ages, not because there have been no positives, but rather I’ve sort of lost the art of posting on almost any thread. I am having a quiet tennis watching weekend but will be back posting next week. Enjoy the weekend everyone.

I’ll be glad to, V.! I’ll put it over on the salad thread 🙂

We are back in the UK and have two more days before we reach home, spending a couple of days with our daughter in Kent, before heading home. Have had a great journey back from Turkey, apart from a stomach bug whist in Italy, which put me low for 24hrs and somewhat uncomfortable for a further 12hrs.

Already missing Turkey. However en route back, we had a wonderful visit with our friend in Alsace and a lovely stay on the edge of the champagne region. Won’t be long until we are planning the next trip to our second home in Turkey later this year and it’s likely we will be driving out there again next spring as well. Meanwhile, we have a camping w/e with the grandchildren to enjoy next month.

Hope everyone will be having a great w/e and find some positives to report too.

Welcome back to native soil, Sunny! I hope you find everything in order when you arrive home. I’ve kept an eye on
this thread, hoping that you’d stop by first thing! JGwen has begun a new one entitled NSV, which has received a
great response. My positives for the week involve 5 days of 18/6! Progress!

Have a great weekend, all 🙂

Welcome home Sunny and hope you are fully recovered now.
I’ve not posted on this thread for a while but feel in real need of something positive to say at the moment. So yesterday…..
1. Had a lovely family day.
2. Watched “Pretty Woman” last night. How could Richard Gere not brighten up your life!!! After Mama Mia I can’t think of a better ‘feel good’ movie.
3.Today I was up early and whilst the house was still quiet I watched a Benjamin Bikerman podcast. I am getting closer and closer to the idea of no longer counting calories. After being brought up on the low fat mantra, the idea of not counting calories is as alien as eating ‘ fat ‘ was. But having listened to Bikman, read The Pioppi Diet and had a good read through the Dietdoctor site I’m starting to think it may just be the way forward for me. Has anybody else given up counting calories and just relied on low carb but sorted out the macros? I have steered clear of counting macros so far but……
Anyway, at the moment, I’m giving it serious thought. Hope you’ve all had a good weekend.

Hi Verano
Yes we must revive this thread! I think I am effectively heading towards just tracking carbs, and making sure I eat enough protein. I think I went too low on the latter earlier this year. We shall see what the scales say on Tuesday….

My positives:
1) I am enjoying all the new flowers in the garden – fuchsia, hibiscus, roses etc.
2) I’ve had an art-filled weekend at two galleries – good to be out and about.
3) Finished another mini-painting project which now completes two floors.
4) Really enjoying all the summer veg from the market. Everything is so fresh, seasonal and full of flavour.

Enjoy your week Verano!

I’m really lucky to live quite close to the sea, which is a positive in itself, especially in this heatwave.

Today instead of my usual jog round the estate (there’s quite a nice path and it’s usually quite quiet), I walked down to the seafront and ran along there. It was packed! Quite a few people made comments – every one of them was encouraging. Things like ‘keep going’ and ‘you can do it’. Granted I was jolly hot and I’m very slow, so probably looked in need of encouragement, but I felt people were on my side. I managed to go a little further than I usually do too, which is another bonus.

Thank you, Verano, for reminding me of this nice, positive thread.

That’s so lovely that people were encouraging, Squidge.

Ok, so my positive for today – some friends have asked us to water their garden whilst they are away and said we could help ourselves to the produce. There are courgettes, mangetout peas, lettuce, green beans 😋

Excellent BSD food!

Good afternoon! Lovely to read all the positives here they always make me smile.
Despite it being early in the day I do have three positives ….
1. Have started my new regime just concentrating on carbs and NO calorie counting.
2. Despite it being a big gloomy here today, I’m feeling ‘sunny’ in my soul. Made brunch, two eggs over pan fried asparagus with a blob of mayo, and didn’t even consider the calories, it’s so liberating. I never thought it would be quite so easy. Long may it last.
3. Have a wonderful new book to read and it’s a ‘real’ book and not a kindle version. I think I’m moving back towards the real thing because it has such ‘hand feel’, a bit like chocolate and ‘mouth feel’!
Hope everyone is having a positive day.

