Hi everyone, hope you are all keeping well.Sue well done on the weight loss.I weighed on Saturday and am only 1lb down but I’m just pleased I’ve lost something!Delaying food shopping until Wednesday as Tuesday temperature is forecast at 35, too hot to take my Mum out, so I will try to stick to my food plan by using up stuff I already have in.Fingers crossed I have a bigger loss when I weigh again on Saturday.Dawn X

Hello In Betweeners! How are we all doing?

Cathy how are you feeling? And is your husband back yet? What a year it’s been for you. I hope you’re ok.

Likewise the many travellers with family illness – Yowzer, Sue, Dawn, and Nokie. How are things going? Linda and JGwen I hope you are both getting on ok too and feeling better than before? And Annied, Natalie and anyone else I’ve missed (sorry, can’t scroll back!) hope you’re well and progressing towards your goals?

Sue well done for your ongoing loss and I really hope you get to that all time low weight this week. How exciting to change out all your clothes! I’m in a bit of a pickle on that front, because nearly all the clothes I’ve bought over the last couple of years – especially the summer ones – are just that little bit tight. I’m determined not to get anything bigger, but can’t be doing with tight clothes in the heat so am living in pretty much the same small selection of things day in and day out. All my own doing I know! It doesn’t help that my new job involves a lot of video calls, so at various points of the day I’m trying to find something that looks vaguely smart, then do something with my wayward summer hair 🙀

I must confess to be very much in between at the moment. I’m maintaining my loss so far but not currently seeing any further loss this trip. I seem to have been derailed by the heat in the UK – which is a silly excuse as you’d think there would be even more impetus to eat carefully and sparsely. But I think the combination of being really busy with work and the heat slowing me down (I actually love it and I guess that’s the issue, it just feels like being on holiday!) is taking my focus off other things.

But I’m still clinging onto this chugging bus with all you lovely people. We travel until the end of August, so still have 6 weeks to make a difference. I am determined to get to 140lb by then. Which is a bit higher than my original target for this journey but would be a huge step in the right direction.

Having been a teacher for many years I always view September as a fresh start – a. bit like New Year I guess. And we have a little holiday booked to mark our first wedding anniversary. So I really want to shed a bit of excess baggage before then. Dawn I know you have a holiday coming up around then and Sue it’s not long till your daughter’s wedding, so hopefully we can spur each other on!

Hope this week goes well for you all X

Hello dreamscometrue snd all if you on the 🚌

Lovely to hear from you well what a summer we are having here in 🇬🇧 the U.K. hot 🥵 🥵!!
I have been working all last week covering for holiday staff I work in a little clothes shop in our village so it’s been really busy linen dresses flying out the window!!!
I am seeing my diabetes lady today I have not lost what I had hoped to loose but hope she will be happy with me!
How’s everyone doing?hope your husbsnd is back Cathy and you are feeling ok now
I only lost a pound this week but I suppose it’s off not on!!!!🤣
Have a good week all be in touch soon
Lv nokie x❤️

Hello everyone
Today is the day my husband returns from his Buddhist ordination retreat and I am so excited to see him. It’s been a challenge not being able to have any contact with him and I’ve got so much to tell him. The Spanish Ryanair staff are striking this week so I hope that doesn’t scupper his return! I’m feeling a lot better after having covid- that was a scary couple of weeks. I felt absolutely terrible! Thank goodness for medical science and the vaccinations!
I do need to knuckle down with some weight loss- I’m in a holding pattern at the moment. I started off being so good and only lost about three pounds which I’ve probably now gained. My clothes are fitting but I would like to lose some weight before my holiday to Turkey in September. I hope to be able to knuckle down now and get on with my plan. Having covid derailed me but now I am feeling better I must try harder. So, I’m back on the bus with you all once again and determined to see some weight loss very soon!

Morning everyone. How are things going?

Cathy for some reason I didn’t see your latest post. So glad you’re beginning to feel better, and hope that your husband got back ok and that you are both settling back into life together again after all your recent experiences.

Nokie how did your diabetes appointment go? Your dress shop sounds lovely! Like you, I’ve managed a pound off this week – and as you said, better off than on. I’m quite pleased as there had been no movement for a while, and this week has been strange for all kinds of reasons.

All our other lovely bus passengers – Yowzer, Sue, Dawn, Jennie, Linda, JGwen, Annied, Natalie and anyone else I’ve missed – how are things going? Hope you are all doing ok.

I’m going to try really hard to lose 1lb a week for the rest of this journey and 🤞be at 140lb by the end of August. There seem to be quite a few of us on here with holidays or events in September/October so hopefully we can all get a move on and get to where we want to be by then.

