GDSA
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy b….
I hope you have a fabulous day and that the surprises your daughter has planned all turn out the way she hoped.
This topic contains 27,907 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by thinatlast 2 days, 18 hours ago.
Hi SHs,
Cinque, I hope the cafe food is not disappointing,and that you have a lovely time.
I have a habit of sniffing tea leaves. I used to buy them directly from the importer and I would select by smelling them. I could quickly tell which fragrances I would enjoy and I could also tell whether they were fresh or not by the smell. These days I mainly buy T2 as I have come to trust their freshness and blending.
Cali, I found a good map image which clearly shows you where we all are:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/australia/
GDSA and I are in South Australia. GDSA is near the Flinders Ranges, I’m near Adelaide, Thin is way over west in Perth, Cinque is east in Melbourne and I’m pretty sure we have others in Sydney and also in Broome. To give you an idea of scale: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2015/09/09/compare-australia-size_n_8108198.html (you can see that distance from west to east coast is similar for both our countries). The vast majority of the population in Australia is along the eastern coastline, the centre and west has a comparatively sparse population. We also have growing cities and shrinking rural populations.
Cali, We had a bit of a discussion about inulin on this forum back in late June, so have a look through pages 232-3 if you have time. It’s hard to tell whether it makes a difference to my gut flora as I can’t teat it (basically it just provides one food source for the good bugs). When I first started it I experienced colic pain and gas but it eased off in a couple of weeks. Since the last course of antibiotics those symptoms have returned, so I suspect my gut is in a repopulation phase. Luckily there isn’t colic pain this time, just more gas which can be inconvenient. I’m fairly sure it’s the inulin powder that causes this because it doesn’t happen on the days when I don’t take it and it always occurs within 3 hours of having the inulin. I’ll just persevere as I assume the symptoms will ease off as they did last time. What this confirm however, is that something changed in my gut with the antibiotics.
I started my day with a bowl of my favourite muesli with almond milk and kefir poured over and some strawberries on top. I remembered how sweet I used to like these things to be. There was a time I would have put sugar or honey on top but my sense of what is sweet has really changed. I think this is amplified by the zen exercises, as foods that I never associated with sweetness do have some sweetness as part of their flavour profile.
I decided to try the zen exercise as part of a meal today. I just had a “ploughman’s lunch”. A sprouted rye roll (very dense bread), a chunk of mersey valley vintage cheddar, 2 pickled onions (very sour ones) and a large handful of yellow cherry tomatoes.
I focused on the cheese, by itself and then as part of the meal. The aroma was very mild, which surprised me. In colour and smell, it reminded me of fresh butter. The texture was so distinctive as this is such a soft crumbly cheese, so wherever it’s cut it has a textured crumbly surface. I put a tiny piece on my tongue and it dissolved almost too quickly for me to identify flavours. So I tried it with a bigger bit. Again a surprise – I was expecting the strong bitey flavour to dominate, but it didn’t. The overwhelming sensation was one of soft velvety creaminess. If fact that chunk of cheese completely dissolved on my tongue just the way a piece of chocolate would. I didn’t know cheese could do that – it’s probably testament to the incredibly high butter fat content of this cheese.
The dominant aroma on my plate was, of course, the pickled onions. They had the astringent aroma of vinegar and a hint of spices. The tomatoes smelled fresh and remind me of summer. The bread smells like grain – it reminds me of the smell when you cut the stitching at the top of a big hessian bag of wheat and get hit by the smell of the grain. (They probably don’t use hessian bags anymore, but they did when I was young.)
When eating the bread and cheese with either a slice of pickled onion or a cherry tomato what I noticed was that the cheese flavour “held its own”. Despite the strong zesty flavour of the tomato or the vinegar of the onions, the cheese flavour was not drowned out. The tomato or onion was what I tasted first, but that quickly faded and I became much more aware of the flavour of the cheese. Once the mouthful was gone the main flavour that remained was the cheese.
A very simple but delicious meal.
Which I think now needs to be followed by a pot of tea. (I realise beer is the traditional accompaniment to this meal, but I am not a beer drinker.)
Good evening all. Sorry I’ve missed quite a bit over the weekend! I hope you are all well and that life is treating you kind 😊 Well I’m all set for my first weigh in and first FD tomorrow. I sat and watched MM again today as I kind of dozed off a bit when it was on the other night! Certainly not because of the show or the presenter, I had just had a very tiring day lol. Got my oats and fruit ready for breakfast and my chicken and veggies weighed out for my stir fry for dinner!!! Plenty of iced black coffee in the fridge and topped up the herbal tea canister!!! I’ve just had a nice Sunday roast so the scales won’t be kind in the morning 😂 Looking forward to getting fit and healthy!
Hi Frangipani – I hope your first FD goes well. The fact that you’ve planned ahead is a good sign. I’ve always found it makes the FDs easier.
I had a Sunday roast as well – lamb with carrots, potato, red onion, parsnips and kale sprouts.
It’s taken me quite a bit of prep, but I have finally finished making a 4 lite stock pot full of scotch broth. It took 8 hours of simmering yesterday to get the lamb broth to the stage I wanted. Then it needed to set overnight so I could remove a huge disk of fat from the top today. Remove all the lamb from the bones and chop veg and make the soup. Because it contains pearl barley and split mung dahl as well as the lamb it will be a very filling soup that should be a meal on its own. This is a departure from norm for me, as I rarely make soups containing meat, if I want to add protein I usually just add legumes. However, this will be just the thing for the wet weather forecast for this week. I find I need filling lunches in cold wet weather or I tend to snack all afternoon.
