Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Good morning SHs,
    It is yet another rainy day here – what was forecast as one wet day has turned into three. I’m sure my garden is very happy and I needed a break from gardening.I’m feeling a bit better after starting the antibiotics.

    Glad to see you back Penguin, I was starting to worry that you were ill, but no, just off having fun. Look forward to hearing more about the holiday.

    Cinque I hope all goes well for your surgery. I’m glad they are able to use keyhole surgery, it should really help your recovery.

    GDSA, glad your daughter had such a good out come. Drive safe on the journey home.

    Good morning Arelkade, Lindsay, Caro and Stay and good afternoon Cali.

    I’ll drop in again one I’ve had my morning cuppa.

    Just dashing in –

    After yesterday’s FD: 64.8kg, down 900gms.

    So, that’s how it sometimes goes newbies – 100gm, 100gm, 900gm – fluid probably, went to the loo several times in the night; Also for last 2 FDs I m.e.t.i.c.u.l.o.u.s.l.y recorded every single tiny calorie including those tiny sprinkles of things on top of a dish now that we live in the world of “plating up”. 444calories yesterday, not back to my usual 360cal FDs yet…1/4 of my TDEE, but getting there.

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

    Oh, and Happy 5:2 Anniversary to me –

    3yrs today!!😀😀😀

    Hi everyone,

    I have been reading all the posts while sitting on the shinkansen travelling from Osaka to Hiroshima.

    We have just passed through Himeji where the biggest castle is.

    I have been eating healthy (well as healthy as i can) but heaps of walking. On Wednesday our friend took us to three temples/shrines and there were heaps of stairs to climb up. One of them boasts 400 stone steps to reach the shrine. Then there was all the normal walking, up hill and down!! I have never done so much in one day as that day was.

    Anyhow I have a question. Is it normal that my body might start to crave sweet things?

    Have to go now as Hiroshima is after the next stop. Will check in again soon.

    If you would like to see some things of my journey here are some links. I have not done the one for the shrine with all the steps as yet.

    https://www.facebook.com/pg/JuliesJapan/photos/?tab=album&album_id=803379803179694

    https://www.facebook.com/pg/JuliesJapan/photos/?tab=album&album_id=803547899829551

    https://www.facebook.com/pg/JuliesJapan/photos/?tab=album&album_id=803371053180569

    Congrats on the 900 grams, Merry! Woohoo! Sticking with it pays off. I’ve always done 500 calories, not 1/4 which would be under 350 calories. I don’t think it would be very easy for me to stay that low. But as my weight gets lower it has slowed down some. Of course that is probably more likely to be my overeating on NFDs. What does everyone else do, 500 or 1/4 of TDEE?

    Merry – happy 5:2 anniversary

    JJulie – love the photos. I’ve never seen pictures of the pampas grass fields in Japan, what a lovely place to hike. I love the lamp lit walkway. I’d like to have some of those little lights in my garden.
    With all that walking and climbing the sweet cravings may be your body asking for more energy quickly – sugars are the quickest source for our bodies to turn to energy.

    Cali – Initially I stuck religiously to 500 and I counted the calories. As I have a bad habit of eating up to any allowance I always seemed to be quite close to 500 when I was using 5:2 to lose weight. Since I switched to using 5:2 for maintenance, I stopped counting calories because I used such a small number of recipes and I knew they were all well within 2-300 cal. I checked my calories when I was posting to another thread about what we eat on FDs. I realised my days vary from 300-500 and mostly come in at about 400cal. If I was having 1/4 of my TDEE I should be having 350cal on a FD. I am considering implementing this. It would require small tweaks to my recipes and perhaps dropping the afternoon piece of fruit. I was thinking I’d try this through the summer as my appetite is lower and tends to kick in later in the day in hot weather.

    Hi all! Great stream! I am located in regional Victoria and have started this journey a couple of times without managing to maintain it. Hoping by signing up to this forum I will be able to stay on track longer term. At the end of my first week (two fast days) and have already lost 1.5kg. Thinking it’s a little rapid, hopefully it will level out a little more once I get into a routine.

    My background is I have gained nearly 10kg after starting a desk job 18 months ago. I am only 5″2, so that’s a lot of weight! I got a bit of a fright recently because I am high risk for Type 2 diabetes as I have PCOS and we are starting to think about a family.

    My Dad is a regular 5:2er and an absolute health nut, so I’m hoping he will keep me accountable.

    Looking forward to the journey. I have a goal of 58kg to put me within the healthy weight range, 68kg today, down from 69.5 on Monday morning.

