josparkle Member

I'm sorry. I can't even tell you why I've not been on here. Life is busy but then when isn't it? But to be honest I just couldn't be bothered with any of it, losing the weight, trying to get healthier etc it all just felt like too much and whilst I've not hibernated nor turned into a hermit, I just didn't want to focus on…

You ladies are all so busy, I wonder how you find time to eat and exercise. @Screwmenopause - you are forgiven, and I hope you are making sense of your move. I'm still find things to unpack 7 years later! Pesky bill money has been sourced and bill will be paid tomorrow, and direct debit in place so it cannot happen again,…

Sorry ladies, have been startled by the beginning of the summer holidays and the need to make a bit of extra money quickly as I have an unexpected and entirely necessary bill that is looming and no spare pennies that I want to pay it with. Think I have it sorted but it is taking up extra time to sort. Hate that feeling but…

Canadjineh and Sprintto50 - I am with you both. My scales are saying 4lbs up on where they were 2 weeks ago, and I know I've had a hit-and-miss couple of weeks but not by that much. Can only assume that its my body hanging onto something or other. Also I know that 14 days ago was the end of a very busy and stressy week or…

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and thats why there are so few new posts at the moment. I've had a lovely time but my diet has suffered somewhat - not dreadfully but a piece of cake or two, and a glass of wine or three, and even some tortilla chips - eek! So tomorrow I have planned a long dog walk and an even…

Good for you, Sprintto50, I think we're all learning, and still being surprised, by this journey. I love thai food, can't get really good thai food where I live now and I miss London for food diversity especially as I ran a farmers' market there, and now I live in the country and cannot get such good stuff here, and…

Good to know its not just me struggling. I did better yesterday but did succumb to some lemon and blueberry cake with a tiny scoop of homemade ice-cream after my roast dinner, and a couple of glasses of pink wine - but don't feel too bad about it as I only went a few calories over. Today will be back to proper normal,…

Hope all you you US ladies are having a great 4th of July weekend. Here is just a normal weekend though with Wimbledon finals, The Tour start and the British Grand Prix, there is much sport to watch so I think my walks will have to be a little sooner in the day or they just won't happen. Had a fairly trying week with my…

Welcome, you've come to the right place. I understand those symptoms so well and I'm in a similar boat though medically diagnosed as peri rather than self.

Yes, Happy July everyone. Lovely sunny weather here, almost too hot but so rare for us we are not going to complain. Today was my 70th day logging so that's 10 weeks I've been doing this and the scales obliged by dropping my TOM weight and show 21lbs off overall which is fabulous. I'm so pleased to have finally hit a…

Yay. Smoothies and cereal bars done. Today I conquered my urge to be exceptionally rude to some rather spoilt and pretentious 11 year olds and just carry on, even when they declaimed their smoothie to be absolutely disgusting and 'I'm going to be sick now'. I have decided to be stronger next year and just say no when they…

So today I conquered that Monday morning feeling by simply 'getting on with it', like an annoying chore that had to be done I got up and put my walking trainers on and grabbed the dogs lead so that I had to walk him. Really I wanted to stay home and potter round the house again because the end of last week was physically…

Happy Monday everyone. Up and at 'em this morning, washing on the line, dog walked and about to go and get shopping for some healthy cooking I've been dragged into doing at school tomorrow. I am NOT a natural teacher, well, not of children anyway but hopefully it will be ok. We're making homemade cereal bars and smoothies…

Welcome, more experiences to add to the melting pot. Having a very restful day today after the maelstrom of yesterday's school fair. I was up and on my feet from 7am til 5pm, and barely had time to eat the fruit and crispbread/cottage cheese I had taken with me. So 5pm called for a home-baked scone, strawberries and a…

I was in a similar position to you though slightly less in actual inches, my cup size was an F/G. It is now (20lbs weight loss) down to an E and I've gone from 38" down to just under 35". And to answer your question, definitely deflated, not saggy per se but definitely less perky. But we're all different and it doesn't…

