Very sad to learn of the death of my heroine and role model, the novelist PD James. Enormously talented, wise, compassionate and often very funny, she kept going to the age of 94 and, it appears, was writing right up to her death. One ballsy lady. I wish she had been my mum – even though she was a Tory. 🙂

Good evening all . I have been in and out all day and my lovely new next door neighbour was in again . She will be 21 on 17th December . She brought her wee sister in to meet me today :).

They are not moving in yet but are so lovely and are always popping in to apologise for the noise . Just so lovely .

HERMAJ so nice to have you back pal 🙂

Happy thanks giving to all my far away friends .

today was to be a FD but ended up buying my Skinny Cow ice cream so will be doing the FD tomorrow . I just LOVE this WOL and how we can more it around to suit our own days .
Off to make my salad dinner . Take care all and BE GOOD 🙂 🙂

Wee xx

hELLO Aussie Oma
I am so happy for you. I know that europhic feeling you are experiencing ( not this week but often). It’s hard not to be when what one has wanted for so long is happening.
I also think this WOE has made me more joyous and full of hope.
Conratulations and have a brilliant day!
xx Wiwi

Euphoric. …exactly Wiwi.
Such a happy, excited post AO. That’s what this is all about. Go girl! P 😉
PS What are the walls made of…gyprock or masonry? Be careful 😉

Hermaj,

So pleased you’re back. I was beginning to worry!

Jojo,

Glad you had a good trip to Ireland, and survived the coach trip. Sorry about the bowls, but you can’t have ups without downs!

Good morning fasting mates from everywhere.

Hermaj, glad to hear from you again. Love PD James’s work.

AO, no need to apologise for sharing your success – where else can you do it to such a supportive and empathetic group? Well done!

What’s really lovely for all of us are the unexpected benefits of weight loss: the extra energy and feeling of lightness, absence/reduction of pain and the brilliant lift in mood that comes from finally getting where we have wanted to be for so long and had almost given up until this wonderful WOE came along.

Wee, your new neighbours sound lovely enough to live next door to you and your OH. Consideration for others seems to be a rarer trait these days.

SAMM happy thanksgiving for yesterday.

Ending on a sad note – untimely death of our State’s cricketer Phil Hughes from freak accident. A lovely young man with such potential.

Keep up the good work everyone.

Hi Hermaj, lovely to see you back.

Hi Yorkies, Have a great time on the weekend. 😉

A O, congratulations, skite all you like, and enjoy your achievements. 😆

Cheers, Bay ( getting better slowly) 🙂

For a while, I’ll just pop in from time to time. There’s a lot of stuff I have to deal with.

After all the support you’ve given me I have to let you know that I finally have a result. I’m now Hermaj MA. We don’t get the final overall result for another couple of weeks, but my total marks suggest I’ve got a Merit. The dissertation wasn’t quite as good as it might have been, but 64% ain’t bad, a good solid Merit.

Such heart-breaking news about Phillip Hughes. No wonder Australians are so affected by his death. Whatever power rules over such things got it hopelessly wrong this time. What a terrible waste.

As you say, Nama, we should celebrate P D James’s long and successful life. Instead of getting all maudlin – which she would have hated – the Beeb paid tribute by replaying part of an interview she conducted with the Director General of the BBC in which she really took him to the cleaners! Well worth a listen on http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8435000/8435731.stm The lady took no prisoners. My tribute will be to reread all her books.

Three of my heroes have gone in the last year or so – Nelson Mandela, Anthony Wedgewood-Benn – a genuine socialist and not a nauseating Blairite New Labourite – and now PDJ. All lived to a ripe old age and made a major contribution to making the world a better place.

Heartiest Congratulations Hermajtomomi!!! X

Congratulations HERMAJ . You must be over the moon pal . Worth all the hard work you put in . I hope you are able to have a wee bit time to yourself now and again .

Wee xx

Hermaj MA – I’ve just read your post – fantastic news! Many congratulations on getting a Merit. Well deserved, you must be on cloud nine! xx

Hi again everyone

Congratulations Hermaj, Master (with Merit) of all – or should that be Mistress of all? 🙂 Such a good feeling (like losing weight) when a serious effort over a long period is rewarded with good results.

