Who wants hot chippies with chicken salt….mmeeeee. It’s fast day .Can you tell?

Thanks for the pep talk, CG! I also got a call from GG, so I’m trying to shake off this stupid negativity. I’ll be going out for lunch soon so that will be a good distraction. Your meal sounds yum, CG 😋 GG, have a wonderful time with your OH, enjoy the sailing and snorkelling, it will be heavenly. My OH is very jealous but can look forward to doing some of that next year! 👍😃

Aye, Fit – go enjoy your lunch, the right time for the rest will come along. We’ve all shifted to such healthier ways, so it’s steps forward, and what more can we ask of ourselves. And truly, you might as well enjoy the things that are going to happen anyway. I know that can be easier said than done when we have decided how things SHOULD be 😬 but what’s that they say, life happens when you’re busy making other plans. Roll with it, enjoy it, try to put fasting in its rightful perspective – just one small piece. You are loved and cherished and people want to share good times with you – hug that to your heart and be happy 😍☺️💚

Wish I could give a proper pep talk to OH, he is so down and I don’t know what to do or say, except not to demand anything of him. I am not very good at the “anything” part of that. We make plans, cancel, remake, he hates having things he must do and hates having none….well, this too shall pass. On the bright side, it does lessen one’s appetite 😐

Gyps, I wasn’t able to read more last night, but happy to have that to look forward to – those kids are beautiful and her artwork amazing! And that song…CG you mentioned his fantastic rage – and maybe you meant range but i thought fantastic rage really nailed the effect I felt from it. I am getting old and feeble but I still feel that about so many things.

Sheesh sorry for the downer. There is still a cheerful southern belle in here somewhere. I’ll go try to find her! more coffee should help ☕️☕️☕️ 👍💕xx

Hi All landed safely and met my gorgeous little Madeline…now 9 months old. She is unbelievably happy and contented. Gracie and Lucy are delightful little girls (4 & 2). We’re straight into things as babysitting this afternoon till DIL comes home. What fun!!! Hope they’ve got used to us enough. Had a rather crash course with 3 routines and where things are etc. If we don’t remember we fudge it!!!
Oh as you can imagine heavenly to be so happy and loved round our grandkids 🙂 🙂 🙂 Grandpa is the FAVOURITE! Tis funny as the girls all take after their grossmutti (german great grandma) who is still such a flirt around men even at 86! Her eyes just light up. And the 2 older girls just love the blokes whether it’s uncles or grandpas or friends. Must be in the genes. Lucy is the spitting image of her great grandma.
Trip over was a bit rough as in couldn’t get a good stretch of sleep so terribly jetlagged yesterday with a nasty headache. But after 9 hours sleep seem to have woken up in the right timezone YEAH! 24 hours of travel if you include the 7 hour layover in Sydney. But hey it’s sure worth it. So consciously trying every minute to make happy memories with the kids.
Love to everyone and yes Gyps DIL has plans for us for Sunday. As she lost her own mum at 4yo that’s pretty special to me. Son and I will do something on another day. Girls day first!!! So have a lovely day all who are mothers and Gyps so glad you may now be able to celebrate your time as a mum with the pain laid to rest I gather. Suejen xxxx

Jade, you might have to make one of those pairs of shoes snowshoes! 😂 I’d quite like to try the absence of problems for a while too, but I guess that only happens when we’re dead! I’m giving you a whole trophy cabinet of awards not just a medal! 🏆🏆🏆🏅🏅🎖🎖🎗🎗 OK, off you go and carpe some diem with pride! 😃💚

Thanks CG 💚 I’m calling on all my Aussie determination to weather the storms, real and metaphysical! Send me over some sunshine please!

