Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • GDSA, in the summer here the temp in the kitchen gets to be about 28 or 29 which is where the thermostat is set. My kefir ferments fully in 18 hours or less at those warm temps. I agree with LJoyce about putting it in the frig when you’re away during the day. It would probably ferment too quickly or maybe it would be too hot at those temps.

    LJoyce, seeing the Northern Lights has always been on my wish list too. I think they can occasionally be seen in some of the northern states in the U.S. (And Alaska of course.) The big thing is to be far enough away from city lights. Norway would be an amazing place to visit, but I agree about not liking the cold. I find that coats that are available in California aren’t usually warm enough for our northern states or the east coast of the US, much less Norway.

    Julie, thank you for the link with the birds. They are all so beautiful! I see you have owls there too. Those we have, though maybe different types. It does seem like many of your birds are less afraid of humans. Maybe because people feed them more often?

    Jody, I had never seen or even heard of a rambutan, longan or custard apple much less tasted one. They are very exotic looking! Are they very common in Australia or NZ?

    Thin and Charlie’s Mom, hope you had a great meetup! Have you ever met each other in person before?

    Cinque, it would be fun to write down a few of the songs we have on our Nostalgia or Oldies lists. Many of the singers and groups are popular around the world, but some I hadn’t heard of before. Of course after the ’60’s British Invasion, we know a lot of the English ones. My bedroom walls were completely covered with pictures of the Beatles!

    JodyW – custard apples are divine – I haven’t had one in years. I first tried them in Sydney years ago before they became readily available in Adelaide. I’m going to have to look out for them again. I have a lunch organised with ex-work colleagues next week and we always meet at one of the cafes in the Central Market, so I might hunt out some tropical fruit. There is one market stall called Coco’s that usually has the most exotic fruit choices, but it isn’t cheap. I’m usually shopping on a budget, so it usually influences the things I choose. But seeing tropical fruit as a treat is not a bad idea – I can justify the cost of a couple of pieces per week – it might keep me away from the high sugar treats that keep tempting me to stray from my healthy diet.

    StayinThin – I don’t have very good abdominal muscles either, and I can’t even claim childbirth as an excuse – just too many years with insufficient exercise. I’m trying to address it at a pace I can cope with.

    Thin – my first concert was ABBA in 1977 at Football Park (which was the largest venue in Adelaide at the time). The ticket was a gift for my 15th birthday from my aunt and I went with her and my cousin. We sat so far away that the only way to see the stage was through binoculars. We had one pair for the 3 of us – which we passed around every few minutes. So we each got to see 1/3 of the concert. I was the only person in my year 11 class to go and I remember all the girls wanting to touch the ticket. (As I was living in the Riverland at the time, going to Adelaide for concerts was not something that anyone really did.)
    Once I moved to Adelaide for Uni I went to several concerts each year. I think the most memorable was Fleetwood Mac. There were many concerts held at Adelaide oval which wasn’t far from the uni college where I lived – so even the ones I didn’t go to I certainly heard. I remember trying to study for a Commercial Law exam on a very hot November night with a Kiss concert blaring in the background. It was too hot to close the window as I didn’t even have a fan let alone air-conditioning. We were all trying to stay cool by studying in swimsuits and standing under a cold shower every hour.

    I’ve managed to get a little exercise – I’ve been for a walk, and bought in mine,and both my neighbours, rubbish bins. Where I live it’s really steep and in the couple of years before I had the knee replacement I couldn’t safely get my bin down the long steep driveway, so one of my neighbours did this for me every week. It’s nice to be fit enough now to return the favour, and it’s little bit of extra exercise for me. It also saves them having to do it in the dark when they get home from work.
    I have a large bowl of lentil & veg soup leftover for dinner, that I think I might have it with toast and boiled eggs. I realise that for most people boiled eggs are breakfast food but for me they are an easy dinner.

    CalifD, yes CharliesMum started the trend of Perth losers meeting each other. I was nervous and DD thought it funny after all we’d taught her about cyber safety! She and I have met several times, sometimes alone, sometimes with other Perth losers. I think some of the eastern states losers who were the gurus when I arrived here might have met each other (PVE and Bayleaf). Thanks for your good wishes, Stay, we will have a good time tomorrow.

    LJ, I forgot to say I also liked some of those bands you mentioned – David Bowie, Dire Straits, Talking Heads, Divinyls…. and still listen to all that music. I have a vast collection and very broad musical taste. I, too, loved Abba and was teased for it by my friends. My grandma told me that we’re all different and it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things and taught me that I should never be ashamed to admit that I liked Abba – or anything else. I always remember that advice and never said or did anything to try and ‘fit in’ from that time on.

    One of my best memories in New Zealand was hitch-hiking with a sign reading, ‘Dire Straits’. The whole country seemed to be heading to Christchurch for that concert and it was no trouble to get a lift. A van load of Queenstowners picked me up and we sang DS songs the whole way up there. That sign temporarily replaced my signature hitch-hiking sign which simply read, ‘Harmless’. Even if motorists didn’t stop, they would crack up laughing as they zoomed past.

    I love all this nostalgia. And now it’s only 20 minutes until my leftover miso soup with shiitake and chicken (yep, same old thing Cinque and Joffy!).