Meanwhile, hope you all have a great weekend. I really need to get back to some gardening. It’s a complete jungle but I’ve just not had the energy to do it in the heat this week. But no excuses now. My hubby has finally had his eye operation so I’ll excuse him from gardening duties . . . just me then 🙀

Take care everyone X

Good morning everyone 😊

Dreams come true i had a really good session with the diabetes lady she was so impressed with e she wants to use me for a case study🤣 I have to have a blood test early August do I 🙏 the results are better than January this year I feel positive now and am in a much better place Thankyou all of you on this bus 🚌 I fell off a few times but I too want to be 140 lbs by end of August 🤞
I hope your husband got home safe and well Cathy
Have a good weekend everyone keep chugging along on this bus 🚌 it works I hope we can carry on the next bus up to 🎄 Xmas
Love nokie ❤️

Nokie that’s fantastic about your diabetes appointment. What great news! I really hope the blood test shows good results too.

Nice to have a 140 buddy! We CAN do this.

And yes, I reckon I need another bus trip in the run up to Christmas. I’ve been pursuing my 133lb goal for so long, and very nearly got there a couple of times. Sometimes I think should I just abandon it, forget the whole thing, and stick with where I’m at, but I’m a very determined person (well, some of the time 😉) and my main priority is to want to get rid of the belly fat – whatever the scales say . I know that’s really not good and I so don’t want to carry it around as I’m getting older. Then hopefully maintain at that point. And my clothes might then even fit properly!

Hi everyone, hope you are all well.I have weighed myself this morning and no change which,tbh,isn’t a surprise.i didn’t stick to mfp food plan many days this week.Only 11 weeks until I go away on holiday, I had intended being at goal by NOW, I will be lucky to reach it by THEN at this rate😞
Nokie that’s brilliant news about your diabetes, well done.DCT well done for continuing to lose, I bet you will get to your 140.I would love to get to 138 for my holiday but that’s a big ask!Cathy I hope your husband got back safely.I’m pleased to hear you are feeling much better now.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Dawn X

Hi All,
I’m still here, along with hubby. Weight wise I’m just totally stuck as is hubby. I’m running between 11 stone 10 lbs & 12 stone. Hubby who knows, he hates the scales. I think I scuppered myself by setting my 1st goal at 12 stone over a year ago, now I can’t seem to get under it much & it keeps re-appearing. Ah Well! We’re pretty much still trying to keep under 50 carbs a day. Rice & pasta is totally out of the diet BUT we are eating around 2 slices of bread a day. Sadly often we can’t get our favourite bread Vortigern so sometime soon I’m gonna have to start on making some with coconut flour & walnut pieces etc. I often find it hard eating enough calories in this hot weather & have fasted a few days BUT my weight has stupidly gone up & I have to force myself to eat more salads & have the occasional cooked meal. Hubby being from the Deep South is craving Okra, black eyed peas etc, etc. so going to have to look at our diets again & see how we can fit them in. I’ve just bought 10 bags of 500gms of dried black eyed peas from Amazon, so I’d better look quick smart!

Been a bit frazzled of late, along with hubby, we drink loads of black coffee & low carb/cal squash. I have to drink bucket-loads as I suffer badly with ‘dry mouth’ – sadly during Covid my top teeth suffered badly through this & it broke off most of them. Although we both drink loads we realised a couple of days back that we weren’t using the Electrolyte Powder (we buy 1kg at a time from Amazon), on top of this I never salt anything except for 1gm of salt in the bottom water pan when I steam veggies. With the weather we’ve been having I think ALL of us should make sure we’re adding electrolytes too, otherwise you’ll be joining us too – going a bit doo lally & frazzled. – Take note all!

Thankfully I now have an NHS dentist & I am desperately hoping that on 3rd August I will have a new temporary full top denture & all remaining top teeth pulled that day. Panicking a bit as I’ve been going to him every week or fortnight & expected them before now. He’s very nice BUT the last almost full denture ended up not fitting properly as it got a bit twisted somehow, so he had to start again. EEK! I have NO idea if when I finally get them I’m going to be able to keep them in or speak or eat with them?

Cruises (note the plural!) Our 1st to Norwegian Fjords & up into the Arctic Circle (booked 3 years ago!) sets sail on 20th August on Sky Princess. Sadly this starts when rail workers say they are going to strike so none of our normal train travel (which we enjoy) down. OMG they wanted £250 just to park the car for 2 weeks – that’s outrageous! I did manage to find us a hotel room @ Meon Valley country club the night before with car parking for £210, Still hoping that the train strike will be called off BUT at least we have an alternative now.