Hi Allie, I’m not sure which thread to find you on but I hope you are safe and well — we are getting reports of dangerous flooding on the east coast — it sounds just awful (so much rain!) and I wanted to tell you to take care and stay safe.
Julia

Hi all
I have been tracking this thread but not posting too often. I joined slimming world to help daughter 3 months ago, most of their ideas follow the Blood Sugar ideas.
1 Start weight Jan 2017 26s 11lb, last night weighed in at 21s 9.5lb, 3s since joining Slimming world and concentrating harder?
2 Knee surgeon will operate once under 20s target is in sight
3 The sun is shining

That’s an impressive result, Sumo 🙂 Of course I remember you! Your body will thank you SO MUCH at the time of
your surgery. Not far away now! Very best wishes to you. How goes the garden project?

Allie

Allie
The Garden is still on going, having built a new retaining wall and summer house, now OH craft work shop hobby house.
It was decided, not by me, that the grass, which has never grown well should become a patio, I mentioned the fact that I was approaching 60 and disabled with ankles, knees, shoulders and thumbs, it fell on deaf ears, patio now laid. That is about 12.5 tonnes of materials in a wheel barrow down steps, the OH gives good advice whilst she soaks in her hot tub, and you girls are such slave drivers.
Next level out low maintenance shelf, then cover with bark, put plant/flower pots on shelf, grout in patio, then move to lower garden and sort out old patio (20years old) around hot tub, then too top of garden get rid of 2 old sheds (kids storage as they have moved homes (the can have their junk back) and turn back to a 3 car hard standing, and obviously according to slave driver should have been finished last year?
Reality is 20 years ago I would have this all done in one summer? Age slows things down.
Whilst this is going on the grass in my front garden is 4” tall, more like jungle, with some luck I’ii get away with only cutting once this year??? Happy days in the sunshine, funny how my son’s are always busy?

Now we’re home and getting settled back in, I thought I’d catch up with the forum. Good to see so many lovely positives being posted on this thread – so pleased it’s still alive and kicking.

My positives today are small, but no less positive for that:
1) Unpacking finally completed.
2) Laundry underway – it’s going to take a while to catch up with that, but it will happen.
3) OH not starting to work again until tomorrow, so getting to spend a but time together, before normal routine kicks in.

Thank you, Julia! (californiagirl) We live up in the hills, so are quite safe here, no need for evacuation! We do have
a large swath of woods behind our apartment building though, and one year, during similar weather conditions, a
tree fell toward the building…I heard a tremendous cracking sound late one afternoon, and then our balcony was
suddenly engulfed in branches and leaves. Twelve more feet to the left, and we’d have had this in our bed! Lightening
can’t strike twice in the same place, can it? Fortunately there is a statute that requires such situations be rectified
within 24 hrs, so apart from listening to buzz saws well into the evening, everything was resolved efficiently. I’m
keeping an eye on the woods however, and will take cover fast if I hear that cracking sound again!! Thank you for
thinking of me…yours in the sisterhood,

Allie xxx

Seems there were no positives reported yesterday, hopefully because people were out enjoying the good weather, rather than there not being any positives to be reported.

My positives for today are:
1) Had a lovely email from a friend today, telling me how much my friendship and support has meant to them – very touching and very humbling.
2) Visit from daughter today – good to catch up on news in person after being away for so long.
3) Have a waxing appointment this afternoon – will be nice to have a ‘tidy up’ and a pamper.

Hope there are positives for everyone today, even if you don’t have time to let us know what they are.

My positives for today:
1) I love my job 😊
2) Did some exercise this morning which gave me a smug glow for the rest of the day 😇
3) My coffee today was yum 😋

Sunny I loved your positives, especially the one about the email from a friend, you are obviously someone who others reach out to, when they need support.

