LJoyce it would be great to loose that much before Xmas and I have also dropped 12k in 12 weeks before. I’m just going to take this at a steady pace and take what comes. This is now about the rest of my life, at almost 46 I need to get a grip!
This topic contains 27,907 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by thinatlast 4 days, 20 hours ago.
Frangipani, once you start intermittent fasting you can experiment with different patterns to work out what suits you personally. I tried all sorts of combinations in my first few weeks, including 4:3. What I quickly discovered was that I had to have a minimum of two NFDs between FDs, otherwise I increased my risk of binge eating on the next NFD. This isn’t an issue for everyone, but it was only through experimenting that I worked out what my best options were if I wanted this to work long term. From discussing everyone’s approach on this forum it has been clear to me that everyone personalises the program to suit their needs, risks, lifestyle, health issues etc. The inherent flexibility is one of the things that I find really positive about the program.
As to the rate of weight loss, losing a kilo a week is a lot to expect from 5:2, when you consider that you are only cutting calories 2 days per week.
Sorry LJoyce, that didn’t come across as intended. I have no big expectations about 5:2 at all. If I loose 6k or even less in 12 weeks it will be very Happy! Like I said, this about the rest of my life and I’m certainly not looking for a quick fix by any means. I see the 5:2 as a life long, sustainable regime and you are right in that the great thing about it is it flexibility to tailor it to our own needs. This regime is not quite so much about loosing loads of weight in my eyes, it’s more about a healthier body and the weight loss is a bonus!!! 😉 I’m the classic yo-yo dieter and have been for most of my adult life so when all is said and done it’s about a healthy body and I have no doubt that this will do the job. I really appreciate these forums and all the advice and this is a huge bonus too. I’m off to buy some chicken and fruit so have a good afternoon all 😉😊
When I started 5:2 I decided I would do the classic 5:2 for 12 weeks, with 2 days of 500 calories each and not count calories the other 5 days, but be mindful of what I was eating. I figured after 12 weeks I might tweak it and try other variations. I was losing an average of .7 kg per week and saw no reason to change. The plateau now is at least somewhat because of having too many NFD where I ate too much, not binging, but snacking beyond mindfulness. 😁
Tomorrow will be 14 weeks. I still like the classic 5:2 because it’s easy for me. I agree with LJoyce that having 2 days between FD is a good thing for me and this week was an exception because of yesterday’s minuscule loss. My very fist week started with a B2B because I started on a Wednesday and didn’t want to fast on Friday or the weekend. I think I did a B2B before my high school reunion too because of travel scheduling. But my normal fast days are Monday and Thursday which seems to work well. I’m hoping to finally get into the 61’s tomorrow, but if I don’t I’m not going to give up. I’m still down about 7.7 kg and I’m happy about that. And I still think the 5:2 is the best way I know to lose weight. This forum and my friends here are a big part of that.
I started Minka’s suggestion of spending 5-10 minutes with a small item of food and appreciating its look, aroma and taste very slowly. Today it was one teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter. I discovered that almost all of the sensory appeal is in the taste and texture. The aroma is only slight and when I tried just licking it all I got was oil – won’t do that again. But I did manage to eat it extremely slowly and let it dissolve on my tongue. It was delicious and was not immediately followed by the desire to go and get another teaspoonful – that’s what would usually happen.
I’d like to do this daily and see of it makes a difference – I just have to remember to do it – that’s the hardest part with new habits.
So here I am again.
The Zone Diet was an unmitigated disaster, just not my thing at all. I was so hungry, all the time, and I’m not a person who actually gets hungry without good reason. Fast days are fine.
So I’m back to 5:2, at least my acupuncturist has pulled his head in lately. He did suggest I go see the movie “Vaxxxed” or whatever it’s called, seeing as I’m wanting to become a parent. I just said “nope” and nothing more was said. The only reason I would go is to protest, this insanely dangerous and grossly irresponsible film. Yes I can understand there is a small risk of autism with vaccines, but the risk of your child getting polio is much higher if vaccines did not exist, and I know what I’d rather my child have. Also saying it impairs your natural immunity, they actually encourage your natural immunity, I’m a scientist I’ve actually learnt the real truth about vaccines during my university study. The university had no reason to lie to us, just the cold hard facts. Thank goodness for herd immunity to protect anti-vaccineers’ children from their stupidity. Sorry I’m just really angry about the people who spread such lies and propaganda.