    Cinque – I just remembered that there was one thing I’d meant to say about the last episode of “The Obesity Myth”. The doctor said that 20% of the morbidly obese patients that he treats are on anti-depressants. That didn’t surprise me in the least, in fact I expected it to be higher. I would estimate that about 1/3 of the people who were on the online support forum that I was part of with the VLCD meal replacement program said they had issues with depression. It made me feel very lucky that I wasn’t fighting that battle as well as the obesity. I would also estimate that about 1/3 of those on the forum also said that this program was their last chance before accepting that bariatric surgery was the only hope left. It wasn’t necessarily the same 1/3 either – I definitely said the latter but not the former.

    Wow, you guys have been chatting up a storm. Hard to keep up.

    Hi JJ, welcome back. You know what to do & how it all works, so you’ll be fine. That’s why I’m back…took my eye off the ball & it creeps up on you.

    Well, OH arrived back from Japan on Sun night & it’s got so busy again!! Nice to have him home though.

    Cali, yes Golden Paste is the turmeric paste that’s great for arthritis and assoc aches & pains. Supposedly a cancer prevention tool as well. Turmeric as been used in Ayurvedic medicine for a long time. I’ll post the recipe if anyone is interested. Fairly simple to make at home.

    FD for me today. Did ok I think as I had that “burning fat” feeling this aftn. Almost went and checked for ketosis but too busy!! Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

    Struggled with my sourdough loaf today. Tastes great but underproved. Tried to force it to conform to MY timetable!! Nope. Not quite a brick, but….. Anyway, hopefully it will toast up nicely in the morning.

    Smoked salmon salad for me tonight & it was yummy. My herb garden is still producing a fabulous selection of salad leaves & herbs, but needs to be restocked for summer. So nice to be able to pick & eat your dinner.

    Thin, sooo looking forward to our catch up tomorrow. Hope the rain holds off, but they have a fireplace if it’s chilly. At least the gardens will like a drink if it rains. Not looking forward to our long hot summer though which is just around the corner.

    Happy Thursday everyone.
    To those on a FD – be strong, you can do this.
    CM xx

    Hey Thin, do you still save up for a cold boiled egg if you have a late night snack attack!! Yep, still yuck to me!! xx

    Today I picked probably my last raspberries of the year. Blitzed some of them into kefir. I really like this. There are some blueberries in the fridge which I will try tomorrow.

    Good morning,
    Fast Day today and an early cup of tea before I head off to an appointment.
    Computer said JJulie had written a post but it did that old trick, and it just wasn’t here.
    Nice talk of music, fruit, grandchildren and kefir ofcourse!

    LJoyce, I agree re depression and obesity. I’m glad they talked the psychological issues better on the final Obesity Myth show. I’d think it would be the majority who struggle with depression, and anxiety.

    CM and Thin, have a lovely catch up!

    Best wishes everyone!

    Winter is back in Perth. It looks like the treadmill for me this morning. Looking forward to coffee with you CM, that fireplace sounds wonderful.

    JJulie, if you find your post disappears during editing, you can contact JJ, the site administrator, giving the approx. time of the post and she will re-publish it. If you’re writing very long posts, it’s best to highlight/copy them before trying to edit just in case. It’s just an annoying glitch in the system.

    CM, I used to sometimes have a boiled egg (not cold though) about an hour before bed just so I wouldn’t be hungry going to sleep. For the past year or so though, I’ve been having a spoonful of cottage cheese with a sprinkling of blueberries at 8pm. This puts my FD eating window within a six hour period. Funny you mention it this morning because I woke up several times last night feeling really hungry. I ate around 350 cals yesterday. See you soon!

    Cinque, I agree that depression and anxiety are something that most people who are overweight struggle with. Or at least one or the other.

    CM, I would love your recipe for the Tumeris Paste. We take turmeric supplements here and I often cook with it. I think it’s good for a lot of things, maybe cancer prevention and probably inflammation.
    I’m taking our long hot summer and shipping it off to you! We’ve had enough of it this year! It was hotter than I remember it being in a long time. Glad to see it cooling down the past several days. Fall is my favorite time of year, with all the Halloween decorations and pumpkins 🎃. Do you celebrate Halloween there? https://media.buzz.ie/uploads/2016/10/Nemo-1.jpg

    http://www.familyholiday.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Cool-Easy-Pumpkin-Carving-Ideas-_34.jpg

    I love decorating for Halloween. Too bad this isn’t like FB where we could post pictures.

    Hi Everyone
    Unfortunately some of the anti- depression medication cause weight gain as well. It’s a vicious circle for some folk 🙁
    Cali, we don’t really celebrate Halloween here, although it’s becoming more popular for kids to dress up and go trick or treating. I live out of town and have never had any children come here. I don’t know of anyone who decorates their homes with pumpkins. Your Nemo looks fantastic!
    It’s a FD for me today and I’m staying home to do housework. I’m hoping my hubby will be home from work on time and it’s not raining so we can go for a walk.
    Have a great day everyone x

    Cali, will post the Golden Paste recipe later today. Its dead easy. Yes it great for inflammatory issues and has certainly helped me. Supplements just don’t seem to have the same effect because it is claimed that most have a quantity of “fillers” included and just aren’t pure or organic. Stay tuned.

    Thin, see you soon. I think we will be by the fire somehow.

    Cool, blustery and raining in little old Perth today. Might have to hit the sewing machine this afternoon. Have been teaching myself how to use one over the last 12 months. You could say its been challenging!!! But its good fun.

    Happy Thursday everyone. Weigh in for me tomorrow…gulp! CM xx

    Cali – has Halloween changed over the decades? I was wondering if it was always lollies & chocolates that were given or if it started as something healthier like apples? I really love the carousel pumpkin – you would really need a steady hand to carve that. I’d end up with a pumpkin mess and lots of cuts.