Elle

Hi, Elle! Very nice to see you on this thread 🙂 What is your profession? I’m a retired interior designer,
but I seem to apply the same principles to everything I do anyway, from my own clothing, or how
I design a salad….colors, textures, etc. My week is going well, and I’ve managed another 20:4. It’s
getting easier all the time! I’m so grateful to everyone here who continues to discuss the benefits!!!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I hope that you’ll be able to see the red moon tonight, through
the cloud cover. xx

Allie

Your salads sound like they are really something special, Allie! Well done on another 20:4, think the best I have done this week is 17:7, but I’ll be looking to do a 20:4 once OH is back working as usual. No red moon here last night, as the cloud cover was far too heavy – shame as I was quite looking forward to seeing it.

Anyway, positives for today:
1) Caught up with one of our sons and his family last evening.
2) Only one load of laundry to go to have it all up to date.
3) At present, reading on the scales still headed in the right direction.

Have a good w/e everyone, full of lots of positives – look forward to reading about them soon.

I’ve been reading some of the threads from people new to this diet, saying what their problems are and what they hope to schieve and realising how much difference the BSD has made to me. I knew my excess weight wasn’t healthy, and didn’t like how I looked, which is why I started, but I hadn’t realised how unhappy being overweight had made me. I’m so glad I discovered both the diet and the great support and encouragement on this forum.

That’s a lovely positive, Squidge. My positives today:
1)it is cooler so I have a chance of a decent night’s sleep
2)it is cooler so the barky dog we have as a guest has a chance of a decent night’s sleep
3)the garden is enjoying the intermittent rain. And so am I!

Hi and lovely to read all the positives. We have been through all four seasons today and that’s where my positives come from. I love the sun and the warmth BUT it’s so much nicer on a beach! So my positives……
1. It’s cooler.
2. It’s thundery …. I love thunder.
3. It’s wet and the grass may just have a chance to recover now.
Looking forward to tomorrow.

I do enjoy the heat, but I’m pleased we’ve had some rain and that it feels much fresher now.

Positives for today:

1) The rain – never thought I’d say that, living in the UK, but it smells so sweet and earthy 💦
2) The expertise and knowledge on this forum – and all the informative links and resources you put on here 🎓
3) The coffee I just had with a spoonful of cream ☕️

Allie, I absolutely love that you apply interior design principles to your salads. That’s ace. They say we eat with our eyes too. I work in communications for a health charity. The charity is London based, but I work from a home office, so I love what I do, and I love where I do it 😄.

Positive for today – we have sat in the kingfisher hide many times at Gooderstone Water Gardens but have never seen a kingfisher. Today we did – it was magical. We watched it fish for 20 minutes – only feet away from us.

It was also lovely to walk around the gardens in the light rain after so much hot weather.

How lovely, Krysia! I’ve caught glimpses of what I thought was a kingfisher, but never got a good enough look to be really sure.

I’ve just been for a run*. First time for a few days as it was too hot, then too wet. Perfect today, so I decided to go a bit further to make up for missing out a few – and completed the longer route reasonably easily! I’m so pleased as I was sure I was getting fitter and it was just the heat making me struggle, and that proves it!

*OK, really slow jog.

Ooops – meant to post that on the non scale victory thread! Still, as I’m happy about it, I suppose it is a positive thought too.

Kingfishers and an easily achieved run – great positives to be posted. Hope you al had a good weekend. I have a few positives to contribute:

1) Chill out duvet day yesterday, as the weather was foul and we felt like hibernating!
2) Good result on the scales following a week back on BSD.
3) A couple more days grace on taking back the booking sec. responsibilities for our village hall.

Hi all
My positives for today:
1) (heartfelt) that my younger son managed to get back into the country today, despite the loss of his wallet and passport in Italy last night……’
2) pleased to see a new weekly challenge being launched
3) a cooler night ahead.
Have a good week one and all.

Determined to keep this thread current, so here are a few positives from me, for the last day in July …..

1) Laundry finally up to date – yippee!!
2) This morning I finally got round to giving the last of my orchids some post-vacation TLC, so they are all looking tidy again. About half of them are in bloom, so a couple of window sills full of colour at the moment.
3) Had confirmation youngest granddaughter is coming this Saturday and will stay with us for a few days – can’t wait!

