CG, I’m delighted to hear that you got on so well at the doctor’s. Your healing powers are terrific…..definitely good genes! Your winter is almost as cold as our summer! Lol! 😉😂 You’re a great example to Up, in overcoming debilitating episodes of anxiety. As both you and Up have said, time helps but it’s good to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I should be well used to packing for France but I’m not sure what to wear for the graduation as I don’t know if things are more formal in the Uk than here.
Jade, thanks for the rainbow….badly needed! Yes, the coffee shop at Tara is as good as ever, mmmmmm😋 Hope you got your car sorted, you’re not getting a great run of luck at the moment but I love your positive attitude! 💪👍😃💚

I have managed a small loss for the month 1.1kgs. 1 cm off my waist. I am concertrating on toning up now. I have tried to reintroduce some cereals but my body does not like it at all going straight onto my waist. So I hve planted out some extra cauliflowers to make into rice and pizza bases. These can be frozen as well. I have got a lot of things to do as it is the end of our financial year and everything needs to be closed off.

I hope to get some more time in the garden today before the storms come. this is the weeding time of the month and I am determined to get it back into some order. Next week I will be putting in the above ground crops. Last week all the onion beds went in. Late but at least in. Two other beds wont be needed till summer so they are going to be green manured. The one where I will put the tomatoes will have mustard and the other ordinary green manure for the sweet corn. The other job is to create a permanent bed to house the perennial vegetables and fruit (asparagus rhubarb etc). I try and spend only on hour and one activity and then do something completely different so I don’t pull muscles. Can’t get straight out in the morning as we have had a week off crunchy frosts.

Morning Fit! Bit of a jailbreak here too last night😂 eating natural peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon like a savage. But hey it was natural! Lucky there were no cookies left in the house. Going out even for a soup lunch sounds like fun! I always have to rememeber I’m not really after the food when meeting friends. Oh who am I kidding, I’m always after the food, love restaurants, always have – it was a super big deal to go out when I was young.

Speaking of good food, SJ, I had the eggplant rotolo for dinner last night, I forgot I had frozen it back in March, but still so yummy!

I can’t decide whether today should be a FD, too little sleep, no school work to keep me busy.🤔 Just entertaining myself with CG’s funny videos on Facebook.😍 Hmm, I think I just decided! But will skip breakfast to get a bit more of a mini fast in. I have at least 20 eggs in the fridge and feel I could eat them all right now (oh, shades of Paul Newman having 50😝).

GL you sound like quite the gardener, I planted cauliflower and it’s a beautiful plant but over 2 months in, no sign of an actual cauliflower. And the little green worms ate my lettuces😡 It’s a pretty garden though, soon I’ll have tomatoes and we’re already enjoying the onions and herbs.
PH hope you’re surviving the mother of all garage sales! ‘Night & love to you Aussies – hope you get more beauty sleep than I did💤💤💤💕Zzz xxx

Ha Jade, I know what you mean…..had lovely mushroom soup but so wanted to have coffee and cake too! Just as well my sister needed to be brought home straight away. She is pitiful to look at now, so drugged up, confused, barely able to walk, practically has to be spoon fed. We got in touch with the psychiatrist and he is changing her meds immediately. It’s disastrous. I consoled myself with green tea and some WW biscuits when I got home, so not really a fd but better than snacking all day.
CG, it’s not the eggs that have me drooling when I watch ‘Cool hand Luke’! 😋😚😊

Thanks Jade, feeling sorry for myself today so I need a kick up the butt! Concentrating on not listening to that box of chocolates sitting in the cupboard since last weekend and focussing instead on going abroad next week! I’ve no idea who Butter Bob is but glad you’re having a good time. 💚💕💞

