Good morning everyone, it is a beautiful fast day morning in Melbourne.

Congratulations on a great book club LJoyce. It sounds like you made the most of it, and I bet you feel good this morning too.

Lovely to see your post here Intesha and that those caring duties are not completely swamping you at the moment.
My mum did cake decorating and made the prettiest little flowers and things!

Happy fasting!

Hi Cinque would you mind sharing your recipie for zucchini slice ? The one i have been making for years contains half cuo oil so would like one thats oil free if possible.
Thanks to everyone for my daughters birthday wishes. Was a quiet day just the 2 of us. Had some chocolate cake, lucky i dont have much of a sweet tooth so a small slice sufficed.
Ive been averaging around 13,000 steps per day and exercising about 4 mornings per week following Michael mosley’s Fast Exercise book. Finding it not much of a chore as i only spend about 15-20 mins on exercise each time.
Im loving miso so much that i have teaspoon of miso and hot water each morning at work instead of coffee.
Its Sunday late afternoon writing post while cooking roast chicken and vegies in the webber. Back into the working week tomorrow…..ho hum

Thanks Cinque, not really looking forward to it that much to be honest – it was a so-called home style soup from Woolworths and was a bit bland from memory which is why the other half found its way into the freezer. However, I’d written the cal count on it so it seemed an easy thing for today. I’ve converted the black beans from kj into cals and then divided all that into the portion I have left (56 gm) so, by my calculations, I’m adding another 63 cals to the soup which will hopefully make it taste better along with the chopped chilli.

I felt positively horrible this morning after too much food and alcohol yesterday (it probably wasn’t much by most people’s standards as I skipped breakfast and dinner to enjoy that lunch with friends). But for us fasters, it was an over-indulgence. Anyway, hurray for fast days and putting on the brakes – after just 120 cals so far today, I feel completely cleansed and so much better now. Ready for a fresh new week and, hopefully, better food choices.

All the best for the meeting Cinque.

Hi GDSA – your roast inspired me. Yesterday was a FD so the idea had me salivating. So I’m making up for it today – tonight I’m doing roast lamb.
You asked about zucchini slice recipies with little oil. I have 2 recipies, but they make up for the lack of oil with a rather large amount of cheese. I prefer them because I think the cheese provides more flavor than oil even if it doesn’t reduce the fat level much. The ingredients are:

ZUCCHINI-SWEET POTATO SLICE:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
100g lean bacon,chopped (I use 4 short cut bacon rashers)
300g zucchini, grated and moisture removed
250g sweet potato (kumara), peeled and grated
1 cup finely grated parmesan
1 cup self raising flour
salt and pepper to taste
5 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (125ml) buttermilk (you can add a few drops of lemon juice to 1/2 cup normal milk – good substitute for buttermilk if it isn’t something that you commonly have in the fridge)

ZUCCHINI SLICE:
3 zucchini, grated with moisture squeezed out
1 carrot, grated
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 cup self-raising flour
4 lean bacon short-cut rashers, diced
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated matured cheddar cheese, loosely packed
1/2 cup grated parmesan
seasoning to taste

The method is the same as for other zucchini slice recipies:
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease a 16 cm x 26 cm lamington tray
Mix all ingredients together and pour into tray.
Bake 35-45 minutes until set and golden.

Optional – I sometimes sprinkle the base of the tray with polenta or semolina (it adds a crunch to the texture). I also usually add tomato slices to the top before baking. I also sometimes add up to 3/4 cup of sweet corn kernels to the zucchini-sweet potato slice.

Going to be a hot week in parts of oz – so please stay cool if you can.

Well done, Thin. 🌺🌺☀️☀️🌸🌸

Hope your meeting went well, Cinque. 🌺🌺☀️☀️

Hi bay, I agree with Cinque, without the flour you have a mixture that is like a lot like a frittata or the filling for a quiche. It will probably have a wobbly eggy texture, whereas the flour gives it a more solid and stable texture. If I was to try making it without the flour, I’d be tempted to also reduce the amount of eggs by 1-2 for a less wobbly texture.

