Arel, it’s marvellous to have the right glasses, isn’t it? I find myself squinting a lot before accepting that I need to reach for mine because I can often manage better without. Have fun back at work.

LJ, I don’t take the fish oil on FDs for that reason. It took several days of correspondence before I could convince Melrose to come clean with the calorie count but I assured them I’d continue to take it and recommend it to others. My dose equals a whopping 92 cals so that was my first question on the forum when I started this WOL. Someone called NickyF who takes it suggested it could be incorporated into cooking which I’d never thought of before. I have been wondering lately though, whether at my new weight, I do really need to keep taking it after all these years.

I love Gado Gado and make it at home. Exactly my style of salad, some cooked, some raw ingredients. I’d always thought it was Indonesian though as that’s where I first encountered it. I expect these dishes migrate through the Asian countries.

I have never seen rain that steady for so long in Perth. Marvellous, it just kept coming all day long and into the evening. Now I see there are new posts to read on a previous page, good morning all.

Ooops, I need my own black magic marker to correct some of the punctuation in my own post above. Burns me up to discover an error.

LJ, now that the hard work’s done, the satisfying jobs lie ahead. It will be fun to see the difference. Don’t you mask tape to cover the cornice edges? I love ripping that off and finding that it worked (or sometimes not).

Using other grains for a risotto is a good idea, LJ. I hadn’t ever thought of that. You are so innovative.

Cinque, have a wonderful day filled with visitors and not doing anything. I hope you find three small useful tasks to fulfil in the meantime.

LJoyce, it sounds like you used the barley with hulls still on for your risotto. The pearl barley might have been easier to use. I bought some with the hulls about a year ago but OFM thought it was too chewy and wouldn’t eat it after the first time. OH said it took 10 minutes per mouthful just to chew. 😁 I actually liked it for all the fiber, but I can see why your recipe would make more servings. (That isn’t necessarily a bad thing!)
I work better under deadlines too. (Or at least faster.) I often procrastinate until the last minute and then when the job is done, wonder why I waited so long. The worry about putting it off sometimes takes more energy than just doing it and getting it over with. But then I might lose my good standing in Procrastinator’s Annonymous. 😉

Arel, many years ago I heard of “mono vision” contact lenses where one lens is for my nearsightedness and the other is for reading and close up. Even the closeup one has some adjustment for distance, just not much. I don’t have to wear reading glasses which I would otherwise need. https://www.specsavers.com.au/help-and-faqs/can-monovision-be-made-in-glasses-as-well-as-in-contact-lenses
My brain just automatically switches between eyes depending where I look. If I look far away, my right eye takes over. If I read or look at something close, my left eye takes over. I don’t even notice it. So when I ordered glasses, I told them I wanted a mono vision lens script, just like my contacts. The eye doctor told me it only works with contacts, that I needed bifocal (very expensive) glasses. He told me it would make me dizzy, see double vision, etc., etc. I told him I’d take a chance, just prescribe them and I wouldn’t ask for a replacement or refund if they didn’t work. They work fine, just like the contact lenses. If I go to a new doc who argues, I just tell them I’ve been wearing them for over 30 years. My mono vision glasses cost under $200 compared to over $600 for graduated lenses. (Perhaps that’s the reason they discourage them?)
Some people have a hard time adjusting to them. It took me about 10 minutes

Stay, we have 3 seasons of Outlander available on Starz streaming service. There are 42 episodes in all. We just watched episodes 2 and 3 of season 2. https://www.starz.com/series/outlander/episodes

Thin, good to hear of the bad airbnb review about the renters. Cinque, I love your idea of thin trying to write an airbnb review! I would never have thought of complaining about neighbors taking photos or knocks at the door at dawn.🤣😎

T2 teas are definitely pricey and I will probably use them more as treats than a daily tea. But LJoyce who is a tea connoisseur likes them so much that I had to see for myself. Shipping was free on the first order. I figured they would ship from a US location since they have a few shops here, but it looks like they may be coming from Aus. It could take a while. LJoyce, you’re right about them having specials and deals. I received an email this morning offering “one day free shipping”.

Julie, glad to hear that you’re doing well. I figured you were just busy with work and preparing for your trip. I thought of you when reading about the hot temperatures there. You usually have warm weather anyway.

