S-G. You are spot on… carbs lead to more carbs!
My husband loves pork pie too! Particularly the egg ones (we know them as Gala pie). Always thought he was very fortunate to get a slice with middle of the egg…🤔..until he, temporarily, worked at the factory that created/made the ‘long egg’ that runs through the middle! 😁
I have never been keen.
I hope all goes well for you on Tuesday. 🤞

Have decided that I really do need to find at least 1 positive each day. I have a friend who at the moment can only see the doom and gloom in life …. there has to be a better way……

🌶️🥥🧄 lovely Thai meal with wonderful company. Definite positive!

Try to find a positive, no matter how small!

Thanks everyone it’s good to know there are people here to talk to if needed! Advice appreciated thanks all…I’m only 4 days in but I’ve lost 4kg…my problem is BG not weight as such; but that’s on the right track too…!! Actually really enjoying it so far if a little hungry by the afternoon.
Enjoying the positive thoughts coming from here. ❤️

Hi all, big cheers to Pootle, you have just made a major decision that will see you on the right track for the rest of your life – no Christmas pud or cake, and a big cheers to your husband for being so supportive. As an alternative treat maybe you could allow yourself a couple of mince pies – you can get a box of 6 and they freeze very well. I am so lucky because I hate Christmas pudding, cake and mince pies – just the smell of candid peel makes me feel sick. However, hubby has requested a cake this year as no one else seems to like it we never have one but I am sure the kids will dive in once it is put on the table.

Just one other thing Pootle, Christmas dinner is one of the healthiest meals you can have, lean chicken or turkey, lots of veg, maybe a bit of chestnut stuffing, not a bad as bread stuffing and just leave off the bread sauce. Its all the other things that go on forever.

My big downfall is pork pie with an egg through the middle. Daughter just asked what she should get in (food) for us and I said lots of salad, as I always do. She said, sorry mum the fridge is full of pork pie – it is a family joke.

Don’t know why but my weight is up again above 72kgs. Never mind, I have faith, although if I am totally honest I had a slice of seeded bread last night. Why, don’t know, just couldn’t resist it. Need to give my head a wobble. That’s the trouble with having carbs, they lead to more carbs, it is addictive.

I have an appointment for a Doppler on Tuesday. It is 2 years since Mr Doppler discovered my forked carotid artery. Hopefully, this will be my final check up for my surgery.

I had a quick look on Wikipedia for Figgy Pudding and there is a 14th century recipe I am going to adapt.

Take blanched almonds, grind them, mix with water and wine, quartered figs, whole raisins. Add in powdered ginger, clarified honey, boil it well and salt it, and serve.

It doesn’t give any quantities, so I can improvise until the consistency looks okay 😀 Honey is easier for me to process than most sugars, so doesn’t wake my carb monster as easily (and I love figs at Christmas). I imagine it will be prepared as a traditional Christmas pudding in a muslin bag and boiled.

Thank you mixnmatch and Verano
I appreciate the advice. Discussing it with my (non diabetic) husband this morning I have come to a decision. I am not going to make a pudding or cake this year. I am sad about this as the recipes are hand me downs from my great grandmother and I am the last in the family to use them! BUT they make large portions and with only the 2 of us to eat them, it isn’t sensible to have the ongoing temptation in the house.
I think the bread in the chestnut stuffing will be my Christmas ‘sin’. I am lucky that hubby is supportive, he has said ‘if it is bad for you, we won’t have it’.
So, no pudding to stir and no cake to feed this year… and we will have roasted butternut squash and celeriac instead of potato and parsnip!

The first BSD Christmas is never easy!

Pootle I’m not sure that you can make a ‘lighter’ ‘Christmas Cake’ that would be as satisfying. I am more of a savoury than a sweet person but I absolutely love Christmas Pudding so I have some! I think it’s probably best to plan your day before hand. You are cooking so are in control. As you say you can have smaller savoury portions and no bread sauce and maybe extra green vegetables. When it comes to the ‘sweet’ stuff I would say have a ‘taste’. Just have a small portion of pudding and maybe later in the day a small slice of cake. You could always take off the marzipan and icing which are most sugary elements. You may even surprise yourself and find the cake too sweet.