Good afternoon everyone,

That’s a good suggestion Joyce! (I was trying to think of ‘frittata’ when I wrote quiche!)

Hi CharlotteRose, so glad you could pop in with your good news! Eating properly and losing excess weight, is excellent, especially when life is so busy!

It’s a hot week in Melbourne!

Cheers all!

Bayleafoz, could you use a flour substitute in the zucchini slice (which by the way sounds delicious)? For some reason coconut flour jumped into my brain, or maybe oat bran or something if it’s a gluten thing. Finishing a fast day with one coffee and lots of water??? Does that mean you just did a water fast??? Wow, that’s amazing! Still don’t know if I’ll do one but I look up to those of you who have.

Doughnut day tomorrow at work and I decided I didn’t even feel like ordering one, or eating it. When I really thought about it, I realised the only part I really like about them is the custard filling. So I’m going to buy some real good quality custard and just eat a couple of spoonfuls. I have begun to even hate the icing on the doughnuts, I used to think there wasn’t such a thing as too sweet, but oh how my palate has changed in just six short weeks. I’m finding I really struggle through the icing now because it just tastes so sickly.

The HCG girls at work on the other hand: moody, emotional (both were crying at work yesterday), starving and craving all sorts of “bad” foods they’re not allowed. So far on 5:2: I’ve felt euphoric, no cravings, rarely hungry, and one of the best parts is that I can eat anything I want. One of them saying how much weight she’s lost in just one day, well that’s not going to be fat. I’d tell them about 5:2 if I thought they’d take any notice. I think they already tried IF for a day or two and not really having given it a chance, they think it didn’t work for them. They were doing the one where you don’t eat until 2pm, and then eat as much as you like, I guess just extending your fasting window, and they seemed to be doing it seven days a week. I think 5:2 is far superior, although the other probably does work, 5:2 is a lot more life proof.

Yay size 10 Gday, that’s great!

Good to see you back here CharlotteRose, and good to hear you’re still losing weight and eating great (hehe rhyming). I was worried I’d upset you with my last post to you, and that really wasn’t my intention. Just tell me off if I’m getting too know-it-all. I’m just learning too, and I’ve only been doing this for about at long as you. I just read a lot and I want to see every single person on here succeed at 5:2. So I’m thrilled that you are.

I’m not losing weight particularly the last couple of weeks, but I feel a lot leaner, and I just feel good. So full of energy, and I catch myself singing a lot, and even more so on fast days which seems odd. I can bend over to tie my shoelaces without getting short of breath (I think my lungs were getting squished), I used to get reflux almost every night and I just don’t anymore, and no more back fat. I’ve also left the 80’s (kgs) behind for good. That was the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life and it really didn’t feel good. Bring on size 10 again. 5kg down, 20 to go, but I finally feel it is achievable. I’m starting every day with lemon juice in water, something I could never quite make a habit of before, and my digestion seems so much better for having that little rest every week.

Hope everyone else is well. Thank you all for just being here, with your great advice and tips.

CharlotteRose – the recipe with the sweet potato in it is my favourite too – I have a bit of a soft spot for sweet potato and I look for any excuse to add it to recipies. When I can get fresh corn, I strip the kernels from 1 cob and add them to the mix as well – it adds more texture to the cooked slice. You can also turn this recipie into a tuna slice – just replace the bacon with a well-drained 400g tin tuna (the finished slice will taste very different from the original version).

JodyW – I hear you on the custard filled donuts. I never met a custard I didn’t like. I have been known to buy a custard tart, eat the filling with a spoon then throw the unappealing soggy pastry away – I usually treat vanilla slices the same way. Now don’t get me wrong, I do like pastry – when it’s made and baked properly and a lot of commercial bakeries do a pretty poor job of it. I figure if I don’t waste calories on the things that aren’t wonderful, it leaves more scope for things that are.

