Thinatlast, is this the thread you meant?

I was asking on the other thread about Cockatoos because I had a Moluccan Cockatoo for 18-1/2 years that died of cancer 9 years ago. He was never caged but had his own room with another bird. He was the most lovable bird, at least to me.

I can’t imagine being able to look out the door and see Cockatoos in the garden. That would be heaven.

Hi CalifDreamer, I had just posted the following on the other forum before we moved across to this one, so you might have missed it:

I live in the Adelaide Hills – about 20 kilometers from the centre of Adelaide. There’s lots of wildlife here as most of the housing blocks are between 1/2 and 2 acres and there are really strict rules around subdivision in my town – you can’t subdivide to less than 1 acre. There are also bans on cutting down any significant trees. It means we all get have enough land to keep plenty of trees and gardens to attract birds and other wildlife – and the burden of a large garden to maintain.

I get both the sulphur crested (white with a yellow head crest) and black cockatoos here in summer – they strip my walnut tree of every single nut while they are still green. Once they’ve finished they move on. At the same time I have rosellas and parrots stripping my apple trees of their fruit. They don’t get my plums or apricots because I net those trees to protect the fruit.

I also have breeding koalas in the trees near my house, and many many possums – that also like my apples (where the parrots eat them during the day, the possums come out at night to snack on them).

While I would like to have a cat, I refuse to own one while I live there, there are just too many native birds at risk.

I hope you like the vegemite – remember to start light. Hot buttered toast with 1/4 teaspoon is probably a good starting point. I’ve never eaten miso paste by itself, but I do make soup from it – it probably is a similar level of saltiness, but doesn’t have the complexity of flavours that I find in miso.
As for other uses, for me they are all pretty similar – buttered toast, fresh bread, crumpets, english muffins, sandwiches, crackers, rice cakes… Basically any bread or bread substitute. If I eat it in a sandwich with cheese I can forgo the butter, but without the cheese I find I need to butter the grainy base first.

Calif – just looked up Moluccan Cockatoo on wikipedia. It says they are salmon crested cockatoos native to Indonesia. The sulphur crested ones that come to my garden look almost the same – just yellow where yours was salmon.

My grandmother had a pet grey cockatiel (much smaller than the crested varieties) that she taught to speak. It was a very intelligent and affectionate bird. When my grandmother died we took “Joey” and he had a large avery in our backyard (that he shared with some budgies, until his own death about 30 years later.

Yes it does get noisy when they are eating my walnuts – definitely a screeching contest.

I forgot to mention that I also have kookaburras and magpies in my yard all year round. I especially like my magpies. As far as wild birds go they are relatively tame – unafraid of people and keep me company when I’m gardening. They are full of personality and often have me giggling with their antics. They sing beautifully, especially in the mornings – in fact their morning song is one of the key sounds I associate with the Adelaide Hills.

I’ve just read up about the Moluccan (or Salmon-Crested) cockatoo. Sounds like a handful! It reminds me of the Major Mitchell that we have. We too have kookaburras LJ. The bird life is absolutely one of the very best things about Australia!

CalifD, I’ve never had them attacking the eves of the house which are made from jarrah, a very hard wood, but they can certainly destroy a parkland or streetscape in minutes!

Thinatlast, the Moluccans are pretty much all white except for the orange feathers under their crown. But unless they are excited or screaming, those feathers are not seen. I can’t even imagine a whole bunch of them screaming at once. The Major Mitchells look more colorful. I just listened to a kookaburra’s call on a website. That would make me laugh every time I heard one. You are so lucky to live in a place where all those birds are native. What an amazing place!

Do the Koalas mostly stay hidden in the trees? Are they at all tame? They’re so cute!

LJ, they are a very long term commitment and a huge responsibility. It’s difficult to go on holidays unless you have someone responsible enough to care for them while you’re gone. And they are very tied to one or two people. When they get sick, vet bills are expensive. Fortunately Gilligan was never ill until he got the cancer in his wing. We thought at first that he had fallen and broken a bone in it. I took him to the university that had animal care and had CT scans and later surgery. But it just bought him a few months.

Thinatlast, what part of Calif?

Yes, UC Davis had all the scanning equipment and the vet school is there.

Are you originally from San Diego? Or just your husband?

