I’m a pear ? the sequel!

Fourormore love your sense of humour. We all blame Will from time to time. When I was in Aldi this week a man was wearing a face mask but his nose wasn't covered what was the point in wearing it . I wear mine on the bus , small shop and taxi. If it becomes compulsory it won't bother me wearing one. Only problem is my glasses steam up but don't move my mask just lift my glasses to demist.

Reader56 go ahead and crow 3lbs is a brilliant loss. Hope you have a good week.

Oh Whiff that must have been frustrating. Still you didnt gain and you may well lose extra next week. I have known quite a few people who have been the opposite and are quite amazed that they stay the same after a week of indulgence, or even lose weight,only for it to catch up with them a few weeks later! Yes Quorn is excellent in all aspects. Good luck for next week!
Reader56 yes baking is a bit of a family thing. For years I have been attempting to perfect a low sugar cake with minimum success! A lot of so called low sugar recipes have honey or dried fruit such as dates,not as processed but sugar nonetheless. I experimented with granulated Canderel but the texture not quite right. The best I've found is Erythritol which also sold under brand name Sukrin and is zero calorie/carbs but also quite expensive. Yesterday I made a Slimming World weetabix cake which has sultanas in but the only fat is from an egg, very nice a bit like malt loaf. A friend said recently that sometimes you just want a little bit of something nice. How true that is,the trick is not turning it into a habit. I was thumbing through one of my favourite recipe books and found a recipe for coffee cake. Images of coffee frosting and walnuts filled my head! Instead I'm going to make coffee cupcakes using the sweetener. Any type of frosting is really not a good idea but maybe a drizzle of dark chocolate and a walnut on top! I've also come across a recipe for malt loaf where you mix flour ovaltine sugar dried fruit and half a pint of milk and bake for an hour or so. I keep looking at it and wondering if work,no fat maybe. No eggs? Hmm! Anyway,good luck in the following week, I think the sunshine helps as fancy lighter meals. Good luck with the computer too. Wonderful creations until they go wrong! I remember our tower computer going very strange when daughters were at home. One of our neighbours is head of IT for a large company so we enlisted his help. My two daughters sat there politely while he explained all sorts of things(he programmed the pesky things and actually understood how they work!), eventually we wailed we just wanted to be able to google stuff and to do whatever it takes!
Fourormore good luck with your adventures outside. I havent been further than drive since mid March. I have had socially distanced visitors in the garden though. Next week my daughter is coming down from Surrey with grandsons aged 4 and 1.5 whom I havent seen since January. Naturally im excited but also a tad apprehensive. I've been in my own safe little bubble for many months. Luckily for me the weather forecast is good and I have a garden they can run around in. We also have a grassy area nearby and a 20 minute walk to feed some ducks. Fortunately for me she is also very understanding of any concerns I have. I dont drive so meeting at an open space not a possibility. I did warn her that my walking pace is rather slower as out of practice. Apparently we can go at youngest pace and he likes to stop at every bush!
Have a lovely week everyone ?

Some really motivational posts on here. Thanks to you all. Up a bit this week at 135 lbs today. T'was my daughter's birthday so I made a cake and had a huge slice. She is vegan so I have adapted lots of recipes accordingly. I made her a rose flavoured cake decorated with pink fondant roses.
I have stopped baking family cookies and cakes except for birthday cakes because my will power goes out the window! I have set a target weight of 130lbs.
Overnight oats for brunch today and a tofu stir fry for dinner.

Sorry to hear Four of your bit of a blip. Knowing you I m sure you will be back on the wagon PDQ.

I go off for a week’s holiday in the New Forest of Friday so I had better be especially good this week.

Weight loss and maintenance is an ongoing battle as we have all found, but it is worth it.

Onward and downward girls. ?

I'm back after a week away by the sea....I have got off lightly , I put on 3 lbs, which I'm happy with as I ate and drank a lot lol but walked a lot everyday , I think that may of kept putting on more lbs ....back to basics now....

Shirleyw it's just a blip. The main thing is did you have a good holiday. If so great. The times we are living through at the moment is stressful enough. Being able to relax and enjoy yourself and recharge your batteries is worth its weight in gold. It's a new week new start.

NanKate hope you have a great holiday when you go on Friday. A beautiful place to holiday and relax.

Thanks Whiff I’m looking fwd to fish and chips by the Quay - what a little devil I am. ?

PS I don’t eat the batter.

Yes whif I did, batteries were properly charged thanks......we were lucky to be able to get away.
We go to a caravan park , always the same time every year, we can take our dog then ....I had a reminder why we never book August .......as children are not at school at the moment there were a lot of school age children there and it was noisy with a lot of running around,,,,I think they were extra noisy due to be able to have freedom after not mixing for a while ????....

Glad you got a break away Shirley even though it sounded pretty full on noise wise. I just want a change of scene and to be surrounded by ponies and donkeys and other wild life.

