WOW! Aly I am turning green! Poly Tunnel on order! Something I have dreamed of but won’t fit in the garden now. Bee keeping – something I would love to try, I’ve talked about it for at least a decade but it might annoy the neighbours, they have no plants at all in their garden just wall to wall grass and concrete. I’ve heard the kids scream if they see as much as a spider lol. My son is thinking of chickens and geese for his allotment.

Can I suggest growing a greengage, the fruit is so aromatic and sweet. I also have a peach tree on the back of the south facing garage wall. My grape vine is just over an arch on a path in the middle of the garden and still manages to produce plenty of fruit here in the North East! Oh, what I could do with a poly tunnel. What are you planning in yours?

You were a townie but it sounds as if now you are a fully grown country girl!!

Good news about the weight loss but sorry to hear about the chest infection, I know how miserable they are. Hope you get the doc to understand you.
I always used to have porridge for breakfast but soon started having thick greek yoghurt and fruit for breakfast when I started this breakfast and I have realised I actually prefer it. Never thought I would hear myself say that! I’m still eating garden fruit out of the freezer – loads of blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries, tayberries, blackberries, rhubarb etc to get through. I treated myself to a dehydrator a few years ago so I also have a vast stock of dried apple rings etc.
Hope it goes well at the drs for you and you know you are reaping the benefits of this way of eating x 🙂

Hi Yael, what a disappointing and frustrating evening’s viewing for you. I guess it is going to be individuals who have made excellent progress on this diet who will convince GPs that this is something every diabetic, and I suspect, every hypothyroid patient should be doing. It could take a few years to really be ‘out there’.

I totally agree about people being trained to be big babies. Eating small and often tends to translate to eat a lot more calories during the day.

Good on you for pointing people to this forum 🙂

We bought a disused farm. It was sold with an acre which is enough for us. If you would like to see our home go to our website letertregites.com
It was built in 1832 and the house and barns are all granite. It is a major project but we want to be as self sufficient as possible. We have solar tubes that provide all our hot water via a heat exchanger. No central heating but a wood burner in the main living room and a wood burning Esse in the kitchen. We try to keep our carbon footprint low.
I like the sound of the Greek yogurt and may give that a go. I have masses of jam, homemade that has built up but that does contain sugar.
I am limited with the fruit Trees I can buy and grow here. I bought a Bramley apple from the UK last year but it would not grow and finally died. Just not suited to this area I guess.
Planning on growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and chillis in the polytunnel this year. The veg patch will be kale, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, red onions and hopefully some squash. I also have raspberries and black currants. If space allows I will put in courgette too but they are always available here and cheap to buy.
This all fits with my clean food campaign.

Cherrieanne, I think I was born a Luddite!! when I mentioned the forums my son was gobsmacked – ‘Oh, you have managed to sign up to go on forums?’ I just hope I can remember what I’m learning on this site!!!
I too am a courgette queen! Green ones, yellow ones, round ones, stripy ones! Chocolate and courgette cake – fooled my mother with that few years back, hated courgettes and thought it was the nicest chocolate cake she had ever had. Told her about the courgettes after her comment lol. Courgette and garlic soup is one of my favourites. There are endless things to do with courgettes – even courgette risotto is pretty good.
My new favourite way is to make courgette noodles with my spiraliser, just fry the courgette noodles add some chilli and garlic as it begins to soften then heap on the full fat cream cheese and parmesan. Quick and delicious. It’s good to hear of youngsters eating good, healthy food in this day and age.
The only sad thing about the allotment is that it has laid fallow for several years because the council thought the old man’s family would take it over. There is a lot of rubbish to clear before he can start the digging. But, yes, real serendipity! Like you I also am passionate about heritage seeds, I prefer to grow heirloom varieties of tomatoes such as the good old Brandywine. We will certainly keep our eyes open for any seedlings that crop up on the grandfather’s old site.
Cherrieanne, I hadn’t thought about parrots decimating Aussie crops, it’s wood pigeons over here in Blighty. Though camping in the Blue Mountains, years ago, I did see HEAR lots of them of a morning round the camp site and they do like the green stuff!
I think I will be the one supplying my son this year – with young fruit bushes I have been growing for him and seedlings from my greenhouse for as soon as the land is cleared of debris. In a few years though I should be receiving quinces as he is planning on buying a tree. 🙂

