Sounds wonderful seeing the Vienna Philharmonic S-G we always watch the New Years Day concert on tv & used to have a season of the Royal Philharmonic in a nearby theatre that has been cancelled since covid with only one yearly concert now & a few quartets. We have booked another Viking Douro cruise next September for ten days with two spent in Lisbon & had some discounts booking whilst onboard which we can now look forward to. However I have now got to get back to losing lots of weight in the next few weeks 🤞🤞
I am continuing to wade through our pile of holiday washing & am already missing the view of the river from the ship & the attentive service from the staff. It’s so easy to get used to being spoilt 😂
Margaret xx

Hi Spike64 are you saying you dont get up to 800 and 50g or are you saying you cant keep to that level as it is too low. As for protien powder I use Purition but it is a meal replacement rather than a protein booster. You do know that going keto on this diet you can get as much protein as you need and it keeps your carbs down.

Hi Margaret, glad you enjoyed France yes it has been hot but cooled down to 28 today. It was me who said I didnt want to keep going with the monthly thread. Verano, thinks we should just let this one keep running as it doesnt imply any start or end date. I agree with her and hope more people dip in.

Verano, lets keep this one going and see how it goes.

I had a mad idea yesterday and being impatient put it into action. We are going to drive to Vienna to see a concert by the Vienna Philamonic. 2 overnights to get there, 2 full days there and 2 overnights home. Booked. We have found a housesitter so now just have to look at some hotels en route in France and Germany and a base in Vienna. It will give me something to do and look forward to in the coming months.

Had 30 mins in the pool this morning.

Nearly at the end of June, and I have completed the two 60 miles in June challenges I set for myself, so feeling quite proud. Dementia UK has just been completed yesterday, the donations for that one are understandably a bit lower as many are donating to the other one as a tribute to Ed, and the Pancreatic Cancer challenge donation total is nearly at my target of £220 to get a medal too, although the Facebook fundraiser went faulty a couple of days ago so I now have a JustGiving page in the team page as well 🚶‍♀️🚶I believe the collection window doesn’t close until the end of July now so plenty of time to get the last £4 in! Weight wise I had a ‘pre-birthday’ party yesterday so had a slight rise, but am about another 2 pounds down for the week. I will be trying to keep it up for most of the rest of the year, but will have some intermittent fasting weeks and maybe some ‘eat what you like’ weekends to try to keep my body guessing. Feeling a lot fitter after all that daily walking so will try to keep that habit going forwards.

Hello & we returned after our cruise yesterday & I have just weighed & gained 4.75 lbs. It is much cooler here & now we have to get back to more restrained eating 😀. I ate breakfast each day with fruit, an omelette & on the last two days French toast with berries which was delicious & then of course lunch & dinner each day with wine & most days also wine tastings. All this of course meant many more carbs than usual but my husband only gained two pounds!. We walked as much as the weather permitted & one day I walked 10000 steps a record day for me. Our cabin was at the far end of a corridor so lots of steps going to the restaurant but I did use the lift not the stairs to the lounge except a couple of times climbing outside stairs to the open top deck but nearly every day it was too hot up there even in the evening. The most memorable days for me were a wine tasting at a family estate & chateau with the owner who then sat at our table for the included lunch à la famille for lunch. He had told us all about the family history during Bonaparte & then both world wars with the estate confiscations & recovery etc. After we left we were told he is a Baron & he was an amazing sprightly 88 years old with excellent English & very welcoming. The other day was when all the guests were taken to another chateau where we were treated to a four course dinner with accompanying wines for each course.
Thank you S-G for your recommendations in Bordeaux & unfortunately when we returned there last Friday the trams & buses were cancelled because of the heat & it was too far to walk but we did go to a smaller wine museum based in a former wine traders home & cellars that was very interesting & included another wine tasting 😂. We also visited three Bastide towns on the river but I did opt out partly through one & returned to the ship because of the steep climb needed to get up into the town bastions. Overall it was a lovely trip & throughout we had dinner with two other English couples we had met who also flew from Gatwick but the majority nationalities on board were American with English the overall language spoken by staff.
Regarding the continuation of this thread I understand the hesitation in continuing with so few of us but I still enjoy posting but will understand if you don’t want to continue Verano🤔
I hope you are all keeping well despite the recent heat wave 🤞
Margaret xx

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There are cupcake recipes in the Sweet Treats Book and some cake recipes in the backs of the other books, i.e. Fast 800 Easy and Fast 800 red top but that’s not the reason for the BSD book – that’s to get your blood sugars down.

