That is really helpful, yes. He has been given a lot of booklets and pamphlets to read, but tips from someone who has done it before are so much more accessible. I have passed on your advice to him and got him watching the Eat Smart programme to find out how to keep his spikes down for now, but hopefully when he is stabilised he can start to reduce the carbs as well.

Well done DAWN! Youre 2 lb down,and if you hadnt eased yrself into the first week,you could have been another one or two pound up👍 i think its always worth remembering that.X
And well done MIXY on reaching Day 5 of your plan! X👏👏 you made me smile in earlier post mentioning ‘ carb monster antics’..I always imagine my monster as a little gorilla wearing a frilly dress always waiting round corners to try to jump out at me and trip me up!

Hi all, still here. Starting to feel better and did a grocery shop yesterday. Not much energy and still coughing. Better and better every day. So please forgive me if I don’t have anything to contribute.

Have a good weekend.

Did mean to ask if anyone watched Jessie Inchaupe – the Glucose Goddess. I am a big fan.

Hi V, my answer to your 5 questions is 5 yeses.
Long term goal was to get rid of insulin but also a weight goal of reaching 65kgs. Both go hand in hand as one affects the other.
Short term goal – many along the way and these were mainly weight goals.
As above, yes 65kgs weight but no real figure for BG as they are meaningless if I am still on insulin.
Yes a health goal – lower BG and getting rid of insulin.
Yes again, 65kgs takes me to what I was before I went on insulin.

I really havent done too bad as I was 81.9kgs before BSD and now 72.2kgs. Was on 44 units insulin now on 18 (that changes depending on the season i.e. holidays etc). I have had gains along the way, back to holidays, I reached around 68kgs after 13 weeks on the plan and then went on a cruise, regained about 3 or 4kgs and been dithering around there ever since. Now with a goal to get to about 68kgs for my April holiday. Right now aiming for 3lbs a month for 3 months then 2lbs for the final 2 weeks – total of 11lbs.

I am not familiar with Type 3 except there has been a link to Alzheimers and this is probably not the case here. If he is looking for advice about using insulin there is little I can say. Maybe to stick to the dose recommended by his doctor. On this diet his BG will go down and he should be prepared to check regularly if he starts to get any of the symptoms of low glucose which are:-
Fast heartbeat. Shaking. Sweating. Nervousness or anxiety. Irritability or confusion. Dizziness. Hunger. Blurred vision.

Always have something close by as emergency sugar like a hard boiled sweet (I prefer Werthers Originals) or in cases of sever emergency a liquid glucose which can be administered by someone else if he isnt able to do it due to confusion. If the low BG is just coming on try eating some protein or a plain yoghurt with some berries or dried fruit chopped in. No need to be heading for the jam and bread like in the old days.

Be able to reduce the amount of insulin but with the advice of his doctor. I am capable of moving mine up and down depending on food or my numbers but this takes time and practice.

When finger pricking wash your hands rather than useing antiseptic wipes – these affect the reading – always prick the side of your finger rather than the tips. This prevents eventual loss of feeling in the fingers – also use a different finger or side of finger every time to spread the damage. When injecting insulin just make sure the area is clean, no need to wash as most body parts are not going to be dirty.

Hope that helps. Unless there is something specific. No it doesn’t really hurt, yes you do get sick of the idea of it but it is necessary. I don’t know what chance there is of him getting off insulin and onto metformin or diet control. It is up to him to speak to his doctor.

A younger friend has just found out he is diabetic Type 3c, due to a damaged pancreas. I have been told that it is more like Type 2 than Type 1 but he is being sent home from Hospital with insulin, rather than Metformin tablets which suggests a severe stage. Does anyone have any specific advice I can pass on to him? I think this is the diet he will be using as he has already lost a lot of weight.

Maybe the mashed potato could be substituted by cauliflower or celeriac mash, I will have to have a go at this one, thanks for sharing the recipe. I may have a look for alternative lower carb beans as well.

Hi Dawn, great to hear about your weigh in. I am not even looking at the weight coming off during my fast, as I think most will just be glycogen stores after Christmas carbs.