Well I have to admit, this morning was a bit of a let down for me. As it’s the 1st of the month it’s weigh-in day. I lost the grand total of 0.3kg in February. I’m trying to be OK about it, but I am feeling a bit peeved actually.

I’ve looked back over my food/calorie records and done some comparisons. In January my average calorie intake was approx 1150 per day and I lost 6.1kg (although I know most of it was water weight as it was my first month on the diet). In February my average calorie intake was approx 1100 per day and I lost 0.3kg. In fact the last 2 weeks of February I ate less than 7000 calories per week for each of those 2 weeks.

As a retired statistician I expect to be able to make sense of the numbers, I find it rather frustrating when I can’t. I do understand that while there is a reliable relationship between calorie reduction and loss of body fat, that is not necessarily reflected in body weight as it includes a lot more than body fat (bone, organ, muscle, fluid …)

The biggest complication for me at the moment is an increase in inflammation levels. Both knees are 2cm larger than last month and my fingers are currently so swollen I can’t close them into a fist. Coupled with an increase in joint pain, it tells me that my inflammation levels are higher than they were a month ago, which means more fluid retained around each joint. The reality is that the increased inflammation is more of a worry than the small weight loss – if my inflammation levels aren’t controlled then I may risk losing access to my current treatment drug for RA (something I can’t really bear to contemplate).

Well, that’s my whinge for the day. I know my diet was pretty good in Feb, so hopefully my weight will eventually reflect my efforts. Time to dust myself off and face the next month with a positive attitude. I’m using a lent commitment to help me increase my activity levels and I’m hoping the extra movement will help my joints.

Good afternoon all,
I have been a bit slack with foruming last week and will make up for it this week.
FD last Thursday was an easy one then I skipped Monday for selfish reasons (it was hot and I wanted to have a beer after work) completing my FD on Tuesday during which I was grumpy all day and at night. I thought I better go to the green grocer for some salad ingredients to have with my regular soup as I was super hungry and thought I needed an extra meal. When I got home I thought of having a Vodka with soda and a piece of lime 300kj or 71 cals then told myself off and settled for a soda water with lime, very refreshing, after another one I had cooled done my mood had cooled down and my hunger had cooled down.

Went to Sydney last weekend for my cousin’s 40th, stayed in Coogee close to where she lives. Got a swim in on Friday, rained all day Saturday and got a swim in on Sunday before leaving for home just after lunch. Stopped at the surf shop to buy some new thongs and spotted some board shorts that I needed to have, they were a size smaller than my normal ones I have and tried them on and they fit perfect, made my trip to Sydney all the better with a new pair of boardys and a smaller size at that.

Charlotterose25 that’s the feeling you look forward clothes fitting you differently having to get new stuff, it’s the best.

JodyW your lifestyle is changing with this Way Of Life knocking back a doughnut you would normally look forward to, it’s a great feeling when you notice it and it is the little things that change, no more snacking between meals, better thought out meals, smaller portions just little changes happen naturally here and there and bang your eating totally different to how you would before 5:2ing.

Bayleafoz congrats on the water fast. I still won’t plan on doing it again but maybe later on it might be an option. Did you have to burst through that 9.30pm time until you realized you were not getting to eat tonight?

Thinatlast I don’t know what minestrone your eating to be bland I think mine is called Country ladle and I find it bursting with flavour. I used to do the frittata’s with 2 eggs (60g eggs 376kj or 90cals) and three egg whites (3 egg whites is around 100g 197kj or 47cals) I found the whole eggs added flavour.

Meals for last Thursday:
1 x white coffee 150kj, 500g minestrone soup 800kj Total 950kj or 227cals.

Meals for Tuesday:
1 x white coffee 150kj, 500g minestrone soup 800kj, 100g kidney beans in the soup 400kj Total 1350kj or 322cals.

