Of refeeds and diet breaks

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited December 2017
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    Diet break going well. Might have "accidentally" bought myself something whilst buying a thing for Christmas day (should I attend, I am wiped after 3 hours at the shops today though so not optimistic). Anyway. Behold diet BREAK friendly fancy pants chocs!

    Don't judge size of box. 20% off voucher, would have been rude not to maximise its use........




    Wow, that looks amazing. What kind of flavors are in it?
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    Diet break going well. Might have "accidentally" bought myself something whilst buying a thing for Christmas day (should I attend, I am wiped after 3 hours at the shops today though so not optimistic). Anyway. Behold diet BREAK friendly fancy pants chocs!

    Don't judge size of box. 20% off voucher, would have been rude not to maximise its use........




    Wow, that looks amazing. What kind of flavors are in it?

    Mostly festive themed.

    l4xxmheitizv.jpg
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!

    UK chocolates are on the next level. Cinnamon bun? Eton Mess? Mulled wine? Wow.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!

    UK chocolates are on the next level. Cinnamon bun? Eton Mess? Mulled wine? Wow.

    I do also have a chocolatier all of 15 seconds walk from my front door. They are also delicious (but a bit more expensive because not mass produced and no 20% off, wallet won on this occasion) and they did these amazing galaxy/stardust Easter eggs this year.

    These guys:

    https://www.facebook.com/bdhandemadechocolate/

    We have great food in the UK, contrary to popular stereotypes! I happen to live in an amazing little sort of village area of London where it's foodie heaven.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!

    UK chocolates are on the next level. Cinnamon bun? Eton Mess? Mulled wine? Wow.

    I do also have a chocolatier all of 15 seconds walk from my front door. They are also delicious (but a bit more expensive because not mass produced and no 20% off, wallet won on this occasion) and they did these amazing galaxy/stardust Easter eggs this year.

    These guys:

    https://www.facebook.com/bdhandemadechocolate/

    We have great food in the UK, contrary to popular stereotypes! I happen to live in an amazing little sort of village area of London where it's foodie heaven.

    I actually love food in the UK -- or at least how my mom made it when I was growing up! My father had an affection for many traditional foods like Yorkshire pudding, trifle, English breakfast, bangers and mash, and all kinds of savory pies so my mom made them a lot when I was growing up. I visited London a few years ago and had a blast trying all kinds of different food. I found this restaurant that just had all different kinds of sausage and mashed potatoes (including vegetarian sausage) and it was like it was speaking directly to my soul.

  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
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    Diet break going well. Might have "accidentally" bought myself something whilst buying a thing for Christmas day (should I attend, I am wiped after 3 hours at the shops today though so not optimistic). Anyway. Behold diet BREAK friendly fancy pants chocs!

    Don't judge size of box. 20% off voucher, would have been rude not to maximise its use........

    i7lqtnvxjp0z.jpg
    pxcpimf2qnwf.jpg


    Really, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Its somewhat like they do in France, but its better because of the designs in the chocolates and the card of information on each one that comes with it. just Yum

  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!

    UK chocolates are on the next level. Cinnamon bun? Eton Mess? Mulled wine? Wow.

    I do also have a chocolatier all of 15 seconds walk from my front door. They are also delicious (but a bit more expensive because not mass produced and no 20% off, wallet won on this occasion) and they did these amazing galaxy/stardust Easter eggs this year.

    These guys:

    https://www.facebook.com/bdhandemadechocolate/

    We have great food in the UK, contrary to popular stereotypes! I happen to live in an amazing little sort of village area of London where it's foodie heaven.

    Oh man, that looks fantastic. Living in Europe in high school (Zuerich) absolutely ruined me for the cardboard most Americans call chocolate.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    edited December 2017
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Busy, busy, busy!! Have had to come in because the stupid wind is getting up. Pollen, pollen, everywhere. No photos of the wall garden, but that was easy, just pulling out grass. I still need to get some compost in there before I plant things.
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    hqoh3c6bsx9c.jpg



    What an amazing difference clearing out all the dead fern leaves made. Shows off the palmy things nicely doesnt it?
    edit: off, not of.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    The wreath is a huge chunk of chocolate. Might take several sittings to work my way through that!

    UK chocolates are on the next level. Cinnamon bun? Eton Mess? Mulled wine? Wow.

    I do also have a chocolatier all of 15 seconds walk from my front door. They are also delicious (but a bit more expensive because not mass produced and no 20% off, wallet won on this occasion) and they did these amazing galaxy/stardust Easter eggs this year.

