Hi everyone,
I only managed to fast for about 22 hours yesterday and then got too hungry and had a handful of nuts, and then had dinner quite late as I was late home. I suppose it isn’t too surprising given that my cortisol and other counter-regulatory hormones were still probably quite elevated, so even though I had a low carb dinner the night before, my body was still not in a place where I could do a longer fast. Lesson learned. I will be spending the weekend eating but very low carb to see if I can be ready to do a 36 hour fast again on the weekend. Bg was 6.3 this morning after that late dinner that included some strawberries for dessert. I got the strawberries from a farmer friend over the other side of the valley. We haven’t seen each other since spring, so it was nice to have a good chat, and I think I really need some normal social interactions for a bit to counteract the family nonsense.
Anyway, on my coffee break right now and haven’t eaten yet today, so I’m going to have some healthy food now!

Thanks CCaTHY and best of luck!
Will buy that book and same for my daughter,it sounds fab! X

Yowser
Everything you’ve said is exactly how I am feeling and it’s time to be honest with myself. I am 64 and have health issues I have no control over – I feel like a ticking time bomb at times and it’s now the right time to learn to be more like your other half and be comfortable with who I am and accept that I am good enough. I will get my holiday weight off and stay mindful of portions, daily walks, healthy eating. You are very inspiring Yowser and I am looking forward to acceptance and maintenance in 2026.
A few years ago I bought a book called How to live like your cat by Stephane Garnier- it’s a lovely book – here are a selection of chapter titles
Your cat is free
Your cat accepts itself as it is.
Your cat is beautiful and knows it
Your cat brims with self confidence
Live like a cat
Your cat thinks about itself first – think about yourself and your well-being . look after yourself. nobody will do it better or do more for you than yourself. (The hardcover book which I have is only £3.58 on Amazon at the moment)
So it’s time for me to take stock. I will enjoy the rest of the cruise and see what I can do to chip away the excess and then 2026 will be my year of maintenance and well-being without beating myself up and battling. Thank you for sharing your experience Yowser. Great minds think alike. I hope you are soon feeling tip top and can enjoy the rest of the cruise as we sail together for the next four months.

Hi CCATHY,wouldnt it be great if we could only be comfortable in our own skin?
So many of us arent,including me. My other half is though,and although sometimes I look at him and think he is maddeningly smug – he really isnt!
He never worries about weight but stays slim,he is naturally active,always moving,he is comfortable in any company because he isnt self conscious or thinking anyone is better than himself. He knows he is good enough,and of course,he is,and so are we,though we beat ourselves up thinking we’re not!
It all makes for a more contented life if only we could get that fact straight in our heads!
I think deciding that in 2026 you will be more accepting of your body is a very healthy move. Different if you have a lot to lose to become more well,but you dont have much to lose anyway,and will have lost a little or a lot of that come 2026.
I made same decision at start of 2025. I’m 75,its ridiculous really worrying about a few pounds here and there at this age. Its been an interesting year, so far,one of the worst Ive had illness wise,but Ive realised a few things about myself.
For one,I know how to eat too little or too much,after all the years of yoyo dieting,but I find it hard to just eat normally.
Another thing,Ive realised that yes I use food to soothe myself,but its the actual buying of comfort food and putting it in the fridge and cupboards that cheers me up,rather than when I eat it. Thats usually a let down,somehow I just feel disappointed and regretful.
Realising those things have made having a maintenance year do-able as the year has progressed.
As long as i can fit into my clothes and can move around comfortably,all I really need to remember is what constitutes a normal portion,rather than too little or too much on my plate,and to remind myself that the so called ‘treat’ isnt suvch a big deal after all.
I think you will find,as you go on your maintenance year in four months time,that thoughts may come to light that you didnt realise before,and they may be helpful insights.
Hope Monday goes ok at the dentist. I havent been able to go for dental check ups this last year as sciatica has meant i cant get on my dentists chair. They dont seem to have any way of catering for people with mobility issues! I just hope they dont take me off their books as its so hard to get a new dentist these days.
PS Sorry for going on so long! I’m just thinking now of your Monty and our cat Ziggy. Cats never seem to have a problem with low self esteem do they! They are effortlessly beautiful and they know it! We need to be more cat! Xx

Hi Yowser
Thank you for your kind words. I do feel lighter now I don’t have to face the op at the moment! Didn’t realise how much is was weighing me down. I’m at the dentist on Monday. Full blown dental abscess (yet again) whilst on holiday. I took some salt with me to do saltwater rinses. It’s definitely healing but still sensitive and there is a hole in my gum probably where it drained! I was so angry with the dental therapist who told me there was nothing wrong before my holiday because I KNEW something was brewing!
Been a good week for me, managed to get home from Southampton despite the train strike on Saturday , car passed it’s MOT, operation postponed, back to healthy eating. Now I want to see the scales moving in the right direction over the next few months. I only want to lose 1 stone. I reckon losing any more won’t be manageable at maintenance. I am trying to be realistic. I know I have difficulty losing weight. I’ve been struggling now for many years so I’m going to relax, believe in the process albeit slow and try to achieve a happy medium of being sensible, realistic and seeing some results. Even if, by December I haven’t achieved my desired goal then I am drawing a line under my constant struggle to be a weight I can’t achieve and will aim to stay where I am and not put on any more. Enough has to be enough. This isn’t me throwing in the towel but realising I have to accept who I am instead of trying to be who I can’t be. I don’t want to waste any more years beating myself up. I am working on acceptance and being good enough. I don’t know why I’ve never felt good enough.