I have a quince and have since been told you need two for it to fruit! Have not yet sourced another.
On another note…I applied some weeks ago to change my driving license to a French one. Had a phone call from the prefecture this morning and I think she was checking to see if I am in today as a courier will deliver my new license that has to be signed for! I have a Drs appointment at 12.15 so hope it does not come then.

Hi Rubbu, good news on the weight loss!! I personally have not measured the things like carbs. Today I will have greek yoghurt and berries for breakfast ( same every day), lunch is either home made veg soup with beans and dollop of full fat cream cheese or yoghurt, or frittata or the no carb ploughmans or chicken stir fry – just simple things. My evening meals are a variation on the lunches. As I live on my own this is a necessity! So if I have half an avocado for lunch one day I will have the other half the next evening. I love the recipe for avocado, bacon and radish mixed together and dollops put on the leaves of a little gem. The next day I might have avocado and poached egg. I have to do a similar thing if I buy prawns or good quality ham. Basically I just follow the recipes in the book. One of my favourites is the cottage pie with cauliflower mash, in fact I am making it for dinner tonight.

You should try the coconut flour flatbreads or chickpea flour flat breads – they are so versatile. Like a few others on here I am not too hung up about the exact science as following the recipes in the book is working very well for me. I just make similar meals if I am not following rigidly. So if I have grilled a packet of bacon and had the avocado bacon mix I will use up some of the bacon in a frittata instead of the chickpeas.

If you follow the book I don’t think you will go wrong. If it helps to have something more pictorial than the book, google daily mail 8 week blood sugar diets. There are four weeks of recipes you can print off (in 5 editions of the paper) I did this and stuck them in a book. I like to look at the pics and make a decision based on what takes my fancy – they do say we eat with our eyes!!!
Don’t know if this will be any help but good luck on this diet 🙂

Aly I am so impressed!!! What a wonderful thing to do. I was just saying to a friend yesterday that if I had the money (and a strong back) I would want to be self sufficient and use green energy – in fact precisely the way you have described, apart from the wood burner these days cos of my bronchiectasis. I will look your website up!

If you can’t find greek yoghurt you could make normal yoghurt with full fat milk. It tastes delicious. I know what you mean about the jam – I made loads myself, wild bilberry and rhubarb and ginger along with every kind of jam you can think off. Glad that I stored so much in the freezer just as it was.

Oh, I didn’t know that about quinces. I know there is a new strain from Russia on dwarf rooting stock but will definitely have to check up on the pollination situation.
Hope your license arrives at an appropriate time.

I make my own yogurt too! From full fat milk. Will have to increase the amount I make so I can have some. It is possible to make Greek yogurt butbI need to get my head around it. 😀

Hi All,
I too am new to this site and its wonderful reading about everybodies progress. I began the diet 3 weeks ago and have found it not too difficult, and have really enjoyed trying the new recipes. I have trained as a peer educator for Type II diabetes so its important to me to try this but also for my health as an overweight apple with rising fasting glucose. The area I live in has a high number of Asian diabetics from the Indian Sub Continent and East African heritage so I am really interested in finding recipes both vegetarian and not vegetarian that have been addapted for a low carb, and of course its an opportunity to add Indian low carb to my repetoire!

Many thanks in advance.

