Hi Calif Dreamer. I didn’t know that about shortened colons and reduced cholesterol – sounds good to me, I’m missing about 12 inches. The guy who did it did a very neat job, so no scar tissue problems.

Turmeric seems to be regarded as good for pretty much anything across Asia. I’ve seen it dusted on an open wound as an anti-septic. It was also one of the spices in this evening’s stuffed marrow.

thinatlast. For some reason I had gained the impression that adding shredded beetroot to the meat in a Hamburger was a Southern Hemisphere thing. I’ve tried it but I may have added too much beetroot – had very red burgers and the family were not impressed. Pickled beetroot was a favourite of my parents but I never took to it. I grow it because it is easy and looks good in the ground, but mostly I give it away.

Good morning everyone,
Ha, I only just got here before you yesterday Thin!

Like most Australians I grew up eating beetroot pickled, from tins. It was pretty much the only pickle we had!

In my twenties there was a thing for having it raw, finely grated, along with other salad vegetables, but I didn’t really love it, I was just surprised that I could eat it at all!

But I have lately come to love it! I do understand people who don’t: that combination of sweet and earthy is unlike anything else.
I make a great pasta sauce with it, which is basically beetroot added to tomato. The colour is fabulous, I call it ‘glorious sauce’. And I just love it roasted!

I made a dough on Tuesday so I could have flatbreads with my felafal. Very nice and I rolled up the leftover dough to make a little loaf and baked it. Very nice too, had it for breakfast this morning.
But it is so long since I have had bread made that quickly (only two hours rise instead of my 18 hour rise loaf made with just a pinch of yeast – same ingredients!) and I am so struck by the difference in taste. It is still much nicer that bought bread, but it just hasn’t got the complex, deep flavour of my usual loaf.

That appendix info is very interesting. Clever bodies!

Cheers everyone!

Hi SHs, It’s grocery shopping day, which means I get my kefir today – looking forward to trying it.

Thin, I’m quite surprised our rain headed west, sorry about that. Normally the weather heads east. If I want to know what weather I’m about to get I look at WA as it usually arrives here 2 days later. I’m lucky enough to actually have sun here today – it’s the first sign of it since last Friday.
As to the cheese, I use it in 2 of my normal FD meals: caluiflower cheese soup and veggie omelette. In both cases I use parmesan or pecorino, because they have a very strong punchy flavour so I don’t need much to get a cheesy flavour. I mostly use about 10g (160kj-38cal) of parmesan in a recipie on a FD. That is a well rounded tablespoon of grated parmesan for the brand I use. My soup last night tasted strongly of cheese – so this small amount really is enough. Another meal I used to make for FDs, but haven’t had in a while is to make a bowl of steamed or dry roasted veg and serve it sprinkled with parmesan. I have tried using cheddar in FD meals, but to get the flavour I’m looking for I need to use too much cheese.

Time I went shopping, just in case that sun disappears again, before I get outside.

Good morning to all of you. I need to get to sleep so I can get up at 2:00 am to leave at 3:00 and catch an early flight. Ugh! What was I thinking booking such an early one? I’ll be checking in but a busy 5 days ahead. The high school reunion is Sat night.

Thanks for filling me in on the cheese LJ. I’ll keep parmesan in mind. I’m pleased that you like kefir. You can make it as you describe but it’s hit and miss, 50/50 whether it will work from what I’ve read. Although a billion sounds like a heck of a lot of good bacteria, trillions are needed so, if you do proceed, I really recommend you get some non-commercial grains such as those I posted the link to on gumtree at the top of this page. Commercial supplies will always be depleted because of the pasteurisation process. I love the idea that my grains could potentially be hundreds of years old – or more!

Well, maybe it wasn’t your rain LJ. It was 25C here on Tuesday so perhaps you’ll get that next.

Ha ha Intesha! At least you had fun. And now a new goal to meet. Looking forward to hearing of your progress now that you’ve said it out loud. I know you can do it.

Safe flight CalifD. I wonder where the reunion takes place. I’m guessing somewhere in the mid-west.

