Morning all,
Enjoy your fast day Cinque ( if you do one) and all other Thursday faster’s (usually me as well)I did well on my fast yesterday only having 2 coffees until 8:00pm then an omelette so was under my 500cals however just before bed I had a protein bar hoping that would quiet the tummy so that put me just over 600 cals I’m happy with that. I slept for 2 hours then back to wake up for a couple then back to sleep for a couple. Feeling very lethargic today due to a couple nights with lost sleep, on the plus side I’m not hungry so hoping to keep cals down and enjoying my first coffee. I hope I can get to where Gday is and not look for food on NFD’s. I wish Intesha could post a picture of her granddaughters cake it sound delicious, so do the enchanted cup cakes, I would probably gorge myself if I tried to make them!Well off to get car serviced and hopefully find my noodles, I’m also going to get food for other recipes on here thanks again Thin for the link. Have a great fast/ non fast day everyone!

Morning all,

My FD went without a hitch yesterday so I feel like I’m back on track now.
I do find that as I get to the end of the month I feel a little panic about whether I will have lost weight or not. My clothes seem to fit the same , so my guess is that my weight is probably stable rather than decreasing, but I’ll see next week on weigh in day.

Cinque – I found Bourneville cocoa wasn’t a “dark” cocoa, like the Dutch versions are and the flavour is milder – it’s my least favourite as a drinking chocolate. The Dutch Cacao that Woolworths stock is quite nice – the brand is VanHouten and it’s shelved with the International Foods, although it is a higher cost than their other cocoas. I have also just discovered that Aldi have a very well priced organic cacao powder and it has a very good flavour – I only opened the packet 2 days ago and am enjoying it so far.
Well done for having it without sugar, I can’t manage it, especially as I use almond milk so I’m not getting the lactose sweetness from cows milk. Thankfully I seem to tolerate stevia well so I have no qualms about using it occasionally in small amounts.

Lady Salsa, congrats on the half kilo loss and especially on your commitment to so much regular activity. Regardless of what the scales say, being more active will be so good for you.

Intesha – good luck with the dolly varden cake – it’s a long time since I made one, but I clearly remember trying to balance the baking tin in the oven and hoping it wouldn’t topple over as it has such a narrow base. Lots of fun to decorate though, you can really let your inner little girl come out to play.

Have a good day everyone.

Just finishing my Thusday FD. Been doing this for 3 weeks (Mon and Thurs) and it seems to get slightly easier each time. But only lost 1kg…

Good morning everyone,

Hello Yvonne, congratulations on three weeks done and 1 kg gone. I know it would be lovely to have lost more, but 1 kg less to carry around is great, and hopefully, with 5:2 it will never be back.

Joffy I am finding that avoiding snacks is having very good results. The best of which is that I start to get thirsty and drink more water. I do seem to be best when I am drinking even more water than the recommended 2 litres a day, and I have a feeling that is what has made the difference over the last couple of weeks where I am not so munchy!

Well I am afraid I bailed from my fast day too. I need to write a business plan and I needed the concentration. I did eat sensibly all day, and got a good start on the business plan, so I am not feeling guilty.
I had a lovely evening with my friend.

Today is more work on the business plan, a trip out to the proposed cafe, and then my granddaughter overnight. I am trying to make sure I will have a clear day on Sunday for a proper fast!

Redmoonstar, someone was saying that coffee has more of an effect on fast days because we haven’t got food in our tummies to soak up some of the caffeine. Not at all sure of the science, but thought I would mention it incase less coffee gives you more sleep.

LJoyce, thanks for the cocoa info. I do like the darker cocoa! I realise I love it like I love coffee, not sweet and enjoying the bit of bitterness. But I do like cocoa with all milk! I’ll look out for the Aldi brand I think!

Lady Salsa, lovely to see your post and how wonderful to hear about all the yoga and exercise. You know you are doing wonderful things for your health so ignore the scales until they start behaving themselves!

Ha Thin, the biggest morning tea indeed! Oh well, you were within your rights, it wasn’t even a fast day, and I hope the treats tasted delicious. Plenty of new days ahead to behave yourself on!

