Hello January 2017 starters , I hope you’ve all had a Happy Christmas. – I am back on the grid after my sojourn to Washington DC to see my son for Christmas. I have been consciously off plan for the last week or so and have enjoyed the Christmas festivities with him. When he met us at the airport he said “wow mum, you’re tiny”! He has not seen me since earlier this year. I have not dared to go on the scales since my return and am going to gently ease myself back to the BSD way of eating. I do really want to see what the damage is but I feel if i leave things until 2nd January when I restart in earnest it will give me chance to shed a few of the pounds I have put on. Clothes feel ok but I do not feel as healthy as I usually do. An overnight flight hasn’t helped either! I reckon I won’t be able to keep off the scales but then I know if I do jump on, I will be sad when I see my increased weight- I know that I have the tools to deal with it so really it’s arbitrary. Back to basics for me now and aiming to get to 130lbs over the next few weeks.

Just want to wish everyone well for the start of 2018 for the continuation of our journey together. Almost our first BSD anniversary. Mine is on 8th January so ideally I would like to be at 133lb by then! Hope it’s not too difficult going back to basics after my BSD holiday!

Cathy

Thank you for the link Luvtcook it’s amazing and I will definitely be trying some of the recipes.

Topcac so glad you’ve started this. I’ll be here next Tuesday when I weigh in properly. Today is my first day of weighing and logging for ages. I thought I should find out exactly how high my carbs and calories have risen to! I’m maintaining at the moment but I guess although my carbs will be ok my calories won’t. I need to make a plan and I’m not sure after all this time here that I will manage to get straight back to 800/30, my normal weight loss zone, but we’ll see.

Topcac you definitely will not be the only one posting on an 8 week restart thread! It’s only 56 days after all and we have all been here for far longer than that! We will be accountable, not only to ourselves, but to all the other contributors to the thread too …. and there will be many!

SunnyB absolutely not a fraud. Three stone is a good chunk to lose but more importantly you ‘live’ your life, incorporate long holidays and not only have you managed to lose but are maintaining and I still say that is the really hard part.

JGwen so many of have ‘seen the light’. All those years of brainwashing letting us think that ‘low fat’ was the holy grail. Then to add insult to injury those of us with diabetes were almost force fed carbs! It’s such a revelation to find this WOE and now that we have we can all shed the ‘guilt’ and get on with living a truly healthy life.

Esnecca I have heard your story before but you know what I never tire of it. What you have done is truly remarkable. To do it living in a land where super sized portions are the norm ( don’t mean to be rude) is even more remarkable. I know from your attitude that you will never go back to that dark place. Hope 2018 is a year of great maintenance for you.

I am so thankful that I started this thread, which I did really just to make myself accountable, because all the ‘journeys’ here are truly inspiring. In my low moments in the coming year, and there will be some, I’ll revisit this thread for inspiration. Thank you all for contributing. Let’s keep it going!

Welcome CC – I figured I was in need of the back to basics thing, even if no one else was! However, I do know of a couple of others with the same idea. I hope to reboot my system and enjoy the success that I did back in September 2016 when I started. I know it can be done!

Had a week of splurging whilst in Washington DC and I have actually enjoyed taking some time off over Christmas. I have not been ridiculous but have eaten coffee table nibbles, had a pizza and the nicest slice of American apple pie ever! Aeroplane food wasn’t the best but I went with it all. I didn’t really want to start another new year “dieting” but I do feel ready to get back to basics as I am aware that if I don’t keep low carb I will put back on my weight quite quickly. I will keep off the scales until 2nd January and weigh in for the start of this thread and take the hit! Will be nice to get back in the swing of BSD and get some inspiration from you all. Thank you for starting this thread for us Topcac.

On December 31st 2016, I weighed 233 lb. I had lost 80 lb or so from my starting point and was still almost 80 pounds away from being in the overweight BMI range instead of the obese. This morning I weighed 118 lb. When I think about the breadth of changes in my life, body and mind, in just one year, it still knocks the wind out of me. I didn’t know it was possible for me to become this person. I thought I was who I was and I would spend my life struggling with paralysis and depression until it ultimately killed me. Turns out, it was the sugar and carbs destroying my physical and emotional well-being, not some sort of intrisic character flaw or weakness. Who knew?

My goals for 2018 are to continue to maintain with fierce determination. My daily limit will remain less than 20 grams and I will continue to avoid all high-carb foods, be they so-called good or bad. I will stay at or under 120 lb and do one extended fast every two months because they’re awesome and I love them. Improving muscle tone and fitness will be my major focus. I have signed up for a boot camp course at a local fitness club that starts in March, followed by a weight training course. My daily walks have been disabled by the bitter cold which I can no longer tolerate having lost several protective blubber layers. I hate treadmills, so I’m going to take my mom-in-law’s wise advise and look for a facility at one of the local colleges with indoor walking trails open to the public.

