Summer Solstice Sensation

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Not much happening here today. Not felt too well, so just pottered about and made a start on phone calls re social services, care homes etc. Very time consuming and disconcerting. OH adamant he wants respite care so that I can have a break, I'm very nervous about it all. You hear so many horror stories about care homes ....

After making a mistake with my lunch time sandwich and suffering the consequences of eating wheat, I just went with an omelette and salad for dinner. Going to try and restrict carbs and see what happens. Will look at the low carb thread for inspiration.

Poorly tummy meant couldn't face exercise today, will do better tomorrow.

Pleased with Olay self tan moisturiser, nice gentle colour, went for the light colour rather than the bronze version.

Need an early night tonight, g'night all.

maman

Sorry you're not feeling too good LL, hope your early night has helped.

I know, not from personal experience but, from close family that choosing a care home is very hard. Will you have anyone to go and look at them with you when you've chosen some possibles or is your DH up to visiting any in advance? What a lovely, kind man he sounds to be insisting on respite for you.

Back to my SW hobbyhorse. It is recommended that we use frylight spray for making omlettes or anything else that you'd normally use oil for. When I watch the likes of Jamie Oliver or Nigella it makes me shudder when I see copious amounts of oil going into dishes. I thought it might help you tweak your healthy eating towards SW lines. When you do find the time to join you'll find it so easy to take to.

maman

Cherry56 wrote: »

I didn't see your old thread but I am liking the idea of this one.

:wave:Welcome Cherry, good to have you on board.

lessonlearned

Hi Cherry - Welcome to the SSS express. How are you doing?

Hello to All - A note to all you other lurkers, drop by and say hello - would love to hear from you.

Thanks Maman for the frylight spray tip - will try and get some tomorrow when I go shopping. I agree about the TV chefs and their butter and oil use, however, I have to confess that I'm also a great one for the knob of butter on everything - it is definitely something I need to cut back on.:p

In general I probably also need to cut down on the amount of dairy that I eat, however, milky, creamy things do soothe my IBS when it flairs up. Speaking of which I've managed to cut out wheat today and am starting to feel better already - that and the probiotic yoghurt also helps.

I'm also going to buy some Colpermin (peppermint oil capsules) tomorrow. They definitely calm things down. They are a bit pricey but unfortunately generic peppermint tablets/capsules don't seem to work for me. I'm hoping that if I stop eating wheat and things settle down, then I'll be able to cut back on the dairy, then maybe I'll start to lose some weight:o.

I don't know if anyone else finds this but I do sometimes find the whole good diet/bad diet debates rather confusing at times. I still think the key is moderation in all things, pity I don't always practise it. The good news is - there's no wheat in chocolate.:rotfl: (or gin and tonic).

I recently read the New Atkins Diet book, I also watched the documentary about low fat foods. I still think it's probably not a good idea to cut out whole food groups altogether, so although I'm definitely giving up wheat (I've experimented a few times and now know for sure that wheat aggravates my IBS) I'm going to try and eat some grains, oatmeal might be ok. I'm also not sure that giving up fruit and significantly reducing vegetables (as per Atkins) is entirely healthy.

Speaking as a beautician I do know that an extremely low fat diet is bad for the skin, skin needs some fat so that it can hold moisture. Fat deprived skin gets very dehydrated. Also if you go too low with fats you run the risk of depleting the fat soluable vitamins, especially Vit D.

Now that I'm trying to wean myself off HRT and will lose the bone protection that it gives I have decided to add a calcium and Vit D supplement to my daily regime. My maternal aunt suffers from osteo-porosis - so I'm a bit at risk.

When are you going on your trip Maman. I'll just say "Bon Voyage" now in case it's this weekend. Have a lovely time, hope the weather is kind.

G'night everyone.

lessonlearned

Dark, rainy, cold and foggy here. So just catching up on housework and sorting out. Baked a cake - visitors tomorrow;).

Made a few potions - body oil and face serum. 3kms bike so far, yoga in a few minutes, manicure later. Perhaps my new The Duchess DVD tonight. Not a bad day all told.

Hope you are all well.

flossyblog

Hi girls,

I have been following your thread and thought I would come over and say hi.

I am in perimenopause at the mo with raging hot flushes and also have IBS (constipation one) I have always been healthy and fit weighing 50 kilos until this all kicked in. I put on 10 kilos in the last couple of years and I really feel the difference.