It worked for me but now I do try some of the cakes and have made the blueberry and ginger muffins that are in the Sweet Treats book. However, the cake recipes that I have tried take far, far longer to cook that the recipes say, i.e. the orange almond cake and the spiced apple teacake so take some of the timings with a pinch of salt if you try them.

Hello
Starting the 8 week tomorrow. looking at the recipes in the book and struggling to get to the 800cals and 50g carbs because I only eat twice a day also I will be going to the gym so protein is also looking very low can anybody recommend a protein powder good enough to use to boost to recommended level
Many thanks

Hi s-g I think I missed a post where you mention ‘threads’. I agree that a thread running for just 4 people is maybe not be worth it which is why I set up this thread rather than another monthly thread as I thought it would just ‘run’ and die a natural death as and when???

I guess now is the time for people to speak up. There are really only three or four ‘active’ threads on this site now and I think it’s amazing that the website has stayed open given the new website with the paid for facilities. I for one am thankful that this site remains ‘live’ but for how long?

Hi Verano, I say that because we are the only ones posting, besides occasionally Newbie and Wendy1947 who is currently on holiday. Is it really worth running a thread just for 4 people.

I am happy to set up the thread for July (going back to the month at a time) but unless it picks up it will be the last one for me. Any thoughts and anyone else want to comment.

We had a massive storm here, just what we needed and today it is a lovely cool 30 degrees. Yes cool. After 44.6 anything is cool.

I have a job to do today. I have about 5 years of Slimming World magazine. Tried giving them away and will take some to my hairdresser. Doctors surgery no longer allows them for germ prevention. So I am sorting them into years and months and going to go right back and read the correct month for the time of year (so recipes will be the right season) and when read they are going in the recycling. I have cancelled my subscription and the last one ends with July/August. What an exciting life I have.

Keep cool and keep on keeping on…

Hi s-g I don’t think there’s anyway I could start my day with ‘frogspawn’!

I don’t eat brunch until about 11/11.30ish. I’m impressed with your low carb foods and I do agree that ‘fooling’ the body with higher carbs here and there definitely works. I’m sure, although I have no proof apart from myself, that throwing in a few goodish carbs here and there actually does shake the body up. I’m sure if you keep to the same ‘routine’ day after day the body almost ‘switches off’. New food type, woweee says the body, let’s get merry!

I think we are all so different and we just have to work out what works best for ourselves to stay healthy and well.

Verano, chia seeds end up like tapioca (school dinner frogspawn 🙂 ) and is gloopy. If it is glue like maybe a little more water although I didnt measure, just 2 of chia 2 of blueberries and 1 of cinnamon and topped up a jam jar. And, no it doesnt taste of anything really, although you can put in some stevia – I have liquid stevia to mix in the puddings I hardly ever make.

You asked on the Positives thread how I stayed sub 20g carbs. Every day I start with the tablespoon of frogspawn) Diet for that day was all keto – 2 boiled eggs, homemade bone broth (I cant buy it in France) for dinner I grilled steak and had it with a salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – came in at 720 cals and 12g carbs. Next day I had 2 boiled eggs and a lunch of grilled bacon and hallumi salad, again with olive oil and balsamic as a dressing. Dinner was 2 chicken thighs with skin on roasted with garlic and lemon and a plain salad (obviously olive oil and balsamic dressing). Cutting the salad cream or mayo saves about 5g carbs. Being mainly keto helps keep the carbs down – only taken 10 years to trust the process. Then yesterday I tried the high carb to trick my body but my carbs came from a peach (15g carbs) and yoghurt (8g carbs) although I did have a few chips with my dinner (28g carbs). I guess the trick worked as I have lost another half a kilo this morning.