I’ve also booked us 2 cheap transatlantic crossings for 15days, again both on Sky Princess. (I do HOPE we like this ship as we’ve only been on Royal Caribbean before). The one way Transatlantic airfare was more than the cost of a return airfare so we decided to utilise the return cruise too & go see family for 15days each crossing. The first leaves 29th October from Southampton & the next returns from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton, getting into Southampton on 1st April. Since we still haven’t really ventured out except for dentist or hospital appointments & I’ve done 4 grocery shops since March 2020 this is going to be a complete & utter change for both of us. November this year & March next year are going to be completely full! YAY! 🙂

Cathy – hope your husband has returned safely. you’ve done well girl on your own. I really hope you’re feeling a LOT better too.
Yowser – hope your sister is getting better quickly & congrats on being a great aunt.
Dawn ADD – I wanted to be down to 11st 7lbs & I now have under 4 weeks to get there. Ho Hum – it really doesn’t matter & we both enjoy this WOE so will stick to it with fingers & toes crossed. We’ve already lost a great deal & are looking better.
DCT – the same goes for you. When the next bus arrives we’ll be on it, hoping we don’t have a shed-load more to lose after the cruise.
Nokie – Well done, fingers crossed for your next bloods.
Sue – well done on the weight loss.
I can’t scroll back another page so everyone I’ve missed, I’m sorry & I hope you’re all losing as much as possible.
Love to ALL of you
Keep on keeping off
Linda XXXX

Just a quick note to tell you all I’m boarding the bus tomorrow. I’ve not weighed for weeks. I’ll weigh myself tomorrow (dreading it) but I am looking forward to eating less and getting myself back to basics. My lovely husband is back and I’ve missed him so much. I feel like it’s now the right time to optimise my health. I’ve grown as a person and feel so positive. Anyway, back to basics tomorrow and I’ll catch up with the thread . Hope you are all feeling positive for the week ahead x

Hello clarinet Cathy
Glad your husband is back and that’s good you are back in bus as from tomorrow it’s good that you are positive now all of us on the bus 🚌 will help you don’t worry 😉 about what the scales show you can do this I had a few wobbles along the way but I too feel positive
Good luck
Love nokie 😊

Hi everyone. Another week! Which makes it just under 6 – I think – weeks to go before our journey finishes at the end of August. There is still a lot we can achieve in that time, particularly if there is a particular motivation for you. For some that is health reasons, others holidays or events, and for some it’s “just because” – or perhaps a combination of all the above. Whatever your motivation and your goal(s), let’s make the rest of this journey count!

Welcome back on board Cathy, and I’m so glad your husband is back and all is well. Dawn you still have 11 weeks till that holiday! A loss of 1lb a week is realistic on this WoE so you could be almost a stone lighter by then!

Linda I do hope your dental treatment goes well. And well done for sticking doggedly to this WoE despite all the setbacks! Your travel plans sound really exciting, and a real motivator to get where you want to be.

Have a good week everyone. I hope I do too, I feel I’ve been stagnating for too long – accepting too many bad habits too often then wondering why the weight is not coming off any more. So this week I hope to change all that 🤞

Hi folks,oh wow it’s almost 2 weeks since I was here..so sorry,I’ve been busy visiting my sister..they’re now in locko as have covid cases,so I’ve got a bit more time..hope the folks with covid recover quickly and locko doesn’t go on for long..
Anyway,I have to confess,I’ve been a mix of good and bad…that’s the best I can say about myself! At the moment I’m VERY good as have some blood tests coming up so I want the results to look good.
DCT and DAWN how are your PPs…as you can see,mine could be improved on,so I’m still crammed into the luggage rack,I don’t deserve a seat..xx
CCATHY SOOOO happy to hear your hubby is home!X how you doing,covid wise?
Oh wow SUEBLUE only 700 g from yr lowest in decades,that’s fantastic, 👏👏👏👏 keep going for DDs wedding..one of my biggest regrets is looking large on DDs wedding day..people said to me,You look stunning..but the photos tell the truth..and the photos are forever,so keep onwards and downwards xx
NOKIE how’s yr Dad and how are you?X X
Strange but true..
Stressed spelt backwards is desserts!
Thought for the day..
🌈🌈 When it rains look for rainbows,when it’s dark look for stars 🌟⭐️xx

Hello all, hope everyone is doing well 🙂
Things have been a bit ho-hum lately for me tbh. Lots of family and work stress and diet has taken a back seat… although in saying that I have still been eating fairly sensibly 70% of the time and so my weight has just stayed the same for the past few weeks. We have managed to dodge the covid bullet in our house up until now, but my youngest daughter is not well and has all the symptoms, but the RAT tests are showing negative for covid, I’m going to get a PCR test done on Monday when the local testing lab reopens if she’s still not better. I’m not worried about her as she is 24 and healthy otherwise, it’s more if I get it (having impaired Immunity), or my elderly MIL. Also my husband worries excessively (he has anxiety) and so that doesn’t help, not to mention we have a small house with only 1 bathroom so my daughter cannot completely isolate.