    🙂

    Hi SBullen, welcome to the forum. We have some others from Victoria, although I think mostly Melbourne. I’m in the Adelaide Hills.
    Glad to hear you had a great week one weight loss – don’t worry about the rate as week 1 often includes some fluid loss along with body fat. I had a large loss initially then reverted quickly to snails pace.
    I wholeheartedly agree that being on the forum can help. It certainly helps keep me on the straight and narrow. There are quite a few people on this forum who’ve been maintaining on 5:2 for quite a long time and that always encourages me to believe I can keep the weight off too. I’ve found this Southern Hemisphere group in credibly supportive. Having another family member who understands what you are doing should also help.

    SBullen, welcome to the forum! I think most of us had big losses the first week or two of 5:2. That’s probably attributable to water weight. It usually slows down after the first week or so. The forum, and this thread in particular, are very helpful for motivation and holding yourself accountable. Since a few of our regulars are long time maintainers, I’m always reminded that it can be done. That’s important to me. Losing weight can be done with many diets but this is the first that feels really sustainable to me. It has become such a way of life. I started in early May, have lost about 23 pounds and am about 2 kg from my goal.

    Julie, I love all of the photos you’ve been posting on FB of your trip to Japan. I check it out every morning. You’re a great photographer. I like that you photo a lot of the common things as well as the spectacular. It gives a good idea of what the area looks like.
    I’ve been craving sweet things lately too. Part of that is all the holiday foods starting to appear in stores and all the recipes and ads for sugary treats. Or like LJ said, it could be all the walking and exercise you’re getting and that your body craves some quick energy.

    LJoyce, we’ve had lots of pouring rain here the past couple of days too. It feels damp and cold. The days are getting a lot shorter too, which makes it colder. But we need the rain, so how can I complain?

    My FD went well today. I’m anxious to see what my weight will be in the morning.

    Cali, I’m pleased you had a good FD. I unfortunately had one of those “can’t stop nibbling” days. FD for me tomorrow – I can have that spare bowl of miso broth soup that I made earlier in the week.

    LJoyce, I have a lot of can’t stop nibbling days, but they’re on NFD. I think I need more soup which is filling. Time to break out the miso again. The one you recently prepared sounds great. Maybe I’ll try one like that.

    My scale said 59.3 this morning, my lowest so far on 5:2. Just 1.3 to goal. It will be a challenge to keep the eating down over the weekend.

    Hello everyone,
    Lovely morning in Melbourne, sun and a cool breeze.

    Welcome here SBullen!
    I’m another Victorian, but I am in central Melbourne.
    Congratulations on your first 5:2 week. I love that most people lose a nice big amount at first, it certainly gets you into the swing of things. But I do hope you can last more than a couple of weeks this time. The trick is definitely to make it fit into your life as easily as possible. You might need to play around with days and eating times etc until you can get it as a sustainable part of life. I bet your dad will delight in keeping you accountable (hope he doesn’t drive you up the wall).
    Early nights are a common strategy!

    Thanks for the good wishes, people. Ha Cali, I might have to go in and out by doors for a while, but that cat flap waits patiently, like 5:2, until I am ready to use it again! 😀 😀

    Penguin, I have had years of being Miso the cat’s door-servant, she rather likes waiting piteously at the front door, for me to let her out, when the back door is propped wide open!
    But no longer! (Although, the last week, I have heard her miaow at the front door, gone out through the back door and around to the front door, picked her up, talking comfortingly, carried her around to the cat flap window, encourage her through it, and then head back to the back door to come in myself.
    (Yes I know you think I followed her in through the cat flap, but it is not true!!!! 😉 )

    Woohoo Merry! A well deserved 900g down! Go 5:2!
    And happy anniversary for yesterday! https://www.ienglishstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/50th-Anniversary-Images-Free.png

    JJulie, it sounds (and looks) like you are having the most wonderful time! Cheers for lots of good walking and clever food choices!
    I wonder if the walking is making sugar cravings as your muscles want energy quickly? Or might it be that there is hidden sugar in sauces and other things you are eating, that is setting them off? Third idea: memories from previous trips where you enjoyed sweet things?
    I hope you can work it out and not let them dominate your eating! Hard work.

    Cali re the 1/4 TDEE or 500 calories (or 800 calories!) on fast days, I just try to have as little as possible. But it is 500 calories limit that is in my head, even though I am sure I have a low TDEE since I have to be so sedentary.
    Congratulations on being so nicely into the 59’s now! Best wishes for today!

    LJoyce, I hope you enjoy today’s no-nibble-fast-day.
    I am working on a no nibble day-before-fast-day. I’ve worked out each meal and will have nothing in between! There I have said it.
    I will have a second pot of coffee though, off to make it!

    Best wishes to everyone!

    Hi All,

    Great skimming posts! Happy Anniversary Merry! I hope to follow in your footsteps with the commitment! Even still, I like being able to say that I’ve been practicing 5:2 for 16 months; helps others know that this is a way of life and not a short term means to a short term end!