Good evening all. Unusual for me to be posting at night as I’m usually asleep by now (9.30pm). Miss D has a friend sleeping over for a few days and it apoears they are in no hurry to hit the sack tonight !

A successful FD for me today with an intake of 359 cal. I certainly needed it after yesterday. Very light drizzly rain (yay finally a bit if rain) cold and windy outside made for a day spent inside craving comfort food. I made a lovely caramelised onion and feta tart and an even lovelier lemon pudding for dessert – with custard and thick cream of course. The pudding was actually a cake recipie but was a bit too lemony to eat by itself. I now have 5 individual slices in the freezer for another day.

I decided to have my first batch of chook eggs scrambled, filled with herbs and a generous serving of steamed spinach and kale – all from the garden. Yummy indeed ! They have laid 2 eggs a day the last few days so a good start from the girls.

Thinatlast I’m with you, the look of beetroot and the colour leeching out into other foods makes me feel ill. I cringe just looking at it.

Big_Bill I have an extremely fussy 9 year old which makes my healthy eating regime difficult at times as she is very limited in what she will eat and won’t try anything new. Hoping things will change as she moves into the teenage years.

Well it’s time for me to give the girls the 5 minute warning till lights are out. I suspect sleep will still be a way off yet as there will be giggling and chattering going on for awhile.

Good morning,

Cold again here. Surprise. But the mornings are getting noticeably lighter.

I hope all the Thursday fasters had fun, and now the Friday fasters are taking the baton. Cheers to you!

And further to my comments yesterday on my bread. That quicker rising bread isn’t good for me! Led to overeating 🙁

Enjoy your soggy walks Thin, Melbourne is quite happy to have the rain go your way this time! But do send over that 25 degrees! A three day journey, I’ll be waiting!

Loved the way you described the taste of the kefir LJoyce! What a treat to taste delicious and provide such darling microbes!

Intesha I am so glad you had a wonderful trip to Melbourne, and well, you needed a break out. I know it feels like prison to be tied by your responsibilities, can you console yourself that it is a lot better than most prisons?
When my illness felt like such a life sentence, I got great comfort reading The Cave in The Snow about a British woman who became a Buddhist nun and spent 12 years living in an isolated cave.
It made me realise that there is another way to look at isolation and being cut off from opportunities.
Hoping you can find consolation.

Cali, hoping you are having great fun!

Gday, did you get any sleep! I bet the girls had such fun!
So lovely to hear about the eggs. That omelette and greens, what a treat!

Minka, I hope you aren’t swamped with assignments already!
Hi Big_Bill,
Hi Joffy wherever you are!
Hi Penguin, Pintinlin and everyone whose name has fallen out of my head!

Fast day tomorrow for me, must buy some chicken today.

Agree totally Thin, Cinque has a way with words and always has something positive to say. I should/am grateful for the life I have, roof over my head, food in the house. It’s just that I get frustrated because I am not getting any younger. 67 this birthday and I’ve already been in this limbo for 3 years and feel like my life is slipping away. There is so much I still want to do but fear it’s not going to happen. Anyway cup is half full and I should acknowledge that.

Weight this morning 68.7. Will probably do a Sunday FD .

LJ, I sometimes wish I had a more relaxed approach to all this like you and Cinque. And Intesha’s ‘life is for living’ and Merry’s ‘get back on the horse’ approach. This is why I say my approach is not the right one, it’s just one of many. 5:2 accommodates us all so well. I think it’s my addictive personality that requires me to be so vigilant. Replacing a food addiction with a fast addiction. Although I’m coming up for three years on this WOL, I still have a fear of slipping back into bad habits. I still weigh obsessively. I don’t think I’m as in tune with my body as some of you seem to be so I need that constant feedback.