I have now decided what the immediate period post fast will look like and will be doing a (slightly shortened) reverse diet period back to over my basal metabolic rate for a week before even thinking about losing any weight through my 8 weeks plan. So Day 11 (or 8) I will do 300 calories for a couple of days, then 600 for a couple then 900 for the remaining three days of the week. 1200 for a week, then 1500 for a week, then 1800 (nominally my basal metabolic rate) for a week before taking it up to 2100 for a week, which may result in some weight regain. After than the next part of the plan is to do 900 a day except Monday which will be a 36 hour fast like CC 😀 This should help avoid any re-feed syndrome problems going forwards. It will be 5 weeks before I do any more fasting. Day 5 at the moment and still going great, but 5 days has been my previous longest fast so a little into the unknown after that.

Hi everyone,
Weighed this morning and I’m 2lb down, I’ve just been easing myself in this 1st week so happy I’ve lost some, even though it’s just a little.Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Dawn X

Good morning.
Today is my first ‘Friday weigh-in’. I have made a plan to take me to mid April when we have a holiday. I’m going to be quite ambitious and look towards 2lb per week for the next 13 weeks. Initially I have a goal of 7lbs by the end of January than I’ll reassess.
I also have a ‘to do’ list including 5 deep breaths when I first get up, water and moving more. So out with my trusty timer set at 45 minutes to remind me I need to drink!
I’m hoping that a ‘plan’ and a ‘goal’ will set me on the right track for the year.
Hope everyone’s plans are working well.

Hello!

Home again now after a less than great journey. Flight delayed an hour or so because of snow in Manchester causing ‘congestion’, and then circled for 30 minutes because of ’congestion’ with landing slots. Anyway, all in the past now. Home, warm and dry and ready to get going again. Nonetheless we had a wonderful time with our family especially our granddaughter, so that’s my first positive.

My next positive today is really about ‘goal setting’ which I aim to do before starting my new journey tomorrow. New journey! Yes another one but the positive is that this time I’m going to be ‘realistic’ rather than ‘accept the hype’. Too long in the tooth now to be fooled by ‘miraculous results’!

My last positive for today is that I’m really looking forward to my new 2025 plan.

Sounds like you’re going to have fun with your rail card, Pootle …. and well done on taming the tech!

Didn’t post a positive yesterday, as I was in bed crazy early due to a migraine, however I have some for today ….
👦🙂 pleasant time with GS, he seems in a good place at present. Showed him how to make pancakes and gave him a reiki session
👩‍🍳🥘 after ‘going offline’ yesterday, my Aga is back up and running again now, thanks to my lovely OH
❄❄ thankfully we only had light snow and most of it has already melted …. this is good news for me, as I’m not a fan

Do you have any positives you can share?

My personal goal, is to get back to target weight by mid March …. currently that means ditching 9lb. Will be tackling this with regular fasts, OMAD and watching this carbs.

I also seriously need to incorporate regular exercise into my day to day routine. Initially this will be with short online exercise ‘classes’, to start to build some fitness.

MM, I’m sure you can reach your goal by June and V, think you are wise to plan, it helps to avoid drifting off track.

🤞🏻we’ll be reporting good things soon.

Days 3 and 4 still fine, feeling great in fact. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to not have my ankles swelling up at times, but not at all since I started the fast. Watched the Eat Smart programme last night, as you say, not much we didn’t know already, but some of the ‘hacks’ I have been less than observant of have been noted and will be dragged into my next phase of this years ‘project healthy me’.

The trial rail journey went well! We managed to buy tickets from the machine on the platform, and even found out the times for the return trip! 😂🤔
(We are technologically challenged! 😄😂🤣)
So, all in all, a good positive for today.
Hope you have all had some positives!

Casey, well done … 5kg is a great start and as a slow loser myself, I can appreciate how hard won that result has been for you. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, it’s working and means you’ll reach your ultimate goal if you persist. It may not be in the time frame you hoped for, but it will happen.

Hope everyone who has been battling winter ailments is starting to feel better.

Hello everyone,
Just sharing my good news that today I’m 5kg down from my starting weight – yay!
Progress has been very slow for me, but it’s something so I won’t knock it! I was really hoping to lose 9kg within 12 weeks but that now looks unlikely so I will have to think what to do when I get there.