    I’ve been one who has been required to be oh so careful with energy levels, especially on FDs. Some weeks ago I became challenged by work duties when I began working 5 days a week. I too have always needed to be somewhat sedentary on FDs just to get through them. When I started working 5 days I didn’t know exactly what to do since I didn’t want to fast on my two consecutive days off so I had to pick one of my work days for fasting. The thing is that all my work days require physical activity. Then I came across an article about D-Ribose and how helpful it is for muscle strength and stamina. I also remembered that I had a hardly used jar of it in the cupboard, one that a dietician had prescribed me years ago. Back then I remembered taking some and feeling no benefit. Anyway a few weeks ago, I thought to give it another ‘go’ and got out that old jar of Ribose to try on the morning of a FD just before work. Well, was I impressed! The activity that had literally wiped me out on the previous week, turned out to be quite doable! In other words, I performed the same level of activity again on the FD after having taken the Ribose and wasn’t a droopy zombie afterwards. The D-Ribose gave me just enough support to get me through and so have been taking it on the morning of every FD in which I’m physically active and it continues to help. Of course I add those calories to my FD calorie tally, even though when I drink the teaspoon of Ribose in water, I feel like I’m pretty much drinking just water, since the powder dissolves into nothing much! I think a teaspoon is worth about 30 calories. Though I get no mouth gratification, I feel the FD calories are well spent!

    As far as FD calories… when I was in weight shedding mode, I would consume 1/4 TDEE on my FDs. Now that I’m in maintenance, I usually consume the full 500 calories, unless I’m just not hungry and feel to eat less, which happens form time to time.

    Also, in the next couple weeks I will be going in for my second ‘Inbody’ scan. I underwent a previous ‘Inbody’ scan 6 months ago. The ‘Inbody’ scan is a scanning technology that precisely measures various aspects of body composition including muscle mass, fat composition, bone density percentage and actually reports on these for each sector of the body, including separate arm, leg, torso, etc. What is even more important for health is that the ‘Inbody’ calculates our level of visceral fat.

    From my understanding, white and brown fat do not pose a health risk, which means that the typical ‘Tanita’ or other body composition home scales that report on fat, muscle and water composition can be misleading since they do not break down that fat composition into percentages of visceral fat and it is visceral fat that contributes to diabetes, inflammation, etc. …not white or brown fat.

    Also, the amount of fat around our arms, legs, etc. has no correlation with how much or little visceral fat we carry. Very slim individuals with little fat on their limbs can have high levels of visceral fat wrapped around heart and other organs and the interesting thing is that this fat is tucked away and not seen. It is this visceral fat that places the strain on organs according to the ‘Neuroslimming’ book written by Australian Dr Helena Popovic, that I’ve been reading.

    …I’ll also go so far as to say that having a bit of fat around the middle doesn’t always point to a health risk either! I’m not as slim at the belly button as I’d like to be, though when my visceral fat was measured by the ‘Inbody’ scan, the levels were well into the healthy range, which actually fits with the results I observed from performing Thinatlast’s ‘cardboard’ test which turned out to be quite accurate!

    I want to emphasize again, that it is my view that numbers on scales can be very misleading and that we can’t truly know what those numbers mean unless we know the details of our body composition. Thankfully many gyms now offer ‘Inbody’ scanning to the public (all our local gyms offer the ‘Inbody’ technology, as does our local dieitician) for as little as $15.

    …Or, at least Thin’s ‘cardboard’ test is worth carrying out: https://www.losevisceralfat.com/visceral-fat-measurement

    For those who are interested in the ‘Inbody’ here’s the link too: http://inbody.net.au/locations/

    Or, if you’d like to measure body composition via DEXA scan, though those can cost up to $80 and comparing my results with my friends who regularly get DEXA scans, It is my and Dr. Helena Popovic’s views that the ‘Inbody’ scans are as accurate and more affordable. Plus, not all DEXA scan equipment measures visceral fat. Here’s a link though for a company whose equipment does offer that measurement, for those who feel more comfortable with DEXA scans: http://www.measureup.com.au/dexa-scan-locations/

    Anyway, that’s me for now! Off to clean house!

    A very quick morning message to everyone from grey old Melbourne. Warm day though.
    I had such a good day yesterday just following what I planned to eat. All very delicious!
    Fast day today!
    It is a quick message as I am going to pick up little Miss 3 and spend the day with her (training her in housework, Thin).

    Minka, so nice to hear from you, and I am glad you have found something to help with that busy life.