God I’m so annoyed
I knew had my yearly blood tests this morning but I let myself be talked into going out for dinner last night to our favourite Turkish restaurant.
I was really good, had a mixed seafood starter and a kebab of chicken done on a skewer with a small side salad.
Didn’t have my usual yoghurt snack as I just wasn’t hungry.
Fasting blood sugar ……… 9.1 I couldn’t believe it.
Anyhow I discussed this with the (new) diabetes nurse and she said not to worrry as the blood tests were different to what we do each day and show an average over a period of time. She was also really impressed with the weight loss and the lack of tingling in my feet, so much so that she has asked me to print off the pdf file for her to read – looks like another possible convert.
9.1 !!! anybody have a smilie for holding a gun to your head ?

Hey Bill
Take your own advice 🙂 Don’t beat yourself up! Listen to the sensible (new) diabetes nurse. Nothing about humans is ever 100 per cent perfect or consistent. I have nerve damage in my left foot (spinal fusions didn’t quite stop the rot) and it tingles a lot. But, after just 6 days, I’ve noticed less tingling …
You’re our hero. So what if you have a toe of two that’s made of clay. 🙂

Hi Bill,
Stick with it – it seems to be working well for me. I started 10 days ago and initially had the same experience as you – fasting BS in the morning 12 – and thought OMG! But have persisted. No longer getting hunger pangs between meals and average BS through the day 6.5 – first thing in the morning, down to 7.4. I have also lost weight – hallelujah! I’m already feeling better than I have for a very long time and I don’t think it’s all down to the ‘start of diet euphoria’ – I feel more active and I’m sleeping better. Like you, this has got to work for me and after 10 days, I think this is something I can adapt to.
I look forward to celebrating with you at the end of the 8 weeks.

Aly, I have a quince tree, just the one, and it fruits just fine. Love the smell of quinces.

Bill, despite your little blip that is VERY good news. Your nurse is reacting the same way as mine. They have to when they see the results. Let’s hope it benefits other patients in your practice!!

Thanks, Hashimoto. I think I’ve said that my 85 year-old doctor father has been debunking the low-fat products for many years. I guess there are plenty of doctors and dieticians who just don’t bother keeping up with research and new thoughts. I felt quite protective about ‘our’ Michael.

Welcome to the forums Hawkeye, you could really make a difference to others especially when they see the weight falling off you and want to know how to get the same results. Well done 🙂

Phew Yael, that is good news about the quince!!! Thanks 🙂

Hi Aly, I have never tried to make greek yoghurt, I know it involves filtering, so don’t think I will bother with it. My time is filled making all these lovely recipes. A double batch of Bill’s coconut flour flatbreads this morning. I have experimented with no salt. Some I will use as a dessert with cream and fruit and the other batch I sprinkled parmesan cheese on before they went in the oven. They turned out fine. 🙂

You know what guys, I try on a daily basis, to do whatever I can to offer help and encouragement to others in my own little way.
Today I’m on the other side of the fence so to speak and I’m so chuffed about these resposes from strangers who are rapidly becoming friends.
If what I do makes others feel even slightly the way I feel at the moment, then I must be doing something right.
Thanks to all of you for the kind responses and support

Sod the readings – Onward and Upward 🙂

Bill

Bill, Yael is right, you are our hero. You have achieved so much and spurred us all on. You are truly inspirational. 🙂 🙂 🙂

I would have given up with the onset of withdrawal if it hadn’t been for you lot! I am amazed I lasted a week but it is down to you I am still here.
On the health front, just been to doc and I have a chest infection. The medicine is not ‘clean’ but I will have to go with it! I was checked out for Zika virus as there have been two cases in Paris. Good news on that is my blood pressure was a little low where before it was a little high!

Thanks so much Judith
I really wanted to get some advice from you re hashimodo’s, I think the wife may have it.
She has been on thyroxine for years but, over the last 6 months or so her hair has started falling out, dry skin and scabs on the head and a big poison lump on her neck. Doc gave her antibiotics that didn’t help
I can’t see a PM facility on the forum, do you mind putting some info in an email if I post my email addy?

