The Awful Warning

I sort of admire your mil deeda except for the teeth!

I agree with Lys60 - a slimming club may help you, lucyinthesky. Am I allowed to say which I go to? Some of your favourite foods and your weekly glass of wine can be included in a food optimising plan which can make you feel livelier and lose weight. There are loads of recipes online which can be enjoyed by the whole family. You may feel it's not your sort of thing but the support and encouragement is there. Give it a try, you might get a surprise.

By the way I'm not there yet, I lost almost 2 stone steadily then started yoyo-ing a pound or two up and down because I wasn't organised enough. However I would have put it all back on if I hadn't continued to go to the group.

teetime I was pathetic at Zumba, couldn't keep going for more than five minutes, surrounded by frightening young women in leotards and vest-type tunics.

Then three years ago a Zumba Gold class started so I gave that a try - what a difference. I really enjoy it and I think I'm in better shape that I used to be, also I don't get pain in hips & knees like I used to.
I hope you enjoy it too!

I'm afraid my MiL couldn't be mistaken for Les Dawson owing to having no sense of humour. She certainly stuck to her principles though petallus

Lucyinthesky try the 5:2 diet. I have had a problem with my weightfor decades, tried many diets to no avail. Started 5:2 two years ago , lost 3 stones gradually and have kept at my present weight for 6 months.

To all the above gransetters really you dont no how lucky you are .I was a cyclist and gym bunny and swimmer then at the age of 36 i was struck down with hydshimotis disease.Then me / cfs followed then fibromslgia.Depression and 6 other auto immuume diseases including kidney disease and siogrins syndrome and lupus.Im in such pain day and night , and suffer with crippling mind seering insommia.Yet i struggle on each day and do my housework laundry and gardens.I had to quite a job in a bank and havent worked for 10 years.Ive no carres only a loysl and loving husband.Im 54 now and believe me i am your awful warning.Is it really so bad if people are age are in to meals out and walking I do both and im rreslly not able.Every thing i do i have to pay for good or bad by three days or weeks confined to bed.But i never give up get up each dsy and go out eith my teo pugs and my wonderful husband.Perhaps those peopke who are giving u lot the swful warning have like me dome invisable illness either mental or physcical and shouldnt be juged too harshly by you lucky heslthly

e work in a very well psid

Thanks Winifred01 - I found the 5:2 worked well for me last summer but since this prediabetes diagnosis I can't eat such a low cal diet for two days in the week. Also when I was on the 5:2 it did enable me to eat much of what I enjoyed like cakes, deserts etc which, once again cos of a worry about diabetes, means that the 5:2 isn't the healthy option for me any longer

I agree with you though that it is a very effective diet otherwise

Lucy, my OH has got completely out of pre-diabetes with the low-carb diet. We have both been doing it now for eighteen months. He has lost nearly four stone, I have lost three stone and am now under 9 stone and a size 10. We get quite a lot of exercise through gardening and walking, but have not increased the amount of exercise throughout. Low carb, moderate fat and smaller portions have done it for us. We love the diet because we can continue to eat butter, cheese and fat in meat. We have both seen a significant drop in cholesterol and my OH has been taken off statins.
We have continued to drink moderate amounts of wine throughout.
You would be very welcome to join us on the low-carb thread!

Lucy have a look at the thread about support for those following a low carb diet.
Lots of gnetters have found that they not only lose weight, but indicators for prediabetes are reduced too when they reduce their carb intake.
I know the 5:2 works for some, but my reservation about it is being able to eat anything you like on the 5 days. It does nothing to reduce intake of refined sugars which are increasingly thought to be a big factor in the development of many chronic illnesses.
Helmsley That is very tough, and I agree with you we shouldn't judge people as awful warnings when we know nothing about their underlying health problems.

Crossed posts mamie

MamieWhile you're there! I've been meaning to ask this question for a while. Do you have a target daily carb intake or do you just generally reduce and avoid high GI foods?

I got the Awful Warning two weeks ago when I found three cotton skirts in my wardrobe that don't meet round the waist (what waist?). I promptly signed up on Weightwatchers on line and behaved very well until I went off for a long weekend with first, DS2's family and then DS1's lot. I must admit to being shocked by the amount DS2 and partner put on the table and the number of packs of crisps they have in the cupboards. The two GSs are lean and fit, thank goodness but the same cannot be said for their parents. DS2, formerly a chef, produced well balanced meals and he and his wife are very fit looking. Cycling to and from school keeps the DGC fit. Anyway, I am back home now and recording what goes in my mouth - unless it's my foot!

No we don't have a target JA, but generally we don't have carbs at all at dinner if we have had them at lunch and vice versa. We never have bread or rice now but still have new potatoes and spaghetti occasionally, but only about 100g between us. So a cold meat and jacket potato meal has become cold meat and aubergine parmigiana, for example. If we feel we have had too many carbs we cut them out at both meals for a day or so. We always have a slice of spelt toast and our own muesli at breakfast, unless it is an egg day. We started off with just low GI and ate stuff like bulghar, quinoa and pearled spelt but have reduced carbs even more as we got used to the diet.
We find we can't really eat sugar at all now as it just tastes too sweet. OH found that he was putting a couple of pounds back on recently so he cut out summer fruit (this was hard) and the weight came off again. Lots of trial and error, but I think you do develop a sort of sensitivety to what feels right after a bit.

I have just had a text from the health club I used to go to offering me a special deal. I could do with swimming and aquafit - possibly pilates. Maybe...

Anno
I saw this article theconversation.com/poor-fitness-is-a-bigger-threat-to-child-health-than-obesity-43653 recently which although it's about children's wellbeing, makes an important distinction between fitness and obesity and their effects in general health.
I think it probably applies to adults too - after all it's no good being a size 12 if you get out of breath going upstairs, is it? And conversely does it matter if your BMI is 25 and you can get upstairs without stopping for breath?

Thanks mamie

My awful warning came a couple of years back when we were in a motorway services station and I took my little grandson to the loo. In the cubicle I told him to just wait while I had a wee. He announced in a very loud voice. "Nanny your legs are humungous"!

I think the point is that exercise and fitness are good for your health but it is your diet that affects weight loss. I have seen 80:20 quoted as the diet to exercise ratio for weight loss.

My DH is out of pre-diabetes as well, Mamie. Our practice nurse was flabberghasted when he weighed in at two stone under his last check up.

My IBS has almost disappeared since I gave up bread but I still have to be careful with fruit so I only eat it at home.

Merlot ditto re my DH too!

That is great news Merlot and Anya.
I like the fact that it is so easy and you don't have to count calories or do anything other than cook and eat real food and cut the carbs.

I was told years ago to always eat fruit before a meal not after. Because of my sensitive tooth I haven't been able to eat apples but recently started eating one a day, cutting it into pieces and chewing it very carefully. I find it more filling that way, probably because it takes me ages to eat it and I feel as if I've eaten a small meal.

I love apples and I've found the best way to avoid stomach cramps is to cut them into pieces like Tegan and eat small cubes of cheese at the same time.

I'll try eating fruit before a meal and see if that helps.

I often eat them with cheese as well as my teeth are so senstive when eating anything acidic and it neutralises the acid. It also make a small piece of cheese go further [I love cheese]. I was told that we digest fruit quicker than other food so, if we eat it after other stuff, it pushes the other food through our system quicker; not good if you suffer from IBS [which I do].

I was told that fruit starts to ferment in the stomach and it us better to have it at the base of your stomach rather than on top of other food.

Also if I had an upset stomach and felt sick my mum used to scrap an apple and it froths up a bit and then I ate it and the pectin in the apple calmed my stomach. Still do this with equal success.