Another month…I cannot believe I have been on the forum for nearly 2 months! I read all your posts avidly, you are so encouraging and supportive. I now have my fingers crossed for the 11th September when I am having my 3 month blood test! Following the BSD diet has enabled me to lose weight and feel so much better, I hope it has also lowered my numbers back into pre-diabetic! 🤞

It is great to be able to feel part of a community.

Thank you all!

Here are a few positives for the first day of September:
📝🧳 packing list made and some items already put in the cases, ready for our Turkish trip kicking off on 12th Sept
🙂📝 have written my pre-trip ‘To Do List’, ready to start ticking things off … Will be making a start on it tomorrow
💦💦 OH has set up a new automated plant watering system. Going to be testing it out over the coming days, to make sure it’s sound. Already lined up GD to visit from time to time to take care plants at bottom of the garden, so if needs be, she can water the other pots too.

Hope everyone has had a lively weekend, with plenty of positives 🙂

French is standard (except for Quebecois) but if you were to watch the video that goes with the snippet I copied you would understand that spoken French and written French are not the same thing. She is very good at explaining in a 10 or 15 min video with written pages to keep. Also, the French you learn at school is not the language spoken here.
That made it very hard for us as we thought we spoke some French when we moved here but we got a shock. Nous is very formal and rarely used when speaking. I could have used other examples of her videos or you can simply look at them on YouTube to get a better idea.

Thank you S-G this is very kind of you & yes I do understand the use of on but it’s interesting to hear that explanation. DuoLingo being an American site also of course uses American English grammar, vocabulary & sentence construction which is different to British English & is a little confusing but I have assumed the French is standard rather than Canadien style Québécois?
Thank you for thinking of me!
Margaret xx

Margaret just done day one. It is about the history of French wine but the vocab is possibly out of your area of knowledge so maybe not for you. Please do check out geraldines weekly lessons. I can give you an example here is a small paragraph from What The French Don’t Say

1) “Nous” vs “On”
In textbooks, older novels and formal speeches, we use “Nous” to mean “We” :
Nous allons au cinéma. = We are going to the cinema.
However, in real everyday spoken French, what we actually use (and what you’ll actually hear) is: “On” – a simple one-syllable nasal vowel!
On va au cinéma. = We are going to the cinema [everyday French]
Using “on” isn’t slang. And it’s not incorrect, either! It’s just how modern, everyday spoken French has evolved.

Hope that just gives you a taster. Keep going with the Duolingo, I only have the basic programme but I am quite far into it so it is quite challenging but also a good refresher. I will shut up about French now.

I know that feeling S-G with helping out in a local Cancer Charity now on Tuesday afternoons I already have a clash with a seniors club in the village & only one free day a week now for everything else to get done plus my daily French with DuoLingo Max which is interactive. Some of my conversation is hilariously awful but it is telling me where I’ve got it wrong😄. Where does the time go to each day? I have done some exercises with weights today so feeling more positive!
Good luck with your French course Californiagirl 👏👏👍
Margaret xx

Thank you S-G

Margaret I have just looked at the first lesson and everything she says in French she repeats in English, I will let you know how do-able it is.

Hi all, still at the small loss I have made from last week but will do my weigh-in tomorrow before we go out.

Glad to hear you have joined the CommeUneFrancais 30 day Wine Culture course Californiagirl. I have had to turn of notifications as I am getting everything that anyone has ever said, so all those just saying hi or why they ar doing it are flooding into my inbox. Haven’t worked out which might be you. Managed to set it to a more manageable level.

Margaret, hope all goes well for you with the orthopaedic surgeon. I am sure you have made improvements in your health so fingers crossed you can have treatment.

Busy day today what with the French class, it is also the day for my monthly finances. How did I ever go to work.