My MIL is pretty healthy except for the memory issues, and that’s been causing stress this week as she managed to set off the emergency alarm on her phone, her house alarm and her emergency pendant – all on different days and luckily all false alarms! It’s just as well I live nearby and work from home and can check in on her quickly (and reset everything).
Anyway, none of this is diet-related… it’s now just over 10 weeks until eldest daughters wedding and you are right Yowzer, I want to look nice in the photos! I know it’s my daughter and her fiancés day, but I still want to look my best 🙂
So I’m restarting (once again!) on Monday with a renewed focus. It’s a new week AND a new month so a good time for a new beginning 🙂
And Yowzer I LOVED your quote about rainbows and stars, coincidentally I had just read about a meteor shower, actually 3 of them, due in our skies tonight so I will definitely looking at the stars tonight – even though it is going down to 1 degree overnight (brrrrr) 🥶 🥶

CATHY – so happy for you now that your husband is home x

And to everyone else I haven’t replied to, I will be reading all of the posts tomorrow to catch up – hope you all have a great weekend 🙂

SueBlue
Hope you remain are covid free. What a worry. I was so scared of covid and it wasn’t pleasant. Still not back to full strength. I think it’s only a matter of time before it gets us all. I’m hoping my husband doesn’t succumb before we go to Turkey! Fingers crossed it’s a bad cold your daughter has. Especially scary if you’re immunocompromised. I’ve had a rubbish week- can’t seem to get my head in gear for being good! Had some bad news which floored me- my brothers lifelong friend had a tragic accident and was found dead. He was only 49. We are absolutely heartbroken. It puts everything into perspective. How fragile life is. I think it will take time to come to terms with yet another set back. On a positive note, it’s been lovely having my husband back home and he is proud of how positive I’ve become. However, I’ve not been on the scales!!! Can’t face the truth!
I hope everyone is feeling strong and positive. I will dust myself down and try to improve my nutrition. I’m being as good as I can be under the circumstances!
Have a lovely weekend everyone and as a new month starts let’s hope we can make some progress.

I’ve got five weeks until my trip to Turkey so from Monday I am going to try and be strict! I think it would be reasonable to lose 7lb in the next five weeks. Let’s see if I can do it!

Hi everyone. Just a quick post as I’m off to London tomorrow to see my daughter, and trying to get everything organised now.

Cathy I was so sorry to read about your brother’s friend. Heartbreaking 😢. But glad you are rejoining us for the rest of the journey.

I had an unexpected loss this morning. Only small, but makes me happy!

5 weeks left!! Come on, we can do this.

I’ve just rejigged my targets. 1.5lb a week and I’ll be below 140lb by the end of August. Who’s with me?! 😊

Cathy – so sorry to hear about your brother’s friend, how awful for your all 🙁

DCT – I’m in! I worked out that 1.5lb a week is just under 700g which I think is doable for me. I lost 300g last week (0.66lb) without trying basically so am feeling more confident this week.

I’ve joined in a Facebook fundraiser to raise funds for sick children and Ronald McDonald House. It’s called Marathon in a Month and you can walk or run – the aim is to complete the equivalent of a marathon in a month (42km). I’m aiming to walk 126km in August, or 3 Marathons! I managed 7.5km today so 118.5km to go! I’m hoping they as well as raising funds, the extra activity will help with weight loss also.

I had a good day food wise today, poached egg with a some sour dough rye toast, spread with avocado and Vegemite (yum!). I didn’t have lunch, just a coffee, some walnuts and a mandarin, then had an early dinner of roast chicken and veg tray bake.

My daughter is still unwell, although is improving. We’re waiting on the covid test results, but treating it as if she does have it. I made some veggie, barley and chick pea soup for her today, it was a good way of using up some of the veggies I bought last week and didn’t use. It tasted a bit bland so I added some lemon juice and some grated cheese, and whizzed it all up in the NutriBullet, she really enjoyed it. I’m going to have some for lunch tomorrow 🙂

Hope everyone has a good week – let’s do this!

Morning all. Just catching up after a busy couple of days.

Sue how is your daughter? Hope she is improving. And good luck with your marathon! I’ve managed to do quite a few steps this week just as part of everything else I’ve been doing. It soon adds up. So glad you’re joining me for the 1.5lb a week target. Am hoping to make it this week but still have a little way to go! Will report back at the end of the week.

Hope everyone else is doing ok? x

DCT – thanks for asking after my daughter – thankfully she’s much better now and her PCR covid test was negative 🙂 it was a heavy cold and nasty sore throat and cough, but she’s young and healthy and has bounced back quickly – I encouraged her to take vitamin c, echinacea too, so maybe that helped? Touch wood but no one else in the family has caught it 🙂
My ‘3 marathons in a month’ is going well, it’s Day 3 and I’ve walked almost 19km so far. I’m planning to do some long walks on the weekend so that will get the kms up a bit.
Hope everyone else is having a good week so far 🙂
I’ll weigh myself on Friday or Sat morning and report my loss (hopefully!) for the week.