Have hit a bit of a plateau lately, but at least I’m not putting on weight. I can deal with a plateau, haven’t exactly been eating all that healthily lately, but it’s not that hard. 5:2 is not a crazy fad diet, I can eat whatever I want, just maybe not today. I was one of those people that thought I can’t go all day without eating, but I found that I can, well I can make it to lunch anyway and I then eat a fraction of what I would’ve eaten and it’s enough.
Hope you’re all well,
Jody
Hi JodyW, good to hear from you again. I’m also pleased to see that your acupuncturist has stopped trying to be an expert on all things and is more or less getting on with his actual job. It sounds like you have found the way t shut him down when he starts spouting nonsense.
I hope you are feeling well and calm with the IVF process. All the best.
Well, I finally came off of that 3 week plateau. (At least some of it my own fault for overeating and drinking.) After my B2B fast the past 2 days I weighed in at 62.1 or 137 pounds this morning. Finally! Today will be a careful NFD.
JodyW, great to see you back to the 5.2 again. It’s the one diet plan that’s easy to stick to.
I’m going to have to try that “Zen and the Art of Eating today”! It does sound like a good idea if it can lead to more mindful eating.
LJoyce. Useful links. Cream cheese I think – got to do something as the grain to milk ratio is getting silly and the last batch fermented in 11 hours at 21C/70F. I’m starting to build up a back-log of completed kefir so tonight’s batch is going into the fridge to ferment. I’ll pick up some goat’s milk over the weekend and give that a go as well. I need a re-supply trip – we’ve had grandchildren with us for a week. I don’t know the TDEE of a 14 yr old, but it seems to be about twice mine.
Penguin, I’ve got both the cow’s milk and goat milk cultures in the frig right now, plus a couple jars of finished kefir. My sister has a co-worker who buys kefir, so maybe we’ll convince her to make her own. Good thing the cultures keep a long time in the frig!
I take a thyroid med in the morning that I can’t take with milk because something in the milk blocks it’s absorption. I usually wait 3 to 4 hours. Too bad because kefir would be a perfect morning drink. The real sour stuff sometimes gives me heartburn if I drink it right before bed.
Normally at about 9pm I offer my other half a glass of kefir. This is taken, depending on the batch, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. At 7.15 pm this evening I heard “I fancy a glass of kefir, please.” I must be doing something right.
I was chatting this afternoon to the guy who runs the village Post Office/General store (he’d had a quiet afternoon and was bored). He was interested in kefir and slightly surprised – he is a bit new age / hippy and I am reputedly conventional and ex-military so the conversation should have been the other way round. I have him convinced that it is a good idea but he is thinking of buying it because making it “Sounds a bit faffy” (or in normal English, a bit of a fuss). I am working on him – he may yet become the recipient of some of my spare grains. This uptight conventional reputation is proving difficult to lose. I thought I had made progress playing medieval music on replica instruments in costume at the village Carnival, but clearly that wasn’t enough. Must try harder (as my school reports used to say).
Penguin, how about marching in the next village carnival parade in bellbottoms and a tie-dyed shirt? With a tambourine perhaps? I bought a pair of very wide bellbottoms on Amazon to wear for one of the side events at my 50 year high school reunion last month and they were a big hit. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ1V6XO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Thanks to 5:2, I was able to fit into them! I forgot how much I loved bellbottoms back in the day. I think they’re one of my favorite articles of clothing. Ever.
Great news about your OH actually requesting kefir. I think you have a convert!
