Fat 58 and diabetic, at least things can only get better

[Arum Lilly]

Yes pretty much, 3 days a week I limit myself to 400 or 500 cals, on the other 4 days I eat sensibly, which for me is to stay below 1500 cals and to a greater degree limit carbs, but as its hubbys responsibility to get lunch that generally means I have half a baguette at lunchtime. As we are living in Tenerife for a few months, and eating out on my eating days, my evening meal is invariably a salad of some description. But so far so good, I seem to be able to enjoy the benefits of being on holiday whilst also losing weight. And I get to have to odd glass of wine too! happy days

 

[Arum Lilly]

Todays scores are - weight 97.4, down .4 from yesterday, blood glucose 7.9! woohoo! im in the 7's - just. Feel very happy with this result today, makes yesterdays anguish with the hunger all the more worth it

update 4.35pm. I finished The Accidental Apprentice today, it was ok, not as good as his other books. Im now starting Gone Girl, this is a crime thriller and not something I would normally read but it has had some great reviews, and yes so far its very intriguing. A wife has gone missing on the couples 5th wedding anniversary. The story is being told from 2 angles in alternating chapters, the husband in the present day and the wife from her diary entries charting their relationship from when they first met.

 

[lisa32]

Arum Lilly, what a great diary you have made me laugh too. i will pop in and see how your getting. i will be around for a while as i am aiming to loss 80lbs, x

 

[traveljody]

Yay for a good result! I like to read but I am very obsessive about it, once I start I can't stop, even if I am not particularly enjoying the story.

When I got my tablet I downloaded lots of free or really cheap books and am working my way through them, especially when I have to go up to London as the train journey is around 90 minutes each way so plenty of reading time! How was the weather over there today? It feels like the evenings are really starting to close in earlier now

 

[Arum Lilly]

Hi Lisa! thanks for stopping by my diary, hope you come back again!

Hi travel jody! Weather is still overcast here, but warm even so. Warm enough to lounge around in a swimsuit all day that's for sure. This evening we went into Los Cristianos and had a meal at The House restaurant. It used to be called the Coer de Filet some years ago and was my favourite restaurant then. It was closed down 2 or 3 years ago and last year was open under the Little Italy franchise, so we never bothered with it. This year the Little Italy franchise has moved out and the old owners from Coer de Filet days have moved back in ( so I was told by the waiter). Well whoever owns it now is neither here nor there to me but the food was excellent. I had the house cesar salad, a good cesar salad with the usual pile of lettuce (not cos though sadly) croutons, parmesan shavings and a cesar sauce of some sort (probably bottled), topped with grilled chicken beast, large prawns and 2 very thin very crispy slices of bacon, and a smattering of black olives. It was heavenly, and madly filling. A large glass of red wine and bottle of fizzy water accompanied it, and now im stuffed. Hubby indulged in carb mania, he had crusty bread with olives and ali oli, spaghetti carbonara AND a plate of French fries. If he has indigestion all night it will serve him right lol

Fasting day tomorrow... hubby has pretty much decided to join me on my fasting days, although he eats a bit more in the way of fruit, but otherwise he forgoes breakfast and lunch and has salad for dinner.

 

[Arum Lilly]

Blood glucose this morning at 7.8 , that's shaved another point off. There is no blurriness to my sight either this morning, and im not getting up in the night to pee either. Its all good! If I can keep this up I wont have to resort to the Gliclazide.

Update 4pm. another overcast day here, but even so its still warm enough to be sat outside in a swimsuit. Ive noticed a few quite sunburnt people around, this overcast weather can be very misleading as you are not sure which direction the sun is coming from. Ive caught myself sitting in direct rays a couple of times, whereas when the sun shines you know where the shade is. I swear by P20 and refuse to use anything else, but after a week or so I tend to slack off with applying it so religiously as by then im getting brown enough to avoid getting burnt, but I stay out of the direct sun.

Today is a fasting day, but I have to do something to avoid getting light headed and weak as I don't like it, and although im not getting hungry as such, I start to crave some carbs. So this morning I made up the meal replacement shake and put it in a bottle to take to the pool with me. I had a swig of it every now and then which has kept my energy up.

Hubby wants to go out for a walk today, but I tend not to want to do so much on a fasting day but I know I would enjoy a walk once I got going, so maybe I can persuade him to wait until we have had our salad a bit later. I should feel a bit more energetic then.

 

[traveljody]

Did you go for your walk? I often get sicky and shaky when hungry, I have no willpower when I get to that stage.

I have never used P20, I think my worry is that I am in and out of the water so much that I don't understand how it will protect me. The worst sunburn I have ever had was on our first trip to the Maldives, I was desperate to get in the water so decided to skip the suncream and put leggings on, but they rode up m legs and the bottom of my calves were SO SO bad. I am always extra careful now

 

[Arum Lilly]

Hi Jody, we just got back from our walk. I think we were out for almost 3 hours, although we were not walking for all that time, we stopped at 2 bars for a drink (just fizzy water for me).

