As I’m from Cumbria originally, I’m used to cold weather and driving rain (It was quite bad in Winter as well!) I actually quite like Winter weather.

In terms of booze, I’ve given up completely and diverted my interest from nice wine to different types of tea. Currently into pu erh – it gives me that same sense of indulgence but at very low carbs. As my palate has changed I can really appreciate the flavours.

Next week will be matcha – I’m quite looking forward to the kerfuffle of making it!

Two glasses of wine this evening – and a mini pizza in Prezzo – BUT I did walk home from Soho to offset it – couple of miles, but 14k in total today. Does staying warm when it’s cold use up extra energy too?

See if the walk home worked when I weigh myself in the morning.

first time for about 20 years of being able to buy a coat that i can do up, woohoo

Hi all

Frog – the very good news is that keeping warm in winter actually does burn more calories! I wouldn’t suggest you don a swimsuit and roll in the snow (we’ll leave the Scandinavians to that!) but you get the idea 🙂

💃💃💃

thanks topcac – one saving grace of having all the windows open to be painted yesterday!
It’s odd – I didn’t have poor circulation pre BSD, but now when I get very cold, it takes forever to warm up again!

Well done on the coat Josie, enjoy!
I am wearing coats that I have not been able to wear in years (with jackets and jumpers underneath!)

eightyTHREEpoint eight this morning!!!!
(and I don’t care about people that don’t like writing in upper case, or insurance companies that think people who use lots of exclamation marks should pay higher premiums)

Frog – I’m currently sitting at my desk with a fan heater on underneath it – I can not get warm at all at the moment – I think my body’s going ‘where did all my insulation go??????’ (what’s the rule for too many question marks?) 🙂

JulesMaigret -yes my palate has changed also. I am into coffee and really appreciate the different flavours. It gives me a sense of indulgence also.

Frog – 83.8 brilliant!!!!!

I wonder if it isn’t that your circulation is worse but since you have lost fat layers you have lost the insulation they gave you in the past. My windproof and waterproof winter coat used to be really tight – now I have to add 2 warm fleece layers under it to keep warm. Thank goodness there is plenty of room to do that now and it still looks nice.

Josie – doesn’t it feel great when you suddenly can do something you haven’t done for 20 years. It is lovely seeing the weight loss on the scales – but even nicer when things do up that never did before.

Last night I had the first mouthful of pure sugar since I started in May. It was completely accidental. I was at a talk by Ian Rankin and they had glasses of wine, fruit juice and what I thought was sparkling water. It was lemonade! What a shock – I took a sip, it was so disgusting. It tasted awful – like poison. Luckily they were able to get me tap water to drink and that took away the horrible taste. Apart from that it was a really enjoyable evening. But it does show how much my tastes have changed.

thanks Krysia

I’m not the only one with the cold thing then! It’s my feet mostly – I ended up sitting on the sofa with a throw on top of me, thick socks, and one of those microwave wheat bags.

Don’t forget – Flu vaccination time! I checked with my GP if I should still have one given that by blood sugar is OK now, and she advised not essential, but probably a good ides.
Admittedly, if I get colds or flu, my first reaction is likely to be that I need chocolate. I did sit there when my feet were cold last night thinking that I would feel a lot better if I had chocolate – I had warmed up by the time I went to bed, but I had a cup of hot chocolate then.

Hi Frog
Have just got in from work feeling tired and the first thought that went through my head was that I needed a piece of dark chocolate. I managed to talk myself out of it as I have already eaten my dark chocolate quota for today and am having a cup of coffee to keep me awake until daughter and family arrive in about half an hour.

I had to smile when I read your post that you felt you needed chocolate last night when you were cold – my reason for wanting to eat it tonight is because I feel sleepy, even though black coffee will be better at keeping me awake. I have a lovely warm throw also and some socks called heat holders that are so warm when I am cold.

I had my flu vaccine last week. I did think that maybe I don’t need it now but the pharmacist advised that it would be sensible to go ahead with it.