    Penguin – I think berries and kefir in smoothies is lovely. I have also treated kefir as a pouring yoghurt and poured it over the top of a bowl of berries – also very good.

    I had to pick myself up off the floor this morning. My winter electricity bill was in my Outlook in-box. It was over $800 for the quarter. When you consider that most of my heating actually came from the $950 worth of firewood that I’d bought, I’m rather shocked. It’s the only good thing about summer – I don’t use much electricity as my house doesn’t heat up unless we have 3 or more 35C days in a row. I think I’m going to have to install a solar system in my next home, as it’s likely to be heated and cooled by ducted reverse cycle. The solar systems seem to be best value for those who are home during the day to use the electricity as it’s generated – and that applies to me.

    NFD for me but I’m planning a FD tomorrow. Now that the weather is becoming milder and there’s finally more sun I’m thinking about adding back the foods that I normally avoid in the cold weather. I probably need to get those containers of soup in the freezer eaten too, as I won’t feel like them once summer gets here.

    Hello!

    I’m fitting in another fast today! Technically, unless I fast again this coming Saturday (which I might do) this may only be a 6/1 week, though that is still better than 14/1 or 18/1, (days that is, not hours)! …which was the regime I was on when I had no time to do anything else but study and write assignments, cook, eat and work along with very little sleep.

    Like others here may have found, I can do some physical work on a FD and get away with it, but I found I wasn’t able to actually research, draft, write and edit lengthy class assignments while fasting. The mental rigor I required to meet the deadlines for the written work required me to fuel my brain as I went along. I’m still feeling relieved that my final written assignment has been submitted and I’m looking forward to breaking my fast tomorrow which will part of a TAFE class member lunch celebrating our final day of the Diploma course. I will miss my classmates, who I’ve met with 3 times a week for 2 years, so the celebration will be bittersweet. I know we could all get together outside of class, though over the 2 years plans had been made to do so which never eventuated, so it is difficult to foresee this taking place now that the course will have ended.

    Back to the topic of fasting… I experienced a wave of very intense hunger this morning. I accept hunger as part and parcel of this WOL and usually I’m fine with it, though this morning’s wave was so voracious it stopped me in my tracks and made me second guess whether to continue. Thankfully the coaching I’ve received from this group gave me strength to let the hunger dragon breathe its fire and to trust the flare up will die out and pass, which it did! It’s now just past noon and I’m happy to report that I’ve yet to consume any food. I’m now confident that I’ll still be able to wait till my usually 2 – 3 pm to take my first calories!

    Happy fasting to anyone else out there fasting today. I can’t remember anyone others’ FD cycles.

    PS I still find it difficult to decipher the time stamps, so maybe looks like I’m joining you on your FD Cinque? Not sure though!

    PPS I just posted a ‘bread’ recipe on the Southern Hemispherites Recipe page. I’m not inclined to eat bread of any type, though this low carbohydrate recipe (that a friend sent me and raved about) ticks all the ingredient boxes and I really like the tangy sour dough flavour and chewy texture. I was pleasantly surprised when I baked my first loaf of ‘Maria’s Coconut Psyllium Bread’ since I’d followed a similar recipe a couple of years ago which turned out quite gluggy and even a bit gluey. Instead this ‘bread’ bakes well into an even textured finished loaf.

    Eeek! I’m filling up this page with PS’s! Here’s the link to the Southern Hemispherite’s recipe page for those who are unfamiliar (and to the ‘bread’ recipe)

    https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/page/2/#post-224515

    Minka, are you really hungry or is it more a craving of something specific? Or are you just feeling anxious about something? That’s what “hunger” usually is when I’m fasting. Sometimes there’s a passing feeling of hunger that goes away within half an hour or less. Often drinking something makes that pass. But when I feel that voracious hunger feeling it’s more often craving of some food I’ve seen or thought about. I often get anxious, usually about things work related, and that can manifest itself as hunger. It can be difficult to get past that. Soup is always a good fast day food because it’s filling and it takes a while to eat it. Or a big salad of some type that takes a while to chew and eat.

    LJoyce, it’s hard to figure if that heating bill is high with the currency differences, but we heat our house with propane in the winter and it can be as high as US $450 for a month’s worth of propane. The prices change (a lot) throughout the year but are highest in the coldest months. December, January and February are our coldest months and it usually starts to warm a little in March. I think we have colder weather here than most areas of Australia in the winter.

    Solar is getting more popular here. In CA, the electric company has to buy back the electricity that is generated by solar panels, that you don’t use during the day and then you buy it from them at night or on cloudy days. Our air conditioning is electric and the central heating is propane. If we lived closer in to a bigger city, we would be able to hook into natural gas. Solar systems are expensive initially. There are also companies that will install them and you lease back the system in the form of a lower electric bill paid to them. I think it’s usually a 20 year lease. The problem with that could be if you sell the house and the new owners have to qualify to take over the lease. Do they have leased systems there?