Happy Birthday, Gday! Can’t wait to hear what Miss D had secretly planned for your Birthday! 🎂
Frang, good luck on your first FD tomorrow. My first one was easier than I thought it would be, and they get easier as time goes on. I hardly think about them anymore, just have a few FD foods that I keep on hand.
Good morning everyone,
Happy first fast day Frangipani! I do hope it goes well for you!
Your Scotch broth sounds wonderful LJoyce. I bought some pearl barley not long ago thinking of making the same.
But I need to make myself something with the frozen basa fillets I bought first. I am a complete novice with seafood and thought they would be a good start, but I haven’t managed to do anything with them yet. Any ideas?
Gday I do hope your birthday went well, just incase you missed my post yesterday, I am sending you some more birthday wishes.
Best wishes to you all.
Cinque, I love Basa filets. My OH likes them because they’re mild and he doesn’t like fish that have a heavier fish flavor. Because they’re so mild, I usually poach/steam them in just a little water, lemon juice and dill. (And salt, of course) I add capers near the end. I’ve also done them with onions, lemon juice and fresh basil. I hate to use too many other ingredients that would cover up their flavor. Even the onions are a little much. I guess I have a thing about adding too many ingredients to fish or seafood. (Bouillabaisse is the exception.) I think breading and deep frying a fish or shellfish is a terrible thing to do to them! I do eat fish and chips but it’s mainly because I like the malt vinegar sprinkled on and the breading holds the vinegar. Lobster Thermidor is a favorite dish of many but I question why anyone would want to pay the price for lobster, only to cover it up with a lot of other flavors?
LJoyce, the Scotch Broth with the lamb sounds wonderful. It’s good to change up the recipes once in awhile. And this sounds perfect for a FD or NFD. I love barley in soups and stews.
Good morning all. Thank you all for your well wishes for my first FD today. Bit of a shock when I got on the scales this morning, back up to 98.2 so lots of work to do here!!! I’ve got my flask of green tea ready to go to school this morning for my daughters last book week parade! I’m also a fan of Basa but unfortunately a lot of fish doesn’t like me, it repeats something shocking no matter how I cook it!!! Oh how I would kill for some of that broth LJoyce, it sounds devine 😋 Wishing you all a great day, fasting or not 😊
Hi everyone,
Well it’s been the longest time I’ve ever been off the forum, maybe 3weeks? Anyway, I have really missed it and missed you all. I’ve read this page but it may take me a while to catch up or I may need to just miss a little.
Happy Birthday GDSA!
Looking forward to hearing about your 1st FD Frangipani.
Cinque- how are you? Are you feeling a bit better now? Is that dreadful bug on it’s way? I hope so.
Life continues to be very busy and stressful, but it is a little easier now as we get through dealing with all the stressful stuff. we’ve been away for family reasons and my FDs were started but not finished a couple of times and I made the decision to not do them till I got home again. I’m now back on my Monday/Thursday fasting regime and enjoying that “lighter” healthier feeling that fasting 2/week gives. The downside is this morning I weighed in at 65.0kg, so up a kg, but I know it’s from my time with no FDs and will quickly go. I achieved my goal of keeping to 64kg for June and July and my goal is to be 64.0kg by the end of August. Note: 1kg =2.2lbs.
We’re now gearing up for a 100th birthday for DFIL and visiting rellies. He continues to deteriorate with dementia and it is sad but the inevitable result of being so old and just “wearing out”. We do what we can to keep his spirits up, and keep him interacting, and he has very good 24hr care. His survival spirit is strong and helped him survive as a POW, but it can exacerbate things at this end of life. It is quite emotional going through things and wrapping up the life of my dear MIL and, despite the challanges of the past few years, DFIL, and we’ve done the best we can to follow their wishes and their personal philosophies. On the other side of the circle of life we’re celebrating new babies as well.
Life goes on, and I am so glad 5:2 has come into my life and my OH’s and I’m very grateful to share the forum with all of you.
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry and OH
You know I’m not an early riser, but I really pushed the boundaries today – I woke at 11:45am. Now before you all gasp with horror I had a very sleepless night – I finally got to sleep at around 6:30am. So only about 5 hours sleep actually. It was one of those nights where I debate about whether I’ll just get up, in the hope that the lack of sleep means I’ll sleep well tonight. However, I know from experience that when I choose this option I have a high calorie day. I think my need for high energy food is increased and my decision making is definitely impaired. Today is a FD so I decided getting up late would be more beneficial to me than an uncontrolled appetite.
It’s times like these I’m glad I’m retired. This used to happen at least once a week when I was working but I just had to go to work with no sleep. I’m really glad those days are over, as I’m sure I wasn’t really safe driving and I’m sure my productivity at work suffered.
I’m hoping for a good FD. I have just had my first pot of tea for the day. Very nice it was too, although it hasn’t woken me up much, I still feel very sluggish. If I get hungry through the afternoon I’ll have a kiwifruit and dinner will be a big bowl of hearty scotch broth.