As I mentioned earlier I’m having some real inflammation issues at present. I don’t use anti-inflammatories often as they make my blood pressure rise if I stay on them for more than a few days. So I only dig them out when I’m really desperate. I took one mobic tablet at 2pm – now 8 hours later the swelling in my fingers has reduced so much I can actually make a proper fist with both hands – not without pain but certainly more bearable than it was this morning. It’s not a permanent solution of course, but I’m hoping that a few days of reduced inflammation will help me get my activity levels up, which usually also helps me lower my inflammation levels. I’m hopeful this will help me turn the corner with my symptoms – feeling more positive than I was this morning.

Hi all – have been AWOL for a while now but am happy to report I had a successful FD on Tuesday and am going well for FD today. Happily, even though I was AWOL and struggling with FDs for some unknown reason, I have only put on 2kg so hope to shift that pretty quickly.

Thank you Joffy for your support when I last posted – when in the supermarket I did look at 13 tubs of butter to visualise what I had lost and was pretty chuffed but couldn’t seem to be disciplined enough to fast. However, hopefully that’s behind me now and I am back into the swing of things. I have been lurking so have kept up with you all.

Cheers all

Good afternoon, I’m having a little quiet time between minding a nearly 3yo this morning, and minding my miss 2yo this afternoon.

Welcome back Wwall! I hope that 2kg is gone within a couple of weeks. I hope you can work out what has made FD’s a struggle so that you can avoid it happening again. It is amazing how many different things can make it hard! And the best trick is to be able to fit it sustainably into your life.
Anyway, take it slowly and step by step, and allow us to cheer you on!
I hope today is going well!

Same to you Gday. Family stress is so hard, whether it is the family around you, the family you grew up in, or the inlaws! Hopefully those glasses of wine and dreadful foods have helped you get through, and that soon you can wean yourself off the old habits and get back into the new ones that will help you better long term.

PS You are my IT hero! Congratulations on those IT successes!

GdayfromSA, I also have the Fitbit scales and you will both love and hate them. You’ll love that you can’t hide from your weigh ins, you will also hate that you can’t hide from your weigh ins. You will love it when it doesn’t recognise you because you’ve lost 5kg, you’ll hate it when it recognises you even though you’ve gained 2kg. One great thing I noticed properly this week was the Fitbit app tells you the weekly average weight, and I’ve just seen it’s been going down steadily since I started 5:2. So while I feel I’m not losing weight at all, I can see I actually lost 0.5kg off my average last week.

LJoyce, I never thought of not eating the pastry, or only eating things that are wonderful. Great tip.

I got “the FastDiet Cookbook” in the mail today. I actually forgot I ordered it. The contrast to “the Fast Day Cookbook” is massive. I don’t really identify with the latter. It’s written entirely by the American Mimi Spencer, the recipes just seem a bit too American for me, a bit too processed and a bit short on green. The FastDiet Cookbook though is written with Dr Sarah Schenker (don’t know where she’s from) and it emphasises fresh, green, healthy foods. Just about every page has a picture of a dish with a lot of green. I’ve been to the US once for just three short days, and twice I got offered a packet of potato chips as a “vegetable?” side dish to a meal where the potato chips would’ve been the only “vegetable” in the meal. One of which was a (white bread) sandwich, I mean really? Simple high GI carbohydrates on top of simple high GI carbohydrates? Then on the third day, I discovered Mexican food made by Mexicans, barely resembled the “Mexican” we get here in NZ, fresh delicious green and healthy it was. Barely a gram of grated cheese in sight.