Special hi to Minka who might have a minute to read posts, if not to write one!

Best wishes for the day everyone!

The panic about end of month weigh-in wasn’t easing off (I think because I didn’t lose anything last month), so I decided to take my measurements this morning. Luckily every body area is 1cm down on last month so I can stop worrying about next week’s weigh-in being bad. I had been genuinely sceptical about losing weight this month as I feel like I’ve eaten more than I should on the NFDs.

Redmoon – glad you found the konjac, they are so useful. I found that their high fibre content meant I needed to also make sure I drank enough fluids while my body was digesting them. (Depending on the brand, a serve can add 8-12grams of fibre to your meal – it’s why they are so filling.) By the way, well done on giving up smoking – so hard to give up such an addictive substance, but I really hope your long term health rewards you for making this change.

Yvonne – I know the rate of loss is slow, so is mine. I had to remind myself that I was only “dieting” 2 days per week, so a slow weight loss was realistic. The other thing that can effect it is your TDEE, if it’s low then the amount of calories that you are cutting out on the FDs is less, so weight loss will be less. I think the best way forward is to look at 5:2 as a healthier change to long-term life style – your weight will slowly adjust itself downward over time.

Cinque – I found the Aldi cocoa in the isle where they have their small range of organic packaged foods. I actually found it when I went looking for more of their cacoa nibs, which I had used before to make a decaffeinated chocolate chai tea that I drink in the evenings. One of the reasons I don’t drink coffee is because I don’t like bitterness as a flavour – probably why I also don’t like the cocoa without sweetener.

Joffy – your FD calorie count is definitely heading downward, I’m impressed.
Do you have your new suit, does it look great?

I’m making my version of pea & ham soup today. I don’t like split peas (the only legume I really dislike), so I usually use lentils or mung beans instead and I also normally add some pearl barley. Yesterday I soaked some brown lentils and made a stock from a ham trotter and stock veg, so it should go together pretty easily this afternoon. In the cold weather I really like having a pot of soup in the fridge and various containers of soup in the freezer. It’s so easy to build a filling meal around a large bowl of soup. I also find it a welcome standby meal for FDs if I don’t feel like cooking one of my usual FD meals.

It’s a lovely sunny day here, so I’m going to walk into town to go to the chemist and the green grocer and I think I might have lunch at a cafe too, as it’s a NFD.

Have a good day everyone.

Good morning all. Catching up on posts with my morning coffee. My last day of leave today after 2 weeks off following dads passing.

Making zucchini fritters for breaky and will finish off cleaning out the potting shed when the sun comes up. The shed has been a ‘dumping ground’ so it will be nice to get it back in order for winter gardening. Will also finish setting up the sewing room (spare bedroom no longer needed as i have given up foster caring) and set up the overlocker which has been in storage for 10 years. Im so looking forward to getting back into sewing again and teaching Miss D.

Miss D and I attended a potters/clay making workshop yesterday. We made some wonderful items but disappointed they didnt have a potters wheel to try and no kiln to fire our works. First time for both of us and really impressed with all our creations.

Nearly finished reading Keto Clarity and liking the idea of giving it a go. Only drawback is the necessity to measure ketos daily and therefore having to purchase a breath or blood measuring unit…certainly prefer measuring via breath !!

Yay the sun is finally rising. Happy sunday everyone.

Hi, it is such a stunning day here at Lennox Head NSW. I just had my first outdoor run for the season. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week due to consistent climate control. Today was exceptional warm, dry & I could test the new path built last summer but far too hot for me! As for you folk in the deep south, yes you can run 🏃 a lot more than me & yes I do envy you🙃
Have a fabulous Sunday – looking forward to my veggie soups for Mon- Tuesday fast days🥕🍆🌶

Thanks for the kind & encouraging words🌈.
🌶🌶🌶 totally agree, I have chilli powder, a chilli plant in the yard, chillsauce in 3 non sugar varieties ( 2 of them from the local Byron Bay chilli company); it gives you a boost & helps make non sugar no salt food fabulous.
I spent the day making veggie stock & pulses for the freezer. Plus an added bonus we harvested our second banana crop in 10 days. Got to make room for banana s in the freezer as they make a non sugar / non dairy icecream in the blender- just delicious 🍌. Time for the housework before a sundowner – just love the 5th day 🍇.