Hi peeps! Can you believe we are almost two thirds of the way through our cruise?! Time flies.
FOXY,you are such a busy bee,like HEIDI said! Sorry about the row at your parents house,its a shock to the system when something blows up unexpectedly,when all you wanted to do was cut some flowers.Well done on all your wins at the fair! Loved reading about your NSV X
Hi CCATHY,I admire how you cope and stay upbeat and positive no matter what the world throws at you. There are some very strong women on this thread. I agree with you about the weightloss jabs. I know people who have lost lots of weight and are looking very good. Its tempting but I dont think its for me,. Plus its expensive! how is your toothache now?X
Have a good weekend everyone,see you up on deck! And remember …persistence and progress is what matters,not perfection! XX
🐝 ¨*• ¸🌼¸¸ 💞🐝*•.¸🌼¨*•💞¸🌼¸ 🐝 ¨*• ¸🌼¸¸ 💞🐝*•.¸🌼¨*•💞¸🌼¸

Hi Sunny so sorry.
Sending condolences to you and your family.
Take care of yourselves.
Sending lots of warm hugs.

Cathy – yes, 5.4 is in the normal range, so you are doing well! Anything 5.5 – 6.9 is considered pre-diabetic.
Mine was 5.5 this morning, so still a little elevated, but coming down gradually. I am fasting again today, so that should take care of it. I had a very low carb dinner last night of garlic-chili noodles with broccoli and the noodles were konjac noodles, but I did have a serving of gluten-free veggie pakoras at the fair yesterday. I have been missing Indian food thanks to not being able to have tomatoes, which really limits options, especially for takeaways rather than homemade, so it was nice to have something. I had them instead of the ice cream I was planning as I hadn’t eaten any breakfast before I went and didn’t want something sugary to start the day off as that would really spike my glucose if I didn’t have it with anything else. So, I’m ok with the 5.5 reading today. I will get back on track and it should resolve. At least I know that the elevated numbers are due to stress and not due to anything I did wrong nutritionally. Just need to lose a bit more weight and waist circumference to get my metabolic flexibility back to where it should be.
Bit of a weird NSV today. I have been wearing shorts at home recently and linen wide leg trousers for work that have a drawstring waist, but yesterday I chose to wear some capris that had been a bit snug at the beginning of the summer. I was in a hurry to change and get out the door to the fair, so just pulled them on without thinking, and then had to spend my time at the fair trying to subtly keep pulling them up as I was in danger of them slipping down over my hips! I don’t weigh myself, so I don’t know how much weight I’ve lost, but clearly a lot of inches have gone by the wayside now. I need to find a belt for them! I suspect it will be an issue when I go back to wearing jeans in the fall too. I just got new jeans in the spring and now they will be too big. But I suppose I could always find a tailor and have them taken in, as I know I can’t let myself go back up to that weight or I will end up diabetic.

Hi Sunny, condolences and big hugs.

Hi everyone, no news on house or weight, but BG was right down this morning (66 or 3.6) even though I reduced insulin. Wonder if it is too soon for Yerba Mate tea or maybe it made me not bother about snack or feeling hungry. Time will tell.

Had a chat with hubby and he has agreed to keep out of the way in future. This was unusual as it was a different agent and she asked is to stay close by to answer any questions. Trouble was they wanted to know about the pool and once he went and told them he seemed to just hang about and mansplain everything. Yes things are different in France but if someone is coming to live here or have a holiday home they can find things out for themselves rather than have it all explained to them. Also, he does tend to be Mr Negative, he always sees the downside before the good in something.

Hopefully, there will be more viewings and I will do the talking.

Hello
I feel like the Sword of Damocles has been removed. I didn’t t realise how stressed I was feeling about the proposed foot surgery. All things considered I am pleased it’s being deferred- maybe the risk outweighs the benefit for me especially with the ongoing Schwannoma issues being monitored at Christie Hospital.
Had hot raspberries on cold Greek Yoghurt this morning for breakfast and it’s so delicious. Am determined to use the next four months to help me shed whatever I can. My fasting blood glucose was 5.4 ( is that good ArcticFox?) I am pre diabetic so need to be mindful of keeping sugar/carbs out of my diet. I reversed the numbers last year but they crept up again this year. Nurse advised repeat blood test in one year but I figure if I can lose some excess weight and work on reducing carbs I can reverse the numbers again. My HbA1c was 43. I think normal in UK is 41 and below.
I feel like I’ve been given a get out of jail free card now the op is not going ahead and I feel positive that with some effort I can get back into the 140s to start my maintenance next year. I’m going to be using all the tools I have so a mixture of low carb, fasting, calorie counting, walking and healthy nutritious food only. Looking to making more soups over the autumn/winter.
I am envious of all the people who seem to be losing weight so easily with the injectables but it’s not a route I am prepared to risk as I am averse to medication and it’s side effects. It has felt tempting at times though!