It’s interesting how popular those hearty old fashioned soups are. This one is very similar to the soup my mum made most often. She used to add half a packet of chicken noodle soup to the pot near the end of cooking and tell us it was chicken noodle (she never called it scotch broth, even though before adding the soup powder that’s exactly what it was). I suspect she thought that it would be more appealing to us as children if it had noodles.
Frangipani, hope it’s going really well. I promise you 5:2 does get a lot easier, especially when you see the weight dropping off, and you start to feel good because you’ve lost all that weight. I started in January, bmi just short of 35, getting reflux 3-4 night a week, and getting short of breath just from tying my shoelaces. Now I feel so much better, I’ve lost just over 10kg, my BMI is 30.8, so soon I’ll be merely overweight. No more reflux, and I can tie my shoelaces with no discomfort whatsoever. I can also fit clothes I loved but couldn’t get into anymore. You will get there too, I am confident of that. I really love 5:2 no other diet has worked for me in years, good on you for deciding on health.
As for me, I think I’m over the plateau. I did a juice reset a few weeks back and I think that’s really helped. Here in NZ there’s a company does these juice programmes (phd) and they deliver everything you need for the three days. My one included vegan salads but you can also do just juice ones. I felt much better after this. Was expensive but worth it to knock me off the plateau. Weighed myself this morning and I’ve lost even more weight, total 10.3 kg over the 7 months I’ve been on 5:2, most of that in the first 6 months. But my diet hasn’t been amazing since having my teeth out when I was on soft foods for a month due to complications, so once I get back on track I’ll be losing steadily again I’m sure.
Jody
Well so far not bad! My stomach is rumbling a bit! I had my oats for breakfast and just sticking to green tea, black coffee and water. I did try some Miso soup which was the foulest thing I think I’ve ever tasted and the Bovril didn’t really impress me either!!!! Just looking for some low calorie hot drink options to get me through the day while we get through the winter lol!!! I don’t usually do breakfast but I was thinking that Breakfast then dinner would give me the longest Fast!!! I think next FD I will have my breakfast later around 11, that way I will make it through the afternoon!!! ATM I’m not too sure how things will be around 3pm!!! Hope you are all having a good day so far.
GDSA – I’m impressed with the new weight – under 65kg finally. That’s pretty good going, considering the show doughnut and birthday food.
Frangipani – what do you consider “low calorie” when it comes to hot drinks? I don’t find cups of broth appealing either, but I have 2 milky “go to” options on FDs.
The very low cal option:
– cups of tea or coffee with milk but not sugar (you can use decaf versions if the caffeine is a concern) – depending on how much milk you add it will be 30-60kj (7-14 calories)
The moderate cal option:
– drinks made with hot almond milk (or almond-coconut). Most unsweetened almond milks have 65-85 calories per 100ml (15-20cal). You can use it for latte or cocoa or chai. You can also just add a flavouring such as vanilla paste and cinnamon or nutmeg. While this option takes more calories I do find it filling and it’s often enough to satisfy me for a couple of hours where a cup of tea wouldn’t. When making cocoa I use 1 level tsp cocoa powder and a little stevia (you can buy sugar-free hot chocolate mixes but I prefer to be in control of which sweetener I use). If I’ve run out of almond milk I use one tablespoon skim milk powder dissolved in a mug of hot water instead (120kj-29cal) – then just use this to make latte, cocoa etc.
Thanks LJoyce but I like to stay away from the milk on FD as I usually only drink black coffee at home anyway, save the lattes for when I’m out with friends😉 I was looking more for a low cal cup a soup or the like! At least that way I feel like I’m having something a bit more than a tea or coffee. Having a long black now as it’s 3.30 and afternoon tea time! Not feeling too hungry but really looking forward to dinner lol. I forgot to check my TDEE this morning when I entered my weight and quite happy to say that is 1945!!! Pig out day tomorrow lol!!!
For ten days we have had two of the grand-children and their dog with us. I was active with the kids and, not having a dog of my own these days, I walked the mutt several miles a day. Result – gained 5 lbs. Whenever we have them my other half goes into serious Grandma mode and makes masses of chocolate cakes and the like and, although I do the cooking, the diet suddenly includes cheesy pasta and the like. Before their arrival I was on a plateau at my target weight. So today I am on a fluid only fast and hitting the gym.
The kefir continues to ferment well. It is getting creamier and we have become accustomed to the stronger taste than you get from the bought stuff. Yesterday I found some goat’s milk and I have my first batch with that on the go.
Reading the posts, this sounds more like a village than a digital community – successes to be shared and difficulties to be sympathised with. You would not realise that most of us have never met.
Sorry to hear of your gain Penguin. I’m usually the same when my mum comes to stayand cooks for us all, including her grandkids!!!! Too many fairy cakes and Cauliflower cheese!!! Just goes to show that the 5:2 is not about excersise at all! Walking the dog may not have done much for your weight but I’m sure it did plenty for your overall fitness😉 Well after the 3.30 black coffee the stomach was growling like a bear after winter hibernation by 5pm!!!! I held out until cooking dinner until 6pm so sitting down to my chicken and veg stir fry now. I’m afraid I’m one of those that reads or is on the tablet also while eating! I will give your Zen eating a try on my next FD LJoyce 😉 Typing and reading while eating helps me slow things down and make the meal last longer lol I’m really enjoying taking my time with this! I will keep my fingers crossed that the usual snack time around 9pm doesn’t hit too hard tonight as I don’t like to drink coffee of an evening as it keeps me awake and tea will have me getting up to the bathroom in the night 😂 That’s the great thing about the Internet and Chat Penguin, you get to make friends with so many people all around the world. Many of my very good friends I have met on line and never even met. They have been a great support and brightened my day over the struggles I’ve had over the last 3 years. I really hope and look forward to caring and sharing with all of you and even if it’s not all about 5:2, keep it coming 😂😉😊
Penguin, I hope that returning your diet to its usual choices gets your weight back down to it previous level quickly.