Just a quick hello,I need to come back and catch up on the news…but am on my way to bed right now…
Just wanted to say I’m being very good on being more relaxed with low carb,seems to be working ok,feel slimmer and lighter…it just doesn’t seem possible right now for me to be ultra careful on counting carbs.
One day soon I’ll come out of the luggage rack and take a seat again! Til then..damage limitation is getting some results..
Just doing the best I can for now
Remember folks as the weekend comes close..don’t let your weekend become your weak-end!
Love and hugs all round xxx 🥳

Hi everyone, I tried to post yesterday but couldn’t get signed in (a spam message kept appearing).Yowzer I’m with you in the luggage rack at the minute, haven’t managed to stay in my seat for a while.I need a new battery for my scales so don’t know what I weigh and may leave it until next weekend to find out.My Dad is very poorly at the minute and that may be one reason I can’t seem to get my mind concentrating on healthy eating but I think it’s a mixture of things to be honest.However I’ve just had an awful night’s sleep because of indigestion so am going to try to have today totally on plan and take it from there.I hope you are all ok, sorry I haven’t had a chance to reread all of this week’s posts and comment on them,will just wish everyone a good weekend and will try to post again next week.Dawn X

Hello everyone 😊
Hope you are all ok I have fallen off bus 🚌 this week 🤣 I had my parents 70th wedding anniversary and it’s been food food 🍱 food!!
I am going to Newcastle in about an hour to see my grandchildren I have not seen them for a year!! So looking forward to seeing them but I have promised them a KFC !! I know this is going to be a bad weekend too 😢I come back Monday so hopefully 🙏 can manage to climb back onto bus 🚌
Have a good weekend everyone I hope you are not as bad as me!!!
Be in touch next week
Lv nokie x❤️

Hi everyone, and Happy Monday!

Just under 3 weeks to go on this thread, and I’m determined to put in a last minute spurt of effort. I’ve been maintaining the loss so far from this journey, despite an unexpectedly busy weekend full of last-minute visitors and entertaining. So that’s good, but I really want to see more come off by the (UK) August Bank Holiday weekend. So for the next 19 days – until Friday 26th August – I’m going to put my best fast foot forward and try to lose at least 3lb, ideally a bit more if I can.

I do need to take measurements though, as my clothes seem to be feeling looser round the waist. Wishful thinking maybe?! I am rubbish at taking measurements. I either forget or can’t be bothered; and even when I do take them I’m never 100% convinced I’m measuring exactly the same part as I did before. Any tips welcome – short of using permanent marker pen 😄

Hope that everyone is ok, and that those who have fallen off or are hiding in the luggage rack will join the non-stop express service for the rest of the journey!

Hi everyone and well done DCT on maintaining after a busy weekend.I also would love to do well in the last three weeks of this journey as going away for a few days BH week and would love some poundage off before then!We will be doing a fair bit of walking whilst we are away which is good as once we get back it will only be five weeks until our Florida holiday so I really don’t want to put any weight back on before then.I’m going to jump out of the luggage rack today, sit firmly in my seat and hang on for dear life🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞Dawn X

Hi All
Still here & still trying hard to keep to the BSD. It’s one step backwards & then another step forwards yet again sadly. I had hoped to have positive news on the weight. Never mind I’ll keep on, trying to keep off.

I have teeth YAY! OMG they are SO much bigger than my normal teeth were BUT when I smiled I used to show half my gums anyways & now I don’t, so suspect it’s a large improvement. lol. I can speak, just a slight problem (I think) with my s’s & sh’s. although hubby reckons I sound fine. In time hopefully I’ll feel it’s gonna sound fine to me too. I can chew, a bit anyways. Had serious trouble getting them out a few nights. Sites said pull them down, wiggle both sides loose, then pull down – couldn’t do it. EEK! I ended up looking everywhere online & found a site that said ‘push up’ I did & they slid out easily. Since I’d been trying to get them out for 15min=1hr+ & last time for 2hrs my gums are now sore. I have Bonjela handy so hopefully tonight & onwards I’ll be set, fingers crossed lol.

The Medallion App on Princess Cruises is a total piece of sh.t. I’ve been trying hard for many hours to get it to take my info. Got some of it in but often it goes back to making you put all the info back in again GRrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It’s taken me a couple of days to put all the info on there & I still have to get the Covid vaccinations from Welsh Gov. on there & also the PCP tests when we have them done next Thursday. Frustrating to say the least. I sincerely hope that they will transfer all the info onto the 2 other cruises, IF they don’t I’m not sure I’ll want to cruise with them ever again – it’s THAT bad & a lot seem to be having problems with it.

