Hi Verano,
I too love broccoli and cauliflower soups with a good stilton. Where would we be without cheese!
xx

Pancita I love cheese but have to say your cheese sounds like one step too far for me! I have just made some broccoli and Stilton soup but the Stilton, although very mature, wasn’t really sharp enough so I had to add double the normal amount. Nonetheless it has made a really ‘creamy’ almost decadent soup for just 170 calories and 8g carbs per portion. So that’s my lunch sorted and definitely a ‘treat’.

Hi Sunny, and thank you so much for asking and, indeed, for thinking of me.

Things are improving, but only slowly, it will be a long haul. But at least I am back home and the 3 hours of daily walking along my beloved coastal path is certainly helping me to de-stress. And o/h gets home today after a week abroad, so that’s something to look forward to.

Also, on the plus side, I have managed to regain the 4lbs I dropped almost overnight when all this trauma began and now seem to be maintaining nicely, within a pound or two. Well done on maintaining your wriggle room for the festive season, I have plenty for Christmas too although I am not actually anticipating putting much on – the thought of all that sweet, stodgy food just doesn’t do it for me any more. My one indulgence will be freshly squeezed orange juice for my Christmas morning Bucks Fizz. And, not having had an orange in 2017 at all, am fully prepared for the fact that it may taste too sweet, and then it will be a lovely glass of dry champagne only.

Now I just have to get prepared for Christmas – family coming and not even started yet! Though I have at least finished my present shopping, which is a huge plus!

How are all our other maintainers doing?

Haha, Essie, and yes, indeed I have. I am getting far more daring and self-confident as I get used to this great new body. In fact yesterday I was going to wear a completely different dress (new in August when I was totally happy with the way it looked) but when I put it on, I thought to myself “mmm, too long!”😜 so I changed and as and when I have a few minutes the needle and thread will be coming out to take it up a good few inches!

I am also fortunate that my “décolletage” seems to have escaped wrinkles and I do still have boobs – not as big as they were, but plenty big enough to show off with low cut necklines. So that will definitely be happening too – I am amazed at how my self-confidence is growing, and the compliments can only help this.

Loving the idea of us being tights triplets, so go for it, Allie.

For completeness I should record a loss of 300g this week – not much, but still another pack of butter gone! Best wishes to you all for a lovely healthy Christmas.

[post removed by request]

[post removed by request]

After some recent discussion about treats for Christmas, maybe it would be good to share our M-plan, low carb favourites.
I’ll start with…
Epoisses. Possibly the smelliest cheese known to man. I have to keep my supply in the cold frame in the garden. But it’s wonderful. Melting. Just ready to dip some strong leaves (romaine, cos) or celery sticks into its putrid heart. Dee-lish. Try it!
I’d love to hear about your new favourite treats.
Happy Christmas xx

Hi Emu – good luck to your OH with the blood test – enjoy your meal!

Liz what an uplifting post! I am also a jigsaw geek they certainly stop me snacking! Have you tried the Ravensburger ‘ What if?’ series? The puzzle doesn’t match the picture , even more frustrating!

Anyway, good morning all. SunnyB sounds like yesterday was a really positive one for you. I have been reading through some of the other threads this morning and there are certainly a few ‘interesting’ and provocative conversations going on. It’s lovely to get back to the calm tranquillity of this one! So for my positives yesterday….

1. Had a friend join us for dinner, always lovely, but I mindlessly ate grapes!
2. Didn’t quite stay within my cal/carb target yesterday but did log everything so getting back on track.
3. Am going back to my lunches of just soup today. I always find I get back into losing mode when I have soup lunches so here’s hoping. Today will be broccoli and stilton soup.

Have a good day and stay ‘positive’.

Lilyrose you have come to the right place! I can only agree with all of the posters above who have done so well, losing weight, reversing diabetes, as I too have done, and generally getting their lives back. There are so many people on these forums who will help you when needed with great advice, a ‘slap on the back’ when you do well and a ‘kick up the backside’ if you need reminding just why you are here. Enjoy your journey and you will soon be looking backwards at ‘the old you’ …. this way has to be better than surgery … and it is!