No worries Margaret – I was an aged-care nurse for many years, now retired, so have some experience with the havoc antibiotics can wreak on a system weakened somewhat after major surgery. I just hope the probiotics are helpful. Kefir and Greek yoghurt are both very good for the gut biome so I’d still keep taking them too.
And thank you! I was getting so down about the weight not shifting, even though I was sticking religiously to my diet. I think I wouldn’t have felt so hard-done-by if I’d cheated a bit, you know? Anyway, fingers crossed my weight keeps going in the right direction!
Take care of yourself,
Lacy xx

Thank you Lacy its very kind of you to do some research for me I am very touched & grateful 😍
My husband & I have a daily Kefir which is a pre-biotic of live good bacteria but of course that will be not much use whilst I’m taking antibiotics but I am still having it & organic natural Greek yoghurt. I will have a look for Optibac Travel Abroad.
Thank you very much & well done getting back to losing weight again 👏👏
Margaret xx

Hi all,
S-G – you could have been describing my OH! And honestly, I think that’s why house agents usually insist that the owners are not in the house when they’re holding a viewing over here! Fingers’ crossed that they just regard him as refreshingly honest and make an offer because of it (stranger things have happened!)

Margaret – you’re really going through the wringer at the moment! Apart from trying fermented foods, I think the other thing S-G was thinking of was Probiotics. There are specific ones that are very helpful for treating antibiotic-related diarrhoea. I had a look online for UK products and Optibac Travel Abroad has the 2 specific strains that are recommended. (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG & Saccharomyces boulardii). If they don’t seem to be working you might try one containing Lactobacillus casei, which is helpful if the diarrhoea is caused by an overgrowth of a specific nasty bug (clostridium difficile). Optibac One Week Flat contains that one, but I’m sure there are lots of other brands that you could look at. Don’t know if they’d help or not, but it can’t hurt to give them a try.

After more than a fortnight of almost no weight loss I decided a bit of shock-therapy was needed. So I did a 36 hour fast, which worked brilliantly. Dropped a kilo, half of which went straight back on again of course, but I’ve lost that too within a day or so and am steadily losing weight again. I’ve done IF in the past so knew how to go about it safely, but it was still very hard. Fasting while on a severely restricted diet is a completely different experience to fasting while eating ‘normally’. But it kicked me off the plateau, which was the aim!

Anyhoo, take care everyone,
Lacy xx

Hi everyone,
Feeling a bit better about things at the moment. Yesterday was quite tough trying to get through work, and I didn’t feel much like anything to eat until the end of the day when I was quite hungry. But didn’t feel much like preparing anything, so had some chickpea salad and rice dolmades out of tins, so quite a bit higher carb than I have been eating but I went for a walk after to try to blunt the spike. I was at 5.7 mmol/L this morning, so still in prediabetic range after my upset and now a higher carb meal on top of it, but at least it was a few points lower than yesterday.
I met my dad and younger sister at the fair today and they are still speaking to me at least. My dad always likes to pretend that conflict has never happened, so that is pretty normal, but my sister asked if she could come to the pottery studio with me on Saturday, and I didn’t know if she would as the family conflict always really upsets her. They told me that my older sister is going home today, which was earlier than she had planned, but I don’t know if that was her decision or if they asked her to go, and I’m not asking!
In some nicer news – my hardneck garlic won best in show! It was an extremely competitive category with over 20 entries, so very pleased about that. I picked up a couple of firsts and seconds in the floral division as well. My dad was the real winner though. He has struggled with his entries the past several years, but his garden did really well this year and he won several best in shows in the fruits and vegetables. So I was pretty happy for him and he was pretty pleased as well.
Anyway, back to the healthy eating and trying to get my bg down again. I got my surgery date yesterday and it will be October 20th, so now I have a target to work towards.
Cathy, I suppose that is good news about your toe and not needing surgery, and glad you can just concentrate on you now.
Hope everyone else is doing well!

Hi Sunny
Thinking of you and sending you lots of love at this difficult time. How comforting to know your lovely mum is no longer suffering.

Have wanted to drop by, but felt reluctant in case doing so ‘trashed the vibe’. However I’ll simply state my positive as, ‘Mum’s suffering is now at an end’. Consequently, I’ll try to post here more frequently, now that my time is not focused on her care and wellbeing.

S-g could you ‘lock up’ OH in a barn or somewhere when you have a viewing.???

Thanks Margaret, as for your problems, antibiotics can cause loo problems. Maybe try some saurkraut or kombuca, something to replace the gut bacteria that antibiotics destroy. What am I thinking of….. fermented foods I usually get from the health store.

