Hi, think I’ll have a go at fish with no batter, will be easier than having different food than the rest of the family. Also, kippers are a personal favourite, so will definitely pop to Craster.

Just got home to the smell of chick pea and lentil curry that’s been in the slow cooker all day as I knew I’d be pushed for time today….. Will let you know what it’s like!

Hi ditzidora

It’s an old Slimming World trick – buy battered fish and leave the batter.

Hope your curry was good.

NOT CANCER
Just confirmed by the consultant, the shadow is an infection, that’s why her blood isn’t clotting.
She has now been referred to an ENT specialist for further tests.
Thank you all so much for all the love, support, and messages of kindness.
If EVER the power of prayer could acheive anything, this is it.
I can’t stop crying, I thank God it’s for good reasons.

WOW!! HOW FANTASTIC!!

So glad that it’s such brilliant news Bill. The whole family must be ecstatic!
Hope she will soon be fully recovered and back in good health soon.
You guys have a wonder weekend!

Bill I don’t think I have ever been so over the moon to hear such news from someone I’ve never even met👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍

Hey and don’t go blowing the diet too much after all the good work – although I think champagne is in order at the very least 😂

Hi Bill
That’s fantastic news so so pleased for you all.X

CRIKEY, BILL! – I cried when I read that! So happy for you and your family! Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery from her lung infection.

Have a great weekend!

Susie x

Dunno about champagne Julia
BUT
There is this litre bottle of Southern Comfort I brought back from holiday 2 years ago and never opened.
I think it may well be time to check it hasn’t went off 😉
Sod it, I just cant help doing this 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Well if you go on a Southern bender…. have to say it is quite understandable even if not wise. Our family are off to Toby Carvery tonight (best BSD place to eat if you avoid the pots and yorkies) and I’ll certainly be having a drink tonight (1 only 😉) to celebrate virtually with you guys. So so thrilled for you all.

YIPPPEEE!!!!! *does very happy dance*

Bill, I am so delighted for you, your daughter and the family. Hopefully it won’t be long before she is fully recovered.

I’ll raise a bottle of fizzy water (well chilled) to you all 😃

Have a great weekend.

Bill, just caught up with the posts – oh I can’t tell you how happy I feel for you and your family – I’m crying myself. What a RELIEF!!! What a Friday this is turning out to be!!
I think tonight calls for big fat juicy steaks as well as a drink!!!

The shock and stress of it all will really be hitting home now that you can heave a massive sigh of relief as you have had to sit on this and act normal for your grandchildren and the whole family during so many days – so no wonder you can’t stop crying.

This day just can’t get any better! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
In fact Bill, I’m going to indulge in a little glass of something with you and toast your family when I drink. 🙂 🙂 🙂 :)Cherrieanne is going to be so pleased when Australia wakes up! 🙂

At the minute I’m sort of alternating between laughing and crying.
When my wife rang I rushed out into the showroom from the office to take the call and got some very strange looks from the customers when I sort of screamed “Oh Nancy thank God”
This weekend is going to be a very happy one in our house 😀

Way to go Bill, the best news ever!

Hi Everyone:

I’ve been off posting in the forums for a week or so, but have been following everyone’s progress. I’ve been doing pretty well, not perfect, but much progress. I’ll have a weigh in on saturday and see what the scale says; I know something is happening as my clothes are loosening up!
The forums have been so helpful with information, experience, and recipes. One invaluable thing I have learned in the last week is to ‘keep it simple’. That is to prepare simple, easy meals, with the idea that as I begin to feel better and have more energy I’ll want to get in the kitchen more. Other ideas I’ve decided to incorporate are to eat only foods (on the plan) that I really like, for instance I love asparagus, but not kale so much, even though it’s supposed to be a super-food (and I’ve tried), so I will have asparagus. I have seen people write about this on the forums and have decided to adopt for myself the notion that since I will not be spending money on junk food, take out, and probably doing less restaurant eating, I will by premium ingredients. I reckon that I will still come out far ahead cost-wise. Fortunately, we have a store here called Whole Foods (some call it ‘Whole Paycheck’) that can be expensive but has excellent quality foods.

I am also very happy to say that when I got home from work last night my book had arrived! This is five days early! I am so happy to have it in hand!

best wishes to all for continued success
Jeff

Happy Day!

So brilliant to have this great result Bill.