Allie I love the notion of being …. the best you can be. That is all we can each aim for in which ever way suits best and hopefully Liz, without ‘spikes’!

I would just like to add my warmest wishes to everyone for the coming festivities and the opening of another year …. let 2018 ‘be the best it can ever be’!

Hi gang,

I have looked back on my old blogs.

I seem to be aiming at me and others who dont have a strong will to just change diet and habits straight away.

I seem to be the middle way.
Or the baby steps way.

My blog about how we dont have to stress about xmas day but can still come back here and be accepted and, well, basically, just get on with it.

My hat is off to all who can cope.

But for the one or two who cant, i say, me too!

I read magazines were people have lost ten stone in a very little space of time.
They do not tell you that their weight yo yo’d.
They dont say about eating at midnight when family are asleep.
Then crying afterwards with regret.
I will.

I am here for those who can’t.
Come on, lets do it together, but it may take us a little longer.

But we will ALL get there.

Love lucia
Xxxx

Hi gang,

So my letter to father christmas, i have asked for:

Tai cheng. Not tai chi.
A 60 day programme of gentle , elegent exercise.

Set of head phones
I have worn the wire out listening to music while walking or exercising or cycling static.

Fluffy slippers but tall like boots and so cozy

Knickers always knickers. M and s if poss

Something like a game to exercise my little grey cells and. Eye hand co ordination.

Satsumas in my christmas stocking. Nice swweeeet and juicy , instead of a selection box or sweets

What have you asked for?

Love. Lucia
Xxx

Yes this is a very interesting question and I have to agree with Natalie …. I tend to agree with everyone even when the contradict each other!

I think it’s a very much ‘horses for courses’ answer. Some people have to be ‘rigid’ in their approach whilst others are more relaxed. If you need to be rigid fine. I think when you have eaten this way for long enough your taste buds change and you really don’t have any desire for the ‘stodgy/simple carbs’ so it is no dilemma. BUT early on I think it’s quite ‘dangerous’ to experiment with so called ‘treats’. They aren’t ‘treats’ at all, as has been said, they are ‘poison’ and put you back to square one.

Keep your goals at the forefront of your mind, you have done so well so far don’t blow it all and put yourself back to square one. Enjoy the festivities but within BSD guidelines and try and log a ‘guestimate’ of what you are plan on eating in the mornings before you eat and that may just stop you having that so called ‘treat’!

You can’t really see the difference because my cellphone camera is terrible and it was being aggressively steamed at the time, but here is the Indianish dinner I made tonight before, during and after the addition of guar gum. The slow cooker is full of thick and chunky greens (chickory and spinach) and chicken thighs in a delectable bed of chicken stock, pot likker and creme fraiche and that small sprinkle (a mounded teaspoon) began to tighten it right away. By the time my fella got home 10 minutes later, it was thick enough that the liquid no longer ran and he could easily eat it with a fork.

https://s13.postimg.org/7lseyjzzr/Indianishbefore.jpg
https://s13.postimg.org/hj3frmfbb/Guargumsprinkle.jpg
https://s13.postimg.org/9dldtgbmv/thethickening.jpg

Well done, Theo! Have you noticed that so far every time you’ve taken a bit of a risk, be it with a great accent color or an unplanned mini-dress outing, it pays off like gangbusters? Clearly whenever you go out you need to think to yourself “this looks good, but do I look as hot as I possibly can?” Then shorten, accesorize, ramp up the heel height, drop the decolletage and generally go nuts. 😀

Allie, Theo has officially joined the right tights club now, so you simply must go through with your brilliant plan for your black jersey dress so we can be tights triplets. 😀 🙂 😆

Flick you don’t need us to cross our fingers for you, you’ve got this! You are doing so well.

I want to thank everyone who has weighed in on this thread (even though it’s perhaps the most disagreement I’ve ever seen on this forum in two years of reading! And even a teensy bit snarky at times). I find it really helpful to hear other people’s thoughts and get all the issues clear in my mind. I know it all comes from a place of caring about fellow BSDers and wanting them to have the best life possible. I hope everyone continues to be polite and respectful, others usually respond best to it and are more likely to listen.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas however they celebrate it.