    Halloween hasn’t changed since I was a kid in terms of the candy that people give out. I don’t remember many people giving out healthy food. We only get a couple kids that brave the rather steep driveway to our front door, and usually it’s neighbors that we know. I think people are more cautious about letting their kids accept treats from people they don’t know nowadays. If you look in any grocery or big box store before Halloween, there’s usually whole aisles filled with candy. https://goo.gl/images/7WBZLv
    And decorations: https://goo.gl/images/WHrhC7
    Halloween is a big business here, especially for the candy companies.!
    https://goo.gl/images/gv48or

    Hi Minka – thanks for the bread recipe. I’m always willing to try any new baking options. I had such mixed success with the nut flours that I gave up on them a while ago – they were too expensive to waste. This looks like a high fibre option that would be helpful for me.
    If you want a waste free egg white option, there is a product I use regularly for FD recipes. The brand is “Puregg” and it contains 500g eggwhites – it’s in a carton that looks just like a 600ml milk carton. In my local supermarkets it’s in the fridge area, but the location varies from near the whole eggs to near the butter.
    The only ingredient in these cartons is fresh egg whites. It comes with a useby date of about 5-6 weeks, similar to whole eggs, although it can be frozen in portions as well.

    Cali – we used to have good buy back schemes on solar when it was first available, but the buy back prices are very low now – much less than they charge to sell it back to you at night. That’s why it’s now a better value option for households that are home to use most of their electricity through daylight hours.
    I don’t know if there are lease systems, but some companies do offer several years to pay them off (I think it’s usually 3-5 years). The cost of having a system installed varies according to the capacity and usually is $5000-10000 for the size options I would consider.

    All the talk of smoothies, coupled with the sunny day inspired me to make a smoothie for lunch – banana, frozen blueberries, kefir, almond milk, psyllium, inulin and ice. It was lovely and very filling.

    Good afternoon from me here in Cairns.
    It has been a busy morning. I went for another walk and felt so good after!! I am not feeling so bloated as I have felt. Then it was off to the airport as OH was leaving for Thailand again. On the way back from the airport I stopped at the local farm market and purchased some great vegies. Then to the chemist for BP tablets and back home. I then decided to make tomato chutney so prepared 3kg of tomatoes and 500g onions and left to soak overnight. Tomorrow I will finish them off. OH just rang and I was surprised as his flight should have left an hour ago, but it is delayed by about 2 1/2 hours and he will miss his connecting flight in HKG to BKK. I have had to contact his driver in BKK to advise of the delay in pick up at the airport.
    Weight today is stable. I have hit that plateau!! Although today was not supposed to be a FD it ended up as one unintentionally with everything I have been doing. So far all I have been able to have was 2 glasses of water and a green tea with OH at the airport before he went through customs.

    CM, I like the sound of the Golden paste. I missed the previous posts about it so can you tell me how to use it? I have tumeric gummy vitamins every morning and I can really tell the difference if I forget them. Even got OH on to them too as he gets gout in one toe. He has given up beer because of this and decided to join the “wine club”.
    I was going to make broccoli soup for dinner but I have left over wild mushroom soup from Tuesday so will heat that up instead.

    Not much else to say at this time. So will catch up again soon.

    Julie

    I just noticed some talk about solar.
    We have just decided to spend some money in that direction.
    I got 4 quotes and OH has been through them all.
    We decided on one company this morning before we left for the airport.
    There is a lot to go through and so many different panels and makes it was all too technical for me!!

    Just found out OH’s flight is cancelled today so have to go back to the airport to pick him up and then do it all over again tomorrow!

    Hi all. Wow so many posts of late im struggling to keep up. Have had to skim through lots but got the jist of most conversations.

    Countdown – never missed an episode. I adore the 70’s and 80’s with the exception of 80’s fashion ! Molly Meldrum is definately an aussie legend. I love music like TMG, Hush, Skyhooks, Angels etc. I was sure Daryl Braithwaite was singing Summer Love directly to me ! Oh they were the days. Apologies to those outside of Oz I’m sure you have no idea who I’m talking about.

    Solar – LJoyce that electricity bill OMG I think I would have a cardiac arrest. I put on solar in 2011 and have never paid an electricity bill since. In fact each quarter I receive(d) a rebate which over the years has gradually reduced (due to rising prices) to the point that on the latest bill I received no rebate at all with a charge of $8.00. Not much I know but the rebate was paying for my solar panels. To give you an idea of rising prices my rebate used to be around $250 a quarter now it’s zilch. Apologies if someone stated this previously but South Australia recently won the top prize for having the highest electricity prices in the entire world.

    Halloween – CalifDream I was never into halloween until MissD took an interest a few years ago. Now our house is know as the Halloween party house. We make a huge effort with decorations and dressing up. MissD has a party each year with her friends at home and its become so popular that kids at school that she doesn’t even hang around with are begging to be invited. Last year we made a kids life size coffin out of a box. We decorate the front yard and verandah with all things creepy. Hey its my once a year time to be a real witch !!

    FD today for me. Kiefer is going well. Hoping to find time to make sourdough starter this weekend. Spring has definately sprung – vegie and herb patches are booming and chooks and ducks are laying like crazy.

    Time to pick up MissD from her school social…..bet there wont be any countdown music playing there !!

    Hi Calif,

    Yes, I agree that hunger can originate from so many directions such as emotion or anxiety as you suggest. I’ve experienced plenty of the anxiety hunger over the past weeks! The specific hunger wave I experienced this morning felt like genuine hunger, which felt almost strange, it had been such a long time since I’d felt this, or at least so strongly! No specific food came to mind at the time and I haven’t craved anything today that I’m aware of. The feeling was definitely one of wanting nourishment and may be because I feel extra tired and low energy. I need to buy more blood sugar strips since maybe my blood sugar was extra low.