I’m now in the very fortunate position, when on holiday, of maybe just having a couple of teaspoons of a dessert and leaving the rest. Mind you it’s taken me many years to get to that position.

Personally, I would say choose the sweet element you really enjoy and just have that. Life has to be lived but you don’t have to eat everything in sight just because it’s Christmas! I think the most dangerous thought is ‘oh well! I’ve eaten this and that, I’ve blown the diet so I might as well just go ahead and eat everything in sight’.

Pootle if you didn’t have T2, even in remission, then why not have a ‘day off’ but as you do have T2 just think about the damage an ‘out of control sugar fest’ will do to you body!

Hi Pootle,

I usually have a ‘rich’ Christmas as well, but may try to moderate it a bit this year.

I did have a go at a low(er) carb Christmas cake a few years ago, but it wasn’t terribly successful, so I haven’t repeated it. I may have another go this year so maybe we could collaborate on a suitable recipe? Lower carb flour such as coconut may be a possibility. Brandy butter may still be possible with granular stevia if you are permitted sweeteners.

As there seems to be many ‘old hands’ who follow the monthly threads can someone help me please?

I have always ‘done’ a traditional, very rich, Christmas. I make Christmas pudding and brandy butter, we have a roast turkey with all the trimmings…including celery & apricot and chestnut stuffings, cranberry sauce, bread sauce and giblet gravy…all home made. PLUS a rich fruit cake, marzipanned and iced. Obviously this year is going to be different (my first Christmas living the BSD way of life). I have decided that I will still do the ‘savoury’ as normal, just have less of it, (and I will pass on the bread sauce) However, I would normally be making the pudding and cake now, so they can be fed lots of brandy over the. next few weeks… my question is what can i do for a lighter, not so damaging ‘Christmas Cake’, If anything???

Any ideas gratefully received!!

Thank you Wendy for setting up a November thread. The monthly chats really motivate me to keep going!
S-G hope you can find a lovely new dress. I finally managed to fit into my winter coat…only just, but a fit is a fit!
Several nights away recently with poor choices on the menu have set me back, but I am determined to get the next 7lb off before Christmas. I think I will then have to re assess, so I up calories to maintain that weight but keep carbs low!, so I don’t go back into the diabetic range!
Happy November all

Hello & thank you Wendy. I certainly need to be kept motivated as this has been a disastrous year weight wise for me.
On y va!!😀
Margaret xx

Hello November!

Well the year is moving on so quickly but I do have a few positives ….

💉🩺💉 Eye test showed no problems from the medication I take so good news.

🌶️🫑🧄 Thai meal out tonight which is lovely. I will do my very best to stay on track.

🥑🫒🥦 Found some new soup recipes today but need to work out the carb content before I start cooking. Must look back at the soup thread!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend with plenty of positives.

Thank you Wendy.

Well we are starting the month with a Thai meal out tonight. Next Saturday we have a Diwali celebration with neighbours then Sunday lunch out with friends. I know all three will be a bit of a struggle. Thai is not too bad as I have a green vegetable instead of rice. Indian meal, who knows? Sunday lunch is at a very nice French restaurant in Lymm in Cheshire but with quite a ‘fussy’ menu. Looks like I’m going to have to be ultra strict in between times!

S-g lovely to have a nice excuse for new dresses. The cruises we take don’t have formal nights (country club casual !) so no real need for new dresses but I understand exactly where you are coming from. Always good to have some new stuff.

Let’s hope November is a good balance between ‘good healthy eating’ and ‘social life’. I’m sure it’s possible

Hi Wendy, sorry, I totally forgot that it was now November, don’t know where my head is.