I love reading all the different thoughts on this, although rather unhelpfully I tend to agree with everyone even when they contradict each other! My first round of BSD 800 was started on a December 28. Although I was keen to begin a week or two before that as soon as I read the book, I felt that starting just before Christmas was setting myself up for failure. I didn’t want that much temptation when I wasn’t yet in a routine, or to just have gotten over carb flu then break the diet ‘just this once’ and have to go through carb and sugar cravings all over again! And as Flick says, when you break the rules once, it’s a bit easier the next time and so on. Apparently it’s the same with murder, according to Agatha Christie.

So despite kind-of wanting to start now, I am again waiting until a time I’ll have a relatively clear run ie after Christmas and using this time to prepare, and maintain what I’ve already lost. But those of you already in the midst of losing nasty yellow visceral fat, you have to decide for yourself what you can do that won’t derail you. Are you someone who can take a day off a diet then get straight back into it (is anyone here like that, I wonder? Or are we all examples of the ones who can’t?). Will you be ok allowing more calories, but only BSD-friendly treats like nuts, cheese and meat? A day of unrestricted cheese-eating could be pretty special! No weighing every crumb! Or are you in the zone and just need to stick to 800 cals as usual? Look at your past track-record and ‘know thyself’.

Essie, my friend, just LOVING your party look 😄 Red tights and booties look fantastic and add just the right festive touch to your sensational outfit😃. Really pleased to hear you managed not to slip and break your neck in the snow 😜

I went out for a pre-Christmas lunch today (rather a long one, 6 hours😨) and quite shocked myself by putting on what I had bought as a little red and black tunic to wear with jeans and wearing it as a mini-dress with thick fleece lined (bloomin cold here atm) red tights and black suede high heel booties. It was at least 8 -10 inches above my knees and I felt FANTASTIC 😃 Got quite a few compliments too – not bad for an old’un 😜 Whoever said “if you wore it when it was fashionable first time around, don’t go there again!” Whoever it was obviously hadn’t heard of us phoenixes😛

Marie, I wholeheartedly share your thoughts. Mary, you are very much missed!
I envision your holiday surrounded by your beautiful daughters, your 3 grandchildren,
and the exceptional Jovis. Come back to us when you feel able to do so. 2018 can
be a great year for all of us.

Wishing you a blessed holiday,

Allie
xoxoxoxoxoxo…..

Thank you, Chazly1, for posing the question about the holiday next week. It’s given
us all, maintainers and those still on the journey, an opportunity to think in terms of
“mindfulness” as we establish a plan for dealing with Christmas! Half of this WOL is
the planning. I find myself not making any changes from the decisions that I made
last year when I’d already lost 90lbs, but had another 50 to go. My tastes have changed,
so this doesn’t represent a challenge for me. Maintenance has been more daunting
than weight loss however, and I won’t be completely comfortable with it until I have
a full year behind me. Whatever you decide to do, have a plan and don’t deviate from
it! 🙂

Flick, you are going about this with the same attitude that I did, a take no prisoners
approach. It’s all or nothing for me, and I knew that meant leaving the cork in the
wine bottle for 10 straight Fast800 months. You are doing what makes sense to
you, and I’m looking forward to you reaching your goal. A little red lipstick along
the way is a happy thing, and I encourage you to do more of the same 🙂 It’s great
to see you coming out to play on the “Phoenix” thread as well. It’s never too soon
to start celebrating the victories! If we don’t have enough of our own, there is always
someone else having one of those moments that we can share! 2018 is just around
the corner. Let’s be the best that we can be in the upcoming year 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’m grateful to know you all,

Allie

Cheers every body for your comments it’s great to have so much input, I must admit I have no cravings for either alcohol or carbs as I’ve managed to keep such a vairied diet, and I really enjoy cooking admittedly when I used to cook it would always be my signal to open a bottle of wine, but now it dosent cross my mind.
I think I know the way I shall deal with this and keep in the zone, as it’s suppriseing just what you can fit into 800 calories.
We shall meet in the new year for updates.
Have a great christmas everyone and a slimmer healthier new year
Chazly1

I bet Whole Foods has it. I haven’t looked for it there, but the last time I went a couple of months ago I noticed they had shiritake noodles. They were the kind with tofu added, though, and I don’t buy that because it’s inexplicably carby.

