OA walk - FS TWD

Took advantage of a lovely summer day and headed off to the Botanic Gardens. Parked at Tonsley and caught the train to the City. Temperatures rose to the high 20s but lots of shady places to walk and plenty of benches to rest and admire the view. Had pumpkin, spinach and feta frittata and a coffee for lunch at the kiosk by the lake. Tried out the 'Seeing the Invisible' .... unsuccessfully as I kept getting the same picture at different viewing points. It runs till September so maybe I'll get the hang of it before then. 170% of #mydailysteps completed so finally back on track.

At last I can relax now! After being diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of December, I saw my surgeon this morning for my results. Healing well and given the ALL CLEAR...... no further treatment required. Such a relief after an anxious couple of months. Fourth week in a row the scales have gone down and I'm almost back to my pre Covid weight.  Fast Start gave me the push I needed, provided a short time of less food prep when I really needed it and also something less stressful to focus on.  Back to 2 regular meals a day and 1 shake for the next week or so before returning to 3 meals a day. Back in the habit of weighing and tracking accurately and hope to get my steps up too .                 My waist is returning (hopefully my tummy will start to shrink too...  I live in hope) and even my face looks a bit slimmer, especially after yesterday's rather severe haircut.

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 ...