Hi all. Just got brave enough to get on the scales. Up 1.2kg after blowout month with all the family home 🍾🍾🍾🍷🍷🍷🎂🎂🍫🍫🍕🍕🧀🧀…..got to be happy with that . Fast day went down the gurgler yesterday. Was doing OK until I sat down after busy day to watch the footy with OH and had one Scotch, then another, then another, then chocolate..oh well. Full day yesterday, went to the credit union and organised finance in case we find a property to buy before we sell this house, so that is all done, then had a lucky shopping spree. Found a really nice pair of swimmers on a half price rack that are suitable for the pool and found one of my favourite bras that have been discontinued…the last of the stock in that store..how sad is it that I was so excited to find a bra!!!😂😂 just goes to show how our priorities change as we age. Comfort is key!!..anyway then had to go shopping cause we were out of tea, coffee , milk, bread and fruit..no time for shopping these days..son and daughter coming over today for the final push to get all the stuff out for tomorrow. Had to laugh, when I was at the Credit union the loans officer, lovely stylish young woman and very good, anyway amongst my paperwork was a copy of the flyer for the garage sale and she saw the pictures of my 1960’s pill box hats and she got so excited that she is coming out to buy them…seems that they are all the go and the racing season is on us with the big local race meetings at Grafton and Coffs not far away..so they will get another wear..just goes to show that everything comes back into fashion if you wait long enough. My old Aunty who made them will be looking down from above with a great big smile on her face.

Jade can relate to eating peanut paste with a spoon..just love that stuff. And PAul Newman, what can I say😍😍. And Robert Redford…eye candy ..
Fit..so sad about your sister, it is so hard to find the right medications and the process is just heartbreaking..sending love and hugs {{{💞💞}}}. I can’t believe that those chocolates have survived this long, well done you🤗🤗🤗
Go. You are doing so well. Congratulations and your garden sounds amazing.

Big hi to everyone else CG, UP, thinking of you both….and of course Gyps, SJ hope you are both doing OK.
Best get up and start the day or the kids will find me still in bed. Love to all 💜💜💜💜

Good morning all – ah what a difference a good night’s sleep can make.😍 Bless my OH, he was up very late and decided to stay downstairs rather than cause the commotion again at 4 a.m. I suppose wherever we live we will always need that second bed for his nocturnal sleep habits🐿💕

Brilliant idea, CG, to get a sleeper replacement for the accursed corset.😡 Two more weeks? Bring it on! 💪Hope the swelling has continued to go down (how could it not, you’ve been squashed for so long). And did the bodysuit result in a blissful sleep💤💕? Loving the videos on facebook.☺️ I also much prefer to post photos over there, would love to see more from the team😘

Well done PH on such a minuscule gain🎉! No doubt helped by staying so busy – and how fabulous that your pillbox hats will have a new life of style👒💋. I love it when I can pass along things I’ve loved to someone who’ll treasure them. Pleasure in small things is a gift💜 – best of luck with the sale!!!
Fit I hope you’re not deep cleaning the whole house in preparation for next week’s trip – don’t let all the demands on you get you down, which is easier said than done for a superwoman, but you deserve a nice break.🔆🍷CG jogged my memory about the renovations going on in France – how exciting!🔧🎉💕

The fireworks have already started booming at night here, as our Independence Day is July 4. The dogs think the world is coming to an end. I have to admit they are fun to see, though not to hear! No further fasting for me this week, the days at home have been too long🙄though very relaxing, must be what retirement will feel like, not a paper in the house to grade, though I have to go pick up some today. Anyway, I think I’ve taken a few more small steps toward self-control. It’s all in how you look at it, right😉? Have a lovely weekend, dear pals 🔆🌈🍸jade xxx

Hi CG Jade Fit Up and whoever else is around. I’m back on Australian soil but not home yet. In Sydney waiting for our flight to Perth, stay overnight then drive back to Margaret River – a long process!
So by say Monday or Tuesday should be back to regular posting whether here or on FB. A bit shattered now after the 14 hour flight but not too bad. Then I will have to deal with the dreaded number on the scales but don’t regret a single bit of it. 5:2 will sort me out! Byee suejen xxxx

Welcome back SJ! You have had the time of your life, everything else can wait. I’m sure you must have lots of gorgeous photos and precious memories. I hope the rest of your travels go smoothly. It’s great to have you back 👍😃💕💞
CG, I’m fine , just telling it like it is with regard to our disastrous health service. I’m really looking forward to next week spending time with our two girls and watching the graduation. Then off to France for two weeks, brilliant! 😃🍷🍾

Hi everyone.
Good on you GL502! Sounds like you have this well under control.

welcome back SJ. Yes, 5/2 will sort you out for sure.

I am in Greece. My husband brought the scales with us which I was unaware of until he produced them! I am up a little. So hard in restaurants but trying to make healthy choices.