    Best wishes all

    I’m with you today Cinque & LJ. Really looking forward to today’s FD and putting the breaks on. After my last post, I went for a walk and weighed 59.7kg prior to attending that event in the city on Thursday. Completely lost the plot and consumed far too much sugar and alcohol which resulted in an awful, sleepless night. The next day, operating on 2 hours of sleep, I couldn’t stop snacking. I wasn’t much better yesterday. Sugar is my enemy and so addictive. I’m now back up to my trigger weight. I’m welcoming today with open arms, thank goodness fasting is in my life, otherwise it would have been a runaway train.

    Very behind in posts but enjoyed your photos JJulie. How you managed to take such lovely photos without the ‘selfie crowd’ featuring in everything is a revelation. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

    Congratulations Merry! Three years on 5:2. You’re a veteran. And great to read of that recent loss too. And Minka, celebrating 16 months of 5:2. Have you been introduced to your fellow countryman, CalifD? Probably not allowed to use ‘countryman’?

    Cinque, wishing you all the best for Tuesday. I will be thinking of you. Don’t worry, Miso will become proficient with the catflap while you’re away as soon as she realises there’s no-one to boss around.

    Welcome SBullen! That 10kgs will be gone in no time if you stick with us.

    The other thing I’d meant to comment on last week GDSA was that I’d thought it was it Absinthe that made the heart grow fonder.

    As for the quarter TDEE vs. 500 cal question, when you begin fasting, I think it’s best to consume 500 cals (women) as it’s already a significant adjustment. Once you’ve mastered FDs and they become an easy part of your new life, you need to learn to eat for the weight you want to be. The reason so many diets fail is that we tend to return to the old way of eating once we reach our goal weight. The cruel irony is that, as we lose weight, we need less calories to sustain us. Similarly, as we age, we require less calories. So we must learn to adjust if we want to maintain our new healthy weight.

    Take my advice, I’m not using it! (But I will be back on track after today). 😆

    Hello all busy couple of days, just checking in. LJoyce hope you are on the mend, great pics JJulie and welcome from another newbie SBullen.
    I survived my 4:3 week and dropped 1.2kgs. It was quite hard, but I will give it another go this coming week.
    Have also been caught up doing my genealogy research. Let me tell you, it’s incredibly frustrating if you have Northern Ireland ancestry, because of how many records were destroyed in the 1922 Belfast Public Records Office fire/explosion. Even with The Troubles, that was just an act of wanton stupidity, grr!
    Anyway, hope all are having a good weekend.

    Good morning SHs, hope you are all having a mice Sunday.

    My FD went well – didn’t even need an afternoon fruit snack, just the miso soup for dinner, although I did have two almond milk hot drinks (one in the afternoon and another in the evening). Still well under 500 cal – probably about 350 yesterday.

    Today is a controlled day. I’m just cooking up a large pot of 5 grain porridge, and I plan to have a large bowl for lunch. I’ve put oats, barley, rye, spelt and quinoa into it. I started with 150g of the various grains and soaked them overnight. They’ve just finished simmering and I can’t believe how much it’s made. I was hoping it would make 2 big bowls, but I had to use my largest pasta bowls and they are nearly full. Not bad for 75g of grains in each one. I’ve always found porridge more filling than muesli, and looking at the difference in volume I think I understand why.
    I’m hoping it’s filling as the colder weather here has me craving warm comfort foods.

    I’ve been almost completely sedentary over the last 3 days and feel quite frustrated by the lack of energy. I managed a short walk on Friday and that’s it. The lung infection is still with me but improving slowly. I might try a short stint of some easier gardening this afternoon to ease myself back into activity. I find that the longer I sit on a couch, the harder it becomes to get myself off of it.

    Thin – I’m trying the “resistant starch” technique from the article you posted. I’m cooling my grain porridge then reheating it later when I’m ready. The second bowl I’ll refrigerate until Tuesday. I’m hoping this process works for porridge.

    @ljoyce. Please be aware that whole grains already have high levels of fibre and resistant starch. The process of cooling the starch is called retrogradation. and its effects are most prevalent in foods such as rice, potatoes and pasta products. So yes there will be a slight benefit in cooling such foods. For best results cool at zero degrees. ie Put it in the freezer overnight. The other misconception is that the amount of starch that is converted to resistant starch by this process is VERY modest. Most people seem to have this notion that if I cool my potatoes then it will all be resistant starch. No, most of the starch will remain starch. If you had had say 2-3% of all the starches within a food product being resistant starch then 97-98 of the rest would just be normal starch. Cooling over night (retrogradation process) mat alter that so that you had 3-5% resistant starch and 95-97% normal starch.

    I hope that places things into perspective. The whole grains you have chosen are a very good source of fibre in the first place. If you wanted to prove the effects of increasing the content of resistant starch choose a poor source of starch and then cool it. Say Pasta, rice or potatoes. Eat those for a two week period without cooling. Then repeat for two weeks but fist freeze the foods overnight and then eat. Im going to stick my neck out and say that the results will be disappointing on both occasions. Best to stick to your whole grains.