Bill, there are many people on here that are really supportive and encouraging to “newbies” (like myself), and “oldhats” (like yourself) … and it doesn’t matter how long you have been doing this “life changing” healthy eating, we all of us need each other, whether its to put us on the right road, share hints & tips, teach from experience, pat each other on the back, or boost us when we’re down.
Many of us have been to slimming clubs, and they all try to insist you stay not just for the weigh in, but for the motivational talk by the leader … and sharing stories with each other. They all know that to be successful most people need that “group therapy”. Very few of us really are that insular!
You, Bill, come over as one of those “leaders” … not one of those that tell you what to do … but one of those that has been there and helps by true encouragement. What you have achieved is excellent, and as hashimoto and Yael have said, you are inspirational, and we need people like you on this site to share your ups and downs the same way we are doing! x

Of course Bill, no problem, will be glad to help in return 🙂

Bill, what is a PM, how do I find it?

Aly I think some of your ‘withdrawal’ has been down to your chest infection – I always have achy legs etc when I have a chest infection, once the infection is over I think you will find this so much easier. I’m glad you have the antibiotics even if they are not ‘clean’. I know to my cost how bad it can get if you ignore it and let it drag on. Good news about your BP as well. 🙂

Judith PM stands for private message but this forum doesn’t seem to have the function.
My email addy is angrydriver54@hotmail.com don’t worry about me posting it, I only use it for forum sign ups etc

Hi bill i will email you a bit later 🙂

Morning all
It will take a long time for the low fat mantra to be altered. It is still hard for me to accept it is so ingrained. There is plenty of research, credible, out there plus the people getting great results from this eating regime.
This morning I weighed again, first time ever I have weighed two days in a row ( I do listen to advice on here) and I have lost another pound. This puts me just under the 12st mark. I am once again in the 11’s. It feels so good. Maybe I can get to the 10’s.
Another new thing….didn’t really want porridge this morning. I keep thinking about Greek yogurt with berries! Will have to get hubby to go out today! I do find all this a bit unsettling, my diet is so different.

Hi Aly, great news! I must admit that for the first few days I ate low fat yoghurt, it really is hard to reverse the advice of decades. When i ate my first full fat yoghurt it felt a bit like recklessly hurling myself on a cliff. Then the weight loss seemed to accelerate. I know what you mean about the scales. I started at 11 st 9 lbs and after other diet fails couldnt believe my eyes when i went just under the 11 st mark. Didn’t even dare dream of going just under 10 st. But here I am at 9st 10lb after just seven weeks!!!! To go just under 9 is still something I daren’t dream about but would be good for me as I had a really severe leg injury just over 20 years ago and was told to keep my weight between 8 and 8 and a half stones because of damage to my knee. However i would be delighted to get to 9st 4 as that is a comfortable weight.
Looking forward to that moment when you stand on the scales and it says under 10 because it will happen.
Hope those antibiotics are beginning to kick in for you!

It might be better to stay off the milky products til your chest infection clears as dairy foods increase mucus production – what about a nice omlette for brekkie?
🙂

Hi rubbu
I am away from home all week and cook food at the weekend and freeze it and keep it in a plug in fridge in my truck.
I have a blueberry smoothie in the morning or Greek yoghurt and berries.
Lunch is usually two boiled eggs and a slice of salmon or tuna/Mackerel with creme fraiche topped with leaf spinach.
Evening meal I have homemade tagine with quern in it or a chicken curry with some green veg.
At the weekend I have a pork chop and egg with asparagus.
Porridge sometimes and weekend nights either meat and veg or fish and veg.
I take free weights in my truck and do arm exercises plus push ups sit ups etc.
I also go for a 30 min walk depending on where I park and go cycling or swimming with the kids on one day of the weekend.
I think the only reason I lost so much weight at first is the fact that I was pretty heavy and weight loss is slowing down quite a lot now.
I have been inspired by all the great stories and comments on the BSD site and realised we are struggling on some days but take each day as it comes.
I have counted calories but eat what appears to be around 80 calories.
Hope you get some inspiration from this forum and there is lots of support and information from individuals doing the same journey.
Hope you achieve great results and wish you all the success in your BSD journey.
Nidge