    Thankfully I’ve been enjoying a relaxing day at home. I did wait until 2:30 pm to take in my first calories for the day, which consisted of 15 grams of inulin powder stirred into a whey peptide powder in which the casein has been removed. The inulin is a prebiotic that feeds ‘good’ digestive tract bacteria and the peptide powder provides protein so the combination is very satisfying. I haven’t decided if I’ll go cottage cheese and berries for dinner or La Zuppa soup?

    Halloween festivities have been sporadic in our neighborhood. Because Halloween ‘trick or treaters’ started knocking on our door several years ago, I began stocking up on plenty of treats to pass out ever since. However during the past 2 Halloweens no one has knocked on our door and so Mr. M has ended up making up for this by eating the whole stash. Because of this I’m questioning whether or not to even buy any treats this year. I question this because I buy the same old unhealthy treats that I used to receive when visiting homes on Halloween in California. I don’t think Mr. M needs the bags of Mars bars again this year! …I have seen costumed children running the neighborhood during the past two years. They often start out after school at 3-4 pm. I’ve heard them in the distance and seen them while driving around. However, those who’ve gone around the neighborhood these past couple of years simply haven’t made it up the hill and into our cul-de-sac recently.

    Good morning everyone,

    Hi Minka, we did fast together yesterday!
    So glad you are getting some time to ease yourself back to do all the good things you have in your life, including 5:2!
    I hope you are able to keep in touch with the very nicest of your fellow students, at least.
    Will you be looking for a job or continuing with the one you already have?

    LJoyce what a horror electricity bill. Any chance they made a mistake?

    I had a friend whose family, from Hungary, had wonderful Halloween celebrations, but not commercial enough to be the ones we are getting pushed into doing. Another out of season celebration for us to adopt! But lots of fun.

    I just couldn’t buy sweets. If I start getting door knocked I’ll have to invest in some plastic spiders or something to give out.

    I hope Miss D had a wonderful school social!

    Cheers all!

    Good Morning everyone,

    Well what a day yesterday was!! I ended up having soup and cheese and crackers with a couple of blueberries for dessert. But as my husband had been at the airport for 6 hours waiting for new of his flight he wanted a drink last night. We stopped off at the bottle shop after I had picked him up at the airport and I bought some wine too. I really should not have done that but we both really felt like a drink!!!
    So this morning I was not expecting much movement in the weight department but got a surprise when I had lost .2kg again. That makes total loss 4.1kg and feeling great!

    LJoyce, I understand where your coming from with the electricity bill. Ours is usually around $600 in winter (we dont need any heating up here in Winter) but our last summer bill was $968 due to air conditioners on during the day. Once upon a time we were not home much during the day, but now I am working only for my husband and work from home there is always someone home during the day and therefore the air cons are on. We have just decided on putting in Solar before the summer heat starts. I have worked out that if I do all the house work like washing etc during the day time with the solar we will only need to use electricity off the grid at a minimum at night and we should be saving heaps. We only decided on the company yesterday morning and there is about 4 weeks wait for installation.
    Clinque, one of the families in our street started trick or treating years ago for her kids. She put letters in everyones letter box that had a balloon in it. The idea was to blow up the balloon and have it out the front of the house if you were going to participate. We did for awhile, but one halloween we went out for dinner and did not arrive home until about 9pm. Straight away there was a knock at the door and we had nothing to give them. OH gave them apples!!

    Have just come back from my morning walk and it is heating up here in Cairns. We walked a different direction which has a gradual slope in it and I could feel the workout my bum muscles were getting, it was good!!
    Red tomato chutney is almost ready on the stove and I will have to go and put into the jars now.
    This afternoon I am making tomato sauce!
    Have a great Friday everyone. I will look in again this afternoon to see what everyone has been up to.

    Morning Losers!!

    Had a lovely meet up with Thin yesterday. She’s looking fab & is testament that this WOL works after struggling & yoyo-ing for so long. Onya Thin!! You’re amazing.

    We discussed how this group does keep us on track. I am an example of that. The creep starts slowly, but then all of a sudden it jumps a couple of kilos. Which scares the bejesus out of you – a good thing for some (me) but others might just shrug their shoulders & give up thinking that the yoyo thing is happening again. So thank you to all who have/are contributing to this forum. The hand holding works when things go wrong & an occasional slap when we’re thinking of giving up.

    So to Friday Weigh-in (are we still doing this?) Happy dance & pleased to report I’m down to 63.1 (it did flick to 62.9 just to tease me!!). So that’s 2kg in 12 days. I’m just thrilled.

    This WOL does seem to suit my body, once the mind is tuned in the body seems to follow. I’ve felt the physiological changes happening over the last few days. Thanks Dr M….you’ve changed so many lives for the better.

    Hope everyone out there is doing well.

    I will post that turmeric recipe today – promise!

    Happy Fri-Yay guys!! CM xx

    Hi all. Can I join this discussion?
    I started 5/2 about three weeks ago, after hitting an all-time high from (a) holidaying and (b) forced inactivity due to injury. I’m doing okay – down down the first couple of weeks then, boom, gained a kilo! Very disheartening. Any tips/thoughts? I think I am managing the fast days okay – although I find a still need 3 small meals a day, so spacing my meals may be a problem.

    CM, you are so right about this forum being a big help in sticking with the 5:2 WOL, especially this group in this thread. Even when we’re talking about other things, there’s still the feeling that we’re all in this together and can relate to the FD and occasional overeating without giving up. I think a Friday weigh-in is a good idea. But it’s still Thursday evening here. I’ll be the last one to weigh in! 🇦🇺 🛌

    Today is a FD and it went pretty well. I had soup at lunch, a Granny Smith apple for a snack and a pound of lightly cooked cauliflower for dinner. And a couple cups of coffee with soy creamer in the morning and tea and diet soda during the day. 495 calories.