I’m coming to rely on butter or tandoori chicken a bit much on fast days. I really want to be cooking something else as well. I just make the chicken with free range chicken thigh, spoonful of tandoori or butter chicken paste, yoghurt, and lots of veges. So it’s pretty low calorie (<300 I estimated) and tastes amazing, and it’s simple, but it’s probably not good to have it every fast day. So I’m looking forward to some great new recipes to make. I bought this great little Ecopot cooker, just enough space for a meal for one, you just put ingredients in switch it on and leave it. It cooks by sensor and when it decides it’s cooked, goes into Warm mode. One of the best kitchen gadgets I ever bought, I probably cook about 50% of my meals in there these days. I was sick of burning stuff on the gas hob.

Happy Friday evening everyone.

Finished work at 3.30 and then had an hour long deep tissue massage to push out the stresses that i can feel building up in my body. Wow there were certainly some tight muscles. This is my second massage since xmas so thinking will have one every 6 weeks as part of my new healthy lifestyle change.

Feeling a bit more positive today had some unexpected support from a work colleague regarding my family hassles – it was so comforting to be asked ” are you ok” and then provide a listening ear and advice. Thanks to all on the forum for your support too i certainly appreciate it.

Have planned a day out tomorrow with my daughter at the local pool. Packing a picnic lunch, a good book and plenty of pool toys. Really looking forward to it.

My next fast day can wait for a few more days yet. Im really happy with how far ive come to date so im ok with a bit of time off to regroup.

Take care all and enjoy your weekend 🙂

We’re bracing for several 38C+ days here in the west. I’ll be under house arrest in the air-con.

GDSA, a massage is a great reward for weight loss. I found a little hole in the wall close to home where they have some young Chinese lads who really get stuck in. I much prefer that to the foo foo day spa where a giggly girl gives you a bit of a rub down with some aromatic oils while boring you to sleep with her life history. It’s also less than half the price so I don’t feel quite as guilty as when it cost $120.

Laughing about the Mexican food in NZ Jody. Mexican restaurants in Australia are all TexMex and with some very strange added ingredients (beetroot). TexMex is also what’s commonly served along the US/Mexican border but the deeper you get into Mexico, the more authentic the food. There was a great little dive at the end of my street near the border called Alberto’s run by illegal aliens. Fast food had a completely different meaning to me back then! We regularly went south of the border for dinner in Tijuana and got to know some great restaurants there – not just Mexican.

You’ll find Australia exactly the same as the US wrt finding a restaurant serving low carb, healthy meals. In fact most eateries around the world seem to think everything has to be served between two chunks of bread with a huge side order of chips or wedges. Salads are so unimaginative that I rarely order one even though that’s what I’d love. I miss Southern California for readily available, simple raw food. My family’s favourite Italian place has offered the same three salads for the decade we’ve been frequenting it! I’ve yet to find anyone in Perth that knows how to make a proper Caesar salad (in Tijuana, our regular French restaurant had chefs making them at your table which is the only way to serve them).

Hence, we eat at home most of the time where I have more control and don’t have to waste so much food. Not that I’ve done particularly well with my nonFDs lately but thank goodness for FDs which are my anchor. No matter what happens on the other five, I know I’ll always stick to my FDs. I look forward to them. I sometimes think it’s an odd way to live but it works so well.

Well done to all who’ve enjoyed losses or battled demons this week. As for me, I’m teetering on the brink of my ‘trigger weight’ and hoping to do better next week.

LJoyce, what a lovely feeling and a lovely lesson for us all to take notice of! Congratulations!
I was glad to see your post here this morning, because my computer said it was there last night, but I couldn’t see it.

Thin, Oh that heat! Hooray for air conditioning.

I remember a friend saying ‘All Mexican food tastes the same!’ Because in Victoria (as well as the rest of Australia!) in the nineties it was all beans and cheese with a wheat or corn soft or crispy thing. Luckily I got a gorgeous book out of the library going through all the regions of Mexico and the wonderful array of dishes and cuisines. Unfortunately so many of the ingredients were/are not known here.
But I have some great recipes (that may be more TexMex than Mexican) and a good friend who is from New Mexico and a chef! And I have had the pleasure of some of his food.

