V, hope you got off on you holiday with no issues and are having a wonderful time.
SG, sounds like you have plenty on your plate, so well done on finding positives despite the negatives.

Have a few positives to report myself ….
🌻🌻 pleased to report Dad is doing well and actively seeking out social interaction. Some friends and neighbours have been checking in on him too, which is lovely of them.
🌻🌻 have been tidying Dad’s garden for him, there is still lots of colour out there and I so enjoy pottering in a garden
🌻🌻 treated myself to a veggie meze lunch at a Lebaneses restaurant today …. (negative) ate too much, but (positive) will fast now until dinner tomorrow evening.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Well I was right, the weight gain was fluid and I am back down to 74.1kgs. So still hopeful to lose 14lbs by 16th Dec. Just got to stop doing stupid things, especially when shopping and buy stuff I fancy but know I shouldnt have.

Should have known our friends were talking a load of rubbish. When we moved to France they were here already for 15 years and told us some really bad info, like hiding money from the tax man, keeping money under the mattress etc. Until they came to sell their home in France and the tax man caught up with them!!!!! Anyway we did everything by the book and have survived. The rubbish they spouted was that we have to apply to the Home Office for the right to return. Not true. We have to inform HRMC which is obvious and we already have tax numbers as we both still pay UK tax on our government pensions. Yes, we have a few hoops to jump through but no more than when we moved to France and we did it all in French.

All in all life is good, no one is ill or dying, we will get through this if we just take one day at a time and deal with things as they come.

Have a good week.

Just thinking on another subject. All these people advertising rubbish like printers, diet pills, exercise therapy in Malaysia etc etc, Ok report them but dont comment, dont interact and they just fade away down the line. When we comment they just come back up to the top. Ignore the buggers.

You will be there on your holidays now Verano, not looked in for a few days. Dont really have positives but can turn some negatives around.

Learnt a lesson that the theory of turning carbs into resistant carbs (look it up) doesn’t really work if you want to lose weight or are diabetic and want to keep BG in check. Hey thats a positive, I wont be doing that again.

Just found out we cant just turn up in the UK with our possessions. Besides having to pay duty (we shouldnt as things are not new) we have to apply to the Home Office for permission to come home. At least we know what we are facing. It is the same thing immigrants have to do – apply for residency.

Struggling now but we have got a housesitter so will be seeing family soon.

Hope you all had a good weekend. I had a learning curve with my food. Have you heard of resistant starch and making carb foods less carby and less calories. Well, my craving for a jacket potato finally got to me and I bought 2 potatoes. I even said to daughter that I don’t think I can bring myself to eat it. Read up on the science and finally decided to try it with a fairly good meal off roast duck breast and corn on the cob. Roasted the potatoes in the airfryer and then let them cool. Then I reheated and had one with the duck (it was quite a small one). Tasted nice but not good enough to want again in a hurry. Outcome, gained 2lbs and BG up very high. What a load of tosh. Lesson, if I wouldn’t normally eat it, dont eat it.

No other news except talking to friends who moved from France back to UK around 3 years ago. Now we know we have to apply to the Home Office for permission to return. What the —–.

Enjoy your week while I pray this weight is just water:)

Mariet that sounds like a fabulous Autumn coming up. And very well done for the 13kg loss and maintenance. I am sure there will be lots of lovely choices you can make food-wise. Bonnes vacances!

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Glad you were able to see your dad, Heidi, though I am sure it was a wrenching experience. You’ve had a lot on this year (as have so many on this board sadly) ad you’ve done really well to have stayed with good eating. I love your comment that it was being kind to yourself to eat well! Something for me to remember.
I have taken stock of my past year; it’s just about a year that I took myself in hand and determined to do something about the weight that had crept on during and after covid. I had got up to more than 78kg, and I am only 5’2″. On yesterday’s weigh in I was down to 65.9 so almost 13kg lost, just on 2 stones. I am still 4kg above what I was in 2017 (there’s that year again!) but I also don’t expect to get there again and don’t really want to.
I feel tentatively happy that I’m able to maintain at around this level. But I have a month long holiday starting in 3 weeks, to Ireland to visit friends then to UK for another friend’s daughter’s wedding, then a cruise from SPain to the Canaries before coming home two weeks before Christmas 😬. Crossing fingers!
I hope it has been a good week for everyone and that the next one will be too.

