Tipperary wobbles into 2024

[tipperary]

Morning, went swimming yesterday and got back to my usual 40 lengths, feel good for that. Haven't been for a walk though, husband has been busy and it was very foggy yesterday. And need to get down on the ground and do my physio, I have 2 new exercises thrown in including nerve flossing to try to help with the travelling leg pain.
I've started my Christmas cooking and stacking the freezer. Staples in our house are homemade sausage rolls and quiches. The sausage rolls are made and frozen uncooked. I have mincemeat made and in a giant bowl in the fridge, we make our own as we have apple trees and also prefer it without all the added fat or sugar, fruit only, some spices then cooked in cider and a splash of brandy. The pastry I've also made and is chilling so today is a baking day. I've made lots of stuffing, have been saving bits of bread in the freezer and the poly tunnel has a huge amount of herbs, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary and oregano went into it along with a mountain of butter, onions, leeks, celery apple and apricots. All chilled now a ready for the freezer. Only thing is I don't eat any of these now. I will have a mince pie Christmas Eve and some stuffing Christmas Day but need to find some savoury nibbles for me, things that can be prepared in advance and are keto friendly. I like to be able to pull things out of the freezer and pop into the oven as needed. I might make some chicken liver pate but then need something to put it on. I might make some chicken goujons with almond flour and coconut, same with mozzarella sticks. Hmm, need to think about that.

 

[tipperary]

Aaaargh...so frustrating. My BMI is bang on 30, great news. But my app is still counting it as obese as it needs to be UNDER 30 to drop from obese. And even more frustrating this is the third day in a row it shows 30 even though each day I'm 100g less. I know it's just rounded maths and a random arbitrary number....but still

 

[Torn_Tranquility]

Ah I get your frustration! But you're doing so well, don't let a number get you down.

I'm impressed with your Christmas prep. We're not big on Christmas, and usually just spend it on our own. But my sister moved house recently, so we've agreed to go to hers. I didn't think OH would want to, but he loves my niece and nephew (1 and 3) and basically gets to be a big kid. So it's chance to tick off family time with my side of the family as well. His all live fairly locally, apart from his younger sister. But she's in London, so we may be able to see them as well. I've booked the coach, and we'll be there for four days... with my parents as well. I mean what could possibly go wrong...!

My sister is a great cook though, and I know she's been doing a lot of prep as well.

 

[jules1981]

@tipperary, Sorry catching up hun.

Wow the wedding sounds amazing glad you had the best time and you did so many steps.

I honestly don't know what I read ( I am going to blame my MH) I didn't realise you did keto. I've been looking into it. For my ME/CFS, but want to get more bloods done. As my inflammatory markers are always up. I suspect RA maybe. Also my diabetes markers in end of Aug were 42. So I probably need to organise another blood test.

Sounds like you have done amazingly. Love all the Christmas prep too.

Xxxxx

 

[tipperary]