S-G fingers crossed for your next viewings to be positive 🤞🤞
I am feeling miserable at the moment because I now have a UTI so on another course of antibiotics with the having to stay close to the loo with more antibiotics side effects plus not sleeping only having 1.5 hours last night. I really don’t quite know what to do with myself at the moment 😢 I can’t take Imodium with antibiotics!
Margaret xx

Hello everyone
Sorry to read about your bust up ArcticFox. Hope you’re feeling ok. Very upsetting.
I am back to healthy eating. Enjoying cooking and eating healthy food. Went for my pre op yesterday ECG, bloods. BP etc. today I went to see the consultant who had decided he is not doing my toe! I was shocked! He listed me two years ago and I chickened out at the last minute. He examined me today and said he didn’t think my toe was ready for surgery, that I’ve adapted to the pain and have a high pain threshold!!! I am wondering if it is some waiting list initiative! He is going to have a telephone consultation in six months. Maybe he thinks the risks are not worth it when I am mobile at the moment. I’m partly relieved but perplexed! I have bone on bone arthritis. I was really shocked as mentally I am prepared for imminent surgery! With the Schwannoma business still ongoing maybe it’s for the best. I have learnt to go with the flow more these days.
Now I’ve got my life back I can concentrate on losing weight over the next four months. I’ll chip away, keep walking and eating healthily and see how I do.

Hi V, thanks for reporting that. It was my exact post from a few weeks ago. Bloody A1.

Nothing to report except we had our viewing this morning – they were 2 hours early but luckily we had done most of the hard graft. Now all I need is a gag for my husband, he cant say anything without it being a negative. For example, they loved the gazebo, hubby says but is lets the rain in when it is heavy. Pool, tells them that it is hard work and the pump has to be removed every winter and it is heavy. No it is just him that likes to remove it every winter because he is faddy about keeping things nice. We have a fosse and there is a long run out to the stink pipes, hubby tells them they cant grow anything on it because of the pipes, not true, you cant plant anything with deep roots, so no trees, but you could plant bushes or have a vegetable garden. I could go on, I now have a list of things he is not allowed to say. When the viewers had gone the agent said you really shouldn’t mention negatives. So he has had a bo–cking from her and then from me. Im thinking of telling people he has dementia. I know that would be cruel but he does come out with some strange things that are simply not true. If viewers of the future have any questions they can ask me.

No change in weight but still steady. I got my delivery of Yerba Mate tea powder as recommended by Dr Bikman, lets see if it does anything for me.

I think I need to have a ‘to do list’ again as I seem to be missing out essentials every day! How can you forget to ‘drink water’?!!

📒✏️🖍️I do so much better when I ‘tick’ things off as I go along so it’s back to my little notebook today.

👩‍🦳☎️😀 Surprise phone call from friend I’ve not spoken to in a while. Lovely chat.

💦☔️🌤️Today should have been wet, wet, wet but we have sun! Lovely surprise.

Hope you’ve had a positive day.

Post above reported.

Thanks for the gazpacho reminder Verano. I shall do some straightaway. I was getting tired of ratatouille!

My positive today was finally using some of the moisturising products that have been sitting in the bathroom cupboard for months/years. Spoiling myself and at no cost – what’s not to like!

Have a good day.

Hello All
Hope your tummy has sorted itself out SG, especially with a viewing – hope it goes well for you. Bit dissapointing on the scales for me this week as have gained back 1 kilo of the 4 I have lost since starting 🙁 Not sure why but hey ho. I have done several hours of strimming this week and the trimmer is so heavy I can’t attach it to the harness on my own – so quite a workout! Also riding every day ( keep promising my little horse I’ll be lighter tomorrow….lol) In better news, my blood pressure has dropped and sustaining good levels so I am pleased about that. Soft return to teaching next week, then full on the week after so a bit more routine may help. Good luck everyone

All sounds good s-g👍👍👍

Yes another day but difficult to find a positive! But I will…..

🍅🌶️🥒 had the last of my home made gazpacho today for lunch. It was lovely. Must make some more before the summer ends!

Hope today has had a positive or two for you.

Im here for my weekly weight reveal and can say that I have lost 1.5 lbs, total of 5.25 over the last 5 weeks, so back on track to lose 7lbs in 7 weeks.

I have stopped counting calories so I don’t sweat over the good stuff like avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds etc. They add the calories but are so good for you. I have stopped the odd carb creep like the Ryvita and maybe half a baguette now and then. I stop eating at 8pm and make my breakfast for 10.30 am as long as my bg is just okay, if my bg is good I can go to lunchtime so yesterday did 17 hour fast. The missing breakfast is easiest for me because hubby eats before I get up so is not put out by my not having anything. But it is difficult to let him sit down for lunch or dinner (which we always sit at the table together) and me not eat anything. Anyway, it seems to be working.

Next week I will weigh on Monday as we are out Monday night and bound to have a negative effect although the food is generally starch free there is the bread and the wine. After that I will have 4 days to blood tests and 9 days to doctors appointment, so still determined.