Thank you for setting up the September thread SunnyB. Well I’m certainly going to make the best of the next four weeks to lose as much weight as I can before my meeting with an orthopaedic surgeon on 3rd October at a private hospital when I hope I can get a definitive diagnosis of my right knee. Hopefully I then might be able to have an arthroscopy but don’t yet know how much it will cost 🤔. A lot of my excess weight & flab is on my thighs & legs because I am pear shaped & they don’t look good plus I don’t want to be regarded as an anaesthetic risk because of my age & still being in the overweight range.
This next week will be less stressful for us because my son has secured the flat he wanted in Surbiton nearer to his friends & his new jobs probation period is also completed next week. He is coming to stay overnight tomorrow so we will be able to catch up then😀I also feel that I can focus more on myself again now he is largely sorted out. You never stop being a worrying parent do you even though your children are now adults?
Right then best feet forward for us all this month then🚶🏻‍♀️🍀🍀
Margaret xx

Thank you SunnyB for setting up a September thread & also S-G for the link to the French Challenge but unfortunately I don’t think my French knowledge is good enough to cope with that yet.
I will join you all in the September thread tomorrow. I had gained 0.75lbs when I weighed today due to not strictly paying attention to the amount of calories I was consuming last week. I will try to do better next week.
Margaret

Thank you for the French lesson recommendation (Commeunefrancaise) Sunshine Girl! I signed up for the 30 day challenge — Wine Culture! It should be useful as we are in Biarritz and Bordeaux in October. The class looks like a lot of fun!

Hi Lucy…welcome to the 2lb club! This week I have also lost 2lb.
It has been an incredibly busy week for me, and I have been very strict. A 2lb loss is great. I am also getting very nervous about the 3 month blood test which is booked for the 11th September. 🤞I really hope that being so strict has brought my numbers back down!

I am finding it easier to cope with getting my head round totally different foods/recipes, but being so busy this week has stretched my catering skills enormously! 😆
I have been constantly scanning the 8 week BSD and fast 800 recipe books for inspiration….love, some, hate some….but it is stimulating my brain and tastebuds!

One step at a time…here’s to next week!

K.x

Lucy as the first week or two of a new diet starts by eliminating fluids, especially low carb diet, yes you will have good numbers. Going at 2lb a week right now is a great achievement. Just keep going. I am sure with your husband also on a plan you can egg each other on.

As for what to eat, keep looking at recipes online. Deliciously Ella is a good site, thedietdoctor has recipes or just type in keto recipes for …. whatever food you have in. You are right to try to vary your meals.

Thank you for setting this up SunnyB. My goals are running from the 7th to the 7th of each month for 6 months with my final date being my birthday in February. So far for August I have met my 3.33lbs goal and looking forward to another months challenge with lots of fun and chat along with more serious advice and help.

Thanks for that SunnyB.

Call out to Margaret or anyone else interested in learning French. Geraldine Lepere is starting a new 30 French challenge for September. It costs €30 (or equivalent) and you get a lesson every day for a month with lessons,quizzes, tests, and is based on a tour around the wine regions of France. You need a competent level of French to do it but it should be interesting. I don’t drink a lot of different wines and stick mainly to white Bordeaux or Bergerac but it will be good to be able to talk knowledgeably about wine when we take friends around vineyards for tastings. Like all of her courses you get to keep all the content for life. Sorry that is completely off subject.

BTW, if you register with her on YouTube you can get a free lesson every Tuesday. Different subject from going to the hairdressers to taking your car to the garage. All free. commeunefrancaise.com. Please don’t report me, you know I am genuine.

The Blood Sugar Diet focuses on managing blood sugar levels through balanced meals rich in fiber, lean proteins, and healthy fats, while reducing refined carbs and sugars. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet emphasizes lowering sodium and increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to manage blood pressure. Both diets promote overall health and well-being. For more tips on healthy living, check out Prazna’s resources at https://prazna.org/.

Just a quick note to say that I’ve set up the new thread for September. Hope to see you all there from tomorrow.

Here we are at the threshold of the final quarter of 2024 …. quite how that has happened is baffling!

Some of us have met our goals on August and some of us have been challenged, struggling and not seeing the results we hoped for. What we ALL have in common though, is that we have persisted and tried our best to stay focused and on track.

Now as we start a new month, it’s the perfect time to make a fresh start. Let’s all try our best to make September a successful month; setting a goal and doing all we can to achieve it. But remember, even if we don’t hit our goal, as long as we have tried our hardest, we’ll have achieved something positive.

Hope lots of the usual ‘faces’ will join us here for another month and of course, we extend a warm welcome to any newcomers who might like to join our merry band.

Let’s boldly stride into September with determination and positivity and make September Spectacular!