Calif – I’ve found a reasonable recording of magpie song, although there is a bit of other bird noise in the background.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYEYc8Ge3nw

One of the things I most enjoy watching is the new magpie chicks (unlike the adults who are black and white, the chicks have blue-grey feathers that are a bit fluffy, even when they are almost as big as their parents).
Magpies mate for life and usually raise one chick per year. They take their parenting duties seriously. Once the chick is old enough to fly out of the nest they teach it the skills to survive. One parent will keep watch for danger while the other parent teaches the chick to forage for worms and bugs. I watched family of magpies doing this in my backyard one day when a rat came across the lawn to have a nibble on one of the apples lying on the ground. The magpie that was keeping guard saw the rat, put it’s head down and charged. The rat leapt into the air and then ran for its life with an enraged parent magpie in hot pursuit. It was hilarious.

Thinatlast, you certainly are a multicultural family! But it sounds like you ended up in a wonderful place. Moving from one country to another can’t be easy. (Although a lot of friends thought about it after the last election!)

LJ, that magpie certainly has a unique sound. They sound like delightful birds, the way they mate for life and train their young as a family. The rat attack must have been hilarious. That rat must have had a previous run in with a magpie to be so afraid of one!

It’s almost 2:30 in the morning here and I could talk to you both for hours more, but I would never get up in the morning. Thank you for hanging around and talking with me. It is so interesting to hear about Australia and I hope we can continue this again soon.

Good morning, cold and cloudy here, but the moon was beautiful last night, and there are bit of blue sky this morning.

Lovely to read the parrot talk. Hello here Cali!

The magpie’s carol is my favourite bird song!

Sorry not to be fasting with you today Thin, but sending good wishes for an excellent fast day!

I’m off to have a good non fast day!

It’s good that you’re happy with your food choices this weekend LJ. I can’t stop thinking how wonderful it would be to watch koalas walking across your property! I believe we do have one animal in WA that can’t be seen elsewhere, that being the quokka. I hope CalifD comes back for another chat.

I’ve had a good morning cooking up 12 portions of root and barley soup for winter FDs and doing some gardening. I’ve only just noticed it’s after 2.30pm and I missed my first FD feeding. I have a feeling I’m back to being all alone on Sunday fasts again. I miss you Cinque but hope your cooking’s going well. Of course it is.

It was great to read your post Intesha; just knowing someone else is out there fasting is a psychological boost. You seem to be doing very well with your weight – is that a PB? For how long will you be away? Have a marvellous trip, you deserve some YOU time. Did you work out a way to go with your friend on the o/seas trip too?

Who else is lurking today? Minka, are you out there? Did you read the chit chat with your fellow countryman, CalifD?

Hello Chrispat and welcome to our forum. An especially big welcome as you’re in WA and I could do with some more west coast fasters here. We have Lady Salsa who’s an occasional poster and PerthGirl who’s currently cycling overseas. Alimax has long departed but we’re grateful for the legacy of the thread as we can chat with people in our our time zone.

Most of us here tend to agree that Dr M.’s 8 week offering would be harder to adhere to. But what you’re doing seems a punishing schedule to me too (even if you do find it easy, I find it tiring just reading about it!) so I’m relieved to read that you’re going to switch to 5:2 in another week. On the other hand, doing ADF as you are, means that there’s a 50/50 chance that you’re also fasting today – are you?

Welcome JoyAnne and husband to our thread and to your new lives. I’ve been practicing 5:2 for 35 months and only wish it had been available to me a few decades ago. But, we’re here now and that’s all that matters. Good luck to you both and feel free to ask us anything.

Another FD draws to a close and I’m off to bed just slightly hungry, not enough to keep me awake but enough to remind me that good things are happening. That sort of satisfied feeling you get when you know you’ve successfully completed another FD.

Good morning! Thank you for your words of welcome and encouragement! Thinatlast and Intesha you have been doing this a long time! Have you both reached your goal weight or are you still getting there? About 15 years ago I lost a lot of weight doing Atkins. I hadn’t reached my goal and then I met my husband and started enjoying his mum’s baking! My hubby was very big and he then lost a lot too as I introduced him to Atkins. After we had our first child was when we let it all slide, relishing that quiet time in the evening after they are in bed and just bingeing on chips and chocolate almost every night! I love baking and I love how we can still have some home baked goodies on our non FD but I feel like I am able to listen to my body more and stop at two biscuits, not 12!!!! Its like I am re-learning hot to eat and manage food. I have a ton of cookbooks and I am enjoying looking at them with new eyes, searching for the low calorie dishes for fast days (as compared with the low carb recipes Atkins requires). We did well on the Atkins but every now and then I just wanted a piece of garlic bread or some pasta carbonara that was real pasta, not a low carb substitute, and this is why I think I can adopt this for life, just as you all have done before me.