I found out who kidnapped my friend Will Power!!!
It was NanKate
How can you possibly have fish and chips and not eat the batter!!!

Keep going everyone and those of you lucky enough to have safe places to go - enjoy your breaks!
The rest of us are not envious MUCH!

Fourormore you always make me laugh. Thank you.

You're welcome Whiff

Four Isometimes let myself eat one mouthful of batter. What a little devil I am. ???? I don’t do things by halves !

NanKate have a lovely holiday. It does is good to recharge the old batteries.

Ahaa! NanKate I KNEW no one had that amount of willpower!!! Enjoy your holiday and the fish and chips!

Good morning all?. Nankate I hope you have a lovely holiday in the New Forest,I'm sure you will it's beautiful. I used to live in Ringwood and now I'm in Poole.
Fourormore I'm with you, batter is best bit.! I must admit one of my favourite bits about weight watchers circa late 90s was that you could have fish and chips for 16points so as long as you ate point free the rest of day you kept on plan. It was probably the most successful diet I've been on,probably because it was incredibly flexible. Of course you had to be sensible and not use up your points on doughnuts but you could also eat out etc with a bit of planning. I remember on Slimming World going out with friends for a pub lunch and initially there appeared absolutely nothing suitable. I ended up with a plain burger without bun and the lettuce and tomato garnish!
ShirleyW 3lb is very acceptable as most people gain 7 on holiday. The walking most certainly helped. A few years ago I signed up for a tour of Italian cities with Just You. I had visions of elegantly wafting around Rome,Florence ,Venice etc. It was an incredible holiday. It was also very active. Understandably coaches cant park in the cities so it was usually a 20 minute walk to meet a guide followed by a three hour walking tour,time spent exploring and then walk back to the coach. On returning to the hotel quick change and out for evening meal which usually 15-20 minute walk away. I'm not the fittest of people,never could accuse me of being a gym bunny! That said by the end of the week even some of those that were started to flag.! We were walking a minimum of 6 miles a day,not including climbing up towers etc. I'm quite glad I didnt know as it may have put me off. Instead I had a truly wonderful holiday,ate incredible food with lovely people and came back 5lb lighter!
Soo this week has been a bit of a mix. I started off incredibly well and at one point was 3lb down on start weight. I have made a healthy and interesting diet plan and ordered groceries for it.
Unfortunately stress took over in the later point of the week and I'm back to start. Its something I need to get a grip of as cant comfort eat when life gets difficult. Complications at work have reared their ugly head. It is indeed unprecedented times for just about everyone, I cant imagine there is anyone whose life hasn't changed in some way.
High risk and shielding groups are finding it quite stressful. As with the general population each individuals circumstance is different.im diabetic and of working age. Diabetics are not shielded, en masses they dont need to be,the risk depends on age,weight,type of job,how you access it. So I'm nearer 60 than 30,BMI puts me in high risk zone,sugar levels not too bad but at last test in February they were concerned so were going to retest in june which not happened. To get to work I have to get 2 buses. I work in a care home that has lost so far a third of its residents to covid and is currently on internal lockdown as it's back. PPE is available but I know from a memo o saw recently that staff havent been using it correctly and from past experience sometimes you are short. My dilemma is that it would put myself at incredible risk to be there. Management passive aggressive, refused to comply with lots of things to reduce risk. Trying to get a genuine handle on situation with mixed messages from a save the economy regardless of health cost government is almost impossible. Unions are plodding, even though work place not acting as should,procedures have to be followed. The majority of the time I'm fine,occasionally I have a wobble. Work say of course you be safe without specifying how. I'm fit to work but not in that environment.
Many diabetics are facing similar issues,especially teachers. I'm on a diabetic forum which on the whole is incredibly helpful and supportive. It's also like gransnet where you get a variety of opinions, maybe some trolling and some people who think their opinion is the only one. The only negative reaction I've had was on a forum questioning whether forcing people back to work was a form of disability discrimination. It is early days in situation but deaths of carers does indicate an issue. One poster put that people were making a lot of fuss about nothing and diabetics weren't at risk more than anybody else and if people kept moaning they were vulnerable and couldnt go to work the economy would suffer even more. I shouldnt have bitten but did. I noticed they were a personal trainer so probably were very fit,maybe young,potential to work outdoors etc. I replied that everyones circumstances different. The only economy I was supporting was the ability of my care home owner to add to his collection of luxury cars,so if he was so keen after him with the flimsy face mask and rubber gloves. No reply yet.
So sorry for the rant. Good luck for the upcoming week everyone ??

Dorsetcupcake61 that the brilliant thing about this thread we can have a rant if we need and know that we are among friends. No one's judges and their is always someone to listen. I've ranted. It's does us good. If you bottle things up it's only makes you feel worse. From what you have said you needed to rant. What is happening to you is unfair. I'm sorry you are having to fight for your rights. Two things in this life money cannot buy are health and happiness. Take care.