We have had to change our plans at great expense to me as the university will not allow staff to go through Istanbul which we were due to do on Wednesday. There were 4 flights involved between Greece and China as my husband has to speak in Greece one day and China the next, so it was rush, rush. I was still prepared to do that but my husband won’t hear of it and quite rightly thinks that I would get too anxious on my own so we are now going through Vienna and Korea. This trip has been unusually fraught with issues and I am looking forward to being at home again. Greece is lovely and Milan was beautiful but there are always reminders of our uncertain world where it is like security at the airport just to see a church!

I much prefer the world of Beatrix Potter!
Will watch the election results as best we can with interest.

Hi all!
Woohoo GL, you’re really kicking ass! 💪👍 How annoying about not getting your mower repaired, it’s so easy for the grass to get out of hand but you have everything else in order, well done! Chocolate is my big downfall and weakness too but I’m slowly beating the snacking demons and it’s making a big difference. I know losing fat from the waist and central organs was a point that Dr Moseley found worked for him on 5:2, so I’m sure you’ll get there. Have you been looking at your waist to height ratio…. I know that’s measured on the tracker here and is a good way to see progress no matter how small.
UP, I feel for you with all the upheaval to your travel plans. However, safety comes first and hopefully, you will have some peace of mind knowing that you are both taking every precaution. Try to let OH take the strain and concentrate on distracting yourself with people watching (always fascinating at airports) or window shopping…… I love the opportunity to try very expensive perfumes and cosmetics in the duty free shops! Wishing you all the best for the rest of your journey. 💞💚💕
CG, hope you got a good night’s sleep in your suit of armour! Thankfully, the weather has been cool so you probably feel snug and cosy, not suffocated, at night. I’ve been taking ibuprofen each night as I go to bed and it’s really helped ease the pain in my ribs so I can sleep well.
My weigh in shows me back to where I was last week, so that’s good. I’m doing a semi fast today because I’m going out for a meal this evening for a girlie night out…..yippee! 👍😃😋💞💚💕

Oh I like that way of thinking (WOT, lol) CG, chocolate is a salad☺️ – I can talk myself into so many things, butter is great, nuts are great, red wine is great, good times with friends and family are great (yes, they really are♥️) …and soon jade is on “my 600-lb life”! Ha ha! I guess that’s the whole reason IF works – a little darkness before the dawn🌄😉 Until then, let’s call snuggling with puppies a bit of cardio, shall we?{{🐶🐶}}

GL, great tip about pepper to chase off the grubs – they demolished my lettuces but I may try again this season. And well done on your steady losses!

Up, I am so relieved at your change in plans, God love your OH for taking the best course. That money will be well spent! And congrats on such a minimal gain, gosh all our travelers and traveler-hosts are doing such a fine job of maintaining- fantastic!🎉 Practice makes perfect, and heaven knows we’ve had a lot of practice!!

SJ, I know you’re happy to be home, with so many lovely memories to keep you smiling for months! 😍💕 Those kids are darling, so full of smiles, very contagious eh?☺️ You’ll need a good long nap to recuperate from all that travel – hope the leg is better, too💪♥️

How’d the election turn out down under? Surely you can’t have the same sort of nutcases running for office as we do. Fit, I second your opinion of politicians. I can’t wait for our election to be over, it’s mind numbing to hear the orange one and all the reaction to him. My hope is that sanity will prevail.🙄 Whenever I think the world can’t get any worse, though, it seems to get worse.😞

Fit, I wish you patience in dealing with the docs, it is so frustrating and also filled with human error.😡 No getting around that with humans, is there – lots of worse things besides negligence going on sometimes. Today we’re having a spot of Irish weather, rainy and a high temp around 22C, a third cooler than last week. Wish it had been raining last night at 1 a.m. when doofuses were lighting M80s around the neighborhood. Poor dogs did not like that at ALL. Lazy day here otherwise, I may take one of those nana naps – gathering with 2 Ds tonight for potluck, so I’ll try to take it easy at the food trough until then😋 Good to know that a mini-fast helps in some small way. I seem to find the cliff of no return around 4 p.m., someone please send a parachute!😮 Cheers and hugs to all, whatever you’re up to this weekend♥️ xxxx ps PH best wishes for a successful clean-out sale🤑!

Hi all. Such a lot to catch up on since I last posted. Everyone seems to be going well.
UP. Keep up the positive thinking and hang loose and let OH look after you..such a heavy schedule of lectures he seems to have. You are doing great 💕💕💕💕.
Fit.. Hope your sister is OK . Our health systems are the same most places when making sure patients eat enough. No one seems to care if you eat your meal or not..just plonked in front of you and then collected with no intervention in the middle. We always made sure that,one of my brothers or myself visited my mum for at least one mealtime a day to make sure she had at least one decent meal.