Wendy, Sunshine Girl and SunnyB

Nothing much to report today. New airfryer arrived and it is bigger and better than the old one. Now just waiting for the refund in my bank account.

Gearing myself up to clear out our old desk which is full of hundreds of old photos (about 20 albums). I am thinking I could empty each one into a plastic wallet and label it and that will keep them safe. We never look at them but we cannot bear to get rid of them. So that is my task for this weekend. Then the desk can be painted an antique blue to match the rest of the room.

Hi All

Thats great news Snoop. Loss is all about your starting point and how active you are (Im told) BUT I think its all about being determined and sticking to it so well done.

Yes you’re right Sunshine, losing inches is a great sign at first even if the weight isn’t shifting and it is a big disappointment when that happens (Ive been there a few times !!)

JD The first few days/weeks are the hardest. Just keep on going !

Weigh in day for me yesterday after two weeks of VERY STRICT calorie control and some swimming

so last weigh in 128.6 kg this weigh in 125.8 kgs so that’s 2.8 this week so 7kg loss in 2 weeks !! so 1 stone 1 pound loss in old money !!

now on week 3 in THE BOOK

Keep it up all

54

👍🏻 done, we’ll go with spectacular, SG. Will set up the new thread tomorrow.

Friday weigh-in: 1.5 kg down for the week. Had a couple of days of dizziness and unsteadiness on my pins, so am adding some calories back in.
3.5 kg down for August. First month, so not expecting anything like that here on in.
Hope you’re all well and doing well.

So the 2lb continuation goes on!!! Another 2lbs rhis week. Seems slow to me but I’m nit complaining . That’s exactly 1 and half stone now in 9 weeks. At least it’s working.
Still struggling with what to eat at times but I haven’t wavered.
4 and half weeks till holiday so I’m hoping to hit 2 stone by then hopefully .

that sounds great, lets all have a spectacular September.

Hi Lucia, I think this diet has taught me that doctors are wrong when they say diabetes is a progressive chronic disease that has no hope of going in remission ( I wont say cure) and can only be treated with more and more aggressive medications. Many people on this site have managed to turn around pre-diabetes and even full blown diabetes. I have not completely rid myself of the illness as I was already 12 years diagnosed and already on insulin but I have managed to reduce my medications drastically and avoid what doctors told me would be inevitable, worse and worse health. Even at a review 1 year ago I had a blip upwards but only by a small amount and my doctor said ‘what do you expect, you are only going to get worse’. I did in fact get much better results on my next test.

I have also learned that it is not an easy path having to watch what I eat day in day out with very little respite, but one which I would rather take than the alternative of heart failure, stroke, kidney damage, loss of sight, loss of limbs and so on and on.

I will beat this and continue to have a healthy and full life.

Good question Lucia. Think the best advice for me was to look for the non-scales victories and not just the results on the scales. We forget to count things like clothes fitting better, clearer skin, not getting out of breath as easily, sleeping better etc., etc., there are so many pluses! It’s so easy to get hung up on the reading when we step on the scales and is certainly a pit I can fall into if I’m not vigilant.

Your comment about finding ways to move mire
Lucia, had made me think about my scribing levels. Have been gardening everyday for the last week and I think that has really helped me both mentally and physically and …. dare I say it …. thinks it has shown on the scales too! Not consolidated yet, so won’t report it as a real result yet, but fingers crossed.

Or “Make September Spectacular”?

How about “Let’s be Sensational in September”?

I was think along the lines of an ‘s’ word too … perhaps sublime, spectacular or sensational?

A call out to Verano to help us with some appropriate wording, but just looking at some words to describe September and I’ve come up with bountiful and abundant – referring to the autumnal colours and autumn fruits. Thinking of S words, serene, sultry and then I get stuck.

Hi
What’s the best tip you have learnt during your time in all these forums over the years please?
I have two
A. I am enough, I am worth it, I have value , so keep up the hard work
B. Even baby steps improve your health and life
Love Lucia xx

Hi SunshineGirl …. yes, happy to set up the September thread, if you have say ideas for the title, please let me know.
We had a whole day’s rain a couple of days back and it was actually quite nice, as we haven’t that for awhile.
Glad you’re feeling positive and calm. Good to be feeling content.