Xantham can definitely clump if it doesn’t get spread around quickly enough. I solve that problem with an immersion blender wich is fine for a cream sauce, but you can’t use that in anything that has chunks, like a sausage gravy. Have you tried the slurry method with xantham? When you add it to dry ingredients it does its faux gluten magic in private. If you add it to a big pot of something it’s hard to gauge whether you have to proper proportion. A good starting point is 1/4 tsp of xantham for every cup of liquid, but you might have to adjust that depending on how thick you want it to get. Scare up a slurry by adding 1/4 tsp to a couple of tblsp of water or of the liquid you want to thicken and whisk it quickly. Whisk the slurry into the pan. Give it a second to tighten up and if it needs more thickening, do another round.

Guar is easier to deal with. Sprinkle, mix thoroughly, wait a couple of minutes. You can add it to cold or hot liquids and it always acts the same. Konjac must be slurried, but it’s such an amazing chemistry experient it’s totally worth it just to watch the states of matter shift in the blink of an eye.

Hi Nonna Mary,

I’ve been thinking of you, also, over the last few days. I hope you have a lovely Christmas holiday and hope to see you in the New Year.

Come back when you’re ready, but come back.

Marie X

Esnecca, thanks for the heads up about the new Zeros…..sounds PERFECT. The only bad part is I just did a big order to Netrition and since they charge for shipping will have to wait until I need more stuff n such. I will certainly keep my eyes open for it at local markets. Wonder if Whole Foods might have it….have a foray planned there in a couple of days to get things not available elsewhere.

RE thickening sauces: I use xanthan in baking…acts a bit like gluten does in traditional baking to provide a bit of sponginess to things made with almond so they are not so crumbly . Never had much success with it to thicken liquids. I did recently buy some glucommanan for that reason but have not used it yet on anything…..so will await additional feedback from Allie as to how her experiment with it went (if I don’t try it first just for the heck of it).

Hear hear, Flick. You have nailed my feelings exactly.

Personally I couldn’t, and indeed wouldn’t want to jeopardise all that hard work just to satisfy social conventions. I’m afraid that, during my losing days, I was a total hard-liner and stuck to BSD800 to the letter.

Now, after 8 months in maintenence, I allow myself a little more flexibility and no longer count calories. I do, however, stick rigidly to low carbs – but believe me, that certainly doesn’t mean no treats. It’s just that my tastes have totally changed and my “treats” consist of wonderful, tasty, healthy food, yes with the odd glass of wine, but I know that I am lucky and can enjoy ONE glass and not crave more.

Obviously, Chazly1, it is your decision and only you know what will work for you. But please don’t jeopardise all your hard work, not to mention your health, for the sake of a few stodgy “treats” – they are not treats, they are drugs – and you have done so well in kicking the habit so far.

But we are all different and whatever you decide, I wish you every success and a very merry Christmas and, more to the point, a very healthy new year.

Hi Chazly1,

Wowsers, 2 stone (12.7 kgs) in four weeks! Great results!

I’m just starting Week 6 (7.2kg down) of my first round and I’m taking a pretty hard line on ‘breaks’, including alcohol (can’t quite believe it myself) I just can’t bear the idea of seeing the scales go up, spending more time double backing over efforts already made. Seems like such a waste of time and energy.

Worse still, for me, that first reason for loosening the reigns, would immediately give me permission to do it again. That first major event, say Christmas, or wedding, would quickly become ‘oh but it’s drinks or dinner with friends’ and then it would be ‘oh it’s Friday night’ and then ‘I don’t have time to prep dinner I’ll just have …..’. Next thing I know I’m having carb cravings, the weight is back on and I’m beating myself up for being a weak, pathetic loser.