Hi everyone. I missed last week’s check in due to another trip to the UK to see my father in hospital, and mother at home. It felt very much like a farewell with my Dad. He is now not expected to come home. So an intense trip, and I am so glad I was able to go during a break in my husband’s treatment. Enough on that front.
25 May – 25 October. 5 months of being kind to myself with healthy eating. 15.4 kilos lost. Compared with 2017 (ref SueBlue) I am still 7 kilos heavier, but I don’t expect to get back there! I am still not counting anything, just avoiding the usual white carbohydrates, and being careful with nuts and cheese. There is simply too much going on to bother with counting. But I still plan to start some exercising on top of the dog-walking.

Well done SueBlue on your good start. We still have over 60 days of 2025 left – (deducting a couple for Christmas and NYE!). Good luck to all for the week ahead. x

I hope things continue well for you S-G & taking control of something does help us feel more positive 👍
I am pleased after weighing today & that I have lost 1.75lbs after gaining one pound last week. I think easing myself back in with 5:2 is more manageable for me for a couple of more weeks whilst recording everything that I am eating & drinking! It is lovely being able to have a glass of wine again after coping with all my medicine side effects that are also slowly getting more back to normal.
I hope everyone has a good weekend & a positive week ahead 🤞🍀🍀
Margaret xx

S-g WOW! Great that you can still find a positive!

Sunny we are off on Sunday for 5 weeks! Still in the last throws of ‘panic’ although I know that whatever we leave behind won’t be the end of the world anyway…we aren’t going to Outer Mongolia!

So yes I do have some positives….
Hair cut and coloured today.
Pedicure tomorrow.
Packing going well.
Just looking forward to no ‘what shall we have for dinner tonight.’ for the next few weeks!

Keep positive!

Hi Simon, there is a boost of adrenaline when we start a new regime, keep up the good feelings.

I am still dithering between 74 and 74.5. It is still a loss of 5lbs but no movement since week one. I think it is psychological, lose 5lbs in one week and then think you can have a little break or not be so strict. Or it could be the bodies way of panicking and wanting to hold on to weight. Back onto really strict after a night of disaster when we were fed bread and cheese with a few bits of chacuterie thrown in to share between 6 of us. €22 each, I thought we would be getting a proper meal for that as we do at the restaurant quiz night. Gained in weight and BG out of control, but back down this morning.

No word from new agent, all talk and no action. Last viewing came to nothing. They said our bedrooms were too small – they have a super kingsize bed. They want a new build so they are not going to fit that bed in.

Found a lovely couple to housesit for Christmas. Decided to wait it out and made plans with neighbours and friends to share cat feeding in nothing came up. Anyway, we have found what we were looking for.

Started getting things thrown out, cat passports and getting fosse emptied and waiting for inspector to come out. At least we are doing what we have to rather than things piling up on my brain.

Have a lovely weekend. Dont forget the clocks go back.

Finding it hard to find positives as so much going on that is causing difficulties but I will try:-

Went to quiz night and the food was terrible, bread and cheese with one slice of 3 meats each to share – €22 each. We came last, I don’t know how but the positive is we still got a prize, one bottle of wine each, fellow team member swapped my chardonnary for a rose she won in the raffle (hate Chardonnary – too oakie).
Won a bottle of Cremant d’Alsace in the raffle.
And finally, we have found a housesitter for Christmas. It was a match made in heaven, clicked straightaway. Looking forward to welcoming them into our home.

Guess things arent so bad. House hasnt sold.

Not sure when you head off V, but have a wonderful holiday.
It occurred to me this evening, it’s been a few days since I posted here, so decided to rectify that …
🌸🌸 lunch with youngest daughter on Monday, dinner with eldest son last evening and plans to visit Dad this weekend
🌸🌸 batch of new salvia plants arrived today, looking forward to getting them planted in
🌸🌸 village newsletter compiled and sent for printing
Hope others are finding positives… if you’ve a moment, please post one or two here for us to share.

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Would love to hear your experiences or suggestions for reliable clinics in the area that truly understand sports injuries and long-term recovery!

Hello SunshineGirl. I’m actually trying the 2:5 this time, so give fast days and the weekend off but not going mad. I’ve found this first week back on it really exciting and easy actually – curious to see whether this way of doing it works! I remember Michael Mosley saying some people do it this way.