    Thanks big booty. I have refrigerated rather than frozen the bowls of porridge. It is convenient for me to make enough for two NFDs at a time, but given what you’ve said, I might not bother to cool the first day’s porridge in future.

    I’ve actually just finished my lunch time porridge and thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually prefer the mixture of grains to just oats, as the spelt, barley and rye all remain quite chewy even after soaking overnight and cooking. I enjoy that chewy texture in amongst the smooth creaminess provided by the oats and quinoa.
    Although I regularly eat porridge, it had never occurred to me before to eat this much of it. Normally I have a small serve that’s about a third the size of today’s lunch. After a small bowl I’m usually hungry about 2 hours later.

    My enormous bowl of porridge came in at 1435kj (342 cal), 3g fat, 13g protein, 51g carbohydrate (which includes 8g sugars), and 10g fibre. That’s actually fewer calories than I’d normally eat for a NFD lunch. I’m hoping this one gets me further into the afternoon before my appetite reappears. We’ll see.

    Well, the porridge was so filling I lasted 6 hours between lunch and dinner without snacks. Given how much I’ve been struggling with snacking through the afternoons this is a major change for me. I think this will work as a lunch for cooler NFDs. I’ll have to think of something else for hot weather.

    LJ, I’m with you about cooling the starch prior to consuming when I fancy carbs. I have consumed chilled potatoes. I find chilled potatoes especially satisfying and unlike hot potatoes, warm white rice, slices of bread (which only serve to cause cravings). I find I’m happily satiated after eating half a cold potato, even if it is only 2-3% resistant starch. It works for me too.

    I kind of forgot about porridge. That always had been a good weight loss food for me because it’s filling and relatively low in calories. I used to have it with fruit and it would keep me feeling full for hours. I don’t think there’s enough of an advantage of cooling it to go through the trouble, unless you like to eat starches cold, like Minka with the potatoes. I bet that would be good with salsa.

    Thin, I’m having a lot of up and down days with eating too. I’m good on FDs but too much snacking on other days. Yesterday I was 60.3. Today I’m at 59.7. I was pretty good all day and only had 2 pieces of pizza last night. I bought a big bowl of fresh cut melons, pineapple, grapes and strawberries for dessert. That satisfied the urge for sweets, along with lots of 0 calorie drinks. My skinny jeans were comfortable this morning.

    I am getting my mind round being back from Madeira. Madeira is about 1500 miles south west of us, about 3 1/2 – hours flight, well out into the Atlantic and slightly south of Casablanca. We left home at 0330 hours, temp -1C and arrived in temps of low 20s C, where it stayed for our 16 days. We came back to -2C. After a couple of days of catching up with the domestic admin we are back to normal. Temperature today was about 8C, which permitted me to get into the garden to prune my raspberries and remove some of the weeds in my veg patch. It was a little lonely for the first hour, but after that the robin came back to supervise my activity. The neighbours’ cats seem to have missed us as well.

    The kefir I left whilst we were away is Ok, but a little thin. The grains went into fresh milk and after two days are the thickest yet – too thick to pour through the funnel, like thick joghhurt.

    There were too may posts in our absence to reply to individually, so to those with health issues, get well, to the new names, welcome and to everyone else – stick with it.

    Good morning, it is another busy day here, including my sister’s birthday.

    Your kefir grains sound delicious Penguin!

    Best wishes getting well LJoyce. I know you have so many lung infections, but each one is different but it sounds like this one needs a lot of recovery time.
    Porridge is so good! I like some chewier grains in mine too.

    It is coming into the best porridge season for you Cali!

    Kiwi, congrats on your hard, successful 4:3 week! 5:2 will be so easy when you get back to it. Good luck with that genealogy.

    Thin, thankyou. I do so hope you had an excellent fast day yesterday, and are nicely back on track today.

    Best wishes everyone!

    I had a good FD thanks Cinque, unusual in that I didn’t have my cauliflower soup. We were out at feeding time and, when we returned, I wasn’t hungry so it became a 24 hour fast (A&C milk notwithstanding). Back on track today. CalifD, I’m usually fine with food at home, but external forces came into play last week. It must be hard for you travelling for work and having so much less control over what’s on offer.

    We are so fortunate to have discovered 5:2. One of the reasons we were later home yesterday was that we ran into some old work colleagues not seen since before I started this WOL. The lady was amazed at my weight loss asking how I’d done it. She was always very overweight but had gained a lot more and now has serious heart problems. She asked what 500 calories looked like and I gave her an example of one of my favourite FD meals, asparagus, poached egg and smoked salmon. Immediately, the barriers went up with excuses like, “I don’t like smoked salmon” and, “I wouldn’t want to keep it up for three years”.

