Hello! Day One Done - anyone want to join me?

[SharkSkinThing]

Just wanted to say hello and see if any other new starters wanted to buddy up for support and advice?

I've got 3 - 4 stone to lose, all gained AFTER having my DS who is now - god help me - 5. All down to long-term sleep deprivation and sugar reliance, and forming terrible habits. And wine to help me cope with the sleep deprivation,

Anyway, hoping to finally turn things around now that he's finally sleeping (sometimes until 5.30am!). Would love to chat to others who are finding that this WOE works for them.

xx

Great to hear fit!

All on track here and have started running too.

Half term so having to be mindful of packing my healthy snacks when we're out and about!

Gorgeous sunny but cold day too.

Brilliant, Fit.

It's lovely here too, Shark. It's ideal for a run.

Muscles are not aching anymore (that was fast!): so I'll be doing another long exercise session later on.

As a little side note -my hair seem to love the egg and honey shampoo and vinegar or lemon conditioner. It's so much softer and shinier; the curls are more defined and less frizzy; it stayed clean and detangled for 5 days, despite exercising; and there hasn't been any need of styling products. Thank you, Dsmum for telling me about it (a dermatologist had told her mum)!

This simple method has inspired me to look into making more eco-friendly products at home, on top of the olive oil soap and a few concoctions from James Wong's book I already do. Having discovered a few amazing sites, there is an entire new world I can delve into and a few books will soon be on their way. :)

Well done fit glad youre back on travk.

I have come down with a cold that has done the rounds at work, so am not going to the gym tonight. The trouble with feeling under the weather, I find, is that I yearn for comfort food - tomato soup with hot buttered toast, shepherds pie.... I am resisting though.

Well done, fit glad you're back on track.

I have come down with a stinking cold so am skipping the gym tonight. The problem with feeling under thecweather, I find, is that I yearn for comfort food. Tomato soup with hot buttered toast, shepherds pie.... I am resisting though!

That's certainly what happened to me Pax. But I figure your body probably needs lots of energy when you're fighting sickness, so that's why you want carbs more then usual.

My DH wants to start LCHF with me next week. I'm trying to prepare him for the fact that he can't drink soda or juices anymore. It's not going to be easy for him, he is such a sugar addict.

Morning gang. Poor pax, it's this time of year, coughs and colds abound! Be kind to yourself and get well soon.

Ohhh fit, that's cool! You can spur each other on! Hope he has success with it.

DS and I are off to Brighton today for a few treats. Thought we'd take a ride on the Eye, run around a bit, play on the pier and go for a massive hot chocolate (him not me!). We live a few miles up the road so it's fun to take the train and be tourists for the day!

[Smile]

Pax I hope you feel well soon.
Well done for resisting.
The good news is that you are allowed homemade tomato soup and hot buttered bread and even sheperds pie, low carb versions, of course!

The tomato soup can be as simple as blitzing a tin of plum tomatoes, garlic and a little chilli (both decongestants and expectorants), cooked until desired consistency. For extra boost add a packet of gelatine (very soothing to aching muscles and joints).

For the bread
25 gr ground almond
7 gr ground linseed/flaxseed (sainsbury's and tesco sell it)
1 egg
10 gr butter, melted
1 pinch bicarbonate of soda
salt and pepper
seeds optional

Mix all the ingredients in a mug, microwave for 1.5 minutes. If not set and a bit sticky, microwave for a further minute. Enjoy hot or cold with copious amounts of butter.

For the sheperds pie, substitute mashed potatoes with mashed swede or cauliflower (with butter and possibly a sprinkle of cheese). Go easy on the peas.

Fit Well done to your husband. Yes, it can be a bit of culture shock but he has you to spur him on. :)
My Dh is finding ok, he doesn't need to lose weight, he is doing it for health reasons. The main struggle can be eating enough fats during the day when out especially when he forgets his lunch at home.

