Cinque, the recipe I was using was a lower oil pastry. I thought about it later and realised I should have treated it like a hot water crust as it was more malleable the longer it was out of the fridge. I think I’ll just go back to using unsalted butter on the rare occasions when I make pastry – it always works even in one of the lower fat recipes that I usually make.

Cali, Yes you are right, at the moment I’m adding meals faster than I can eat them. Just a few days ago I was thinking how empty my freezer looked – not anymore. I am rather pleased with myself though. I had pies and pasties cooling on trays all over the kitchen and I didn’t eat a single one (although I will admit to being tempted). I’ve just bagged them all and put them in the freezer, along with several sachets of the mung bean stew and lentil dahl that are excess to requirements this week.
Glad you enjoyed the thrift shop rummaging – I always seem to have more luck finding things I like in our local op shops (its an abbreviation for Opportunity shop) than the retail stores.
I think garbage disposals are an American gadget that never really made it big elsewhere. I don’t know anyone in Australia who has one. I’ve only ever seen then in American tv & film, I’ve never encountered one in person. I’m sure it’s like most other things though – once you have it you can’t imagine managing without it.

Ella, welcome to 5:2. There are a few of us here who have had some issues with binge eating. I have found that after a a year of 5:2 it does change over time and it’s a rare rather than weekly occurrence these days. It’s something that takes patience and perseverance to overcome. I also found that some mindfulness exercises were quite useful.

For those of you who are planning to make the red lentil coconut dahl, I strongly recommend having some roasted pumpkin/squash with it. I had a wedge of roasted Kent pumpkin with the dahl for dinner and while the dahl was really good, the sweetness of the pumpkin really complimented it and made it better.

It’s not even dark here but I’m heading to bed shortly. After last night’s lack of sleep an early night is in order.

Morning all. We are getting very numerous. I pick up the first SH posts before I go to bed and this morning there were still something like 40 emails in my box. Not all from you – there are still people who think they can sell me things that way, but enough SH that in future I am going to read them with a note pad beside me so I remember who said what.

LJ. It would not occur to me to put kefir in my bread. The baking heat must kill the bugs, so I am guessing it was for the flavour?

Cinque. I also had the flu jab. Even when they were giving them they were saying there are so many varieties around this year that they are only 40% effective.

wwall. I reckon I got my bug on a flight as well. It kicked in about 4 days after we landed, so I probably took a British strain of the bug to Madeira, incubated it there to the delight of the locals, then brought it home again, where it really prospered.

We once lived in a 500 year old farmhouse that had been modernised – it looked quite new until I drilled a hole in the wall and discovered that it was built with a mix of straw, mud and cow dung. It had a waste disposal unit that made a terrible noise and filled the ancient drains with a sludge they couldn’t cope with.

Arel. I have left my kefir in the fridge for up to 18 days and it always recovers. The first batch after warming it up again may be a bit off, but the second is fine.

We still both have the lurgy, but are beginning to feel vaguely human. I made a batch of bread yesterday and some panna cotta with a tub of cream that needed using. In the evening I made a batch of shin beef, cooked very slowly. From my Advent beer calendar I still have lots of beer left, so I cooked it in a bottle of “Double chocolate stout”. I think that chocolate is a kind of hop, rather than actual chocolate, although I do put chocolate in my chilli. Given the flu numbed taste buds I shall reserve judgement on last night’s efforts until I try the batch we froze. Just had an hour in the garden pruning the pear tree and trying to get a rampant fig under control. An hour was enough.

Arelkade, Hooray! Congratulations!
Isn’t 5:2 a relief!

Penguin, so glad you were able to do some things, and even if you need to spend the rest of the day in bed, it is still a sign that you are getting to the end of the flu. Whew! (And you can eat that wonderful slow cooked shin beef).

Cali, what lovely thrift shopping! I might get to an op shop or two today 🙂

It is wonderfully cool here and will stay at a sensible temperature for a week.

The first forum I was part of was on the Jamie Oliver website, over ten years ago. I just loved talking to people all over the world about food and cooking. My life is so restricted because of my chronic illness, and it was worse then, so it was wonderful to be part of a community again. But I also saw how ‘ingroups’ could form, and how easily people could be misunderstood and attacked, or casually ignored, especially people from different cultures and for whom English was a second language. Communicating through writing, in a group, is tricky. I learnt a lot about being as clear as I could, when writing, and how important it is to be sure everyone feels included, and never to presume someone is being nasty or stupid, but to always check what they meant.

(I really love how those in-groups and snipes have not been a part of this forum – that I have seen anyway.)

Anyway, the Jamie Oliver website changed and the forum disappeared, but one of the people I met there (a particularly lovely one) is down in Melbourne from NSW and I am going to meet her and her husband for coffee this morning. It is as exciting as meeting someone from here.

Thin, keen to hear how bridge went.