I just thought I should say I never stopped 5:2 I just went under the radar and tried to do Zone Diet as well as 5:2 to get my acupuncture but it did not satisfy and I couldn’t stop cheating, so I’m back to being exclusive with 5:2 again. I’ve been doing the fasting right through. Never gonna stop that. Well maybe I did when I had those teeth out, but my calories were way down then anyway because I couldn’t eat.
I like cow’s milk kefir and coconut water kefir, but I’ve been slack lately about making it lately. I just buy the Mad Millie’s NZ made cultures you may get them in Aus I don’t know.
Jody
Good morning everyone!
Jody, so good to see you here. Sorry your zoning was such a trial. I hope it feels lovely to stop it!
Hooray for your clear rejection of Mr Naturopath’s dangerous anti-vaccing push. It seems that anti science attitude is common among naturopaths, which is a big worry for all of us.
Hoping you get off your plateau soon!
Penguin you are doing all the right things to ditch that conventional reputation you have! haha. keep at it! More medieval costumes! More kefir cheese!
LJoyce, loved reading about your mindfulness with the peanut butter.
I am trying to be slower and more appreciative of every mouthful I am eating, and it is feeling good to do that. And managed to be more practical with portion sizes yesterday! I’ll get there in the end!
Great bellbottoms Cali!
I’ve got to get a few things done, and then it is off to visit my daughter and darling granddaughters. It should be a lovely day (despite cold, rainy weather).
Best wishes to everyone for this to be a good day!
CalifDreamer. The Carnival was Saturday. We had enough people in bell-bottoms and tie dies for one more not to be noticed. We had people dressed as traffic cones and smurfs, a class of girls dressed as bumble bees, a genuine steam roller and much other general idiocy. We also had, for the first time, Morris Dancers and they go for tambourines in a big way. My neighbour, a falconer when not working, displayed his birds, including two young barn owls called Moet and Chandon. The longest queue on the field was inevitably at the burger stall, followed by the beer tent.
Penguin your comment on medieval costumes and village fair has given me visions of a Midsomer Murders episide Haha.
Weight has dropped back to 65.5kg this morning after yesterday’s FD and 4km power walk in my lunch break.
Have just finished reading David Gillespie Eat Real Food and I thoroughly recommend it. Really interesting facts around sugar types and seed oils which I have taken onboard and will be adjusting how I eat. Yet another tweak in the ongoing and ever changing journey to good health and weight loss.
You see this is the problem with being a late riser – I’m always a bit late joining the morning flurry of conversation.
Frangipani – no you don’t have to either make or consume kefir to do 5:2. Kefir is fermented milk (like a runny yoghurt) that contains a much wider range of helpful bacteria than yoghurts do. Essentially it is a probiotic that helps your gut develop more of the helpful bacteria. One of the reasons that kefir and other fermented foods are a topic for discussion here is that it’s discussed in Michael Mosley’s latest book – “Clever Guts”. You can buy kefir ready made, but you can also ferment it yourself at home and a lot of the discussion here has been about how to do this successfully. It may be a helpful food, but I personally love the flavour and would probably continue using it even if it wasn’t good for me.
Penguin – I’m imagining you dressed as a morris dancer, ringing little bells and shaking a white hanky at people – that would shake the rigid military rep!
If I remember the instructions correctly, turning kefir into cheese means more time on the counter after you have removed the grains from the first ferment. So perhaps you could simply put all of that backlog in the fridge into a large jar or covered bowl and leave it on the bench until it separates itself into curd cheese and whey. I have made simple curd cheeses at home (not from kefir through) and they are pretty simple processes – and lovely on a really grainy rye bread.
Cali and GDSA – good on you both for your B2B fasts to shift those scales.
Cinque – enjoy your day with the family.
NFD for me, but I have appointments and errands for most of the afternoon so that should keep me busy enough to stay out of the kitchen so that I don’t overeat. As I probably won’t feel like cooking tonight I’m glad I have some planned leftovers already in the fridge.
Hi all. Cinque so glad you are feeling better.
Haven’t posted for awhile but read everything. Weight has stalled at around 68 but I am not stressing about it I’m happy where I am for the moment.
Still doing Tuesday/Thursday FDs and a Sunday if I am just at home.