Hmmm – what to take to wear on this cruise? Seems like we’re gonna need a LOT of jumpers, warm outer wear as well as dressy clothes inside the ship – 2 large cases each? Nah! No way! Thankfully most of the things I bought online are crease resistant & pretty light, so just a few sweaters, tights to go under trousers & a couple of jackets/coats. I’m not going to allow hubby to bring ALL his finery either. I totally forgot to pick up my jacket on the last transatlantic we did, left it on the sofa as the taxi came early. Fancied absolutely nothing especially the prices, OR the fact that they didn’t do my then size, on the cruise ship, so shivered any time we went outside. I won’t forget to pick up my long leather coat even if the weather is sweltering this time. lol

Had a bit of a scare with hubby very late last Wednesday night, had to rush him to our brand new hospital as 999 said the wait was too long for ambulance. He had food lodged in his throat, around his Adams apple, couldn’t get rid of it, water, hot or cold wouldn’t go down, neither would fizzy drinks. He kept feeling he was going to throw up but couldn’t & his breathing wasn’t too good either. Finally got to see someone from ENT after 2hrs but 5mins before he came he burped & it went down – sods law. They put a camera down as far as his voice box but said he’s have to have a gastroscopy to go down further. Surprise, surprise Thursday morning the gastroscopy dept. left a message on my phone to say he was an urgent case & to telephone them. Had an appointment 9.30 Friday, she told me a 5-10min job, that’s all. 3 hours later he was out! ALL his insides were swollen & red with inflammation. Got hold of docs & she (to my relief) agreed she’d give him 2 lots of anti-biotics, to be taken at the same time, so hopefully he’ll be OK to go on the cruise. I’m making him take Manuka (10UMF) & also Bee Propolis Liquid to add to this & we’ll be taking plenty on cruise with us too.

Seems like there are a few of us having a problem losing it now, Crazy really as now should be the easiest time of year to lose it for those of us in the UK. We’ve all just gotta keep on keeping off.

Gotta go as delivery due
Love to all of you & hugs to those that need them – we WILL all do this!
Linda XXXX

Hi folks! DAWN how is yr Dad now? I know how much you all love and worry about him..hope he is ok XX
Exciting news about Florida eh! 🥳X
LINDA I love your “keep on keeping off..” ! Hope yr hubby ok. My Beau has same problem at times and has to have regular gastroscopies/endoscopies to check.Like yr hub,his oespophagus and tum are very inflamed,has to try to avoid acidic foods. Has medication which really helps decrease the episodes,can’t recall the name,but a long one beginning with L,and it’s v effective,hope DH gets that if he needs it.xx
DCT,like you,I don’t have complete faith in my powers to measure correctly,but if things are looser round the waist,you’re definitely losing! 👏👏XX
Hi NOKIE hope you enjoyed yr trip and hope return journey today goes / went smoothly X
SUEBLUE! ,all that walking,OMG! I really admire you 👍 well done and keep going! X
CCATHY a hope yr countdown to Turkey is going well..you can do it! 👏👏xx I hope when you go that all lingering traces of post covid vanish and you can really enjoy yourselves.
Hello and love to all bus travellers..Not much to report here, I am doing ok,still in my low impact way at the moment,being careful but not counting carbs,losing a little and feeling better for it. Damage limitation really.Still up in the luggage rack but believing I ‘ll have lost a little more by end of Aug and can buckle down into a seat come September for a big low carb push til the end of the year
Keep on keeping off everyone like LINDA said! 😄🥳 hugs all round XXXX
🍓🍓Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to enjoy your life 🍓🍓

Hi Yowzer,thanks for asking about my Dad.My Mum and I went to see him this afternoon (last week was 1st time ever we could just turn up without booking a visit and taking Covid tests,though we’ve still done tests for peace of mind before going to see him) and I’m sorry to say he’s very poorly.I don’t think he will be with us much longer.some of his toes have been black for months because no blood is getting to them and it’s now spreading and infected and antibiotics aren’t working so the infection is moving through his body, he is on morphine.It’s all extremely upsetting.He slept for most of the visit today and appeared to stop breathing a few times.He’s now had dementia for about five years and the whole experience has just been so sad.We just hope he will be at peace soon.Dawn X

I’m so sorry DAWN,this is so sad for you and your family to see happening to your lovely Dad.
Sending you love and hugs and prayers xxx💜

Thank you Yowzer,❤️ Dawn X

Hello Dawn
So sorry to hear about your dad it must be sad to see him like that sending you big hug 🤗 and my very best wishes
Love nokie x💜

Thank you Nokie❤️ Dawn X

Oh Dawn, I’m so sorry to hear how poorly your dad is. Sounds awful. I’m glad that you and your mum can visit freely now, but it must be heartbreaking seeing him like this. Sending lots of love and hugs.

Also Yowzer, how is your sister doing now?

There really are many people on this thread going through difficult and challenging times. I just hope that even though we are in one sense strangers, we can still be friends and offer a safe space to retreat to, and a listening ear.

Lots of love to everyone X

Thank you DCT❤️ Dawn X

What a lovely thing to say DCT! I second your words….there’s a lot of warmth and affection on this thread and I’m thankful for all of you xx 🙏
My sister..,she’s doing ok thanks,in good spirits,but not quite ready for home just yet xx

Hi everyone
Dawn- I’m sad to read your post about how poorly your dad is . it must be heartbreaking for you and your mum to see your dad so poorly and I’m so sorry. Be kind to yourself.
Yowser- lovely to hear that your sister is on the mend and hopefully it won’t be too long before she is able to be home.
We have had many ups and downs along our journey together and like DCT has said, it’s lovely to feel the support of each other when times are difficult.
We can only do our best every day. Lots of love to everyone on this journey.

