OK I registered on 14 June and created a new post – didnt show – trying again.

68 years male chronic asthmatic – Type II diagnosed about 6 years ago – steroid induced.

Have been on Prednisone ( or equivalent since 10 years of age for chronic asthma.

Dosage varies due to health. Currently trying to reduce dose once again. 4 days ago reduced my 1mg from 15mg to 14 mg per day.

Just that made a big difference to my GCL’s.

Levels vary depending on what I eat. Dark choc and sugar (in coffee) appear to make little diff. Bread ( even hi fibre Low GI) sends them skyrocketing.

Gave up rice ages ago – consume little potato. No junk foods. Gave up biscuits ( except for the occassional extra-dark Tim-Tam).

Have watched “TrustMe I’m a Doctor” and read The 8 week Low Sugar diet book.

Have worked out much re my problem by myself – I’ve been self-medicating ( varying dosages) for years. Dr’s know little and have probably had no experience with such long term steroid usage.

For instance, 2 1/2 years ago I was having serious trouble exerting myself ( Summer in Sydney – often causes ashma problems). 3 GP Visits and one to my respiratory specialist – just asthma – increase the prednisone – All was OK according to previous Cardiologist visit ( had angina for 20+ years – med controlled).

Went on Cruise, figuring getting fresh sea air would help – 4 days later was in ships hospital – diagnosed with heart failure-no other symptoms – turned out 1 coronary artery was blocked and the other 2 were nearly so. Placed on IV meds on ship – lost 2 litres of fluid in 2 hrs. Within 2 weeks had lost 13 litres (13KG) – as soon as home Cardiologis immediately place me in hospital – next am first stents received – 6 weeks later – 1 more.

Havent had asthma, cold, flu or such since.

Still have lots of belly visceral fat and a fatty liver, for which, according to Specialist, nothing can be done.

Anyhow, enough of my problems. Will try the diet, to a lesser degree. once steroids are down to 10 mg per day, which from past experience will get me off insulin (Nova-Rapid) and halve my diabetes pill dosage ( Diamicrom and Diabex)

Anybody here had experience with long-term cortico-steroid usage?

Thanks.

check the sugars – a dietician put me on a protein powder drink – my levels went up – it was full of sugar!

Dont trust professional advice – check for yourself.

MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE!
end of month 1 – I’ve lost pretty much 2 inches everywhere on my torso – bust/waist/thighs
– and 1/2 inch from each calf. I will be able to buy boots one day!!!

and my BMI is down by 2.5

Cook a veg frittata the night before, store in the fridge, and then warm it up in the morning? Easy and yummy 🙂

And I’ve said this before here – don’t focus on the weight, MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE!

What is your waistband like? Are belts looser, sleeves less tight? Have you got some clothes to judge by?

Weight can plateau, but the inches still come off – yes I know it’s odd, but sometimes it’s the internal visceral fat going, and suddenly your waist shrinks!

Don’t get disheartened, don’t get focused on just the pounds – look at the measurements.

It’s worked for me!

Good luck!

All shopped and planned! Trying to source inulin at moment! 😁

then i wish you good luck too!! this time tomorrow we will be one down !!! have you sorted your menu ?

Day one for me too tomorrow!!!😁😁😁

Where do I buy inulin from? X

Had a late breakfast when I got to work – Greek yoghurt with cherries
Lunch was the last of the Waitrose Fritatta (three portions! pre BSD I’d have had half, then cut off odd slices from the remaining half)
Odd supper – I was finishing up stuff in the fridge before I go away – essentially asparagus, spinach falafel and chicken.

i am afraid i ate the chocolate and enjoyed every last mouthfull as thats what it was the last mouthfull !!
my aim is to get one week under my belt and hopefully some weight loss to spur me on to week 2
hoping you get to your goal josie 53 sending you good vibes to get both you and me there !!

no idea Josie
I think it was Izzy that wrote she had a fitbit and loved it.
I’m making do with my pedometer – it’s quite a good one that I’ve had a while – doesn’t upload anything or do heart rate, but it gives a fair indication of how much exercise I’ve clocked up during the day – and distinguishes between pacey walking and ambling.

typo from Barby I think – resistance band maybe?