I was also disappointed when I had my diabetic review this month. My GP wanted me to go on Metformin and Statins and I brought up the low carb diet I had started . He was unenthusiastic and when I asked if he was aware of the Newcastle research done a few years ago where they gave 600 calories and had good results he just shrugged. I introduced the book and really wasted my breath. He did suggest I go back in 3 months and have blood tests. Well I feel better than I have in a long time and after a month I’m off my blood pressure medication ( check my BP to make sure it’s ok), my blood sugar is controlled and I feel really well. I’m losing weight and inches of my waist! The proof is there when I look in the mirror and you know what there is sufficient research out there to continue. There is also a diet doctors site which also has medics on leading the way and there have been conferences about low carb approach ( you can browse and it’s free for a month) they also suggest fasting to encourage fat burning . I’m sticking with this and plan to go back in 3 months . Keep at it everyone .

Garden78
yeah it’s going to take time to get this new lifestyle mainstream.
The problem being that a lot of medical professionals will stick religiously to the way they have been trained and will only accept change when it’s been researched to death for 10 years and been published in the lancet!
This forum is now providing overwhelming evidence that the low carb approach really works, trouble is, at the moment we are still a minority and lined up against us is not just most of the medical profession, but multi billion dollar weight loss industries.
We may, at the moment, just be a small voice in the darkness but, day by day, as more people post their success stories, that voice is getting louder.
We will get to the point where our voice is heard, hopefully soon or a lot of lives are going to be needlessly ruined by a disease that can be controlled without drugs.

Morning Bill1954

Well said.

I seem to remember that the major slimming clubs started small, round a kitchen table, and look where they are now.

The more people who join us in this, the more evidence we collate, the harder it will be for the medical professionals to ignore us.

After years of complaining that the medics say they want us to be proactive but they don’t give us the tools, we now have a vital tool thanks to Dr Mosley and Prof Taylor.

Hi garden78, your doctor’s response was very disappointing. Perhaps your next check up will make him think. Do you know any other diabetics in your practice? A few of you doing this diet – and letting the practice know once the group is getting results – may convince them.

One of our problems is that sceptical medics may dismiss our evidence as ‘anecdotal’. However, I know a nurse in my practice is taking this seriously and is likely to be spreading the message.

Perhaps Michael will do a new series about this and really get it out there.

The nurse in my practice said that while some patients want to control their condition others think that taking the meds solves the problem. I think a visit round a renal ward might make those people think twice – life as a blind diabetic amputee must be hell. Captainlynne’s diabetes nurse also told her that some people want to help themselves while others think metformin is the answer.

I guess it really is up to us to get the word out not only to medical professionals but to those we know who are diabetic and not following this diet.

Keep on with the good work, garden78, we will get people thinking right eventually.
Well done for what you have achieved so far 🙂

Hi captainlynne, i hadn’t realised slimming clubs started so small. What uplifting information!

Bill, too right, big drug companies stand to lose billions world wide if all diabetics took this on board. The info relayed about the airing on Australian tv rather suggests this could be the case . I liked your analogy of our voices getting louder

Onward and upwards 🙂

Not just the drug companies but there is a huge low fat industry out there as well
Someone said in another thread that they were struggling to find full fat Greek yoghurt. I had the same problem with cottage cheese.
We are being inundated with low fat products that are doing us absolutely no good at all.
Even the biggest slimming club in the UK have their name attached to a range of low fat diet meals from one of the worlds biggest food producers.
Thanks for the email Judith, lots of useful info there.

Bill

I did weight watchers and got to my goal weight back in 2004 (started at 9st 11 down to 8st 7) kept it off for 4 years but ending up at 11st before I started bsd. !! I am completely sold on loosing visceral fat and cutting down on carbs/sugars, adopting the med diet but wow is it difficult to psychologically shift from low fat! I don’t particularly like plain yogurt and have been looking for full fat fruit yoghurt with low sugar.. No success so I am going to try as nidge64 suggested normal yoghurt with berries… Everything I ate up until this diet was low fat… Diets bread, diet lemonade, lots and lots of fruit, especially exotics.