LJoyce I’m envious of your choice of supplies. Unfortunately the choice at the supermarket in the regional town about 10kms from me is extremely limited. However I’m grateful for the 3 Paris Creek products they do stock! There is a Foodland in the town that promotes SA fresh produce (very limited range though) and SA goods such as Beerenberg and Spring Gully but nothing in the dairy range unfortunately.

The 2 jars of Vegemite arrived from Amazon today I love the stuff! I took all of your advice a did a very thin spread over butter on sourdough bread. Salty, savory and unique. It reminds me a bit of Miso which I usually buy in a small tub and keep in the frig. But the flavor is a bit different. It is definitely going to be a part of my regular diet.

I hope it’s ok if I continue to post in this thread. The Vegemite should be my ticket in, right? And living with a Cockatoo for 18-1/2 years?

@thinatlast, it turns out that I’m joining you in a FD today. Except that it isn’t Sunday anymore in Aus like it is here. I ended up getting my hair cut and highlighted at 11:00 am today because my hairdresser who has her salon in her home wasn’t busy today. That took a few hours and I hadn’t eaten earlier so – an accidental fast day! I went out to a later lunch/early dinner with my husband and sister and managed to find a 320 cal Ahi salad so I’m up to 480 calories for the day and hoping to not eat any more. Vegemite is on myfitnesspal at 11 calories for a teaspoon. 🙂

@cinque, almost 2 years on 5:2! That goes to prove that it is sustainable. And you seem to be content with it and well adjusted. And thin!

@gdayfromsa, It’s hard to imagine the noise from a flock of Cockatoos. Gillian used to love to scream around sundown or sometimes when he was mad about something. We used to say, “When Gilligan ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” We have 2 Macaws now, one of them that we had when Gilligan was alive. Gilligan didn’t talk, but I’m sure he could have if he wanted to. He understood a lot of language. Amelie talks some and after Gilligan died she would call out, “Gilly!” It broke my heart. We got the second (female also) Macaw to keep her company. I found out after we had both birds that the dust from Cockatoos feathers isn’t good for Macaws to breathe. And she used to preen his feathers all the time. Cockatoos are still my favorites though. They are so loving. Macaws are more like a rough and tumble puppy. They generally don’t like to be hugged like a tame Cockatoo.

I wish I could trade weather with all of you, even if it’s damp and cold. We’re still in the middle of a heatwave in northern CA. It’s 38 C here right now and although it should cool down a lot after dark, that won’t happen for a while. Thank God for air conditioning!

Hi SHs,

It’s lovely to see some new people joining our forum. Welcome Chrispat and JoyAnne.
CalfDreamer – I have no probs with you being on our forum – I tend to be a bit of a night owl so my posts are often made after the rest of the SHs have all toddled off to bed and I have no-one left to chat to – which is when I wander onto the other forums. I have noticed that while the Brits and Aussies have a vibrant forum, no other countries seem to have this, so you don’t really have an active American forum to join.
Glad you liked the vegemite (especially as you bought 2 jars), although I think your fitness pal is overestimating the calories in a teaspoon – on my jar it says 40kj for 5grams – that’s 9.5 calories.
I think by the time we get to our summer we’ll be wanting to swap with you. The heat can be really oppressive here.

Chrispat, I’m wearing my ugg boots all day at the moment as I’m in the Adelaide Hills and it is pretty cold. I’m not sure I could cope with the humidity of Broome – is it also humid in the dry season?
Well done on managing to do 4 FD per week. I tried to do AD or 4:3 when I first started intermittent fasting in January, but I found that the more FDs I did, the more I overate on my NFDs. In the end I realised I do better if I have at least a couple of NFDs between FDs. I’m in maintenance mode now but still doing 5:2 as I like my food a little too much and my TDEE is to low to cope with it.

JoyAnne, glad to hear you and your husband are doing well on 5:2. You are definitely not alone in being someone who has had to learn to eat 2 rather than 12 biscuits – I seem to keep needing to relearn lessons like this.
We seem to be on a theme here – I am also a “Joy”, although unlike Cinque it’s my middle name.