Good point. However I have had many a wonderful summer holiday in Adelaide, my Godmother lived there she owned a beautiful shop in the city. I have many warm and beautiful memories of Adelaide and the town of Hahndorf- unfortunately I was too young to drink the wine! That’s easily solved – I choose South Australian almost unconsciously 😏.
As for the cake, yes I get offered cake most days because my colleagues bake & I am certain they think I’m very weird. They watch me closely in meetings & crack up when I pass on the lolly jar untouched 🤣 .
I’m pleased my diet causes so much happiness & yes I really do enjoy their cakes!

Good morning, from a wet an dreary Adelaide. I am inside with a fire going in the slow combustion. I’ve stacked some more wood under the eaves so it has a chance to dry out before I need it over the next few days, which are all forecast to be wet. It’s going to be a day for housework and reading I think, definitely no gardening or walking today.

Cinque, good on you for trying to stick to your FD even if it didn’t turn out to be as low cal as normal. I don’t thin an occasional 800 cal day is going to be a problem, you seem to me to be pretty much on top of your food choices most of the time.
I had a similar stock problem with my ham hock soup (not off as it was freshly made stock, just far too intense a flavour). It was much saltier than I expected and I had trouble eating the first bowl of lentil & veg soup that I had made with it. I ended up draining most of the liquid off the soup and into containers and I added a lot of fresh water to the soup and reboiled for another 20 minutes – this was enough to dilute the saltiness down to a level that I liked. The liquid that I drained off I have frozen in several half litre containers as I can use this as a stock for future soups. (If you haven’t already guessed I have a great deal of trouble throwing food away. I go to great lengths to use leftovers or rescue unsuccessful meals. It’s one of the ongoing issues I have with food – definitely a behaviour I learned from my mother who lived through the 1930s depression when it was difficult for their family of 9 to get enough to eat.)

I’ve been thinking about the cheesecake I had with lunch yesterday. I realised how high my expectations have become of food treats like that. If I’m going to eat something that has that many calories I expect perfection. When I used to eat desserts and sweet bakery nearly every day I had lower expectations, and would finish the item even if it was just OK. But now that these are rare treats I need them to be really good. Yesterday’s cheesecake had a lovely raspberry topping – which I thoroughly enjoyed, a baked cheesecake filling which was good but not great and I ate most of that, and a base which was OK – so I left that. I am happy that I can be selective about what I eat and leave the components that I don’t consider to be worth the calories. This is a behaviour that would have once been impossible for me, so it’s an improvement that I’m really happy about.

I remembered another part of the conversation that I had with the dietitian. It was about the link between appetite and metabolism. I have no appetite in the early morning. In hot weather my appetite doesn’t start until afternoon and in cold weather it’s usually mid-late morning. However I have noticed that if I do eat a small breakfast (eg muesli) even though I’m not hungry it kick starts my appetite and I find myself then wanting food for morning tea as well. The dietitian said that some things will stimulate our metabolism – such as eating or activity, so it is normal for me to feel hungry earlier if I eat breakfast. I have also noticed that I’m noticeably hungrier on days when I’m more active than usual – which I suppose shows a faster metabolism from the activity.
I do intend to keep my morning food consumption linked to appetite – I don’t start eating until I feel hungry. Because I have had such a disassociation between eating and appetite for most of my life I think that keeping to that link between eating and actually being hungry is quite important for me now.

It’s a NFD for me, FD tomorrow. I already have soup ready to be reheated for lunch and I’ve pulled some curries out of the freezer to be reheated for dinner – I just need to microwave some pappadams to go with them. All good choices for the cold weather here.