Hi all, last real internet for a while , we head to Airlie Beach and tenting again today.
Fit, you are allowed to feel blue but CG as always your advice is excellent. It is so good to be alive! Fit, do try and get out in the nature with a bit of a walk. I have had a lot of nature recently, good and bad… recently had a shower with a large spider but didn’t discover it until halfway through of course! moved the curtain a bit and boom! On the same day, we drove over a black snake, a dog died 10 mins after being bitten by a snake around the pool where we were camping and the piece de resistance? I heard a loud scream metres from my tent. A little girl had been walking back from the amenities when a large python accidentally, we think, fell out of a tree with a bat in its mouth and proceeded to eat it!
However Fit, I can pretty much guarantee that you wouldn’t see any of that when you come for the reunion! The upside is that OZ is so beautiful!

SJ, enjoy your time with family. Sounds wonderful. 🙂

Hi to all, not sure when I will be online again.

Hello A Ds. I’ve got to confess to being completely unmotivated to start with the 5:2 again. What’s more the weight is slowly creeping up again. Now heading north of 70 instead of south. Hopefully I will be able to reenergise myself and make a start again. I was just thinking recently about what has changed in my life to make me start gaining weight now as I used to be skinny for most of my life. The difference is that I’ve always loathed cooking and found it a pain in the butt. Now, however, I enjoy cooking and plan days ahead for meals. AND of course I enjoy eating them.
CG what a sad story about the bloke who lost his life and the drink driving. Every time I go back to South Africa I’m horrified at the complete lack of concern for drink driving. Nearly everyone does it. Needless to say the road toll is mind boggling.
We are very dry here in Tasssie and anxiously watching the next few days as it seems we have some promising looking cold fronts coming our way. Our dams are at record low levels and it’s the poor farmers who cop it the worst.
Bye for now.
XX Doggy

Hi all!
Lovely to hear from you Doggy. I know exactly how you feel about trying get back into 5:2 when you’ve been away from it. I think this is where the four Ps come into play; plan, prepare, patience and persistence. When the motivation is missing, maybe just establishing a routine and going through the motions will pull you along for now. I agree with CG too about MFP, it does help to know how much you can have without going overboard on the calories. Have you a special occasion coming up that you could work towards? That usually helps me. I’d love to send you over some of my rain 💨🌧 because we sure don’t need it at the moment!
CG, glad to hear the massage did some good. Maybe you can do a little yourself in between visits to keep the improvement going. Great to hear Lexie and Danny are enjoying the gentle rain. The sun has come out again this morning but it’s very cold still.
Big shout out to PH, Annie, Skinny, Jade, Gyps, Gawd, Lotus and our travelling Wilberries…SJ, UP and GG. Hope everyone is doing well and wishing you all a terrific weekend. 👍😃💚💕

Hi ladies

Fit i cant believe you still have sleet. Its barely trying to be autumn here and today we had 26c. I have decided that we dont really get seasons in Austraia…just a small change in temperature.

SJ how lovely to spend time with your granddaughters. My grandparents were such an important part of my childhood and i have so many memories of good times with them. You are building memories for them.

Dog I hear you. I think i am finding the change of season tricky and am feeling the cold mornings and finding it hard to skip brekkie on FD.

I did not manage a fast this week. I tried twice but failed. I hopped on the scales and lost 0.2kg but as i am back on 30mg steroids i dont expect to do brilliantly. I am eating well below TDEE. Total loss since mid october is 24.2kg. The goal is 7kg in the next 2 months. Its a lot i think but worth a go.

Next week i am locked in the prison at Emu Plains, running a short course with 30 others and will have no control over food and not much time to do steps. Once we are in the prison room we will be using there is no access to any other space. Anyhoooo…i will just have to do my best. The goal is not to gain next week. We also have 33 people making 3 dozen delectable cookies or slices each and we will be plied with this all day along with morning tea, lunch and arvo tea and dinner. The prisoners love sugar as they dont get much of it and they especially like things with chocolate in them. We will be living nearby all in community for the 5 days. We are there to make a difference and that needs to be my primary focus. I just dont want to undo the work i have done as every kg is so difficult to shift.

