The heat wave finally broke here yesterday. Thunder storms and very welcome rain through the night. We get 3 days of mild temperatures before another stint above 35C. I have my fingers crossed that the temperature falls by 30th as the electricians are here that day and I don’t think it’s safe in a roof space on a hot day.

Cinque, I felt a bit weird not fasting yesterday but I am happy to do it today, glad I have some company.

Cali, So glad you like the teas. I always worry about making recommendations because almost everyone I know dislikes the teas that I do – and vice versa. They are expensive products to be left with if you don’t like them. Because I drink a lot of tea I find the best value way to buy them is in the 250g foil bags – this is cheaper than the 100g boxes. All of the most popular teas are available in the bags, but some of the more unusual flavours (like “Hot Date”) only come in the boxes. Check to T2 website to see if they offer free postage if you spend a certain amount. Here it is $75 and I just order enough tea to get to that limit – that’s about 3 months supply for me.

Penguin, No I don’t have your house bugged. Chicken soup for a cold is famous. When I was a child my mother made chicken soup with finely dices veggies and noodles in it. It was a regular part of our meals, but was always made if we were ill.

Lj33, I agree with Thin’s advice. I would also add that I wish I knew I didn’t have to eat breakfast (I finally cut it out all days as it tend to trigger my appetite). I also wish I knew that I needed to find my own way with 5:2 without thinking I had to follow all advice given. Just because something works well for someone else doesn’t mean it will for me. I found I needed to experiment with things like: which meals to eat on a fast day, what to eat, when to schedule fast days. After trying different variations I settled on an approach that feels comfortable and is easy to do twice a week.

Now that I’ve finished my morning cuppa I have to head out. I’m off to buy tiles, sink and tap for the kitchen remodel. I have the carpenter coming this afternoon so I need to know the specs for the appliances and the sink, so that the kitchen design accommodates them. I won’t have the appliances until 29th but I have bought them so I have copies of the installation specs.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi everyone, again,
LJoyce, I didn’t realise you were redoing your kitchen as well- you won’t want to leave after everything is so nice and new!
Calif, I always put on at least a kilo over the weekend. I think I’ll have a Monday and a Friday goal. If Friday’s goal isn’t met I’ll have to be less social over the weekend 😀
Cinque, I had to laugh at your confused face. I will ty that mung bean recipe too when I find mung beans.
Penguin, that sounds heavenly to me at the moment- being holed up with a wood fire and eating ( I didn’t put the rest of your sentence in haha) hope you both feel better soon.
Hi, to new contributors to this forum it will be a pleasure to get to know you better. I have nothing to add to the others comments. I eat as late as possible too but like an early dinner as I never eat after dinner, anymore.

Have a great day/evening everyone!! Stay cool/warm xx

Hello from Borneo!!!

I wrote a big post at the airport before I left Australia talking about cheesecakes and facebook but just as I was about to post it the airport internet stopped working and they announced our boarding. In the end and in my rush to try to save and post later I ended up loosing the post altogether and was so upset about it because I had put a lot of time commenting on everyone’s posts.

I am just going to let you know what I have been up to now as my internet time is limited while I am here in the shipyard.

Singapore’s hotel was lovely, really unique and I could not stop taking photos of both inside and outside, especially outside from every angle streetview!!

We walked around the area before dark and checked out the markets, restaurants, lovely old buildings and a hawkers food market which we ended up at for dinner later that night. I was very disappointed in this though and ended up not eating much at all. The gyoza OH bought was deep fried although he had asked for steamed and we had waited nearly 40 minutes for it!! We think he forgot about us and then just cooked it quickly, tick that place off the list of returning!! Then I wanted to try the hainanese chicken rice, of which I was going to eat some of the chicken and not too much rice and OH was going to get something chinese stirfry with heaps of vegies and we would share both. This did not work out quite as we thought and OH ended up not buying his dish because of the gyoza mix up and I ended up going slightly hungry for the evening. OH said he had eaten much better hainanese chicken rice while in Miri so hopefully I can try it for lunch or dinner one day while here.

One nice thing though was the happy hour at the hotel before we went for dinner. They had lovely crab stuffed mushrooms, teriyaki chicken bites with yogurt and mint sauce and tiny hamburgers on toothpicks with cucumber and tomato, made of top grade mince with very little fat. Thank goodness we had some before we went to dinner or I would not have lasted the night. They also offered ice cold water with cucumber and mint which was really refreshing. I am wanting to go back to this hotel in Singapore again, but when we return on our journey home we have booked into the hotel we usually stay in while visiting Singapore.