I make water kefir, probably less cals than milk, and drink it daily. I’m sure that is one of the reasons why my weight doesn’t blow out as it keeps my gut active.
My Mum turns 91 next week so I have been cooking and although she won’t remember it, there will be more memories made.
I have been trying to upload photos as Cinque told me but I’m hopeless with this new technology. The effort below is the result. Im not sure if it uploads properly. Hopefully it shows the cake and cookies I made. Also hope I haven’t copied anything inappropriate from the Imgur site but I’m sure you will let me know 😳😳
I did my food zen exercise again tonight.
I put a tablespoon of very thick kefir (yoghurt consistency) into a tiny bowl and I looked and smelled and slowly tasted then ate it, half a teaspoon at a time. The aroma is sour, but only slightly and it’s a pleasant smell – so different to my memories of the smell of curdled milk. What surprised me with the taste is that initially I tasted mild sweetness, but the longer it dissolved on my tongue the more it tasted sour. I also noticed that when the kefir was on my tongue it picked up the flavours but it didn’t pick up textures. To appreciate the smooth creamy texture it needed to touch the sides or roof of my mouth.
I never knew that before. How is it possible that I’ve been eating food for 55 years and had never noticed that different parts of my mouth notice flavours and textures? Just goes to show how much attention I’ve really paid to the process in the past.
Intesha, that cake and cookies for your mom are works of art! They’re so beautiful! You should be a professional cake decorator. So much talent there.
LJoyce, love your description of the kefir. I guess eating mindfully isn’t just about the amount we eat, but eating slowly enough to enjoy it as well. I usually eat with a book or my tablet in front of me. I think I need to start concentrating on what I’m eating, on each mouthful instead of reading. Not sure that I’m ready to make that a rule for myself yet, but I will at least try it a couple of times. How about the rest of you? Do you do other things while you eat?
I’m doing my regular Thursday FD today. I debated whether to just leave it at the B2B Monday and Tuesday, but decided that that was to break the long plateau and I should do my normal Thursday FD. I dropped another .6 pounds this morning even after a NFD yesterday, so it looks like the plateau is really behind me. Whew! That was a tougher one!
Best wishes for the end of your Thursday Fast Day Cali. Glad your plateau is gone!
It is Friday morning here. I am planning to fast on Saturday.
I did watch Eat Fast Live Longer last night. I bet if they were making it now, they wouldn’t put the emphasis on eating whatever you wanted on a non fast day, and driving into Maccas.
It was a nice refresher though to see all the evidence about long term health, and losing a bit of weight was just by the way.
Intesha, gorgeous work! Hope you are working out how to start that business!
I loved your zen report LJoyce, do keep sharing them.
I am zen drinking my morning cup of tea!
Good morning SHs and good afternoon or evening Penguin & Cali,
Cinque I tried to do the zen approach with my morning cup of tea but it started getting cold so I gulped it down. It’s left me puzzling how you do this approach with hot foods. Might need to do the “look and smell” and then reheat before tasting. I’m happy to keep sharing – what has surprised me is that I’m noticing things I hadn’t before, I really didn’t think that would happen.
Cali – glad that plateau has finally been broken.
I was going to do a FD tomorrow, but have decided instead to do it today.
I’ve pulled a container of “cossak pie” out of the freezer for dinner so that I won’t have to cook – mince onion and mushroom filling with cooked shredded cabbage top and bottom instead of pastry. It sounds odd but it’s quite tasty. When I made it I based it on a vego recipe in one of my Moosewood cookbooks.
Hi all. Weight back down to 0.4kg off goal weight after FD yesterday.
Someone mentioned on the forum that the reason I am struggling to shed the last half a kilo is because my non FD calorie intake is low. Have been thinking a lot about this so seeking your thoughts.
Do you think that average of 800 calories on non FD and average of 300 on FD means there is not enough difference in calorie intake to shed weight?
Im certainly eating healthy so dont think im missing out on any essential nutrients. I also dont feel the need to eat more as what I eat satisfies me and I dont feel hungry on a non FD.