Thankyou Whiff, your kindness is much appreciated .I've just had a phone consultation with my GP who has signed me off work with anxiety due to catching Covid at work. To be honest shes not over keen on doing so as I'm not shielded. It is frustrating as I know there are some GPs who are automatically signing diabetics off due to risk. Apparently another diabetic patient who is a carer has just returned to work! This is going to be an increasing problem now that the government has handed the whole issue to employers from August. We all know how employers vary. My daughter works in a care home and I would feel reasonably safe there as dont have any covid there and havent so far. So I've left a message for Union who not in until Monday. Unions can be useful,better than nothing. I was listening to a Union head on the news who have undertaken research with BAME employees during pandemic and some of the stories are horrific. I'm not BAME but as a group they are probably to be at risk. The risk is acknowledged, the Union saying how dreadful it is and it must be addressed. Yet very little happens people are still forced to put themselves at risk and unscrupulous employers do what they want. High levels of unemployment will add to problem. So, I will spend the first part of next week trying to gather information from Union and maybe citizens advice. I dont know whether it's better to resign or let them sack me?. Thankyou again,have a lovely weekend xx

Dorsetcupcake61 it's good you are consulting experts. Once you have all the information you can decide from there. Try not to worry nothing can be done until Monday. Have a good weekend.

Thankyou Whiff. Yes I'm going to knit and chill. My youngest daughter has set the date for her wedding in 2022. Its lovely to have something so positive ahead and a very good incentive to avoid ice cream.! Have a lovely weekend tooxx

Dorsetcupcake61 how lovely to look forward to a wedding. Always nice to have something positive to look forward to.

Up .25 lb this week. Tried a week of vegetarian meals for a week. Enjoyed them . But eat more cheese than I have for years. So back to my usual way of eating. But will ring the changes now and then. Having 6, dinners already in the fridge makes it easier to count calories. Hope everyone has a good week.

Well done Whiff as up 0.25 is nothing - next time you hiccup it will be gone, so no worries there!

I have been really good this week and taken a 20min walk each morning Mon to Fri and not had a single biscuit or naughty treat but only lost 1.2lb.
I'm disappointed but also happy that I am back in the 188/189 point something range on my weight chart! I don't like numbers that start with 19.....!

I do need to lose weight, but I am not overly bad and while we are still maintaining basic lock-down I have to accept that I will be less active. From the start I vowed to stay in 188 - 189.9 range until I can do something about it! I miss swimming so much but that's no go for a while yet.

I have loved reading the posts between Whiff and Dorset - all so encouraging and supportive - that's what I love about this thread! You will get loads of support Dorset so stay with us.

Both of our sick relatives remain stable so we're hoping that will continue and we won't get the call, and the painter has finished at long last so things are looking up!

Good luck everyone as we start another week!

I know its disappointing Whiff but only a smidgen. I think the most important thing is that having lost weight you keep an eye on it and maintain what you have already achieved whilst still reducing. It does seem more arduous with age. Whether its hormonal or bodies getting diet resistant I dont know. I've certainly noticed over the past few years I have to be more rigorous to lose small amounts. If only putting on was as slow I would be a happy bunny!
I have some low calorie meals I've made in the freezer and the ingredients to make more in the fridge. This week I must do a big batch cook. The events of last week left me in a bit of a spin. Since Friday I've been knitting an aeroplane for my eldest grandson who was very taken with his younger brothers! Then of course I had to have something for youngest because cant give one without the other. I found a book for him,but then realised eldest also like one! We are a family of book lovers and I still have some of my childhood books that have tremendous sentimental value. I had held on to them out of love and the potential to share with future generations. I looked at two in particular that are a bit delicate but realised the time is now. They are perfect for my grandsons at this moment in time. Books need to be shared and loved,ideally snuggled up together. These are quite magical and beautifully illustrated and just a glimpse of them takes me back to sitting with my late father and feeling safe and enchanted with the world. I know my daughter will value them equally. For each of the grandsons birthdays we were asked to supply a favourite book with explanations why. My eldest got The Wind in the Willows. My father when I was a toddler bought a plot of land with a stream at the bottom and built a house. The wind in the Willows was also bought and I was encouraged to imagine toad and ratty and co at the bottom of the garden. I made a book mark explaining this with a picture of the garden and his great grandad. Youngest got Just William, again loved by my father who as a young boy often got into similar scrapes! Another bookmark made describing his adventures! So,they will be here soon. Bit dull but warm enough for socially distanced garden meeting. We dont know when they will be down again in current situation. We are lucky in that they have done a house swap with son in laws parents who live in the area. The aeroplane and little pile of books are ready. There is a twinge of sadness but the time is right and with those much used pages a little bit of me and their great grandad goes with them.
Have a great week everyone whether the scales go up,down or round in circles ??

Fourormore thankyou for your kind words, I do hope your relatives continue to be stable and hopefully recover???