Had a slight increase after my night out but now on the November trial with a sober November. Didn’t bother with sober October as I wasn’t drinking anyway except for the 31st so I guess I nearly completed it. Daughter and I are doing November except I am hoping to go to a very nice restaurant as we have nothing else between now and 20th December. I could always leave our night out to Saturday 1st December, sounds like a plan.

Just had the itinerary for our April cruise and we have 3 gala nights, thats 3 long dresses. I have a few but getting a bit fed up of dragging them out year after year, even though nobody knows they are well worn the photos tell a different tale. One of the gala nights is Red and Gold, so looks like I need a red evening dress. I will be looking in the UK over Christmas, John Lewis and M&S might have something.

I am trying out 2 new recipes this weekend (I forgot to buy something for Sunday). Tonight we are having Mary Berry’s cauliflower cheese wrapped in parma ham with salad, then tomorrow I am doing a recipe from the Slimming World monthly mag, butternut squash with sage and onion wrapped in filo pastry. The pastry part will be so thin it won’t really interfer with my BG.

Enjoy your weekend.

Oh my goodness, I was so busy with October events, quiz etc that I completely forgot it was now November. I will look for your thread Wendy, sorry I was absent.

Thank you Wendy👍
Margaret xx

Many thanks to sunshine girl for keeping the thread going !
I’ve been a bit ‘ absent ‘ but looking forward to an event free run up to Christmas .
Whatever your strategy we hope to keep you motivated and give guidance according to our own experience .Focusing on good health, always!

It really does help to be part of a like minded community .Let’s keep each other accountable and mindful !

All the very best

Wendy, sunshine girl and SunnyB XXX

I will set up the November thread !

Yes please to a new November thread? I lost a pound in weight last week so pleased after a calorie rollercoaster week.
Margaret x

Hello everyone.
It’s November!!!
I hate the winter but such is life! Spring is on its way!

So I’m assuming there will be a new November thread. I for one need a new start. I ended October with just less than 1lb increase despite being away for three weeks so I count that as a win. But we are now in November …
If we carry on how about :
It might be ‘No’ …vember but there’s ‘No’ stopping us now!
November November let’s all Remember why we’re here!
Nutritious November: let’s enjoy lots of low carb soups
Just my thoughts

Hi Lucy,
Great news about the 3lb!!! And congratulations on avoiding the biscuits…I am away and yesterday was served a cup of coffee with a homemade shortbread in the saucer…it kept staring at me…daring me to leave it….well I did, and felt brilliant afterwards for resisting. I think it gives us a boost! 😇😇

I am wearing my winter coat today….yay a target reached! Next is a dress that I also love, but cannot fit into yet!!
Xx

Pootle I don’t think you can worry about that if it helps you then you really shouldn’t worry.
My neighbour brought all butter biscuits round for doing a couple things when she was.away and I ate none! Hubby did tho. Couldn’t believe I didn’t give in. Had a slight slip in that my food shopping had a swap meal in of chicken kiev which I accepted, didn’t give it a thought until I cooked it and realised it had 27g of carbs in. I did eat it however as I’m not wasting it and it was my dinner and was starving….but anyway
3lbs loss this week, that famn 1lb and 2 more! Really pleased. 30lbs so far!
My.original taget was 50 ish so well on the way. It’s been a slow few weeks with that tough 1lb which remained for 2 weeks. Bur I’m happy I didn’t go off the rails with it.
Thanks again everyone.

Still under the 72kg mark but out tonight but will be rearing to go tomorrow wanting to hit 71kg by my October/November goal.

Welcome OOkiki, good for you on getting yourself organised. Shout out if you need any help or advice. I stil have my green tea or homemade lemon, ginger and mint when I am fasting. Also, I add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to my glass of water every morning, t is really just water. I hope 🙂

Thank you Arcticfox, I will have to wait for the hornets to completely disperse as there are a few still around. Man came back yesterday and gave them another spray. My potager is right next door to the shed so I am not risking it just yet.