After a couple of weeks, I don’t have carb or alcohol cravings – although I do still have the odd theoretical wistfulness, but these are more interesting than distressing. Thank heavens for getting to that place because it is not just about emotions, it is physical – carbs and alcohol trigger the dopamine system. We crave these things, not because we are slobs and idiots – we crave them because they work. They make us feel better at a molecular level. Like drug addicts, it is hard to learn our bodies can cope, we can feel fabulous, we can cope with pressures and stress without triggering the feel good chemicals with carbs/sugar alcohol. I’m taking a typical drug treatment approach and going for abstinence. I’m finding alcohol and carby snacks are just not a big issue for me at social gatherings now. Rather than deprived or missing out, I feel quite proud of myself for sticking to my guns. I know this is very unattractive, but sometimes I even feel a little smug 🤫

There are of course different views, and there are plenty of people doing it a slower, mixed approach. Hats off to everyone trying hard to take control of their health and wellbeing. Big hats off to people taking a mixed, flexible approach, I can’t think of anything harder, it takes such a long time, constant dealing with cravings and questionng why and whether they can do it, and I’m quite sure I couldn’t. I need success to fall back on.

Personally I found the discussion on the Lucia thread a little bit upsetting. Lucia’s post seemed to me to be like the pied piper calling all the children out of the safety of the village. I’m fine with people making decisions to be flexible if that helps them to keep going, but actively encouraging others to join them reminded me of a drunk at a recent dinner I was at, persistently pressuring me to join in and have a drink. Very uncool. I just felt sad for him, gave him a hug, thanked him for caring about whether I was having fun and reassured him I was and went back to enjoying the function.

We are all different, and this is me. All my warm wishes to you Chazly1, it is not easy, it is a challenging time of year. Good luck!

Sweet! You’ll get a nice little bonus boost of fiber out of the deal as well as magical thickening powers. The first time I used the konjac to thicken chili I stared in awe as the cup of chicken stock I whisked it into turned into an aspic in half a minute. It literally set in seconds. I’ve never had powdered Jello work that fast. In fact, the last time I made Jello, which would have been when I was a kid, I’m pretty sure it never set at all and we had to dump it down the sink. 😀

Hi Lucia, thanks for the invitation to come out and play – but no thanks. After 5 weeks BSD I’ve got those carb and alcohol cravings pretty much under control and want to keep benefiting from that.

I’ll work out introducing flexibility when I get to my target. I’m a third of the way there so hopefully it will only take another 12 or so weeks of concentration. Yippee – keep your fingers crossed for me.

Nonna Mary – If you are reading this – wishing you a fabulous festive season and the best 2018. This is our year! So exciting! And while I’m here, same goes to greenjanet, amazingshrinkingwoman and captainlynne and anybody else who used to post – thinking of you all.

[post removed by request]

Okay, you 2 geniuses, I’m going to take this onboard, too!

Arcticfox, you can make a creamy dressing using mayonnaise, creme fraiche, cream cheese or yogurt. My standard mix these days is 4 ml high quality extra virgin oil (kalamata, to be precise, because it has a very lovely strong olivey flavor that stands out), 2 ml vinegar, pickle juice, kimchi juice or lemon juice, depending on the kind of salad, then a tablespoon of the creamy white stuff. I make a quasi-mayo out of silken tofu that works a treat because it’s a bit of a blank canvas and is rock-bottom in terms of calories and carbs. Cream cheese works great, but you need to add more liquid because it’s very thick for a dressing. I add hemp milk or chicken stock. You could also use mustard. It will add creaminess, but might be a little more acidic than you’re looking for at the moment.

Y’all need to get your hands on some xantham or guar gum or konjac/glucomannan powder. There’s no reason you can’t thicken anything you like. The no-carb gums work far better than flour or cornstarch, in my opinion, because you don’t have to take an intermediate step like creating a roux or a slurry. Konjac works better if you separate out some of the liquid and whisk it in for 10 seconds, but that’s just because it’s so insanely fast-acting that you can’t distribute it quickly enough in a big chunky sauce before it starts clumping.

If you can’t find it in a shop near you, Bob’s Red Mill carries both xantham and guar (https://www.bobsredmill.com/shop/baking-aids.html) and Netrition has the konjac (https://www2.netrition.com/konjac_glucomannan_powder.html ).