It is experimental right now and I will report how it goes. I didnt have to chia mix this morning as I couldnt swim yesterday for fear of an upset stomach so I gave it a miss today and had a swim. It does keep you regular but I understand your body gets used to it and settles down.

Cooler today – 36 degrees but the air feels heavy – we need a good storm to clear it. Take care everyone.

Thank you for the tip s-g a great idea. The plants I ordered have arrived today so hope to plant them out over the weekend… positive no: 1

Out for lunch today and had a very restrained sea bass with a veloute and samphire. Passed on the potatoes,

I’m really pleased with myself this week for finally getting back to low carb eating. S-g very impressed with your less than 20 carbs a day…. secret please?

You know I only tried chia seeds once and they were like glue. Was I doing something wrong? Soaking overnight sounds good or does it just expand the chia into even more ‘glue’?

DCT my appointment was good. All bloods fine but HbA1c at 42 so not great. Weight: well that’s another story! All in all good but I know what I need to do!

Hope everyone is coping with the warm weather. Tonight we have a breeze!!!

Last post reported

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Just looked back on the last 3 days of food (since my GLP-1 chia seed hack) and I have been keeping to sub 20g carbs. Never done that before.

Hi there, great you have completed Sunny-B. Things take so long in Europe (or even Asia). Our house has been on the market for about 1 year but that is nothing and we are trying to take things as they come but daughter is very impatient. We think it could be another couple of years but we are holding fast.

Verano, shame about the tree. The house we are moving to in UK has 4 large trees and daughter says they take all the light out of the garden. Anyway, jasmine. Little tip, buy 2 – a spring/summer flowering and a winter flowering, you will have sweet smelling jasmine for most of the year.

Positives – lost the monthly 1kg I pledged to – so 2kgs since mid April start. I am pleased with that as it will be 8/9 kgs by Christmas and not much effort.

Cant think of anything else except we are both keeping well and after my exercise test on a bicycle the cardiologist said my heart is strong than it was 2 years ago. I put that down to healthly living, strength training and this diet.

You are doing so well, keep up the momentum. I have been on this diet for 10 years and it had kept my diabetes in check even to the point of reducing some meds – just cant seem to get off the insulin but I keep trying. My weight came down by 24 lbs but slowly crept up after a cruise and a Christmas and now dithers around a 16 lb overall loss but I still keep going. I still want to lose 10 kgs.

Hi Verano, thanks for the heads up, I have the picture chart of carbs from Dietdoctor in a file somewhere. Might take another look before it comes down.

Like you I have realised that one thing effects the other, in my case my weight is not massive (although easily 2st over) but worry more about BG. We have to work to get both down.

I have been trying some interesting ‘solutions’ for women of a certain age. One, stop doing aerobics, swap for strength training, just 20 mins 3 times a week – and it doesnt have to be heavy weights. My weights are 1.5kgs but a couple of cans of beans will do. Second, do hiit 3 times a week which helps with fat burning and continues up to a few days after doing the exercise. The other tip is to fool your body by giving it ‘clean carbs’ (pasta, rice, potatoes) every few days so it doesnt think it is being starved. I for one will not do that trick due to my BG but it is worth knowing as when I have had a bad day or two getting back on the diet I can lose fairly quickly.

Do you keep seeing solutions on reels or tik tok saying you can lose weight by mixing vinegar, ginger and cinnamon – even Ophra Winfrey has used it and lost 100 lbs in 10 weeks (yeah like heck) then you come to the end of the presentation and it something you have to buy because it has to be exact and pure ingredients. I am not a dietician or doctor so I can only report on what works for me and I have found a hack that seems to be working. Mix in a jam jar or any container 2 tbls chia seeds, 2 tbls blueberries (I use frozen) and one tbls cinnamon, mix with water to top of jar and leave overnight in fridge. Now eat one large tablespoonful in the morning before any other food and leave for a while before eating – just half an hour. It expands even more in your stomach and creates a plug to your intestine causing food passage to slow down. Doing this for the last couple of days and I cant believe I have lost hunger and desire to eat. Yesterday I had 2 boiled eggs then a bowl of homemade bone broth for lunch and didnt want anything else all day. I had to force myself – due to my diabetes – to eat something in the evening as my BG was getting low. This is what all those miracle tablets do but cost a fortune and you dont know what is in them. It is also like Ozempic in that it increased GLP-1. Only drawback so far is toilet needs – chia seeds do make me go.