Anyway, positives from me today ….
🌳🌱 you guessed it … more gardening!!! It really does my soul good. Two big jobs today, we took down a large shrub which had died and gave the bay a serious haircut.
🎅🎄 as we’ll be away until early December, I’ve been sorting out advent gifts for grandchildren, which was completed by a delivery that arrived today.
🌼🌸 have been trying out some different perfume samples and found a couple of fragrances I really like.

Hope you are all having a good week.

A good reminder S-G to keep on track. I am having a bit of a temptation wobble today but am also so pleased that my son has secured a flat to move to that he was keen on! I know I was concerned about him & his stress levels because he is a workaholic & still needs to learn how to pace himself in all things. Perhaps I am reacting to losing some of my stress because I do feel very tired today even thought the sun is shining which usually peps me up🤔
Keep on going everyone & well done with the weight you have already lost S-G you are a star!⭐️and Wow Californiagirl what a saga you have to tell which is very inspiring to wobbly people like me just trying to plod on! 👏👏👏
Margaret xx

Hello, hope you are all having a successful week. I am still losing weight so if you are on a bit of a plateau remember it will shift when it is ready. But you have to stick with it. This is not a time to throw in the towel or, as is my case, crack open a bottle of wine. Just 4 more days before I can have a treat. However, I have exceeded my monthly goal of 3.33lbs and coming in at just under 4lb loss. Don’t want to mess this up.

We are having some welcome rain here today so I had better get the WiFit board out and do some jumping about or maybe a bit of yoga.

Don’t forget to keep on keeping on…

Hi Sunny, just a question. Do you want to set up the next monthly thread, then you are away so I can do October.

My positives

It is raining, a lovely slow drizzle for most of the day, we really need it.
Hit my target weight over a week early but not being complacent as we have a night out coming up.
Just feeling so calm and positive right now.

Thanks DCT – a 100 day challenge is just what I need 🙂 have a great long weekend!

I was at the hospital all day yesterday for treatment but that should be it for 6 months, so now I’m fully focussed on getting back into healthy habits!

Cathy – enjoy your cruise! An old school friend of mine just came back from a Mediterranean cruise and I loved reading her daily updates on FB – the scenery was gorgeous and she really raved about how amazing the cruise was! So Bon Voyage 🛳️

Arctic Fox – I’m glad the fire situation has eased where you are. Our official bush fire season starts at the beginning of October, and although it’s still winter here it’s been very warm with hot dry winds which has set off grass fires in my area.

Hi Lucia,
I heard you that day. I heard you when you said, “I NEED HELP”.
It reminded me of my own moment of needing help, when I was battling getting fatter and fatter (at age 59) and I could not figure out why (despite all my best efforts and lots of exercise). We were transiting through London Heathrow airport and I chanced upon the book, I think newly printed, by Dr. Michael Mosely and his 800 diet.
I remember being SO EMBARRASSED buying the book, thinking, the young woman checking me out at the purchase point was probably thinking, wow, this lady sure needs a diet book! What a hippo!
That book changed my life.
For the very first time, I understood what was going wrong. It opened my eyes to all the new research and the incredible knowledge that IS OUT THERE, but I had not known about it and no doctor had explained or mentioned to me.
I started to read and listen to podcasts and I started to change my diet more and more and I found more scientists who were working on this (my favourite, Dr. Ben Bikman). I am now a different person. I don’t struggle with my weight — my favourite saying now is that MY BODY IS MY FRIEND. I am strong, I am healthy, my hair is shiny, my skin is clear and I have been set free from spending every single minute of every single day thinking I am fat and how do I fix that and feeling shame and self-hatred and self-disgust.
My life is now mine to enjoy and my body is my best buddy on that journey.
So, when you cried out, “I NEED HELP”, I heard that plea.
Keep going– you are on the right path and you will have great success.
Instead of being your anchor, your body will be your foundation.

As long as they are not a temptation.

Hi Lucia, thank you for your very wise words of advice. I know from past experience that I can give advice and it not be taken and I am now not taking that to heart, everyone has their own time and might one day have a light-bulb moment and remember something someone has said.