Yay, its Friday. And that would be great if tomorrow wasn't the Summer Fair at school. Have been on my feet since 7am today sorting stuff and now have to bake for the cake stall, find all the stuff that is literally scattered around the house for various stalls and sort my head out. It will be great, of course, but cannot…

For the barbecue I think you know what to do - chicken, seafood, lean meat and salad. Limit dressings, bread, crisps (chips) and puddings - or avoid if you cannot just have a taste of something without wanting to devour the whole thing ( like me with a bag of good potato chips or cheesecake!!). For the indian food, same…

I make long slices and put them on blisteringly hot ridged grill pan - turning once when they have lovely brown lines. Douse them with lemon juice, black pepper and shredded herbs. Thinly sliced like spaghetti and served with hot fresh tomato sauce - or with chili flakes, garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Raw and…

One meal - admittedly potentially one large meal - but it's just one meal. There's some great advice here about what to choose over what not to choose and I'm sure you'll do that. For what its worth, If it were me, I would remind myself of my maintenance calorie allowance before I went which will put a different cut off…

Another busy day but another good one foodwise and even a little exercise though as I was on my feet all day and busy there was probably more than I have been able to log as formal exercise. Anyway, hope you're all doing well out there whatever you're doing.

Hi all midweek here and was so busy yesterday with making cakes - stilletto cupcakes (cupcakes that look like shoes), knicker cookies (biscuits that look like bottoms in pants) and a Mockingjay Hunger Games cakes - that I forgot to weigh. Not only did all the cakes come out perfectly but today revealed 1and 1/2lb loss on…

Yay for downward trends. Sounds like a mentally tough day yesterday; hope you're being kind to yourself today.

Well the end of last week left me feeling washed out - had both boys off sick from school by the end of Friday and interrupted sleep Thurs, Fri & Sat from DS2 who was finding it hard to settle. I'm definitely too old for those broken nights. So I wasn't full of joy when OH decided this was the weekend to clear out garden…

I like this. No tips for potatoes I'm afraid, except for remember where you planted them - we still get some cropping and haven't planted any new ones this last two years! Back is finally starting to feel a bit better, not entirely twinge free but I think I can resume my longer distance walks tomorrow without making it…

You know what, you 'could' have that breakfast but do you think it will 'settle your cravings'? For me if I start off with sweet things then I tend to want more of them and a day can be a long time with less than 800 calories to deal with sugar cravings and to feel full. I tend to have c6-800 cals for dinner alone.

Well done on getting straight back onto it. I'm having a better day, back is so much better today even after a disastrous night's sleep. Hopefully will have it sorted finally tomorrow and I can get out better - have two errands that must be done each at least 1 mile in opposite directions so that's at least 4 additional…

Ladies today I have bought a new belt - a medium. Now I think there was a bit of vanity sizing going on in the shop as the sizes ranged from XL to XXS which is a little off for a mainstream store, but still it is a M and I am not at the far end of it either. So something is working. Back is a little less painful today so…

Feeling a bit less sore now but back still giving me twinges. I'm trying not to whinge but am definitely feeling rather sorry for myself. Hopefully another day or two and it will be ok again, it must be truly dreadful to suffer with a bad back all the time. Thanks for the sympathy, much appreciated.

Well that's good to know it has a name. I 'made it up' based on one that I adore in Cafe Pacifico in London but that one has oil, sugar and tons of sea salt and this is the nearest I've ever got to it but without those additions. I'm rather pleased to know that I've unwittingly stumbled on a classic recipe. I love it with…

One of my MFP friends was bemoaning the curse of salsa and chips at a mexican restaurant which prompted me to search out this recipe from my books. Haven't found a good lowfat/carb/sodium tortilla chip yet in the UK but it tastes just great with almost anything. I sometimes marinate chicken or pork in it with a little…