Miri, Borneo is not quite as I expected although I will say it is better than I expected. I think I was expecting it to be similar to the Philippines with a lot of slum areas but although the buildings are not all new and they seem to be tightly packed together and built in a disorganised way, they dont look like they are slum areas. We walked around a bit yesterday, I felt reasonably safe for my first visit, but probably would not do it on my own especially with my camera equipment hanging off me, just in case.

The hotel room is huge, the bathroom is bigger than my kitchen and dining room put together, even though the hotel is not that new it looks as if the bathrooms have been renovated. We opted to stay in the hotel for dinner last night as all we found during the afternoon walk was takeaway places like KFC, MacDonalds and cafes like Starbucks etc. We checked out the rooftop restaurant and asked if we needed to make a reservation. We were told yes we did. At 7pm we took the lift up to the restaurant to find we were the only people dining in and they had set up a table especially for us in a corner overlooking the park opposite that was petitioned for privacy!!!! OH and I both laughed over having to make a booking!!!

Breakfast was in the same restaurant this morning but there were heaps of people there this time. The breakfast had a good variety and I started with fruit and natural yogurt, then an omelette with a sample of a cabbage dish, some chicken in soy and pineapple juice with coffee.

So now here I am at the shipyard sitting in the boardroom. I have been out with OH to inspect the two vessels being built and done my part of the job for the day taking all the photos he needed for his inspection. The rest of the day will be spent answering his emails etc. Tomorrow I am going to spend the day at the shopping centre next to our hotel and see if I can find some interesting bargains.

I seem to be able to feel if my weight is staying ok or if I am putting it on. While in Japan in November I did not put any weight on and felt good about myself. My body did not feel bloated and my clothes felt good too. Over Christmas/New Year I started to feel bloated and my clothes felt tight and when I did weigh myself I had put some Kgs back on. Recently I lost those extra kgs before I left for this trip and I am still feeling good about myself. One good thing in Miri is that it is hard to find wine and if you do it is about $50 a bottle for the cheaper end wines, so I will not spend that money for wine. Last night I had one drink at dinner and it was a Mojito. I read that it only has white rum with lime juice, mint and soda so opted for this as it did not have a lot of alcohol in it.

I have found that the dishes that you order at restaurants here actually tell you the calorie content in the menus. Helps when trying to choose a dish and you dont really know what it is made up of.

Have to go now and will try to catch up again soon.

My miso soup is cooking, broccoli and shiitakes, and I’ll add chicken.

Stay, what a wonderful wedding! Looking forward to the pics! What a fabulous day to celebrate a life together. Best wishes to the bride and groom. And hope you can rest now!

LJoyce, I hope it has been a good fast day for you. Was your infusion pretty easy to recover from this time?

JJulie, hello to you in Borneo. Sounds great. Hooray for doing so well with the food!

Lindsay, I so hope it was a good first school day for that prep girl!
I remember my mum being amazed at how little her grandchildren looked starting school, because when we started she thought we were big!
And I hope the coleslaw was wonderful. It would be a good thing to keep you going at work. Have you come across salad jars? https://hurrythefoodup.com/how-to-pack-a-salad-in-a-jar/ in case you can’t always buy one.
(I think I might make some again!)

Soup time! Bye!

JJulie, sound like the food in Borneo has been a mixed experience. Amazing that they have calorie count on restaurant menus, I wouldn’t have expected that. I hope you are having a good time.

Lindsay, apart from soup and salad the only other easy options for a FD work lunch that I can think of are: a punnet of strawberries – 64 cals for a 250g punnet. Or some raw veg pieces (carrot, celery etc) and a little hummus.

Cinque, yes my FD has gone well. I’ve just reheated and eaten the stirfry.

Time for my 3rd pot of tea for the day now.

StayinThin. That wedding sounds like the fun event of the year and a day that will give your daughter happy memories. Well done.

Cinque, I broke my fast with strawberries and a pot of tea.

EliC, I had a look at the menu. I assume when you mean you don’t want to waste a water fast you mean you are prepared to actually eat something from the menu, as long as you stay under the 500cals. It looks like the menu can change on the day, but from the options listed I think the following would be suitable for a FD:
Sticks:
– charred street chicken, kaffir lime, lemongrass
– Cannarvon tiger prawns, fermented chilli, lemon myrtle
Tostadas: (eat the topping and leave the tortilla base)
– cevice snapper tostada, green apple, shallot, pepperberry
– paperbark smoked salmon, labneh, raw beetroot, worm salt
When choosing from a menu on a FD look for low calorie proteins (seafood or chicken), preferably grilled. Combined with veg, preferably lower calorie vegetables. Be careful of high fat or high sugar dressings and sauces.