I’m so grateful for Dr. Mosley, the BSD and the people on this forum. None of this would have been possible without you. Happy New Year!

Just stumbled onto a GOLD MINE of wonderful veggie sides that Melissa Sevigni did a “round up” lising of….all in one place. Some wonderful looking cauliflower dishes, but great stuff with broccoli, spinach, spaghetti squash, cabbage, etc….all low carb.

I have been using recipes from her site for a while but had never seen this collection. Had to share. Check out her soups as well.

https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/150-best-keto-side-dish-recipes-low-carb/

Essie, isn’t if funny how peoples tastes vary. I have read on numerous occassions that some people taste cilantro differently, and you either love it or hate it. I love the stuff. On the other hand, I don’t seem to be able to taste saffron. All the fuss about it just goes over my head because I just can’t seem to taste the difference when I add it to dishes, so have given up on it (and given the expense, maybe its for the best).

Your duck livers sound intriguing. I have learned to love a lot of vegetables I hated as a child (brussel sprouts, broccoli and asparagus….a full 180 on all those, but the root problem was my mother cooked them all to death back in the day). The one food I have never learned to like is calf’s liver. But I was briefly converted to fried chicken livers in my mid 20s as a gal I worked with frequently ordered them for lunch from the local fried chicken place. She talked me into trying one and I was sold. Then I joyously got pregnant with my son….and the thought of them turned me green. Fried eggs over easy also lost their appeal for a while, but later returned. But I have never had another fried chicken liver in the last 40 some years. However, given the world’s enthusiasm for foie gras, your duck liver discovery might just be the thing that would temp me back to giving livers another shot. I adore duck breast and Peking Duck…..now have to add duck liver to the list. Thanks for sharing such wonderful idea.

Thread will officially start on 2 January but feel free to record your plans and ‘resolutions’ here beforehand.

For those wanting to go back to basics after the Holiday season splurge

I think it’s a great idea to have an 8-week ‘restart’ thread so I will set one up starting 2 January. Even if it’s just me that posts! 🙂

That’s a beautiful thing you’ve made, zolou. I really value organization and outlines and you’ve distilled the book into action points and goals so succinctly. I think it will be of enormous help to you. Do you have a kitchen scale? If not, definitely get one. In order to accurately calculate calories and carb grams, you’re going to need to weigh and measure all of your food as you prepare it. An app can help you with that. Many people on the forum use Fat Secret or MyFitnessPlan to record every ingredient in every meal, plan ahead and keep an eye on the carb/fat/protein count. That way you don’t have to be doing a ton of math every day.

Judging from the precision of your approach above, attention to detail should be no problem for you. Good luck! 🙂

Having been a vegetarian all my life my diet has always been higher on carbs rather than protein. I have always felt like I was battling my weight, and have also had difficult situations such as two different NHS diet specialists over the years accusing me of lying on my food logs because I couldn’t be as fat as I was if I was eating so little. The weight problem became worse about 10 years ago after a period of 6 months of inactivity because of a health problem.

I only came across BSD in late september 2017, and started the diet in October. So far I have lost 19.2kg. (sounds more impressive in lbs, 42.24) It has been so liberating to discover the relationship between carbs and burning fat, and that all the years of dieting and struggling to loose weight wasn’t because I was a failure, but was never going to work because of the level of carbs in the calories eaten. (Thank heaven for the apps which make it easy to log food eaten and its breakdown into carbs, fat and protein as well as counting calories. )

I have another 18.8kg to go to get back to my normal adult weight. Once I hit that target I will reassess depending on my shape what the next target is. The first weight loss has effected all of my body, which means that everything from tops of thighs and tops of arms feels squidgier than it used to and I still have a large spare tyre to loose. So I know I have more than 20kg more to go.

I am really enjoying the additional energy since I made this change, there are lots of projects for my quality of life I have been planning for years but haven’t happened because work and caring for the animals took all my energy. I plan over the coming year to do more things for me starting with renovating my house, and all the cleaning and painting will hopefully help with the weight loss/ body shaping.

Wow! I mean WOW!! There are some really inspirational stories here and I feel almost fraudulent by comparison! I wasn’t struggling with T2 and only had three stone to shift and the road to achieving this has been almost disgracefully slow, but looking back over my records, I’m finishing the year a stone lighter than at the beginning and below my original target weight. For me this is a great result and added to that, I am proving to myself I am able to consistently maintain under target weight, by applying the BSD principles and using a 16:8 eating pattern on most days.

Aside from the weight thing, 2017 has been a good year and we have celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary; seen the five year rift between two of our children resolved and remained in good health. All in all a year to be grateful for and to appreciate – I’ve certainly salted away a good stock of great memories for the years to come.

