Sweet Talking

When Bob saw the GP about the chest pains etc, she did some blood tests. These revealed he has Type 2 Diabetes. On top of everything else! He was called back into the surgery to discuss this - not keen to go onto medication for that [on top of all the heart stuff] he asked for time to try and lose weight and get his blood sugar levels to a better place. He is going back in three months.

So we are both doing Michael Mosley's 8 week Blood Sugar Diet. I am joining Bob because I know I am overweight, and it is much easier if we are eating the same meals.

Once we left Leicester and I had much less teaching work, more time to bake [and all that splendid church catering at UCF] my weight has been increasing fairly steadily. I lost a little last summer whilst I was here on my own doing grandma's Nursery. But my BMI passed 30, which makes me technically obese. 

We are now half way through. Bob has lost more than a stone, I have lost over half a stone. His belt buckle now fastens 3 holes tighter- and I can zip up my winter boots comfortably over my calves!

We're both sleeping better, and generally feeling better. Most days we go for a walk of between 30 and 60 minutes. So we hope all this will result in Bob not having to go on meds.

How about the food? you're thinking. Well the bad news is, we can't eat toast,cakes,biscuits, puddings or pasta - the menu plans are low carb, low sugar. 

It's a Mediterranean style eating plan - lots of veg and good quality protein. [Hence my steak and salad at Wetherspoons] The aim is 800 calories per day - I suspect we are at 800-900, but that's still pretty low cal.

Four weeks in and we are tweaking the diet a little. On alternate days, we have a half sized bowl of porridge for breakfast [I can only eat so many eggs, and I don't like avocado] and top it with a sprinkling of salt or a grating of nutmeg [not demerara sugar, as I have done for years]

We are learning to recognise which foods have 'hidden sugars', and avoid them.

I can make a passable 'rice' using cauliflower put through the food processor, then roasted in a baking tray. And 'mash' is no longer potatoes, but butterbeans, or celeriac, or a mixture of both.[The book gives a great fish pie recipe with a celeriac topping]

The salad leaves in the raised bed means we can have a freshly cut green salad every day - and Bob is a wizard at making flavoursome salad dressings with different herbs, oils and vinegars.

I have been buying Chinese Leaf [aka Napa Cabbage] I cut a large rectangle from the broad white central rib. The green leafy bits I shred into my salad, and the white pieces become 'crackers' for cheese, or paté spread very thinly. We are determined to do the full eight weeks - and then go onto the 'maintenance' diet plans after that. Christmas will be a challenge- but we don't want to undo all the good work before Bob returns to the surgery in January. 

I know I will never get back to the weight I was when I was 18 [100lbs when I went to Uni!] but I peaked at 166lbs earlier this year. 

I really miss toast, and croissants for Sunday breakfast, and sponge puddings. And I find it very hard at the chapel on Wednesdays when there are huge slices of cake offered with the coffee. But if a thing is worth doing...

The book says that initially there is rapid weight loss, then there will be a plateau. This is true, but I hope that by the first week in December, at the end of the eight weeks, we will feel fitter and slimmer. 

If you have good diet tips, please share them!