Lovely meal ideas there too , thank you.
It’s been a miserable start to the new year at work with news of redundancies to come in a few months. Determined not to eat my way through the stress but instead hang on to good new habits.
Sorry to hear so many of you are unwell, hope you are soon on the mend. Have a good week everyone!

Thank you M&M! My thought too ….. it’s a mixture of everything! I think my first ‘goal’ will just be to get back to a ‘plan’ instead of dipping in and out trying to find the ‘golden nugget’. I have to agree that ‘mix it up’ is a good way to go. I think your body gets used to two meals a day or whatever and throwing an odd breakfast here or there ‘shocks’ it into action.
Best of luck with you June goal.

That is exactly why I chose my name! I have been mixing up diet ideas and working out what works for me for what seems like forever, but there is always room for more in the mix.

Hi MixnMatch
The programme was on Channel 4 and is available on catch up . I think it was called Eat Smart. Well done on your resolve and your cold shower this morning! You’re made of strong stuff. I found my first fast so difficult and managed 24 hours. I’ve only ever fasted for 42 hours. Im doing time restricted eating during the week and fasting on a Monday. I like to mix things up and try different approaches to weight loss and I think it keeps my body guessing!

Hi Cathy, I actually feel somewhat more energised than normal this morning! I slept well, had a MM style 30 second cold shower to round off my regular warm one and have started my ‘breakfast’ herb tea and feel great. Of course that could also be the effect of not having had an alcoholic drink since Sunday. I woke up this morning with a mild caffeine withdrawal headache but that went away with the shower. I will probably be lighting the wood burner soon as the house is quite cold, but here in Cornwall we are not as icy as the rest of the country. I think to date I have been ‘burning’ glycogen stores as my weight has dropped very fast the first couple of days, so I will see how it goes over the next few days when they run out and the fat burning kicks in. That is when issues may occur if my fat burning adaptation isn’t as advanced as I think it is. I am interested to hear about the Glucose Goddess programme, is it available on catch up do you know?

What a really interesting question! My long term goal is to reach a weight that works for me and can help avoid future health problems like diabetes and eat healthier to try to avoid other health problems like cancer. I set short term goals all the time, not always weight related. Sometimes as simple as fitting back in a favourite pair of trousers, sometimes more health related like improving my cardiovascular fitness. Figures are difficult because they change! When I first lost all that weight I got down to a weight of 10st11 but I have no intention of trying to make that again. The goal that time was to fit back into my wedding dress for my 25th anniversary. I did, easily at that weight but I was too thin for that to be sustainable, I now believe. So in answer to your question all of the above!

My current plans are, short term, restart a Fast 800 at the start of February to try to lose some more weight, although I am considering using 900 calories instead and adopting a ClarinetCathy style 36 hour fast on every Monday instead. Medium term goal is try to lose a significant amount from now (at least 2 stone but no exact figure) by my birthday in June, using the tools of this WOE which I know works. I have no idea what my final weight I am happy with will be, I just know my current weight isn’t it, but then neither was my lightest.

I had a very difficult few years and like many people I got into some bad habits over lockdown particularly when that coincided with my OH illness. My first attempt last year at getting back into weighing/measuring/planning everything fell into disuse after only three weeks, but I managed to remain at a stable weight until Christmas on a stone and a half loss, when I put on a few more pounds. Those were almost certainly glycogen not fat as they are already off again during the first couple of days of my fast. I don’t really have any tips other than forum staple ‘keep on keeping on’ and my own mantra ‘mix it up’ both with exercise and diet, to help stay engaged with what you are trying to do.

I have been thinking about this for a while now. I notice that there’s chat about ‘goals’ on the ‘2025’ thread and I’d just like to ask a few questions here.

When I first started this WoL back in 2016 my ‘goal’ was simple ‘to reverse my T2’. Ok. So that goal achieved and around 60lb lost I, unconsciously, set about testing my limits. By this I mean I introduced more carbs to see how far I could go and remain in remission. I had realised by this point that it was carbs rather than weight per se that would push me out of remission. Obviously the result was a gradual weight gain over the next couple of years although I have stayed in remission.