Thin, did the rain get that bush fire under control?

Yes CalifD, all is good now thank you. What a steady, prolonged rain. Just not used to that at all here. The poor lizards were almost swimming in their enclosure this morning even with most of it covered. They have a hollowed out log that usually keeps them dry.

Cinque, if I had a spare $550, I’d rent the house next door for one night so I could leave a rubbish review.

I think with the teas, or anything else really, we all eat so much less now that we deserve the very best of everything. And everything we do eat or drink should be of excellent quality. I’d considered the Madame Flavour teas a real treat at 20c per bag and I get three cups out of those on a FD. I won’t complain about the price again now that LJ has revealed the cost of T2 teas. I also don’t think twice about spending $4-5 on a good cup of coffee at a cafe because the value I get from chatting to friends for hours is worth so much more.

Imagine what you’d spend if you were a sticky drink drinker. Last week we had fish and chips at a beach south of here. OFMs chose ‘fish’n’chips’ and I spent the same amount on grilled barramundi with no chips. What a martyr. But it was just awful. So fishy and strong that I had to throw it away (very unlike me). OFMs battered snapper was absolutely delicious and DD ended up giving me half her fish and a few chips. Anyway, I digress. Because the grilled fish takes so long to prepare, I was in the chippie for ages as others came and went. Incredible how much sticky drink & flavoured milk was being bought, even for little children. There were five huge double door fridges full of drinks I’d never heard of. I’m sure they did more business in drinks than chips. The thought of flavoured milk with fish and chips turns my stomach. So, enjoy that tea! You deserve it.

So side tracked with first world problems that I forgot to mention I lost 500gms after a NFD this morning. I did try harder yesterday following everyone’s lead. Very happy. I’d made an Indian prawn curry for me and OH so that must have been low cal. Tonight we’ll have a frittata and tomorrow’s a FD. On track.

P.S. Stay, yes, OH has a splitty but I had to read on to discover what that meant! I was thinking of butt crack for some reason. He def. doesn’t have that! I would caution against listing your FD details here. You could post, for a limited time, your email address in your profile and then remove it. A safer option would be to contact JJ at tech support and exchange details with individual posters. I’d like to see the photos. You could post them on https://imgur.com/upload and share the page here. Do you know how to do that? If we don’t hear from you again this week have a brilliant time!

Actually Stay, it’s OK to post your FD details here! But perhaps not your FB details is what I meant of course. Gosh, I am sloppy today, sorry. No, I don’t have Stay’s email address, CalifD.

Exactly right about the tea CalifD. So, at 55c per cup, you are definitely worth it! The next question of course is, as an American, are you any good at making a pot of tea? 😆 Don’t follow my lead since I often use tea bags; LJ will have to point the way. I only ask because when my English girlfriend and I worked as waitresses in N.C., we got told off by management for serving a customer’s tea bag in the cup with boiling water poured on it. The correct way we were told was to pour the water in the cup, then put the tea bag and sugar in the saucer to take it to the table. Still made great tips though.

Thin, how could a restaurant owner argue with a Brit over how to make tea? Didn’t they invent the stuff? 😁 But aren’t there some teas, like green tea, that should be brewed in less than boiling water? I mainly use tea bags for the convenience but I ordered the T2 teas in loose tea leaves. I usually pour boiling water over the tea unless it’s green tea. I’m trying to drink more green because of the health benefits, but it tastes kind of bland and grassy to me. Sometimes I’ll add a green tea bag to an herbal tea since it tastes bland enough to me. It will be interesting to hear how LJoyce prepares it. Do all of you use a teapot with built-in strainer or use a tea/strainer device in the teapot? With T2 teas, is it really only a teaspoon (tsp) of tea to a cup like they say on their website? That doesn’t seem like a lot. I wonder what size cup?
And congrats on the 500 gram loss!

Speaking of the price of a cup, the cost of pods for Keurig coffee makers is often 55 cents or more. We have one, but have a reusable stainless steel pod thing so we can use our own ground coffee.

Stay, I sent off an email giving permission to share, so one of us should be hearing from them.