Yorkies, you’ll soon be meeting and chatting nineteen to the dozen if this thread is anything to go by. Please give us ‘Cinderellas’ a full report later.

Take care everyone and keep up the good work.

1;15 and can’t sleep so just came on to catch up . have a great time in York all of you . I would so love to have been there .

Wee xx

Sorry. Was in food coma for hours and hours today.
I haven’t been current on the thread for last few days as work has been a frenzy of madness . Just co e home. And sleep.

Read Rt post about the emotional roller coaster of the scales.
Man I tell you the highs are great. Aren’t they?

There am a time when I had so many disappointments I nearly gave up , but when I got over myself and sincerely tried to unstand the science of intermittent fasting. My journey took a slow turn toward health and longevity . Than just the scale. The doable 5:2. Is a slower way to lose fat. Variations of 5:2 4:3,6:1 ADF .

My nuance understanding is I need to be focussed on my eating pattern for when I reach goal. If not I may return to the habits that became my obesity.

This thanksgiving day I was reckless and ate like a glutton. Not a healthy choice to make, but have decided that any binge eating for myself needs to followed by a fast day. So I’ve changed my planned break decision to be include fasts after holiday feasts. I’m just thankful that with all the food I’m now strong enough to do any workouts except pushups do to my issues. That I ate to satiation , but know there’s no excuse but go , for a walk , lift weights, and skip. It plays to thermic metabolism . I’m happy:).
Rather than make the walking boring , I got to talk with my nieces and nephews out on stroll to the play ground nearly 2 miles away. It was cold and snowing, but I had them singing as thought it was opportunity to create a family memory. My nephew seem totally amazed that I can lift the 50lb kettle ball that can only drag around. And my wife and I made all the kids jump ropes , we put our own beads on the strings to personalize them. Then the attention went away from me to all the other things that families do. It’s been a long time since there so much laughter in the house. I just very humbled and grateful for all the love and support that kept coming though the door today.
Finally it was time for pie. It’s was just like the the saying of a cup that runeth over. I started giving them away to strangers walking by the house. As we live in very poor neighborhood . One mans wife came back with him to thank us , because they didn’t have anything. So I gave them our turkey , my brother was pissy. Thinking he wouldn’t get turkey to take home. Lol.
I had another one just to come out of the oven. Finally all the food , and the long day after work. I fell asleep on the couch watching American football. When I woke up to the sounds of little giggles as the wee children were tickling my mustache Because I was snoring so loudly.
My wife friends from her moose lodge that volunteered to cook the food had it packed away and cleaned the kitchen . Some are still here playing cards and eating pies. A fast day tommorrow is such a small sacrifice . The scale be damned today. For this whole month . It’s not going to rob me of such good times.
So it’s just a small adjustment on my planned break. Planned break is just one more tool to make intermittent fasting a long term way of life. The small research study showed that people stuck to calorie restriction diets for extended periods when they were in control of the amount of time they not dieting.
After deciding I would adopt the planned break into mine own woe. I feel with great confidence that I will return to fasting. Perhaps with more determination .

For got to post my with in yesterday after my last fast.
211.
I won’t step on scale again until Jan 2nd when I plan to restart.

Hoping everyone is well. Will catch up on the reading in the morning.

PVE no not sleeping yet pal but on my way in a minute .

Samm that was so lovely to read . So many people forget about the ones who have nothing . I laughed at the kids tickling your moustache pal . I am off to bed now with a smile on my face and hope my OH isn’t snoring 🙂 🙂 🙂

Wee xx

Hi Samm yes I’m hearing ya them scales woohooo nevermind ok here in Australia we have a fund raiser for mens health prostate cancer and just some general awareness that we aint bullet proof after all 💡 who knew 😆
We have Mow-vember where we men folk are encouraged to grow a mustache and raise money and of course have a shave off on Monday there are 6 guys in my team we have raised $700 for the charity and we all have had some laughs which is also good medicine..I will be tracking not stalking 😆 your fast break numbers with keen interest mate take care of and be good to you..
Peace
RT

Thankyou SAMM! So lovely to read about your special day, thanks for making the effort when you must be so tired. Loved your comment about all the love and laughter in your home. Great idea to have a FD after each feast, win/win I reckon! You are a very wize man and there is no doubt you will get back to fasting when the time is right. A “food coma” sounds rather nice ….