Ella, thinking of you this morning.

I had more perfect avocado, on home made toast, this morning. With a bit of avjar (red pepper paste) and some left over chicken. Such a lovely breakfast.

I don’t mind if I now only eat avocados once a year when my sister gets these ones. Such a treat.

Better go and get organised.

Cheers to everyone!

Lots of interesting reading this morning, thanks everyone!

Arel, hurray for you! Your perseverance has paid off. It’s psychologically fantastic to get under that 80kg mark and I know you’ll keep it up (well, down). Good job!

Ella, welcome. Many of us, myself included, arrived here because of some issue or other with food. I really applaud you for being brave enough to come right out and declare your demons. My own ‘issues’ with food didn’t have a formal diagnosis but, as Lael described recently, I had (or perhaps have) longstanding emotional ties with food. I’m telling you this only to let you know that, after 41 months of regular fasting twice a week, my food habits have been shaped without my even realising it. The main changes are in portion control, food desires and learning not to snack.

CalifD, I’m having the scan on Monday. Apparently it only takes a few minutes. Lael was kind enough to do all the leg work for me, recommending an appropriate machine and even finding a mobile service that’s coming close to my area. You seem to be able to make some good finds in your local op shops. When you travel for work, do you get to explore other towns or is it all business, airports and hotels? DD didn’t think the 2nd series of Outlander was as good as the 1st but that series 3 was very good.

Cinque and fellow mung bean eaters, I had another bowl of the soup last night. I have enough for another couple of nights and I’m hooked. The aroma and taste both have a real depth. Could that be the fenugreek? DD will have spag bol. tonight and I’ll keep going with the mung beans.

LJ, good that you have our cooler weather now. Funny that you say avocados have no taste, I find they make everything taste ‘gourmet’.

Thanks for your interest in my new pursuit of bridge. I really enjoyed my first lesson and hadn’t realised that the venue is close enough for me to walk to it, an added bonus. The teacher was so clear; not wasting a single word but saying everything that was needed to learn in incremental steps. By the end of the first lesson, we were playing bridge! But not very well. The instructor said it will take a life time to get really good at it. I love the idea that I could keep improving and eventually become really good at it and hopefully stimulate more neural pathways in my ageing brain – if I can first master this bidding business!

Morning all. I’m hopelessly behind with the posts so will just answer a few, then read some more and post again.
Cinque, thank you for the salad in a jar. What a great site for vege food. I tried it, and by juggling my ingredients, got my salad under 200 cal., which left me room for some dinner.
LJoyce I also took a punnet of strawberries to work yesterday and found they really filled me up. Thanks for the tip.
JJ The Oasia Hotel looks great -especially with the train downstairs. We often stay a few nights in Singapore on our way to Vietnam, so will give the Oasia a whirl.
Thin re grandies – never say never. We thought they were not going to be part of our lives (A decade ago our daughter was so so ill , we very nearly lost her). And now, two beautiful little ones). And my son has a divine 3 year old little boy, with another on the way. We really are blessed.
And Arel, you are right – they grow up so quickly. Little Miss told me she’d learned to count to one hundred now … ‘and do you know, marmar, there are numbers more than a hundred?’
Welcome Wattledown – bursitis? ouch! Hope you are getting good treatment.
OK back to work. I’m in job seminars today and one applicant has called in sick, so I get a bonus 45 minutes. Yea.

Lindsay what a gorgeous comment from the little one! That must have been an awful experience for you with your daughter.

LJ, thanks for thinking of me. We’re nowhere near that fire. Our suburb is separated from the Perth CBD only by the Swan River.

2nd post for today:
Hi everyone. Hope you have all had a lovely day or sleep, depending where you are.
Thank you Cinque, LJoyce, Thin and CalifD for your words of encouragement on my achievement today.
It means so much to have the support of all of you on this forum – I have never been involved with forums in the past, always felt a bit silly talking to people I didn’t know at all, but you have all become part of my day and I thank each and every one of you for the privilege of knowing you all, through your amazing posts, by sharing lots of bits from your daily lives, and also your very interesting ideas for managing our 5:2 lifestyle.
Cinque: So glad the cooler days are making life easier for you – I think we are in for the same very soon. Liked what you had to say of your previous experience with forums and what makes a good supportive forum without the ‘in-groups or snipes’. Hope you enjoyed catching up with an ex-forum friend.
LJoyce: Glad sleeping is easier for you with the cooler weather. Enjoy doing your sanding and painting – I enjoy hearing of the ongoing achievements.
Thin: I’m with you on Outlander – enjoyed the 1st series, half way through 2nd series: not as good, and looking forward to the 3rd series if it is better! Avocadoes add gourmet qualities for me as well – the creamer texture is devine – if it’s a good avo! So glad your bridge teacher is taking the time to be clear with her instructions – enjoy each game and know that your brain is being stimulated more than you know!
Ella and Wattledown: warm welcome and best wishes for your 5:2 way of life. The other 5:2’s have so much experience to share and do so willingly. I started in October 2017, so still new with a lot to learn!
LindsayL: So happy for you that your Daughter not only survived her devastating illness, but went on to give you some grandchildren – so special. Your Little Miss sounds to be enjoying her new found wisdom in numbers!
Penguin: so glad to hear you are able to get into the garden – a good sign that you are on the mend.
CalifD: Enjoyed your sharing of what 5;2 means for you – thank you!
Hi to all others. Enjoy whatever you are planning on doing and bye for now!