John – I wasn’t really saying don’t loose any more weight!
My personal perspective is that from past experience, I looked and felt a healthy size, albeit briefly, when according to BMI charts I was still overweight.
BMI charts are only based on averages, and when I start to get near one of my key targets, either dress size or weight, I may reassess them depending on how I look and feel.
But not the target of wanting to go into a shop and try on lots of boots and have them all fit.
(Leg wise I mean – I appreciate my calves may shrink, but I’m not suddenly going to get dainty size 4 feet however much weight I lose!)

Thanks barby 😃

As long as people want to read my posts, and as long as the posts are helping folk, I’ll keep on posting. Sometimes I can post more than others – pressure of work etc, or away from home – but I’ll post when I can.

John, some of the folk commenting are quite thin! But I know what you mean. Think it’s taking them a while to get used to my new shape (and face).

Perhaps it’s just as well that I need to renew my passport – get an up to date photo! Need to do that soon.

Hi Sooz 83

Going from size 20 to size 16 is fantastic and I congratulate you. Well done.

After BSD’ 8 week you could do 5 – 2 diet also of Michael Mosley. That is what I plan to do, even if I lose my 10 kg on this diet, just started 2 week yesterday.

good luck.

Doddi

Hi tokyo14,

Welcome to the BSD gang. Good luck on your first day, sounds like you’re all ready to go!
If you follow the plan you will definitely succeed 😊
Now put the chocolate down 😅

First of all, well done for throwing the rest away and not going on an all out carb spree of eating even more.

2 stone is 6 weeks is awesome I think if you just pick yourself up and start again you might find that you can just carry on where you left off with not much damage.

As for what helps? well… today I succumbed to a chocolate hobnob snack bar. I felt awful and I won’t bore you with the details but it didn’t end well! So next time I fancy something like that I’m going to try and remember just how crap I felt afterwards and hope that it might be enough to help me see sense at the time.

Ordinarily I make do with a few nuts or sugarfree gum!

Hi all, I fell off the wagon about two weeks ago, in the form of swigging copious amounts of wine. Funny that I stuck rigidly to the food component but the liquid diet stalled all weight loss for the last couple of weeks. Been under huge stress at work (hence the Chardonnay crutch) and I can’t see that changing in the near future, but I’m determined to get back on track. 5kg lost in eight weeks, with another 10 to go before I’m back in my healthy weight range. I’m going to start again from today, with the plan to be out of the house during happy hour, either walking the dog or reacquainting myself with the treadmill (once I dust it off). I’m worried that any particularly nasty day at work will have me practically inhaling a glass or three of wine, it seems to be my only method of unwinding. I have tried meditation and so on, but the brain just won’t switch off, so I sedate it. Very frustrating! Needless to say, I will be hanging around the forum and soaking up the inspiration.

they took blood and I have to wait for a date for the tilt table thing.

That’s the second time I’ve eaten something carby and had a poor outcome! there was the Macdonalds breakfast wrap too. Maybe bad carbs are poison to me now! I best stick to BSD.

Well that’s one tv fitted with a wall bracket and one wall mounted shelving unit all fixed up. Looks good but definitely not time or energy to do the other one!

Goodnight Frog and all!

Hi Lucia
A key factor in choosing my flat is that it has a huge feature arch window!

Good luck, i am day 4 and finding it ok. Am struggling with the exercise. Had a headache for the first 3 days its better today. Hoping to lose at least 3 stone, i shall think it is a small miracle if i get anywhere near it.

well i am prepared i have read the book , read the forum found as many recipes as i can weighed myself measured myself seen my gp !!!!!
so i sit here now listening to the rain with my last cup of tea with two sugars and a bar of chocolate my last one !!!!
i am nervous i must say my worry is i will do it and see no results but i have a vouce that says have faith !!!! so my meals are planned for tomorrow i am having weetabix( i know i shouldnt but my online shopping been delayed so no yoghurt and blueberries till mid afternoon salad with ham for lunch no sandwich and liver and veg for tea 3 lites of water and NO treats !!
so wish me luck !!