If you are still reading, I have lost some weight and now under that pesky 75kgs. I can report that my pledge to lose 1kg a month has been met for May/June although 3 days late. So 2kgs down and looking forward to losing my slow 1kg for June/July.

Stay safe in this heat, it is getting me down now and even though we have dropped under 40 degrees it seems to be muggier. Hey ho and we still have summer to come.

So, went and weighed myself this morning as I near the end of week four and I am now 82 kg, so I’ve lost 10 kilos! That’s down from 14 stone 6 to 13 stone!

VERANO thanks for letting us know. I don’t use those sites myself but have heard them mentioned before on here, so thanks for the heads up. And thanks for your encouragement earlier in the week too xx. How did your appointment go this week?

MIXnMATCH how are you getting on with your walking? Not easy in this weather. Good luck with the rest of your fundraiser.

No loss to report from me this week I’m afraid. My eating has been pretty much on plan, but the hot weather has resulted in me being out in the garden with a cold glass of wine or two just that bit too often I’m afraid. I justify this to myself along the lines that it is extraordinary heat and won’t last long, and as I’m not going away anywhere this summer I’ll treat it like a holiday. Queen of excuses as always 🙀. But I’ll get back on track next week.

On a positive note, I’ve been to the gym every day and have been trying out new things including more work with weights. I think I’m beginning to look more toned, especially my arms, and I do feel firmer and stronger. Just waiting for the scales to catch up 😂. I’m not good at taking measurements – I\m sure I measure a different part each time – but I noticed some shorts that wouldn’t button up a few weeks ago now do. So there’s hope for me yet . . . .

Hope everyone else is ok, and that you all have a good weekend.

Just to let you know Diet doctor and HAVA are going into bankruptcy. There are some really good charts on diet doctor so I suggest copying them sooner rather than later.

Just to let you know Diet doctor an HAVA are going into bankruptcy. There are some really good charts on diet doctor so I suggest copying them sooner rather than later.

Thanks s-g for reporting Mistant. Why do they bother!!!

So I saw my nurse today and apart from my raised HbA1c, which she realised was due to my overindulgent holiday, everything else was good, apart from my weight! When I look back I’ve gradually ‘expanded’ over the last few years. I think I’ve fallen into the trap that because my HbA1c is stable my weight isn’t an issue … it obviously is!

Yes I know what to do so will just settle down and do it just in case my weight really is affecting my blood sugars! Better to be safe than sorry!

Hope you’re all coping with the heat. My remedy is to stay inside, curtains closed, a few windows open and a fan! Working so far!

I dont know who you are Mistant but what gives you the right to come onto a diet site and talk about airlines. You have just put me off EasyJ for life. It has been reported.

Still very hot here, hit 44.3 degrees yesterday and had a bad night. I dont know if it is the heat bomb we we have lost most of our TV stations. We dont subscribe so have freeview channels like BBC, ITV, channels 4 and 5. Totally scrambled.

Had a nice swim this morning before it got too hot but it was still 38 degrees, then cooling in the shower and sitting in my bureau with a fan on my face.

Stay safe everyone.

High SunnyB, we had 44.3 here in SW France yesterday, forecast for 43 today but might get hotter, so my positives are –

had 30 mins in the pool early but it was still 36 degrees outside – followed by a cold shower.
lucky to be retired and dont have to do anything we dont want to – staying in the house with all the windows and shutters closed.
looking forward to it cooling down tomorrow – top temp should be around 38 degrees.

Seems that at present the temps across Europe are higher than here in Turkiye …. stay safe and well hydrated people.

My positives are ….
🌴🌴 a lovely day of retail therapy with a close friend
🌴🌴 caught up with old friends at the weekend
🌴🌴 new fly screens fitted this morning and a new fan purchased for our bedroom.

We only have a few days left before we begin out road trip home to the UK … bitter/sweet that our stay here is almost done.

As this is top of the page again I feel bad not adding to it!