    Cinque, We usually only have a couple of kids brave the steep driveway and come to the door, but I usually buy a bunch of candy just in case. Then we eat it over the next couple weeks. This year I think I will take your advice and give out plastic spiders. Maybe I’ll give out toothbrushes too! 😈

    GDSA, I love decorating the house (indoors only) for Halloween. I have boxes of foam pumpkins and lights and silk fall flowers in the attic. I usually add a thing or two each year. MissD would like my house for Halloween. 👻

    Hi Lindsay, welcome.
    My advice for what it’s worth:
    How are you going on your non-fast days (NFDs)? Do you think it’s your food on those days that caused the weight gain? For me it was always the NFDs that were problematic, my TDEE is low and I had to be careful on the NFDs if I wanted to lose any weight. If you haven’t already checked your TDEE, go to the “Resources” link at the top of this page and work it out. Be conservative with your activity estimate as they have been fairly generous in their uplift factors. I’d also recommend calculating your TDEE for your goal weight and trying to structure your food choices on the NFDs to fit with that – it gives you plenty of practice for when you get to goal. I also found my weight loss was very slow once I got past the first couple of weeks, but the trend was still downward, even if I had plenty of plateaus. Just remember that you are essentially only cutting calories 2 days per week, so the weight loss will be at a modest rate.

    Eating 3 meals a day is not a problem, it’s the total calories and to a certain extent the food choices that are more important. A few of us skip breakfast, but that’s a personal decision and doesn’t suit everyone. I’m rarely hungry in mornings so deciding to stop eating breakfast was a sensible thing for me. On a FD I usually don’t eat until mid-afternoon. I found that if I allowed enough calories to make cups of milky tea, the way I like them, then I was happy to delay eating – I make a pot of tea instead. There are some others who use an almond milk latte to get them through the morning on FDs. I find that when I start eating it seems to trigger my appetite so delaying it is a good approach for me. But the approach to FDs is a very personal thing, if you find a pattern that you find easy to stick to and you are under 500/600 cals, that’s all that matters. Some people find it easier to eat nothing and do a water fast – each to their own.

    Something most of us have found is that we do better if we eat mainly healthy whole foods on the the NFDs as well as the FDs. There are some high sugar, fat or salt foods that just seem to encourage overeating, so most of us have found that keeping them out of daily choices most of the time helped while losing weight and this approach has continued to help those of us who are now using 5:2 to maintain our goal weight.

    Something else I think it’s important to say is that in the beginning I didn’t have this all figured out. It took me time to work out what changed I needed to make on both FDs and NFDs to make this a sustainable way of life to get the weight off and keep it off and to be a healthier person. It takes time and experimentation to figure out what your own changes need to be. So hang it there.

    Welcome, Lindsay! We must have been typing at the same time. A gain of a kg could be water weight. Did the gain come after a day of eating a lot of salt? Sometimes I’ll retain water weight for a couple days after eating a lot of popcorn or sushi with the soy sauce. Drinking enough water can help to flush it out.

    Do you think you might have eaten too much on your NFD? (Non fast days) I don’t count calories on NFD, but if I go for a week or more without losing, or gaining, I’ll start keeping track of what I eat for a few days. I use the app myfitnesspal on my phone or tablet. It’s easy to underestimate calories. It’s good to try to stay around your daily TDEE except for special occasions or meals. Unfortunately, the lower your weight, the lower your TDEE or the amount of calories you need to maintain your present weight. There’s an online calculator here where you can figure out what your TDEE is. https://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

    Just hang in there and don’t get discouraged. It gets easier as you get used to the rhythm of this way of eating. We’re here to offer support. Glad you found us!

    Good Morning SHs,

    It’s a FD for me. I’m planning a veg & konjac noodle stirfry for dinner and possibly a fruit kefir smoothie for mid-afternoon if I feel like it. It’s another lovely mild sunny day here and it’s amazing what effect the weather has on my attitude. I got out of bed, looked out the window and was ready to get outside and enjoy the lack of rain. I find it all too easy to be a sloth when it’s wet.

    Cinque – the electricity bill isn’t a mistake. I know roughly which date the meter reader is due, so I always make a note of the meter numbers so I can check it against my bill. I had budgeted for my winter bill to be very high, but because I had mainly used the slow combustion and hadn’t used the split system very much for heating I was actually expecting it to be lower than last winter. This one was $100 more than last winter when I used the split system more. Some of that is increased prices, not more usage.

    JJ – I’m planning to sell my current house in the Mount Lofty Ranges and move down to the Adelaide suburbs next year, I’m expecting a similar change in electricity use after the move and down on the plains the summer heat is a much bigger issue than winter cold. It’s different up here, the winters are bitter and I rarely use the aircon in summer – mainly because I have a solid double brick house with high ceilings and it takes a few consecutive days of high heat to get the house warm. Unless we have a heat wave I manage quite well with ceiling fans. I used to live down in the suburbs, so I know that I’m likely to need almost constant aircon in summer down there. Like you, I’m home a lot through the day.
    Good luck with the sauce making, I haven’t made my own for a few years but I do still make my own tomato chutney most years.