We are all dancing & raising glasses to you (with water or ‘laughing gravy”)

: )

Hi jeff, nice to hear you on the forums again! I take the same line as you. I will eat kale but I adore brocolli, asparagus, spinach and so many more veg that I prefer to kale.
As i am eating what I have always eaten minus gluten free bread (£3 a loaf) rice and potatoes I am finding my food shop is actually cheaper 🙂

When your clothes loosen you know you’re losing weight 🙂

Anyone else having issues with logging into this stream please? I log in, then when I go to post it says I have to log in again, but when I go back 2 pages I can post…….

Question for you lovely people please – Fruit Water makers, I have found them on this site & on the web…… What do they actually do please & are they any good ? I was thinking it might be nice to have an alternative to straight water sometimes, but don’t want to be adding fruit sugars to anything by accident.

Any help would be brilliant thank you.

Fabulous news Bill 🙂 XX

Great news Bill !!!

Hashimoto! Nice to know that you think the same way and have found your food bill declining! Thanks for the support!

Bill: I am so pleased to hear your news! Enjoy the Southern Comfort, you’ve earned it!

Bill,
What wonderful news.
*** the diet – hit the SC – No harm you can do in one day that you can’t undo with 2 good days.
There’s a lot of happy folk tonight.
BTW, “showroom”? Would it be rude to ask what sort? (Not sure on the etiquette of personal questions on forums)

Bill I want to add my voice to the many that are telling you how relieved we are that the scare over your daughter’s health was unfounded. Your relief and joy must know no limits. Just shows the power of prayer because I think there were lots of us out here doing just that! Celebrate well and get back on the BSD tomorrow – you deserve it. Your support is invaluable to us all… So thank you.
Kindest regards
Jan

Thanks guys, I’ll be raising a glass to you all tonight, can’t wait to give the bairn a big hug
I’ll be the one needing diet support by the time this weekend is over 😉
stringbreaker, my stepson and myself have a bathrrom and heating business, 12000 sq ft showroom in Newcastle and a couple of websites too.
It keeps us fed 😉

Bill,
Thanks.
Bet you have to be nagged to fix your own cistern when it malfunctions – I know mine has to bat on at me to tune our own piano.
Cobblers kids’ shoes and all that 😉

Woohoo woohoo danced around the kitchen so so pleased for you and your family best news ever bill I don’t drink normally but will have a g and t and drink to you all and your daughters recovery x 😅

Bill
Just logged in to see if you had posted any news. I am soooooooo pleased for you all. Have a great weekend. Cheers! x

Oh dear, just as one crisis is happily averted, another one looms. One of our number, auntylil, she is over on the ‘alternatives to fizzy pop’ thread, has just posted that she has been diagnosed with cancer. I know a lot of you chatted with her in the past and she was the first person I met on these forums and she has been keeping me amused ever since. I know auntylil won’t be moping about this but I also know you will want to give her support in the way only this forum can.

Bill
So pleased to hear the good news… What a relief!!
Enjoy the sc
Big hug
Anita x

Such a relief for you all Bill. Break out and have that drink, it’s the weekend.you can make up for it next week .Cheers.

Hi bill1954
Just read your post, I am thrilled to hear the news, I don’t drink, however I will have one square of green and blacks 70% chocolate with my cup of tea to celebrate with you. I always look forward to seeing your posts they are so full of positivity! I am in a better place this weekend as well, you advised me not long ago about my worry about not losing enough weight, I am now losing it slowly and have tried a few more outfits on, all but two now fit me, still have trousers to do, then I can get my holiday clothes ready! Thank you once again bill for your inspiration and help, now (i am holding my cup up and my tiny piece of chocolate) cheers to you and your family, and I will continue to pray for you all as she recovers, God bless, christine

Bill 👍👍👍😍😍😍😄😄😄😄😄I cannot tell you how happy I feel for you and your family. As parents, no matter how old our children are, they are still our children. Happy happy Friday everyone xx

Woke up to the marvellous news Bill, so relieved for you and your family. I cried happy tears for you 🙂
A very different future awaits her now than the one you had feared. You are right it is an answer to prayer.
What has been so wonderful is the outpouring of love and support from the forum members, and the number of people praying for you all.
It can only be onward and upward for you now that this big worry has gone from your lives. No stopping you now!!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Morning cherrieanne, hope the mozzies didn’t bite last night. Wonderful news for Bill and family.
What’s the weather like today? Judith 🙂