Intesha, I too feel trapped but for different reasons. We want to support our DD through her very demanding uni course in every way we can. This ranges from paying her fees so she doesn’t come out of uni with a horrendous debt down to taking her cups of tea when she’s holed up in her room studying. I know that when she leaves home, she’s not coming back so I’m torn between wanting to cherish the last of our time living together and wanting to get on with the rest of our lives which involves selling the family home as a start. As late-life parents, we feel the sense of time slipping away as you describe. I understand too that we have a finish line whereas your lot probably feels that it has no end date. And you can’t wish for that end date for obvious reasons. I really hope you can avail yourselves of all the support that your Dad is entitled to – he may be a very proud man and not feel he needs help, but YOU do. Carers need to be looked after too. I’m all for those who fought for our freedoms getting properly supported by our government when they need it. I hope you can make that overseas trip happen. Oh, and that’s a good start on your new goal!

Good evening,
I am feeling quite well (she says tentatively) at the end of the day.
Ready for a lovely fast day tomorrow!

Thanks for nice comments about my writing, I do know it could just as likely come across as irritating, but I figure that it is usually better to say something than not.
Intesha I’m only 60 and I have that feeling of “I don’t know how long I’ve got, I want to DO stuff!” and I am pretty much able to do the things I want most to do. So I can imagine that you are super frustrated.
Thin is right. I wish there was someone looking after you. I expect your Melbourne friend did for a bit. Good luck with the old fun of looking after yourself!
I know you would have told us if you had worked out a way to do that trip overseas, so that is ‘no news is bad news’, but I am still hoping you will start a cake and biscuit decorating business!

And cheers for life back on the horse!

LJoyce, your muesli sounds delish. Hmm I managed to eat my loaf of bread over three days. Lucky it was a little one. Still had the munchy remnants today, but I think my fast tomorrow will fix me.

Minka, so lovely to think of you in your Rodney Clark slacks!

Thin, I used to feel the heavy burden of thinking my daughter would need to live here til she was about 27 to get her through uni etc. Then she floored me by moving out before she was 18, and explaining that she didn’t want to go to uni. I was absolutely torn with worry for her future…. and a delicious feeling of freedom. Oh dear, it was true. And it was really good for my health.
Luckily she has made her own way nicely (and that grandma duty isn’t nearly as onerous as a child at home!).

Oh well, I have tidied the kitchen and written a long post! good evening everyone!

Another evening post for me while waiting for the girls (children not chooks) to wind down for bed.

Haha Thin I wish Miss D was eating all the nutritious food I prepare but unfortunately a lot of it is eaten just by me. In saying that she does eat healthy food but her range is limited. I cant complain though as I know of other kids who live totally on junk and processed food.

Planted some garlic and lots more carrots today as Miss D has been raiding the vegie patch and eating the carrots even though they are still very tiny. Small peas and beans are starting to appear and the herbs are growing full on.

Yes school holidays in SA at the mo and no duck eggs as yet but I’m eagerly waiting.

Seems like pigging out on bread is spreading amongst us. I found a loaf of rye sourdough at the supermarket yesterday and have been mowing my way through it. Rather nice indeed especially lightly toasted but not good for the waistline I suspect !

Last night I finally finished reading the Paleo book thats as thick as a brick. Now I have no excuse and I have to get stuck into my study as i have read all the food/health etc books in the house.

It has been lovely reading everyone’s posts and for those fasting tomorrow I hope it goes well for you.

CalifD, I know you like Amazon so here are some travel scales similar to mine for next time! https://www.amazon.com/NewlineNY-SBB0718M-NYBK-Step-Travel-Bathroom/dp/B004V8EBOI

Intesha has sent me a photo of the cake that she made that looks like a woman’s purse. I don’t believe it’s a cake. Absolutely amazing. And if it really is a cake, how do you cut it? And is the handle edible? I’ll send it to Cinque and see if she has time to post a link for us. You really have missed your vocation Intesha.

Have a good FD Cinque and the other Saturday fasters.

Thanks Cinque! Who thinks it’s a cake? And who thinks it’s one of Intesha’s handbags on a cake stand?

You could be right about the only child thing. I respect food preferences because of my beetroot aversion but I believe most of it was behavioural. Like GDSA’s Miss D, our DD ate healthily but with a limited scope.