Hi Lucia,
I don’t think the tinga and tucka club was ever broadcast out here in the colonies. There was a cute program called ‘Romper Room’ that I liked to watch – it was on mid morning. I have very happy memories of it as the set was a pre-school setting and I’d just join in as if I was on set – very cute. Another program came along ‘Play School’, but I’d already started school then. So I got hooked on play school when my children were young. Oh, there was another show in the ’60’s, ‘The Magic Roundabout’, that was great.

Hi Imogen,
Are you encouraging Lucia with Lucialand? Just quietly, it sounds like a great place to hang out.

Hi Christine,
I’m probably preaching to the converted but if you have sunshine where you are try and ‘take some sun’ (wow that really does sound posh, doesn’t it?). Obviously don’t get sunburnt but it can lift the spirit.

Breakfast for me today is Plain Greek yoghurt, blueberries, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and cinnamon.

Lucia I am gutted – thought you were going to tell us you’d progressed to the triple somersault!
And I love your world plan… can you please talk some of your good sense to the politicians and get us all a break from this referendum stuff?

Happy somersaulting in your dreams tonight – would love to see a video camera of what your imagination gets up to in dreams, it’s impressive enough just when you are awake!

Julia

Hi I am in week 7 and have been good as gold to date and stuck to the plan – then along comes TOM and bam straight off the carb / sugar wagon yesterday 2 biscuits and today I raided a bar of orange Lindt my boss gave me over a month ago which I foolishly left in my drawer – I thought as it is dark a square would stop my craving and instead I went on a full binge and ate 3/4 of it – I had to go throw it in the bin otherwise I would have eaten it all. Oh my gosh – I felt so ill, all shaky and fuzzy. Even though I knew I was sabotaging myself and as prediabetic I need to avoid sugar I just lost total control. I stI’ll feel queasy so no dinner for me tonight. How do you cope with the cravings – are there any supplements that may help. I have a long journey to go with at least 4,stone to lose (I have lost 2 stone in just over 6 weeks) so I would be greatful for some tips!

Barby,
What’s a “resistance bad”?
John

Just do things really slowly, gently, even if you feel like a rag doll, it it for 30 seconds.
Pick one, pick them all.

The one I like doing is, the diving position.

You stand on the edge of a low stair, or step or strong sturdy book.
Put your feet in the step and have your heels dangling over the edge.
Lower your heels an inch, then back up, it’s wonderful for the calf muscles.

I do it on the bottom stair and hold both rails for support.

I pretend I am in the olympics, in the diving competition on the top diving board.
I am giving Tom Daley a run for his money.

Just don’t jump of the step, do a pike, triple somersault and stuck and land on the floor. ( that’s for next week)

Love Lucia
Xxx

Thanks Imogen and Frog – I have just gone through my tops and removed all those that now look too big and unflattering. It’s so lovely to wear something that hasn’t fitted for at least 5 years – I know, even if no one else does (yet!).

This is the first “diet” I’ve ever stuck to for so long, and I feel confident I can do it forever. That’s not to say I won’t have some extra carbs such as new potatoes etc, but thank goodness I’ve lost my desire for junk food. That is such a mental relief. Onwards and downwards 🙂

Hi Christie 1948.

So you can’t exercise for 68 seconds.

Right, I live a challenge.
So you have an emotional knee that’s okay.

So while you aware sitting there, (everyone else can join in) can you wiggle your toes?
Can you point your toes away, then point your heel away, bringing your toes near your shins.

Can you stretch your fingers, can you rotate your wrists both clockwise and anti-clockwise.
Can you lift each arm above shoulder or head height, reaching for the sky.
In a sitting position , can you lean forward, and lean backward.
Can you lean to each side.
Can you shrug your shoulders
Can you roll your shoulders forwards and backwards.
Can you slowly twist your waist trying to look behind your from each side.
Can you blink, can you open your mouth wide, can you touch your nose with your tongue.

In a sitting position, can you lift your leg up off the chair, just lifting your thigh an inch, then back down on each leg.

Yup, I see you can’t do any exercises with a dodgy knee.

If each of us did these exercises whilst watching telly, nice and slowly, listening to your body, you will know how far or how less to move.