LJ, I can relate to the issues you have with food waste. These were values handed down from my grandparents to my parents and which I, in turn, have instilled in our daughter. I find other people’s food waste staggering. In restaurants, I sometimes see whole plates of wasted food and have to fight the urge to go and rescue it! We go to friends and they dispose of entire snack food trays before embarking on the meal. With only three in our family, we are used to eating leftovers and it’s a rare day that I would throw food away. Our meals at home are driven by what I have on hand, not what we ‘feel like’ eating. Through 5:2, I have learned not to put as much food on my plate in the first place and to try to stop eating before I am full. But, if I do leave anything, it still won’t go in the bin. So, like you, I have made some small advances.

Cinque, thanks for the link. The Flexi diet? I can attest to increased feelings of general well-being since starting IF. You probably needed the extra 300 cals to make that hard decision yesterday! Was it a YD decision and, if so, what did you decide? I had a great FD yesterday – all my FD foods were lined up in the fridge/freezer. And they were all white! Almond & coconut milk; cauliflower soup; Slendier Angel Hair noodles (for my Fideos); cottage cheese and a frozen banana. 60.2kg this morning and a clean slate for some better eating choices on my NFDs this week.

What a cosy huge atmosphere by the 🔥! We had a very warm day at our office & I wore summer clothes to work – most strange; our building is temporary made of metal with no insulation so it a treat on mild days. Winter is heading this way tomorrow. Struggling with the fast again today – I should remingtmyself that hunger means I’m burning fat👌.
I purchased a range of herbal drinks most have licorce in them & are sweet , a colleague complains about this & believes the label are false & they actually have sugar in them. I’m back to plain old camomile today, anything to cut the calories on a fast day🙃.
I have been using the Healthy Food Guide recipes the calories are labelled for each recipe- I gather they are for the whole meal not per serving??? The recipes are Australian so make it easier to source ingredients.

Very typical re food waste, my poor father starved on the Russian front! I was a very skinny child and forced to eat heavy stodgy foods I did not want – I distinctly remember this dinner tussle I had to eat my plate clean or stay at the table for ages; my parents would take an apple from my hands if they saw me eating before dinner. We had gourmet food and homemade pastries and tortes all the time. Remarkably I now weigh 1-2 kilos more than I did 25 years ago. I never knew what a diet was or scales 😃. I have to explain this to everyone today, they all think I’m too skinny because they didn’t know me back then. Thank heaven my husband welcomes my return to the shapely figure I once had.

Good morning everyone,
It is cold and rainy and I have a hot cup of tea and a purring cat on my knee. Not only that, I got two loads of washing done yesterday, and I brought the last one in at 11pm (got out of bed on a whim) which meant it was inside when the rain came! Win!

The big decision made was for YamDaisy, we realised we couldn’t make the healthy food we wanted to in the little cafe opportunity we were given, and couldn’t afford to make it elsewhere and bring it in, so we had to say no. I sent the email off just after I posted yesterday, and later had a conversation with the nice guy who offered it to us about other opportunities, so I am already making plans!

They had someone on the radio this morning talking about that CSIRO flexi diet too. Jenwren I really hope you try it when you get back from that exciting looking trip! I’d love to hear how you go and if you find it easier than 5:2. Maybe after being on it for a while 5:2 would be easier to do as you would be out of the habit of feasting except one day a week. So if you do go on it, please give us lots of updates!

I am the same with waste. My mum brought up seven children on little money, so it wasn’t even the depression that made her thrifty, and I was worried about the state of the world even as a teenager! But I brought up my daughter not to eat things she didn’t want to, which means she is healthier and has a healthier attitude to eating than I have, but she drives me up the wall with all the food she throws out! (Passive aggressive mum here 😉 )

Hedda I love licorice root tea and it does taste so sweet! But I make it using only the licorice root, so really no sugar.
Cheers for your back to back fasts (something I still haven’t tried). I hope the lady finger bananas that tempt you today have lots of bruises to cut out also! How nice to have your shapely figure back.
How hard life must have been for your father.

LJoyce I love what you wrote about only eating what you love. I don’t know if it is just a phase, I hope not, but I am gradually crossing off all my fast food treats. I decided I wouldn’t buy samosas from the Northland food court anymore as they had started to taste disappointing, and even the wonderful Rooster Bar chicken and chips don’t please me as much as they used to. Luckily I still love the frozen pork dumplings they make at One Noodle Friendship and the felafel mix that is made locally and sold up the street. But I do like that I am getting fussier. Last soup aside, the food I make is usually better than anything I can buy.