    These guys:

    https://www.facebook.com/bdhandemadechocolate/

    We have great food in the UK, contrary to popular stereotypes! I happen to live in an amazing little sort of village area of London where it's foodie heaven.

    Definitely looks about 10 times more awesome than the Christmas themed Whitman's samplers we have around here. <scurries away to soothe chocolate envy with Lindor truffle>
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    Hot water again ($350.00 later, ugh). The guy who did the repair was trying to sell up an updated version of the water heater for twice that, and since this one's only about 3 years old, and we'll probably get 3 more years at least out of it, no thanks. I took a shower at the gym Sunday since we were going out, yuck, just nasty. Basically clean, but people leave residue like hair and melted soap bars all over. Glad I don't have to use it every day!

    Mmmm, that chocolate is eye-candy as much as mouth-candy! I've never seen anything like that.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    Got my blood test results and all that medical info today

    in 152 days I've dropped 63lbs and:

    BP 155/95 down to 125/80
    borderline diabetic to NON diabetic
    cholesterol 9.6 to 6.2
    Fatty liver to normal liver function
    Metabolic syndrome reversed

    Eating 2000 calories a day, never been hungry, not binged or over eaten. Nor under eaten.

    Recalculated TDEE at new weight and it's around 2700 if I do some exercise. Going to do Diet Break for two weeks. Don't mind if I put on a bit. Will crack on with the remaining 73lb to lose in January

    That's great Rick. It must be encouraging to see those results. Enjoy your diet break!

    I was only a little overweight but I am amazed at how my blood pressure has responded to losing just 9kg (plus more exercise and less salt I suppose). Midway through this year, I was hovering in the high 130s over the high 80s, and now the last two readings have been great - the last one, a few days ago, was 109/71.

    Another confirmation of weight loss and its positive effects on blood pressure.

    I started this serious weight loss endeavor in March 2017 because of high blood pressure. 150/100 at times - got sent away from the donation center when trying to give blood. 249.5 at the time. The doc gave me some blood pressure meds and said "You won't need these long term if you lose some weight".

    Went to the doc today. Down 45 pounds or so. BP was 126/70. He says "Finish out your prescription. Don't refill it and we'll check you again in three months". YAY! Hoping to be another 10 pounds lighter or so by then.

    Yes awesome work and congrats

    I'm now on zero medications compared to 7 different prescriptions in July

    That's awesome Rick :)
    Gamliela wrote: »

    What an amazing difference clearing out all the dead fern leaves made. Shows off the palmy things nicely doesnt it?
    edit: off, not of.

    Yes, they now look how tree ferns should look, other than not under the dark canopy of native forest, where they would be able to cope with this dry weather!

    Nature did not provide water overnight, so I'm doing it for her. It's meant to be cooler again today, but sunny, so I need to get that done before the sun gets up much further. I may also just cut out the half dead fronds. No sense them using precious water on those.
    Diet break going well. Might have "accidentally" bought myself something whilst buying a thing for Christmas day (should I attend, I am wiped after 3 hours at the shops today though so not optimistic). Anyway. Behold diet BREAK friendly fancy pants chocs!

    Don't judge size of box. 20% off voucher, would have been rude not to maximise its use........


    Om, nom, nom!! And completely agree on the voucher. Much like I had to buy the 3/4 jeans that were marked down to $20 from $90. Would have been most rude not to.

    Back to smack bang on goal today (yes, yes, it's a range, but it's a range that's centred around a number). Seems it's Anything Can Happen month with my cycle though - usual 1-2 days of ravenous hunger right before was days early, then went away, seemed to have the beginnings of bloat, then it went away, Monday was OMG just give me the chocolate (don't usually get specific cravings these days, possibly because I generally have a bit of dark choc every day, and I take magnesium), scale is up a bit today (12 hours after arrival), usually I whoosh off very quickly, though that has been a bit different recently lately and taking a couple of days. Ah, perimenopause, you are just full of new surprises every month.

    My cats are all super huggy this morning. I almost had all three just now, boys either side and Mandy going for my lap, but she managed to stand on Mario as she came down from the back of the sofa, so he has moved to the floor. Hmmmm. Am I sick? Is one of them sick? Is the sky about to fall??
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    saw my PCP yesterday day and she was absolutely ecstatic about my weight loss - I think she was even more happy about it than I was!