    I often wonder why everyone’s not practicing 5:2 but, clearly, not everyone can do it. Some aren’t even receptive to the idea. So, here’s to us!

    Welcome back Penguin, you were missed here too. We were in Portugal for the first time two years ago at this time and I’d definitely return.

    LJ, I missed a couple of days’ posts and didn’t know that you were sick again until reading Cinque’s post. Get well soon. According to that article, we only need a daily intake of 15-30g of resistant starch to gain significant health benefits like decreased risk of colon cancer. It can also help with weight loss, decreased blood insulin spikes after meals and decreased appetite. There may be benefits associated with maintaining lean body mass. It doesn’t matter how you cool it. Your post reminded me how I started 5:2 with 30g of oats for breakfast and how filling it was despite it being a miniature portion.

    Thanks for your comments about milk frothing, GDSA and Cinque. I’d heard that before too. This morning’s is especially good.

    Cinque, I hope you’ll have a ‘device’ in hospital so you can give us an update. If not, we’ll have to wait patiently for news.

    Good morning SHs. I’m still struggling to get out of bed at the moment. I woke at 7:30 and took my antibiotic (empty stomach) and then decide to lie down again and watch the morning news. Next thing I knew it was 10am. As I’m heading off to bed between 7-9 at night I think this is just the lung infection requiring more rest.
    I’m on the last day of my current antibiotics and have decided I’ll need to start the next packet and postpone my RA treatment (which was meant to be Thursday).

    Thin, I have come across people like that. If they aren’t ready to deal with their issues they’ll find an excuse. I also find people often put up mental barriers when I say “fasting”. Something I found useful is to not use the word “fasting” because I find people immediately think, no food and I have too much explaining to do. I just tell people that two days a week I only eat dinner and I make sure it includes lots of veg, and that’s enough to help me keep my weight stable.

    Penguin, is Madeira part of Portugal? I seem to remember that you’ve been there on holiday before, so I’m assuming it’s a favourite spot.

    Cali, skinny jeans are always a good guide – there’s no hiding the muffin top in them.

    Cinque, I hope the surgery goes really well and you are hope and breathing better soon.

    I’m doing a FD today, just finished my first pot of tea. I already have cooked broccoli and carrots that just need reheating tonight. I’ll cook 2 chicken tenderloins to go with them.

    Hi all. I havent had time to catch up on posts since returning home from adelaide but here’s my weight gain and loss for the week. Tues morning before leaving for Adel was 61.6kg. Weight on my return from Adel on Friday arvo was 63.8kg. Today (Monday morning) after 2 consecutive fast days I’m down to 61kg exactly. Very pleased indeed.

    Gday, you not only lost what you gained while being away, but a little extra too. Before 5:2 you might have looked at your weight after returning home and decided that you diet was screwed up, so might as well just keep on eating. (Tell me now, is there anyone here who hasn’t reacted exactly that way before 5:2?) But here you are, 2 days later and better than ever! This is what 5:2 is to me. There is only the possibility of going off this WOL twice a week, and even then, it can just be pushed to the next day. It isn’t like abandoning a diet, it’s just adjusting to another day in the week. For me, this is the real strength of the 5:2.

    When I used to do calorie or carb counting diets, or eliminating foods or food group diets, as soon as I ate a bunch of some “forbidden “ food, I’d think, “Well I screwed up, so I might as well just eat everything in sight because the diet is over.” Now, since discovering 5:2 I just think, “We’ll, I screwed up today, bigtime. Looks like my FD is moved to tomorrow.” This is a big thing for me. A very big thing.

    Hi! I’m fasting today!Happy fasting to all other Monday fasters! Sometimes I fast on Monday and sometimes on Tuesdays depending on my schedule.

    Sending you wishes for improved health LJ!

    Hi to Cinque, Cali, Penguin, GDSA and everyone else!

    Thin, I also encounter others with similar attitude to the lady who couldn’t fathom 5:2! I even have a friend who tried it for a few hours and got too hungry!

    One thing I’m happy about having practiced 5:2 for nearly 1 1/2 years is that I feel I have a more mature attitude toward hunger than I once had. On non-fasting days I can now go longer without food if need be. In that way, I feel a sense of freedom I didn’t know or experience prior to 5:2.

    Cheers!

    Cinque. I must have missed it in the mass of posts. Surgery? – good luck.

    Thinatlast. The world is full of people like that. They start by saying how well you look, then ask how you do it, then say that they couldn’t possibly do that and it must be unhealthy. In my case the planet seems to be full of those who believe the “breakfast is the most important meal” mantra. LJ is right -the word “fasting” frightens them. It must be a little tricky getting to Portugal for you, I didn’t know there were any direct flights.