    Cali – I don’t think anyone does Halloween where I live – there are hardly any street lights, low density houses (so a long walk between properties), and lots of streets don’t have footpaths, it’s also very hilly. Not very safe for kids to be out in those conditions at night. If anyone does show up here I was thinking it might be apples too – then I remembered I still have that bag of bertie beetles in the back of the freezer – as long as no more than 6 kids show up I’ve got it covered.

    CM – well done on the weight loss.

    For those of you wondering what happened to my zen reports – I’m using the same item every day at the moment so I didn’t see much point reporting that every night. I was struggling with treat foods, so I decided to use a carrot-on-a-stick approach. I’ve promised myself that on NFDs I can have 1 square(10g) of dark chocolate after dinner if I have behaved myself all day. I’m taking a zen approach with it so that I’m satisfied with 1 square. It has worked to stop me looking for treats in the afternoon and dark chocolate is something my dietitian is happy for me to include regularly in small quantities. I’ve even managed to work my way up to a 78% bar of lindt – considering I was a milk chocolate only girl not long ago I’m pretty pleased with that progression. It still amazes me that where I once only tasted bitterness I now taste sweet as well.

    Hi Lindsay and welcome.

    Thin gave me a site years ago to help with watching your calories and I am still using it now.

    It is called MYfitnesspal. It is free to sign up.

    I log in every morning and put in my weight for the day (or you could weigh in only once a week is you wanted)
    You can also put in some measurements, hips waist etc and remeasure once a month.
    The best thing I find with it is the calorie counting. It is so easy and you can keep an eye on your intake not only for FDs but for NFDs too.

    Now I have said that I have just read CalifD’s post telling you about it too!!

    Well at least you know that it works with some of us using it.

    LJoyce, I was born in Adelaide so I know what the summers can be like there and yes agree you will find a change from the hills to the suburbs.

    I have not cooked preserves for 25 years or so and suddenly here I am going hard at it. I am finding it is keeping me busy as well as the enjoyment of making my own.

    I am looking at doing a corn relish too.

    OH eats most of these things and enjoys them so one batch should last us a year.

    Our “drink fridge” died about 2 weeks ago and we were not going to bother to buy another one, but I decided it would be best to keep the preserves in a fridge rather than the cupboard as I am unsure how long they will last with our summer heat. So off the buy one that I found on special.

    LJoyce, your neighborhood sounds like mine: hilly, no street lights, no sidewalks (footpaths?) The houses aren’t too far apart, but further than in the city. Most people have lights on their houses or property, but it’s pretty dark between houses. That’s probably another reason for few kids coming around.

    CM and JJ, congrats on the weight loss! 👍🏻

    CM
    I just read your post and so glad you have had a weight loss this morning. Congratulations!!63.1 wow!!! It is making me dream of where I want to be.

    @lindsay. Although not part of the original 5:2 concept, what you eat plays a massive role in you feeling satiated. Eat processed carbs and you will most likely be hungry 30 minutes later. Get your carbs from veggies. Avoid processed grains like bread, cakes, breakfast cereals, pizza, biscuits etc. Feeling peckish, eat a granny smith apple. Lots of soluble and insoluble fibre right there in an apple.

    Hey thank you for the welcome. CalifDreamer & LJoyce It could just be fluid … but I suspect I need to focus more on what I eat on non-fast days. I’m doing a third fast day this week to see if that makes a difference. I’m going on holiday (again) in November, and it will involve pools and beaches, so even shifting 5 kilos will make a difference. Thanks JustJulie for the site …I will definitely use it. Too easy for me to try to count cals in my head and get it wrong.
    All I’ve had today is a couple of cups of black coffee to start my day, and I’ve just finished a rocket and tomato salad with a small tin of salmon for a very late lunch.
    I’ve been sitting on my rear end at work today …I need to stretch and move more but get locked in with back to back consultations. I rarely get to my 10000 steps on the days I work.

    thanks BigBooty. You are right – I am going to have to watch the bread on non-fast days. I’m not so fussed on the sweet foods, but bread is a different story!

    Lindsay – We are a mixed bag on the SH forum when it comes to bread. Some of us still eat it and some have given it up for good. I don’t think any of us eat it on FDs. Most of those who still eat bread on NFDs are pretty picky about it. We most mostly stick to traditional sourdough, and some of us actually make our own bread. I need a particularly high fibre diet to deal with IBS, so I make some pretty unusual breads that contain rye and spelt, soaked whole grains and legume flours. On the rare occasions that I do buy bread I get a sprouted 100% rye loaf from a small local bakery that is every bit as dense as the one I make – I can’t remember the last time I bought bread from a supermarket. I find that my unusual home baked bread does not trigger the same food cravings that supermarket bread (white or wholemeal) used to. The problem with most commercial bread is that even if it’s called “wholemeal” or “rye” it still usually contains mostly white flour – otherwise they get a heavy loaf which doesn’t sell well. I have grown to really like the texture of my dense chewy and rather moist bread. But a little goes a long way, which is probably a good thing. In an effort to encourage diversification of my gut flora I’m tying to be diverse in my grain & legume choices, so relying on bread too often as a source of wholegrains is not good. I have managed to get my consumption down to about 4-6 slices a week, which encourages me to use other high fibre grains and legumes where I once might have used bread. It did mean that I had to move completely away from the idea of a sandwich being a normal lunch.
    As I mentioned earlier, sometimes changes take time and some things will just evolve as you learn more about how your unique body reacts to food. You don’t have to change many things at once, just test out changes at a pace that you can manage and see if it makes a difference. Keep the changes that work for you. It can feel weird giving up eating patterns that have felt normal for years, but you do adapt and find a new kind of normal.