2020 and ‘isolation’ didn’t result in a weight gain for me but I just merrily plodded along on the same regime. By last year I started to really feel the need to lose weight again. T2 under control and having the knowledge to keep it that way I started to set small goals. I set a modest goal for the year. I set a weekly goal of 1lb. The year progressed and I lost the 1lb a week until a holiday was thrown in and the up/down cycle started again. Anyway by the end of the year I had an overall loss of around half a stone. Poor result for a 52 week stretch.

So my questions, especially for those who have come back to BSD for the 2nd, 3rd time etc., really are:
Did you set a long term goal?
Did you set short term goals?
Did you have a ‘figure’ in mind?
Was it a ‘health’ goal?
Was it a ‘size’ goal?

I guess I’m really just asking, after the initial round of BSD, if you regained and came back how did you get back into the right mind set? Maybe I’m asking something similar to ‘how long is a piece of string?’ which I know has no answer but I would love your thoughts and tips please.

Hello everyone

I enjoyed watching the Glucose Goddess programme last night. I used her hacks last year when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and managed to reverse my numbers to get a normal HbA1c level. I found her on YouTube. I love her style and enthusiasm. I am slowly weaning myself off the carbs this week and already feel much better. I’ll weigh on Friday, I will bite the bullet and post my weight. I am back up into the high 150’s and aim to get to 140 lb. I know it will be slow and steady but I am prepared to stay on the cruise and enjoy the journey. The icy weather has postponed my walking as I am nervous of falling and breaking something due to my osteoporosis so I am staying in whilst it’s so icy but as soon as possible I will be out getting in some steps. I did previously enjoy the walking at home videos on YouTube so that is a plan! Just having a cup of coffee this morning and then am planning on having some cheese and nuts for lunch with an apple and some Kefir. I’ll eat the apple last as per the advice last night.
Hope you’re OK Mixnmatch doing your extended fast during the cold spell!
Have a good day everyone. One day at a time. Slow and steady wins the race, this is our year everyone,

Hi All, well it seems there are a lot of bugs going around, I hope you all feel some relief as my mum got the flu 7 weeks ago and it’s still lingering, so I know how miserable it is to be sick, and here in Ireland we got a lot of snow.
So ,my plans fell flat, amidst this snow, I got a call from my mum who had just left for the canaries, and was miserable and lonely, so I flew out for a few days to either cheer her up, or bring her home, I’m lucky I can drop everything.
The lingering cough was upsetting her and whilst the weather was fab, she was totally miserable, lost luggage, 3 hour bus to hotel, to start off…
I picked up her luggage at the airport and just hugged her, so now she’s on the turn, cough just gone and I can get back to my snow and dangerously frosty roads when I head back tomorrow midnight alone. She’s happy, we all get bouts of misery and it’s no fun.
But the weather is amazing, food is gorgeous, all that fresh fish..just not fasting, but I will be home in 2 days and will be happy to let normal be boring, that’s how I get on track.
Verano, sounds like a fab trip. That’s amazing to be looking forward to…
Lots of great advice, and I’ll go through both books again, I need the stability of them, thanks for all the guidance

Hi Yowzer,
Like you, watching it made me realise how much we already know but I now just need to put it into practice!!!! I’ve had a quick look at my original Fast800 book again at the section talking about the 5:2 which Michael suggested maybe trying after a few weeks of Fast800 but this time I’m going to do the 5:2 for a couple of weeks now to ease myself in and see how I get on then maybe a few weeks of the Fast800 and then continue with that if it still works which I’m sure it will. I will do my two 800 days tomorrow and Thursday and weigh myself on Friday. For the last week I’ve definitely eaten less than I have for a while but haven’t stuck to a food plan. I’m going to get back into TRE, probably 16:8 on my fast days and 14:10/15:9 on my other days and eat as low carb as I can all through the week. I also really need to start drinking water again as that has fallen by the wayside over the last few months. So I’m off to bed now, full of good intentions for tomorrow so hopefully I will wake up in the same frame of mind! I do have my sparkly chart ready:) We may not need wet lettuces on this cruise🤞 Will say night night now, hope you have a lovely sleep😴😴😴
Dawn X