It’s a start.

Keep moving, keep singing, keep losing love
Luica
Xxx

Hi Lynne well done from me too, I know everyone says it, but you truly ARE an inspiration for us following, and you have stuck to it so determinedly even on holidays etc, it’s really helped me stick with it, reading your posts over the weeks, so please keep on posting as you shrink.

Re loose skin John, I’ve been wondering about that too. I suppose as you get older it doesn’t snap back as well, but partly it’s probably genetic.My tummy is looking a bit loose, and I’m trying to do some easy sit ups for the first time in years. I may also get a resistance bad, as it would be great to firm up a bit.

Hey everyone – I’ve started a blog called Finding My Way To Health. I’m going to track, in complete honesty, my thoughts and feelings as I go through the 8WBSD process. I’m hoping to post every couple of days. I’m hoping it will inspire others to take the challenge but also looking to build a community of supportive people around me while I attempt to change my life for the better. Would appreciate if you could check it out and let me know your thoughts 🙂

https://findingmywaytohealthblog.wordpress.com/

Hey ladies – I’ve started a blog called Finding My Way To Health. I’m going to track, in complete honesty, my thoughts and feelings as I go through the 8WBSD process. I’m hoping to post every couple of days. I’m hoping it will inspire others to take the challenge but also looking to build a community of supportive people around me while I attempt to change my life for the better. Would appreciate if you could check it out and let me know your thoughts 🙂

https://findingmywaytohealthblog.wordpress.com/

Lynne,

IGNORE the people who keep saying, “You shouldn’t lose more”. Just look at them – I guarantee they could ALL do with losing a few stones. We all know about loose skin and looking perhaps even a little older as we have less fat to plump up our faces etc but just remember an earlier post where someone very wisely said something like, “I don’t want to be the best/youngest looking corpse in the morgue”

I myself am rather disappointed that too many years of being overweight means that as I shrink, my body doesn’t spring back to the firm look that it had 30 years ago, but hey! I FEEL so much better and to Hell with anyone else. The face they will just have to accept, and as for the rest, it looks so much better when I’m dressed, and not many are going to see the unclad form.

BTW, does anyone out there know about loose skin – does it ever get any better or do we just accept it as a minor annoyance?

Onwards and downwards

John

Are you settled back at home now Lynne?
I’m off to Edinburgh tomorrow for a week – the focus of time away is often finding nice restaurants, but I shall take inspiration from your trip to Italy!

That’s fantastic Barby – well done.
Most of my friends know I’m dieting – largely the lack of alcohol and restraint when eating out, so they’re all very encouraging, but I think people that you know less well maybe don’t comment because they don’t know how/why you’ve lost weight, and don’t want to offend.
There’s also that phenomenon of picturing people how they were when you first knew them – and not being that observant about changes! I still mentally picture my best friend with long blonde hair – which she did have when we first met about 30 years ago.
Also, despite overhearing conversations about buying diet shakes online, I failed to notice that a colleague had lost three stone. It was just before I started BSD – I wasn’t as insensitive to be prattling on about my own weight & not notice hers.

sound like you’re doing really well – keep at it, they will notice at some point!
I hadn’t realised because I weigh in kilos, but I’m almost almost at the 14 stone something – 15.02!

Hi barby,

Know what you mean about no one remarking on your weight loss! I met up with some friends recently that I hadn’t seen in more than eight weeks (lost 31lbs on BSD800), no one noticed…now I know I have a lot of weight to lose but…really!!!😕

I have another 4 – or more – stone to lose so will be sticking to the plan. I try not to think too far ahead, like you just aim for the next goal.

Congratulations on your loss up till now!

B – today’s smoothie was spinach, blueberries, strawberries, flaxseed and almond milk. Spoonful of full fat fage to wash it down.
L – tuna nicois salad from pret-a-manger. I have found them by far the best for carb free lunches on the go. Sometimes I just don’t have time to make lunch of a morning – for others in my position, definitely worth a look in pret for the protein pots and salads.
T – leftover veggie moussaka (home made).
Snacks – mini (15g) green and blacks dark chocolate bar.