Reluctant to increase non FD calories for the above reasons and I also fear weight will increase.
With the cold weather I’m only exercising every second day rather than everyday so perhaps I need to get back into everyday high intense exercise? I know that will happen anyway when the weather warms as I do enjoy it.
I know it sounds a bit vain but I do want to get to 65kg…well 64.9kg if I’m to be honest because then it would be 64 rather than 65 in a round about kinda way !!
Hi all its great to read all posts , I’ve been battling a bit of a binge fest every time it’s feast day , so I’ve decided I need to get in touch with my real hunger on those days as I do really well on the fast days three days a week. I’m going to the Spudfit challenge for ten days but also keeping in line with my intermittent fasting which has been Mon, Wed, Friday fasting and all other days I never eat breakfast but stick to a eat window between 12 and 7 pm but next week from Monday I will have as my only source of carbs, is Potatoes coupled with non starchy veggies of choice. I really like what Andrew from Spudfit has had to experience on his Potato meals and also took notes from Nourish by Nicole who is a very fit athlete and swapped from processed carbs like bread, rice , noodles, pasta , smoothies and Juices and instead ate oats potatoes brown rice lentils beans greens whole fruits and improved her weight and fitness . Anyway I’ll see how I go .
Gday, I would worry about lowering my metabolism on only 800 calories on NFD’s. I know the 5:2 books say that won’t happen with IF, but I still worry about it. 800 calories is below your TDEE, isn’t it? I wouldn’t think increasing your calories to around your TDEE would make you gain. But I don’t really know. You could always gradually increase your calories and see what happens.
Sarahwat, I like potatoes too. I don’t think they’re that bad unless you put a lot of high calorie condiments on them. I just bought a bunch of sweet potatoes the other day. I like those too.
GDSA – I don’t know if there is any scientific backing to this, but I had always thought that our bodies learn to manage with less when we significantly under-eat for an extended period of time – ie we get more efficient at making the most of the calories we’re eating. Three years ago I did a very low calorie diet that was around 800 calories per day for 3 months and while I lost a lot of weight it definitely slowed down half way through and I lost a lot less that I theoretically should have given the extreme level of calorie restriction. What I found, along with a few others that were doing the program with me, was that if we hit a plateau the best way to shift it was to add a one or two days of 1200cal through the week. I don’t know why it works, but mixing things up a bit somehow seems to shift the plateau. The only way to test this is to try. Do one day at your TDEE and see what happens over the course of a week or two. If you don’t want more food volume then you could try adding energy dense foods like oils, nuts or cheese.
I was trying to do some research on this but didn’t find anything I’d consider reliable science. I did find an interesting article though that I think is worth a read: https://www.precisionnutrition.com/metabolic-damage I found the discussion on how many calories we absorb (on more correctly don’t absorb) from unprocessed foods interesting. I might have to give up my beloved jars of nut paste in favour of whole nuts.
Sarah – I found it was important to stop thinking of the non-fast days (NFD) or normal days as “feast” or “feed” days. Words can have power with our subconscious impulses. It doesn’t mean my own bingeing behaviour is gone, regardless of what I call the NFDs, but it is far less frequent that it used to be, although it’s taken months for this to happen. Something else I found triggered a binge on the NFDs was an insufficient break between FDs. So if I only had a single NFD between two FDs I always seemed to binge on that single NFD. Once I switched to having a minimum of 2 NFD together this improved.
It’s been raining on an off today, but I was lucky enough to get to an appointment, the Printer store, the Salvos, Bunnings and Coles with hardly any rain damage. When I got to Bunnings I had forgotten that they have a permanent sausage sizzle out the front. Not something that I really want to walk past on a FD – a bit torturous. But I am now home and have had a pot of tea and a glass of chia strawberry pudding (made with kefir) that was lovely, and I no longer feel deprived by having to forgo a greasy BBQ sausage.