Thinking ahead to 2018, my goals are as follows:
1) To increase my wriggle room by getting back to strict BSD and pushing down to 8st – at present that will require a loss of 4.8lb. Would like to achieve this by mid-Feb (no pressure).
2) Once down to 8st, to get back to effective maintenance.
3) To effectively maintain during an extended vacation over April, May and June, without my trusty scales to keep me on track.
4) To get a real grip on the whole exercise thing and improve muscle tone and general activity.
5) To end 2018 fitter and no heavier than I end 2017.

I’d be up for a thread to keep us on track as we quest for additional weight loss in early 2018, I’ll be looking out for it. Here’s to a wonderfully successful 2018 for us all.

Hi all.Im relating to all your posts, I have completely left the Bsd planet to visit a carb fest .Eating anything and everything in big amounts. I spent two days lying around reading and snacking. So today I weighed in up 1.5 kg.Im shocked at how much I have gained in a few days. Never mind , I think I needed to relax a bit.now I’m ready to get back to normal. I will probably take a few days to fight carb flu .hopefully I can be ready to weigh in on Monday. Im going to reread MM s book tomorrow.to get motivated.Best Wishes to you all

So pleased the egg/smoked salmon dish went over well, Allie. Like the idea of cream cheese and scallions in the eggs, personally not a huge fan of dill, so would probably not go that way, but it does make you wonder what other herbs or spices could be effectively added. I put a drop of double (heavy) cream in our eggs with a couple of dashes of Chipotle Tabasco, other than that, our breakfast was pretty much as I originally described. I also like to sprinkle mine with a little hot paprika.

Like the idea of having control and perspective as our watch words for 2018. I think that – especially for those of us in maintenance – these are key to our continued BSD way of life. Thank you for the good wishes V, much appreciated. I noticed a new thread from you and I will definitely be taking a look in on there too.

Topcac I think everyone puts on weight when they get married … it’s called contentment! Anyway you’ve written it all down now. Your resolutions are not just in black and white but out there for the world to see! So, the next part is the ‘doing’. There are few of us wanting to get back to a strict 8 week BSD round again. Maybe we need an 8 week thread to keep us focused?

Allie I know only too well from personal experience how you need to thankful for what you have. I was very seriously ill in 2007, had sepsis, lost my hip and, effectively, two years of my life. But you know I am still here to tell the tale so I can’t really ask for more …. well I could, but I won’t! As you say, the minor irritants of everyday life just meld into the background when you have had serious trauma in your life. 2018 WILL be better!

SunnyB, I just couldn’t let your post go by without reporting on how your
Christmas eggs/salmon substitution for salmon./bagels/cream cheese
went over in my house. O/h was a little disgruntled when I told him to
exclude bagels from the last minute grocery list. I added some cream
cheese to the scrambled eggs, as well as fresh dillweed and scallions.
O/h fell in love, and has requested a repeat performance for New Year’s
Day. A new tradition has been born Sunny, thanks to you! When I served
it, I said “this is compliments of SunnyB” Thank you for the suggestion.
It was great!

I have noticed so much talk of ‘control ‘ recently, maybe I’ve just not pick up on it before, but we all do seem to be more in control of our diet. And yes I do think transfers to other aspects of our lives. Control and perspective should maybe our two guiding principles for 2018 and hopefully all good things will follow.

Pleased all is well SunnyB wishing you a healthy and happy New Year too.

No Verano, I’ve not deserted I’m still here, just been reading the posts as they blipped into my inbox, rather than actually posting. Sounds like there have been lots of very positive things happening over Christmas, including some people losing weight! I had a major scare Boxing Day morning with a 1.5lb blip upwards on the scales! Pleased to say that has now disappeared and regardless, at no point was I on or above target weight, keeping a sense of perspective on the whole thing.

It’s amazing how taking control with the BSD also allows us to take control in other areas of our lives too and brings about positive things across the board.

My positives right now are:
1) Have our son and granddaughter visiting, so lots of family time at the moment.
2) Managing to keep hydration up and have discovered Whittards Redbush Chocolate Chai, which is really flavourful.
3) Still maintaining without weighing, calculating and recording.

If I don’t get around to posting again in time, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and only good things in 2018.

Topcac good to see you on here 🙂 I wasn’t going to weigh myself till after New Year but summoned up the courage to do so. I’m joining you and SG in starting a strict 8 week BSD on 2 Jan, aiming to lose 4kg.
Natalie I used to use Calorie king too about 10 years ago but have used MFP since 2011. I’ve only ever used the free version and have been perfectly happy with it, have never felt the need to purchase the premium version. It syncs with my Garmin fit band too.