As I’ve mentioned I have been eating more extras than usual – especially more bread, more fruit, more nuts and even a few biscuits that I found hiding at the back of the pantry. Not to mention that jar of pistachio butter I bought last week (250g jar, and there’s less than 100g left). Because I know I’ve been overdoing it on NFDs I added an extra FD to the last 2 weeks.
This morning I felt I needed to know whether this had kept my weight stable. It hasn’t, I’ve actually lost a kilo since 1st January. It is the lightest I’ve been since mid-2016.
It’s a bit of a surprise and I’m wondering if it’s the extra activity I’m doing with painting, sanding, etc. I am spending a lot less of my day sitting at the moment.

I had planned to just do 2 FDs this week and I think I’ll stick to that plan. It looks like my body can use the extra calories as long as I’m on my feet and active for most of the day.

I went out early this morning and decided to do a backyard clean up as the gardener is due this afternoon. Under my huge walnut tree the grass was completely covered with leaves, bits of branch and masses of whole green unripe walnuts and lots of empty shells – there was so much that the grass was barely visible. All this mess is created by the cockatoos that strip the walnut tree every January. I don’t mind them eating the nuts as the entire crop is too high for me to reach and pick, but they do make a mess that covers about 30 square metres. I raked it off the grass and decided to use it as mulch, mainly on the hydrangeas. Now the gardener will actually be able to mow the lawn. The only downside is that I’ve added yet another blister to the collection I’d acquired from the paint roller! It seems like anything with a wooden handle does not get along with my hands.

I need to get to the painting again this afternoon. It will be nice to paint without having to cope with the heat.

Hi and good morning,

Thin I do not know a lot about the soy bean paste because it is used alot in Korean meals, but it is used like miso and is just as good for a low calorie soup.

Try doenjang jjigae, korean soup that can be quite low calorie if you watch what you put into it. I have posted a recipe here but maybe not put in the potato and bulk it up with good green vegies.https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/doenjang-jjigae-geotjeori-bibimbap

As far as being old, when using white miso I make sure the colour is not too dark if it has been in the fridge for a long time, but having said that I had an unopened container of white miso for a long time and the colour did not change until I actually opened it. I think the oxygen once opened may have something to do with it.
I would not throw it out unless it has mold growing on the top, and even then it still might be ok if you take all the mold away and use the fresher stuff underneath, like I have done in the past!! A small taste test might help.

Yesterday’s lunch…..we were taken to a local street restaurant where I was introduced to the local style chicken rice. A small amount of yellow rice with a small plate of chicken cooked in a soy sauce base. It was quite nice and although I could have eaten a whole lot more than this serving, in the end it was really all I needed for the rest of the day. I am hoping it was not too high in calories as it did not seem like it would be.

Last night we were taken to a local Malasian/chinese where they specialised in Chinese steamboat dishes. This was a very lightly flavoured clear soup base with mushrooms, tofu, cabbage, tiny chicken balls, thin chicken with a small bowl of rice. I also tried a local green leaf dish that looks a little like spinach when cooked but a hard more chewy consistancy that is cooked with garlic and scrambled egg. It is a side dish and was very tasty. I will have to get the name of it from our hosts.

The other thing I was introduced to was a drink called 100 plus. I was a little worried it would be high in sugar so expressed my concerns. I was told it was not too sweet and good for you on a hot day. It was not a sweet drink at all and had a lemon flavour that did not leave any after taste. I googled it later to find it only has 27 calories per can and is an isotonic sports drink drank here due to the high temperatures.

Today OH has gone back to the shipyard without me. He said I could spend the day shopping. There is another shopping centre only a short walk from our hotel so I will go there once the shops are open.

Catch up later

Good afternoon,

Welcome Wattledown!
I’m also in Melbourne! Also in my 60’s (just).
So sorry to hear about the bursitis, my sister has had it in her hip and it is just awful.
I have a chronic illness (ME/CFS) that means I am not able to do much activity, but the good news is that 5:2 still works well. I lost 15kg in 15 months. Slow and steady won the race. I’m down at the lower end of my healthy weight range now, but I am still doing 5:2 for maintenance.