Have a good week everyone. It is still hot here (32 today) but we are looking forward to rain and storms. Forgot to say, we have a viewing of our house tomorrow so I have expended lots of energy cleaning and putting things out of sight 🙂

Hi everyone,
Not much time today as I’m back at work. I managed to get my entries in on time. Things took a big turn for the worse when I went over to my parents’ to cut more flowers. I had a big bust up with the family due to my older sister taking issue with some things I said to my mum when she was trying to organize a take away meal for dinner. She wanted me to come, but doesn’t want to cause a fuss with the restaurant by ordering special things or giving them special instructions. I couldn’t even try to work through that issue with her because my sister kept butting in and saying I was bullying my mom and accusing me of elder abuse. My mum is a very strong woman and wouldn’t put up with anyone bullying or abusing her, especially not me. I was the one who stayed calm throughout and tried to explain I was just trying to get my dietary needs met if I was going to have dinner with them, but by the end, my sister was screaming at me and telling me she was sick of me, and I was feeling really unsafe as she has been physically violent with me in the past, so I told my parents I wouldn’t be coming for dinner, and that I wasn’t safe to come back as long as my sister is there visiting.
Sorry to dump all this on you. I did manage to get an emergency appointment with my counsellor after I got home and had a full debrief, which was good. I had a call with my godmother too who reminded me that back when my grandma was still alive, it was my mum who was not terribly nice to my grandma and that she used to often visit my grandma just after my mum had been to visit (just the way their schedules worked out) and often found her upset and even in tears once. But the point I wanted to make here is the impact of stress on blood glucose. I ate breakfast yesterday, but barely had any lunch and then had to rush to get my entries in on an even shorter timeline than I originally had, forgot to eat any dinner, and still my bg was 6.0 this morning, so back into pre-diabetic range. Possibly a bit dehydrated due to how hot it was yesterday, but I was remembering to drink lots of water, so I’m sure it’s not completely attributable to that. Very frustrating, but at least I know there is no way that it is my fault. Will be interesting to see how long it takes for my system to process this stressful incident.
Hope everyone is having a far better time!

Wow ArcticFox, I felt tired just reading your post! You sound very busy in a lovely way. Best wishes for the competition and well done on your healthy eating!

I am popping in with a NSV. We bought a replacement engagement ring for me last year – the old one was falling apart and would cost too much to repair. But the replacement was too small ….. until yesterday. I am so pleased I can now wear it comfortably. 🙂

Welcome back Clarinet. So pleased to read that you had a good holiday, despite the tooth problems. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

And Yowzer, thanks for the encouragement. But I think I am still way too heavy to be carried on anyone’s shoulders!

Have a good week everyone.

Time for the daily check-in. I only fasted 24 hours yesterday. I was getting very hungry and tired, so figured my body was telling me I needed food. Had a salad with some brie, smoked salmon and a few blueberries. Was worried those blueberries might spike me, but I had a busy evening watering the garden, so that may have blunted it. Bg was 5.2 again this morning, so I’m glad that I am still in normal range consistently. I am super busy today getting ready for the fair as we have to get our entries in this evening so they can be judged on Tuesday, and then it will open to the public on Wed. So I was out cutting flowers for my arrangements first thing, had my interview for volunteering with the Girl Guides, got my flowers out at the farm stand, put the recycling out, loaded the dishwasher with all my vases that I will need for the fair, and then finally just had a breakfast of avocado on seed crackers. Now I’m off to my parents’ place to cut some more things from their garden for the two floral arrangements I am entering. I still have to choose which garlic bulbs I’m entering, and I’m waiting for a couple of gladioli out in the garden to see if they will open a bit more before cutting them. I hope I can get all of this done before the 5pm deadline!
Keep on keeping on everyone!

Lovely day today although it could be the last for a while.
I didn’t manage my one-a- day this week which is very poor really.
It’s Monday new week so this week I’ll do my very best to find at least one ‘positive’ a day ….shouldn’t be too difficult…..

🥗🍓🐟 Lovely lunch catching up with family yesterday.
Although I have to say fish was way over cooked. I’m sure lots of people don’t enjoy fish because of the fear of bones but more so because fish is so often over cooked so is as dry as a bone … no fun really. I have a fool proof method!

Anyway, hope everyone is well at best, and as well as can be expected, at worst.

Hi everyone,
Checking in daily right now as it is helping to keep me motivated.
Yowzer, you’ve done a lot of reading to catch up! My injuries have pretty much healed now. I am doing exercises to strengthen my calf so I don’t injure it again when I go back to dancing. My hand is still a little sore, but I’m able to type all letters now without pain and I’m headed back to pottery next week to try it and see how it goes. I registered for a 4 week class in Oct, so it needs to be functional by then!
So, my blood glucose was 5.2 this morning after eating 3 meals and a snack yesterday. I seem to be getting into a consistent pattern now with my fasting glucose – 4.5 after a fasting day and 5.2 after an eating day. Much better than the 5.6’s I was having last week when I only did 1 fast. Alternate day fasting is working for me at the moment, so I’ll give it another week to see where I’m at and then I may back off and see if I can maintain my good numbers with less fasting.
I was rushing around the garden this morning trying to get some bouquets organized for the farm stand and cutting some roses and gladioli to enter in the fall fair and my legs were pretty tired, so I think I might have drained a lot of the glycogen out of my muscles. They feel like they do when recovering after a hard workout.
Cathy, welcome back from your cruise. That is an impressive amount of walking to get in on a ship! Sorry to hear about your dental issues. Hope you can get that resolved soon.