Frangipani, if the milk drinks aren’t what you were looking for what about a pureed veg soup. Take 1-3 veg that you like (mostly lower cal choices), cook in a low cal broth and once the veg is soft puree it. You could add a little dairy, but I find you get a creamy texture from the puree process without needed to add milk. I almost always include carrot in my pureed soup combinations as it adds a sweetness that provides good balance to stronger flavoured veg like brocolli or cauliflower. I also often add a zucchini or two as it adds bulk without influencing the flavour and has very low calories. As to texture, you want it thick enough to be satisfying, but not so think that you can’t drink it easily from a mug. This means you need to be fairly generous with the broth. As the base broth I am normally after a quick option, so I use massel chicken style low sodium stock powder, it is a vegetarian product and is just 27kj (6cal) per teaspoon. You can use liquid stock but they all have a much higher calorie count.
For 1 litre of stock you will need roughly 4 cups of veg.
Some combinations that I like:
onion, carrots, zucchini
cauliflower, carrot
brocolli, carrot, zucchini
celeriac, zucchini
I always add herbs as well (usually dried)
YOu could also have a look at this forum thread https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/ as it also includes some soups.
Good evening all.
LJoyce wow what a sleep in but understandable after a sleepless night. Here’s hoping it hasn’t thrown your body clock out and that you are able to go to sleep at your usual time tonight.
Penguin loving your village comment – so very true indeed. I do wonder if I would have stuck with 5.2 if not for the wonderful support here. Oops on the weight gain but upwards and onwards as they say.
Frangipani71 congratulations for nearing the end of your FD. Miso does have an usual taste but I love it and have 1 tablespoon miso paste in a cup of hot water each day. It gets me over the FD belly rumbles. Did you use the miso paste or a different version such as a packet soup mix?
Merryme good to have you back. Hoping our banter can offer some relief and distraction during this stressful time for you.
Birthday update – MissD decorated the lounge room with streamers and balloons which has become a household tradition. She decorated cupcakes with cream and gifts included milk chocolates, some homemade craft items for my sewing (a foam crocodile pin cushion was very creative) and 2 huge knitted stuffed chooks handmade by the ladies at the local craft shop which is a not for profit group that raises money for local charities. Unfortunately the weather was blowing a gale and drizzly rain all afternoon (yay rain) so her planned outdoor activities had to be postponed until next weekend. I havent eaten milk chocolate for a long time and found the taste quite vile to be honest. Im definately sticking to the 90% cocao chocolate and I’m sure MissD will plough her way through the milk ones.
Frangipani I find I really struggle missing lunch, maybe because it’s part of my routine, I go home from work and have lunch every day. So I choose to skip breakfast instead, replacing it with a cup of herbal or fruit tea, and maybe a small 100 calorie snack a bit later if I’m at home and need something. I remember I used to really struggle to eat breakfast as a child, and my mother practically had to make me, that or let me eat my little brother’s baby rice for breakfast. I still love the taste of baby rice! But we’re all different of course and it’s up to you to find what works, just a suggestion as you said you don’t normally eat breakfast. You’re still getting a long fast from dinner the night before until lunch the next day is quite a long time.
Glad to hear it’s going well.
Jody
Thanks LJoyce, that sounds like just what I need, I will definitely check out those recipes. GDSA, I had the dried packet soup mix and thankfully I didn’t even take a mouthful, the smell was enough to put me off so I just had a sip off a teaspoon and threw it straight down the sink 😂🤢🤢🤢 Sounds like you had a great birthday and MissD spoilt you very well. Glad to hear 😊Jody I did used to eat breakfast every day but unfortunately when my husband left 3 years ago I could only just stomach black coffee in the morning so my habits now stem from that. I agree, still quite a long Fast between and MM does say it’s not when you eat on FD but the calorie intake that is important so yes I think il will do brunch and dinner and will probably do Wednesday and Friday as FD this week also, would just like yo see what effect the 3:4 has even though I know 5:2 is great. Haven’t found it too hard at all today so far. Thankfully my chicken stir fry filled me up but the snacking hour is fast approaching so putting the breaks on and definitely going to break that habit! 😉 I hope you have all had a great day. Is it usual to weigh in after only 1FD? Of course I will be itching to jump on the scales in the morning, human nature lol!!!!
GDSA – thanks for the birthday update -I particularly loved the idea of knitted chooks – very apt given your recent acquisitions.
Frangipani – I never eat breakfast on a FD either and I rarely eat earlier than 11am on any day. I see no point eating when I don’t have an appetite – I don’t have enough calories to go around as it is – no point wasting them.
Hope you find a soup recipie that hits the spot – I know Thin swears by her cauliflower soup on FDs. If I have soup as a snack rather than a meal then it’s usually carrot for me.