I started looking for HeatHolder socks on Amazon – that reminded me that the neoprene socks that I bought for Kayaking, but then replaced with sturdier ones that are more shoe like are incredibly warm. I will dig those out next time it happens.
I also used to have some really nice walking socks with a silky lining that were very cozy – not seen those in ages.

Are your daughter and family with you for the weekend? Have a lovely time

Another half a pound off, still on course for 3 stone off before christmas

Hi Frog
Yes youngest daughter and family are here for the weekend and eldest daughter and family are arriving later today so it will be a house full – but really nice to have everyone here.

Daughter arrived at 10pm yesterday and they had a homemade lasagne as they were starving. Then they wanted something sweet so husband found at the back of a cupboard some lovely biscuits and chocolate that were a present from Spain earlier this year. I made myself 3 Nespresso coffees and it wasn’t too hard to resist the non-BSD stuff. Actually it wasn’t hard at all – probably because I didn’t even have one bite of the sweet stuff. My blood sugars were excellent last night and this morning which made me feel really good.

This morning I had a lovely omelette with cheddar cheese and 3 more Nespressos. Husband has made fruit bread that everyone had several slices each toasted. The smell of toasted fruit bread was divine – but I was ok with that as long as I could have my Nespressos.

Josie 53
Well done on your weight loss and good luck with achieving your goal. Although with the BSD you don’t need good luck.

Hi Krysia
I don’t think I could sustain those levels of caffeine – or resist the smell of freshly baked bread.
Have a lovely weekend with everyone there

Sunshine girl’s words must have been lurking in my mind… I have a new coat, well 2 actually.

I was in Leeds for a meeting and had time to wander shops before I caught the train home. I have a new thick and cosy coat, and a lighter weight but smarter than my current more anorak style coat that was on sale for £10! Ok so that meant getting a larger size than I need but room for fluffy jumpers underneath.

Weight stable despite munchies, maybe the cold making the body work harder. I spend a lot of time on laptop working but under duvet! But then I am a miser on the heating system as only me here.

Well done on the new coat Avila – will it be good for dog walking, or will the less smart one be relegated to that?
You do need room for layers – I have decided that two pairs of socks is the way to keep my feet warm.

Move over cauliflower mash – I have discovered roast cauliflower “steaks” – amazing.
While faffing around making cauliflower mash, to go with some of the pork that I roasted yesterday, I decided I’d try cauliflower steaks as well. Just slices of cauliflower (about 1.5 cm) brushed in garlicy olive oil, and roasted for half an hour or so.
Tons less work, I loved the crunch – wait for it – nicer than roast potatoes. And hardly any washing up.
The cauliflower mash is still in the oven, had better rescue it.

Have had a lovely day with daughters and their families. They are out tonight to meet their cousins who are also up this weekend staying with my sister. We are baby sitting our 4 grandchildren.

I had 1500 calories today but all of it BSD. We had planned that all the food would be BSD friendly but it didn’t work out like that because everyone was looking at the weekend as a treat weekend with lots of non-BSD foods.

I won’t go into all the non-BSD food that has been eaten here today. While everyone else had pizza and garlic bread this evening – as a light snack – I had my fage yoghurt and some Tesco finest roasted nuts with sea salt. Nobody else liked the macadamia nuts. I really love them so ate probably around 40g of them – at a guess. I also had cream in all my coffees so although the calories were high the carbs were under 20. Blood sugars very good this evening.

We were shopping in Tesco and I bought the last BSD book in the store. I lent mine to a friend and thought it was ok because I also have it on my kindle. But I cannot find my kindle. It is in a safe place somewhere in the house but I have absolutely no idea where. Still I do prefer the book because it is easier to find things in than the kindle.

This post was interrupted by a lot of screaming. 5 year old grandson (who was supposed to be asleep) was trampolining on his air bed and fell against a wall unit. He seems ok now so hopefully he really is ok.

I have workmans bright orange glow in the dark rain coat for dog walks in the winter – but doesn’t look very professional.

Ohg dear Krysia – airbed trampoline doesn’t sound as fun as when 5 yr old first thought of it.