    LJoyce. Madeira is politically a part of Portugal and in the same time zone, which makes dawn and sunset both about 90 minutes later than you would expect – fine for those on holiday. We have what amounts to a flexible time share with a a local hotel chain – until we have used up the investment we can go at any time to one of their places on the island or mainland Portugal. We take a small apartment and self cater or go out for meals. You are right – most years we go there two or three times when the weather isn’t to good here. I watch the airline websites and go when the flights are cheap. That lung infection sounds unpleasant – hope the antibiotics do the trick.

    P.S. I’m a bird lover Cinque and I participated in that 2013 ‘Australia Favorite Bird’ poll! Tee, hee! I didn’t vote for the Superb Fairy Wren, but instead the ‘White Cheeked Rosella’! I wonder which bird will win this year! I would probably vote for the ‘Pied Butcherbird’ since I so love their songs! Can we conduct our own poll? What’s others’ favorite birds?

    Minka – thanks for the get well wishes. I get lung infections regularly and they usually improve drastically when I start the antibiotics. But sometimes those bacteria are persistent little devils and it becomes a battle of wills, or endurance, or something like that. This is one of the persistent ones, but I will win eventually.

    Penguin – I like the idea of heading off to Madeira every time the rain sets in at home. No wonder you go there several times a year, given how wet and dreary your part of the world can be.

    GDSA – I agree with CailD’s sentiments, 2 FDs and you are already lighter than before you went away – that’s very good going.

    Cinque – I have 2 favourite birds, both of which regularly visit my garden:
    Rosellas – for of their gorgeous colours.
    Magpies – because they sing to me and keep me company when I’m gardening and they have fabulous personalities.

    Just finished my chicken, broccoli & carrot FD dinner. Feel comfortably full now. It was a warm day here today, which helped to make it an easy FD.

    LJ. Our weather isn’t wet and dreary all of the time. In the summer I live in shorts and stay here. I like snow as well – it is the in between bits I escape from.

    Good morning,
    Yes Penguin, just when I thought I had it all sorted they called me back in. They’d had a peer specialist meeting, and this time when they discussed my case they all thought I should have it out. So I am.
    So I am up early.

    I’ll have my ipad in the hospital, Thin, I wonder how quickly I can get back to chat?

    Penguin, I thought you would vote for the PENGUIN! 😀
    I had a hard time choosing, but went with the brolga.

    Best wishes all

    Cinque, sending every good wish your way for an easy procedure, speedy recovery and good news. Looking forward to reading your cheery posts again soon.

    Cinque – I didn’t expect to hear from you this morning. I have everything crossed that all goes well for you.
    As you chose a brolga as your favourite bird I thought I’d share a humorous image of one that I’ve had for a while: https://imgur.com/bInO6xm

    Penguin – I’ll take your word for it on the weather. A few years ago I spent a couple of months in Europe, with England as my base in between various trips to Ireland, Scotland and the Continent. Every time I returned to England it rained and this was August-October. I was unimpressed.

    It was warm overnight, which I’m assuming is what woke me at 3:15am and stopped me getting back to sleep again. So a very abnormally early start for me. At least I’ve had a chance to water the garden before it gets hot.

    Cinque. If they think it is best out, it has to go. I missed that bird business. I would have had a problem – I don’t know most of your birds. Do you have anything like our Goshawks? Is it too late to vote for my Robin?

    LJoyce. Some years are better than others. We have also had exceptionally dry ones. The last couple of Augusts there has been so little water in our local river systems that the bottom of my canoe is thoroughly scratched.

    Thinking of you this morning Cinque and glad you’ll have an iPad so we can hear from you soon. I was up at 5am today and thought I’d be the first to post. But the early birds have beaten me to it.

    Speaking of birds, it’s hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go for the Major Mitchell (Leadbeater’s cockatoo) because I remember being very impressed when I first saw one on the Nullarbor.

    The last few times we’ve been back to England, the weather was idyllic. I know it’s not always like that and we were spoiled. Penguin, nowhere is easy to get to from Perth. We’re 24 hours and two thousand dollars from anywhere. We flew to Madrid via Abu Dhabi and then took some very inexpensive local flights first to Porto where we spent a week and then to Faro I think it was. We then took an Alsa bus to Seville where we picked up a rental car and spent about 6 weeks in the Andalusia region. We did this in winter to see whether we could handle the climate at that time of year for possible retirement purposes.

    CalifD, I agree completely. Having the opportunity to enjoy a FD stops the runaway train.

    Happy Belated Birthday Lindsay.