I am at the end of my FD and have just done my zen exercise. A strawberry tonight. The colour was fabulous and got a darker red the close to the tip. The texture was really dimpled but so evenly dotted with little yellow spots. The texture and colour pattern reminded me of a knitting pattern (a cross between honeycomb and fairisle). The aroma was sweet and smelled of strawberry, but was mild – I suspect because these weren’t a locally grown summer berry. The flavour suffered from the same problem – nice but not outstanding. Not a lot of sweetness or fragrance and the texture was so firm it was more like biting into an apple. I need to try this again in summer with berries sourced from local markets rather than the supermarket.
Frangipani71 I’ve never tried the miso packet soup mix as I’ve never liked the taste of any packet soup. I suggest buying a packet of tbe actual miso paste to try. Its also fantastic to add umph to stews etc and I love it as a sauce for stir frys. Theres also great health benefits in consuming miso. Just a thought 😃😃
Skipping brekky isnt a bad thing as you get a longer fasting period each day. I have my first yoga class tonight.
Good morning all I hope you all slept well and have woken with some good results 😊 Of course I jumped on the scales after my first FD yesterday and although I know it’s mostly fluid loss but I’m down form 98.2 to 96.7 -1.5 😝😝😝 I’m definitely a happy bunny today!!! Just sitting down to my first long black and feeling like I could eat something but I’ll wait until after the school drop off to break my Fast. Hope you all have a good day 😉
Two bad nights. Granddaughters fault last night (awake bw three and five). So excuse me if I don’t make sense!
Frangipani, congrats on your first fast day! So glad it was a good one.
Re trying 3:4. good idea, but do remember that the best thing about 5:2 is that it is sustainable long term, and the best thing for your longterm health will be making 5:2 fit into your life in a way that means you can do it forever.
I had to laugh re miso soup (I love it so much I have it every fast day!). I hope you find a good alternative. I know there are some low calorie brands of instant soups that many people here love.
Cali lucky you going through the eclipse. We had a wonderful one here back in about 76. I remember all the birds sand their good night songs and then were very surprised when it got light again an hour later!
We won’t have a good one here for another 20 years.
Must take the little one to the playground at the shops and meet her mum (Coffee yay!). More later!
Good morning all,
Congratulations Frangipani, and well done! 😀Off to a flying start and nothing wrong with that – who cares how much of it is fluid – it’s off and it’s lovely seeing the scLes go down. Now, you know a 5:2 secret – you don’t feel ravenous as soon as you wake up. So good. Now keep it mindful today and you’ll be right.
Yay! Down to 64.6kgs this morning after FD. On my way to 64 by the 31st.
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry
Hi everyone, well done to all who have lost and got to their desired weight. Congrats Frangipani71 on your first FD and weight loss Yay! I have been enjoying reading everyone posts but just no time to reply. Belated birthday wishes Gday and you have a wonderful daughter that made your day special! There are to many posts to reply to all. I have had a mixed up couple weeks and consequently I didn’t complete 2 of my fast days but did manage to not gain any weight so that is a plus.I am slowly getting my NFD’s under control for the last couple weeks and hope the trend continues. Frangipani71 I struggled with hunger for my first 4 – 5 FD’s but since then I don’t get hungry, although I also don’t eat anything until around 8pm as once I start I seem to want to eat constantly. I have also found that if I eat before 10am after a FD I eat all day but if I stick to not eating till between 12 – 1.00pm I only eat 2 meals and a small amount of snacks ( maybe some almonds or crackers & Cheese)I also struggled to sleep when I first started but after 3-4 weeks I was back to sleeping and now I don’t have any trouble. Penguin I would love to have old building blocks buried in my yard, I am fascinated with history and am trying (when I find 5 mins)to do my family tree. I am having trouble with a great great grandfather who was English but apparently liked to duel when it was outlawed and fled England changing his name on the way to Australia. He did mention a couple things to my great grandfather years later but the story hasn’t really been passed down as the family was afraid there may have been debts associated with the family in England, I believe he was the son of an Earl but am having difficulty finding info, whoops sorry for the ramble! Hope everyone enjoys their day either FD or NFD. Intesha you are very talented with your cake decorating and I love the pictures you have posted, would love to see more!
Well done on the weight loss Merry and Frangipani.
Frangipani – I agree with the other advice. Trying to eat mindfully or carefully on the non-fast days can be difficult especially when you do 4:3 – at least it was for me. I did mostly 4:3 in my first month on intermittent fasting because I wanted a faster weight loss, but I struggled to keep my eating under control on the NFDs – this improved a lot when I moved to 5:2.
I also remember the 76 eclipse. I was in high school and I remember we all made pin hole cameras for pieces of paper to watch it through.
Sunday night’s odd sleeping pattern thankfully didn’t upset my body clock. I was asleep by 11pm last night (that’s quite early for me). Hopefully I’m back to a normal pattern for a while. I don’t have those sleepless nights as often as I used to thankfully.
I remember the eclipse too. I was in primary school and it was very spooky indeed. Im glad your sleeping pattern has remained LJoyce – wow 11pm an early night I’m battling to stay awake after 8.30pm !
Today is my FD but I didnt pre plan so not so fussed if I dont stick to it….theres always tomorrow.