Today is my fast day. It is a warm grey morning, which is great for the seedlings I planted yesterday evening. I’m going to henna my hair and keep catching up on getting organised. I think it is another busy week ahead, and I am behind with emails again!

Best wishes to everyone, I hope you can make today a good day!

Hi Cinque, Thin I am joining you again today for an FD. For the next two weeks my FD’s will be Sunday & Thursday as I am doing a coaching course to enable me to mentor young adults. My daughter in law talked me into it. The course is worth a few thousand but because I am volunteering my time for the next 8 months they pay for it and I guess they hope that people will continue past that. 😱

Finished one of my cake courses and of course had to sample my efforts. It was so sickly with all the ganache and royal icing but it was good. Oh well that’s life and then there’s 5:2 our saviour. Start another cake this week, oh dear!!!!!!

Weight is fairly constant, when I’m not eating cake, so happy with that.

Lots of rain making it unpleasant but not cold.

GdaySA must feel good to have someone at work notice and support you

LJoyce you are doing an amazing job with all that socialising happening. Well done.

Hi Merry, hope all is well.

Minka have you started your new job, how is it going?

Yes I’m fasting Minka. My OH came home with a beautiful looking cauliflower yesterday so, even though I had plenty of soup frozen in portions, I’ve used the fresh one to make another batch today. I abandoned the treadmill idea as it was still fairly cool when I went out to water the garden so I decided to walk at the river instead.

Congratulations on starting your new job and an easy shift with a FD t’boot. Perhaps you’ll soon have your colleagues converted to 5:2.

Exactly what I thought as I read Intesha’s post – decorating her cake and eating it too! And why not? I hope you enjoy your new course Intesha – is it business mentoring, troubled adults or something else?

I hadn’t really thought of Mimi Spencer as being American, I only knew that she lives in my home town of Brighton which of course doesn’t exclude her from being American. But Jody, I’d also wondered whether you’d mixed her up with someone else because of the way you described her recipes.

Anyway you’ve both prompted me to re-visit the meal planners in the original Fast Diet book which Mimi Spencer co-authored with Dr M. I remember now that I hadn’t used them initially as they tended to be too high in calories for me. The photos show simple, healthy, fresh ingredients assembled on small plates. A closer inspection of the recipes reveals a lot of fish, eggs, fresh vegetables and berries. I’m really pleased that you’ve brought this up as now that I’m at maintenance and only eating two meals a day, they’d suit me really well.

I have another book with tips and recipes containing minimal fresh ingredients. It’s called, “The 5:2 Lifestyle” by Delphine De Montalier. I like it because, recognising that people don’t always have the time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen on FDs, the recipes are written for double portions (500 cals) so you can have the same thing twice in one day or save a portion for another FD. Also, each ingredient’s cal content is listed so you can omit/substitute things.

Glancing through it, it asks, “Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night on Fast Days?”
We found that the combination of protein and vegetables at dinner time could disturb sleep. This problem seems to be solved by adding a small amount of unrefined carbohydrates (brown rice or quinoa). In effect, carbohydrates stimulate the absorption of certain proteins that are used to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps promote the sleep cycle.

I don’t have this problem but I’ve read posts from people who do so maybe that’s worth considering.

Hi all SHs

Sorry about this fasters – I’m just home from a very decadent high tea. It was lovely, although a bit too much pastry for my liking – pasty tends to cause acid reflux issues for me. The big difference between the food today and last Friday night was choice. I got to make my own choices on Friday and today I didn’t and I found Friday easier. High tea comes with lots of variety but you don’t choose your own elements so I was faced with different decisions today. I actually found it more difficult to decide what to eat and what to leave today – there was limited opportunity to offer things to my best friend as we both had the same things on our plates already. I ended up leaving some things that I know I don’t love (like macaroons) and I ate the lemon curd out of the tart and left the pastry shell.