Thin, I bought some bean paste once (it was about 30 years ago! 😉 ), thinking it was the same as miso, but it was different enough that it didn’t taste right. I think that what I had was this (cut and pasted)

‘Brown Bean Paste（Sweet Bean Paste 甜面酱）

Brown bean paste also known sweet bean paste is quite popular in northern part of China and in Sichuan area. It is the main dipping sauce for the famous Beijing roasted duck (北京烤鸭). Brown bean paste usually is made from soy beans and flour with a special fermentation process. The sweet tastes come from the maltose and glucose in the fermentation process, and the fresh tastes come from the amino acid. Then salt is added to balance the taste.’

There are lots of different sorts, this seems like a good overview: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Fermented_bean_paste

What a wonderful looking recipe you linked JJulie!

EliC, I am glad LJoyce was able to help you with the menu, I got nowhere!

LJoyce, congratulations on your metabolism working so nicely at the moment! May it continue!

*That allowed me to add an extra two paras 14 minutes beyond my original post. Unfortunately, it didn’t afford me any time to edit. So, it s/b ….discovered ‘something’ new…..

Also my 😆 didn’t turn out right.

Welcome back wwall. It’s definitely a way of life as you say.

Hi Wveryone
Welcome to the new posters. Sounds like you know what you are doing. JJ I love Asian food, my OH doesn’t give me free rein to go shopping, especially when overseas lol. Cinque, I am loving the cooler weather. Thanks CalifD for offering to post some photos. If you could post one of the bride and I, and of course those 2 cute flower girls and maybe one showing a bit of the festival theme that would be great. I don’t want to bore people.
I thought I was having a FD yesterday but then OH invited a couple for dinner to help with leftovers. They would’ve been great for a FD – roast meat and salads but of course, with friends on a hot day, we had apple cider and wine. I could’ve said no to the homemade ice cream or the chocolates but I didn’t so it’s a FD today instead. Love that about 5:2
Have a good one everyone xx

Welcome back WWall! Lots of life here, but no complacency 😉
It will be lovely to have you here on your way to the wedding!

Another wedding! Woot.

Thin, I go back to my Year 7 Home Economics teacher’s dictum: “When in doubt, throw it out.”
It would be wonderful in a compost bin!
(I think I threw mine out about 27 years ago.)

Cali, Amazon made the news yesterday for its supermarket where cameras see what you put in your basket and you just swipe your card to pay on the way out. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42769096

Stay, today has been so nice, although still too humid for my liking. But the coolest day in the foreseeable future.

Hey everyone, scales do give strange readings!
Just a little reminder!

Cali, I wish the threat of a 3rd FD was enough motivation to eat mindfully on my NFDs. Unfortunately I’ve found myself saying “If I eat this I’ll need to do another FD” – all too often lately, my answer has been OK. I’m hoping this is a temporary pattern as I was fine with being controlled on NFDs and 2 FDs before December. Hopefully I’ll return to that way of thinking soon.

I’ve just received the quote for the kitchen remodel. It’s about 150% of what I’d budgeted, so I’ve asked for a revised price if I pare back the things I get done to the bare minimum. It’s reminded me that I need to prioritise and focus on the things that will have the most impact.

On a plus note, I tried out my new paint brush today – I can actually reach the cornices easily with it as it has a very long handle and an angled brush head that helps with cutting in. It’s apparently meant for painting behind radiators, but it’s also useful for helping short people like me reach the cornice. It looks a bit like this: http://www.whiterosetools.com/Silverline-Radiator-Long-Reach-Paint-Brush-524598
I had planned to get a painter to do the cornices and ceilings but I’ve decided I’ll try patch painting them myself and see what they look like. I hoping that at least some of the ceilings won’t need painting. If I can be a bit more accurate with the wall paint, the cornices won’t either! I need to save money to may for that kitchen remodel.

No cooking tonight, I have veal eggplant & mushroom stroganoff with soy noodles leftover to reheat.

Thanks for the welcome back.

I completed my fast day yesterday and found it pretty easy until 4:00pm. I then struggled right through until I went to bed at 9:00pm. I am happy to say I didn’t cave in but it was a struggle for whatever reason.

LJ, I am also in the midst of a lot of house related work. I am moving house next Tuesday and am renovating the one I am moving to – ripping up tile floors and replacing with new timber floors, new bathroom and kitchen plus a complete re-paint. Then there is the garden to tackle – front and back a complete empty canvas! Hopefully, being so busy will help me get rid of those pesky 10 kgs.

Off now to start another round of packing.

Morning Cinque and wwall. Moving house is exciting in a lot of ways once you’re out of the old place and everything is cleaned up and keys left for the new owners. But getting to that point is usually stressful and lots of work and disruption. Good luck with all your packing, wwall.