GDSA – I see the 64s have brought a new cavalier attitude – good for you. Are you happy to maintain at this weight long term?
I’m not surprised at your early bedtime, if I remember correctly you’re up at 5am. I never have been a morning person and after decades of early rising for work I decided to allow my body clock to do its own thing after I retired – sometimes it takes that to extremes.
I did a FD yesterday and surprisingly didn’t feel hungry today. I have just broken my fast with a plate of roast veg that was leftover from Sunday’s dinner. It included kale-sprouts (which I’ve mentioned before). Previously I cooked them in boiling water, like I would for brussel sprouts. However these came in a bag from Coles and had alternate cooking instructions that suggested tossing in oil and roasting. So I took them at their word and added them to the roasting pan for the last 15 minutes. They were great – really crisp and crunchy – a lot like the kale chips that you can make from kale leaves baked in the oven. Now I have 2 ways I like them. Always good to have another dark green leafy veg to choose from – I’m sure my red blood cells appreciate it.
After lunch I was surprised by the sun making an appearance, so I decided a walk was warranted. I walked into town, went to the bank and supermarket, did some window shopping and then went to a cafe for afternoon tea and read some magazines. When I emerged the weather had changed. The sun was gone and the black clouds were rolling over the sky. Instead of a leisurely walk home it turned into a power walk. Made it home before the rain.
Morning all. I have just harvested my first goat’s milk kefir. Different. It appears to have eaten some of my grains, there are fewer than I put in, and it has given me more kefir than usual, more than my storage bottle will hold. I hadn’t intended to breakfast today but decided that the easiest way of dealing with the excess was to drink it. I would normally leave it in the fridge for 24 hours before drinking, so I am not sure if the gentle smooth flavour is because I didn’t do that or because it is Goat. I will see tomorrow.
This morning I am crossing the border into Wales. The nearest really good arts material shop is in Abergavenny, which is about 45 minutes away. These days all of the road signs are in Welsh and English, which is not a problem as long as they remember to give the English. I know that “Araf” means slow, but there was a Welsh only warning on the motorway last week. My Welsh neighbour told me that it meant “Animals”. This sign thing is about reinforcing Welsh nationality. Welsh is mostly spoken by a minority in rural north Wales, in the south the majority are no wiser than I am. As ever, it costs money – all Welsh official paperwork has to be in both languages, which means two none-Welsh speakers buying and selling a house wind up with legal paperwork, half of which they can’t understand.
Penguin – Enjoy your day trip to Wales. I spent all of one day there in my only trip to Britain – quaint was the impression I was left with. My impression from television is that it has lush green hills, cute villages and too much rain.
You’ll have to make up a little list for the car of Welsh-English common road terms so that you can quickly look up the warnings while on the go – better than hitting a wandering herd of sheep or cows because you can’t remember what “Croesi da byw” means. (No I don’t speak Welsh, just know how to ask google to tell me.)
I had a simple but very enjoyable dinner. A large bowl of butternut lemon soup with 2 slices of toasted sprouted rye bread. I’ve been eating bread less often lately so it feels like a treat when I do have it now.
Ljoyce yes have been thinking about long term weight. This morning I reset my fitbit to a new goal weight of 63kg so another 2kg. Im not feeling too pressured to get there though but I think just a couple more kgs will be right for me. I really want to focus on building muscle and becoming more toned and with the end of winter upon us increasing exercise and weights is on my agenda.
Penguin paperwork in 2 languages sounds very painful indeed. Safe travels and enjoy your day out.
My first yoga class went well and I really enjoyed it. Wonder how sore I will be tomorrow?
Sounds like you have all had a good day or are going to! I’m in Melbourne but have only been here for 17 years, originally from Northants in the U.K. I remember a very happy week long field trip to Abergavenny in my first year of senior school. Of course all us girls spent all out time chatting up the local lads lol! I worked with a welsh lady and she spoke quite a bit but these days not many do! Sounds to me like a waste of time money and paper as far as the dual language goes!! Had a fairly good day until dinner, unfortunately Tuesdays are a little busy with the kids due to gymnastics class so my TDEE went a bit over thanks to fish and chips 😩😂 I’ll be keeping myself busy at home tomorrow as I have to steam clean the carpets so I think a FD is in order and shouldn’t be too hard. Will see how I go with 3:4 just for this first week to give me a kick start. Take care all, until tomorrow 😉
Good evening everyone,
FD today and going to do B2B tomorrow. Doing B2B due to having my kids for dinner on Monday and my parents stopping off on Thursday so to keep my NFD meals with my kids on Friday I thought just squeeze in B2B FD’s this week or a “double header” hey CalifDreamer.
Soup is on the stove heating up just now at 9.30pm. I did question myself last week when eating at this late hour if I really needed to have anything but the mind and habits are a funny thing, you just think about not having eaten as the hours roll past and keep me awake. I have done two water fasts (with two white coffee’s) previously and the above happened on the first one but on the second one I was so tired and nodding off that I just went to bed. In the morning it feels like any other FD morning, not hungry and can hold off brekkie until mid morning. Anyway I won’t be doing a water FD on purpose in the future.
Congrats on your first FD Frangipani. Lots of time for adjusting, finding your FD foods. You can look them up in the afternoon of a FD and then go and purchase the ingredients this can help get you through the tough time of the mid to late afternoon of a FD. Jumping on the forum here or just reading the great good news stories will always help too.