    What she was most thrilled about was that I had dropped out of the "red" zone according to the standard that her organization uses for weight - my BMI has dropped from 57 to 42.4.

    She asked me if I thought my insulin resistance had improved, but I have no idea on that. I see an endocrinologist in February for the thyroid cancer follow up, and I'm going to try to get her to do the testing for that. If I can get off the metformin, all the better!

    Excellent job! You can ask for a fasting insulin blood draw at the same time you get a fasting HbA1C draw, and fasting glucose. Then you can plug insulin and glucose into this calculator to determine your IR score: https://www.thebloodcode.com/homa-ir-calculator/

    The A1C is just going to be a measure for long-running glucose, but either way that's excellent news. Metformin actually has no adverse effects long-term, improves insulin sensitivity, and may actually attenuate some cancer agents: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/37/7/1786

    However, if you would like to not be on prescription metformin, berberine hcl actually works the same and perhaps may be better overall since it doesn't cause much distress at higher doses.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    anubis609 wrote: »
    Do refeeds still do what they are meant to do if a good chunk of your calories comes from alcohol? Asking for a friend...

    Short answer, no. Leptin doesn't get stimulated for the purposes of refeed, but being drunk also displaces worrying about leptin at that point :D It has a somewhat secondary effect of reducing cortisol since sometimes things happen when *kitten*-faced and you wake up wondering where you are, who you're with, why your back hurts, and why you're okay with all of it since you're relaxed and magical whooshes happen.

    Cheat sheet: drink non-sugary alcoholic drinks + eat as much lean protein as you want = minimal to no fat gain.

    Wizardry explanation: https://leangains.com/the-truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle-growth/

    Speaking of whooshes... lost 2.5 lbs this week!

    Like magic, I tell ya :smiley:
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    Hot water again ($350.00 later, ugh). The guy who did the repair was trying to sell up an updated version of the water heater for twice that, and since this one's only about 3 years old, and we'll probably get 3 more years at least out of it, no thanks. I took a shower at the gym Sunday since we were going out, yuck, just nasty. Basically clean, but people leave residue like hair and melted soap bars all over. Glad I don't have to use it every day!

    Mmmm, that chocolate is eye-candy as much as mouth-candy! I've never seen anything like that.

    This must be expensive repairs week. I had my annual boiler inspection today, and the tech came out, very apologetic, and explained that mine is discharging 2500 ppm of carbon monoxide to the outside vent, and that's a problem. (Inside is "only" 16 ppm.) His concern is if the vent pipe springs a leak, that we've suddenly got a fatal situation.

    I trust this company, and I've used them for years (and the previous owners did before that), so I know he's being honest with me.

    Options are to try to rebuild a 35-year-old boiler, with no guarantee that it'll fix the problem, or to replace it.

    They'll do an estimate on Thursday for replacement cost. It looks in the ballpark of $5K to $10K. I figure if they'll do it for $7K or below, I'll replace. If not, I'll rebuild, and hope for the best.

    Homeownership is so much fun.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    Hot water again ($350.00 later, ugh). The guy who did the repair was trying to sell up an updated version of the water heater for twice that, and since this one's only about 3 years old, and we'll probably get 3 more years at least out of it, no thanks. I took a shower at the gym Sunday since we were going out, yuck, just nasty. Basically clean, but people leave residue like hair and melted soap bars all over. Glad I don't have to use it every day!

    Mmmm, that chocolate is eye-candy as much as mouth-candy! I've never seen anything like that.

    This must be expensive repairs week. I had my annual boiler inspection today, and the tech came out, very apologetic, and explained that mine is discharging 2500 ppm of carbon monoxide to the outside vent, and that's a problem. (Inside is "only" 16 ppm.) His concern is if the vent pipe springs a leak, that we've suddenly got a fatal situation.

    I trust this company, and I've used them for years (and the previous owners did before that), so I know he's being honest with me.

    Options are to try to rebuild a 35-year-old boiler, with no guarantee that it'll fix the problem, or to replace it.

    They'll do an estimate on Thursday for replacement cost. It looks in the ballpark of $5K to $10K. I figure if they'll do it for $7K or below, I'll replace. If not, I'll rebuild, and hope for the best.

    Homeownership is so much fun.

    Oh noooo! I'm so sorry to hear that - and what a horrible time of year to have to deal with this! On the other hand, carbon monoxide poisoning is a real threat, and I'm really glad you found out before anything fatal happened.