Which reminds me, LTC, I might have to make that amazing kimchi dish you posted in the phoenix thread using my latest find instead of kelp noodles. Zeroodles has a new type of konjac noodle with oat fiber added and it is PHENOMENAL. The fiber gives it a full-on ramen texture and taste. It doesn’t even have that fishy smell that freaks some people out so much when it comes out of the bag. (The smell doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t know why people get so hung up on that. It goes away as soon as you prep them.) My local Stop & Shop carries it, believe it or not. You can get it on Netrition too, among other places: https://www2.netrition.com/zeroodle-premium-shirataki-oat-fiber.html

A very happy holiday to you, too, Dumpty! I’m looking forward to a happy and healthy
new year for ALL of us. 2018, here we come! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Best,

Alle

I’m unfortunately up 300g from my lowest weight that I recorded during the week. I think I have realized where some extra carbs were sneaking in though. I haven’t been diligent enough with the calorie counting or eating enough above ground veg, either. I didn’t really fancy a lot of cold veg, and haven’t been cooking much, so it has gone by the wayside. As has salad generally, I think because of the colder weather, but I realized yesterday that salad with a creamy dressing would be okay. For some reason, it was just a vinagrette dressing that wasn’t appealing on cold days. Anyway, I did manage to buy some salad greens yesterday and will be having them later with a creamy dressing. I’m not sure I’m going to make my goal weight for this challenge, but maybe by the end of December? Being off work is allowing me to catch up on my sleep and to go to they gym again, but it has also knocked me out of my routine a bit. I think I need to spend a few days really measuring and counting everything I eat and see if I can kickstart some weight loss again.

JGwen, I hear you about not being satisfied with how much size you’ve lost even though you’ve lost weight. I wasn’t too pleased in my first 8 weeks either. I hardly lost anything off my waist, but I did lose it off my wrists, which was really annoying as I have very thin wrists anyway and it just made them look even more out of proportion. I did also lose some off my calves which was good as my boots fit better. Things are starting to shift a bit now even though I’m not losing much weight at the moment. I’ve lost a some off my waist and hips, so my clothes are finally fitting much better.
What made my horse so sick is still a bit of a mystery. He tested positive for EHV-5, which can provoke some respiratory symptoms and complications, but luckily he didn’t have much in the way of symptoms and we ultrasounded his lungs to check that it hadn’t caused any polyps and they were clean, so that was a relief. He also had a bacterial infection but we were never able to pinpoint exactly what it was. He didn’t respond to the first round of antibiotics, but did respond to a cocktail of them on the second round. The most distressing for me was dealing with his legs swelling up – almost up to his stifles on the hinds – and having some of the serum leak through his skin when it couldn’t get out through his lymph system. I was icing or cold hosing and wrapping his legs all the way up twice every day. Anyway, they have come back down and he seems to be holding steady at the moment. I’m still keeping a close eye on him. I had to put my older horse down in June and this is my new youngster that I’m now bringing on.
I agree that the horses can be motivating in this journey. I put on a lot of weight stressing about my previous horse last year, and I’ve had to decide that I need to look after myself a bit better so that I can be there for them. Also the jodhpur issue. I have always been at the larger end of the sizes, and was starting to run out of options with all the extra weight. I’m looking forward to buying myself some new ones once I get the last 1/2 of this weight off. My other motivating factor is my saddle. It is a dressage saddle that I picked up 2nd hand that has extra long flaps and adjustable stirrup bars to accommodate my freakishly long thighs, and it is fitting my horse really well right now, but the seat is only 17″. It works okay right now, I can just squeeze my bum into it, but it would be so much better with another 10kg gone!

😆 You’ve got me pegged and how, sister. That looks fantastic! I’ll meet you half way and cut out 3/5ths of the butter. 😉 I read the recipe thread, just fyi. I read most threads, as a matter of fact, because I use the “All recent topics” view.

Of course it helps, Luv! Your insights always do. I’ll be reporting back to you
after the holiday. Thanks so much! What would we do without you here?

This a crazy time of year, so I’m wishing you joy and peace over the holiday, and that it
continues into 2018 and your accomplishing all the goals you have for yourself. I plan
to be by your side, to celebrate them with you!