All good LJ, I hadn’t taken your post that way at all. This is why coffee meetings with facial expressions are better than posts in a thread. Even with emoticons 😆

Thin it wasn’t really that good. I did cut it straight down the middle and took half to my friends in Melbourne together with a dozen decorated cupcakes, iced biscuits and friands. I guess I should have found another hobby.

I did another cake course today. I will send the picture to Cinque as I have no idea how to upload it to this page. We could have great afternoon teas with all the baking that is happening so it’s probably a good thing we don’t live close.

Here is Intesha’s next masterpiece!
http://imgur.com/a/6JBbl
Beautiful!

By the way, I use imgur to show a picture. It is easy and free. Just go here: http://imgur.com/upload and if you want to upload a picture from your computer, click browse, find the picture and then click ‘open’. Once it loads you just need to copy the url at the top of the page and then paste it here 🙂

But I am happy to do it!

Two hours until miso soup!

Just as well I can’t smell your beautiful loaves and buns LJoyce!

Thank you Cinque, I will see if I can get that app.

Thin you are funny, yes everything is edible, I can take a picture of the now leftover cake if you like 😉😉

I took the photo on top of the cupboard in the spare room, I do have others taken in the kitchen and I will send them just for you. I couldn’t believe I had made it and when it was sitting on the kitchen table I kept wanting to pick it up.

Today’s effort was a hot air balloon as you can see and I get quite possessive of them and I never want to cut them.

The ladies at the nursing home get lots of treats so someone does benefit from my efforts.

Ok so, since no-one believes me, that gold & white cake was also one of Intesha’s that, from memory, she made for her mum’s 90th birthday about a year ago. I cropped the kitchen paraphernalia, he he he! I can’t bake but I am not too terrible at photography. That programme is very cool Cinque! Yes please, I would like to see the innerds of that cake.

I am starting to feel very grateful that we don’t live closer! I don’t know how some of you manage to lose any weight at all with all the homemade bread and other goodies that you make. The smell of bread baking or toast is a killer for me. I think I could resist the cakes as they are too pretty to eat as you say.

Cinque, that looks like something cooked up by a vet student. Here’s a cake my daughter made for a competition at uni entitled ‘edible embryology’. http://imgur.com/a/8YArV

I don’t know LJ, some people seem fine with bread. I can only get away with occasional and very small quantities, half a roll at most, perhaps if soup is all I’m otherwise having for dinner. Definitely no pizza, sandwiches, toast in my daily life. I wasn’t receptive to this when I started 5:2 but, after a long plateau, I tried cutting out white carbs and, hey presto, down went the weight. You, more than most, would know whether it affects you in a certain way with all your record-keeping. That soup sounds nice. We’re having salmon steaks for dinner. Decided to heck with it, DD is having pesto pasta! All the more for us.

Intesha, I love the balloon cake. You are so talented! You should definitely keep a portfolio of all of your cakes. The are works of art. How long does it take to do one? Do you have to refrigerate it if you set it aside to take a break? Please keep posting pictures of them. They’re so pretty!

Cinque, I laughed so hard at your cat cake photo! I’m afraid that’s how mine would work out if I tried.

LJoyce, the smell of baking bread is almost irresistible to me. I remember as a child in school, going on a tour of a big commercial bakery. It smelled so good in there that I told my mom when I got home that when I grew up I was going to be a baker and make bread every day! Someone should invent “bread perfume” that smells like baking bread. Very enticing, don’t you think? 🙂

A friend of mine took a cake decorating class many years ago where the decorated wedding cakes and such. They used styrofoam cake forms to decorate. That would solve the problem of wanting to eat them! I think one reason they did that was because layered wedding cakes are so large, there would be too much cake left over.

Morning all, I’m having a very lazy Sunday.
FD for me, anyone joining me?
Instead of my usual piece of fruit mid-afternoon I’m going to have kefir with some strawberries mixed in. Dinner is one of my FD regulars, stir fry veg (brocolli & beans today) with konjac noodles, 60g chicken breast and peanut sauce.