Today i went to the Marigold for yum cha with my sister and i thought of all of you WTF ladies. That was basically my calories for the day. OMG i had forgotten how great that place is. We stuck mostly to the steamed things with prawns in but you cant not have their spring rolls and deep fried prawns can you. My fav is a flattish prawn spring roll thing with sesame seeds on the outside.

Still waiting to hear if i get an interview for that job. I think that is playing on my mind too. That and being tired as i am leaving for work at 7 so the traffic isnt as bad and that means i have been going to bed early. Last night i went to bed at 10 and woke up at 3 and could not get back to sleep. This has become a bit of a pattern and by the end of the week i am wrecked. Its amazing how something this simple can throw your whole routine out.

OK i had better stop rambling and hit the sack.Have a great weekend everyone!

Anne

Hi all, sorry I have been MIA for a couple of days. Having a sleepless night tonight. It is 3am so have decided to give up on trying to sleep and do a post.

Jade. My heart goes out to you, it is hard to cope with the love of your life struggling with depression. I know what you mean as my OH has suffered from the same thing most of his life. When we sold the farm about three years ago and moved to a small village to live to retire the depression kicked in big time. It has taken the last 3 years for it to become sort of manageable again. Also know what you mean about how draining it is to have to always be the one trying to,be cheerful, sometimes you just want to hole up in your room and shut out everything, can’t do that cause it makes things worse. Sending you bucket loads of hugs {{{{{{💕💕💕💐💕💕💕}}}}}}. Keep being your wonderful self, your sense of humour and outlook so special and a perfect balance in your relationship. So glad you had a great night out with your students. These type of occasions are absolutely essential to keep us sane!!

Up. You are certainly having an exciting time..🕷🕷🐜🐜🐍🐍(no bat emojis ) I guess at least there are no crocks 🐊🐊🐊down that far…..oh the joys of camping…for so many things to happen in a short time is a tad unusual though, these type of holidays are the ones that stay in your memory though and bring you,lots,of laughs in the future when you recall them, usually over a few drinks with friends!! Keep having fun!!

Annie. You are doing so well to be still losing at all with what you have on your plate. Such an inspiration💐💐💐🤗🤗🤗

Fit. Everyone gets a bit down sometimes and you will get through this and bounce back to your usual bubbly self in no time. Just ride with it and don’t beat yourself up. Treat yourself when you can and be proud of what you have achieved so far. 🤗🤗😇😇The weather you describe would make anyone a bit down. We are so blessed to live where we do as far as weather is concerned, as someone said we don’t really get too much fluctuation like for instance Canada where my son lives it ranges from minus 37 or so to plus 37 in summer, Celsius that is..but that is the exact reason that my sons partner finds it hard to live in Australia….no seasons and she misses the snow and winter season… So I guess most of us are used to the weather we experience and love where we live regardless. My I am rambling tonight!! 🤔🙄😒😕😘😘

SJ. so great reading your happy posts. You deserve every minute of the love and later you are surrounded by. I can just picture the big smile on your face and of course on the face of OH . Enjoy every minute💕💕🤗💐😍😍😄😄💐💐💞💞

GG. How thoughtful of you to phone Fit while you are on your holiday. You are one special lady..hope you are enjoying yourself..as I have no doubt you are😍😍🤗😋😘😍💐🎉🎉🍾🍷🍹

CG. Words of wisdom just seem to flow from your fingers. Always the supportive one and there for us all. Hope your aces and pains are now under control and you are feeling better. Such a sad story about your handyman. Life just sucks sometimes and these things just remind us of all of how lucky and blessed we are. Have a great weekend😍😍💐💐💕💕

Doggy. It is OK to feel the way you do, hopefully it won’t last much longer and you soon feel the need to take control of your life again as we all know you can. Just hang in there and try not to do.too much damage in the meantime. We are all here to support you so try to keep posting and feel the love and support that is the essence of this thread. You are strong enough to turn things around. YOU CAN DO THIS Sending hugs{{{{💕💕💕}}}}}.