    Cinque, good luck with your surgery today. I hope it isn’t too bad afterward. I’m glad you’ll have your iPad with you. Please let us know how you’re feeling as soon as possible. You know that we’ll all be concerned. Big hugs to you!🌹

    Cinque and Minka, I vote for the cockatoo. Cockatoos will always have a special place in my heart after living with one for 18-1/2 years.

    Thin, don’t you just hate that when someone asks how you lost all that weight and then they criticize or disagree with the way you did it? I agree with some of the others that it’s the word “fasting” that puts some people off. But eating 500 or 600 calories a day isn’t really fasting at all, it’s just a very low calorie day. I think I would find it difficult to do a water only fast for 2 days per week. I like having a small amount of food to look forward to. I don’t think a total fast 2 days per week would be sustainable for me.

    LJoyce, I hope those antibiotics are starting to do their magic. Glad to hear that you’re getting some warm weather. Your weather report shows lots of sun too.

    Penguin, did I ever post a picture of this before? If I did, forgive me for posting it again. It was a cheese ball made with goat cheese and cream cheese that I made for an appetizer last year. The penguins are more of the cheese, black olives and carrot slices. It was so much fun to make. And not too difficult. https://imgur.com/a/8mWMI

    CalifD, I love that! Very original and clever.

    Thin, thank you. I got the idea from Pinterest.

    Hi all,

    I have been so busy during the day and tired at night!! Have now arrived in Osaka for the last few days of our trip. Just read where Cinque is having a procedure and in hospital. I would love to send best wishes to you and hope all goes well.
    We have travelled so much I have not always been able to read the posts, but did see this one now we have spend an afternoon relaxing in our hotel.
    Hoping to get back on the wagon again soon!! I have walked so much, I have climbed mountains and mountains over and over again. I thought I should lose weight but I think I have just created muscle. Clothes look good on me so all should be good!!

    Will be back on 5:2 again on Monday next week as we will return home on the Sunday. OH will arrive back with me on Sunday morning only to fly out again about 3 hours later. I tried to stop this trip and do it the but tides where better on the Sunday and our client wanted it done on Sunday for convenience.

    CalifDreamer. First time I’ve seen that. It consists of things that I would eat but looks too good to eat, even if I was prepared to eat a fellow Penguin. How long did it last before people stopped admiring it and started to eat it?

    Cinque. I guess it is the middle of the night your time. By the time you read this it will be the day after. All well?

    Thinatlast. We were in the Faro area in June. The airport and the major roads are all being rebuilt again with European Union money. Every junction on the main coastal road, and there is one every half mile, was getting a new roundabout. it was chaos. I have pretty much given up on the Algarve – too many golf courses. Lisbon I loved – a good town for walking and it has retained the old character. I have never been to Porto but everyone seems to like it. It is next on my list. I am supposed to be learning Portuguese but it is a tricky language for someone with a northern European ear.

    CalifDreamer I don’t recall ever seeing a roundabout in the US and I think I read that you don’t have them. True?

    Penguin, we have a few roundabouts here and there, but not as many as I’ve seen in Europe. France had a lot of them in the countryside.

    People didn’t want to break into the penguin creation at first. I finally had to stick a knife in it to get them started. 😁 The penguins are actually easier and quicker to put together than they look. It’s just a matter of finding the right sized olives. Whatever is left over from the igloo can be served again with a fig or cranberry jam poured over it a day or two later. (And no one would realize it’s a former igloo.)

    Great to read that you are building muscle JustJulie! As I’ve written previously, my specialist doctor sees this as a biomarker of youthfulness and longevity. In other words, he regards percent muscle mass a far greater indicator of health than BMI! Also good to read that your clothes fit so well too, which would be verification of the muscle building!

    Cali, I haven’t heard about the cockatoo that you lived with! Was it a Sulfur Crested Cockatoo? I love Sulfur Crested Cockatoos too and all other varieties! Glossy Black Cockatoos fly over our house seasonally and Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos that visit a few times a week and which land and rest in the big eucalyptus tree in our front yard!

    Penguin & Cali – I don’t mind the small roundabouts, it’s the big ones with double lanes and 5 or more entry points that terrify me. On an major thoroughfare near Adelaide CBD they recently upgraded a huge 2-lane roundabout, into a double 2-lane roundabout (see the pic and you’ll understand). I had enough trouble negotiating it before, now I don’t even try, I just take a different route. I don’t know what bright spark thought it would be a good idea to do this on one of the main access roads into the CBD.
    https://www.raa.com.au/membership/read-samotor/2013/Summer/the-new-britannia
    The trouble with unusual traffic management structures like this, is that it’s only the regular users that know what to do, and the rest of us don’t realise we should have read some instruction until we’re entering the damn thing and just hold our breath and hope for the best.

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