Hi, LeeLee – You’ve missed nothing of value here, don’t give it another thought.
Dad sounds like a difficult man. I knew that you looked after him, but I didn’t
realize that he lived with you also. I have seen these scenarios with aging
parents before. With his SIL he can still be the provider that he always was.
With you, however, he knows that he is dependent on you for everything,
and I’d assume that that isn’t a comfortable place for him. I don’t know if
this helps you much with day to day finances or living, but if you can,
try to remember his gift to you of his wife’s rings that surely meant a lot
to him. The day to day lack of recognition that you must deal with must
be very frustrating, and my heart has compassion for you. Unfortunately,
the people we love the most and depend upon are often the very same
individuals that we take for granted. It’s a universal truth, unfortunately!
Try to take some “me time”, Lee. It is just as important as the time you give
to patients and Dad. I have enormous respect for you, and sincerely hope
that you catch a break soon! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie

Hi all – some very inspiring stuff on this thread so far and I am in need of that at the moment I’m afraid. 2017 hasn’t finished quite the way I would have wanted it to. I started the year so well weight wise and got down to my lowest weight in living memory on 20th February. Since then the rollercoaster of loss and gain has been in full motion with the gains outweighing the losses in all cases, resulting in a total gain this year of over 18 lbs. I started this plan in September 2016 and initially lost 28lbs so this is not ideal! Now, I will admit, I’m not fat, to see me you wouldn’t think I had to lose weight, and this makes things so hard for me – my friends and colleagues don’t support me, saying the same things like ‘you don’t need to lose weight’ and ‘you were looking far too thin anyway’ and it makes me feel crap because I know that I feel so much better when I’m not carrying around at least an extra stone – I have a tiny frame – TINY!

I have had a wonderful year in other areas of my life and I won’t downplay that in any way – I got married to the woman I’ve loved for 8 years, I had a wonderful honeymoon and several mini moons and finished the year with a lovely Christmas with my family. This has all played its part in the gains and has stopped me being able to get a proper ‘run’ at the losses but I will now look forward to 2018 with a few ‘resolutions’

1. From 2nd January – strict 8 week BSD
2. Increase my walking again – which has fallen by the wayside (I have a couple of colleagues at work who are keen to join me so that should help)
3. Set realistic goals for weight loss – half a stone in a week just isn’t….
4. Register for Parkrun and try to do one per week (5k) – just done this – all I need to do now is turn up!!
5. Stop using special occasions as an excuse to break this wonderful way of eating which suits me so well and makes me feel so good (I’m my own worst enemy – really!)
6. Ignore the naysayers that want me to stay overweight and focus on feeling good and being healthy
7. Getting back in those damned Size 8’s!!

Some of the things that I have learned in 2017 include:

I don’t fast very well – I can do 18-20 hours without too much hassle but I do have to eat 800 calories a day in at least two meals
Exercise makes me ravenous and I need to make sure I have enough food on those days
I’m an emotional eater but it’s stress at work that makes me reach for the bad stuff much worse than anything else
I can’t have stuff in my drawer at work ‘for emergencies’ – if it’s there I eat it
I can’t have anything bad in the house – if it’s there I eat it – the only exception to this is 85-90% dark chocolate
Nothing makes me feel better than feeling thin and wearing the clothes I want to rather than those that fit me.

So – sorry for the rambling – it really does help to write all this stuff down and the resolutions are going up on my wall – I know I can do this – it’s mental as much as anything – my first (realistic) goal is to be 9 stone 10lbs by the end of January. That’s about 6 lbs (haven’t weighed myself for a while but will do that on 2 January).

All the best to everyone else – I hope that 2018 is happy and healthy for you all, stick to the plan, we know it works!

Much love

TC xxx

Hey AngS! Merry Christmas to you to and to everyone on this thread.

You did really well to survive Christmas in such a luxurious setting with those results.

I had my HbA1C results in the week before Christmas – 47 (officially NOT diabetic!!) so was still riding on a high when it came to it. I went to my son’s from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day and that made it much easier – there was lots of food and plenty of drink, but no chocs or biccys or cake – so I enjoyed myself thoroughly and came away leaving all the remaining goodies behind (apart from some pork pie and some cheese).

That seems to have worked well, as this morning’s scales have me back to 8.5 stone.

This is such a game changer for me, I have no intention of ever slipping back.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2018

Thanks for starting this thread – if there was anyone that needed to focus hard and soon it’s ME! I’ve actually not weighed myself since 20 December and I’m not going to until 2 January but in the meantime I am getting back to plan slowly but surely and just going for cutting down on the crap a little bit each day. It’s been really hard but I definitely think I’ve eaten less rubbish than I normally would have done and I think it’s been said before but I’ve completely gone off anything but dark chocolate, anything else is just too sweet.