We are not medically trained (although I was a nurse many years ago) so do not give medical advice but we give advice from experience and a collective knowledge. We are always saying watch this video or read this book and you can be sure what we say will be sound and no scams.

Saying that I have just read on a very old post which has been revived about exercise and a poster is giving good advice about skipping but then suddenly suggests a website – I checked it out and it is selling semiglutide (the miracle injection) so I have reported it. That is how we keep this site clean. I read yesterday that there is a new drug that Deborah Meaden of Dragons Den has invested in. It is supposed to be the equivalent of running 8km in one gummy. Put it through scam checker and guess what Deborah Meaden is blazing mad. So I can report that here and save someone any pain and disappointment.

Glad you have managed to get into the plan and understand our ethos. Keep on keeping on…. and keep posting all your thoughts. In a way we can be your friends if not family.

Back to me me me…. Finally I have lost some more weight and I am pleased I did not give in to temptation. Hoping for another swim today as it might be the last for a few days. We are forecast for rain which will be a blessing.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Hi everyone! Lovely to read all your posts and the medical blooper names made me smile 😀 Just a quick post to say I will set up a new 100 day thread on Monday when I’m back from my long weekend. So will catch up with you all then. CATHY have a great time on your cruise!

Speak soon X

Hi
I usually report in about my own life and progress but I feel I would like to give my two cents worth of you will allow me.

The NHS has no funds for medicine and treatments. The money goes to the top people and not the nurses. The money must go to settle all the cases of people who sue. I have recently experienced that nurses now have a script and cannot deviate in fear of being sued. A nurse who was larger than me insisted , insisted I have toast and cereal for breakfast when she found out I only ate at lunchtime. So this tells me only me can fix me. Gone are the days when the doctors knew your family and understood you. I have to ring up at 8 am , be in a vey long queue of nearly an hour just to get an appointment for one thing. The receptionist booking the appointment will not proceed until you tell them your problem. One! When I asked if , having a couple of problems they could relate to each other , I was told I had to ring again the next day for the second problem. And then you speak on the phone to the doctor. No examination . No eye contact, I think they will soon be replaced by robot or automated questionnaires.

I read in the comments, my take on it was, us long time residents here on this forum, some of us don’t like repeating our knowledge. We feel as if we are repeating and repeating. For everyone’s sake PLEASE stay on and repeat. We can always scroll past it but those who need it in that moment, may land on your precious advice and may act upon it, thus you who repeats are saving a life. Type it up and then cut and paste it at the beginning of each new topic.

Sometimes in life you are just not ready for the advice or help , so with love, we go forward into the day. Sometime in the future …..the planets are aligned, there is a vowel in the month, a black cat has yawned, I have thrown a ton of salt over both shoulders as I can’t remember if it’s the right or left, I have crossed over the road when I saw the windows cleaners ladders…. You have repeated your advice and it has struck a cord with me at that moment. The penny has dropped.

Why after all these years have I come back here to change and save my life? It’s because , you are not tied up in red tape. You can say to me try this. Or you save me time and upset by saying I have been down that path and it doesn’t work for me. Tell me again and again . If you scroll back to last month (July) my first entry I think my first words I typed were I NEED HELP , I was crying at the time.

So please repeat and we can decide to scroll on by.

To those of you who have contributed to any of these forums over the years may I say thank you.
In my desperation, in the middle of the night, when things are so bad, when I feel so small and useless , I open up my iPad and I find friends. I recognise names now and in your words I feel your personalities. I take comfort in the laughter and banter. I reread the advice and hold onto one piece and try and change my life. I have no family I only have you lot. Please keep the connection with me. Keep giving me facts, advice, life changes, jokes , tears, heartaches. Share with me please.

Thank you for letting me give my two cents or please scroll on by
Love Lucia xx

8 know that. I bought some individual packets to stick in my drawer at work, out of the way. The have a long shelf life. If I take nuts I will eat them

keithwray, I don’t think I told you to buy biscuits. I said I USED TO HAVE certain things like a jam sandwich. That was before I knew better and started using plain yoghurt with prunes, or some meat, chicken or cheese. Sorry if I misled you but no biscuits. Also, you don’t need to keep checking your BG, just now and then (I do every day because I am on insulin) especially when you are out unless you are doing marathons or excessive exercise. If you want to take something out with you have a packet of nuts like some almonds or walnuts, very good for you. Check it pre-food in the morning but you can do it every few days. If you feel seriously unwell then go ahead and check your numbers.