Congrats to GDayfromSA on reaching your first goal weight and for setting new reachable targets.
Great to hear from you Merryme, we are always here to fall back on when needed as you know.
LJoyce I eat my FD meal over a much longer period than normal meals taking in the aroma’s and sensations of the different ingredients.
I watched Dr.Moseley’s fasting doco again and was reminded how he does not mention weight loss as the primary reason for fasting. My brother is fairly fit and eats very well but his blood sugars are a bit high from a recent test. He thought it might be due to eating too much fruits like strawberries, watermelon and rockmelon to which I showed him they are low in energy in fact to his surprise. I then told him the other benefits of 5:2, which I have told him previously, with Dr.Mosely halving his blood sugar levels after all different types of fasting. I will book in for a blood test next month to see my levels compared to 2 years ago when I was last tested.
It is still a tough sell to others this way of life even when the they can see it right before them. He is worried about not eating all day.
I will be breaking my beer fast for August on Thursday when my dad comes up. I haven’t missed it but it is winter we will see how just a restriction during the week goes next month and having them beautiful green bottles staring at me in the fridge all week long as I reach past them to grab a soda water.
Meals for the days:
2 x white coffee’s 300kj, 500g minestrone soup 800kj, 100g kidney beans 400kj and 150g mushrooms 175kj. Total 1675kj or 400cals
Good evening SHs – nice to hear from you Joffy.
Well it’s zen report time, I almost forgot today. As it’s well past the time when I allow myself to eat I’m using one of my common evening drinks – chocolate chai. This is a decaffeinated version of the T2 tea that I blended myself so I could have it in the evenings. Unlike the traditional brewing method with hot milk I brew it in a pot with water and then add some milk to the cup.
I started by smelling the tea blend so I could compare with the cup of tea. The tea blend is really intense and reminds me of all of those highly spiced things like christmas cake and panforte and indian desserts. It’s so intense I can’t detect the aromas of the individual spices, although I am sensing a tingle in the back of my nose which is probably from the chilli I put in it. The brewed tea is completely different – the aroma is gentle, mellow, warm and mildly spicy. The only two spices that I can actually smell from the brewed tea is cinnamon and cardamon. It smells so inviting, especially on a cold winter night. The taste is different again – initially the dominant flavour is the milk but after I swallow I start to get hints of the various spices and slight warm tingle from the chilli seeds and peppercorns that I know are in the tea blend. It also has a slightly sweet flavour even though I haven’t added sugar. Well that’s it tonight – time to drink the rest now and head off to bed.
Back in England. I like Wales. North Wales has some good climbing and kayaking areas and South Wales has some of the prettiest country I have ever seen. They are almost two different countries. My neighbour, who is from South Wales, refers to northerners as “Gogs”. It is not a compliment. S.Wales isn’t all pretty, I did some of my military training in the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains. The terrain is demanding and the weather can be bad enough to kill you. Being a masochist, I keep going back.
Today’s trip was to get some polychromos pencils for my wife, who is a botanical artist, and some heavy body acrylics for me. It turned out to be more expensive. I bought a large studio easel that was on offer and next door to the art shop is a dress shop, conveniently having a sale.
I popped into the book shop. To save LJoyce googling it, “Ffuglen Wyddond” is science fiction – not my choice of subject, but the shortest Welsh description I saw. Everywhere I have lived I have learned some of the local language, mostly long forgotten although I can still buy a beer in Cantonese. The reason I have not yet bothered with Welsh is that, where I mostly go, the locals don’t speak it. I may give it a try, although it passes my half deaf northern ears as a continuous flow rather than individual words.
LJoyce, that chocolate chai tea blend sounds wonderful. Did you put whole seeds and pod spices in it? It sounds like it would be fun to do your own combinations. Cocoa and hot pepper are interesting mixed together.
I’m back to the 61’s again after a temporary gain over the weekend. Yesterday was a good day for a FD. I’ll do my second one on Wednesday this week because we have houseguests from Thursday to Sunday. They are both thin and naturally healthy eaters, so I don’t need to bring high calorie treats into the house for them. We’ll probably go out one of the nights.
Penguin, tour trip to Wales sounds like fun. It would be nice to just get in the car and drive to Wales! Or England. I’ve only been there to change planes, but have always wanted to see the country.
Did you like the goat milk? I’ve been making only that one for the past several days. The cow’s milk is in the frig and completely separated so I may strain out the grains and just keeps the curds for something like a sour cream or yogurt topping. The whey will likely be really strong.
Hope everyone is having a goo day and eating healthy.
Good morning,
Got a much better night sleep and feel just about human again!
Fast Day today, starting with my morning cup of tea. There is a very nice zen thing happening when I touch the cup and decide it is too hot to take a sip yet. The zen fingertip exercise.
I cooked the fish last night, thanks so much for your suggestion Cali because it fitted in with the best recipe I had found on the net and gave me confidence. I wrapped the frozen fillet in foil with salt and pepper, lemon and some fresh parsley, and baked it 25 minutes and it was lovely.
Luckily fish agrees with me Frangipani!
Merry. I am so glad you managed to write. It is wonderful that you are all doing so much to give your FIL the best possible life. I hope he has a great 100 birthday celebration.