Regrettably, I know that I weigh at least 14lbs more than I did at this time last year which is a real shame but this has been coming all year, with a wedding, honeymoon, holidays and work stress all adding their few pounds..and then Christmas. I am just going to look forward to 2018 with renewed vigour and will be following S-G’s example of going Strictly 8 weeks from 2 January to kick start the year.

By the end of this challenge I hope to be posting losses and I hope to have found the courage to step on the scales again!!

Thank you, V! I hope 2018 will be a better year, too! One thing that such
an experience provides is that it teaches you to live in a state of perpetual
gratitude, and it’s easy to ignore the minor irritants that are a part of daily
life.

I am pretty happy with my day, 850cal/69g carb. All the carbs (nearly all) were from things like yoghurt and broccoli. It’s going to be a challenge to get them lower. The big temptation overcome today was we had people over in the afternoon and I put out some of the junk leftover from Christmas (still have enough left for New Years though). I sat with my cup of tea and had a little cheese and 8 grapes when I was hungry – and one Lindor Ball. I was very impressed with myself! Cheezles and chocolates and lollies and cheese platter with crackers and fruit all over the table and I barely touched it. I’ve also had 9 cups of water and tea, and did plenty of physical activity. Not perfect, but a good first day back.

Allie I do think I am a slow loser, and also my waist measurement barely changed with a 9.6kg weight loss. Fast or slow, it will go eventually.

I used to use a tracker called Calorie King, then when I got a Fitbit a couple of years ago I used their tracker. For Christmas my husband gave me an Apple Watch so I needed to change to something that synced with it. I tried Fat Secret because quite a few people here use it, loved the photo feature, but it didn’t seem to have a water tracker and today I tried twice to enter a ten-ingredient recipe but it disappeared into the ether each time leaving me very frustrated. So I’ve dumped Fat Secret and started using MyFitnessPal, which works with the watch very well. Does anyone get the premium service, and is it worth it?

Aw, Verano, it doesn’t always have a happy ending does it. But having looked at it from all angles, if you can’t see another way then I think it is better to speak out about the way you feel, which is of course different from deciding one is categorically ‘right’ about something. Though not always comfortable.

If I had gone round the table, I would have had lots of good things to say (this being a positive thoughts thread and all) as they aren’t a bad lot. In fact, I think we all felt this was the best Christmas for ages. I struggle with not having my own family around and being surrounded by my in-laws, but having it at our house sufficiently redresses the balance. It took me a good few years to even realise that was what was happening with me, let alone acknowledge it.

One thing taking control of my diet has done has made me kinder to myself and it’s forced me to make time for looking after myself too. Because if I don’t eat right my pancreas will suffer (or my bowels!) and if I’m ill a whole heap of people will suffer. My daughter says I’m way less grumpy, so I think in addition to less sugar related mood swings I’ve stopped bottling things up and trying to suffocate them through eating. Which is another jolly good thing. 😁

Dumpy, I feel truly sad for you. You aren’t a victim here. I can’t think of
anything less appealing than looking through your posting history. I
have a history of being on this forum supporting everyone on a daily
basis. I don’t have perfect recall, but I don’t remember you having done
the same in the 4+ months that I’ve been an active member of this
community. A half dozen others attempted to offer their insights to
you after reading your posts. They appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Good luck to you on gaining control over your addiction. It isn’t easy
for any of us.
As far as “gunning for you” is concerned, I can assure you that nothing
is farther from my mind. Occasional posters don’t resonate much
with me. There are far too many others who are sincerely and genuinely
trying to get well, and it is my priviledge to share my story and message
of hope with them.

Allie nor had I realised just how difficult this year had been. I’m so pleased that you have both come through such a testing time and can now see the light again. Life sometimes throws curved balls and if you can deal with them it just makes you stronger. Hoping 2018 will be a much brighter and healthier year for you and your family.

Crikey – that absence did not last long – really late for work now – my last day in this job!

One more thing I need to clear up.
– The post that got deleted by another person – it contained the name of an illness which I will not repeat in case this comment gets removed .

Some of you may have guessed I work in the health field – there Alliecat – you were desperate to know! – I only mentioned that illness because I know how easy it is to get carried away with being on a lifestyle change – we may not even know it ourselves. I ONLY WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT ILLNESS – I WAS NOT ACCUSING ANYBODY here OF HAVING IT! Some of the subsequent posts – well what can I say.

Another thing that really needs clearing up – I did say ‘foisting our opinions on others’ – Alliecat took that personally.
I’ll be honest – i’ve said it all along Ill say it again – everybody needs to do this in their own way. It would be wrong for me to tell anyone else – ‘My way is correct – you are not strict enough’. That is all i was trying to say. Some people are strict – some are not – evereybody else ahould let everyone else be !
There I feel a lot better now.