Yowzer WOW WOW WOW! Well done you. Great result and we still have a few weeks left till the end of the year!
You will definitely be ‘star looser’ for 2024!
Huge pat on your back!
Great achievement !

It is the time restricted period I was thinking about. Thanks for the response 😊👍. Getting my prep sorted to start monday. Going to do meal prep during the weekend so it should be less to think about and no excuse to do the wrong thing during the first few days. 🤞Hope I can get into the groove!

No problem adding lemon, it does contain sugars but very limited, and unless you are very stringent on logging everything or tracking nutrients in more detail I wouldn’t bother. Good for you too with the vitamin C.

Crono gives 2 calories and 0.4g of carbs for a slice.

If you are doing time restricted fasting periods or a water fast then that may be different, but I would think it would still be okay.

During my Fasting period can I use Green Teas bags with other things like lemon, or only plain Green Tea Bags? I struggle to enjoy my tea with out a drop of milk so need an alternative.

CG, that is a very romantic description of winter, sadly I struggle with the cold grey days and hate being cold, so find it hard to be positive about the wintertime. … enjoy though.
Ants or spiders, sounds like you are really embracing Halloween, SG.
Well done on the clear out, V. It feels good to get rid of old unused clutter doesn’t it.

Positives from me today are …
👭🙂 pleasant morning out with a friend, a little bit of retail therapy and coffee
🧺🧺 laundry up to date … dries so quickly here at the moment too
🌅🌅 glorious sunset this evening, beautiful golds and pinks.

Go on, be daring and post a positive!

Thank you s-g! I’m hanging onto your coattails as you fly through the sky!

Verano, as you can see from my post, I didn’t make my Sept/Oct goal but that is gone and finished. So I don’t let past failings hold me back, I use them to spur me on. 7 weeks is half a stone. Give it a try, if you don’t make your goal in any week there is always another. The biggest failing would be to say I have 7 weeks so I wont bother this week. Get on it and just do what you can.

I set my six month goal to coincide with my birthday on 7th Feb but I still have short-term hopefuls like Christmas, also hurdles like Christmas when I expect to have a bit of a set back but that wont stop me. So far I am heading for 7lbs when I should have achieved 9lbs but 7lbs is 7lbs so I keep on keeping on…

Also, our cruise is around the same time as yours – ours is 13th April, so after my bithday goal I will be on a cruise goal with 2 more months to reach it if I don’t quite make my birthday goal. Yes it is a mindset and you might not feel like your head is in it. One week is a short time to stick with it and week one leads into week 2. Go for it. Im dragging you along with me.

Yes, I know I am bossy.

Good afternoon!

Just one positive for me today, although the day is still young….

.🗑️🧹💅 today I cleared out my make-up draw and my nick-nack draw. At last I’ve got rid of all those perfume testers, hotel shampoos, old nail polishes and I filled a waste paper basket full of useless odds and ends! Job well done and now I have space for my new lotions and potions!

Have a good day.

S-g you’ve made me think about timescale. I decided on a week at a time because I’ve just 7 weeks to my birthday and thought that would be a good 1st goal. I could have a longer goal, our next planned trip April 25, which would fit well with a monthly goal. My biggest fear would be that I might think ok so I’ve got 4 weeks and be a bit lax until maybe the last week of the month! Maybe I’m just not in the right ‘headspace’!

Sugarfree welcome!
I too was on the highest dose of metformin before I started low carbing in 2016. I guess sometimes the ‘time is just right’ for a change.

In 2016 after 5 years of metformin I was being threatened with another medication to add to the metformin. At the same time a friend who had uncontrolled T2 had his first toe amputated. Then, I found Michael Moseley’s ‘Blood Sugar Diet’. It has saved me from goodness know’s what!