Cinque, our summer temperatures are much like yours, hot and dry. I have good luck with growing basil. I’ve grown it in a very large pot the last few years. It grows like s weed! It gets huge and then goes to seed if I don’t cut the blooms back. I swear I can cut down enough to make a big bunch of pesto and within the week it’s grown back. I bet if I sat out there for a few hours I could watch it grow! 😁 It does like a lot of water and sun. It dies back in late fall when it gets cold. I can’t wait for warm weather so I can plant some more. I plant the Sweet Basil and Thai Basil, which looks very different, but tastes very similar. Last summer I found some Thai Lime Basil which actually has a lime flavor to it. The year prior I planted Thai a Lemon Basil. I hope yours is the same easy to grow type.

Hi SHs,
I’m just having a painting break and lunch. Another NFD for me. I have leftover chicken basque from Sunday for dinner tonight, so another evening of not having to cook.

Wwall, I though I was busy, but you win. I’m starting to panic about a deadline that’s still 11 weeks away, I imagine I’ll be a hyper mess when I get down to one week. I hope you get everything done.
Really wise to get the floors done before moving in, it’s so difficult once you have a house full of furniture. I pulled up the carpets and lino in this house and had the floor boards that were underneath polished before I moved in. I love floorboards, both original boards and floating wooden floors. I definitely want them in my next home too. I have too many allergies for carpets to ever be a good option for me.

Thin, I didn’t get to watch that program but I’ve recorded it to watch when I’m not so tired.

Cinque & Cali, I hope your herbs thrive. I used to have a large potted herb garden but in the last couple of years I’ve moved all of the herbs into one of the flower beds. The thyme, lemon thyme and oregano are low growing and work really well as border plants. The other bushier herbs look at home among the flowers. I find they are less work in the ground than in pots. Although it does mean that I’ll need to start again in the next house. I loved growing my own veg, but it’s not always practical in all gardens so I don’t mind buying veg. Herbs are a different story – I resent paying $3-4 for a bunch of something that I just want a sprig of. If I don’t have fresh herbs growing I tend to rely more on dried rather than buy bunches. The only exception is coriander which seems to bolt to seed the moment I plant it – so I don’t bother anymore. I just plan a week of mostly Asian meals so that I can use an entire bunch of coriander without wasting any.

Well, no more delaying tactics, back to painting the woodwork. I didn’t think there was that much, but today it feels like there’s miles of the stuff winding through the house!

What’s the 11 week deadline LJ?

Isn’t the humidity shocking, Arel? We can often get away with just ceiling fans but, last night, it seemed to become more humid as the evening wore on. So I turned on the air-con in one room for the first time this summer and, sadly, inadvertently electrocuted a little lizard in the process. Everything seemed to be functioning well but it wasn’t getting cold. OH did some trouble-shooting this morning and discovered the poor little guy in the circuit board.

LJ I would have loved to have had the renos done before I moved in but I needed the money from the sale of my house to fund them. Fortunately my son is very handy with the tools so we are moving along but I think I’ll be “sleeping rough” for a few nights. Basically camping indoors!

Thin I will be selling lots of stuff on gumtree and plan to have a garage sale when the weather is kinder – probably around March. I am determined to clean out what I haven’t used for a while and start life in the new house as I mean to go on!

Cinque I did feel good today after yesterday’s FD. I also seem to have lots of energy to do my various projects so I’m putting that down to the FD as well.

Lots of humidity predicted for us Melbournites this weekend so I hope my energy levels stay high as there is a lot to be done and time is running out.

Thin, I’ve just watched the ‘How To Stay Young’ program you mentioned. Interesting and useful information. The bit that alarmed me, was the ability to stand up from sitting on the ground with legs crossed without using your hands – apparently it’s a reliable indicator of how you are aging. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to stand up that way and I certainly can’t since I had the knee replacement. I was rather pleased with myself that since the surgery I could voluntarily sit on the ground and get up again (in a rather ungainly fashion) without assistance. Before the surgery, falling over was a problem because I couldn’t get up unless I had either assistance or with a nearby structure that I could use to haul myself up. I had several years of not being able to take baths because once in I couldn’t get out again. It was such a milestone after surgery when I could safely get into a bath and out again without rails or kneeling.
One thing that confused me was their use of BMI. They told two different people who had a BMI in the 30-35 range that they were in the overweight category and one person over 35 that they were obese. This isn’t the way I’ve interpreted these categories, I thought over 30 was obese and 25-30 was overweight. Am I wrong, or did the program get it wrong?