Gosh many of us seem to be having difficulties to deal with this month and well done Pootle with maintaining your weight 👏👏
I managed an 800 calorie fast yesterday and I am back recording what I am planning to eat each day.
Welcome back Simonforsure and I am trying a 5:2 week with two fast days to try to get myself back into an eating less routine and trying another 800 calorie day today. I also like a glass of wine that I couldn’t have recently because of conflicting antibiotics but can again now and it’s a real temptation particularly with some nibbles to go with it 🤔😀My goal is also to get back to eating 800 calories each weekday and relaxing a little over the weekend.
I am trying to do better to lose weight to help my knees & also have two stone to lose 🤞🤞
Keep on going everyone! I will weigh on Saturday to see if my two fast days have had any effect!
Margaret xx

Hello all, thanks for your updates DCT and Cathy.
Cathy – so glad you are feeling a bit better now 🙂 it is horrible to go through pain like that. It’s a long time since I had an abscess but I remember how bad the pain was, it also caused septic arthritis for me, so I had joint pain to contend with as well (this was years before I was diagnosed with RA). I think it’s a good idea to focus on your health and wellbeing after all you’ve been through this year, and it sounds like you have a few busy months coming up 🙂
I was thinking back to 2017 too – nowadays I’m about 5kg lighter than I was then, but 13kg heavier than the lightest weight I dropped to in 2022. I’ve dropped 1.7kg over the last 10 days or so, not calorie counting or fasting but being more mindful when drinking wine, eating smaller portions and focusing on eating healthy home cooked meals and not buying biscuits and chocolates! Going to get properly into it next week – it’s my husband’s turn to turn 60 this week and I’m off work as we have a few outgoings and things planned.
I was interested in possible metabolism changes and so I asked AI (as you do!) about this and it said between 50 and 60 it is POSSIBLE that a woman’s metabolism could drop 5-8% resulting in burning 50-100 calories less per day – this obviously all adds up. Strength training is advised to counteract this (as well as dietary changes), so I’m going to incorporate that by looking up some workouts on YouTube – I have hand weights and resistance bands at home.
So that’s my plan – increase walking, continue to focus on a healthier diet, introduce strength training and also get back to more of a 16:8 or 14:10 pattern of eating between now and the end of the year and this should see me closer y my goal weight 🙂
Hope everyone else is doing well!

HI everyone. Back here again and it’s time for a detox and Fast800 again. I weighed in yesterday and found that I was 88 kilos. To be honest I’d feared it was more as I was aware in photos I’d gained more weight lately. being 5’8 I have two stone to lose.

Every time I do the Fast 800 I find it so easy and uplifting. But for some reason, I always stop when my ideal weight is in sight. I have no idea why but this time I am going to see it through, but by playing the long game rather than a “I want to weigh this much by Christmas”.
This time I’m actually going to try doing it as a 2:5 (having Friday and Saturdays off) rather than going all out. So we will see. Usually I fear giving up wine the most but as always, once my mind is made up, I find that quickly becomes easy because I started feeling so much more active so quickly and sleep better. I’m fasting for 16 hours a day – my favourite meal on this is usually something like some fish (grilled or tinned) with a basil salad and cottage cheese and tomatoes.

Wishing everyone else lots of success.

Hello everyone
DCT- good luck with your 8 week back to basics. Like you mentioned, it seems so much more difficult than when we started in 2017. We have to remember that we are 9 years older and also we have been eating healthier than we probably were prior to 2017. You have done well to remain 20 lb lighter. You can probably get another 10lb off in the next 8 weeks. My weight has crept up and I think I am about 14lb lighter than I was in 2017. For the last few weeks I’ve been mainly trying to eat healthy cooked at home food and using food as fuel rather than pleasure. I am feeling overweight but because of my health over the last few weeks it hasn’t been a priority to be slim. I am happy just to be healthy. I am not back at the hospital for my gum issue until 18th November. I had a particularly bad week last week with off the scale pain and I felt terrible. The pain has thankfully subsided and my gum seems to be healing at last. Hopefully I won’t require a biopsy. I am back at Christie for a repeat abdominal MRI at the end of November and will get my results in January when I am seen in Clinic. I was so happy when my toe op was deferred but things took a dive with the abscess. Anyway, I’m feeling better this week and looking forward to my exam invigilator job and I am singing in the choir at The Bridgewater Hall in December for two nights with the Manchester & ;District Hospitals Choir to raise money for Young Lives vs Cancer. I sang with the choir when I was working and took it up again this year after I knew I wasn’t having my toe op. I’m disappointed that I haven’t achieved my 2025 goal to get slim. I will keep eating well but I have to say I’m defeated with losing weight. I am fed up of failure!
I will look forward to reading about your progress DCT and I hope you achieve your goal.
Dawn- I hope you’re well and that your surgery will go ahead as planned on 10th November.
Heidi- you have been the star of the cruise and have been so successful on your journey. You should be proud of yourself. Your dedication has paid off.
ArcticFox-it’s been a busy time for you and I hope you’re well and it’s not too cold!
Hope everyone on the thread is doing OK. I genuinely believe this year has been the most challenging for us all. We still have 77 days left on our cruise! 🚢