Because the diet was relatively new and the NHS was still suggesting that anyone with T2 should load up on carbs I took it pretty easy when it came to reducing my medication. I had my first HbA1c around 3 months after starting the BSD and it was back in the normal range. The doctor reduced my metformin and, if I remember correctly it was another six or so months before I became ‘drug free’ and have remained so ever since.

With hindsight I could probably have come off metformin sooner. I would be guided by sunshine-girl and keep in touch with your caregiver as blood sugar can come down quite quickly. In saying that metformin reportedly only brings your blood sugar down by 10% so depending how high it is now will have a bearing on how quickly it falls.

My one word of advice is to think about the carbs rather than the number on the scales. Low carb is the secret to keeping blood sugar in control rather than weight per se. Best of luck and shout out if you need help, inspiration or just a good old rant!

Hi there sugarfree, besides Pootle and a couple of others a lot of us are oldtimers. We will still make you very welcome and give you any advice you need. Join in on one of the other threads that suits you. I am on the monthly thread -currently Optimistic October and Pootle is there too but I think we have another couple of newbies.

Yes it will be hard at first, if diets were easy we would all be slim. Notice you are now diabetic and on high dose of Metformin. You will have to watch carefully that your BG doesn’t go too low and it is a good idea to talk to your caregiver about being able to reduce the meds slowly as you progress on this diet.

Pootle, so glad you likes my analogy. When I sit down and write something I always think it is a pile of rubbish. So I lack confidence as much as the next person. Glad I am able to keep on helping.

Welcome back Wendy, hope you are rearing to go. Just being back in France makes me feel better as I find everything in the UK too much, too much on your plate, too much potatoes, chips, carbs in general. Also, in winter I still eat a salad most days and my daughter never has salad in, except now she does for me.

Verano, I am still on my 3lb per month project and, although I didn’t quite make it last month, I start afresh each month (on the 8th) and so far this time I have done 1lb, slowly, slowly and a night out but still feeling optimistic. What I have to face is going out on Thursday and accepting I will have a few glasses of wine. Then the challenge is not to let it slip into the weekend. After Thursday I am immediately back on track.

Finished decorating my jacket and hat and now to finish painting the desk. It is taking a couple of days as I have to let it dry completely before I try to close the flap, don’t want it sticking shut. So today I will close it up and do the drawers and lower doors.

Hubby is cooking tonight and I really do let him off. This week I have suggested he warm me up some leftover chicken balti and then mix it in with a veggie balti to make a full size meal. Then he doesn’t even take it out of the freezer. I asked if he even considered he would have to and he said no, not really thought about it. The whole point of him cooking twice a week is so I don’t have to think about it as I find the organising the biggest chore, the actual cooking is easy, but he still relys on me to do his thinking for him. I am going to have to stop babying him. Have a good week.

Welcome back Wendy!

I have just read the article below about the research into ‘obesity’ drugs and I just had to post the following:

“More pharmaceutical companies are jumping into the research pipeline, and the GLP-1 era is going to be like the era of statins,” said Andres Acosta, MD, associate professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic and principal investigator of Mayo’s Precision Medicine for Obesity Laboratory in Rochester.”

Bet ‘Big Pharma’ is rubbing its grubby little hands together in glee! WOW! Another ‘statin revolution’!

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/anti-obesity-medications-show-whole-body-promise-more-come-2024a1000jmp?ecd=mkm_ret_241029_mscpmrk_MOB_all_etid6952355&uac=285347SG&impID=6952355

Hi everyone !

The wanderer returns !! Well I have been back for a couple of weeks ( trip to the UK ) but just adjusting and getting my routine established . I actually enjoy being back in my space with access to my local farm veg .Like you SG I have vegans and vegetarians in my family so I am used to some very delicious dishes with pulses, grains etc .I try not to get too anxious about the carbs as they are not a daily addition and I accept that eating less meat is good for us .