Quick drop by with some positives ….
🚗🚘 at last our main car is back on the road! OH was able to do the bulk of the work, with the garage just doing a calibration once he’d fitted the new part, which kept the costs down by some considerable amount. So a double positive there … back on the road, at minimum cost.
🌱🌸 more gardening done, this time two of us versus a huge pot bound agapanthus! Was a fight, but we eventually won by dividing the plant into sections, which has allowed me to share it with others, as well as keeping some for myself.

As the first of the above counted as two positives, think that will do nicely for today.

Hey Sunshine girl, spot on! But actually, the research on fructose (fruit sugars) is even worse than “it is just sugar in a different form”. Fructose is the only sugar that must be metabolised by the liver, thus putting unique pressure on the liver and weirdly, being more fattening than other sugars. There is a good discussion of this in Gary Taubes’ book “Good Calories Bad Calories”.

Cathy as an ex nurse I too have heard lots of bloopers. However, one I remember came from me. I had a burst appendix when I was 10 years old. After the op I was desperate to go home as we were going on holiday but I was not allowed to until I had opened my bowels. Hearing the nurses talking to various patients I picked up on some words. I couldn’t do it in the bedpan so went to the toilets and did a pooh. I went running onto the ward shouting nurse nurse I’ve just passed my bowels. Much laughter BUT someone flushed it and I still couldn’t go home – then they said there was a pooh in the toilet. Phew.

Yes you are right SunnyB, life is for living and doing it in our best clothes feels better than slobbing around in my jeans and T-shirts.

Talking of my grandson, I am going to put him as one of the positives in my life. 2 or so years ago he was what you might call chubby, although we would never say so. His school ‘friends’ called him names and he didn’t have many real friends. I told daughter not to try to put him on a diet. We chatted about what is and isn’t good to eat and he started making his own breakfast usually eggs instead of cereal and made other changes. First thing is he shot up by about 5 inches which was the key and now is tall and slim.

Next positive, as stated on the August thread. Air fryer conked out but good news is we are able to get a full refund thanks to Rita the A1 at Amazon.

Still enjoying the warm but not too hot weather and making the most of the pool while it lasts.

Finally, just feeling so positive, don’t know if I have a calendar with no medical appointments for a change, yes GP in 2 weeks but that is routine but then nothing until 5th November.

As a medical secretary for 40 years I have heard a lot of medical word mix ups! One that springs to mind was when I was working for an Oesophago-Gastric Surgeon. One of his patients called me frantic because she was having a lot of problems with her sarcophagus!
Looking forward to having my left catamaran removed! Hilarious!!

Well done Lucia, you are getting control of your eating and your life. We all feel so much better when we are in control.

I personally am feeling very positive even though I am still exactly 73kgs. That is no really loss for 2 weeks but I am confident that by sticking with the plan something is bound to happen soon. I am still holding out until our quiz night next Monday when I will have no control over my food and I will have a few glasses of wine, but not until then. Having said that I will still push the bread to one side and if there are carbs in the meal I will just eat round them. Being a French restaurant they are not big on carbs although the owner is married to an English woman and the quiz will be all English people so she sometimes tells him to do a bit of mash or something similar but never piles of it.

I a feeling good in myself and have had a few good experiences. My airfryer conked out yesterday and hubby unplugged it and stuck it in the garage. We bought it on Amazon 1 year and 10 months ago and I checked if it was under guarantee. I then had a lovely conversation with a non-person called Rita who was sympathetic but asked if I had treated it roughly, I said no. She asked exactly how it wasn’t working and I told her I turned the timer dial to switch it on and it came off in my hand. She said she could confirm it was still under guarantee and would I like a refund. Yes please. Label sent to me and the money will be in my account as soon as they receive the broken airfryer. We have ordered a new one as I cannot live without it, it will be here on Friday. I love a good result and Rita the computer was so convincingly human.

Had 30 mins in the pool yesterday and doing another 30 in the next hour. Realised the good weather is only going to last for another week or so before Autumn starts to close in – lights are already going on earlier. Making the most of it.

Have a good week.