Aw, Shark -ds used to love going to Brighton, especially to the Sea life centre. Enjoy your day! :)

Another sunny and frosty day here and I really would like to go for hike into the hills but the reality is that it would be very slippery (courtesy of heavy clay soil). :/ I might just potter in the garden. :)

I hope everyone is doing well. How are you feeling, Pax?

Shark -I was tidying a couple of cupboards and I came across our fossil box, which reminded me of a lovely 'dinosaur' garden centre between Brighton and Lewes that my children loved. Have you been there?

I had a good start to the day with 1/2lb and another cm here and there gone. :)

I'm also really looking forward to lunch as the latest batch of cured salmon has come out delicious (I wish I'd cured the other half of the fish).

Down to 80.6 kilos (or 12 stone 6). Pleasantly surprised as I wasn't expecting a loss this week. :) Almost at my first goal of 79 kilos!

Yipee! Well done, Fit.

Amazing, fit, well bloody done!!! You must be feeling incredible.

And you too, fav. We are still hanging on in there!

The place you are thinking of is Paradise Park - we went there on Monday. Fab place, perfect for kids (and adults!) to nose around. Brilliant spot!

I will weight tomorrow and let you know if I'm still on track....
xxx

Thank you for your good wishes. I feel much better today, thanks, and am planning to go to the gym tonight.

That bread recipe sounds good, Fav, I might try that at the weekend.

I am not holding out hope that I have lost any weight this week so am not looking forward to weighing tomorrow, but hopefully will be back on track next week. It will be a challenge as am going out to dinner in a pub with friends tomorrow night, and then out to dinner at friends on Saturday. I have warned the friend who's cooking that I won't be partaking of carbs!

That's the one, Shark. Glad to hear it's still enjoyable. Are the cd sculptures still there too?

I'm pleased to hear you are much better, Pax. The bread is really nice and super easy. I have no idea how to upload a photo to mumsnet, so hopefully the link below would take you to a picture of the bread sliced and a bit home citrus cured salmon.

tinypic.com/view.php?pic=xelblw&s=9#.VsdSh-b8jIU

I discovered a miraculous cure for my super dry, frizzy hair, which is wonderful for the hands too: okra gel.

150g of fresh or frozen okra, boiled for 20 minutes in 700ml of water. Drain and apply.

Great start to the weekend: I'm down another 1.5lb down, that's 2lb in total for the week. If only every week was like this, I'll be at my target weight in no time!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. :)

Had a date afternoon with DH yesterday and went to see Deadpool and decided to get Chinese. oops, but the dumplings were delicious. Back on track today. :)

Hey everyone.

Big well done on the losses fav and fit. How are you getting on, pax?

I am back down to the oh-so-familiar-13.10. But that's fine, half term is over and I have nothing going on between now and DP's birthday in April, so I am super-focused.

Just to let you know, I may not be on here quite so often over the next few weeks - I am trying to get my PhD outline proposal done alongside finishing my masters and I need to be disciplined with my leisure time (and use it to go for a run rather than mess about on MN!).

But I am still very much here, I will not be going anywhere until I reach my target weight!

Hey everyone, how's it going? Went to the docs for yee old annual check up today, and he looked at my weight, looked at me, looked at my weight and smiled. "said you're perfectly healthy, keep up the good work" no mention of my 2 stone overweightness at all. :)

Shark -What are you planning to specialise in with your PhD?
We will have our own resident Dr.

Excellent, Fit. The 2 stone will soon be gone. :)

I'm really enjoying myself learning about the art and science of homemade soaps, detergents and cosmetics. Most of the information is in Italian, so I'm having to relearn chemistry and learn new terminology in Italian whilst at the same time learning new terminology in English.
Dh and ds are finding hilarious that I speak/answer to them in whichever language I was thinking.

That's incredible, fit, well done. Just goes to show, there's no ideal number, it's how you feel!

Weigh in for me tomorrow, so will update.