Hope some of you will have some positives to report soon as well.

How very uplifting to catch up with so many delightful positives on this thread, today!!! It’s
dark and dreary where I am, and reading here always puts a spring in my step 🙂 We’ve got so
many interesting new threads at the moment, that I’m flying around too much, and missing
new posts here…
Elle, your work sounds very rewarding, and the fact that you can work from home must be
a dream!
Caron, I’m glad that your son got safely home. I hope that he wasn’t the victim of a crime!
How stressful for him and you.
Krys, kingfisher’s ARE magical! I’ve only seen one once, the belted kingfisher. Only the
female has the rust colored “belt”, and what a screech! We were spellbound, and didn’t
move a muscle until she was finished with her breakfast, and flew away 🙂 Quite made our
day!
Sunny, I can picture the orchid display on the windowsills 🙂 How accommodating of them
to resist blooming until your return! Is the sweet granddaughter the one that recited a poem
for you via skype?
I followed your advice and trimmed back my orchid just above a node, and 2 of the 3 have
new growth on them! One yellow leaf though…maybe I over watered? I’ve just taken them
outside for a spraying of fertilizer.
Another positive is that O/H returns to college to begin planning meetings for the upcoming
semester, so soon to be out from underfoot 🙂 I’m really looking forward to that…Still
haven’t heard what his teaching schedule will look like, though. Last semester was brutal,
because it involved 3 3hr. night seminars back to back tues. thru thurs. Keeping my fingers
crossed that he won’t be looking at that again!
See you all tomorrow!

Hi Allie – good news about your orchids. Don’t worry about the yellow leaf, just watch how much you water that one, but be aware that orchids will shed leaves from time to time, the leaves don’t last forever. Hope you OH has an easier teaching schedule for this semester.

My Positives for today:
1) Fasting going well today – haven’t broken yet, but getting close!
2) Took back the Hall Booking stuff today and it only took me three hours to sort out the email account.
3) Put together my ornamental garden windmill, which I brought back from Turkey – look cute in the garden.

Okay, need another hot drink to stave off hunger pangs, so that I don’t break my fast yet …… see you later folks!

Haven’t posted on here for a couple of months – sorry, sorry, sorry!

However, I am really impressed with Sunny and Allie regarding their orchids. I have never yet managed to get an orchid to flower for a 2nd year, although I will keep trying. So well done both of you.

My positives are:-
1) It has been slightly cooler today, with a stiff but steady breeze – absolutely perfect sailing day!
2) We actually had some rain on Monday – and rain of the “right” kind, gentle and persistent – so it soaked in and the garden is heaving a huge sigh of relief! Already the lawn is showing signs of green again – I am constantly amazed by the resilience of nature! (Downside of course, is that it will start to need mowing again!)
3) Scales showed a drop of 1.6lbs today, despite a bit of over-indulgence on carbs yesterday.

Hi Theo … long time no speak! Good to see you posting here again. It’s good for us all to find three positives each day. Sounds like things are good for you ….. so now you have made me feel that I have to post….
1. Had a little ‘me’ time with manicure and pedicure.
2. Have been focused today and will be tomorrow. Just taking ‘one day at a time’ at the moment.
3. Watch this space …… I am working on number three. Dreadful that I can’t find three positives for today …. tomorrow will be better…..!

Sun has finally emerged after 5 days of gloom, rain and high humidity! Hooray.
I ventured forth from the air conditioning, and went a little crazy at the fresh fish market
today! Came home with wild salmon, sea scallops and halibut, all too gorgeous to walk away
from 🙂 Next stop, the farmer’s market, where I found NASTURTIUM BLOSSOMS! and a big
bunch of basil and mint, ruby lettuce, and rocket, and a wonderful bottle of sherry vinegar,
as well as beautiful kalamata olives and vine ripened tomatoes. My wallet is considerably
lighter as a result…I also must have been hungry 🙂 Oh yes, and fresh mozzarella! I see
lots of kitchen time in my immediate future….Salad heaven.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Sunny, enjoy every minute with your beautiful grand-
daughter! I just love being in “the positive’s lane” 🙂

Allie