Moonlights' (temporary) Maintenance

I'll get the forms, Susie ;)

Adoption and surrogacy are both options I'd consider if I was in a stable relationship and a position to. I just don't know if my body will ever be well nourished enough to support a healthy child. But I'm trying!

Food today:

Pork belly with spring onion

Zero noodles in chicken stock

Flax porridge

Mfp: 22g carbs inc meds
 
Oh Lady Susie
i do feel for you there! I got broody a few years ago, especially as my kids dont seem to want to give me any grandchildren to play with. We almost considered A.I to have another one, then I remembered all the problems having the two we have and the miscarriages and all that was in my 20s, if my body didnt work then it would be terrible when i was 40 something. So glad we didnt in the end x
 
Life does have a strange way about it in these things. It could all still happen for you ML. I didn't want kids, married a man who already 2 and lived with him and despie having PCOS I fell pregnant at the drop of my knickers both times! Trev and I didn't want any more when we got together but his Mum would have loved it. She's getting a great-grandaughter in a few weeks time and despite the initial horror is now very excited.
 
<3 all.

I've just posted a newbie FAQ to the main board. Any common questions I've missed? I'm trying to not have to repeat myself quite so often ;)
 
good idea ML, newbies wouldnt know where to find answers in diaries etc some are hundreds of pages long.... personally, i would like a sticky for getting to grips with owl, what you introduce and when etc, i know its in the book but i can never really understand it, i end up reading the same bits over and over never making much sense to me... honestly i feel like such a drip sometimes. i need it explained to me in dummy stubbsey language. maybe then i will end up finally taking the plunge with the full plan.
 
Glad it's not just me, Tracey! I had to get my husband to read the book so he can explain owl to me when we get to that point.
 
That's a great idea Moonlight, might save a few people from our early mistakes! I still feel I have questions sometimes, so I'm sure I could definitely learn a thing or two from a thread like that :)

So often I check into your blog and it's become a very touching, therapeutic group session..I think it's lovely that people can come here and share their feelings about their most personal issues. That's a really special thing.

B xx
 
Owl is a tricky one as there are no hard and fast rules. The principle seems to be 'try this for a while, see if it stalls you, if not, try something else'.

Owl is about expanding your range of food choices while still being in the weight loss phase - albeit perhaps a slower phase than induction. Doing owl by the book means being prepared for stalls.

There are two components of owl. First is introducing new foods - nuts and berries are the first of these, then some different vegetables, then a few more fruits. The idea is you introduce them in order, adding just one new thing per week, or over a longer period if you prefer.

Many people keep their carbs at 20g or not much higher, but introduce nuts and berries. This is what I do. I get 19 daily carbs from the food I eat (11g from my meds) so I try and stay under 30g carbs per day - but I let myself eat very limited amounts of nuts (never more than 5g carbs from nuts in one day and I don't eat nuts daily). Very occasionally I will also have berries. I've done this from the start and have not added anything else in. When I get to about 10st I'll start adding some new veg.

The other component of owl is finding the highest amount of carbs you can eat while still losing weight. Some people stop losing if they go above. 25g. Some people can eat more like 40g carbs daily and still lose, albeit slower.

Finding your carb tolerance level is trial and error and exactly the same as checking your food tolerances. You increase carbs by 5g - so from 20g a day to 25g a day and keep it like that for a week or two. If you're still losing well, increase by 5g to 30g a day.

When you stall for a couple of weeks, you've hit your tolerance level and should reduce your carbs by 5 or 10g depending how much leeway you want.

Personally I keep my carbs where they are as it's fine for me right now and I don't want the frustration of trial and error experiments.

So eventually by doing owl you increase what foods you can eat and how many carbs - though you must always stick to getting 15g of carbs from veg. And you find out what level of carbs will work for maintenance. You just may need to put up with a few stalls along the way.
 
Gastro appt went surprisingly well btw. Back at hospital tomorrow to see my surgeon.

Food today:

Courgette carbonara - small amt courgette noodles with 30g cream cheese, 50g ham

Fillet steak with prawns and spring onion, asparagus

Flax and almond mim made with coconut oil, with cheese spead

Mfp: 26g carbs inc meds
 
thanks ML that is great i have saved it and will use that to refer to, i wanted to be sure because i am considering starting to add the almond flour etc and i didn't want to start getting it wrong. i am not sure whether to do this now, or wait until the fuss and inconvenience of christmas is out of the way. thanks for the insight xx

glad the apt went well, i know you said that you were dreading it, hope same is true of apt with the surgeon tomorrow xxx
 
Afternoon hun

Hope today's appointment is going as well as yesterday :)

And thanks for the beginner's guide to OWL, I must say in general I am ejoying a higher carb level, although half the time I stick to about 20g.
 
Its probably just psychological, knowing you can have it stops you from needing it!

Hope the appointment went well Moonlights!!

I am having a traumatic time, watching Spurs...
 
Another good appointment. I really really hope things are finally coming together to get all of me sorted not just fixing one bit while the rest falls apart.

Food today:

2 eggs mashed with butter, mayo, spring onion. Scrap of ham, asparagus.

Celery and cheese

Microwave almond cake with cream

Mfp: 24g carbs inc meds
 
No difference in anything yet but hopefully they're going to try and coordinate some of my various injections and infusions so I'll have them at the same time and won't always be so severely deficient in one thing every time I get another topped up.

It's all talk right now so I'm wary and I also never know how new courses of meds will affect me - but I'm hopeful.

Friday weigh in - 11st 8lb - that's one pound down. As always I'd rather it was more but I'm fine with it really... My body is being weird right now, totm is due and I've felt bloated and uncomfy and Pms-y but it's delaying actually starting.

I have some pork fillet to cook today and no real idea what I'm going to do with it...
 
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