Im not sure what makes P20 different to other sunscreens, but it is different certainly. Its an oil/alcohol based compound that has an odd smell and is yellow. It just needs to applied once a day at least 15 minutes before you go in the sun, and that's it, ive never burnt and I have fair freckly skin and red hair, so Im a strong candidate for sunburn. It doesn't stop me going brown either, I always get a tan when I use it. Magic stuff but very expensive if you buy it in Boots, I think its £25 a bottle, I always buy mine on ebay for around £14-£15. I bought P10 on ebay for £9 as well, so I use the p20 initially then move onto P10. Sunburn is horrible and takes a good few days to recover from, it can really spoil your holiday.

Ive always wanted to go to the Maldives, its been my dream destination for so long, but its so expensive. Maybe I will do it one day when im very thin and can sit still on an airplane for 12 hours lol

 

[Arum Lilly]

This morning blood glucose at 6.7! That's a BIG drop and hopefully I can look forward to normal levels soon, I think normal is 5.8 but anything less than 6 will for me. My weight is down a touch to 97.2.

Today is an eating day, so I can look forward to the usual half baguette at lunchtime as prepared by hubby and a meal out this evening, which will be a salad of course but with a big glass of red wine! Happy happy days!

 

[lisa32]

lol enjoy x

 

[Arum Lilly]

I did something a bit odd today. Is odd the right word? I want to find something to mark the weight I lose, and so far ive lost 5kg! Yesterday I came across an article about microloans where a small loan can make a huge difference in third world countries. Generally these loans are given to women mostly to buy grain, or stock to help them create their own income. Its something ive been aware of for a long time but wasnt sure if there was anyway that someone like me could participate in such a scheme.

Then I found a website for kiva.org which brings people together to make microloans. So today I made 5 x $25 loans to five different people around the world. $25 to a 19yr old girl in Tajikistan to help pay for her education, $25 to a womans group in Uganda to buy grain, $25 to a woman in Pakistan for work needed on her husbands vehicle, $25 to a man in Kenya to help by some cattle and $25 to a man in Ecuador to buy stock for his store. $25 isn't all the loan of course, the lady who needs work done on her husbands vehicle needed a loan of $250, the girl in Tajikastan needed $650. Other people also put their $25 (or more) towards the loan as well.

Most of the loans are repaid monthly and the page sets out the term of the loan which is usually a year to 2 years. The repayments go back into my account where I can either withdraw to my bank account or relend to another person in need. So ive spent $125 today to celebrate losing 5kg, and for each extra kg I lose I will make another $25 loan. The payments are made through paypal so are easy to do. The site asks for a donation for each loan made towards their costs, but its not mandatory and I reduced their suggested amount of $20 to $5. Maybe that's a bit tight of me, but im new to this.

I feel good about doing this and I know there is a chance that I may never see that money again, but that's ok. If I lose the 33kg I intend to then I will have donated $825 or about £650. They claim to have a repayment rate of 98%, but If I lose all of it then it will still be worth that much money to me to lose this weight, but my ongoing plan would be to relend in any case as a reminder to keep the weight off.

If anyone would like to join me in this, ive made a team on Kiva, I would post a link but I don't think its allowed, but if you find the kiva site and search teams, Ive called it Lose Weight and Loan

 

[lisa32]

Atrum Lilly,

That was such a kind act, i am trully impressed. You must be a selfless person, well done x

 

[traveljody]

Kudos to you, what a great thing to do, who would have thought that shedding pounds from your body could enrich another persons life. I hope you are feeling really chuffed!

 

[Arum Lilly]

Thank you both, its lovely of you to say so, but its a very small gesture that im making really and its for my own selfish needs in the end a way of encouraging myself to stick to the plan and lose weight! Also, its kind of humbling to think that hubby are I are eating out 4 times a week on money that could be life changing to someone else. So im easing my own conscience in a way.

Today was eating day so hubby did the baguette run for lunch, and we went out this evening, I had a lovely seafood salad and a glass of wine, and hubby indulged in something calorific that I refused to even look at! Today it started sunny but clouded up at lunchtime so I abandoned the pool and went back to the villa to read my book (currently reading Gone Girl). It did warm up again this afternoon and this evening was lovely.

 

[Arum Lilly]

So this morning weight down again very slightly to 97.1 blood glucose up very slightly to 6.8, still in the 6's though!

Today is 31st August and is my last official day of being employed. Although I left work at the end of July, August has been using up holiday so officially I was still working and fully employed. So from tomorrow I am officially a pensioner albeit early retirement. Ive found this whole year a struggle at work, ive always loved my job in finance ( I worked for a bank) but once I decided that I would retire, work became a huge stress and there were times earlier in the year that I almost changed my retirement date to an earlier month. But I got there in the end. However its a very odd feeling, and I havnt really got my head round it yet. I don't think it will really sink in until I get back home in November.