CG. Great idea about the Lycra ..sounds like you are going well. 💕💕
Jade sounds like our house. OH has his own room and so do I, we both have queen beds and so bed hopping made easy ,works perfectly. 😘😘😘.

SJ. Welcome home. You will be quite flat 😒😒for a while I expect and missing your family on one hand, but very glad to be home on the other🤗🤗🤗Looking forward to future posts.💞

Well what a weekend. Yesterday was one very full day. Have an extremely successful day, we have sold all the major items and most of the rest. I could not believe it. We had at least 6 or 7 car loads of people all day long and the stuff just walked out the doors of the shed. Our Hall stall that I worked on in the morning at the election venue was a roaring success and great way of advertising our sale also. I actually sold the tractor to someone who was buying raffle tickets and did not know th sale was on. Sent them up to see OH and then they came back to tell me they had bought it!! Unbelievable. Our son and D and DIL and little Joel were amazing. Joel had the time of his life . We are still going today and close up shop at 12 noon.

Then of course we had the election results to watch last night. Talk about a closely contested election. Appears the whole exercise of the double dissolution and long campaign were all a waste of time as it is presently looking like a hung parliament is possible once again with a handful of independents with the balance of power, along with the greens. and whoever eventually wins will have the same type of Senate setup as before. What a waste of time and money!! It seems like the whole world is rebelling against the major parties… We now have a senator who thinks like Donald Trump..interesting times ahead..however I still think we are more stable than most countries so all not bad.

Better go and take some refreshments up to the troops. Talk to you all soon. 💜💜💜

Hi, I’m not from Australia, but I hope it’s ok if I join you here. I met Countrygal on the meal plan thread. I’m from Canada and very few people here know about 5:2. I lost 3.6 lbs in my first week! So I’m feeling very motivated to continue. Nice to meet you all!

Hi there SB and welcome to this thread and this way of life (wol). We don’t call it a diet because of the negativity that traditionally surrounds diets and people feeling they have failed if they lapsed or had a bad day. With 5:2, if you stuff up, then you just fast another day instead. You can move things around to suit your social life or special occasions, it’s very flexible. That’s a brilliant loss to start with, well done! Best of luck for continuing success. Don’t forget to take your measurements too because sometimes you will have a loss there that doesn’t show up on the scales. 👍😃

Jade, what a lovely story about your mil’s carer. No wonder such kindness brought a tear to the eye. My sister’s carers are mostly very nice and kind too but can be a bit careless about their duties, so we have to constantly check up on them. Now, however, we have a far bigger problem because my sister has become quite delusional. So we’ve decided to contact the psychiatrist tomorrow and see if he’ll readmit her as an emergency. I’m leaving on Wednesday so I’m hoping things are sorted by then or I might not go to France at all….it’s a mess.
On a happier note, I watched my niece, who has Down’s Syndrome, swim 1600 metres today in just over 30 minutes. She will be representing Ireland in the European DS games in Florence in two weeks! I’m so proud of her 💚💞💕
Best of luck for the week ahead to all and happy 4th to you Jade! So glad you had a lovely time with your girls. Thank god I can’t bake, I’d be the size of an elephant! 😉😃🐘

Morning CG – you’ve been busy entertaining me on facebook😂 – hope the Lycra gave you another good night’s sleep?

Oh goodness, Fit, I hope they’ll take better care of your sis this time! The poor dear, and you too who have to worry about her. I hope it doesn’t scuttle your plans for France. But hey, how fantastic about your niece!🏅🏊🎖wow I don’t think I could swim for 30 whole minutes, much less go 1600 meters. She is awesome! I hope they all have fun in Florence, what an honor♥️xxx

Well it wasn’t a Plan A day but maybe B/C, there has been some aspect of self-control to my day AND I took the pups for a long walk. Good thing I left the bread and cookies at D’s house last night☺️ Just lounging in front of the tv and hoping my fireworks-obsessed neighbors will run out of things to explode soon💣🙉 xxxxxxx

Hi all. Very stressful day yesterday waiting for the hospital to admit my sister. Finally they said they can’t take take her until today……we hope! So, I’m trying to get the last of my prep done for going away but will have to drop everything and run when the hospital calls. Meanwhile, she is agitated and delusional. It’s a nightmare. Not sure how much I’ll be able to keep in touch once I leave tomorrow but all the action seems to be on FB anyway.
Best of luck to everyone 👍😀

Fit, I feel for you, things sound really difficult.