Morning, well BMI is now at 30...great news. Nope, not yet, app is still showing as Obese, I need to be below 30 to hit the magic number of 29.9 and drop to overweight. And I've discovered that 100g won't do it. I was 69.2kg yesterday and still at 30 and will be a bit up today.
Trigger warning, I'm going to talk about Christmas and food.
So I've started the Christmas food prep, our freezer now has 5 boxes of stuffing, 64 sausage rolls and 84 mince pies. I'd been so good, I didn't even taste the mincemeat, I knew by the smell it was perfect and I never even licked my fingers once. Made all the mince pies yesterday and was packing them for the freezer, I left 12 out for all to eat, the cracked ones that wouldn't freeze so good. Finally I gave in and had one, then a second one and then a slice of apple tart that I had made with the leftover pastry....oooooo it was so good. It will probably take me the rest of the week to undo the damage but I reckon that's me done with mince pie temptation until Christmas Eve.
I always make lots of savoury treats to have in the freezer for over Christmas, usually quiche and sausage rolls. This year I need to think of some keto treats to prepare. So sausage rolls done and will do quiche at the weekend, I can eat them without the pastry. I might look at Fathead pizza dough and use that for keto sausage rolls and indeed mini pizzas. Another option is twice baked savoury souffles, chorizo and spinach is very good. Also pulled chicken is an option to have on lettuce boats, I need to keep thinking.
So over Christmas I have dinner out with some friends, then maybe a work lunch. We have Christmas Eve ( we dress fancy and have a nice meal, it's French Christmas) then Christmas Day. Then we have the wedding part two, a big party in our local for extended family, and then New Year's Eve and my birthday. I decided a new outfit would be appropriate, I know I have lots of pretty things from the wedding/ holiday but they are all summer clothes. I've ordered two outfits from Next, a jumpsuit from the party wear collection and a short dress from the sale items. Both similar style as are off one shoulder, I still have a bit of my tan left and more importantly have the correct undergarments as that's the style I wore to the wedding. I've ordered a size 16 as according to the Next website that's the size my waist will fit, and great news the jumpsuit is available in a petite. Though my bottoms are now a 12 and in M&S clothes I'm a 14 dress size. They can always be changed, they arrived today and for the first time I'm excited about trying something on rather than apprehensive

 

[tipperary]

Sorry catching up hun.

Wow the wedding sounds amazing glad you had the best time and you did so many steps.

I honestly don't know what I read ( I am going to blame my MH) I didn't realise you did keto. I've been looking into it.

Hi @jules1981 , great to see you back. Yes I've had a lot going on and posting a lot here so it's easy to miss stuff. Yes, I have been keto since coming out of hospital in June and doing well on it. I've lost 16kg which is 20% of my body weight. I've also taken my Hba1c from 56 to 33, that really shocked a doctor who assumed I had done that with medication. I've gone from an XXL to a medium or an 18 plus to a size 14 (top). I feel fitter and look better, I have mental clarity and energy and my skin looks good. However it is an effort and takes time meal planning and prepping and I'm very lucky as my husband is doing the same, it makes it so much easier. I used to hide the fact I was trying to lose weight and not let anyone know I was weighing myself, now each weekend we race to the scale to try and out do each other.
I am exercising too, physio, swimming and walking. But it's important to note all of this is mainly due to the fact I am still off work and have the luxury of time to invest in me...and that is exactly what i am doing.
I regularly listen to a Podcast, Two Keto Dudes, and it's full of great information particularly the science behind it.
I do think with keto though you need to commit, random days on and off will really mess with insulin levels. It's the up and down spikes you really need to control, and for some people starting keto flu and weight plateau after a few weeks are enough to put people off.
I think going and getting blood tests is a great idea for you to know where you are at before going down a new route, and take medical advice too before making major changes.
Best of luck

 

[tipperary]

More good news, I spent over 5 hours in the kitchen yesterday....and....my hips didn't hurt, I didn't even realise that until I went to bed last night

 

[tipperary]

Morning, well the two outfits arrived. Tried the dress on, as I said I got a size 16 as recommended by their website. It goes on easy, it looks good but not fabulous, the skirt part is a bit wide and looks frumpy. The top looks good but possibly a bit loose under the arm. Thinking of getting the bottom taken in but I think I hold onto it for now but also order it in a size 14 to try then return one of them. It's a sale item so not too pricey. As for the jumpsuit , it's MASSIVE on me, and I'm not saying that too brag. I got the petite version thinking waist, hips etc would be in proportion to me. Well the crotch is swinging around my knees and it's at least a foot too long, the waist is hanging around my hips and the off shoulder displays a breast. I was so disappointed as it looked fantastic online and even on the hanger it's very dressy. I'm returning it and thinking about ordering a size 12 and see if the proportions on that are any better. Though this one is pricey and it's up to two weeks before I get a refund, hmm. I have it in my mind now I want a jumpsuit so been looking at others on the website to see what they have. I've already been in store and they have no jumpsuits and very little petite other than jeans and black work trousers. Hmm, decisions.