You should get a medal for how well you are looking after your health!
LJoyce, your comment about hearty old fashioned soups made me remember the poll I did for my community food project.
I asked people to imagine they were tired at the end of the day, it is mealtime and nothing is prepared. The Fabulous Food Fairy appears and says “Sit yourself down and I will magic up for you whatever you would like to eat”
What would you ask for?
This poll was a response to criticism that people wouldn’t choose healthy food, so I thought I would test that. And the biggest category chosen was soup! ‘The soup my father used to make, with the chuck steak browned and then cooked with beans and vegetables in a beautiful stock.’ is the one I remember most.
Jody, yay for kicking that plateau and all the wonderful health benefits you have now! I do hope your mouth has settled now, it is awful to lose teeth (I have lost most of mine too 🙁 ) and it makes such a difference to eating.
Penguin, glad your are recovering from grandchildren food! You had better not learn Welsh, your neighbour would give you grief! But the trip sounds great. How wonderful to be painting!
Don’t we make an interesting village!
Gday your daughter did so well for your birthday! She’s a keeper 😉
The knitted chooks are a big thing it seems, a knitting friend of mine has been talking about them and joined a facebook group dedicated to them!
Yay for your new weight goal and the pleasure that comes with being at a healthy weight, and pretty much just tweaking now!
Redmoonstar, hello! it is so good to read that those difficulties you had starting with 5:2 settled down. I do hope you find that Earl ancestor, what fun!
Joffy, good luck with your back to back fasts!
And I do hope when you get that beer you enjoy it for as a treat with your dad.
Hello to everyone else! Need to get this bombsite, my home turned into, in some order and then it is coffee and veggie shopping with my (5:2) friend. Bye!
Hi All,
I’m still plodding along and fasting when I can! I was pleased to fast both Saturday and yesterday (Tuesday) as per usual (whew)! I missed my routine when I was only able to fast the one day during the previous week.
Thank you for writing a synopsis response to others Cinque! If I’m not able to read everyone’s posts, I’m able to read the abbreviated version you provided!
Would love to write more, though I’ve got to get back to assignments. I’m just so slow at writing my assignments, I know I take hours or days longer than others in the class. Plus work keeps piling on extra shifts, hence why I’ve been scarce lately! I’m still very grateful to this thread and that it is here always a reminder when I need one!
Morning all, this is my second FD since arriving home from our short break. Whilst away, I celebrated three years on 5:2! This was my third holiday since embracing 5:2 and definitely the most challenging so a good thing it was only three weeks. I completed a 24 hour fast on the journey out which I found difficult and was very hungry all day but it paid off as the next day my travel scales told me that I weighed 59.2kgs.
I did a normal fast one week later while at our self-catering condo which went well but then abandoned my final ‘breakfast buffet to breakfast buffet’ fast idea the following week as I could see it just wouldn’t work to eat so much at the start of a FD and anyway, my weight was already quite low that day. Arriving home in the early hours of Sunday morning, I went straight back into 5:2 and it felt so good to put the reins on all that overindulgence!
Weight today 60.5kgs so my broken 6:1 plan wasn’t a total failure and I certainly enjoyed all the exotic foods on offer. I’m so looking forward to another ‘cleansing’ day today though.
I started reading all the missed posts the other evening but it’s too overwhelming so, instead, decided just to find out who’s been here while I’ve been away. It looks as though you’ve managed to keep the home fires burning admirably. Anyone else fasting with me today?
Cinque, I really do love hearty old fashioned soups, and I have some favorites. Bu your poll question at the community food project made me laugh at what I would say, at the end of a long day if I were really hungry. When the Fabulous Food Fairy appears and says “Sit yourself down and I will magic up for you whatever you would like to eat” my very first thought would be corned beef hash, out of a can, the unhealthy stuff with a good dump of ketchup poured on top. 😁 Back when we used to go tent camping with friends, that’s what we often ate in the morning. Right from the can, into a pot, and heated over a campfire. It was often chilly in the morning and the smell of the pine trees and cool morning air, along with the campfire and hot coffee brewing… yeah, those are good food memories. 😁 (We rarely ate corned beef hash at home.)
But one of my favorite hearty stews is one my mom used to make with big chunks of carrots, potatoes, parsnips, celery, turnips, onions, in a meat broth with some tomato paste or chopped tomatoes added. She would add chunks of beef or sausage. It would simmer on the stove for a long time. I usually make it with sausage, or often no meat at all. Sometimes I’ll add some barley. The broth is usually chicken broth. It’s always better the next day or the day after that.
Good afternoon all, I missed the morning!!! Been busy steam cleaning my carpets this morning so my 2nd FD is going very well. I don’t really feel too hungry ATM and have only had 3 cups of black coffee and water since dinner last night! I didn’t jump on the scales first thing but may be tempted to sneak a peak when I jump in the shower soon lol! I will have some oats for lunch and a few strawberries and I’ve stacks in the fridge to use up thanks to them being reduced in Woolies!!! Need to go out and buy some soy sauce for my chicken stir fry dinner, I enjoyed it so much the other night I decided to have it again tonight, need to use up the veg anyway! I’ve been reading through your posts but unfortunately don’t have the time to respond as well as you Cinque, love that! Hope you are all having a good day so far. Will check in with you all later, take care 😊
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4:29 am
20 Aug 17