Hi DAWN,what did you think of it? It made me realise how much we’ve learnt after so many years low carbing and fasting, but I think the info given will be a revelation to many people and a very useful help for them in losing excess weight,and I dont mind hearing it all again, I find a refresher now and again very helpful. All three people featured looked so much better after six weeks,it really helped me feel how worthwhile it all is. I liked how the “GG” said to focus on the health aspects and the weight loss as just a happy side effect.
Hope youve got your sparkly chart on the go! X
NOKIE hope you’ll enjoy watching tomoz.I too am going to use some 5:2 weeks in the plan to maintain my weight. I wont weigh every week,just sometimes. I’m more likely just to take notice of how I feel and how my clothes feel. Ive learnt the hard way that losing the weight and then thinking I can just return to bad habits does not work,so I won’t ever let it happen again.
SUEBLUE,I like your plan. In such a long challenge,I think it makes good sense to break it into manageable chunks.👍X

I’m going with Friday as a weigh in day too, as it has worked well for me in the past. I tend to follow a 5:2 approach with BSD anyway, eating approx 800-1000 calories each day Monday to Friday, then a bit more relaxed on the weekend – still lower carb but probably more like 1200-1300 calories to be honest. This is what works for me anyway.
I started today off with a walk again – not as scenic as Monday’s Sydney Harbour one though! I did laps around a local sporting oval which is bounded by a railway line, industrial estate and power plant! It’s a grey, drizzly morning but I’m relishing this break from the latest heatwave!
I had made overnight oats with chia seeds yesterday so had those for breakfast, today is off to a good start anyway!
I’m breaking my weight loss goal down into smaller chunks so first mini goal is to lose 3.5kg, which I plan to do by Valentines Day 🙂

Thanks for the reminder Yowzer, I’m going to watch it now. Nokie I think I may have a look in my books at the 5:2 as I haven’t tried it before and it may just give me the boost I need. Dawn X

Thanks yowzer
I will tape it and watch it tomorrow as busy tonight I think programme might be worth a look.
I am also going to start weighing on a Friday I have decided to do 5.2 I hope this will work for me just trying to do something different to say on this cruise 🚢
Good luck everyone
Lv nokie x

Hi folks …brrrr…its snowy,icy and slushy out there..good job we are snug on our boat! 🥰
Ooh i wonder if Eat Smart – Secrets of the Glucose Goddess will be any good? Worth a watch to find out I guess…ch 4 at 8 pm xx

Hi SunnyB,
I really struggled to find a positive yesterday… but today my senior citizen rail card arrived! (1st time applying even though I am mid 60’s)
So husband and I have planned a local train journey tomorrow afternoon! 🚂 🚞 (I am working in the morning!)
Hope tomorrow brings more positives! X

Ok Cathy! Friday it is! It probably is a good day being at the end of the week. Anyway, they say a change is as good as a rest and I’ve been doing that for far too long!
So here’s to the first weigh-in of the year (for me ) on Friday.

Cathy no point in looking backwards time to march forwards to the new you!

Verano as it’s a brand new start and time to come alive I think it would be good to change your weigh day. I think Friday is a great day to weigh. I weighed yesterday before my fast but i think I’ll join you with a Friday weigh and re-weigh on Friday. I am sad that yet again I’ve not kept my weight down long term . I got down to 144 before my cruise in September and let myself go again. I’m determined to get 140 lbs on this cruise! 🚢. There is no delicious buffet, free drinks , afternoon tea or huge ice cream desserts to tempt me. I think this cruise is going to be the cruise for me! However, I am planning another cruise for 2026 when I am hopefully a new woman with my new eyes and my new fused big toes! A whole new me and at goal weight!

Hope everyone who’s under the weather at the moment will soon be well.

S-g we leave Tenerife on the 21st sailing around the Canaries and then up towards Gibraltar ending in Lisbon. Unlikely that our ships will pass in the night! Hope you’re right about me fitting into new clothes but I guess that’s in my hands and my hands alone! I will try my best starting on Friday.

Thanks for the ‘welcomes’. I’ve chosen my cabin mid ships so I can stay on an even keel. Goodness knows I need it. Time to stop all the ups and downs. I will weigh on Friday but not sure when I should have my weigh-in day. For as long as I can remember, even in the WW days of eating can after can of tuna, my day was Tuesday. Wondering if I should have a total break and have a new weigh day too. Maybe Friday can be my new day.

Anyway, hope all the illnesses are on their way out and everyone will soon be back to 100%.