I have seen tofu in LIDL in France and they definitely have it in Grand Frais . It is a vehicle for flavours, ginger ,soy and my niece cooks it really well . There are lots of really good recipe sites on the net .I like BOSH , also Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Deliciously Ella ..Madhur Jaffrey and Rukmini Iyer (lots of traybakes) are good too .

I have started doing pilates classes twice a week with our local physiotherapists and enjoying that now that our aquagym season has ended .

No, I wouldn’t touch Ozempic .I don’t take any medications at all and hate the idea of unknown long term damage . I will admit to having my eyebrows microbladed though !! That was last week and I am very happy to have eyebrows after overplucking in the eighties !!
Sorry Margaret to hear of your knee issues .Hubby has had two knee replacements .It’s not a luxury, the pain relief is immense . I hope you can cope with an inevitable long wait.

Thanks SG for keeping the thread going and all the very best to new contributors and a big hello to Julia ( Californiagirl !!)

Wendy xx

Hi Sugarfree,

I received a huge amount of support from these forums when I started the BSD in Mid June. It has certainly worked for me. I really needed some reassurance that the BSD would help me get into remission for Diabetes and make life liveable again for me. I can assure you, that it has worked on all levels for me. I have been extremely strict, counting calories and carbs…weighing ingredients…keeping a detailed diary etc. My bloods in September were back into the pre-diabetic range and I have gone from 15st 7lb down to 11st! This is a diet that has certainly worked for me! I will be continuing until I have lost the next 7lb, when I will have to take extreme care to maintain the weight without eating too many carbs!
Obviously I have slipped from time to time…but the important thing is to climb back on board and keep going!

Sunshine Girl has written an excellent anaagy in the forum “Advice” which is well worth reading.

Good luck, hope you achieve your goals… keep in touch!

Wowzer YOWZER! 47lb is incredible! I’m so proud of you and you are a complete inspiration. Do keep us all posted, I can’t wait to find out your overall loss by the end of this journey. And I hope that your sciatica is starting to ease up too?

SUNSHINE GIRL welcome! It’s lovely to “see” you and I hope all is going well. And hope that ARCTICFOX has inspired you to get planting! ARCTICFOX I am in awe of your farming skills! Anything to do with gardening in general is not my best skill, and I have never managed to grow anything edible. I’m glad your recent interview went well and it’s great that they not only offered you the job but made the comment about you being a great addition to the team. What a confidence boost! I can understand your reasons for not going ahead, but hopefully it will shore you up for the next application. And I’m so glad you’re keeping up the pottery too.

SUEBLUE I hope that you get your results back soon and that they are reassuring. Something you said really resonated with me – “I had a light bulb moment – I can’t remember when I last really focussed on my health and wellbeing” as I have also recently come to that realisation. The last couple of years have been very taken up with family stuff, work, and – our favourite! – “sadmin”. And only recently have I had the time and headspace to really regroup. I’ve decided it’s time to put myself first – (hopefully) not in a selfish way, but in the sense of taking care of myself in terms of diet, exercise, self-care etc. Also to start being more decisive about what I do and don’t want to do. I tend to be a people-pleaser and will end up racing around doing things either for others or because others want to and/or expect me to and I’m at the point now where I need to rediscover who I am and what I really do want. Sounds a bit diva-is but you get the drift! Anyway, like you SUE, I’ve not lost much this journey so far, but am going to run it up to Christmas Eve so still have around 57 days left. Will report back in due course . .

CATHY I hope your eyes are doing ok? And wish you all the best for your Christie’s appointment next month. I agree with you re the weight loss injections. Funnily enough there was an article in the Daily Mail yesterday by a nutritionist who is also anti them, but gave a few recipes that she says mimic the effects of them. I just had a quick look but most looked pretty much like BSD/Fast 800 type recipes to me so I may give them a try.

How is everyone else doing? Hello to DAWN, NOKIE, MIXNMATCH, MARIET, HEIDI and anyone else reading this. Still plenty of time to go so whether you’re on track or have fallen by the wayside, you can make a difference by Christmas.