I’m not an advocate of “superfoods” – I think they are mainly marketing hype. However, I am so grateful that chia seeds entered the market. My mother used to make a dessert from sago that she cooked in milk, with vanilla, sugar and nutmeg. It had to be cooked with constant stirring for ages to avoid the milk catching on the saucepan. My mother never burnt it, but I have less patience and I always do. I was thrilled to discover that I could make a dessert with a similar texture using chia seeds that required no cooking at all – just 2-3 days in the fridge so the seeds have time to absorb the liquid. I used to make chia pudding using either cows or almond milk, but these days I’m using a mixture of kefir and almond milk. I also don’t add the sugar anymore, just some pureed berries.
Hope you are all having a good day.
LJoyce , yes I believe you are right, the less time you have in between FD one would try to get in what your body or mind has been craving for . I think that is the beauty of Potatoes , it’s such a satiating vegetable and it’s difficult to binge on unless of course you cook with oils or fill it with cheese and ham but still it’s a definite tummy filler for less overall calories. I ve been keeping up to date with Spudfit and nourish by Nicole and it seems to be all about making sure the accompanying spices and veg is what makes this so satisfying. Even on my fast day I normally have a miso soup and then lots of veg for dinner but I decided to try a small meal of 3 small potato made into mash then in turn made into a waffle , I must say it was completely delicious , the crunch on the outside and lovely and soft somewhat goey on the inside. Very nice. And felt light but satisfied and then I’m good and hungry for main meal. I suppose that’s the best feeling I get from IF I love that when each meal time comes around, I am actually genuinely hungry and things like veggies taste super delicious. I cane across a lady called Chef AJ and she speaks about Food Addiction and that there are some of us that certain foods will trigger an all out binge , she’s a believer of the Natural carbs like beans but is a big advocate of the old fashion Spud , so yeah like I said I’ll try out next week , I’m doing it for ten days and if anyone is interested, lol , I’ll try and post how I’m going more often.
Are you ready for another zen report? (Your term has stuck Penguin!)
Tonight it was a kiwifruit. I just cut it in half, intending to eat with a small teaspoon. This was the first food I’ve used for this activity, that actually had a strong aroma – and it was wonderful. 😀 Every time I sniffed it, I got an endorphin hit – maybe we could suggest it to cocaine addicts – sniff a kiwi instead! (Actually I probably should amend that to kiwifrui or addicts might take to sniffing passing New Zealanders – that could get awkward.)
The contrast between that coarse furry unpalatable skin and the gorgeous colours of the fruit really struck me – it’s a work of art. After I came down from my kiwi aroma rush it was time to pick up the spoon. I noticed the same taste phenomenon that I discovered last night with the kefir – first it tasted sweet then it gradually morphed into a tart taste. This must be something that my taste buds do with food in general.
Then I decided to taste the different parts separately:
– the white centre had the smoothest texture but the least flavour.
– the seeds had the tartest flavour along with the grainy texture of the seeds
– the green outer flesh had the sweetest flavour and was also grainy, but in a different way to the seeds.
– the best flavour is when you get a bit of all three areas on the spoon. The flavour is better because it’s more complex – has more layers to it.
Well that’s it for the zen report tonight – enjoy your dinner – slowly.
Good morning all.
Well would you believe it my weight has finally shifted downwards past my 65.5kg plateau over the last month to 65.1 this morning – yay yay yay !! 0.1kg to go to reach goal weight !! Perhaps my overeating on Monday and subsequent higher than normal calorie intake did the trick as suggested by LJoyce and CalifDream. BMI has also dropped to 23.8.
It’s Saturday morning here and my birthday weekend – 49 tomorrow. Miss D and I are travelling to another town today for the show/fair. Its a lot larger compared to the one we went to a few weeks back closer to home. Plus this one has an agricultural component as well as side shows – poultry, crafts, cakes etc which I love.
Tomorrow is unknown. Miss D has told me not to plan anything and she has been secretly working away for weeks on projects. I suspect a lot of sugary treats will come into play.
Woot! Congrats Gday!
What a lovely early birthday present!
Enjoy your special weekend, and this lovely last year before you hit 50!