Merry Christmas, my friend 🙂

Allie

[post removed by request]

Hear hear SunnyB – go you! You make me feel I can ‘have my cake and eat it’. Thank for showing me my maintenance will not only be possible but allow me to join in the celebrations from time to time! Hope to join you at some point in 2018! A big year for a lot of us.

Quite interesting, Dumpty – Do you have some as yet unrevealed qualifications for
diagnosing psychiatric disorders?

Esnecca, just got the JAN issue of Bon Appetit in the mail today and opened to see a recipe for Kimichi Udon with Scallions. First thought ….must share with Escnecca (who will substitute something like kelp noodles for the udon and ditch 3/4 of the butter called for). Anyway, thought you might enjoy. They are singing your song.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kimchi-udon-with-scallions

Allie, sorry to leave you hanging…..been baking gifts over the last couple of days and then just ran out of gas and crashed. Love the baking part….its the cleaning up after that gets ya in the end. Ugh.

Re leave out the cream: more Fontina wont do the trick as the cream cheese is the creamy sauce part (since no flour to thicken as folks normally would ) vs the cheesy filling part.

As an alternative , you could use heavy cream and cook down a bit to thicken, or do without the creamy sauce altogether and just add some wine and broth to the drippings to deglaze the pan after you take the chicken out…reduce by half, then add a pat of soft butter and swirl around, and pour over the chicken.

Hope that helps.

[post removed by request]

We all have to find a way to make this way of eating work for our lifestyles and bodies. I have taken a more relaxed approach than some, allowing myself ‘breaks’ from the strict 800/20 BSD regime from time to time and while it has taken me longer to get to my end goal, having periods of sticking to the BSD principles whilst not being strict on all aspects of what is consumed, has taught me how to successfully maintain.

[post removed]

I absolutely agree with everyone who says ‘don’t do it’.

For me the sugary carby stuff is not a treat – Fage yoghurt and blueberries, stilton cheese, various nuts, smoked mackerel, avocados, 85% and 99% dark chocolate etc. etc. are far more delicious foods and I will be enjoying them over Christmas – secure in the knowledge that they won’t derail my maintenance nor my enjoyment of having all my family around me over Christmas nor will they harm my health nor bring back the diabetic retinopathy and macular oedema or numb feet.

My main positive today is seeing my daughter again – she’s studying in New York and home for Christmas. Not entirely plain sailing, as they cancelled her flight yesterday with 12 hours notice! They said they’d try and book her something else, hopefully for same day, but no promises….so we took the decision to buy a separate flight for her with another airline (the original airline agreed to give a full refund). So…she arrived this morning. Her first reaction on seeing the new me was to say “You’ve bought a new coat!”. (True, after loosing over 3 stone, I’ve had to buy a complete new wardrobe!). She then did question whether I’d lost weight! (To be fair, bundled up in a winter coat and a thick woolly scarf – it was freezing early this morning – she had a point in that it wasn’t immediately obvious! However, she says she is very proud of me, and she’s coming round to the idea of our BSD Christmas. Ok, so we’ve promised we’ll make stuffing for her and her friend (a girl she used to work with, who’s from Hong Kong and was facing Christmas on her own) For the stuffing I use Bergen’s soya and linseed bread, onion and sage so it’s quite low GI – though I shalln’t eat any in any case. We’ll also do roast parsnips for them, but for the rest of it…they’ll have what we have, because at the end of the day, it’s delicious – and healthy food. Her one request is a mince pie, as they don’t have them in New York! So the two girls can eat a box over the holiday….and that’s it! The friend is a health “freak” anyway as my daughter put it, so she’s delighted to have a low-carb Christmas! On with the jigsaws – one of our best traditions. 1000 pieces, just hard enough to challenge, but not so infuriating that everyone gets cross! We dip in and out over the period, leaving it on a big board and it’s very relaxing! (We buy three for the whole period just in case one gets done too quickly!).

Final positive thought, my weight is still creeping down – another half pound today. I shall need a second new wardrobe at this rate!
Liz

Lillyrose – you cannot do better than follow the advice of SunnyB, Esnecca and Alliecat. Do read their past posts – they are full of such good advice.

The side effects of the bariatric surgery sound horrific – actually worse than horrific – so well done for starting the BSD.