Agree CG I have be stopping to just smell the flowers today. Spring is literally in the air. And I am savouring just a happy day. Especially looking forward to happy hour at the pub!m Our small country pub is a family social hub. We run joint jackpot raffles for the kindy and footy, so all age groups have a stake in it and the beer garden is set up with all manner of amusements for the kids. nice.

Welcome GM502, well done! happy to have you share your tips on such a great effort with us.
Dawg, hope you feel better soon. hugs

Suejen, I think Spring has got us all gearing up to get serious about our goals again. luck.

hello to all you busy bods out there! have a good week end. Cheers! Gyps

Hi All,
Still in the swim. Had family staying last week and skipped my FD’s. Kept an eye on the calories and lost .4. Down to 82.6 now so was very happy with that. After my episode of being so sick after FD the other week am hesitant to try again…….. I do have low blood sugar so wondered if that could be a factor. Anyone else dealing with that? Any suggestions to help with FD really appreciated.

Cheers to all and have a great week. ?

Hi All!
Well, I’m finally back on Irish soil and able to have internet access whenever I want. I have really missed posting here and getting the support and encouragement to keep going. I have read all the posts I’ve missed but there is no way I can comment on them all, so I hope I don’t offend anyone by not responding to each one.
GG – I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’s passing. I know he had a long, full life and that you got to spend some quality time with him in the last few months, so I hope that is some consolation to you and your family. Big hugs to you )))(((
CG – You are amazing the way you keep fighting on and finding the positives in each day, even when things are not going so well for you. I hope the latest meds, physio and pool work bring lasting relief and improvement for you.
SJ – welcome back, so glad you had a great holiday…and you will lose any extra you gained…we’ve all been there, done that and lived to see things balance out again when life gets back to normal. I’m in the same boat myself at the moment!
GYPS – so glad that things are staying stable for your leprechaun and I hope that he stays in good shape and health for many years to come. You are playing a blinder; supporting him while making healthy food choices for you both. Keep planning your trips and enjoy every single day on the road….make beautiful memories.
I didn’t put up too much weight in France, less than 2kg but the week since I came home has just been out of control eating and drinking….my daughter’s 21st party, my birthday and my wedding anniversary all in the space of four days!!! I woke up with a sugar hangover and then had chocolate biscuit cake for breakfast!!! EEEEK! AAAAARGH!!! So now, I’m at least 3kg up 🙁 Gotta do a really good fast day tomorrow and break this cycle before I end up back where I started. But the difference now is that I know I can do this and I will be strong and focussed with all you ADers behind me.
Lots of love to Lotus (great to hear you met up with GG), Up, Milena, YY, Taco, Dawg and all the newbies that I still have to get to know.
Have a great weekend everyone xxxx

Thank you. I don’t have a local diet buddy but I feel that this is a safe place to get the moral support to continue my weight loss journey.

HI 4sure good to hear you’re still in the swim & lost weight without fasting.
CG read you’re pretty tender after pool, chiro & shopping. To me that would be saying give your back a well-earned rest today & DON’T do vacuuming or mopping. I know you’re looking forward to all that stuff but space it out girl. Maybe tomorrow or even Monday. Go with the flow and I’d suggest the flow is saying right now give yourself a weekend off! Rest and recover for the next push. My thoughts anyway.
Fit lovely to have you back & ready to get on the horse again. Sounds like your first few days back were somewhat like mine – off the racetrack altogether! LOL XX
Doggie I see now how you use your audiobooks – multitasking eh! We enjoy sometimes listening to Richard Fidler while in the car travelling.
GL good to hear that you’ll be sticking around for support.
GG so sorry about your Dad. I hadn’t managed to read back over all the posts so missed that. Your love and care must have meant a great lot to him in his last days. Very special times for you both.
Well onto another weekend with not too much indulging for me. Have that 69 goal in mind & want to start the week at a good weight. suejen XXXX

Well CG it’s only fair! You’ve had to give me a kick in the rear a few times, but heavens wouldn’t do that to you at the moment. So consider mine just a gentle tap on the shoulder…….don’t want you screaming!! suejen XX and enjoy that salad. Sit back and enjoy surveying your normal home again.

SJ – Ha, Ha 😆 Miles off the racetrack!!! Going to take quite alot of running (away from the kitchen!) to get back on track!!

Forgot to say great silver lining.

Ive often thought , hearing of medical tests, as I have never had tests, perhaps I should.

Had full MOT. Chest x Ray, fine, not diabetic, bloods fine, except white cells but explanation, apart from gall bladder -sorted now – in excellent health and not pregnant.

Milena, how ghastly! So glad it was sorted quickly and now the only way is up! Well,not weight wise!

I too have had internet problems and now have a cold so won’t fast until it is gone. Feed a cold And starve a fever?

Stay or get well, everyone!