LJoyce my zen sense directed me to drink my tea at exactly the right speed to enjoy its hotness! 😉
Loved your kiwi report.
Enjoy your potatoes Sarahwat!
Sending special good wishes to Merry <3
It is a fast day for me. And there is even a little bit of sun out the window!
I am sneezing and sniffling, thanks to my granddaughters latest bug, but not a touch on that last nasty one!
Cheers to you all!
PS New book out talking about the latest findings re how the gut effects health. Interview here with author Dr Kerryn Phelps: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-mystery-gut/8815428
Good morning all SHs. I got a much earlier start than planned, because the construction crew next door had started their machinery by 8am – probably trying to catch up on time lost with the rain over the past few days (they are still working on foundations, so no weather protection). Fine weekend forecast here, so plenty of gardening time for me.
GDSA – Well done on the weight shift – I think keeping our bodies guessing when it comes to calories has merit. Enjoy your day at the show, the one in Barmera when I was growing up was always tiny, but we always made to trip over to Loxton for their show, it was always the best one.
I think it’s just delightful that your 9 year is planning a birthday surprise for you – I hope it’s a wonderful day.
Cinque – hope you have a good FD.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
The FD yesterday, Thursday, helped me lose another pound, so I guess it was worth it. But I don’t think I will do 3 FD’s in a week or a B2B fast unless I hit another long plateau. Fasting 3 days with only 1 day between the B2B was drudgery. That isn’t sustainable for me. But it did push me off of that plateau!
Gday, congrats on your weight loss. You were on the plateau too. We jumped off together! Is the fair and show mostly indoors? It’s raining there this time of year, isn’t it? I’m wondering why they hold the fairs in the winter instead of the summer when it’s warm and sunny? Can’t wait to hear what your DD has planned for your birthday!
Cinque, you need warm weather to get over all the colds and flu stuff. Come and visit me for a while! It’s cooled down a little and it’s sunny every day. I will feed you kefir and herbal tea. Bengal Spice even! 😄
LJoyce, I tried to do a Zen study of some goat milk kefir today but I don’t think I have 10 minutes worth of patience. 5 minutes looking at and tasting is about my limit. Maybe I should try it later at night. Maybe I should try to meditate.
Sarahwat, there is a vegan diet guru called John McDougall who is big on potatoes and starches as part of a weight loss program He’s linked here: http://www.vegsource.com Chef AJ used to be connected with vegsource as well and did presentations at some of their seminars. I think she still is. There’s lots of interesting stuff on the website.
Hi Cali, glad to here you shifted your plateau. You deserved it after all those FDs.
I don’t do 10 minutes of looking and sniffing – more like 2, depending on how interesting the look and smell of the food is. Then I really take my time with the eating process – half a teaspoon or less at a time and let it sit in my mouth rather than gulping it down.
For me, what I really want to get out of this exercise is a skill/tool that I can access at will that will allow me to enjoy a small quantity of food and take genuine please in that without wanting more. Because I have a habit of eating too fast, slowing that eating process right down is something I really need to learn to do. The more a food is a “treat”, the faster I tend to eat it – which is one of the reasons I always want more.
Like all new skills they need practice. I’m hoping that if I do this at least once every day then when I need to apply it to a high calorie food I might actually thing to do it. At the moment, I’ve too often eaten the food before I think about eating it slowly and savouring the experience.
LJoyce, I usually eat too fast too and that’s how I end up eating too much. You’re right, slowing down and appreciating each mouthful is a really good idea. And when eating mindfully and eating less, food tends to taste better anyway. On FD I’m really hungry when I eat so I tend to eat fast. But on NFD it’s even more important to eat slowly. I need to start doing that, to pick out at least one food for the Zen experience.
For tonight’s zen exercise I decided to try a hot drink. I made a cup of hot milk (mainly almond with about 1/4 reduced fat cows milk), I stirred in about 3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste, a pinch of nutmeg and 2 tsp inulin powder. I heated it to boiling point – much hotter than I normally would – so that I had time for observation while I waited for it to cool enough to drink.