Thank you Cathy❤️ Dawn X

Aaw Dawn, I REALLY feel for you & your mum, your dad too. My prayers & hugs to all of you. My dad passed at the early age of 49 because he was riddled with cancer, bowel cancer that was missed & then it went to most of his lymph nodes + everywhere else. He was ill for about 10 years before he passed & mum looked after him for all of them. He used to say ‘they wouldn’t let an animal go through this’, which is & was very, very true. Doc told us in October one year that he wouldn’t be here for longer than Christmas. He went on nearly another 2 years. I think the doc gave him something in the end as he just couldn’t bear his suffering either – he told us 1-2days, which it was & it was a blessing for him, mum, his brothers & me too. As he was going out the door dad asked him if he could go out in the car if he felt better the next day – go figure! Your dad would be better off in another place now, free from suffering. I hope for all of you that someone, something, a higher power can help. Bless you all. XXX

Yowser. This is VERY, VERY long BUT read it!! Tell Beau to start taking Manuka Honey – has to be UMF 10+ MINIMUM – 15+ is only very, very slightly better BUT nowhere worth the price as it’s only about 5% stronger than the optimum 10+UMF ( 5+ UMF is so weak it’s useless – about 90% less effective than 10+) You’re gonna have to trust me on this as I DO know what I’m talking about. (don’t believe anything that isn’t UMF (Unique Manuka Factor – as there are FAR too many totally FAKE Manuka Honeys out there nowadays). There aren’t many that can use the UMF label & it’s strictly enforced. Trust me (I was initially trained as a microbiologist, believe it or not.) I research things to the nth degree & I saw all the papers/tests from the New Zealand Universities & it’s VERY impressive. You can’t find the papers nowadays as I’m talking about 24-25yrs ago. All you can find nowadays is fake advertising for the most part & fake claims.

Why I say to do this is that Beau & Hubby too has probably got a REALLY bad case of H Pylori – this causes acid reflux BUT they don’t have to have the reflux up in their mouths it can stay in their intestines/stomach etc. Manuka KILLS H. Pylori – not masks it Like all the Prazoles do. They gave hubby Omeprazole too I’ll bet you Beau has Llansoprazole or something similar- I HATE prazoles/prasoles with a vengeance! ALL they do is MASK the symptoms they cure NOWT.
Manuka 10+ UMF will CURE it. It can also cure Streptococcus – the VERY bad flesh eating bacteria! It is just about effective on MOST really bad bacteria – totally curing the problem. Christie Hospital in Manchester did some very interesting studies using it on people with throat cancer as often they were also riddled with many bacteria, which in the throat aren’t nice. Hospitals use it on plasters that they use on really bad injuries & scars to help stop all the really nasty stuff. It’s one of the things we ALWAYS keep in the house.

Used used to work for one of the BIG Pharmaceuticals, firstly in Microbiol labs _ which is bloody boring ( when you start talking to micro organisms you can’t see, because you are stuck in a totally sterile room on your own with them, then it’s time to get out of being a Microbiologist! lol) I swapped to the Chemistry side & became a Lab Analyst in there. Much better as I had a shed-load of crazy people that were great fun to work with (none of whom worked in the crazy world of bacteria). Thankfully a lot of the work was partially in Chemistry so I was OK doing an HNC in the work part-time. I shan’t bore you with owt. else I’ve done over my many years. EXCEPT to say that I HATE BIG PHARMA too – totally corrupt – did you know 99% of their products were old herbs when they were set up? Up to 60-70yrs ago the vast majority of their products were still herbal. (I know that as I inherited the desk of the Director of QA – a lovely man who was in his 60’s, he had left the desk FULL of old sample bottles & was overjoyed when I asked him if they were his, as he thought he’d lost them all. – He spent hour upon hour over months, actually years as he often started talking to me when I was hard at work lol telling me ALL about their various properties & how they’d managed to synthesise the active ingredients. He knew I was interested & it was his pet subject so I learned a great deal from him. Now a great deal of their products are synthetically made BUT what a LOT of chemists don’t realise is that mother nature is wonderful & that often we need something besides the bit they have synthesised in order for any nasty side effects to be annihilated too.
Mum passed due to being highly allergic to her diabetic drug, which granulated her liver & lungs. I just thought OMG I used to test all the customer complaints & I know how peeps were fobbed off/lied to. After mum passed I wanted to go into alternative health, which I did & I learned a great deal from many wonderfully knowledgeable people & saw/heard from some absolute crazies. I did alternative health shows myself & then Carl joined me & we also put on our own shows. (this was just to let you know why i believe in some therapies/products & I honestly believe 10+ UMF Manuka is bloody amazing!) In 6 wks it CURED me of H. Pylori that the consultant told me to put the bed up on blocks at the head as my acid reflux was SO bad. Pity he didn’t learn or do ANY further education or research whatsoever as it was all out there for him to find. I had a lovely doc who I told her what I’d done so she told ALL her patients to do the same, after she researched it too (I gave her all the research info she needed._ I researched it because of my really, really bad Acid reflux. Just 1 tsp Of Manuka 10+UMF 3 times a day on a very small piece of bread or toast – 1/4 of a piece of bread is enough. Supposed to take for 12 weeks BUT I’d actually cured myself in 6 weeks. I could tell the difference in 3-4wks. ANY further slight reflux I’d take for a week 3x a day.