🌤️🌤️🌤️ Yes it’s hot hot hot here but also cloudy on and off so really quite oppressive. I haven’t been out for three days!

🥬🍅🍓Tonight I was going to b-b-q but just too warm so I have a spatchcock Korean chicken in the oven which will be lovely with salad.

🌲🌳🌲 My neighbour cut down a huge conifer type tree in the autumn and we now have this huge empty space between her and us and a great loss of privacy. So I’ve just ordered some fast growing jasmine to plant. Unfortunately, we have no soil on our side of the fence so we are experimenting with planters. Fingers crossed the jasmine will thrive?

Hope you have some positives. If you can share them that would be a bonus.

I think 42-48 is pre-diabetic but you know they keep changing the goal posts and sometimes you wonder if the figures are just arbitrary. Ever since I have been having blood tests my overall cholesterol has always been 5.2. Slightly over the then ‘standard’ but then they lowered the goal posts years ago to 4.6 I think, and wanted me to go on statins. I resisted. Over the last ? 50 years I have stayed with my number there or thereabouts. My breakdown is good and my ratio is great so I have no problem even if the medics don’t like it. More pills more money???

I think you are so right. Had we not found this way of eating I’m sure our health wouldn’t be as good as it is. I despair every time I hear of yet another person with ‘foot problems’ because they don’t control their diabetes. When you think about it it’s not that difficult to give up doughnuts to save a toe! Guess it’s a bit of ‘head in the sand’ together with ‘it won’t happen to me’ mentality. As you say we just have to keep on keeping on ……..

Not too many positives as we are confined to the house. Here goes –

pool in the garden if I can be ar-ed to swim – it is a bit too hot.
daughter booked to come and see us in September – just her, no-one else wants to come – just too grown up and have their own lives.
Saying that is a positive as they are all well and life if good for them – 20 yr old has a steady job and in final year of apprenticeship, 18 yr old off to Thailand with his Thai friends for a last fling before uni. Received his trust fund and put it all in an ISA – sensible boy – letting us pay for the holiday 🙂

Hi Verano, your numbers are a bit like mine after a holiday, my HbA1c was 7.2 which is the highest it has been for years. Dont worry too much, just stick to the low carb and it will come back down. Emphasise to your diabetic person that you have had an extended holiday and know you have had things you dont normally eat but will be a good girl for the next 3 months and get it down 🙂 Although I thought 43 was still in the pre-diabetic range. Dont understand the conversion chart.

I know where I would be, more meds, ill health, problems with eyes, kidneys, heart etc – whereas right now my body is as good as it was 10 years ago, not even worse due to just age. Heart stronger which I put down to strength training. My only problem is asthma and going up hills or stairs – I am okay on the flat and can swim with no problems. Keep on keeping on…

Yes warm here too s-g. We complain when it rains, we complain when it’s cold and now we complain about the heat!

Anyway, my blood test results are back and I’ll be seeing the nurse tomorrow. All my markers are down, even my cholesterol for which she wanted to give me statins last year. My HbA1c is a slightly different story though… up to 42! It hasn’t been that high for over 10 years although in 2021 it did reach 41. So, I’m not too disappointed as we were away for nearly 5 weeks over April/May and I expected a high figure. Nonetheless it did make me stop and think. If I hadn’t found this way of eating 10 years ago I would now be taking insulin and goodness knows what else. I’m pretty proud that I’ve managed to control my blood sugars for so long but do realise that I need to cut down on the carbs again to get back into the 30’s. It’s amazing how ‘carb creep’ occurs so silently and T2 is always so close, just hiding around the corner.

So “how am I doing.”, pretty well I think and hope you are too.

Dropped a few 100g and it is hard to eat in this weather. Didnt get in the pool this morning at upset stomach and it will be too hot later today. Yes it can be too hot to go swimming – we have no shade so the sun is pounding down. Will try again tomorrow morning or if it is football on tv tonight I might get in around 10pm.

Thats great – keep going

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Thanks M&M the link worked. Well done to your sister and just keep on keeping on ………!

DCT you sound so close to your goal that you obviously just need to keep doing what you’re doing. At the end of the day a couple of pounds above your ‘ideal figure’ aren’t really the end of the world!