I will NOT be answering any comments – especially the bitchy ones coming my way – thank you – To the ones who care about me – I am fine – I really am – and thanks for caring – right off to work ! Wish I hadn’t looked at this forum while having my coffee now!

Ahh … JackieM that really wasn’t too bad at all. I had visions of you telling ‘everybody’ around the table exactly what you thought of them deep down, but I doubt if that would have made for a Happy Christmas! I do agree with you about not pretending not to be upset when you are. I often let things go but a few months ago I was deeply upset by someone’s actions or lack of them really. So I stood my ground and consequently it seems that it’s ME that was in the wrong!!! You know sometimes you just have to stick with your principles despite the consequences, at least I can sleep at night!

Luvtcook – thank you! You are very generous with your comments – I really appreciate that.

Alliecat – this message is for you and you alone. To anyone else reading this, I can’t apologise enough for this crap continuing!. It has left a really bitter taste in my mouth and I know that nice people reading this will feel the same way. I apologise in advance. Time to set the record straight , then I’m afraid I’m off – to do things that make me happy instead of worrying about who I’m upsetting.

So Alliecat – listen up. I take on board your comments above. I’m afraid you have them completely wrong. I had the the comments removed myself! I know ! Shock , horror! The team did not want to remove them. I know – shock , horror. I have their texts – I can copy and paste if you like. I wanted them removed because firstly I felt my comments had been completely misconstrued and I thought them better gone. Secondly, I had directly made some really beautiful comments to 4 people and they completely ignored them , but thought fit to go and comment on other threads. I’ll be honest – That really upset me – what had I done except say nice things to them. So, I thought – I really can’t be bothered with this – I’m off. I really thought I would go , but then some very nice people saw through my trauma and were very kind. All the while I kept saying, I need to answer this person, because I knew how upset I was when my comments went ignored.

Alliecat – go and relook at the deleted posts (if you can be bothered – I personally can’t be) – one post was removed when It was full of nothing but supportive comments. I know who that person is. The rest say ‘post removed by request’ – they were removed by myself. And by the way, you seem to be gunning for me. I have no idea why – I have said nothing but nice things to you – including congratulating you on your weight loss success. I confess – I am completely baffled

Right , I’m off to work – I will not be making anymore comments. I will ‘lurk’ from time to time to see how my friends are doing. Please know that even if I do not comment I am cheering you all on.

To everyone else on this forum – I wish you nothing but the best – surprisingly Alliecat that includes you! – I’m not going to start 2018 feeling bad or bitter. Happiness beckons me. I’m off to live a life!. Thank you for your attention.

I really do apologise to to everyone , but I had to set the record straight. Please forgive me if I do not respond. You know I care – but… see above!

Dumty definitely no more – hahaha

Hi Verano, I told my in-laws I was cross they left me behind on a walk (I went back to deal with the dog poo and thought they were waiting). I think at Christmas the point is to walk together. They said sorry, and it was all fine. Sometimes, I have decided, it is OK not to pretend people don’t upset you when they have. I think that might have been the kind of thing that led to the biscuit barrel in the past. Though I agree that constant, random saying what I thought could prove wearing for everyone! Xx

Having been woefully absent over the last few weeks, I am pleasingly unaware of difficult posts, so will continue with blissful ignorance and hope that all the army on here are ready to plough on for 2018.

How was it for everyone? Every year, I hope it will be better but it never is! Apparently the beef was a little tough. (Chateubriand which to my mind was absolutely melt in the mouth, which it should be at that price) couldn’t get the fork in the steamed sprouts either apparently) I know my father is an old man but he has no idea the effort that goes into a Christmas dinner and not even a single thank you!

I took him to see my aunt (his sister in law) yesterday and we had to go when he said, so no time for me to eat. He then gave her several hundred pounds (because he always does at Christmas) but nothing to the person who feeds, clothes, drives and houses him throughout the year! I don’t want his money, it’s not about that but a thank you would go a long way!

Ah well, grumble over 🤣. I’m off out for a tapas lunch with a friend today. Taking a taxi and planning on a glass of wine and an Irish coffee. It will be a little Christmas treat to myself before I hitch up the wagon again for 2018. Shopping ordered for Saturday and I must say that I’m looking forward to the structure of this way of eating again. I don’t handle temptation well!! Going to make a big batch of three bean chilli which I have with cauliflower rice and a single babybel cheddar on top. Great for cold lunchtimes and keeps me full…

Anyone got any resolutions?