When we have our moments of slippage, which I did this week and had a baguette we must remember this is a life style change for the better… Eat healthier and exercise, keeping the inches off our waistlines

Thank you all for all your advise.. And here’s to all us having a successful week no matter how big or small

Weight watchers was founded by a woman called Jean Nidetch who, having put on a bit of weight, was shocked to find people thought she was pregnant! She asked her friends to get together to share low calories recipes over a coffee at her house and that’s how it all started. The weight watchers machine is absolutely massive and they will eventually catch up with this turnaround of approach; mainly because they can’t afford to go under. But it will still cost members a lot of money to be in their gang. I’d rather be in this gang 😉

The full fat yoghurt is currently hidden in a little corner of the fridge of the supermarket like the ugly duckling. But I wager that in five years time, you won’t be able to find any low fat products on the shelves. I have always disliked yoghurt, its just boring. Then I tasted full fat yoghurt…

Hi Janet1973 there is no comparison between the low fat junk and the real thing, is there? Ridiculous that one has to search for it. Thanks for the info on weightwatchers. Like you I am staying in this gang!! 🙂

Me too. I forced down ww yogurts as they were good for me! I was a ww fan too and successfully lost 5 stone with them, then 2 st, then 3st, and when I moved here carried on online! Always regaining weight within a short time of getting to goal. I thought I had to be with ww for life!
Full fat yogurt is nothing like the diet stuff. Once I am able to get out again I will buy some full fat Greek yogurt and berries.
The other thing I am really enjoying is eating nuts. I have always loved them but never dared to eat them! This way of eating works with my bid to eat clean but also allows me to sort out my weight and get out of the pre diabetic risk I was running.
As has been said at some point the big guys will have to take notice of this. Ww profits are already down. Probably since I stopped buying their stuff!

Its best to buy full fat natural yogurt, Greek is nicest because its not so acidic and then stew up some berries such as blackcurrents or blueberries to mix in. If its not sweet enough and not palatable you can sweeten the stewed fruit with some Erythritol, its the best I have found as Stevia for example leaves a horrible aftertaste. The Erythritol is safe for diabetics, goes straight through you and is recommended from my Peer Educator Tutor for Type II diabetes, and she has done all the research on this low carb diet for her PhD.

I understand there are a lot of trials now going on to demonstrate the benifits of a very low carb diet so hopefully that will start to provide the evidence and encourage clinitians to change their practice. My daughter is dietician and it is interesting to see how she been trained to resist ‘crank’ diets, understandably as some of her patients have really odd eating habits. However with overwealming evidence they will come round. If you think its hard for us to change habits and embrace fats, think how much harder it is for a professional who has to admit they were peddling myths over a lifetime in medicine. There is a really good interview with Dr Tim Noakes about low carb diets and how he has completly change his opinion, worth watching.