I can sit down (kind of plopping at the end) but have to use 1 knee to stand up.
This would be difficult if not impossible for anyone with knee issues.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LWyRUYMQ7ws

https://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/stand-sit-test-predicts-longevity

Good morning,
I’m having an 800calorie fast day today, incorporating an evening meal at my daughters and I am going to stay overnight there. I’ll just have a small portion of whatever it is.

Interesting comments on ‘How to stay young’ I totally missed the different categories for BMI. I wonder how that happened. Do you think it might have been in response to the BMI criticism? Moving the categories up one means they are DEFINITELY overweight or obese.

For all its flaws, BMI has been very useful for me. I was aware of all the criticism, so I was surprised at what a good guide (along with waist measurement) it was for me as I lost weight. Maybe because I have a very small amount of muscle!

Re the getting up from sitting test, I just bet that they had that in their plans, and even though it wasn’t suitable for someone with a knee injury, they kept it in because it is a useful test for people to think about.
I couldn’t do it. Not enough muscle 🙁 .
But I am doing more balance exercises from my yoga dvd now.

I bought too many veggies this week so I have been cooking some up every day and then putting leftovers in the freezer, and then cooking more up. Oh dear. I’ll have to make sure I eat the freezer out after this!

LJoyce, I really feel for you, and your pleasure a being able able to get out of the bath again. My pleasure in being able to lift and push again is as huge, even though it was less of an impediment than you had. I just loved doing that gardening, carrying a full watering can (about 20 times).

My seedlings are very happy and we are having morning cloud, which is lovely for them.

Wwall, so glad you are having plenty of energy after fast days. You need it!

My sister and I are getting together this morning, as we like planning together for our various projects. I am so looking forward to it!

See you all when I get back from my daughter’s place, if not before!

Good morning all.

FD for me and more woodwork painting. It might require a couple of pain killers to keep me going today, my body isn’t just painful at the end of the day now, I’m waking up that way. I’ve added an anti-inflammatory tablet to my daily meds for a few days, I’m hoping that will help too. I might have a day off once this section of painting is done – get some housework done instead.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who has trouble getting off the ground easily.

Cinque, have a lovely time with family today.

Penguin, I’m not surprised about the BMI test failing muscular people, I remember hearing that most olympic athletes would be have an overweight BMI due to their muscle mass. I am happily in the overweight range – but not, by any stretch of the imagination an olympic athlete.
All of the weight related issues went away for me once my BMI fell below 31, so my body has chosen its own weight level for health. I would probably look better if I lost a few more kilos but I doubt it would make any significant difference to my health. As I struggle with the low TDEE at my current weight I couldn’t contemplate trying to live within an even lower calorie limit. My doctor is happy for me to maintain at this weight – he was actually the first person to counsel me against trying to lose more weight. I suspect that one of the reasons I have no weight related health issues with a BMI in the 25-30 range is that I don’t carry much excess weight on my torso.
Even though I know that being healthy and BMI have a fairly loose relationship, I still find myself being influenced by it. I feel so sensitive to the “obese” label that I don’t deal well with having a BMI over 30. I guess it’s not so much the BMI that’s at fault it’s the emotional impact of labels.

Cali, thanks for those videos, I would lose 3-4 points by that method. After the knee replacement I worked really hard to get a 130 degree bend in the artificial knee. I thought that was good, but it’s still not the same as the range of a normal knee and there are a few things it interferes with. It is enough to walk freely up and down stairs – I used to have to go down sideways like a crab.

Wwall, yes I agree on the freestanding bath. They look nicer too.

I’m delaying again. Time to start painting.
Happy fasting Wwall, Cinque and anyone else joining us.
Have a good day everyone.

Thin, LJ, penguin, ok, I can do both the sit down and get up. BUT, to get up, I have to put 1 foot on either side of me (next to my butt sort of), rock forward a couple times, and then stand up when rocking forward. (It’s not pretty, looks ackward.) OH says he’d probably throw out his back and won’t even try. He’s not overweight. I was never able to do it before I lost weight, not even close.

Off to the store to get tomato purée for the Nigerian Bean Soup. Love that stuff! (Thanks Cinque!)

Arel, that’s annoying – just tell JJ when you wrote it and she will re-post. Then you just have to remind us to go back and find it.

LJ, sounds like you need a day off.

Cinque, have fun on your sleepover.

CalifD, I’m impressed! (and irritated 😆 )