Thin, an all white fast day! But very delicious. What colour today?

Ladyfish, what a wonderful report. Congratulations! Good luck with the renovations!

I went shopping yesterday and came home with a big bag of veggies. Roasted veggies last night with a tahini sauce. Yum. I will try soup again today, and my version of eggplant parmigiana (grill not fry). It is a good day for cooking. And I try to make my meals all about the vegetables!

Best wishes everyone for a good day of mindful eating when we eat, and enjoyment of the spaces between!

I just found out I need to travel to the Riverland at the end of the week for an uncle’s funeral – this is one of those passing’s where it’s a blessing that the suffering is over. As I have 3 consecutive days with no appointments I have decided to go for the whole 3 days as it will allow me to also spend some quality time with my sister.

I’ve just been looking at the week’s meal plan, trying to work out how to move FDs around as there’s no point trying to do them when staying with my sister. I’m doing a normal FD today and I’ve decided I’ll do an 800cal FD either tomorrow or probably Thursday so that I can head off Friday and not worry about fasting until I return. Doing 2 FDs close together is always a risk for me, but I think if I allow more calories, which will let me have both lunch and dinner it should just feel like a normal day but with lower calorie meal choices.

Cinque – sorry to hear that the yamdaisy project is on hold again.

Minka – well done on the TAFE progress. I a total of 12 years tertiary education – most of it part time while trying to work full time. Keeping on top of study will all of the other demand of life is not easy. I have your results reflect your hard work.

Jenwren – I’ll be interested to see what the new CSIRO diet looks like (if I’ve read it correctly is sound like you get 3 FDS, 3 shake meal replacement days and one feast day).

I have also noticed that the BSD has gone through a transformation that offers various options other than just the 8 weeks at 800 cal – they now have a 5:2 option that combines with a mediterranean diet on all days. It looks like (for a fee) they start a new group each month with participants starting together and they are providing online medical support in addition to the forum where people support each other.
https://thebloodsugardiet.com/
This might be a very good option for those that come to 5:2 with symptoms of insulin resistance.

Have a good day everyone.

Well it sounds like you are on fire anyway🔥. Burning fat, growing veggies. I put in a garden because we spend a vast sum on non processed raw foods now. It cost upward of $80 but within 7 days every bug on the planet devoured the seedlings 😬 . So off to Bunnings we trundled & got a very tiny bug tunnel- next project make a much taller tunnel with poly pipe & netting. Our sons are getting married this October & we are bucking the trend converting our Mediterranean rock terrace garden into a good old homemade market garden🍆 . Big struggle today the Cancer Council morning tea – I’m battling to keep my weight stable & don’t need the fuss. A lovely colleague told me to just ignore the voiced concerns as she knows I take it to heart while they don’t give my health or weight a second thought. My blood pressure is still perfect & I haven’t snored in 10 months! Yeh for 5:2 & no sugar🌈

PS Dr Mosley on SBS Insight next week. New book out about gut biome http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2017/05/25/your-gut-problem-not-all-your-mind

Me again. Hedda oh those pesky bugs…they have munched their way through my established mint and italian basil pots but have steered clear of my thai basil – they obviously dont have taste buds for thai food but love italian ! In fact I cringed to the max yesterday as I had to buy supermarket basil and mint at $2.50 each for a tiny bunch to make my chilli avacado dip/spread. The recipie is actually a salad dressing but I make it thicker. It surprisingly lasts for over a week without going brown….guessing its perhaps the apple cider vinegar which stops it from oxidizing.

Cinque thanks for the heads up on MM program next week. Did anyone watch the MM one last week (i think) on meat ? I thought his meat intake was too extreme to be of any scientific significance.

Ive also watched the Ask The Dr series on good ol aunty ABC. Really enjoyed it. Hope they continue the series.

Lunchbreak is over better get back to work. For those fasting have a good day.