Good morning Judith, and it is a good morning, I can’t stop smiling at the thought of Bills good news. 🙂
No mozzies last night, a bit too cold for them finally. Nice bright sunny autumn day today. Weather behaving as it’s supposed too lol! Only 17 at the moment but seems on track to reach the 21 forecast.
I’m off soon to take one of my girls to a birthday party so I’m glad it’s not too hot or raining. I’m helping out there, they are going to do some sand art so definitely not an indoor activity. Can you imagine the mess a bunch of 10 yr old girls could make with glue and sand? She’s one very brave Mum!!
Catch up with you later, after your sleep 🙂

Hello Bill,

Absolutely fantastic news Bill, I bet you all slept better last night (with or without the SC)

Hi Bill, I woke up this morning and one of my first thought was that you must now have the MRI scan results. I was so pleased for you and your family when I saw this post – have a lovely weekend and relax 🙂

Woo hoo, talk about a bright new day
Decided to hold the celebration until tonight as (I dont believe I forgot all about it ) tomorrow is my birthday !
Had a brilliant nights sleep, I didn’t wake until 9:45, I never do that.
Showered, dressed, and noticed the joggers I last wore a fortnight ago were slack and had to tighten the cord.
Sugar level was 6.9. Walked to the chemist to get weighed and I’ve lost another 3 pounds for a total of 23 pounds gone 🙂
I really don’t think I could be happier and I owe a massive debt of thanks to all you guys.
I started this week not knowing how I was going to cope, it was the outpourings of support from all you lovely people that got me through it.
I’ll be starting this new week looking forward to a much brighter future.
Onwards and upwards !

Morning Bill and woo hoo what a birthday weekend you are having! Daughter not in danger, joggers loose, sugars looking better and 3lbs off! A well deserved good weekend 🙂

Happy birthday weekend Bill.

Brilliant results 😃

Great news – as you said, onwards and upwards!

Have a great Birthday Bill, am sure you can cut yourself some slack for one day, you have done so well ‘ keeping the faith’ and motivating so many people. Hope you & your family have a lovely time together, now’s the time to go out & buy some smaller trousers as a treat!

Bill, I am so very pleased for you and your family.

Have a great weekend.

Sue 🍾

Hi cherrieanne, can I imagine the mess a group of 10 year olds could make with glue and sand? Oh yes! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve done things like that with groups of children (in the house) with paint in the mix as well! As a primary school teacher I’ve had as many as 40 at a time doing art work in my classroom. Then there is the time the children prepared a Roman feast for themselves and any parents who wanted to drop in. I expected that olives might be something they hadn’t tried but turned out they hadn’t had anything but sliced white bread either. Oh and the time we were making our own healthy lunches in class – or making exciting foods from veg from the school garden. The time I taught them felting and brought in a raw fleece and teasels so they could see the whole process from raw wool to the finished product – so all up to their elbows in water, soap suds, various coloured wools, needle and threads, brooch backs etc.

Glad you had a mozzie free night and hope the party goes well – so much more memorable than something like a trip to McDonalds!! 🙂

Bill,

So glad to catch up with just the best news, apologies for the late congrats, have a wonderful celebratory weekend, the f ever there was cause to celebrate 😀🍾🍾

Not drinking at the moment but I had my first cake of the year this morning to celebrate Bill’s news. I burnt 500kCals on the bike and thought maybe I could trade that off for a scone (no butter/jam of course).
I must say, I never really believe you can do a one for one trade off on calories burnt by exercise – in my experience, the equation is
calories burnt (1,000) minus extra 1000 calories eaten = +1lb on the scales 😉

1 week to go for me

Hi Judith,
You would have been a wonderful teacher planning all those hands on experiences for your students. Sounds like lots of fun. Messy play is just the best play, even though there’s lots of cleaning up after. My own kids would much rather be doing stuff like that than watching TV or using a play station.
I volunteer at the school a couple of mornings a week and while most of the children bring fairly good lunches, some of them are shocking. I’ve seen cold McDonalds food in lunch boxes. Not even appealing when it’s hot lol! One little girl had two packets of high sugar and artificially coloured biscuits, one pack of processed cheese dip and crackers and a muesli bar. Wonder why she has trouble sitting still and producing any work! I’ve seen cold chips, obviously left over from the night before. So sad. The schools here all have ‘fruit time’ at about 9.45-10.00 am, where the children sit on the mat and have some fresh fruit and listen to a story or have show and tell while they eat. This is separate from their morning play time snacks.
We watched Jamie Oliver’s school dinners series and it was really shocking. Obviously at the extreme end of the spectrum, but that sort of prepackaged processed stuff is creeping into Australian supermarkets. No excuse for that when we have an abundance of lovely fresh foods produced right here.
We all pay the cost of cheap foods somewhere along the way, to our health or the environment, or our spirits.
Oh well that’s my rant over lol.