Thanks everyone for your support of my losses this week (still on cloud nine).

Congratulations Hermaj MA or should that be Hermaj MA’M (MA with Merit) such a fabulous result for you with all the hard work you put in you deserve this at least.

SAMM great post and how generous of you and your near and dear. I don’t think I’d like a food coma right now though … I’d be feeling fit to bust 😆

We had an end of year celebration today (as we have such a diverse culture) we celebrated the hard work from throughout the year by all staff. There was so much food. I had one very small lamb chop, 1 thin beef sausage and 1 small piece of chicken breast plus some salad and fruit (there were cherries there and grapes both of which I enjoy so I had a handful of each). It’s a non-FD so I was not overly concerned with what I ate, just that I didn’t eat too much of any thing. I was also given a chocolate bar (snickers) which I brought home and gave to my OH to enjoy.

RT great results for Movember fund raising by you and your work mates. Proud of you too 😀

Very sad day re Phil Hughes and the loss of his life, gone too soon, RIP.

Wee I hope you have gone to bed and are getting some sleep, sleep is very important in the cycle of regeneration of our cells (I know I also have issues from time to time with sleeping but I DO try to go back to sleep as soon as possible), AOYP Wee sleep well and deep.

Hi to Smiffy (thank you too for your kind words), Bay, Nicky, Hermaj, Jojo, Nama, Jinkins, Emel, RT, SAMM, PVE, Wiwi, Wee, Lizzy and the apologies to rest of our people in here who’s names escape me right now … you know who you are and I include each and every one of you here too 🙂

“A fast day tomorrow is such a small sacrifice.” I am humbled, SAMM 🙂 Thank you. I had a planned break (one week) while visiting my daughter and that break has extended until today (so it’s become two weeks). I moaned about it being hard/inconveient getting back to fasting and gave myself permission to lapse. Then I read SAMM’s post and the quote above. I learned, as SAMM also said, to get over myself! So today I’m back to making that small sacrifice.

Lizzypb

Hermaj, you’ll be interested. We in Aust are watching PD James’ Death in Pemberly tonight. 🙂 P

Also told myself yesterday that I do not want the fatty hump at the top of my back to return or the horrible ‘double bust’ on my ribs, both of which are much reduced and I hated having them for years but told myself I was stuck with them. How we lie to ourselves!!!! SAMM has prompted me to be honest and strong! Thanks again 🙂

The word ‘double’ auto corrected to ‘O’Connor’!!!!!

Lizzypb

Just to wish the Yorkies a happy and enjoyable meeting.

I’m glad I decided to withdraw earlier this week as I’m still feeling like sh**, both physically and emotionally (even the MA result hasn’t made me feel any better) and not fit company for man or beast.

What’s more I’ve now realised I’ve been on another sodding plateau and haven’t lost an ounce since August! Thank God I don’t comfort eat. Quite the contrary. The first thing to go when I’m depressed is the appetite.

There is a family situation going on that is breaking my heart. My once much-loved nephew has for reasons no one can explain – and he refuses to talk about – turned dead against me, making it very difficult to arrange to see his lovely wife and sons. She assures me it’s nothing I have done and she and the boys love me to bits. Which is fine, but doesn’t make it any easier to keep in face-to-face touch with them.

It’s now been going on for about 5 years. Their marriage has been going downhill and I know there have been furious rows about all sorts of things, but they are trying to keep it together for the sake of their son, at least until his GCSEs are over. He’s a bright kid who has already been spotted as excellent uni material and they don’t want to upset him unduly – he isn’t exactly thrilled with his dad’s antics either.

Worst of all it means I hardly ever see the two boys whom I adore and with whom I have (or at least had) developed a wonderful relationship. I haven’t seen the 5-year-old for nearly seven months and the teen for four.

They live about 60 miles away deep in the countryside and hard to reach entirely by public transport. I don’t drive and my other half is even more hated than I am. Unless Mr Misery-guts is safely out of the way, which he seldom is, I or we can’t go to them and if they want to come to us it’s like organising the D-Day landings, especially as he will decide – sometimes several weeks ahead – that HE needs the car on that day. Sorry to unload all this but it’s tearing me apart.