I know a few of you pay close attention to your carbohydrate intake – unlike me.
There is an Australian company that started developing lower carb grain based products a few years ago. They are called Herman Brot, and I think they are based in Queensland. Their products are not low calorie, just lower carb. They now make bread, muesli and pasta.
I came across their bread about 3 years ago. The main flour in it is soy and it has the colour of a dark rye but is quite light textured and tastes like a wholemeal seed bread – good flavour unless you are a white bread fan. One slice is approx 520kj (225cal) and has 2.5g net carbohydrate. Now I’m not personally interested in eating low carb, but I am interested in eating high fibre and this bread has over 5g fibre per slice. I’m a fan of salad sandwiches with perhaps some cheese and these flavours work well with this bread.
The only supermarket where I’ve found this brand in SA is Foodland, but they do have a stockist list on their website and seem to be available Australia wide in independent supermarkets like IGA. https://hermanbrot.com.au/

The reason I’m bringing this up now is that I’ve just popped into the supermarket to buy ingredients for stoganoff and noddles to take with me to the birthday dinner tomorrow night (we are all taking a casserole, so that the mum can concentrate on making the cake for her little boy’s 1st birthday). While looking for egg noodles I found the new Herman Brot lower carb pasta (fettuchini style noodles). Visually, it looks like a wholemeal pasta and contains a blend of wheat, soy, rice & oats. 100g of the dry noodles have 1330kj (317cal), which is similar to other pastas which are usually 1300-1500kj. This quantity also contains 10g carb, 17.5g fibre, 2.4g sugar and a whopping 46.5g protein. I’ve bought some to try as the high fibre and protein content really interest me. I really like vegetable pasta sauces, so teaming that with a pasta that is high protein would provide a balanced meal for me – normal pasta with veg sauce gives me a high carb content and hardly any protein unless I load it up with parmesan cheese. I have generally avoided pasta meals since losing weight, but if this one tastes OK they might go back on the menu.

How nice to have a fridge full of tasty and healthy food prepared Cinque. Good luck with the coriander. I hope your FD is off to a good start. I had the worst one ever yesterday. Normally, I breeze through a FD and rarely feel particularly hungry. Yesterday, I did nothing differently but, from about 3pm, my stomach was rumbling like a lion’s and I felt very hungry. I tried to get rid of it by drinking 3 cups of peppermint tea (one tea bag). By 4pm, I suddenly started feeling very cold (25C yesterday) and by 5pm, I had to concentrate hard not to shovel in my hearty root and barley soup as I felt ravenous. I struggled through the evening and went to bed feeling a bit hungry but fortunately fell asleep quickly due to two previous bad nights’ sleep in a row.

I can’t think why this should be especially after nearly three years of practicing fasting. Sometimes, my FD success has been influenced by what I ate the day before (I find lots of sugar can make them harder). We had a restaurant Thai meal the evening before but I didn’t take any rice. And the only other thing is that I was at exactly 60kg at the start of the fast, maybe my body was genuinely saying that was low enough.

Anyway, I’m feeling great this morning (have gained 200gms though!) and enjoying the first of two frothy coffees. I’ll have to make sure I eat well for the coming three NFDs.

LJ, you’ve taken a good approach to your trip – you’ve planned it so you’re in control. That in itself probably makes you feel good.

I thought the Dr M programme on meat was a repeat so I didn’t watch it. Am I correct? I’ve located the gut book on the Book Depository and plan to order it after I’ve seen the Insight episode.

I hope everyone’s doing well today. Thinking of the absentees too Merry, Intesha, Minka, Joffy, Slim and hope you’re all staying strong.

Good morning all. I’ve been fasting since 30 June 2015 and have only lost 13kg but feel better for it. I usually fast Mondays and Thursdays as well but every now and again I have 1 fast day, 2 normal days, 1 fast day etc for a 2-3 weeks just so my body doesn’t get used of a pattern and plateau. I’ve only been doing this for the past couple of months and lost 1kg pretty much straight up. I also joined the gym 3 months ago to try and get things moving again. I have 200gm of rockmelon for lunch and will have a 6 inch chicken teriyaki subway for dinner with the standard salad, no cheese and no sauce. I normally only have 1 coffee on a starve day but today I’ve had 2 because it’s darn cold in sunny Qld today. Cheers for now.