What a lovely post (as usual) CG! You’re right that strict counting is not so important when we’ve been following this wol for so many months now. I’m hoping to get back to pre holiday stats in the next two or three weeks. After that, I would like to lose maybe two more kg in preparation for my godson’s wedding in mid October….another great family occasion to look forward to 🙂 Have a wonderful Sunday xx

Afternoon all bit late getting on today. Dawg I hope you get better soon – thinking of you. Fit you and me together re pre holiday weight – hope it’s pretty soon as it really does motivate you to keep on going down, & to stick to the agenda. CG hope you had a bit of rest and recovery yesterday. I’m doing mine today watching the footy, but hope the Eagles do better than the Dockers. Having my chicken pie for the footy but then have a healthy soup cooking for dinner that OH made while I was out this morning, cooking up all the vegies from the garden (I nearly had a heart attack!). Fit can’t believe you read 14 books while away – that’s amazing!! Gee Milena talk about going through the mill – what a dreadful experience. And you’re not pregnant – that always good to know! LOL Hope things settle down quickly for you.
HI to YY GL Gyps 4sure GG Lotus & anyone I’ve missed. Trying to have a fairly controlled eating day with a few small treats like a sav blanc ready for a good week of FD’s coming up. Determined next week to up my exercise also as that’s slipped by the wayside since the holiday – so need to get back into the habit to help things along. Have a good last feed day all. suejen XXXX

MY wonderful CG…..as always you have hit the nail on the head! being with LOTUS brought back many treasured memories when YOU & FB, Andrew and I where together in Melbvagas You should have been there as well …as you where!
Aussie Determination is a extremely unique group! I cannot wait REALLY for our reunion!!!!! may be sooner than we can hope for???????……GO GAL xxxxx

Hi All!
Well, SJ, I’m down half a kg after fasting yesterday. That’s probably a bit of a false result but I hope I can make good enough choices to make sure it doesn’t go back on again. We’ll fight it out together and soon be back to where we were in no time! I will do another fast tomorrow and get back into the Mon/Thurs pattern to get into the routine again….the sooner life gets back to ‘normal’ the better.
GG – lovely to hear all about your get together with Lotus. I’m sure she’s as gorgeous in person as she is here on this thread. I’m so glad you found some solace in all the messages of sympathy here…..we really are like an extended family here and our cyber love and support are genuinely meant.
CG – hope you are going from strength to strength. It’s mostly down to you that this thread is still going strong almost a year on…you are Aussie Determination personified! Thank you so much for all your wisdom, advice, kind words, grit and kick-ass attitude!!
Dawg – so sorry that you are still feeling lousy but very glad that you posted here to let us know how you are so that we can let you know we are right behind you and wishing you well. Keep warm, drink plenty fluids and rest up until the dreaded lurgy has passed xx
Have a great week everyone! 🙂

Hi All,

Reading these posts has given me the incentive to try FD again tomorrow. Thanks folks. Nighty night.

And I would never give you that gingernut recipe CG cos it was terrible – well not terrible but not good!! I’d never actually made them before so grabbed the first recipe I found & it was a dud. They’re OK but….that’s about the best I could say for them. Not enough ginger or golden syrup & not crunchy enough – all the things you want in a gingernut! Never mind OH will polish them off gradually. XX

Hi all. My husband and daughter have this cold too but both intend to fast today so maybe I will after all, we shall see.

I am glad GG and Lotus had fun together. I would be up for an earlier reunion because I can’t do June next year if that is what was planned. I could certainly come to Sydney sometime this year or earlier next year though.

How amazing that it is nearly a year for many of you. I am a couple of months behind but what an achievement. It is so exciting! Thisthyme, you definitely have to stick with it and any other newer members reading this. Slow and steady wins the race for sure!

As far as footy goes, my husband, and therefore all the rest of us now, is a dyed in the wool Bombers supporter from childhood. He isn’t very happy with them this year though….

It is going to be 28 here today. 8.30 now and all the doors are wide open, I can feel it already. Should put a “spring” in my step!

Have a good fast day everyone, and everyone look after yourselves.xx

SJ – good job on making the gingernuts so awful that you don’t want to eat them all…..clever strategy! 😉
4Sure – hope you have been inspired to keep going with your fast days; it will all be worth it, as I’m sure you have read from many of the posters here.
GG – love the positivity – thanks!!
CG – you sure have led a full and exciting life so far – here’s to the next chapter!
UP – sorry to hear that you all have a miserable cold, so look after yourselves and don’t worry about fasting if you don’t feel up to it – you can easily get back on track when you feel better xx
GL – well done on your loss to date, your lightest for years…brilliant!! Great idea to freeze extra meals to have ready for when you don’t feel like cooking because that’s often when we reach for the easy but unhealthy options. Keep up the good work.
I’m going to do another fast day tomorrow to get back on track and kick start the loss of the holiday excesses. Feeling strong and determined because I know you all have my back. Best of luck to everyone for the week ahead. 🙂