Hubby is up. OMG he asked if I was writing a book. I think I’d better go.
Linda – with typing diarrhoea XXXX

Linda- thank you for sharing your expertise with us. I’ve heard amazing things about Manuka honey and will take note of the correct one to buy!
I’ve braved the scales this morning and it was slightly worse than I anticipated. I’ve not felt much like sticking to the rules for the past few weeks for a variety of reasons and hence my weight is creeping up to levels that are not acceptable. I have just under four weeks until my holiday to Turkey and I have decided that now would be a good time to try and reverse some of the damage! I am not losing weight for vanity reasons any more but for health reasons and so that I can fit comfortably in my clothes as I can’t afford to buy bigger sizes. Since spending time alone whilst my husband was away I learned to accept myself as a 61 year old strong woman and for me, part of being strong is to maintain discipline and control. I’m going to try hard to reduce my weight by 7lb before my holiday. My bus journey is going to be a perpetual one I think, but that’s OK. If I stay on the bus, I’m riding with my friends. I am going to try really hard to be positive and disciplined for the next four weeks.
Lots of love to my fellow passengers as we negotiate a few twists and turns in our journey.

Hi Linda, thank you for your kind words.Your poor Dad bless him,what an awful time that must have been.Sorry just replying now, my sister got a phone call from one of the nurses at my Dad’s care home yesterday late morning saying he was getting worse so we went straight along and stayed until about 8 this morning.We kept thinking he was about to pass away during the night,he looked so close to it but he was still hanging on to life when we left this morning.We had no sleep so will try to catch up on that today.The nurse will ring if any change at all.We just kept my Mum updated with texts whilst we were there,it would have been too much for her to cope with to have been there.Thank you all of you for your kind thoughts and words.I may not post again this week but will as soon as I can.❤️ Dawn X

DAWN – just wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you and your family. I can only imagine how difficult it is for you all right now, take care xxx

CATHY – good luck for the next 4 weeks – I have just over 8 weeks until my daughters wedding and really need to get my act together! I’m going to try my hardest to be strict too over the next 4 weeks – let’s do this!

Thank you Sue❤️ Dawn X

Hello everyone.I’m just posting tonight to let you know that my Dad died this afternoon.I’m so thankful that my sister and I were with him at the time and that he will now be at peace.I may not post for a few days as we will be looking after my Mum to make sure she’s ok.Dawn X

Hello Dawn
My thoughts and prayers are with you at this sad time
Love nokie x💜

Hi Dawn,sending love and hugs to you and your Mum and to all the family
Thanks for taking the time to let us know,we ‘re all with you in spirit xx 🙏 💐

Hi Dawn
Thinking of you and your family at this very sad time. So lovely that you were with your dad and comforting to know that he is now at peace. Sending you lots of love Dawn. Take time out and be kind to yourself. We will all be here for you when you feel it’s time to join us again.

Oh Dawn I’m so sorry to hear this. I know it was not unexpected but still will hit you hard. I’m glad that you and your sister could be there. Lots of love to you all. I know you will be busy looking after your mum, but please take care of yourself too. Thinking of you all X

Dawn so sorry for your loss – you’ve been in my thoughts since your last post about your dad. It was good that he wasn’t alone and that you and your sister could be with him. Sending love to you, your mum and your family from the other side of the world xx
And yes please take your time and look after yourself, and rejoin us when you are ready – we’ll be here x

Awww Dawn & family, I’m thinking of you all & sending you lots of positive energy & also calmness. It was good that he passed with you there, I hope it was a very peaceful passing. Your dad is now in a much better place – please remember that. He went on for too many years & I know that his passing is actually a blessing for him, you, your mum & your sister + all extended family & friends.Those long years of his illness will have drained you all, especially your mum. Can you send her on a long holiday to recover? Whether it’s with friends or family she now needs some ME time to recover from her loss of your dad. I sent mum off to Australia to see her sister for a couple of months a few months after dad passed. She really didn’t want to come back – which I understood totally, after her passing, when I took a month over there. OMG It’s SO beautiful! IF there is anywhere she’d love to go try & make it happen for her. You are in my thoughts & prayers. Bless you all. Linda XXXX

Just wanted to send Dawn and family my sympathy and best wishes. xxx