I do intend to work again though, but not a full time permanent job. I want to work on my terms in future doing temping, I think I will really enjoy that. Temping was something that always appealed to me in any case, but you know how it is when you have to work to pay the bills, if a permanent job comes along you take it. Now im in the very very fortunate position of not having to go work, so I can do what I please. Its a lovely feeling, but if I were to not work at all that would drive me up the wall.

Its lovely being here in Tenerife for a few months for instance, but I do feel a bit in limbo, I cant plan anything here. I had a fantastic greenhouse put up just before I came out here but I cant do anything with it until I get back home. I have photoshop on my PC at home and im desperate to get to grips with it, I have a great camera that I want to use to its fullest. I want to write and paint and play stupid games on the internet. I miss my cat, my little love. Ok I better stop there, im gettin maudlin now lol

Its sunny today! I can hear birds chirping away outside as I write this, so I better knock back my black coffee ( im drinking black coffee because I cannot be bothered to go find somewhere that sells fresh milk) and get down the pool for a swim!

 

[traveljody]

I think you are very brave temping. I hate the whole 'being new' thing when you start somewhere and learning where everything is, but it sounds like it would suit you great. What are you planning on growing in your greenhouse? We live in a flat and I am really looking forward to having a garden one day but I am sure I am underestimating the amount of work they take to keep tidy.

I've never even tried photoshop! I am a (very) amatuer underwater photographer and did a course last year, I try to get as much right as I can when taking the shot but have found Picasa editor pretty good at giving them some extra oomph. Weather was nice and sunny here this afternoon, thought I was going to need sun lotion for my PT session at the park!

 

[Arum Lilly]

oh I have lots of plans for the greenhouse! bringing on plants early in the year for hanging baskets and tubs and growing fruit and veg, I love it! im also very keen on growing fuschias, they are so beauitiful. I have about 30 different varieties at the moment, many are not hardy so need to be overwintered in the greenhouse.

A couple of years ago hubby treated me to a fantastic canon digital SLR and a copy of photoshop CS5. I was over the moon, but I just havnt had the time to devote to learning how to use photoshop fully. I find youtube absolutely invaluable for sound bites for photoshop, I will search on particular thing I want to achieve and then watch a youtube of how to do it. One of my favourite things is to take a fairly simple picture of say a simple flower, then process it in photoshop to 'force' the colours into something psychedelic. Here is an example of the type of thing I can do, this is one I did for my daughters birthday a couple of years ago, it started out as a plain orange coloured lily

 

[lisa32]

Wow, thats great. i am no good with either. I love gardening but i got a fuschia this year and it got rather big, I planted it outside and it died i was quite uset as it was the one my mum had for years before she died, he plant was out all year long. I got to taking pics when i was ill to get me to focus on something other than the cromic pain for 8 years but as soon as it was more controlled i have been more of a mum again and loving that. I hope you have some nice weather and a swim today, sounds heavenly x

 

[Arum Lilly]

Uggg, today both my weight and my blood glucose is up, and I cannot figure out why. Blood glucose at 8.0 and weight at 97.5. The only thing I can think of is that Friday and Saturday are 2 consecutive 'eating days' although what I eat on an eating day is fairly limited. Yesterday I ate a large peach in the morning, but I gave a quarter of it to hubby. At lunchtime I had a half baguette with ham and tomato and half an apple. I ate the other half of the apple around 5pm, then in the evening we went out for a meal. We shared a bruschetta , which was topped with tomato, and I had a salad with prawns and smoked salmon (no dressing on the salad) and a glass of wine.

So lets say 60 for the peach, 60 for the apple, 450 for the baguette, 150 for half a bruschetta and... I dunno, 500 max for the salad? glass of wine about 120? 1340 cals approx. The only other things I had was a black coffee, a can of diet coke and water. The weight increase I can deal with, I dare say its fluid retention, but the big increase in blood sugar levels is the mystery. Im currently doing 3 fasting days a week, on Sun Tues and Thurs and 4 eating days on Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri, so I end up with 2 consecutive eating days in a week. Maybe I should change that slightly so that I fast every other day, so that it is more continual and I don't get 2 eating days together.

Oh well im not going to worry about it too much, its a blip and im sure things will sort themselves out again. The only other thing I can think of is that we havnt walked quite as much for the past 2 days as we normally do, and that could well impact on blood glucose levels.

So today looks very sunny and warm, im going to make up my diet shake and take it down to the pool. I finished Gone Girl yesterday, so I have to choose which book to read next. I have the 3rd Enders book to read, or I picked up a funny light read yesterday based on the diary of a teenage girl. So its chic lit or sci fi, what a choice lol

 

[traveljody]

The lily is stunning, very clever indeed!

Have you thought about reducing calories each day rather than fasting on and off? Not sure how that would affect your blood glucose? What book did you decide to go for in the end?