So I’m just a couple of days away from my results but today, Monday, the start of a new week, has also been the start of my reset. Just day one so not saying anything yet but hopefully this is my ‘real’ restart!

Ah, thank you Sunshine Girl! And impeccable timing as I weighed myself today – I’ve lost just over a stone so far!
I started at 14 st 6 on 1st June. A week later I’d lost 8lbs but I know this would have mainly been water weight. I have been very strict on a 16 hour fasting window and no slips at all. What’s helped is that I have been moving home and have been so busy and incredibly active decorating and moving etc.
This morning I went to the gym, on the first day of week 4 and I am now 13st 5lbs.
I need to be a max of 11st so there’s a way to go but it’s really been plain sailing so far and I have barely missed alcohol.
Oddly I haven’t noticed that much go off my stomach measurement yet but I’m definitely headed in the right direction…

Thank you Dreamscometrue, my sister is going to be the first of us to pass the 60 mile ‘target’ although she will keep going to support me. Another pound down today, to my second lowest weight this year. The first was after a water fast that was for health rather than weight loss. Just two pounds to go to my first (numbers) mini-goal, hopefully will do that this week. My birthday is only a week away and I will be having a few days off plan, but hopefully keeping low carb. Then I have a week away at the beginning of July so may do intermittent fasting then until I am back home to start again properly.

Diet not moving but it is so hot I am tempted by ice cream and lollies. Although I am on salads and cant be bothered to cook. 41 today and 43 tomorrow.

Did 35 mins in the pool before it got too hot

I am reposting due to some nasty person putting a betting add on our post. I hope Admin will remove it and allow me to copy and past this post.

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Morning all. MIXNMATCH that link worked for me. All the best with your fundraising 👏. Also well done with your loss this week.

The BMI issue is interesting isn’t it. At my lowest weight of 135lb in 2019 my BMI was around 22.5. To get to the lower end of healthy weight – a BMI of 18.5 I would have had to go down to 108lb in weight which is never going to happen (and doesn’t sound healthy to me!).

VERANO good luck with your appointment this week, and I hope the test results are better than you fear. And I agree about not wanting to have this diet mentality forever. But I do want to lose weight as there is distinct flab – particularly belly fat – which is not good in terms of either health or clothes fitting. When I started the BSD in 2017 I set myself a long term target of 133lb, but that figure is actually fairly random. So my current aim is to get back to a settled weight of 138/139lb which I managed to maintain for a significant period of time a few years back. I’ll be happy with that, particularly as I’m exercising more now so that should help to tone things up. I have about 12lb to go . . . will report back at the end of the week!

Hope that you all have a good week, whatever that means for you X

Hope that everyone

Hi Verano, The link it gives me for the team JustGiving page is;
https://www.justgiving.com/team/mred?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL so I hope this works. Hilary is my mum, and Sandra is my sister. A donation to either goes to the same team. If you are on Facebook, my own fundraising page is actually under my husband’s name as I am using his account as a tribute. Ed Needham.
I am currently well above 31 BMI, but after my previous weight loss experience I treat BMI based healthy weights with a good dose of scepticism. I was skinny enough to see all of my ribs and just dipped under 25 in 2017.

S-g I admire you! No way would it ever enter my head to have a weight chart in ‘clear view’!
I do fill in a weight journal everyday but then I close the book and put it away until tomorrow!

Mixnmatch you sound like you are doing really well. I love you’re idea of a ‘feeling’ and I think that’s a big part of my isssue my ‘feeling’ isn’t one of health and vitality! But yes multiple goals are good and nsv’s even better! Please do post the link if you can. I just checked ‘Ed’s Team’ but I’m sure your page didn’t show.

Julia….hello! how are you! good to hear from you again.