In contrast to yesterday, I’ve been blessed with lots of stand out positives today …..
👠🧥 bagged three great bargains at a charity shop, the best of which was a pair of bearly worn black suede LKBennett kitten heeled shoes for £6.
🛒🛍 this week’s grocery shopping done.
👦🙂 made arrangements to see eldest grandson on Thursday.

Hope your day has been full of positives too.

Sorry so many of you are struggling with winter ailments …. hopefully you’ll all be properly fit again really soon, meanwhile take care, rest and be kind to yourself.

My result for the week is a drop of 1.5lb. Happy with that, as it’s a step in the right direction for a slow loser. Admittedly most of that loss is due to lack of appetite, but owning it anyway!

SG, there are some really nasty viruses going round- hoping you feel better soon! xxx

Know exactly how you are feeling Tulip1. We have both been ill for over a week now. Everyday we hope to get a bit better.

Hi All,

thank you so much for the new thread. I’ve been ill for 2.5 weeks with the flu, or something similar, thus covering the whole Christmas and New Year period- slowly getting better, but still not well. Sigh. Any how, when I feel better, I’d like to get back on the healthy eating plan.

SG, so sorry about your cat- I have 3, and love them dearly.

Love to all,
Clare xxx

Hi all, I am still here and still ill. Cogugh and cold, couldn’t even be bothered to pop to the pharmacie but dosing up on paracetamol and plenty of fluids. This first week of my diet (if you can call it that) is a loss of 2.85lbs. Happy with that.

Verano, our ship sails on 13th April for 2 weeks on the Med, calling at Spain – Vigo, Barcelona on the way out. Then Rome, Sardinia and back to Spain – Malaga and Cadiz. We are on Cunard. I am sure you will be fitting into new clothes.

Hoping for a healthier week to come.

Great to hear of remissions. Unfortunately, already being on insulin for about 12 years before discovering BSD I am just happy to have reduced insulin and lowered my numbers dramatically. I think I could go further but there are always little enjoyments in life like birthdays, christmas etc. When I say enjoyments I don’t mean cake or bread, just not being quite so strict.

As Verano says there are many things that can influence you finger prick numbers so don’t fret about it, just use it as a range. For example my BG was 130 this morning which is high for me (range of 85 to 125 is normal) but I have been ill for several days and not eating so not possible I have had too much ‘sugar’, just my body fighting back.

It is a lifetime, lifestyle change but is still enjoyable. Heard someone say don’t think what you cant have, think about what you can add.

Thanks…Ordered from Amazon to arrive tomorrow! xx

Thanks Lucy,
Success..2lb gone again this morning!

I would still find it almost impossible to resist shortbread if it was in the house! Mind you, yesterday I found the stash of orange club biscuits that my husband has hidden from me! I cannot deny him his treats and he was trying to save me from being tempted! 🥰 So I had to ask him to hide it somewhere else…but now I know it is in the house! 😩 Just have to be very strong not to go looking for it! 🤣😇
Take care! All will be well! xx

Fast day one completed, I remembered I hadn’t yet made the pea and ham soup with the leftover Christmas gammon so had the interesting experience of making 2 1/2 litres of lovely soup without the prospect of eating any anytime soon, but have frozen some bags for after the fast. I did have to taste the soup but hopefully that will be nutritionally insignificant so the fast isn’t affected. No bad effects at all so far, and still firing on all cylinders so pressing on today for day 2. Welcome aboard Verano, glad to have you with us on our lovely cruise ship. Cathy, well done on listening to your body and cutting the planned fast short. I will be doing the same if any similar effects happen to me. I am with you on getting rid of the excess weight this year rather than it dragging on forever, but as I have done it before once (8 stone in two years) I know the weight can come off that quickly and be safe. SueBlue that walk sounds lovely! We had a day of hailstones and wind yesterday so didn’t go out, but will be trying to get some steps in myself this week.

Hi VERANO and welcome aboard! I’m in a similar place to you in that I need to get serious again. I have let things slide, made worse by a bad bout of flu over the festive season during which I either had no appetite at all or wanted to eat all the wrong things! So it’s great to have your company on this journey which I hope will be a successful one for all of us.