The rising steam was the first thing I noticed. Then the speckled surface from the nutmeg, little rust coloured specks on a creamy surface. The aroma was so reminiscent of rice pudding with the smell of nutmeg, vanilla and milk. The aroma was lovely, but it didn’t create the same “heady” effect that last night’s kiwifruit did.
I tasted with a teaspoon. I felt surprise at the wateriness of the liquid because my mind was still thinking about rice pudding. Where the smell was dominated by nutmeg, the dominant flavour was definitely vanilla. It was mildly sweet (from both the milk and the inulin) and unlike the previous evenings the flavour didn’t change to sour in my mouth it remained sweet until I swallowed it. A sense of sweetness and vanilla fragrance remained in my mouth even after I’d swallowed the milk. I continued with a few more teaspoonfuls until switching to drinking it normally. It was only with the larger mouthfuls, which was able to travel all over my mouth at once, that I noticed the milkiness. The flavour of the milk was otherwise dominated by the stronger fragrance of vanilla and nutmeg.
I feel rather mellow now.
For anyone wondering about the inulin – it’s a prebiotic. I have the one that Minka recommended that is made from powdered jerusalem artichokes. It has a mildly sweet taste. I commonly add it to hot milk drinks, smoothies, muesli, yoghurt or kefir. I use 2 tsp most days.
Good evening all. Enjoyed a lovely day at the show and then a late afternoon tea with mum to celebrate my birthday- seeing as I’m not allowed to leave home tomorrow due to Miss D’s secret plans.
CalifDream all shows/fairs in my region are held in winter. Even though LJoyce and I live approx 4 hours drive from each other our climate is very different at times. Ljoyce has abundant rainfall during winter and I have hardly any.
LJoyce would have very chilly winter days whereas the mornings here can get to zero degrees but winter daytime temps are 18 to 25 degrees on average. I think I’ve only used my heater about 3 times this year and that was only for an hour or so to take off the morning chill.
Summer temps here on average range from 35 to 45 degrees here so way too hot for shows.
The only portion of the show thats indoors is the art, craft & baking displays, everything else is outdoors.
Ljoyce loving your zen postings, hope you feel better soon Cinque and CalifDream yay yay on moving on from the plateau.
I only had one donut today at the show and ordered a chai latte at a little cafe in a shopping mall. Was a bit disappointed when I saw them use the same supermarket bought chai latte mix that I buy but then horrified when they put 6 teaspoons of the stuff in my cup. I only have one teaspoon at home so no wonder I felt like I was on super speed for the rest of the day !
Gday, the weather around here within 4 hours drive can be drastically different going up or down the mountain. I didn’t realize you were that far from LJoyce. Are you up by Perth?
My scale showed only a .2 pound gain this morning, 2nd day after the FD, so the plateau is definitely behind me.
LJoyce, I’ll have to be end up on inulin. Do you notice a difference when eating it?
Good morning,
Happy Birthday Gday!
http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/cms/CROSSCARDS/26685-happy-birthday-pink-roses.jpg
It is also my granddaughters birthday! Three years ago they rang in the early hours to say labour had started. I booked a flight to Sydney, my sister drove me to the airport, when the plane arrived in Sydney a wonderful taxi driver took me to the best entrance at the hospital and I got to her just in time to see the amazing little girl being born.
Off to have morning tea with them soon. Lucky they live in Melbourne now!
I’m cooking some porridge to break my fast incase the food at the cafe is disappointing. Tricky situation, but I think this is best.
It was a good fast day yesterday.
I might try my cup of tea even zennier! Starting off smelling the leaves as the hot water hits them!
You did a lovely job with your evening drink LJoyce!
Best wishes to everyone!
Hi CalifDream. LJoyce and I both live in South Australia. Ljoyce is in tbe Adelaide Hills only a short distance from our capital city if Adelaide. I live about 4 hours north of LJoyce in a tiny township of just under 2,000 people at the base of the Flinders Ranges. I’m about 10kms from the nearest regional town which is where I work and my daughter goes to school.
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16 Aug 17