Have a great week X

Hello all, sorry haven’t posted for a while, but enjoy reading everyone’s posts. I’m going to make up for not posting regularly with a long post now, so you’ve been warned lol!

Yowzer! Just wow! 47lbs is incredible, well done you! 👍

Arctic Fox I’m impressed by the amount of garlic you’ve planted, wow!

Cathy: glad your surgery went well 🙂

I haven’t been doing too well to be honest. I think I mentioned that I had been feeling a bit breathless and fatigued and have been having some tests. All ok so far, but I’m still waiting for the results of the heart and lung CT scan I had done at the hospital last week.
When I was in the change room I saw myself in the full length mirror and was shocked… I’ve put back on all the weight I lost in 2021/2022 and it shows! And I had a light bulb moment – I can’t remember when I last really focussed on my health and wellbeing….

During 2021/22 I was walking regularly, meal planning, eating healthy foods and meditating. I wasn’t perfect, still ate some fast food/meals out and drank wine, but overall I had a good balance and focus. But that all went out the window 2 years ago.

I have been under a fair bit of stress lately with work, my MIL’s situation, Sadmin (as DCT calls it – perfect word!), and I know that cortisol causes weight gain, so I’m sure that is partly to blame. Plus I’ve just got lazy!

So it’s time to strap myself firmly back in my seat! At one point on this latest journey I had lost 3kg but have put some of that back on, so my overall loss so far is about 1.5kg.

I’ve signed up to do an online walking challenge over 6 weeks so that should help. Feeling determined!!

Just calling by quickly on my way to go8ng to bed to say hi or goodnight or good day!
How is everyone doing,stay strong,keep on keeping on!
Im still doing well on this challenge – for a change- most challenges i should be booted off the bus! Have lost 47 lbs this year,but its getting harder. Determined tho to stick it out and keep losing. Mind over matter. I.can.do.it.
Good luck everyone,hang on to your seat and hold tight xxxxxx🩷💕💜

Yes, that should work, s-g if it is locally grown or grown in Europe. The stuff that comes from China may be irradiated for longer shelf life and therefore won’t grow properly, if at all.

Hi there, joining this for a bit of moral support. Starting the BSD on Thursday and just prepping shopping lists and clearing house of anything tempting! Looking to hear from anyone in a similar starting position and hopefully share some support over the next few weeks! Thanks 🙂

That is brilliant Pootle

You must be so pleased

well done you

Yes, maintaining must be the hard bit.

Advice is ‘dont count calories etc’ BUT I think Im going to be doing a lot of it in future

Well done again

54

S-g our posts crossed! Pleased to hear your weight is steady.

Ants, spiders they are all nasty ! Enjoy Halloween!

Julia what a wonderful picture you paint! Enjoy your winter!

Unfortunately winter for me is the worst time of the year. I use crutches so fallen leaves on wet ground just doesn’t work for me but I can still enjoy the ‘outside’ by looking into my garden out of my huge picture windows! So not all is lost especially as I have quite a few acers which are amazing couloirs at the moment.

Anyway not to be downbeat ….

🌶️🥥🥦 Lovely Thai salmon curry last night with friends. I have tenderstem broccoli instead of rice. Not sure I would enjoy rice now although on the very odd occasion I do have a few pieces of sushi.

That is the sum total of my ‘positives’ at the moment. Hope others can report some positives to uplift us all.

Arctic, I have a question, can I plant garlic cloves from a bulb from the local farm shop or do I have to buy special plants. I have 2 fallow beds right now so might get some winter stuff in.

Hi there, positives

Bought some ants, yes ants, meant to be spiders but when I looked closely they are ants – these are now sewn on my black bolero jacket and
bought a pointy witches hat which I have decorated with more ants and some bats.
Weight is nice and steady and still hoping for more loss by Thursday so I don’t have to worry about any small gain.