Sunny I can’t think of the right words, but just wanted to say I am thinking of you. Good to know that you have your friends and family around you at such a challenging time.

Positives?
1. A gorgeous clear sunny day today. I made it to the top of the dunes without being breathless. Another NSV!
2. I am still appreciating all that summer has to offer – lots of rainbow salads that look picture perfect and are really appetising.
3. My choir restarts next week, so looking forward to singing and socialising.

S-g I’m sure that we can eat too little. I find when I eat three meals a day I do far better than when I try to ‘starve’ on 800 calories. After all, 800 calories was supposed only to be for 8 weeks! When we cruise I eat three meals a day every day, not overdosing on sweet stuff etc. but manage to only put on 2-3lbs? At home I usually eat brunch and dinner.
Yes go for proteins and oils!

Arctic, I have watched the Dr Bikman video and ordered some Yerba Mate tea which is supposed to increase GPL1 by 40%. Maybe clutching at straws or wasting my money but worth a try.

Hi guys! Happy Bank Hol weekend to those in England. Next BH will be Christmas..yikes!!!!
DAWN very best wishes for 1 st Sept xx Im glad you and your Mum are ok after that terrible fright.
I love how you food plan! I think I need to take a leaf out of your book and do the same.
CCATHY ..best wishes you too with early Sept op coming up! Xx I am so sorry youre suffering with your teeth,as well as everything else,. I always think there is nothing worse than toothache,specially when an abscess is involved..ouch!. Have you tried rubbing oil of cloves on your gums,it sometimes helps. You were very active on your hol,all that walking and stairclimbing!👍👍 I’m glad youre reunited with Monty,I love that name,so cute! Xx
FOXY,Sad to read about all your recent accidents – we all seem to be unlucky this year with various accidents /ailments/illnesses 🫤- and sorry to hear you were so ill with Epstein Barr. I have had ME for thirty years now,think the symptoms are similar to EB. Much improved now but it has never gone away completely,and these days joined by age related problems that someone else mentioned ( CCathy?)xx
HEIDI thunderous applause on your almost two stone weight loss! Specially with the worry about your hubby – it wd be so easy to draw a chair up to the fridge when life gets so stressful.
I am go8ng to run round the decks carrying you on my shoulders!
Like DCT and CC I am intrigued as to who you were back in the day! 😄
Loved yr Dr H ‘ food is code’ quote 💕 xx
DCT Great news about finding your dream gym! I too stalk my DD on IG! 🙂🙃xx
POOTLE thats so sad about losing your brother,and to lose him when we had those lockdown restrictions makes it even harder to bear. It must have been an absolute nightmare for you and your family. Xx sending hugs xx
MARIET my Beau has Dupuytrens too. You have really been through the mill going through seven ops. Sending hugs and one too to your dear Mum aged 91! Your family has good genes!xx
Love to all,and Shout out to SUEBLUE! NOKIE ! MIXAND MATCH! Hope you are all ok? xx
“ May the dream of peace take flight across the world “
🐝 ¨*• ¸🌼¸¸ 💞🐝*•.¸🌼¨*•💞¸🌼¸¸

Hi everyone, all is well with me and weight is starting to come off even though I am eating more. BG is steady at between 4.6 and 5.2. Just needed to get into the right head space and Jason Fung was the answer. It is no good sticking to 800 calories and not eating enough of the good stuff like proteins and oils, stopped looking at the calories. Yesterday I had a really big green salad with tuna and included half an avocado and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I wont be swimming today as I am suffering from my usual Sunday morning tummy. Even before I have finished eating brunch I have to rush to the toilet. Have now been 4 times but taken an imodium. I am going to have to work out what causes this – it is regular as clockwork. Alternative weeks of bacon or sausage – so not that, canned tomatoes – could be. Fried egg, well I am a bit sensitive to eggs but eat them most days boiled and has no ill effect. Finally, mushrooms fried in rapeseed oil. That is going to be the first thing I cut out as they absorb a lot of oil and that might be it. Hey ho, stuck in the house close to the loo.

Hope you in the UK have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday.

Thanks Verano. I try to take a little time for myself everyday. Yesterday was special as my lovely OH visited and we were able to duck out for a meal together and my youngest DD, husband and son came to say goodbye to Mum and she recognised them.

