OA walk - FS TWD

It normally takes me a least a month to lose even half a kilo and significantly longer to keep it off but Fast Start (with its lower daily kj/cal allowance) seems to be the kick start I needed.  Week 3 and another great loss - 3 whole kilos in total gone in January! I'm transitioning early as I am familiar with this program having joined more than 3 years ago ... 1 shake a day for the next 2 weeks. Miracles DO happen 😃 This 🐢 tortoise is flying 🐇 After speaking to my Physiologist/dietician it seems that, for me at least, KILOJOULES or CALORIES DO matter. Age, activity levels, medication and high stress levels are all fighting against me. Being type 2 diabetic I seem to cope better with a lower carb diet so I'm going to tweak my units a little. A few years ago I actually gained weight doing Lite 'n Easy on 1400 calories (mainly due to its high carb snacks and not enough vegetables) Off to get a haircut and once I get my results in 48 hours, hopefully I will relax a bit an...

Beautiful day and quiet roads so headed South to Normanville via Myponga and Carrickalinga Bay.  The kiosk and Surf Club have been demolished and work has begun on the new building. Quick coffee at Yankalilla then back via Willunga,  quick wine taste and purchase at Samson Tall and home. Clive got called out to mark bowls at the Country Carnival so having a leisurely afternoon. One less shake today so tried a couple of Aldi's chickpea, spinach and caramelised onion rolls ... (they track well but I'll be over my meagre meat units today) with my 'free' home made tomato and basil soup. Yesterday's meatballs were tasty and looking forward to an old favourite tonight - pork larb but made with savoy cabbage instead of wombok.

I was expecting it to take a little while to see signs of recovery but I've been amazed how quickly I'm getting back to normal. I stopped taking pain meds completely the day after I returned home and was able to do all my exercises without too much discomfort. The bruising is impressive now.... I have a slightly tender yellow and black boob! Fast Start has proved invaluable both for convenience and for kick starting my stalled weight loss. I'm coming up to week 3 now and still losing steadily ... over a kilo this week, which included the midweek blip caused by hospital excess carb diet. Still a little anxious about my results but counting down the days and feeling more confident and motivated after a rotten few months. Even last night's torrential rain couldn't dampen my spirits ...  you should see what it did to the Sunday paper though! Loving the fruit/shake combos and it's good to have a few new recipes for evening meals. Clive is doing well too

Although it was a scorcher we decided to pop down to Brighton to see the rest of the Jetty Sculptures  The beach looked very inviting but will save that for another day. Good to be back on track with food and can't believe how good I feel ... no pain, pretty mobile and fingers crossed for a good outcome. I get the results in a week's time 

Tuesday finally arrived. Up at 5.00am, at hospital by 7.00am, RAT test, paperwork, form filling and admission done ready for surgery at 9.30, in recovery by 11.30 and back in my room by 1.00pm all done and dusted. Ham and cheese sandwich and a cuppa plus 2 ginger cookies. Not my first choice but after 15 hours nil by mouth, I'd eat anything. More tea and biscuits for afternoon tea then early dinner (I didn't order it but beggars can't be choosers) chicken and vegetable stir fry with noodles. Not much chicken, interesting mix of vegetables but barely half a cup, tasty sauce and lots of noodles. The lime jelly and custard slid down well and I did manage 1.5 litres of water. Clive visited for an hour then back to my puzzle book, library book and TV  By 8.00pm my blood sugars were double my normal and a slight cause for concern. Decided to walk round the block on the fourth floor before bed. Got lost and did 3 circuits,  should have counted my steps. Effective pain control and ...

Day 6 and my (naked) weight is hovering just below 94 for the first time in months. Quite a liquid day with mixed fruit in my strawberry shake for breakfast and extra coffee and banana in the lunchtime coffee one. Enjoyed my mixed vegetable and pumpkin soup instead of crudités for my veggie units Our evening meal was salmon with a huge salad rather than white fish, a few more kjs but slightly under my meat units.  Rather than plain water I made up a jug of diet rite juice (apple, strawberry and guava) and added lemon, cucumber and mint ...  not quite a Pimms but one can dream! Watched TDU again.... great ariel shots of all my local haunts around McLaren Vale.  Now savouring a big mug of my favourite tea using milk I saved from my shakes while watching the 🎾 and 🏏  Clive's friend from bowls won a prize for best dressed house at today's TDU

Much as I like raw vegetable sticks, I get very tired of cucumber and capsicum. I can eat celery till the cows come home and carrot, cherry tomatoes and radish are OK too I recently discovered Ajvar, a smoked paprika and aubergine pickle .... yum. Everything you dip in it tastes heavenly. However, on a cold day, nothing beats light vegetable soup and it's so quick to whip up. The basic is carrot, onion and celery (plus anything else lurking in the bottom of the fridge such as cauliflower or zucchini) and some stock. I made about 1.5 litres and put the vegetables through my food processor.... 10 seconds rather than a long time dicing it with a sharp knife.  It made 6 generous portions (I cook for two) I split it into 3 1. Au natural with a sachet of tomato puree and parsley (plus cheese and croutons for Clive)  2. Added a small can of chopped tomatoes and fresh basil.  3. Added some cooked pumpkin and liquidised till smooth Chicken breast tonight with leftover slaw and spi...