I was hallucinating about sandwiches about 5 pm but managed to make it home without going into sainsburys where I know I would have bought all the bread and pastry. Am still struggling to get enough fat in – bring on the avocados!

Cals 816 carbs 49g

I had to eat on King’s Cross Station last week and decided on Prezzo as they had most choice. I went for the steak and rocket salad too. It was delicious.

But there were other great choices too. Enjoy.

Hi Frog.

I bought diet tonic water a couple of months ago used to love it – but no longer😳 Thanks for the alternative stringbreaker.

It’s the medics who always say I should be 9st 7lb! But part of me would like to see my weight beginning with a 9! Another 2 stone loss would put me in approx size 12 tops, size 14 bottoms.

I’ll keep going for now but keep an eye on how I’m looking, what size & weight I am. Some folk here are already saying I shouldn’t lose more, but I can afford to lose a little more. They’re not used to seeing me this size, and the change has been so rapid – bug they’ll get used to it😃

Hi
I think the smaller the chilies are, the hotter they’re likely to be!
Have fun with them

Courgetti can get mushy if you overcook it – I literally have it in the microwave for under a minute (and then stir in full fat cottage cheese).

Well I am unbelievably in my 10th week and have lost 25 pounds.That is VERY good for me, especially as I had a weeks holiday within that period, and also a few days overall when we were socialising and I ate more carbs than I should. It is an average of 2.5 pounds per week, and I haven’t done any exercise yet to speak of.

I sort of feel a bit deflated, as hardly anyone has commented on my loss yet, and I know I have so much more to lose, at least another 4 stone, and really should be more, it’s a bit daunting .I feel that when I’ve lost anther stone, I will really be getting somewhere. It’s best to break it up into smaller amounts, so I have a short term goal, i.e. be 14 stone something …. that hasn’t been the case for years.

Being veggie my choices are more limited and I don’t want to get fed up with the food.So this weekend I’m going to try some new recipes I’ve printed off, and hopefully freeze some for weekdays. I was sick of salad at work, so took veggie quorn chilli in today, was delish and very satisfying.

Also wanted to say thanks to all you regular posters, you really inspire me to keep going. I’m sure there are many other lurkers who are helped by your posts. xx

Thanks frog – I don’t like steak but the other salads sound lovely – I was worried I’d not have any choice but it sounds as though there will be several yummy choices☺️ – thanks again x

sounds like the chocolate bar won’t have stayed in your system for too long!
Hope you get some answers as to whats going on from your tests today – at least they don’t sound too worried

some fruit in it – but I had yoghurt the other day with chopped apple and lots of cinnamon – very puddingy & satisfying

Hi Honeybob
they have a steak and rocket salad, which is lovely – literally just rocket with lean steak on top, olives and tomatoes – ask for the dressing on the side
there’s also a prawn and Italian sausage salad, chicken and avocado – and a delicious crab salad – there are others too but I haven’t tried those.
A couple of weeks ago one of the specials was sea bass, which was fine (with potatoes, but I left most of those).

I discovered yesterday that Cafe Rouge also has good options, so I’ll be a less frequent visitor at Prezzo!

Have a lovely meal

I fancy something sweet but not fruit! 😕

Helloooooo Janey 🙂 I don’t know what it is, I have this habit of making even the most innocent things sound awful? I have a feeling hubby and I are going to end up on ‘Overheard in Waitrose’ twice this week… he keeps pronouncing Fage as ‘Fadge’ which – around these parts anyway, can be a slang for a woman’s… er… nethers. ‘Here love, shall I grab some more of your Fadge?’ Fage however, is pronounced ‘Fa-yeh’ or something. And perusing the fish, he pointed to kippers, which he had mistaken for the smoked haddock that I like. He said that was the fish he hated. I said ‘Yes I know, it stinks. Although saying that, my smoked haddock stinks. Not a euphemism’. An old man shot me a filthy look and hubby walked off tittering and left me. It’s like being married to John Inman’s Mr Humphreys being married to me.