Have a nice Sunday.

Hi LJ, I’m fasting too but I’m a bit late getting here. I was hungry most of the morning and immediately realised that I deserved it because of eating Connoisseur ice cream last night. Which of course is exactly the reason for not giving in to the hunger and for having a FD. By noon, I was fine and didn’t even think about the soup as 2pm came and went. Like last Sunday, we had a visitor and I’ve only just had my first feeding. I’m also having konjac but in Spanish Fideos.

Hi Merry, how’s everything going for you over there this week? All calm and even I hope. Seems we have a lot in common according to your list!

Cinque, how’s your post FD going? It’s a rare day when you don’t post, hope all is well. I thought your cake disaster photo was a dog!

Good evening all. I’m loving the cake pictures and banter. Well done Intesha I’m mighty impressed indeed !! And well done LJoyce on the bread making…..sounds delicious. Miss D and I are having a baking day tomorrow (her school doesn’t go back until Tuesday) but I can guarantee you won’t get any handbags or hot air balloons from our kitchen !! I’ve downloaded the app so will attempt to post our baking successes or disasters as the case may be.

Yay the house is back to one child only. Miss D and I took a drive through the hills today as one of the little country towns was having an ‘all town’ garage sale. Yes I bought more crockery (Miss D’s eyes rolling 😩😩) and lots of other wonderful finds such as cast iron saucepan and frypan and 2 pairs of high heels – all still in boxes brand new for $2 each. Plus a visit to my favourite Op Shop yielded 4 skirts, fitted jacket and summer dress all for $15 and all perfect fits. Win win I say.

Still sitting at 1 kg off my goal weight which I’m happy with seeing as I havent put in much effort over the school holidays and I have pigged out a bit.

Have been drinking ginger tea (real ginger not teabags) which I’m really enjoying. Never used ginger much before but bought some awhile back for a stir fry and now I’m becoming quite addicted to the taste.

It’s going to take all my willpower to not eat too much cake mixture tomorrow. I would rather the raw mixture than the actual cake. Miss D is making a choc and vanilla layered cake and I haven’t decided what to make yet but my choice will come from one of my healthy eating cookbooks – I keep having thoughts about date slice and muslie biscuits….

Feathered friends update – 2 chook eggs per day and nil duck eggs. Good night all.

The reunion went very well last night. I was so glad that I’ve been sticking with the 5:2 plan because even though I have another 5.5 kg to go to get to my goal, I looked thin in my clothes already. It makes me feel confident and light on my feet. It’s surprising how many people looked so different at this age and I think the biggest reason was that they put on a lot of weight. The people that were thin looked pretty much like they did 50 years ago, wrinkles, gray hair and all. It was a good example of how added weight really can age a person. I usually never see that many people the same age as I am in one place. So I want to thank all of you for all of the advice and encouragement in sticking with this new WOL.

I’m missing my scale but from the fit of my jeans, I don’t think I’ve gained much. I ate a meal at the party last night and had a couple pastries at my aunt and uncle’s house yesterday but I think overall I’m doing ok. The sweet things taste overly sweet now and I didn’t have enough that it made me hungry afterward. They day before I didn’t eat much at all. Tuesday morning will be the big weigh in.

It sounds like everyone has been busy over the weekend with baking, shopping and visiting. Gday, that was a great deal you got on the high heels at the garage sale. And brand new! The Op purchases sound great too. I’m picturing you on an Easter egg hunt for duck eggs. 😄

Have a great day everyone and good FD for those of you that are fasting.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of Intesha’s creations.

Good morning all. Thank you for all the lovely comments about my cakes. I mainly doing classes to give me something to do. Although I am not creative I like to see an end result my efforts. My next class is in two weeks where I will be doing some fancy decorating of cupcakes. My Mum’s 91st birthday is coming up and I have already got plans to do her a special cake, so I won’t be posting too much temptation 😉😉😉

FD yesterday, weight this morning 68.1, last Monday it was 69.3. FD tomorrow.

Have a good day everyone.