No , FB hasn’t taken over here. A few people have “friended” me so they can see the snaps I put up of my trip. I am not putting anything much on the FB page for our group, only 1 joke. Pretty much everyone seems to be missing in action these days.

Thanks guys, you’re all such lovely, caring people. Finally got my sister admitted late this afternoon. Of course, she wasn’t displaying any symptoms of hallucinating or delusions….. I think they’ll be admitting my other sis and me instead! Oh well, I’m going to put her out of my mind until the graduation is over at least, so OH, the girls and I can have a brilliant time together. Vive la France! 🍷🍾☕️🍹🍫🍽🧀🍓🍇🏊🏖☀️

Oh that’s just brilliant, Fit! Vive la France and vive l’hopital! No doubt you feel you could be admitted, too – but now you can relax a bit on your trip!

Hey there Flemish, I remember you but just from reading the “archives” after joining this merry group in December. Nicely done on the maintenance💪despite the bumps and curves of life, boy can they get in the way of health…. Do share your secrets of maintaining🤔I am still attempting to impersonate a normal person. A normal, fasting person today. 🏇

Also trying to impersonate a teacher, at the moment. Back to my papers😘xx

Wow, Flemish, it has been ages! Good on you! It can be tricky maintaining or losing through life changes. I have put 4 of my original 13 kg loss back on because I have travelled a lot and didn’t fast much. Even now I am in Greece, with so many temptations!

I go to China tomorrow, there is a typhoon due to hit on Saturday. Good grief, what next, ladies?

Don’t worry Fit, if they admit you, you will get a well earned rest!;-)

CG, I hope you don’t get too sick, that is all you need!

Jade, I think you are doing just fine!

Hi all. The clean out queen has finally got enough strength to post. Can’t remember when I posted last , think it was Sunday. Anyway we had another good day on Sunday getting rid of things and just fell in a heap at the end of the day. Went to the pool Monday morning for my exercise and when I got home the troops were here again and sorting everything into piles. One for the dump, one for Coffs City Mission and what was left of OH,s special tools for a car boot sale at the end of the month…I can’t keep up with them. 😔😔😔. Anyway Tuesday my back decided to throw it in and spent the day with painkillers and hot packs. Told the troops to just stay home and have a rest and let OH and I recouperate. Which we before we could get out of bed this morning they were back for the second flush Once more through each room of the house and studio and the garage, and the shed before the final trips to the dump with a borrowed trailer. . So today 2 more trips to the dump and Coffs City Mission came with a truck and picked up a lot of stuff. Hopefully that is all the big stuff gone and they tell us we can have another rest tomorrow before the final sweep through everything. It is amazing what else you find you can do without even the third time around. Our aim is to just have one of each tool and just enough stuff to store in a small garage. From a double fire shed and a double garage which were chockers. Almost made it, boy did we have some camping gear. Coffs city mission were very pleased. And that was after we sold heaps of stuff. How good it feels🎉🎉🤗🤗😇😇🌞🌝. Just loving it.
So now maybe I can get my life back to normal and start some fasting again. Have not been to bridge since the family arrived and so looking forward to going tomorrow.

Fit. Great about your sister….time for some celebrating with your lovely daughters and the. Off to France!! Enjoy my friend💃💃🎉🎉🍾🍾🍷🍷🧀🧀

Jade . I too could not help having a chuckle 😃😃😃at the thought of UP and her delima with the splitting seam. I remember the elastic breaking in my bikini when I was water skiing. Then one hand on the water skis and one on the bikini bottom. yes I was once small enough to wear bikini!!! Anyway UP good save with the wrap. Hope you are enjoying China.

CG. What a bummer, coughing must be very painful. Hang in there and keep warm. Great measurements bu the way. One day I will get there also. That is when I get off my but and start being good once again.

FC. My memory must be taking a day off as I don’t remember you but what a great story. Keeping trim and fit. Great inspiration.

Welcome SB. I have my Canadian family home with me this very moment. Home for your long summer break. My son was living in Ottawa and was teaching in Quebec so decided to move across. His partner is Canadian as is our little grandson.. So enjoying having them home for a visit. We have been across three times so far and your country is very beautiful as are the people. ..

That all for now folks. Hope to get back to regular posting now….💜💜💜