Wow, fav, you are incredible, I could never understand any of that (though I love using them, I'm a shampoo nut!). And in TWO languages! I think my head would explode!

I'm working up a proposal around the transgender pro-athlete and the narratives taking place (the backlash, really), in places such as Mumsnet (I'm esp interested in women's health, fitness and leisure). So a bit of gender, biology and cultural studies!

I've been reading lots about female bodybuilders this week - fascinating stuff.

And I'm a loooooooong way of being Dr Shark!

13.9!

Edging down again....

How is everyone else today - got that weekend feeling?

Yippee to edging downwards! I'm stuck this week but, on the plus side, I can now fit into two pair of jeans with no overspill at the waist.

How long is your PhD going to take? Will you be doing it part-time? You have chosen a very interesting mix of subject. :)

My hair hates shampoo, it goes from dry to 'Sahara desert' arid with it. Not a pretty sight! I have been using only the tiniest amount at the roots. At the moment I'm trying to do natural hair and so far I give thumbs up to the egg shampoo but less so to rice water and orange peel. The best conditioner ever ever is flaxseed gel with a few drops of peppermint which has detangled, soften and moisturised my hair in one wash, and okra gel as leave-in conditioner/styling gel is lovely. I dare thinking what marshmallow root -used in the cosmetic industry as moisturiser/detangler- will do!

Soaps are quite easy to make once you know what each fat does. At the moment I'm curing a liquid one that I made with 100% Olive oil, then added aloe vera gel to give it a lather and lower the pH a little. As it's come out quite dense, jelly like, I will dilute it further and play about with some glicerine and sugar/xylitol, honey and essential oils to turn into shower and hands/face soaps; some I will use in the washing machine with some soda crystals and citric acid; some I'll dilute and add bicarbonate to wash and shine floors and tiles.

The complicated products are creams, lotions and make-up. Today, I'm going to attempt to recreate a gel for eczema and dry skin (Xyliderm) which has very few ingredients. I'll be substituting the synthetic carbomer with natural gels: aloe vera and brown flaxseed. The aloe vera is slightly more acid than skin, so I'll adjust the pH with bicarbonate of soda.

:)

After a long process, I was finally officially diagnosed as ADHD on Thursday and have been started on Concerta, which is a stimulant whose main side effects are weight loss and loss of appetite. Not sure about weight loss yet, but the loss of appetite is true, I just ate half an egg and a bit of cucumber and tomato out of my salad for lunch, in spite of an hour and a half at the gym. So I'm thinking I may see some big losses coming up. A little worried about it as I was feeling pretty weak at the gym and worried that the lack of food or increased heart rate or whatever is going to affect what I do. :/

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, Fit.

I'm not sure how to help you with the appetite loss but I can see why you would be worried. Maybe some calories dense foods, would allow you to keep the calorie and nutrients up. Calculate what your minimum protein intake should be and make sure you eat them. Here is how to calculate protein intake

Asperger syndrome (ds diagnosed) is often accompanied by ADHD and symptoms can overlap, so in my readings I often come across information about ADHD, too.

A few of these medical articles might be useful for you.

The magnesium alone made a massive difference virtually overnight for ds. Just 2 o 3 weeks after starting supplementation, people thought he was a completely different person. Academically, his concentration is improved drastically and no longer requires my help to focus/refocus, he doesn't need to keep re-reading to make sense. He has also reduced his fidgetting. His mood also improved and he is generally happy and serene...

Dr David Perlmutter, a neurologist and nutritionist, who advocates a true ketogenic diet, has some interesting articles on ADHD, agnesium and supplements

Are you ok, fit? Sending , and [tea].

I am woefully under qualified to offer any advice on what you are going through, but am always here to offer a virtual hug! I hope you looking after yourself and taking care until you have a handle on this diagnosis.

Thanks guys. I'm generally pretty happy about the diagnosis, as it I feel it fits and I've been really struggling lately. Thanks for the articles Favadi :)