Morning all. Penguin is back in northern climes after a week of warmth. That 1500 miles takes me from a sunny 19C to 3C and a forecast of heavy snow later today. That is going to be interesting, I have to clean up the car that has been sitting in an airport car park to undergo the annual road worthiness inspection tomorrow.

Cinque, I am guessing the little bird was the “Related Science Articles” thread (unless you also follow “Are there many guys on this diet”?). I posted there when I got back last night because it is a much quieter site. I have been using my phone to read the hundred plus posts on this site whilst away, but wanted a quick scan again before reporting in. Everyone has been very busy and we seem to have gained some new names. I could have used that tip on freezing the roller last year. It will be remembered

I failed the silly season challenge, but cracked the holiday one – came back three pounds lighter. I would like to claim that as the result of a daily routine of walking 6 miles, going to the gym and eating wisely but that was the first five days, then we both got the common cold and settled down to a really idle life. We have brought our colds back to UK, which is only fair; they are probably British colds we caught on the aircraft going out. I am running about 24 hours ahead of OH so I am up and about whilst she remains abed. I’ll wait until I hear movement, then take up a cup of tea.

CalifD, There are some green teas I dont like because they dont taste like the real thing. I wonder if you are buying Japanese green tea or other brands?

I have found that the Japanese Sencha tea is much better. I buy from the Japanese grocery store here and it is a bit more expensive, but it tastes better than the Australian brands I have tried.

I too have requested the email address for Stay.

I missed where Penguin went to but I gather it was to somewhere warmer. Hope you had a great time Penguin and congrats on the weight loss while away,wish I could do that!!!

Thin, I usually get two cups out of a green tea bag or the tea bags from T2.

My weight this morning was down about 500g but I am still not back to where I was before. My FD today went well but I think I ate too much fruit though.

I am not sure I understand this, but it doesn’t sound good, According to Huffpost, one of the teams I get news from on my phone, AirBrib have introduced a new system to allow guests to stagger payments on their rental to make it easier for them to cover their costs. With luck It may just only to Brits who are a bit short of cash at the moment.

Cinque, it isn’t just men’s business, we have had the occasional female visitor. I think they just get bored with us and stop posting. We may be getting bored with each other, there used to be more of us and the thread has been very quiet recently. It is interesting watching the recent posts – some familiar names do get around.

I think I have just about shaken off the infection thanks. OH seems to have got it rather more badly and is not a happy bunny. She also 5:2s and her weight remained static whilst we were away. it may be something in the male – female body structures but she has to try a lot harder than I do. She also had less to lose.

There is currently a link on the science articles site which is supposed to show the first 32 pages of Dr Longo’s book. I can’t make it work. That may be a Brit thing – it isn’t released here until 8 Feb. – it might be worth you giving it a go.

Your Chinese restaurant tea brought back memories. 50 plus years ago I taught English in an evening school in Hong Kong. When I left my course gave me a teapot, tray and cups. They apparently searched all over for cups with handles because that is how westerners drink it! I still have it, on a safe shelf. So far it has survived the curiosity of kids and grandkids and it is staying on that shelf.

Good morning all,

A very interesting morning for me. I started out with 18YO coming into wake me at 5.30 saying that her fan and lights do not work. So checked my room and I had lights and ceiling fan working, then checked the kitchen to find no lights there. Our house is wired with the lights being on two circuits so half the house is ok and the other half is out. I went down to the meter box (thank goodness the rain had stopped) and found the circuit had tripped off and turned it on and went back to bed. About 7.30 I got up and checked again to find it off again. There is so much rain coming down at the moment I am not going out in it to play with the power box, so will wait until there is a lull and have another look. Rang OH and discussed how to check it before ringing the electrician. We had a bad experience last time it rained hard like this (only about 6 weeks ago) and had to get the electrician out to find we had a faulty circuit breaker.

So weight this morning was down 200g. I am getting there slowly!! My Fd yesterday went fairly well but I had a lot of fruit and maybe too much sugar in that. I also had some yoghurt, celery and hommus.

Today I have had plain yoghurt with raspberries for breakfast. then plan to have miso soup for lunch and tofu for dinner.

My Japanese daughter bought white chia seeds when she was staying with us and left them here. I wonder what health benefits there are in them. I sprinkled a teaspoon of them over my yoghurt this morning.