Oh No I thought today was Wednesday. That’s what comes of having a quiet week. I’ll have to fast Friday.

Yes the meat doc is a few years old. I didn’t catch it before though.

What a hard fast day Thin. I wonder if the Thai restaurant puts sugar in the sauces. I haven’t found an Asian place around here that doesn’t have the sauces so sweet they mess me up (Chinese, Vietnamese) except some dishes at Noodle Kingdom. But as you say, you may have been straight out hungry!

Welcome here Jemmett! I’m about to have my second coffee too!
How much more do you want to lose? So glad the new routine is working for you.

Hi Lady Salsa, congratulations on that nice little loss, and the sun to sit in! And the ongoing recovery.

Congratulations to you too LJoyce, how comfy your clothes will be feeling. I’ll be thinking of you at Riverland.

Good evening all. Bbbrrr its chilly. One deg the last few mornings and zero the next few days. Really finding the 5.30am exercise routine a struggle at the moment and its only the first day of winter today so not looking forward to 4.30-5am rising the next 3 months. Wish I could sleep longer but my bodyclock just wont allow it and I dislike lying in bed while awake. Once I’m awake that’s it….time to get up.

Welcome to the forum Jemmet. Im sure you will enjoy the to and fro banter along with the ups and downs we all experience along our way.

LJoyce make sure you pack your winter woolies. My experience of the Riverland in winter is that you will certainly need them. Beautiful by the river at any time of year though. Thanks for the Herman Brot info – will look for it when next at foodland although it is only a small store so may not stock it.

Recorded my lowest weight to date this morning (apart from the few days after my 36 hr fast) of 67.5. I remember only not so long ago being so overjoyed at finally dropping below 70. I have to say that I take a second glance in the mirror each morning before I leave for work and say to myself in my mind….’gee you’re looking good’. I cant remember ever feeling so good about my body shape. Yep I am tooting my own horn here but I reckon it can only be a good thing. It’s about how I feel about myself not what other people think.

Purchased some Ketone/Glucose measuring strips today. Although measuring Ketone levels via urine is not accurate once the body is in full Ketosis it is ok while working towards it. Without specifically trying for Ketosis and just the lifestyle changes I have made since January, I am currently in the moderate range of Ketosis which indicates fat metabolism and weight loss.

I have been weighing it up (pun intended) and think I will give the Keto lifesyle (hate the word diet) a go. I need to find some literature that describes the amount of macro nutrients in foods by grams – being carbs, proteins and fats. Its really the carbs that i need to be aware of and then to a degree the proteins. What does worry me is the Keto Flu symptoms that can/will happen while the body shifts from using glucose for fuel to using ketone bodies from stored and daily eaten fats.

Well must be time to tuck Miss D into bed and then off to bed myself for some more reading. As always I welcome your thoughts and suggestions on keto and measuring macronutrients as this is totally new to me.

So wonderful to read your news each day! Aren’t you all just marvellous. I had a magic early pre dawn run this morning-I’m fully recovered from my Lismore Flood Cough now & just rugged up in a hoodie & rejoiced in the cool air. Such a treat after the cyclone – everything is dry & crisp. So good to eat again after my fasts this week. I will have to plan very carefully for fast days & stay stable now; my body is extra hungry on fast days just like the beginning when I gave up sugar 18 months ago. I reckon this is the trap or The Biggest Loser pitfall- my body loves overeating & I could easily slide back to 85 kilos. Have a fabulous Friday Southern Hemispherites!🌈🌝🌏

Good morning everyone. It’s a tired grandma here. With the original mix up and then grandma duties I didnt manage a fast yesterday, so I completely missed out this week. I’ve eaten sensibly, but I am really looking forward to a fasty fast tomorrow.

Oh dear miss 2 is demanding a ride on the little bike outside. Brrr, but we might as well do it, I’ll finish this post later.