Back at the ranch… Fage Total is a greek yogurt. I’ve never eaten greek yogurt in my life, and if I had bought it, I’d have gone for the fat free. Oh no. You go for the full fat one. Oh my days. It is lush. And I had a good 100g this morning (a fifth of a pot) for 90 odd calories. Chopped strawberries on top. These fat-free yogurts have as many calories in them. I got mine in Waitrose, my local Morrisons only had the lower fat one. Not sure about Tesco. An ice cream parlour? That’s just cruel. I know the sorts of flavours these places have, things you can never buy in supermarkets. It’s good that your sugary taste buds have gone though 🙂

Love chillies, I don’t know what these little sods are that are growing in my garden though, but they were hot, and I can do hot. Egg curry??? Pray tell? Please??

Ohhh I will have to have a look for that butternut squash, we like that and yes it is too much like hard work. Swede the same, that goes straight into the microwave, I’m afraid! I think for him it is the texture, in that Courgetti goes to nothing in his mouth. I’ve never tried quinoa, is it worth a crack? Next on my list in cauliflower rice. I love cauliflower anyway, so that’s half the battle.

In other news, I managed over 12,000 steps today, was just under 10,000 so I went on the treadmill for half an hour. Feeling very virtuous. Mum is having us all around for Father’s Day lunch, and I had to tell her no potatoes and no pudding. She asked if we would rather not come… ‘Not… not even boiled?? Not even jelly and tinned fruit?’ So we compromised, I will bring mashed cauliflower in place of the potatoes, and some Fage for the strawberries she will buy. This is the first time I haven’t relented and cheated on any eating plan. If this is for the long haul, I’m going to have to start making these choices. It felt good 🙂

Congratulations from California!🎉🎉

*enters confessional booth*

Ahem. Well, today I ate a chocolate hobnob snack bar. It wasn’t even all that nice. I paid dearly as less than an hour later it felt like my stomach has been infested with 267 tiny fiery demons all trying to escape at once. Indeed their escape became inevitable when I had no other choice but to run to the toilet. (much apologies for the tmi) On a positive note it set off no cravings and I’ve continued my day as normal. A mere diversion from the straight road as opposed to a momentous falling off the wagon!

The ‘fish fingers’ were a big success (picky daughter ate more than any of us!) So those could well become a regular addition.

Interestingly my calories today even counting the biscuit is 866 and 64g carbs so actually it’s still not too bad. I won’t need anything else tonight.

At the hospital a few more tests, poking and prodding and lots of questions. I’m going to be booked in for a tilt table test, which actually sounds like fun lol. I’ll be hooked up to an ecg and a blood pressure monitor whilst they tip me up and down to see if it affects the readings. He didn’t seem overly worried and I’m booked to go back in 3 months by which time I should have had the tilt table thing.

Sooo that’s all my news. I’m feeling tired again haven’t slept well this past few days. I’d like an early night but I promised hubby I would put the new tv brackets on the wall and the wall units he’s bought for the xboxes etc needs mounting. We both play games although I’ve not done recently- well I was addicted to tomb raider at the beginning of the year lol but finished that. I don’t have time for much. Anyway because we both play we have two tv’s and two xbox one’s, an old 360 which really could be put away, an old ps3 that he uses so these new things will tidy them all up.

I might suggest we just do one set tonight and the other another night. We have role reversal here lol I do all the fixing here!

Have to go put the small one to bed, bye for now!

Welcome back Caro! All I could think of as I read your posts is, “been there done that” Here’s the good news: it doesn’t really matter if you mess up, just start again the very next day. And it doesn’t really matter if you are perfect at staying at 800 calories, if you go over, it probably won’t be by too much and it works anyway! And it doesn’t really matter if you ever get on the scales again, you’re going to SEE the difference really soon. I am pushing 14 weeks and I have fallen into every pitfall there is, but, my clothes are falling off, my stomach is concave for the first time in ten years and I can honestly say this works. Just don’t quit!!!! Bad days of all sorts (physical and mental) happen to all of us — I had a bad day Monday when my dog had surgery — I drank a whole bottle of wine and also ate half a batch of cookies — but it is the next day that matters. Draw a veil over the crummy day and just start again. Good to have you back! P. s. Dog is ok😄 (and so am I!)