You put your finger on one of the most important factors in successful life changes, Fuvvie — attitude. Is it deprivation of sugar or is it freedom from sugar? Either way, there’s no sugar — but a tremendous difference in my happiness level.

I also think your daughter is right about the benefits of contributing, and I’m so glad you do.

Aurora, I can identify with watching the pennies! I certainly can’t stretch to buying exotic specialty stuff — or the best of grass-fed meat and organic veg for that matter — but I do shop carefully for the best I can afford. My food bills have dropped noticeably, which might surprise some people when I talk of eating butter, cream, cheese, bacon, etc. The amount I’m eating now is a far cry from my binging days, so of course that makes a difference as well.

You really don’t have to spend a lot to eat well when you’re only buying real food. I like to cook, which helps, but I find myself making very simple meals and enjoying every bite.

Well done for reaching week two! If you can do that, you can go all the way. It takes time to find your best plan so be kind to yourself as you go.

Wednesday Weigh-In, and I’m another pound lighter. Life is good.

An interesting aside: I’ve had two complete strangers compliment me on my skin this past week. This was a shock, as I have never had clear skin all my adult life. My rosacea began to clear after eliminating sugar and I suspect that increasing healthy fats has relieved the dryness. Unlike a low-fat diet where my face looked drawn and haggard, LCHF has my skin soft and looking healthy.

19 st./8 lbs.

It’s Wednesday Weigh-In again already and I am delighted to dismiss another 2 lbs. Yay, me!

Truly, it feels effortless. The whole point of what I am trying to do is to live a simple life, keeping only those things which make sense. No potions, no powders, no pills. Just real food preventing diabetes from reappearing. Plus bonus weight loss.

Fasting has proven itself to be key to my recovery and to my sense of well-being, but it’s important that it fits in a way that feels natural and easy to do. The more complicated and rigid the plan, the more likely it is to fail. I commit on a weekly basis, review, then adjust if needed. For example, I wasn’t hungry in the mornings, so 16:8 was a natural fit. After a while on LCHF, doing a 24-hr fast was painless, so I added in a couple of those. Others will find what works for them in the same trial and error fashion, and I’m glad I did a fair bit of experimentation early on to set my limits. Within those limits I have huge freedom and I just don’t fret about food any more.

Life is good.

19 st./6 lbs.

I’ve been away for a bit, so my usual Wednesday Weigh-In has turned into Follow-Up Friday — but I am super stoked to record a dismissal of 3 lbs.

I’m especially pleased since I did this while surrounded by people eating normally and I didn’t stick out like a killjoy on holiday. This has given me a lot of confidence in my ability to navigate around food in social settings. And that’s a good thing if I don’t plan to be a hermit!

My fears were about: 1) being triggered by the sight/smell of large quantities of food; 2) not having what I need available; and 3) feeling deprived or “different” as others indulged.

None of these things happened. I planned ahead to bring or make sure I could get what I needed, and as I don’t require anything weird that was easy. Several months of LCHF combined with IF has changed my response to food, so that was easy, too. And once I saw the demands others were making to fit their needs I realised that mine were very simple indeed!

I maintained 16:8, simply skipping breakfast time. I had gorgeous omelettes with salad for lunch, then whatever un-sauced meats and veg were going for dinner. My only request needed to be for extra veggies to replace starches. Add extra butter — done.

The points of danger I noted were: 1) snacks between meals, and 2) desserts. I defused both of those bombs with an upfront notification of being diabetic and after that a quiet “no thanks” was enough. I wasn’t hungry, so no feelings of deprivation. I saw that I wasn’t alone in refusing dessert, so I chose to sit with others who were doing the same.

I had a terrific time and would do it again. It was just a fabulous bonus to get home and check the scales this morning.

I have so much to be grateful for.

19 st./3 lbs.

Now, that would be a party to remember, Fuvvie! My mind went immediately to planning the menu. After eliminating chocolate waffles and ice cream, I decided it would be safest if we all met on a fast day. 😀

You are so right about the food smells. I had a friend who lost her sense of smell and she said that most food lost its taste as a result. That would be a sad loss to me, as I enjoy my food so much.

It feels like I’ve gone from a gourmand to a gourmet. From shovelling in everything in sight to selecting and appreciating every meal, however simple.

All the senses are involved, really. How I arrange my food on a plate. The textures. The sounds of sizzle and crunch. It’s more than just smell and taste. Life is too short to waste all that sensory input on indifferent meals!

I’m clipping a bit from a post I made on another thread because it expresses where I am right now and I want to consider it further.

“I’m still keeping up my 30 minutes a day commitment of walking. I did try increasing it, but my back complained and I listened. There were days, especially in the beginning, when only my promise got me up and moving but I’ve come to enjoy it now.