Hi everyone. I’ve been away for a few days and am now getting back in the daily routine again. Including yet another reboot. I want to do 8 weeks back to basics from today up to Friday 12th December and see how well I can do if I really stick to it for 8 weeks. But as many others have said – on other threads too – it never seems as easy or effective as the first time round. But never mind : I’m going to do my best to mirror exactly what I did that first time round and see how we go. Can’t believe that was 2017 – almost 9 years ago 🙀 I am still 20lb lighter than I was then, but also 20lb heavier than when I achieved my lowest weight in 2019. So I’m hoping to shift a few surplus pounds and reduce my belly fat at least a bit over the next few weeks. Wish me luck 🤞

CATHY how are you doing? I really hope that you are feeling a little bit better after all the recent trauma. I also hope that you will be able to attend the training day in November, which I’m sure would be a real boost in many ways.

ARCTICFOX it was good to hear from you again. Things sound very busy your end, especially with the drop in temperature and the wood stove issue. I hope you made your Monday deadline? When is your surgery? Keep us posted as to how you’re getting on.

DAWN not too long till your surgery now, and I hope it goes ahead smoothly with no more delays or glitches.

How is everyone else? HEIDI, YOWZER, SUEBLUE, MARIET, POOTLE, plus everyone else who has either posted on this thread at some stage or is reading this post. Hello and hope all is well X

Well done Pootle!
It’s sometimes easier to lose than it is to not regain, so well done you. Maintenance is so hard!
Huge great pats on the back for you Pootle!

Evening all, sorry I have been absent for the last week!
S-G, sorry to hear your old cat is ‘fading’, I hope the visit to the vet gave some hope that it is just a reluctance to spend time out in the cold.
Also, I hope you got the agent to tidy up his act!
We are puppy caring…watching… guarding…cleaning…feeding etc along with work, it has been exhausting!!

Weight still steady, bs fine except following a plate of chips… weak moment, first chips for 14 months!!
Have to go… puppy wants out!
Xx

S-g that’s awful! At the end of the day it’s their business/ livelihood to sell houses. Surely they should do their best for the seller!
Maybe get them to remove the ‘horrors’ if you haven’t already. Wishing you only the best of luck on what is a fraught journey!

Hello. Hope the weekend has been ‘positive’ for you.

Just one, or maybe more, for me today …

🥦🌶️🥒 had a lovely evening here last night … dinner for ten. Lots of Greek / Mediterranean food. So all good carb wise and caters to almost every taste.

🧳🧺🚰 Monday, will be lots of washing , then Tuesday the ironing….

But hey soon the 🧳🛩️⭐️ … can’t complain!

Hope you have a positive.

Just looked at the photos on the new site and they are terrible. I went to a lot of trouble to make my house perfect and he has taken a picture of the dining room with his jacket on the floor, his bag on the chair and a file on the table with a cup as I made him a coffee.

Not getting very far with the diet. No reason i.e. I am not eating stupid things but I am dithering up and down on 74+kgs. Going to keep on…

We are trying to prioritise, we cant control the house sale but if we cant get a cat sitter we will just have to spend Christmas here on our own. No biggy as we will hopefully be able to spend as much time as we want with family when we move. Also, have to get cats sorted for a move. Taking the old one in for a checkup next week as she has started to be dirty all around the house. I think she doesnt like to go out when it is cold but she did go out then came back in a pooped on the rug. Maybe it is time for her to go. While we are there we will ask about pet passports.

Going to look on new site see if house is on. Have a good weekend.

Tulip life sometimes takes over but we do have to find time for ourselves… we are just as important as the others!

Margaret glad things are settling down now …. the only way is up!