CATHY I hear you about not wanting the weight loss journey to drag on forever. I did so well the first time round with BSD, and have kept a lot of the weight off, it’s just these last ten pounds or so – and, more importantly, the belly fat – that doesn’t want to go. I really want to be shot of it as I feel like a broken record spouting the same old aspirations every journey we do. So for me I really feel THIS IS IT. I’ve got to win my battle this year or just admit to myself it’s not going to happen. And, given the latter is not an option I even want to consider, I’d better get on with it!!

SUE your Sydney walk sounds wonderful; the stuff of dreams! Mind you, I’ve lived in or near London for the best part of 45 years now and there are still many parts of the city I have not been to. I think we all do that – not appreciate what is on our doorstep, or do the things we would do if we were visiting as a tourist. But I hope to remedy some of that when I retire in April. It sounds like 2025 has got off to a good start for you Sue and I look forward to following your progress this year.

POOTLE thanks for the heads up on that TV interview. I couldn’t see it in real time as was working all day yesterday but will see if I can find it on catch up anywhere. I always found Michael to be so inspiring whenever he appeared on TV, and Claire made all the meal planning and preparation side of things seem so simple – and also delicious. I could definitely do with a bit of that energy and motivation right now to really get going again.

Hope everyone else Is ok and having a good week so far? X

Hi Pootle

I buy ‘Sinocare’ online but there are others available too. I would suggest that you keep a note of what you eat and the number of carbs then the following morning test before you eat. I picked up a great tip from s-g. Don’t ‘prick’ your finger ‘tip’ use the side of your finger and you won’t get sore. I would probably do this every two days for a couple of weeks just to find ‘your pattern’. Don’t get too hung up on the ‘number’ per se because there are so many factors that can affect that. For example if you eat bread with fat ie. butter or olive oil etc., it usually causes less of a spike than plain bread. You will soon be able to work out your ‘norm’ especially if you test after a day when you have eaten something really ‘carby’.

Try it and see. I only test when I remember now and again or when I know I’ve eaten too many carbs!

BTW you are too kind! You did all the hard work and did amazingly well. 2025 will be the start of your ‘diabetes free’ life, still be full of ‘pleasures’, just of a less carby nature!

Welcome Verano! Like Cathy, our paths have crossed on these forums before, as I have been following BSD on and off since Jan 2017 🙂

Cathy it sounds like you are off to a good start. I know what you mean about not wanting to always be trying to lose excess weight! I feel like this has been my life always, at least since I was in my young teens anyway (when I wasn’t even overweight – far from it!).

I’m starting slowly as am on leave and still have some meals out and outings planned while I’m off work. I am making healthier choices though and building more exercise into my day.

Yesterday my OH and I had some business to take care of in the city. We left early (as it was going to be a hot and sunny 36 degrees – totally opposite to the snow you are getting in the UK!), anyway we went for a walk around part of Sydney Harbour and the Opera House before walking all over the city for the various things we had to do – total steps ended up being 18,500 🙂 I was happy with that! I did have 1 or 2 glasses of wine in the evening, but I made spritzers with sparkling water – very refreshing on a hot summers evening 🙂

Food wise I’ve been eating more salads and fresh fruit. Although I dislike summer here (too hot!) I do enjoy the lovely summer fruits – cherries and mango especially.

I’m planning on starting each day with a brisk walk for the rest of this week. I’m awake early anyway and it makes sense to beat the heat. I find that if I walk for 30-40 minutes in the morning I have more energy during the day.

Hope everyone else is off to a good start too this week 🙂

Thanks Verano,

I aim to continue avoiding all bread, pasta, rice and potato, using the ‘replacements’ that I really enjoy! I won’t be eating cake or biscuits and will continue to have Greek style live yoghurt with a very few berries for a ‘dessert’ unless we are out to eat and crème brûlée is on the menu! (I used to love sticky toffee etc but think it will be far too sweet now!)
I am still checking my weight, and intend to keep at roughly the same weight I am now, but I have wondered how to ensure the diabetes is under control. I hadn’t thought about finger prick… but that is a very good plan! Do you buy over the counter? What is the recognised range?
Hope you have had a brilliant trip to Portugal, wishing you a very happy and healthy 2025!
I am where I am thanks to yourself and Sunshine-girl. I think I would have failed if it weren’t for your tips and encouragement. I only hope my success will help someone else!
X