Well everyone’s on the ball this morning and nice to see so many people posting. Yes we all need each other’s encouragement and support – it just makes the journey so much easier. After days & days of rain we have 4 sunny days ahead so walks are on the agenda. Eggs boiled, cooking Lotus’s Chicken & Almonds for dinner, one coffee with milk, a Vegemite drink & a Jarrah hot choc & the day is done. Into bed well and truly happy that another mission has been accomplished! You know “Your mission today should you choose to accept it………”. Well we all know what the mission, is no need to open that envelope, just plan and prepare and then persist with your fast day plan. So stick to your goals & you will succeed. Our bodies are getting ready to shed that winter padding & we’ll all start losing again & zooming towards our goals.
Have a great day all. suejen XXXX
PS My gingernuts are safely out of sight in a tin & won’t bother me today! Fit you’re right…they won’t even call me name they were so average. XX
Dawg not quite as bad as yesterday is a start hey, and let’s hope for a “much better” report tomorrow. Rest up & recover.

Ooo! There you all are! Thank goodness! Phew! It’s one thing to be too busy or slack to post and quite another to be unable to connect to the site! I’ve had two days of being adrift. Just a blank screen and no links working for several sites, my Email and MFP included! Imagine my frustration. Fancy not having access to Cg’s motivational sally’s when required!!!! Finally I discovered it was because I installed a ‘hide me’ encryption app a few weeks ago and an up date made it turn on automatically (whereas it had been a manual choice for when downloading). All I had to do was switch it off and there you all were!
So, good morning all! Am having a FD whilst distracting myself catching up on posts. So good to see so many back on board. So appreciate your support of my woes even when my head’s not in the game. Thanks everyone, all is well in my world ATM.

And yes, Suejen, I too have had a lifetime of footy in various forms. Not the least of them as a college football, sports med nurse. Can’t say I really appreciated the game, but I came to and my enlightenment was a torturous path……

On F-F-FOOTBALL!!!!…..

(From my ‘Sporting Mayhem Myths..’ collection 1990’s era)

Football ( to a nurse) is a bloody, awful game
The object is to flatten ev’ry limb and leave it lame….

“Pull him DOWN ya’ slacker! Shove him in the dirt!”

“Save the flamin’ ball!”…..(to hell with who gets hurt..)

Bellows from the crowd damn the referee’s intent
The foulest tackle’s fine if the opposition’s bent
Even when it’s ours, fair crippled from the blow
It’s “Get the ice! Ya’ mug! Get him up and go!”

Torn and bleeding muscles go unheeded in the swelling
As they rally to their God… “Play on!” The coach is yelling

They scorn the nurse’s screeching… “Get him off! It should be banned!”
Grinning from their stretchers….I just couldn’t understand…..

“Congratulations, here’s your crutches…” Is that what they expect?
How can I be delighted in a win that got ‘em wrecked?

Ahh….I had much to learn of the spirit of the game…
The ball is not the prize, just the symbol of an aim
A gladiator sport full of leadership and battle
It prepares a man for life! Defines him from the cattle

To win he must be brave – strive to rise again
Set upon a goal – Undefeated by the pain
To rise up in their ranking is a challenge to be won
‘Tis mine to nurse their ills and admired their brand of FUN…

Just a bit of Munday nonsense… cheers! Gyps

Dawg, sorry you’re still not well, either, just rest up and remember the rule of thumb re viral coughs and colds… ‘treat it and the thing will last 2 weeks – leave it alone and it will go away in 14 days!’ . Good book chicken soup and have the mutt warm your feet. hugs

GG, glad you’re back in form, mate. we have missed you. I think you Darling Harbour re-union idea sounds like a goer. I will need a leash and a keeper in the city. last time I ventured to Sydney I got lost and couldn’t find a person who spoke English for several blocks! just like going overseas!

BTW, my you-beaut travel discount offer thingy turned out just to be cuts for me if I enviegled others to take groups cruises (with them paying full price) so it’s no advantage to anyone. Sorry about the bum steer (about a zillion pages back). Still have a cruise in mind for ‘sometime’ though. but only Oz coastline. Maybe like CG said, incorporated into the reunion in Sydney?

Fit, is it still nice weather for you over there? You must dread winter! As I do our summer. I’m glad you and Up are back in the loop, too. I’m further north than you UP, and agree it’s getting hotter faster up this way. My caravan has no aircon, so might have to rethink either timing of destination for a trip before high summer. Nice to have options though. Happy at home ATM.
Yappy, too. better get out of the computer chair for a bit. haven’t eaten so far so am on track. Boiled egg and vegemite soup with a side munch of raw greens from the garden I think. Great to see you are on the ‘mend it or motivate it’ track again CG (but bugga the housework!). Hi to yummy and GL and hello, 4sure!High thyme I said “welcome”. Later, all. Cheers! Gyps