My positives for today are …
🌸 at last they have mum’s pain undercontrol
🌸 sunny day has afforded me some time pottering in the garden

Hope the Bank Holiday weekend brings lots of good thing for you all

Hi all,
Fantastic news about your knee Margaret, and I imagine it is a relief to finally finish your antibiotics. Some of them have very nasty side-effects indeed, but we’d be in a lot of trouble without them, wouldn’t we!
And thank you Arcticfox and Sunshine-girl for all the fantastic information and useful links/resources you’ve shared. I am learning so much!
My weight loss has slowed to an absolute crawl. But I still have a way to go, so I’ll just keep plugging away!
Hope everyone is doing ok,
Lacy xx

Hello everyone
I’m back from my cruise today and will catch up on the thread over the weekend. Had a wonderful holiday but ready to knuckle down in anticipation of joining a maintenance thread in January 2026. Hard work starts tomorrow. Won’t be looking at the post holiday damage on the scales- my clothes are telling me what I already know! I’ll get back to basics and weigh myself in a fortnight!

Lovely to see you back Yowser but sorry to hear about your friend and that you’re still battling health issues and sorry to read that another member of our cruise party has come down with shingles. Hope you feel better soon DCT . I was very lucky when I got it a couple of years ago because I only had burning pain for about a week and then everything settled down and I wasn’t given any medication. The recent bouts of shingles seem to have been very severe. Look after yourself DCT.
Heidi- what an inspiration you are – well done on your continued weight loss and ArcticFox you are also an inspiration. You seem really focused on achieving your goal and working on your blood sugar levels.
I’ll catch up with what I’ve missed properly on the thread jist had a glance on the train coming home today- the strike meant I had to travel home via London instead of a direct train from Southampton to Manchester- nightmare journey home today! Got a busy week ahead. Pre op assessment on Tuesday and consultation with orthopaedic consultant on Wednesday so hopefully not too long to wait now to get my first big toe fused. I’ve got another dental abscess and despite a trip to the dentist pre cruise when she told me everything was ok even though I knew it wasn’t and was having pain, I’ve been having to do hot water salt rinses on my holiday as my gum is swollen and painful and there is a nerve exposed! 😱 so painful. I’ll ring on Tuesday for another appt!! My teeth have all moved about and my bite has altered.
Always lovely to come home and Monty my cat was pleased to see me . I missed him. Looking forward to healthy eating again. My step count was impressive on the cruise! Walked 33 miles last week according to my Fitbit! Also climbed 9 flights of stairs most days! I feel like I’ve put on about 10 lb but I’m not wanting to see that on the scales so I’ll work hard now and see what I can do before the end of the year.
Have a lovely weekend everyone and it’s nice to be back amongst so many inspiring friends .

Great to hear from you Yowzer. Sorry about your ongoing issues. Hope you get some relief soon!
DCT – sorry to hear about the shingles. Hopefully you can get through it fairly quickly now that you are on the drug cocktail.
Heidi – yes, I think there has been an uptick in shingles. Here, it has typically been thought to be something that only happens to the over 50’s, but a lot of younger people I know have been coming down with it lately. My theory is that it has to do with Covid. Covid is known to re-activate herpes viruses, as is the case for some cases of long Covid where the Epstein-Barr virus is reactivated. Shingles is the chicken pox virus being reactivated, and it is also a herpes virus, so I’m suspecting that Covid may be responsible for all the new shingles cases we are seeing. I could be wrong, but in the early days of the pandemic when all the doctors and researchers were flummoxed by long Covid, I called it, saying it was likely reactivation of Epstein-Barr, and now that has been proven out in a lot of cases.
I have a bad personal history with herpes viruses as I was extremely sick as a child with chicken pox and contracted Epstein-Barr from a friend at school who used to spit when she talked. She was only sick for 2 weeks and I got chronically ill from it for 11 years. It is one reason I have been so cautious about not getting Covid (so far so good, I know I probably will get it one day). The shingles vaccine is only covered here if you are over 50. I have a friend who got a severe case of Covid in the early days that did permanent damage to her lungs and heart, and she ended up just paying for the shingles vaccine herself. It actually wasn’t that expensive. I have my 50th coming up and I will be scheduling an appointment to get my jab on my birthday. My physio did that because the physio who owns the clinic where she works got a horrific case of shingles and has not been able to work ever since, so I am copying her.
Anyway, enough about infectious disease. I’m just checking in as I break my most recent fast. Blood glucose was down to 4.5 again this morning. It was 5.2 yesterday morning at the start of this fast, after my last eating day. I figure that even if I don’t quite make it to where I want to be by the time my surgery date rolls around, all these fasting days should at least be bringing my HbA1c numbers down. I know that is more of a measure of average blood glucose, so I still need to eat relatively low carb on my eating days to stay in range for now, but I guess every little bit helps.
And now the NSVs. My swimsuit is now not only fitting better and looser, but I think I may also look better in it now. Less of a bulgy tummy for sure. I actually am starting to feel like I am shedding this weird fat suit that has been hiding my real body since I started peri-menopause. I realized as well that all my menopause symptoms like hot flushes and achy hips have completely disappeared. I was buzzing around the kitchen this morning getting dishes done while my chia pudding was thickening up, and I just had this incredible feeling of lightness that I haven’t had in years. My approach at the moment might seem rather extreme with the alternate day fasting, but it is working, and the fact that it is working is giving me the determination to keep going. My counsellor would probably have a fit if she knew what I was doing, but she is the one who helped me see that the parts of me that want to binge and then restrict as a punishment are like two little squabbling siblings and are very young inner children. I feel like my inner adult is in charge now. Yes, I am restricting food intake a lot at the moment, but I am doing it therapeutically and safely and in the context that I have a lot of body fat that will keep me going. My binging part is not getting triggered because it has been given the job of finding fun things to do and more opportunities for social contact and other ways to try to increase dopamine other than eating. My restricting part is in charge of planning healthy meals and ensuring that I take in enough nutrients on eating days. I realize this all could make me sound rather insane, but my counsellor has been doing a lot of ‘parts’ work with me, and it is working, so I don’t really care anymore if I sound insane. Relaying it here in case it might help someone else.
Keep on keeping on everyone!