I’m on a FD today. I ate well, but not to excess on the weekend (which I’m very happy about), so I’m in the perfect frame of mind for a FD. I’m definitely going to repeat last week’s approach of sticking to healthy food choices every day M-F without any of the discretionary extras. I’m doing another Joffy dinner – minestrone with extra beans.

Have a good day everyone (or a good evening in CalifD’s case).

Hi CalfD I am pretty sure the time stamp is set to Greenwich Mean Time and I haven’t found anyway to adjust it. The site was established in the UK, so it makes sense that it’s set for their time zone.
In Oz we figured out that we need to mentally add approx 8-10 hours (depending on which state we’re in) to figure out when posts were made.
As for adjusting to U.S. times, I’m used to taking about 13 hours off my time here for New York (I have an old university friend who lives in Astoria, Queens). I think adjusting to California time is probably -16 hours from my time in South Australia.

Hi everyone, early evening on the east coast, afternoonon the west coast. For Californiaif you’re on the east coast of Australia you add 7 hrs, then go back a day. Eg it’s 6pm here so add 7 makes it 1am, then go backwards makes it 1am Monday morning in California. So in New Zealand and Oz we live in the future!

Welcome to Califdreamer, ChrisPat and JoyAnne. In true Aussie (pronounced Ozzie) custom we need to shorten your name : So….

Califdreamer – I think someone’s already called you CaliD – so CaliD it is, so you are now an honorary Southern Hemisphaerie, along with Sarah from UK. Well done the vegemite. 2 more vegemite favourites – very light scrape of course on the toast then eithersliced tomatoes or avocado on top.Bit of cracked pepper and Bob’s your uncle.

Chrispat – easy – CP. I think you might be pur first SHer from Broome! Good to have you here!

JoyAnne – JA. Welcome to you and your OH (other half). You are wise to think of this as a long term solution. If you have lots to lose to normalise your weight then I suggest you set mini-goals. Also, here on the SH thread we
suggest you set mini-goals or a series of goals, and to reward yourself when you reach a goal. That doesn’t mean a food reward but can be anything eg a particular piece of clothing, a bit of down time with a good book, a trip to the movies, theatre or concert, and one of our successful SHers, no longer posting, used to have a long luxurious bubble bath, candles etc.

Feel free to ask us anything, no matter how silly you might think it. We are a mix of maintainers and those still losing and at least 1 of us has probAbly been where you are.

May I suggest you do straight 5:2 for at least a few months before making any further decisions. You may need to tweak things a little but that’s easily done and there’s lots of knowledge and experience here to draw upon.

Onwards and Downwards,
If you fall off the horse get back on,
Merry

Hey guys , thank you to all of you for your very valuable input , I’m eager to listen to all the experiences and great advise , I have been searching on you tube for all stories of intermittent fasting and I must say there’s heaps. My back mended within the week as the belly fat is disappearing very fast ( I hope my bum and thigh fat will disappear too lol) it’s my third week now now just finished my Monday 500 calories , made a veg and tomato soup with pasta very satisfying and warming cause it’s freezing . On the weekend we went to Barwon heads for a day out took a picnic but I’m noticing that on my non fast days , I’m not hungry after I have my first meal , I get fully extremely quickly and I’m no longer hungry for an afternoon snack and I’m not really hungry for dinner. Has anyone else experienced their appetite quickly being satisfied, I’m assuming it’s because my stomach is shrinking ?

Wow nice to “meet” everyone. Barwon Heads home of Cadel Evans and Adelaide home of Tour Downunder! (yes I’m a cyclist) So jealous. Weather here is perfect no humidity but cool in mornings for the visitors. just made a lovely meal that’s a handy one to have in reserve. Spagettied some zucchini, bit of smoked salmon, sprinkle of feta in a non stick pan with a slosh of olive oil, some capers, bit of lemon rind, chilli, garlic and tumeric and all done took about 5mins, well 7 if you include doing the zucchini. Something handy you can do with things in your fridge already, sure you can add other things if you fancy depending on cals you’ve had throughout the day. Had a difficult day today as a day off and a fast day just wanted to eat all day! Note to self do fast days on busy days then you don’t notice! To be honest I’m looking up calories then pretty much having the same food over and over on fast days as I’m too lazy! I think you guys who are maintaining are legends! Always the hardest bit keeping on track.