    Thin, as a muesli eater, I though you might enjoy this. It has to be the prettiest presentation of muesli, yoghurt and fresh fruit that I’ve ever seen. It would have to be a lunch dish though, as it would take all morning to create!
    https://imgur.com/vX1E047
    I found the photo on http://www.notquitenigella.com/ – it was taken at brunch at a Bondi cafe.

    Cali – muesli = granola.

    Mid September and its 36 deg here today…OMG what kind of summer are we in for !!

    JustJulie I’m a little curious about your solar, does it not feed directly back into the grid? Or are you getting battery storage as well as the panels?

    Welcome Lindsay 🙂

    LJoyce, we can buy muesli here. It isn’t baked or cooked like our granola is.

    GDSA, that’s really warm for Spring. We’re having cool weather here. They may get snow in the mountains at 2,400 meters. That’s early.

    Hi Everyone
    JJ what a pain to have to go back to the airport. Do you live close by? We are an hours drive from Tullamarine. How nice to be already preserving vegies from your garden . Hubby is outside weeding ours as I type and will then rotary hoe with some horse poo, ready to plant out in a couple of weeks. We do have an igloo hothouse that we can plant some Vegies earlier but I won’t be making anything until about January. This year with 2 of our kids + a fiancé moving back we ran out of passatta so I want to do lots of that and some bottled tomatoes.
    LJoyce and Cali, it sounds like I live in an area like you. We live on a dirt road with most properties being 2-5 acres.
    Hi Lindsay and welcome, I’ve just started here again a couple of weeks ago and am now determined to Stay Thin after I reach my goal weight again!
    I didn’t realise you did Friday weigh-ins. I’ve always done Monday’s as I hope it keeps me more accountable (less wine?) over the weekend.
    Today is not a fast day for me. My mum came over today and wanted to take me to a Winery for lunch but I had made chicken and veggie soup and persuaded her to stay here. We are going to my son’s for dinner tonight and friends tomorrow for a birthday dinner. All those invitations since yesterday afternoon. I will fast tomorrow, no calories until our friends house!
    Hope you all have a great day xx

    GDSA – I’m sorry you have such heat to deal with in September. I hope it doesn’t mean a summer of heat waves. I had managed to survive without ever having air conditioning (in either home or car) until about 8 years ago. Two years in a row with long heat waves and I gave in. I now have a split system in the house and an air-conditioned car. It makes you soft – I can’t imagine going back now.

    StayT – D you cope better with sudden changes of plans than I do. I cope well with social occasions providing I have time to plan ahead, but throw last minute changes into the mix and my diet goes to hell in a hand-basket.

    Cali – here it’s all muesli, we just have raw/untoasted muesli or toasted muesli. Although I have noticed that, as with many other products, American terms are starting to slip into our product lines. There are a couple of products on the cereal shelves these days that are actually labelled granola. I usually just buy organic rolled oats and spelt and make my own when I feel like muesli.
    I have some Mollie Katzen vego cookbooks and in them she mentions “grape nut cereal”. I always assumed she meant muesli and that’s what I used in those recipes – was I completely on the wrong track?

    LJoyce, I have several of Molly Katzen’s cookbooks too. Her Moosewood Cookbook is a favorite of mine. Grape Nut Cereal is a brand of cereal made by Post. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/10/cereal-eats-grape-nuts-neither-a-grape-nor-nuts.html

    I wouldn’t classify it as a granola or muesli. It’s made with wheat and malt syrup from what I’ve read and it’s cooked, or processed. Granola is usually sweetened and is usually made from a couple grains and often nuts or dried fruit.

    I’m not crazy about Grape Nuts cereal. It has too much crunch for me and is kind of hard. I see it in recipes now and then.

    Cali – clearly I was completely on the wrong track with the grape-nuts cereal, but the recipes always worked when I used either muesli or just plain rolled oats.
    I can’t remember the last time I actually bought a box of cereal. I like the versatility of being able to put together a porridge or muesli and have full control over the flavours I put together.

    Hi Lindsay. Welcome. Will post a proper reply shortly….i’m a queue at IKEA!! OMG. Anyway, just wanted to say hi. We’ll help ya girl. CM xx

    JodyW – I just watched “The Drum” on our ABC, they said that your election was announced back in February and you’ve had to put up with campaigning since them. OMG, how have you coped, if election campaigns exceed 6 weeks here I’m ready to start wearing permanent ear plugs.

    As I was saying…. Welcome Linday. Firstly, please stick with this programme as 5:2 really does work. The first few weeks will be the hardest just getting your head around it all. One day the penny will drop and your FD (fast days) will become a matter of routine. Get the free app MyFitnessPal and record all your meals. I know I was surprised at some of the calorie contents, ie noodles and rice (my old favs). Best advice, don’t overdo it on your NFDs (non fast days), eat healthily and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go to plan. You will have lots of questions and we’re all here to support you. I started in Feb 2015 and am so grateful for all the help, advice and bum-kicks received from the guys on this thread. Ultimately I lost 12 kg. My life got very busy, I wasn’t being as careful and my weight started to creep up a bit again. I needed the focus and accountability from here to get back down and also to achieve breaking thru 60kg to 59.anything!! I only 3.2 kg away now!! If you get a moment why not go to your profile and add some info about yourself, so we can all get to know you a bit better.
    Good luck, we are here to help you get to where you want to be. CM xx

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