I think what has helped me maintain this promise was its reasonableness. My previous tendency was to go overboard with rigid goals. One day of non-perfection and it was all over — I had “failed”. Back to the old ways, pass the ice cream, cue the self-loathing.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I am succeeding now, where I never could before. I truly believe that we are always doing what we want to do. I lived in the land of “should”. I wanted to not be fat, but not more than I wanted to binge. My words were saying one thing but my actions were speaking the truth. The short-term pleasure far outweighed the mythical long-term gain.

Eliminating the sugar has allowed me the clarity of thought to see how to change from within. It really isn’t possible to do this with a foot in two camps. It’s very clear to me that the way I eat now is not a temporary plan so I can resume old eating habits when I reach a goal weight. The difference is, I am eating (and fasting) now in a way I truly love and which makes me feel happy and well. I don’t want to go back.

The way I have done this is to work WITH the quirks of my mind and body. I tested foods, gauged reactions, made choices — and only made changes I was ready to accept and that fit me. Many of these changes have had nothing to do with food but it’s like untangling an enormous knot to get to the central truth. Food was not my problem — it was my solution. The more work I did to disarm the real problems the less I needed the food.”

This position is so very different from where I was before March. Perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking got me where I was. Negativism kept me there. I could not properly comprehend the effect sugar was having on me until I was free of it. Looking back, I am appalled. At the time, it seemed normal — which is why there’s no point to treating an addict until they are clean.

I can change behaviour by applying new actions, as long as I actually want to. Changed thinking follows as repetition becomes habit. There is a paradigm shift. Same world, same eyes, but I’m processing it very differently.

More to think about.

It’s Wednesday Weigh-In, and despite a short week, I am so pleased to have dismissed another 2 lbs.

19 st./1 lb.

Wednesday Weigh-In and a dismissal of 1 lb. takes me to the milestone of 19 stone. This is a total loss so far of nearly 3 stone while feeling absolutely satisfied with my meals and fasting — little short of a miracle for me. Never again will I believe that you have to suffer and struggle to lose weight. Pass the butter and leave the chicken skin on, please!

Sorry we had to spoil those chocolate waffles for you, coldpizza, but think of it this way: nothing which can survive in a packet for 90 days without decaying really belongs in your body anyway! Well done on lasting the challenge.

Fuvvie, this week has been about scans and prep work. I have an appointment next week where I hope to have more info on my treatment schedule. Meanwhile, I’m getting a support network in place and making what preparations I can. I’m continuing my walking now but we’ll have to see how I go. Meditation definitely goes into the mix.

I made an interesting discovery after drinking that icky orange chalky drink for a CT scan. It contained an artificial sweetener and not sugar, but it had an effect on me disconcertingly like sugar. For two days I experienced a restless desire for sweet things, for which I had to do a sort of manual override. I’ll be on the alert for that next time. Seems my instincts for avoiding any kind of sweet taste trigger has been on the money.

19 st./0 lb.

Wednesday Weigh-In, and two more pounds given the heave-ho. Very happy about that!

How grateful I am to have worked out so many food issues in the past few months. It’s standing me in good stead now. Innovations have turned into habits through repetition and this new framework is supporting me well. Food used to be my first (and only) response to stress, and that’s just not true anymore.

Stress is an interesting thing. Previously, even the littlest molehill could send me into an obsessive spiral. Based on how differently I am handling stress now, I have to conclude that some of the food I used to eat was making me, well, crazy! Sugar certainly did. And would again, if I let it. Certainly, trying to relieve pain with the same foods which were causing it was never going to work. I am so much calmer now. My brain fog is gone and I can see solutions where once I only saw problems.

A few friends have made comments like: “Don’t worry about your diet right now” or “A little treat won’t hurt you”. They mean well and I understand the love and concern behind the words, but I am dealing with the stress BECAUSE of my LCFH structure and not despite it. This way of eating makes me feel well, and they are still thinking of a “diet” as something which is difficult and depriving. Not so long ago, I would have felt they same way they do and would have grasped at any justification to fall off the wagon.

I don’t seem to even see that old food anymore. I certainly have no craving for it. It’s like it’s just disappeared off my radar. I would never have believed that possible if I hadn’t done it for myself. And no amount of stress is any excuse for going back to a way of eating that I see now as a lifetime of torment.

18 st./11 lbs.

Wednesday Weigh-In again. No fasting this week so I’m not surprised to have no loss to report. Treatment begins Friday, so over the next six weeks I’ll be playing it by ear with what I tolerate well. Sugar and starches will still be out, of course — my focus may be elsewhere for a while but my mind is still clear on that one!