For the life of me I don't know why I started eating cakes, chocolate because I never used to. I can very easily give them up and have done since the beginning of the year. Apart from piling on Lbs, they also agrevate my IBS and pump up the hot flushes.

I kinda went through a little phase of not really taking care of myself because of the perimenopause,, but the results are really uncomfortable and I have decided to buck up and do something. The hardest thing for me is to eat breakfast, I don't get round to eating until midday.

I do dry skin brushing every day morning and night before bathing and it has made a big difference, my skin feels really soft. I take a walk everyday and will be gardening on a regular basis from march onwards (start sowing seeds this week)

hope you all have a good weekend

lessonlearned

Oops didn't get round to posting yesterday, Had friends round and they stayed for hours. I obviously made them too welcome:rotfl:

By the time they left it was much too late to cook the Sunday roast I had prepped so we ended up with a take-a-away from a new Egyptian restaurant that has just opened. Delicious but probably a bit heavy on the calories:o. The roast will be for tonight instead.

Hi Flossyblog great to have you on board. You have my sympathy with your perimenopause symptoms, they can be quite horrible can't they. I first started round about aged 39 and, at 59, although technically postmeno, I stlll have problems with night sweats. I keep trying stuff, the only thing that really works is HRT but I've been taking this on and off for 20 years now, which is why I'm trying to wean myself off.

(Although I now know for definite that wheat based foods affect my IBS I didn't equate them with hot flushes. It will be interesting to see if cutting out wheat helps ease my night sweats, so thanks for that Flossyblog - love the name btw).

Know what you mean about breakfast - I really struggle with that so just have a probiotic yogurt drink first thing, then a "second breakfast" about an hour or so later when I can face food.

Today have been sorting out essential paperwork, leccy and gas providers, and of course endless calls to SS. Fingers crossed, after a lot of toing and froing we are nearly there with a reasonable care package. It's been a long haul - about three months now - but I was determined to get OH the right help and not have him dumped in some awful day centre where they just sit watching TV and drinking tea - he can do that at home:(.

As I've mentioned before he is an intelligent man, his brain is still working - it's just the body that's packing up. (Think Steven Hawkings and you get the idea). So cruel.

Anyway bad news on the Fab front I'm afraid - apart from a bit of physio for my elbows I have really fallen off the exercise wagon. I've got killer backache and neck pain so I'm just off to lie on the sofa and cuddle my wheat bag and have a nap and will try some yoga stretches later.

OH has a consultant's appointment tomorrow and if it's anything like previous appts, tomorrow will be a full on day. (32 mile round to trip to the hospital for a start). Still hoping to join SW tomorrow evening if not too exhausted. Have bought the magazine but not really had chance to read it yet.

That elephant is not getting any smaller.:p

Carmen

Hello Ladies,
Welcome Cherry and Flossy

Well, my weight stayed the same :eek: after my trip away.
The last few days have been a struggle (craving sweet things) so I hope not too much damage done. I am a savoury person but when these urges come I cannot stop eating chocolate etc :drool:

LL, I'm so pleased that the care package is finally coming to fruition, and you have found a good place for the respite care, mental stimulation is so important!

I was one of the lucky one's and sailed through my menopause so was never prescribed HRT. A friend of mine (65) has just started a small dose again and she has so much energy and lost weight I feel maybe I could benefit from some?

Maman, I hope you have/had a great time in gay Paris, did your ankle give you any problems?

Flossy, good luck with your journey to abfabness, look forward to reading your updates.

Chin up everyone
Carmen xx

maman

I'm still here - just!! Off to Paris in the morning for 4 days. My ankle is feeling fine so feeling hopeful all will be well. See you at the weekend!:wave:

lessonlearned

Maman - Bon Voyage!!! Have a truly fab time. Tell us all about it when you get back.

Carmen - Sorry to hear you are struggling with your sweet cravings - are you getting enough sleep. I'm always worse when I'm overtired. I really don't think the weather is helping - it's been another murky, gloomy day here - damp, cold and drizzly - urgh.

You've done well to not actually gain any weight though after your little jaunt.

Can we please, please, please have some nice spring weather - my bones are craving warm sunshine. :rotfl:

I know, I know it's still only February but I've had enough of winter now.