S-g maybe some very, very huge deep breaths and then work out your ‘absolute’ priorities. Sometimes we become so bogged down we can’t see the wood for the trees. Take a step back and work out the most important issues now, next week, next month etc. Hope you can find some peace of mind.

I can’t actually believe this month is half way through and that the clocks here in the UK are going back in just over a week. I really dislike the short days. Anyway we have to keep on and keep moving forward health wise. I’m really enjoying my homemade soups again and am looking forward stews etc this winter..

Has anybody ever made fish cakes with mashed cauliflower instead of potato? Would be really interested in the results.

Well done Antigone! Keep on keeping on ……..

Glad you’re finding ‘positives’ Sunny.
Anybody else out there with even just one positive?

Struggle for me at the moment but ….

💐💐💐 Sent a present of flowers to celebrate the beginning of autumn and they were really appreciated.

🥬🥒🧅 Organised my last shopping list for dinner party at the weekend. As time goes I seem to need more and more lists!

🧺📺🧺 Lots of ironing in front of the telly today so nearly ready to start thinking about packing.

One positive … not too hard really????

Well done on gettin the laundry sorted, V. I’m thinking I’ll soon need to start making a packing list and ensuring things are clean ready to pack.

Positives from me today …
🌼🌼 ordered new swimwear for OH and myself, as we only bring one set with us when we travel back from Turkiye and will need more for our upcoming holiday
🌼🌼 we had our flu jabs this afternoon … thank you NHS
🌼🌼 have arranged for GS to join me for another gardening session tomorrow…. going to get those bulbs planted in and tidy up containers ready for winter

at the moment just trying to keep my head above water with kids’ needs, work, health etc….hoping to at some point have a bit of let-up to concentrate on healthy eating…
love to all,
Tulip x

Oh dear S-G I know how awful it is tossing & turning through the night & not sleeping well & I hope you sleep better tonight after having a more positive estate estate viewing 🤞🤞
My innards seem to be settling down today after finishing yet another course of strong antibiotics so perhaps I did have another unidentified harmful virus or bacteria 🤔 I am hoping this calm will continue!
Take care S-G & good news about your husband 👍
Margaret xx

Hi all, new estate agent has been and we have knocked a big chunk off the price. Always said it was on too high. Feeling much more positive about a sale as he was interested in things the other agent didnt concern herself with, like having fibre as he has clients who want to move out of the city, work remote and have good wifi. Anyway fingers crossed. I think we just want to sell up and go now our decision has been made.

Had a really bad night, fell asleep (sort of) after 6am and was up at 7.15. Just so much on my mind. Besides the house we cant find a cat sitter for Christmas. I have just said okay so we dont go back for Christmas, I cant let it upset me. Will still keep looking but as we are members of the ferry club we can cancel at any time or reschedule or get a refund.

Going to buy some new jumpers in the sales but not today, too tired.

Hello All, 1 kilo down this week so that’s a nice surprise. I’m travelling over the next 4 weeks – not sure if that’s a help or hindrance but will try. Will be in UK for a couple of weeks so will stock up on a few things that are harder to source/more expensive in France. Perhaps reboot the weekly reboot posts in November?? Starting with outstanding October losses! Good luck all 🙂

Hi everyone,
I am doing ok. Just really busy as it is prime garlic selling and planting season all at the same time. I have had a friend come and help me with the planting this year as I have a hard deadline next Monday due to my surgery. Only a bit left to do over the next few days and it will be done for this year.
Cathy, sorry to hear you are still having so much trouble and are in a lot of pain. I hope that resolves for you quickly!
Dawn, glad you are getting your surgery date sorted now.
Heidi, well done with your loss. It is a big accomplishment!
I have set aside the fasting for now as I was needing a lot of energy to get through planting at the end of the season, especially as it has very suddenly turned cold. It was -10 C this morning. It was 35 C only 2 weeks ago and I was still wearing shorts. Toques and gloves season now! Tried to get the wood stove in the basement started and ended up with a house full of smoke. Just had the chimney swept last week, so not sure what is wrong. I will have to take it apart to see if I can figure it out and if not, may need to get the sweep back to take a look.
I feel that the rest of the week will be very busy as I am finishing the planting and trying to prep some meals ahead for next week, and just generally getting ready to be incapacitated for a while. So I might not be checking back in for a bit, but will look forward to catching up once I am able.

Sunny you shame me! If you can find positives then the rest of should definitely be able to.

So here I go ….