Hope this link works. It is a video by Ben Bikman talking about natural ways to increase GLP-1. He explains so clearly how GLP-1 works to inhibit glucagon. The perspective that Type 2 diabetics not only have too much insulin, but also glucagon is really interesting. I wonder if that is because the body is desperately trying to protect the liver from taking in even more excess sugar, so it is dumping it into the blood stream. But I’m not at all an expert in this field, so don’t know, just speculation on my part. Perhaps I should put that question to Dr. Bikman?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdqHQMrJBlw

Ahh! Sunny my thoughts are with you.
Unfortunately I’ve also been there and done this one.
Nothing to say except be kind to yourself. In the fullness of time ………

thanks

Good news Margaret!

Glad to here your recovery is now going well Margaret. You will soon be back on your feet.

Hi everyone. Time for a weekly check in…
But first, DCT what rotten luck to have shingles. I hope the medication kicks in and will lessen its severity. It is striking how many on this site have had a recent dose. Is it getting more frequent? They are talking here (Netherlands) of including an anti shingles vaccine in the basic care package. I’m crossing my fingers.

YOWZER good to hear from you. We were all getting a bit worried by the silence. Good to know you are still on the cruise, but sorry to hear that you are still having health issues. I do hope that they clear up so that you can enjoy the cruise even more.

ARCTICFOX, thank you for setting out the analogy on insulin’s role and the dinner table/fridge analogy. I found that really helpful. Food for thought (or not!).

MARIET Good to see you hear and to know that you are recovering from the op. I think it’s brilliant that your weight is stable despite the stress and the unusual bad weather. Good for you.

How was my week? I spent 3 days in the UK looking after my 96 year old parents. Lovely to see them, and also quite a challenging time. But glad that I was able to do it. I managed to refuse wine, Pimms, chocolate digestives and After Eights. So pleased to still be in charge of what I put in my mouth! A part of it is that I am a bit scared to have “just one” of anything in case it leads to half a packet. That’s something I shall need to address at some stage.

Anyway, after 13 weeks of healthy eating I have now lost 11.7 kilos or 26 lbs. The rate of loss is lessening, but I think I am happy for it to be slow to avoid loose skin. I may begin counting carbs or calories if it slows completely. I have moved from size 20 to size 16 trousers and feel and look better. Hoorah.

Best wishes for a good week.

YOWZER!!! I’m so glad to see you back on here. Was worried about you. And I’m so sorry you’ve been having such an awful time. Very sad news about your dear friend, and also that you are still struggling with your various health issues. Sending you big hugs and really hope that things start to improve very soon.

Ironically, I have also joined the shingles club! I say “club” because I remember NOKIE had it earlier this year as well as YOWZER (and NOKIE if you are reading this please drop in to say hello. Have been wondering how you are too.) Anyway, after a week of gradually increasing blistering and pain – I’d also been away for a couple of days visiting family so was trying to ignore it all – I finally gave in on Thursday and managed to get an appointment with the surgery. Not a doctor but I think a paramedic. He diagnosed me and gave me a whole cocktail of drugs to take, which I’m trying my best to keep up with. So hopefully it will start to improve. I have to say a big shout out to the NHS. I did an e-consult at 8:00, was phoned at 8:30 and seeing the clinician by 9:30. Home with drugs by 10:00. Will report back in due course. The irony is that for now I can’t go to my posh gym!! (He said best to avoid swimming until the blisters have completely gone). So I’m a bit grounded.

ARCTICFOX well done with all your glucose efforts, and it’s great to also hear about some of your NSVs. I also love that you seem to be feeling much stronger and are taking positive steps to boost your mood over the next few months. Keep going! I hope you soon get a date for your surgery.

MARIET I’m glad your hand surgery went well and it’s beginning to function again. That’s great news. Even if it is not fully functioning I’m sure you will find many ways to adapt and be able to use what you can. Well done for maintaining your weight too. I’d not head of a cottage cheese shortage. It’s something I don’t tend to eat that often but will look out now when I go shopping!

Hi to everyone else. Do check in to let us know how you are doing. And I hope you all have a good weekend, whatever you are up to X