L xx

Thank you, Marie, for taking the time to read some of my posting history
to get to know me better. I like to do that too, when I come across
someone that I’m interested in or find inspiring. There are plenty on
my list 🙂 You are right of course, it was a truly challenging year, and
I came perilously close to becoming a widow on 2 occasions, and found
myself being summoned to the hospital at all hours because Jim might
not survive the night. It might have been an occasion for stress eating,
but I had been following the plan for about 9 months at the time, and
even though there was a vending machine full of quick fix junk food
available to me in the lounge area where I routinely sat to catch up
on telephone messages, it never even occurred to me to approach it
to check out the options. I’m very grateful to the medical team who
worked so hard for 3+ weeks, and all referred to Jim as the guy with
9 lives. I might have sacrificed one or two of mine in the process,
though 🙂 If it hadn’t been for the BSD, I never would have had the health
or stamina to be all that I expected myself to be during that time. So,
am a passionate about this WOL? You bet!!!! Jim is doing very well at
present, back to teaching full time (Professor). Thank you so much
for your interest and concern, we both appreciate it enormously.
Your achievements are inspirational, Marie, and I look forward to following
you around the forums. Sometimes you’re a hard lady to catch 🙂

Love,

Allie

Allie I think you have put it perfectly! Yes practice does make perfect , well nearly!

JackieM I think you may have been lucky saying ‘what you think’ without backlash unless, of course, all those thoughts were lovely ones!

Yesterday, was a bit of a ‘midweek crisis’ day for me but I can still find some positives……
1. I caught up with all my washing.
2. I had a ‘lazy’ day just doing things because I ‘wanted’ to not because I ‘had’ to or was working to a deadline.
3. Made a lovely chicken stir fry without a rice substitute, like cauliflower. I no longer need ‘rice’ , vegetables alone make a great meal.

SunnyB if you are out there …have you abandoned us???

Natalie, SueBlue and Milalin – It’s wonderful to see you all so focused on
your goals for the coming year! I love the positive thoughts, they are
definitely what will get you there. Natalie, your weight loss goals for
8 weeks are completely achievable, even if you suspect you are a slow
loser. You always have the option of dropping the carbs lower if you
hit an extended plateau. Two months in I had one that lasted 18 days,
but when I dropped my carbs to 20, I broke it and never saw another
stall for the next 8 months that it took me to reach my target. I think
my losses per month were pretty average, 14lbs. It’s curious how our
measurements change, also. Some of us have seen immediate change
with our waist measurement, others find it stubbornly the last to go.
I think that the most important thing to keep in mind is our bodies all
respond differently so it’s never a good thing to define success by
comparing ourselves to others. It WILL HAPPEN if you never give up
though, I promise! Plan, plan, plan, and drink water until you think you
can’t stand anymore, then drink some more 🙂 It will be great to follow
you all from success to success, one mini goal at a time. Very best
wishes to you all!

Allie

Marie what an amazing result! You really have done so well. My goal was similar to yours although I had been diagnosed with T2 for about 5 years before discovering BSD. I do have to agree with you about the ‘health’ goal which really gave me far more impetus than dieting for weight loss alone. Since reaching my goal, in part in May 2017, I have lost some of the ‘neediness’ and have, to all intents and purposes, maintained since then. Now is my time to start again in earnest!

There is no doubt Marie that you will reach your final goal and keep your HbA1c in check. Mine has been ‘normal’ and falling since October 2016. I’m sure if you don’t put weight back and take great care with carbs it’s possible to maintain normal bloods indefinitely. Time will tell.

Natalie that sounds like a plan, 5kg at a time is a great idea. It’s like breaking the 8 week ‘plan’ into two 4 week chunks which feel much easier to deal with. I need to get back to a full 8 to get back into the rhythm of losing mode. Will have a trial run today weighing and logging everything just to see how far over 800 I am at the moment. Then at least I will know what I have to cut down and cut out!

God Kazz, a fedora would be perfection, and probably easier to find! Great
great thought 🙂 Essie is right, it’s only a matter of time until you will be
as crazy as the rest of us. Come on, I know you’re thinking about it…..Ha

Now get to work, E! Turn this little state upside down. I have zero doubt
that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to! 🙂 🙂 🙂

SueBlue you reminded me about measuring and I then checked my waist and have lost 4 cm from there! Mine is a long term large number to lose so I’m loving that I can break it up into 4 week challenges because the total task is so overwhelming. And it’s worked for me even though I’m not counting calories strictly. I imagine as I go along it will become necessary but right now I’m happy with my results. I’m not looking forward to hospital when my extended stays will make it all the more challenging but I’ll take my nut snacks and do my best.
This morning I decided to wear a skirt as it’s so hot. I tried one on I bought about a month ago and it was already too big! Yay! I was scared it might fall off after I wore it so I picked another there to wear that I bought this week at the Boxing Day sales. Now I need to buy a belt!
I’ve just stopped shopping to eat and I’m hoeing into a bun less burger with an egg and bacon, beetroot tomato cucumber. I’ve never liked bbq sauce and I don’t much like the meat patty which the cheese is stuck to. So no problem leaving most of that and enjoying the rest guilt free with an iced long black w little milk jug on the side. Tonight is planned no carb ploughman variation followed by mixed fresh berries plus yoghurt/ cream. My planned indulgence is a mohito made my way with a little sweetener lots of lime n mint and a 1/ 2 shot of Bacardi and soda! This time 2 years ago I drank the real deal all through my 2nd trip to India. That was for a month before I had to stop travelling. It’s my go to holiday drink and I might have a few between now and New Years.