🧅🥦🌶️ Probably already admitted to making my first few pans of ‘winter ‘ soup. Today had my squash and ginger soup and have to say it was really lovely.

🧺🧺🧺 All my holiday washing done just need to start ironing now. The positive is that we won’t be wearing summer stuff before we go away so at least no further washing and ironing!

📺📺📺 catching up on lots of tv while ironing! Loving MAFS!!

Thanks for bumping us on to a new page of positives, V. Think it is a record for this forum, to have a thread run to this many pages. Hope you have a wonderful holiday Verano and that it isn’t your last trip away.

It’s been awhile since I posted positives, so here goes ….
🌻🌻 pleasant family meal out last evening, with my sister, her OH and my dad.
🌻🌻 received lots of spring bulbs I ordered recently, have created a planting plan and will be planting them up in the next day or two.
🌻🌻 caught up with some admin which had been sidelined over the last couple of months.

Hope you can find some positives to tell us about.

Wow V, catering for ten is quite an undertaking …. hope it goes well.
Well done on your continued discard, SG.
Like Verano, I find myself pretty much where I was this time last week. Frustrating, but have to accept I didn’t do enough to see any real loss. Trying to do better this week … fasting since last evening and hoping to get through to dinner tomorrow evening. Hopefully this will give me a good start to a real result this time next week.

Is anyone planning to keep the Weekly Reboot alive?

I’m not getting notifications so just ‘rebooting’!

Great news S-g. Your goal is definitely doable.

As I said on the October thread I’ve been on a roundabout this week…. finished where I started!

I have a really busy time coming up so won’t set up a new reboot week but will join in the October thread as and when. If somebody else would like to continue the reboot great.

I have an annual eye hospital appointment tomorrow, a dinner party for ten to cater for on Saturday, although I’ve decide to do Greek food so lots of it will involve ‘opening packs’. I don’t make my own hummus etc. anymore ….life’s too short! Then I have to turn my attention to packing, not a huge hardship really, but nonetheless takes time.

So, wishing everyone well. I’ll pop in as and when.

I’ve been in a roundabout this week and now back to where I was last Tuesday!

Just half a pound loss this week but not too unhappy. I now have to lose 8.5lbs in 8 weeks so I will keep on….

Weigh in today and I have lost a massive half a pound – joke. I cant think what I did wrong until I remember the night out at the beginning of the week. Anyway I now have to lose 8.5lbs in 8 weeks. Still doable. Got some cleaning to do today as Estate Agent is coming tomorrow morning. Have a great day.

Hi Cathy, yes I’m so pleased I rang the hospital as goodness knows if I would have ever been contacted. In this instance it has been the secretary who has chased everything up for me both in a July and today and been really efficient and I think it’s maybe been the consultant who has not followed up on things he told me he was going to do.
I’m so sorry to hear of the awful pain you’re in, I do think anything to do with pain in the mouth or head feels worse than anything as you feel you can’t get away from it if you know what I mean. I really hope you get some respite from it soon.
That’s good news about the invigilator job and hopefully you will be feeling much better by then.
I too was hoping for a great year but I feel it has totally passed me by, especially these last three months and I am almost as heavy as I was at the start of the year. As you say, hopefully calmer waters are ahead for us all🤞🤞🤞
Dawn X

Hello everyone
Dawn- thank goodness you called the hospital and managed to secure a surgery slot! As a medical secretary of 40 years I am appalled at the level of poor administration within hospitals and healthcare these days. I used to love my job and I trained for two years for my role. Nowadays they employ anyone and you can tell when people pick up the phone that they don’t care. It’s shocking. I feel for the consultants who have inept secretaries.
I am not doing well at all. I went for my deep clean on Thursday and I requested my dentist give me a huge dose of anaesthetic. He did a deep clean and I have to say I didn’t feel a thing and was relieved but ever since I’ve been on two hourly painkillers alternating paracetamol and Ibuprofen as the pain is off the scale. I have earache too. I phoned today and was advised to keep doing salt water rinses and to call back on Thursday if things are no better. I feel absolutely shocking, I ache and feel fluey and my gums are swollen and hurting a lot. I had to resort to icing my face on Saturday which did help. The hospital said I would be seen In 4 weeks’ and today I got an appt for 6 weeks’. So I’m resting and taking painkillers. I keep hoping I’ll feel better but I don’t.
The year is passing by and I am as big as I was at the start of the year. I feel awful and exhausted. I’ve tried and tried and failed and failed.
I have been offered an exam invigilator job at a sixth form college and am looking forward to a fresh new role. A bit of money and feeling valuable. I enjoy retirement but feel I have potential that is not being used so something ad hoc like this sounds nice and I’ll be glad of the extra money!! I hope I can attend the training day in November when hopefully h to in ha will have settled down.
I’m sorry to be so miserable. I really was hoping for a great year this year. I felt so optimistic like many of us did at the beginning of the year.
I’ll catch up on the posts I’ve missed this last couple of weeks.
Lots of love to everyone. Well done to those who are achieving their goals, I’m very envious. Hugs to those who are struggling with health and life in general. It’s not always easy to navigate the choppy waters. We have been in the Bay of Biscay for quite a while now- let’s hope for calmer seas as we head towards port.