Penguin, your story about the chinese tea set you received reminded me of the one that was given to my husband a few years ago. He was surveying a ship that was Chinese owned with Chinese Master and Officers and it was right at Chinese New Year. The Master asked him to stay for lunch and then as he was leaving the vessel he was given a lovely Chinese tea set in a beautiful red box. We have never used it.

All this talk about tea reminded me about another Japanese tea that I make at home but have not done so for a few weeks. Japanese toasted barley tea (mugicha) that I drink chilled is great for those hot summer days. I usually make it at night and then leave in the fridge overnight. I use the T2 jug that has the insert in the middle and it works fine. There is no caffeine and is rich in antioxidants. The taste is different at first but a glass of this chilled on a hot day is very refreshing.

Well, time to go and get some housework done before leaving the country again. Will catch up again soon.

For any of you who are curious, the Tour Downunder (currently live on channel 9) is doing circuits through my town and neighbouring towns at the moment. At some point they actually whiz past my house. I keep hearing the helicopter flying overhead to film the race.

LJoyce, how exciting to have the Tour Downunder going right past your house! I could see some of those films on the internet, obviously taken from helicopters. you should to go outdoors and wave at the helicopters. We’ll know it’s you because you’ll be the one covered with spatters of grey paint! 😁

Penguin, welcome back and congrats on losing 3 pounds over your holidays. It’s too bad you and OH weren’t feeling well. But at least you were in a warm place. Lots of people over here have colds and flu. Winter seems to be the time of year for that. I was feeling a little off myself today. I hope it goes away tomorrow.

My T2 has shipped. I wonder how long it will take to arrive? It says “standard shipping”. Thank you to LJoyce, Cinque and thin for posting your instructions for brewing tea. I have a couple of those tea infuser thingies that I can use for the loose tea leaves. I’m anxious to try the T2.

Monday’s FD went well. I lost only 300 grams, but I’m back in the high 58’s again. 2 FD seems to be what I’ll need to maintain as long as I don’t go overboard on the other days. Congrats to Thin, Julie and penguin for the losses!

I hope you are all having a good day.

I’ve had a busy day and only managed to skim the latest posts. I wanted to ask you LJ if you’d ever tried Nerada Rooibos Vanilla decaf teabags available at Woolworths. I like it with milk so no good for a FD but it’s the only decaf tea/coffee product that works for me. You mentioned before about liking vanilla.

I’m on my second peppermint tea only. I didn’t eat until 4pm today. My 2pm soup ritual is getting later and later. I feel a 24 hour fast trend coming on.

Aren’t we having bizarre weather in Australia? It’s been SO humid today, I thought of you JJulie.

Penguin, your post had me howling with laughter at my own stupidity. Actually I thought I was being really clever to get your cryptic clue of deciding how you were going to pull yourself away from your green tea and put your boots on to go out for a walk. Then I realised where you live and that you really were working out how to get from TEASdale to WEARdale.

It sounds wonderful that your holidays are peaceful enough to engage in a bit of water colour painting. DD requested water colour paints for her 22nd birthday as she intends to start a sort of painting diary on her travels. We also gave her a set of water colour pencils – have you seen these? Another present was a pair of climbing shoes so you might have things in common.

LJ, I will force myself to watch commercial TV just so I can get a glimpse of your area. Can you put some kind of flag on the roof for us? How nice that you are always able to schedule the race to coincide with your days spent out or in (he he he).

CalifD, when you get Stay’s email address from JJ, would you please give her my email address too? Thank you! As mentioned, I’m taking the lazy way out but it does also save JJ some work so all is well.

How lovely Penguin.

Good morning,
Hot days in Melbourne! But at the moment cool air is flooding through. Lovely.
Not a good fast day yesterday I am afraid. Too exhausted from the day before to be prepared. A lesson for the future.

I also watched the “How to stay young” documentary. It was lovely seeing people turn their lives around, but frustrating to watch and daunting as I can’t be very active and it will be amazing if I last another ten minutes!

Oh well, keep on doing the best I can!

Best wishes to you all, hoping that you have a lovely day doing the best you can!

Hi penguin:

My comment was really just to say have a great time on your holiday and don’t worry about gaining or losing weight or researching weight loss products when you should be having fun! It was not meant as a comment on inulin.