I did a third Fast Day today to try and give that plateau I have been on a shove. Hope it works. U fortunately the days in between the fasts were not great….oh well that’s life when you are really busy. Looking forward to the weekend with no places I have to be or places I have to go!! Except over to Daughters place to do some more in the yard. Just read in the paper that they are giving away free mulch for the garden to anyone who can come and pick it up. I am guessing that it is wood chips from all the trees they have had to take out where they are upgrading the highway. Fantastic recycling. So we will be getting a few loads for both us and Daughter. But the up side is that we are out in the fresh air and achieving something whilst having a lovely time with D. the best depression blaster of all!!!💕💕
Talk to you all again soon ….ain’t life grand !!!.💜💜💜💜💜

Thanks PH, and what a blessing YOU are. Nice second job, doing middle-of-the-night counseling 😇 your words made me feel cared for, and thank you.💕💕 Life’s a topsy turvy deal, isn’t it, lights at the end of so many tunnels 🚇 but going for the light always seems to be worth it. I so understand about your OH too, there is often a sense of loss in a move, especially one involving such a huge change. I hope your insomnia eases up, but thank you so much for writing such a lovely post in the midst of that!
Fit, so any luck the farmers-almanac types will be right and, come late May, you and I will be enjoying dry weather and a few pints together as we shake off these blues. If we shake hard enough, we can shake some other bits off as well! 😳
Annie, fingers crossed still for the job interview to happen 👌 in the meantime, kudos on the prison work, I know it will mean a lot to them. If a stray cookie or chocolate jumps into your mouth, just roll with it 👍😉
CG, meant to send a hug previously re your handyman {{💙}} those sad life stories are all around. It’s good to remember in the everyday life that much suffering may be behind the smile.

And I’m still at work trying to contact this man about his eviction dilemma. I told him this morning to sit tight, but I’m afraid he’s decided just to go ahead and move out. I do hate abuse of power, makes people comply with outrageous demands. Then again, I’m not the disabled one cowering in an apartment dreading a visit from the sheriff, even if a nice lady said the sheriff can’t throw me out yet. Grr.

Have a lovely weekend all – I have distracted myself with several squares of Cadbury so far! 🍢🍫😈xx

Thanks, Fit. That’s the thing though, the law prohibits what they threatened but He doesn’t know that. THEY know it though, may they burn in the hot place. Maybe Tannouie can give them a guided tour😈😆💪👍 THAT NEVER ENDS FOR THEM. It all makes me remember to count my blessings, yet it makes me so sad/mad for jerkballs to get away with being jerkballs to people already suffering – and that’s an insult to regular jerkballs so insert [appropriate expletive] in place of jerkballs 😏 Hope you get some sun and fun this weekend! ☘🔆🍾

Wahooooooo! I finally managed to post a photo!! Feeling ridiculously proud of myself. It just took ages to get the command bar to stay still for long enough to hit the instructions but I got there at last! Enjoy the poster ladies! 😃

Hi there Jade, “lazy genius” …….love it, now I finally know what I am! 😂 Great news about your new shoes. I can never wear the latest trends in shoes unless they’re flats! Just bought a new pair of brogues recently, thank God they’re back in fashion! (BTW, brogue is the Irish word for shoe!) Your dinner menu sounds yummy 😋 Hope you and OH enjoy the company of good friends 👍😃 Must go and listen to Beethoven now, thanks for the link….now, there was a genius 🎼🎹

Ha, ha, Jade, your mum was very wise preventing you from making the wrong kind of ‘beautiful music’! 😂😳 By all accounts, Beethoven didn’t go through very many towels….not very familiar with the whole idea of personal hygiene! Definitely a case of standing upwind while listening him! 😃

Ha, Jade, you always crack me up too! I seem to have shaken off the blues and replaced them with the munchies……just can’t stop grazing today 😬 However, I’m not going to beat myself up about it, just go for sensible eating tomorrow and then a proper fast on Monday and away we go! Fingers crossed! Have a lovely evening 💚💞💕