No Avila – it definitely wasn’t much fun for him.

I like the idea of your bright orange glow in the dark coat. Much safer than my black coat for night time dog walking. My Labradors are fast asleep this evening. They have had great fun with the grandchildren and are exhausted now.

Your coat with room for fluffy jumpers sounds really nice and will keep you warm now you have lost some insulating layers with the BSD.

Hi
missed the last posts – hi vis for dogwalking sounds very sensible
I found an old aran style (its acrylicy, but creamy with lots of cables) cardigan at the weekend – which always did fit loosely and have room for layers underneath – but now, with layers underneath, wraps round me twice – its huge!
I fitted into size 14 non-stretchy jeans and trousers that I bought in the summer when I tried them on this morning – and two weeks into the 8 weeks before Christmas challenge – 2.4 kilos down.

Frog – it is so lovely when you find that you can fit into clothes that you couldn’t before. The cardi (predictive text keeps trying to insert cardinals) that wraps around you twice shows just how much you have lost.

My daughter’s and their families have now gone home. The house is now blissfully quiet (I feel a little guilty writing this as I did love having the grandchildren to stay).

Daughters were shocked about my weight loss as they have never seen me at this weight before. I asked them to tell me if my size 12 jeans looked too baggy and they thought that size 10 might be better. In May when I started the BSD I never in a million years thought that I would have that conversation with my daughters. I kept to BSD food but a bit too much of it (especially the cream and dark chocolate) so I didn’t weigh myself this morning.

Am also off work as I have lost my voice again. Am really bungled up so am not sure if it is a cold or my autumn allergy to mould.

I shall wear my cardinals with pride!

Well a couple of days off work, and Autumn Cleaning in the house – clearing the build up of work clutter scattered through the house and random bits of paper. It helps to unclutter my mind too and having found the bit of paper that had my starting measurements on I remeasured. Since Aug 1st I have lost an inch around my biceps, 2 inches off my upper thigh and a whole 4 in round my belly.

I know those are wins from some time back but still helps to motivate me back on the wagon, and clearing up means can get at the kitchen better.

Lunch today (no breakfast) was spiralised courgette with bacon, egg and cheese into a form of carbonara. Very yummy and filling, more than the wasted calories of ice cream yesterday. I must repeat after myself – stick with the good food, stick with the good.

Hi Avila
well done on the loss – lunch sounds lovely

Got on scales and was 1 1/2lbs up after the long weekend with family. Am not unhappy with that as I have eaten more in total (especially protein and fat). Kept the carbs ok though with only BSD foods and that has made a huge difference to how I feel now they have gone. Also I didn’t drink enough water. Correction – I didn’t drink ANY water whatsoever which has caused ‘slow transit’ over the last couple of days.

Pre-BSD I would have ate all the high carb sugar goodies while the visitors were here and then when they had gone I would polish of what was remaining. But then my carb cravings would be totally out of control – sometimes for weeks after.

This time – I did eat too much but once they had gone there was no carb craving as I had kept the carb monster safely locked up. It was almost a relief to go back to around 1100 calories. Am pleased that (for me) protein and fat don’t set off any cravings.

I suppose I could look at the week as being on a 4:3 diet. Next time though I will make sure Idrink the water.

sounds like everyone had lovely weekend breaks
I was here, with my PLJ!

A lovely days eating yesterday 980 calories and 20 Carbs. It felt so good not having to eat the larger portions – even though it was BSD friendly.

Part of the reason why I ate more was that I had lost a stone since I last saw my daughters in September and they were a bit stunned when they saw me at the weekend as I have not been this weight since before they were born. When they saw my small plate of food they said they were worried that I might become anorexic. They must know that there is more chance of me becoming the queen.

So I ate more than was comfortable now for me to eat and I did suffer with indigestion in the evenings. Still the more relaxed BSD over the weekend was good because now I feel motivated to lose the last few pounds.

well i have finally reached 3 stone off at last, will keep at it and try for the nest half a stone. Good luck everyone still out there

Three stone is amazing josie53, well done!