Great reading these posts, so inspiring that everyone is losing weight and getting better blood sugar and blood pressure results.
I have never joined a forum before this either Hashimoto. I don’t do FB but I will use email. I get a real buzz from the concern members show each other and the helpful, supportive community spirit on here. I get a sense that we are all genuinely interested and involved in other members experiences. There is so much common ground even though we live in different countries, time zones etc.
Hashimoto our local parrots ( actually, corellas, cockatoos, lorikeets and rosellas, but I didn’t think many people would know what they are) seem to have an awareness of seasons and when fruits are ripening! You might not see black cockatoos for a couple of months but the minute the pine comes start to open they are here in the 100’s. They rip the cones open to get to the pine nuts and the ground is littered with the remnants. You risk getting donged on the head by a pine cone if you are foolish enough to walk past. Same for the fruits. Most people here have to buy anti bird netting for the fruit trees or you’d never get any! I’ve made the choc cake with zucchini too, it stays really moist, but hubby and kids will have to eat it now. I’d not thought of trying fried courgetti before but your recipe does sound delish. Definitely going to try that as my spiralizer arrived this week. No vegetable is safe from the blade in our house at the moment ;).
Aly it really sounds so positive for you now, despite the chest infection. Once you are over that you won’t know yourself. 🙂
Bill you mustn’t be so hard on yourself! Your blood test must have been an HbA1c judging by what the nurse told you. That measures your average blood sugar over a period of about 12 weeks. So a one off high fasting level isn’t going to make much difference. This one will include your pre diet blood sugars too, so won’t accurately reflect your achievements since starting the diet. It will be better than your usual results though, and you will probably see an improvement in your cholesterol. The next one when you will have been on the healthy eating plan for more than 12 weeks will probably knock their socks off!!
Yael I hadn’t realised you were in Aus too. I had really been looking forward to the SBS segment. Ignorant naysayers will be eating their words soon enough. BTW did you see the post re low carb Herman Brot bread from Foodland & IGA? Only 2.3g carb per slice and is really yummy.
Kimgall agree wholeheartedly with your comments about Bill. Truly a pioneer and wise friend to many on here.

Thanks Cherrrianne
Like Lynn, I intend to stay on the fast 800 until I get to my target weight, by which time the blood sugar should be permanently low.
I have seen warnings about staying on a low cal diet for too long, but weight loss surgery patients seem to manage ok, so can I, just without the scar 😉

If any of you live in Australia & want a delicious full-fat yoghurt, Jalna natural is the very best. I hadn’t eaten it for ages because my cholesterol has been high, but I’ll be interested to see what it is the next time I test it. (Mind you, I couldn’t resist the full-fat yoghurt made with sheep’s milk, made by the owner of a little store in Thessaloniki where I was doing research for 2 months last year at the university there – and to think I felt guilty about eating it! It was superb stuff.)

Can any of you help explain a statement that Michael made on Australian TV? That even before you add sugar to a latte, there are already about 4 teaspoons’ sugar in the drink. I make home-style Italian latte for breakfast (hint: surname’s Formiatti) and it is very different to the stuff you get in cafes. About 2 thirds strong good coffee (made with ground beans); one third hot milk. It’s meant to be a breakfast drink, not an anytime snack.

Another real trap is chai. The cafe stuff is generally a processed product full of sugar, chemicals, and – I suspect – trans fats. You can make it in a saucepan. For two: 2-3 cardamon pods, 3 pepper corns, a few thin slices fresh ginger, one inch cinnamon stick, 1-2 teabags/equivalent in loose tea, water. Put all in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes. Add some milk. We have to do without the sugar, but traditionally sugar is added. Adding freshly crushed ginger to coffee is a great taste, too.

I’m putting a net on my small fig trees in the back garden. No parrots or wattlebirds are going to get them! They’ll be ripe soon. You can use fig leaves to make yoghurt (as the ancient Greeks did).

I remember WW when there were no WW products. Think it must have been sold to some corporation which saw the marketing opportunities.

Love reading everyone’s posts!

For those of us in the UK, Lancashire Farms natural yoghurt is creamy and mild. I wouldn’t actually want to add sugar to it. Sold in 1kg buckets in the orange supermarket!

Yes, Hashimoto. Eating full-fat yoghurt is such a wonderful experience. Better than any sugar hit. I have had spinal operations and, like you, was advised to keep my weight low (52-55 kg/8-8.5 stone). I am daring to think that 55kg might just be possible.
Husband poured me a glass of wine last night. Wasn’t trying to sabotage me, just forgot. I had a sip or two. Lo, and behold. It didn’t have the usual taste of pleasure. So I left it.

One good thing about living in France is that low fat foods are almost non existent. I used to think this was a problem!

Hi Yael, he he. My son came round for dinner last night and brought me a large, rather scrumptious easter egg. I don’t. Know which one of us was most mortified. He had forgotten i was on this diet and no way could this past chocoholic even fancy it!!!! 🙂