Thanks DCT, yes I’m hoping once the surgery is done I will be able to focus properly. I’m also hoping getting rid of the gallstones/gallbladder may reduce my bloating a bit🤞
Dawn X

Hi everyone and welcome to another week. Not weighed as I was up during the night again, BG was okay but I just couldnt sleep. Had a cup of hot chocolate (low calories Options). Everything running through my mind, I tried to have nice thoughts, beaches, music etc but nothing worked. Right now I have several things going on and I kept jumping from one to the other and back again. I finally fell asleep around 6am.

Congrats to your son Margaret. I too am watching Strictly but besides the obvious ones I dont really know who everyone is.

Hubby had his 3 monthly doctors check up and all is fine for his 80 years. Popping out now to buy some odds and ends but particularly a bed throw for viewings. We had a lovely mauve and white bedspread but gave it to charity because it was too big to wash and didnt think we needed it. Hey ho. Might look for a few flowers for the pots now the geraniums are dying off.

Have a great week.

HEIDI a big well done for your loss, despite all that’s been going on in your life. You have done so well. And as both you and Sue said, when you pick up an item equivalent to the weight you have lost it really brings it home!

DAWN lovely to hear from you and I’m glad you’ve got another surgery date. Though I agree it does sound as if you’d been forgotten – again! I’m not surprised you can’t focus on healthy eating for long, but just do your best for now and once your surgery is done you’ll have that headspace you crave.

SUEBLUE it sounds as if there is a lot happening for you at the moment and I hope you can weather the storm. Well done for getting your walking in as I’m sure that helps and will stand you in good stead for when you have a bit more time to focus on you again.

CATHY how was your appointment on Thursday? I hope that there is some positive move forward at last.

YOWZER how are you doing? I hope you are feeling a bit better now. You’ve had so much ill health recently and I hope it is now on its way out. Thinking of you x

ARCTICFOX are you ok? I’m really missing your posts and hope all is well. Please let us know how you are doing.

Hope that everyone has something good happen this week X

Hi everyone, sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I’m just catching up on posts today. Cathy I’m so pleased it appears to be an abscess you have after all and hope you can get it sorted soon. Yowzer I hope you are starting to feel a bit better.
Sue it must be a worrying time for you and you’ve done well to continue to incorporate walking regularly. Heidi well done on your total weight loss, it’s inspiring.
I’m afraid I really haven’t been in the right head space to stick to healthy eating for more than a few days at a time then I undo it all by eating stuff I shouldn’t. It’s now around 15 weeks since I was in hospital with acute pancreatitis and I still haven’t had gallbladder surgery though everything I read says it should be done within 2 to 4 weeks of the attack if it has been caused by gallstones. The appointment which was eventually planned for my surgery (which had to be cancelled because I had a high temperature) was 6 weeks ago now and I still hadn’t heard anything even though I was told they would get me back in within a ‘few weeks’ to have it done. I decided to ring the hospital this morning to chase it up. It took me an hour to get through to the person I needed to speak to and I think I had been forgotten about again as no date had been arranged for the surgery. It has now been arranged for 10th November (if I hadn’t chased it up I’m not sure I would have ever been contacted about it) so at least I have a date now and I will aim to eat healthily and not sabotage my efforts.
Dawn X

Heidi you are doing so well! Your progress this year is really inspiring 🙂
15kg is what I need to lose to get down to my target weight – it really does bring it home when you pick up something in an equivalent weight.
When I’m lifting the 24 pack of spring water bottles into my trolley (about 14/15kg I think) I always think about what an extra load this amount of weight is putting on my body and joints!