As for inulin, I view it as another weight loss fad. Just going to WebMD, it reports that inulin ‘does not seem to significantly reduce weight in moderately obese people’ and ‘does not seem to significantly lower bloodcholesterol.’ It does say that inulin seems to lower triglycerides by as much as 19% after 8 weeks of treatment. I would add, in men, but a study showed no reduction in women.

It doesn’t seem to be harmful so far, so I guess people can take it if they want.

I’ve just seen so many of these silver bullets come and go that I tend to ignore them. But all of them have their avid supporters for a time, and, as they say, if it works for you, go for it!

By the way, it has been around for a long time (discovered around 1800), it is commonly found in bananas, garlic and onions and is classified as a FODMAP. That means for those people that think they are gluten sensitive, or have IBS it will probably cause them some discomfort. More basic information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin

Julie, I remember that Hollywood Diet. That was a long time ago! I love fruit, but I think I only made it through 3 or 4 days. I probably lost some weight but I remember not feeling very good. I added it to a long list of diets that didn’t work. (They only work if they’re sustainable.) I eat a lot of fruit in the summer and didn’t find it a problem with the 5:2. There are fewer fruits in season now, but I still eat a lot of apples, pears and bananas.

Thin, I thought exactly the same thing when I read penguin’s post about TEASdale and WEARdale. Isn’t that the way he meant it? 😁
I’ll pass your email on to Stay.

LJ, I’d love your recipe for decaf Lamington. I drink decaf whenever I can in both coffee and tea. It may be a while before the T2 arrives, so this could be a “sneak preview “.
Congrats on all the reno work you’re getting done. I’m impressed! I wish there was a way to push my exercise room out into your path, hoping you would organize that too!

Cinque, you’ve already turned your life around with all the weight you’ve lost and have managed to keep off. I bet the hot weather plays a big part in how exhausted you feel. I always feel tired in hot weather, especially when there’s humidity involved. It’s normally hot and dry in the summer in WA, SA and Victoria, isn’t it?

Morning all. Cinque I am sorry you’ve not been well … hope you are on the road to recovery. The little ones pick up all sorts of things when they first start day care … my GP calls child care centres ‘viral swamps’ (and he’s only half joking). Hope you are having a gentle day, and enjoy your visitors.
LJoyce it wasn’t until I read your post that I remembered how great French Earl Grey is. I popped straight down to the local T2, and am now enjoying a pot. I’m not much of a tea drinker normally – strong black coffee is my thing – but I’ll make an exception for the FEG.
Arel, the Miracle jeans are available on line https://www.rodneyclark.com/products/4271-miracle-jean-slim-leg
I go for the slim leg, because that’s not my particular problem. But they seem to flatten my stomach, which is where I carry my weight (and around the waist…sigh).
My first FD since the holidays … I missed Monday, because I had little miss…we had a lovely morning at the eco-centre at the uni where I work, looking at snakes and lizards and butterflies, but then she asked for prawn dumplings, so off we headed to Chinatown. Back in the swing today, and loving the crampy, hungry feeling. It’s not extreme – just enough to let me know it’s doing me good.
Oh, one more thing to add to earlier posts about cleaning up, cleaning out. We had a spare fridge over on the island, replaced in the renovation. It sat on the verandah, blocking the view, while we contemplated what to do with it. So during our Christmas holiday, my son and son in law decided to relocate it to the footpath, and put a sign in the local park advertising a free fridge. It was gone in 10 minutes – three lovely young people came and loaded it on to their ute. Win/win/win. They needed one, we needed to get rid of one, and one very large whitegood didn’t end up as landfill.
Have a great day all.

LJoyce, thank you for the tea blend recipe. I don’t measure things either. I have cacao nibs in the house and cardamom, but not the pods. I can get those at the local market or on Amazon. I probably need to get more coconut too because the stuff I have has been sitting in the pantry for some time. I often get spices in bags too, by the ounce. They’re much less expensive that way here too. It will be a great way to have the decaf tea flavored.

Nut butters are great to spread on things but after having Cinque’s Nigerian Bean Stew with the peanut butter, I’m going to experiment with it in soups and stews. I bet cashew butter would be good. Or pecan.