I’m sitting at about 1100 calories so far today, so scope for dinner later if I actually feel like it.

Tomorrow’s another FD. I get a few days of normality before the celebrations start again next weekend. I’m planning lots of veg and lean protein this week to make up for the fact that most of my weekend calories seem to be coming from fat and sugar.

I hope we get some cooler weather in SA soon – I’m missing veggie soups.

Take care all. I think I need to go for a walk now it might help with my digestion.

Bummer, totally lost everything I had typed. Hi all, haven’t been here for a while, but I do read your posts everyday. I too like Mexican and I have found a place called Mexicali at the Mount that is fresh, gluten free and paleo. My new favorite place.
I reached a new milestone today, the scales where below 110kg for the first time. I am celebrating with another fast day to try to cement the new low in and stop the scale “bounce” that happens. They bounce as much as 2kg in 24 hours. All the scales fault of course, nothing to do with me😉.
Wheat is my nemesis, it causes inflammation in all my joints but lately I have noticed that sugar does the same thing and it might be worse. One day I will have to decide if the discomfort is actually worth it. Happy fasting everyone.

Morning all – it’s a mild overcast day here in Adelaide. I’m hoping we get a little rain by tomorrow as it’s been taking me 2hours per night to water the garden over the last week (it still takes me 4-5 days to cover the whole block).

Cinque – most high teas I’ve been to provide a carefully counted number of each food item, so that there is one of each item per person (some places do provide extra scones). This means you can choose to leave things that you don’t want, but you can’t politely eat more than 1 of anything without checking with the others there as it means some else doesn’t get to try that item at all. I went with my best friend so our 3 tiered serving plate arrived with 2 each of 5 different savoury items (each one was the size of 2-3 mouthfuls and most were pastry based)and 2 each of 5 different mini sweets (each one was 1-2 mouthfuls each) I did end up trading some items with my friend as we have quite different taste preferences in sweet things. I went to the same venue last December for a high tea with my book club and swapping items for those you liked was easier with more people as there’s a lot more variety in peoples taste preferences in a larger group. This particular venue has a dessert trolley that comes around after you’ve finished the food served and each person can choose another large plate full of desserts, including many that weren’t part of what we’d been served already – This adds $10 to the cost of the high tea. (Their basic high tea is $39 which is the cheapest around so the extra $10 isn’t a rip-off.) When I went there last December, despite feeling full I did get the extra plate of desserts, yesterday I did not.

I’m feeling a bit woolly headed today from a lack of sleep, but I’m thankfully not hungry as it’s a FD for me. I have some zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus and a fresh corn cob to put onto the griddle plate for dinner and I’ll head into the back garden and pick a few blackberries to have as well.

Hi Thin – I just got back inside from fighting with the blackberry thorns – I think I won the battle I have 2 cups of ripe blackberries and a few scatches for good measure.
You are not wrong about the stress of facing a 3 tiered selection of goodies. The reason I found yesterday much harder than Friday night actually helped me understand how I react to different food situations. On friday I made the decision about what to have then selected and paid for those things – so I had done the process of what I was willing to forego before facing the food and I only paid for what I chose to order. Yesterday the selection of food was made for me and I paid for it even if I chose not to eat some things. The difficulty was: 1. It was paid for and not eating it would be wasting food; 2. I was tempted to taste every item because otherwise I’d be missing a flavour I might enjoy; 3. It was sitting right in front of me and it I can see it I feel compelled to eat it. This says a lot about the food messages I grew up with and also my own ingrained behaviours. While it was a challenge I did actually learn more about myself and it gave me some ideas about how handle food decisions in social situations.
As to the carb content – I have never had blood sugar issues or insulin resistance so I don’t avoid carbs and have no issues including them in my diet. However the type of refined carbs that I ate over the weekend are not part of my normal diet, I mainly choose whole unprocessed carbohydrate foods that give me plenty of fibre.