Sounds lovely SSB.

I’ve gone through the book and tried to distil it into some new year’s resolutions for my 8 weeks – this is what I’ve come up with:

Food

Prep: clear out junk food; weigh and measure; take resting pulse
What: the M Plan (p.113; based on meal plans)
Calories: less than 850 a day, averaging 800 a day
Alcohol: abstain
Fluid: 2 – 3 litres calorie-free fluid per day
Meals: no snacks; eat mindfully at table (I’m aiming to get into a regular pattern of eating at about 8am, noon and 4pm)

Exercise

Standing: stand up every 30 minutes
Steps: record in first week, daily average up by 500 each week to average 10,000 steps a day
Strength: exercises 3 times a week. (I’m planning to sub with Yoga with Adriene True challenge and other yoga)
HIT: 3 x 20 second bursts, 3 times a week

Other

Review: review after 2 weeks (see p. 141), 4 weeks (p. 145) and 8 weeks (p. 146)
3 good things: log daily
meditation: unspecified – I will aim for daily
log: complete daily

Planning to start tomorrow so will do a weigh and measure and goal setting then.

Excited!

Hi Natalie, this is a 4 week challenge, and then when it ends we usually start up another one. I’ve found them really helpful as it keeps me accountable.
I can totally understand how you feel. I’ve lost 12.5kg, and 40cm from my bust/waist/hips and on the inside I feel slim and healthy. I saw a group picture with me in it, taken at a work function and I was the biggest person in the photo, and I looked so much bigger than what I thought I did!
I guess though, at the end of the day, I am still obese (going by BMI). I may be at my lowest weight in 5 years, but I still have something like 18kg to lose before I’m safely in the healthy range!
So that’s my goal – to lose 18kg in 2018 🙂
I’m a slow loser so it will most likely take the whole year, but the biggest thing I’ve learnt with BSD is that it DOES work! We just have to be patient.
So in the meantime, don’t lose sight of that slimmer you – keep feeling slim as it’s so much easier to stay on track when you feel good about yourself.
As we often say on here – Keep on keeping on!

😆 I so hummed along to that tune. Laura and Mary running down the wildflower-covered hills… Ah, flashbacks of my tv-soaked childhood. If your boots have about 4,000 buttons you have to tie with a hook that’s kind of cute, though. Retro fashion is always best when it goes Victorian.

Handbags it is. Get your purse on! My vote (surprising no one) is for something bright and daring and happy that makes you strut like you’re in spike heels instead of big ol’ boots.

Speaking of which, Allie, my cheetah shoes actually have slim heels. I think they’re just short of stiletto and about 3.5″ high. I do know what you’re talking about, though, that midway between blocky and spike. I’ve seen so many cool shapes out there. My favorites right now are cone heels, the kind that go from broad and chunky up top to skinny at the tip. I haven’t bought any yet but I will when I find just the right pair.

PS My goal was for 8 weeks, I’m not quite sure if this thread is a 4 week challenge or going to be a 1 week interim challenge then a new one posted.

Thanks everyone, and I was going to say good luck but of course luck doesn’t really have anything to do with it. We can do this! So many inspiring success stories on this site.

I didn’t set a goal in my last post. I’m not sure if I should set a weight loss goal as that is the part I don’t have full control over. I only have control of my behaviours. But I have another 18.6 kg to lose to get to the top of my healthy weight (58) and that is my eventual target. For this 8 weeks, 6.6 kg would get me down to 70 kg and make me very happy. Or 69kg which is what I weighed when I got married 15 years ago! Is 7.6kg achievable in 8 weeks?

The things I can control: 800 calories, 50 g carbs. At least 8 cups of water (my tracker says 11 for my weight). 30 mins vigorous exercise a day. This morning I’ve already spent an hour and a half gardening – not the polite ladylike kind, the sweaty filthy exhausting kind! I had a healthy breakfast and I’ve got a frittata in the oven cooking for lunch soon. A good start.

Hi Natalie, I with you. I saw a photo of myself taken on Christmas Day. Let’s just say ‘confronting’ and in the evening my sister took a couple of fun videos that I won’t be sharing with anyone else. Yep reality check. Good luck with this challenge!