BMI over 31? Truly obese? Well I can say yes to both!!!
To be honest I am ‘an older person’ , well very much older than I was when I started here 10 years ago. I’ve also got more , way more, than enough of that ‘extra’ fat ‘just in case’.
I have to agree that a ‘constant dieting mindset’ isn’t healthy but you know I’ve probably had that mindset for 60 years so very difficult to break. When you grew up when Twiggy’ who was a model and an ‘idol’ it’s hard not to think that ‘stick thin’ looks great!
I eat well 90% of the time with mainly home cooked meals, lots of vegetables. In fact I was never a lover of vegetables until I started BSD and now I am positively upset if there are no green vegetables on my plate when we eat out! I enjoy my glass(es) of red wine. I feel ok. I wake in the morning refreshed and I don’t ‘flag’ during the day.
I have mobility issues which I’ve had for over 19 years since I had sepsis and virtually lost the use of one leg so exercise isn’t easy.
However, I know if I weighed less, exercise would be easier and I would probably feel better for it.

Sorry if this all sounds so self-pitying. I had some blood tests this week and am seeing the practice nurse on Wednesday so I guess that will be the moment of reckoning! Just hoping my HbA1c is not through the roof!

Hi Verano, I am a multiple goal setter, but only track them casually. Once I have determined to eat this way (a choice for me as I was not diabetic at any point) my willpower doesn’t seem to be an issue, and I use weight loss (weekly, monthly and overall) and non scale victories like fitting in a favourite pair of trousers again that had become too tight. My overall goal is not a set weight though, more a feeling. Do I feel healthy, do I feel fit, can I maintain this in the long term now I am getting back to my old active self?

On that note, the numbers are 3.5 pounds in the last week. Not bad as there was some off plan eating last weekend although in pretty strict moderation. (1 slice of pizza, about a dozen fries and a small handful of brown rice in an otherwise compatible salad while out all weekend, nothing sweet). I am two thirds of the way through my fundraising month now, and am rapidly approaching 100 miles walked which is a good feeling (although my feet might disagree). Can someone help me with how to embed a link or picture into the forum or my profile? I know several of you asked how you could donate and I haven’t yet worked out how to do that. My mum and sister joined in to support me and it may be easier to donate to their just giving page for ‘Ed’s Team’ so I can try to find a link for that.

Hi Verano, Sunshinegirl and Clarinet Cathy,
Hello, hello from California and good to hear you are all well! We are no longer living in England, but back in California — however, I have learned so much about the British mindset in living there for six years so I feel like a long-lost British cousin or extended family or something like that!
Verano, you are so sweet, and you are absolutely on target when you say “life is for living”. So why do you want to establish “new goals”? The ONLY goal that is relevant is to eat as well as possible every single day (we KNOW what that means), taking into account life events, and just “keep on keeping on” as Sunshinegirl often says.
There really is nothing else and the constant “dieting” mindset cannot be healthy!! We are not dieting, we are living and eating properly. As you all have said so many times, this is a way of life — we eat right as much as possible, have a holiday or family celebration and then we just go back to eating “right”.
The number on the scale is not super important, unless you are truly obese, above 31 BMI — then it makes sense to bring it down a bit but it doesn’t have to reach perfection, there is no evidence that a low BMI is good for longevity (actually it is the opposite) and at our age (I just turned 70) longevity is probably a LOT more important than a number on the scale.
And actually, the research supports a bit of fat on older people as it protects them and is useful in the event of a bone break or an illness.
Why do we need new goals? It is all just tiring and life is for living. Don’t stress about new goals! You know what to do — all of us who have done this for a decade know how to eat.
Best wishes, Julia

Verano, I have a weight chart on my fridge door, fill it in everytime I get weighed. Also log on MyFitnessPal weekly but record exercise as I do it.

Slight correction. Started diet on 20th April so 20th June is 2 months and I have lost just under the 1kg per month. Not bad as I am nearly there. Just another 400g to goal.

Hi Margaret, I am sure it will be fluid retention in the hot weather – our bodies like to maintain its hydration. Funnily enough drinking more can help flush it out.

I am stuck at 75.2 for the last 3 days but to be honest there have been cooling treats. Yesterday I had an almond chocolate Magnum. It is so hot who cares and I can hardly be bothered to eat. Still trying to stick with it and hoping to be under 75 by Monday. I am still within my 1kg a month goal. Had a swim this morning while it was still relatively cool. That will be my aim now – get up, have breakfast, go for a swim.

Stay safe.