Lindsay, good to see you back home and back in the FD swing of things. Very cool way to get rid of a frig! We’ve done that on Craig’s list or Nextdoor with various pieces of furniture that weren’t in perfect shape, posting photos that showed the imperfections, and had the same sort of experience. Usually someone wanted them and picked it up within the hour.

Hi All,

A check in to say write a bit about an interesting comparison…

Today I accompanied my friend to an Inbody Scan appointment. This friend grows a lot of her own food and only eats organic paleo cuisine. She never eats sugar, doesn’t have emotional ties with food like I do. When I look at her body I see little or no fat. She is very fit, lifts weights, practices Iyengar yoga and owns an infrared sauna which she uses daily.

In contrast I admittedly binge, (and when emotionally driven I have been known to binge on sugary food). I am also very sporadic with my activity levels. The only constants in my health regime are 5:2 and my inulin powder program.

In light of this, I was shocked when I viewed my friend’s Inbody scan report! With my friend’s impeccable diet and exercise regime and body to go with it that looks 20 years younger than her biological age, I would have thought that her visceral fat levels would be half of what mine are. Instead the scan showed that she has double the amount of visceral fat that I carry, which lands her in the health risk zone. …Meaning the 12+ centimeters square that is tucked away around her organs is posing a health risk due to increased inflammation and pressure on organs.

I am writing this to underscore that we never know what is lurking around our organs until we are tested to find out! We can look slim and trim, as does my friend and carry unseen visceral fat tucked away beneath our muscles, deep around our organs. Also, the friend who follows what I consider a ‘perfect’ diet and exercise regime to a tee, did not receive as healthy a body composition report as I, one who is someone who is often off course, but who remains committed to 5:2 and my inulin powder program!

5:2 is both forgiving and so life giving!

For the record, my friend has never showed any interest in following 5:2.

Hi everyone
Been a couple if days since last post, lots to catch up on. Have just finished hooking up a new NBN modem to our home, also had to set up new networks, homegroups & new security for our TV, computers, fitbit, etc – seems to take forever, causes some stress & then a need for a sugar fix – had a handful of choc coated almonds: tasted too sweet but satisfied the stress craving!!!
Many posts on tea – I like milk in black tea last, but in first for coffee so it’s creamier! & no milk in herbal tea.
Thin: only a week to go & my glasses will be ready – can’t wait to see the difference!
Calif: I’m aware of mono vision lenses for bilateral cataract lens replacement, but didn’t realise it’s use in contacts & glasses – makes sense. Enjoyed your link re same
LindsayL: thank you for miracle jean link – saved it for future shopping. So glad your fridge found a new home & you can now enjoy your view
LJoyce: enjoyed your painting rules – will be helpful for my future renos. After all your hard work, you may decide to stay awhile & enjoy your efforts. Best wishes for Saturdays treatment.
Cinque: hope you are starting to feel better – children in childcare bring home many bugs to share around sometimes!
Penguin: your mention of a travel brush reminded me that I bought one ~ 12 months ago, with water colour pencils – must go look for them & give it a go, will probably have to use youtube to get lessons as have never painted before – my Dad’s an oil paint artist, hopefully some genes have crossed over & I won’t have too much bother! Some of my forebears came from Teesdale & Weardale – long time ago
JJulie: have a lovely holiday in Borneo, enjoy it all, especially the food & the orangutans!
Stay: enjoy every minute this weekend, the preparations & especially the wedding – a very special, exciting time for you all
Minka: nice comparison for you with your friend’s body scan
Nearly 9pm here – time to wind down for the day.
Enjoy whatever you are doing & bye for now!

I haven’t had time to post yet today but have a few comments to make, all from memory so I am bound to miss loads of people and topics.

I’ve made a lame attempt at my exercise band therapy. I’m having trouble finding a place to attach them to take advantage of exercises for the bingo wings though. Fear I may have to use weights. This week I lost weight after both the NFDs but not after yesterday’s FD.

Cinque, please take care of yourself. Minka, thanks for the comparative report and well done for your continued adherence and good results. Will your friend now make some changes?