My twin 8-year old granddaughters come to me during some school holidays.

They bring their phone and tablets and I’m told how long they’re allowed to spend on them. So what do they do here? Play out (weather permitting) or inside, read, colour, sew, make cards or jewellery. Sometimes they come to work with me or, occasionally, we go out for the day. They depend nowhere near the amount of time on their gadgets as they do stuff home.

A few years ago I bought them a kids’ meal from Subway – within an hour or so they were hyper, nearly running round the walls. Their sweet intake at home is restricted to after meals and treats, but here they don’t often ask for sweets. Their Easter eggs last year finally went back to them in October!

Their family income is restricted, only dad (my son, diabetic) works, his partner is on long-term disability benefits, and meals often have lots of carbs. When I started this in December I was due to visit them between Christmas and New Year but knew it would be difficult to eat the right things so made my excuses and stayed at home to get the good habits established.

It’s going to be interesting in a few weeks to see their response (if any) to my weight loss, and to how the twins take to eating my new way.

In my experience it’s not only school packed lunches that aren’t healthy. I’ve been involved in providing food parcels for those in need and quickly realised that the food in those parcels is generally unhealthy (processed because of storage problems). But I was told of one man, given fresh veg, didn’t want it because he didn’t know what to do with it. And a woman given food who asked what they thought she would do with that – couldn’t they give her cash so she could take the children to KFC.

I have thought for a long time that education is the key. Cookery lessons on schools have generally disappeared, and a couple of generations now haven’t been taught how to cook from scratch, and they don’t learn at home either. As long as it’s possible to buy takeaways, junk food and processed foods more cheaply than healthy fresh foods I fear there will always be a problem.

When Jamie Oliver did his series on healthy school meals, parents were taking junk food and passing it through the railings. Now there’s talk of a sugar tax, which may help, but I fear manufacturers will find a way round it.

My suggestion would be to start teaching healthy (low carb) eating and basic cooking in schools. Perhaps then we could break the downward spiral in health in all our countries. But who am I? 😳

I’ll put the soapbox away now, folks.

Hi cherrieanne I know what you mean, you would not believe how many children have nothing but chocolate and fizzy drinks in their packed lunches. The majority qualified for free school meals where they could have chosen from a selection of hot meals or the salad bar but wouldn’t eat ‘that kind of food’. School dinners might not be perfect but a hell of a lot better than the packed lunches which were taken in. Only one in about 50 were acceptable as lunches.
Cold McDonalds? Yup, seen that too! I took my class, 10 at a time, for a day walking in a forest with lots of fun activities, one mother was very concerned about her son who had a hole in his heart. When he opened his packed lunch I saw why he was obese – two, yes two, double mac cheeseburgers,an entire chocolate swiss roll, yes, really, a family pack of crisps, 3 chocolate bars and lots of other junk. Even the other children were shocked. I’m talking about 10 year olds. Can you imagine? One child asked him why he had a swiss roll because he didn’t have a plate or knife for it. Clearly puzzled as was I. He sat and peeled of the wrapper and ate it like a banana. I don’t think I have ever been so shocked.

What a shame junk food has reached Australia, I have fond memories of the lovely fresh food I ate there.

Schools here have fruit time too, but now just for KS1, the younger children also get milk. We regularly give out leaflets on healthy packed lunch ideas and 5 a day leaflets – but apparently to no avail. TBH I wish packed lunches were banned to give children a chance to try food other than cake, chocolate and fizzy drinks. I must add that I taught in a school in a deprived area and believe packed lunches in most schools would look quite different but I would still ban them, if I could, to give kids in deprived areas the opportunity of trying a range of healthier foods. Oh I have had quite a long rant but it is heart breaking to see what some kids eat every day and you are right cherrieanne,it does impact upon their concentration. Which leads me onto another rant- young children arriving in class so bleary eyed they have trouble staying awake. All but a handful of my class where still up long after I was in bed!!!!! And I’m talking about classes of 7 and 8 year olds as well as 10 and 11 year olds. How can young children be up til after 1am every night? Well I had better stop this rant or I could go on for ever!

I bet you really enjoy your time volunteering in school – it is so rewarding working with children and being there when they have a light bulb moment!

Well, I think I did too much on thursday and friday because I slept a whole 16 hours last night! I have woken to the sun pouring in like honey this morning! Out to the. Greenhouse now to see what seeds have awakened too

X 🙂