CalifD, thanks for passing my email address on to Stay who I’ve since stalked on FB and who looks absolutely amazing, youthful and trim. Stay, am I requested to forward your email address to Cinque? Wasn’t sure about that.

LJ, channel 9 was no longer showing the race by the time I got to the TV so I missed out. I love Rooibos but was probably mainly attracted to it because it’s African. Good luck with your visiting nurse if that’s tomorrow or hope it went OK if it was today.

Arel, we’ve had NBN for 3 years. Internet is now slower than ever. And costs $20 p/m more!

Lindsay, back in the swing of fasting indeed. Hi JJulie, have fun on your trip.

Penguin, I have taken your advice and eaten a piece of DD’s frozen b/d cake this evening. This is what I do when I am happy with my weight – sabotage it. Not that I’m in any danger of being kidnapped.

That was a pretty good little memory test like when you look away from a tray of random items and one item is removed and you must remember what is missing. Sorry if I left anyone out. More tomorrow.

Today is my regular Thursday FD and I was just 100 grams over my goal this AM. But I’d like to get down to my wiggle room number, another kg. Still, maintenance seems to be going well as long as I don’t go completely crazy on NFD.

LJoyce, I’ll start with a small enough amount of the tea blend so I can just add a little more of whatever I need to offset any flavor that doesn’t taste right. I like star anise, but it’s a pretty intense or distinct flavor that I think might overwhelm the others. For me, I think it would better as the only added spice in a tea. I love the look of the stars. They’re so pretty in a cooked dish.

Stay, one more day til the wedding! I bet it will be relief once the day begins and you don’t have to worry about any more details. Can’t wait to see the pictures! BTW, you’re beautiful! It’s so nice to have a face to put with your name here!

Minka, great to hear from you. Congrats on the good results! Your scan compared to your friend’s was eye opening. If she is thin and in such good shape, could anyone at the imaging place give her a reason for the numbers being so far off?

Penguin, I got a lot of mileage out of your quote this morning. That was so funny! How are you and OH feeling today?

Thin, no problem passing your email on to Stay. I may ask the same favor of you in the future. I have the same problem with exercise bands: where to connect them in the house. I tend to do exercises where I can just create tension between muscle groups by holding them. I really need to get back into a regular exercise habit. My problem is that I set up a program that’s too ambitious and then the first time I don’t do it, I end up chucking the whole thing. Kind of like the old diets used to be! Re self sabotage when you reach a good weight, I do the same thing. I should be thinking that I don’t want to wreck the results of hard fought FD. Next time you’re tempted to reach for cake from the freezer, imagine me smacking your hand and yelling, “Stop that!”

Arel, setting up modems and networks and internet service can be such a pain. I’m the one who does ours because I like playing around with computers more than OH does. And I have more patience with it. You’re right, it can take a lot of time.

Cinque, didn’t see you post this morning. Hope everything is ok and the nasty bug isn’t affecting you more.

Good morning everyone,
I woke up early because of the hot night, but have just been catching up on a couple of recorded tv programs. Very luxurious.

I am recovered from the virus thankyou, and hopefully NO MORE will be coming from the germ swamp! But I am minding Miss Three tonight so we will see. (Lindsay, I can’t wait until she asks me to take her for dumplings, yum!)

I am settled now and centred as I seem to need to be to eat properly. Next Fast Day Sunday.

It is so hot here today (hot and dry, Cali, although we do get nasty humidity), and hotter elsewhere. I feel sorry for those Tour Downunder riders! And the tennis players, and Stay et al, preparing for a wedding outside! LJoyce, don’t you overdo it either!
We are very lucky to have a cool change due late afternoon. Thankyou, Huey the weather god.

In all the research I have done for the community food project, I realise more and more that the one basic thing to do is to get more vegetables (including legumes) into people’s diet, and that is mainly because of the wonderful fibre. Hooray for wonderful veggies!

Minka, what a fascinating comparison with your friend. It looks like light fasting and/or inulin makes the difference (unless it is simply your excellent genes). Your friend must have been despondent. Maybe she will get more interested in your regime.

Stay, I will ask Thin for your email (Thin, email coming!) and I would LOVE to catch up, and after the middle of Feb sounds perfect.

Hi Arel, Penguin, and everyone else
Best wishes everyone for a good day.