Aha, LJ! If you’re considering having the mung bean soup on a FD, does that mean you know the calorie count already? Just asking! No pressure.

Arel, LJ and CalifD, it’s nice that you feel that way about the thread. Having like-minded people to chat with here about fasting makes all the difference to my success too.

I estimate that in one more day our thread will be back to its ranking of third ‘most popular’. The reason this excites me is that, when I open the page, I will no longer have to scroll down to find the SHs.

Thin, no I don’t know the calorie count, but as I worked it out for the coconut dahl a few nights ago and both dishes have a base of legumes, I can extrapolate. The mung bean recipe has more veg and less legumes so my estimate is that a cup of the stew (without the broth) is likely to be 150-200 cal. That means I can have 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the stew plus a cup of broth on a FD and still be well within the 500cal. That’s a very good sized bowl of soup.

Penguin, I remember my nana having things stored in tea chests in their storage room. As she emigrated from Kent to South Australia in 1907, she probably bought them with her on the ship, loaded with all the belongings that an 18 year old considered essential.
The recommendation for sourdough starters that I’ve read, is to store it in the freezer if you can’t feed it daily. The trouble is, reviving it from this state takes several days and that’s a level of planning ahead that’s too much for me when it comes to needing fresh bread. The other issue I have is with waste. The general idea is that each day you remove some of your starter and bake bread with it and then you feed the remaining starter ready for the next day. I only bake bread a couple of times a month at the most so it seems like a terrible waste to me to have to throw starter out most days. I find I get a good flavour by doing a slow overnight rise using minimal yeast so I’ve decided that if I’m really craving sourdough I’ll buy it. Luckily there’s a local bakery that makes all of it’s bread with wild yeast sourdough and most of their loaves are from sprouted grain – mostly rye and spelt.
I like the book you gave your wife. My favourite colour is purple so I’ve got a bit of a head start on that one. About 20% of the garments hanging in my wardrobe are already purple. I even used to own a pair of purple suede shoes – Elvis got it wrong!

Did anyone else watch Lily Serna on Catalyst tonight? I thoroughly enjoyed it, but then I am a bit of a numbers nerd.

It’s getting rather late and time I was in bed.

Is that all LJ? It would be a very small bowl, no? I don’t think I’ll risk it. I have leftover Spanish Fideos from Saturday’s fast. Walking into the city today for a hair appt. and to pick up an item. 12km. Should be a good FD. Good job with the weight loss.

Arel, I think we all go up and down a lot due to water retention. I don’t believe, for example, that I could actually gain 1.5 kg of fat overnight, no matter how much I ate. Nor could I actually lose it overnight. But the scale often looks that way. I think when we eat a lot we probably eat a lot more salt than we think we do. So we retain more water. Or maybe sugar has that effect too. I don’t think the weight of the actual food that I might eat, weighs 1.5 kg. Unless it’s beer.😁 Cinque and LJoyce who don’t weigh often probably have the right idea. I wish I could step away from the scale…”Ok, step away, keep moving, nothing to see here!” 😁

Hi Calif and Thin
Your kind words are so special and even brought a tear to my eyes to think that people who have never met me can be so encouraging – thank you both so much xx
I prefer to weight weekly but because of the challenge was hoping if I weighed daily, then I could possibly control what I did/ate better and so get the desired result – I now realize this is not the case – it’s been a very long time since I’ve been under 80kg, that I guess I was excited. I need to focus on the health side and not the weight loss – if I do that, then the wt loss will come with time – afterall, it took me a long time to get the weight on and become unhealthy, so patience and time is needed and also an appreciation of the fact that I had finally decided last October that this way of life/eating is for the long haul! Unlike any other ‘diets’ in the past, where I would have given up because counting calories or abstaining from foods was too much – I know I don’t wish to give up this time!
This thread, 5:2, and fellow followers and their encouragement and support, have helped more than I could ever have imagined – I’m no longer alone. Thank you

Glad to hear you’re on the mend Penguin. That seemed to take a while to clear off.

Arel, you deserve it! We come here because we all ‘get it’. I can clearly remember bobbing above and below that 80kg line for ages before I found this WOL. Once I started 5:2 and the weight starting coming off incrementally every week, I knew if I kept going, I’d see the back of the 80s for good. You will too.

Hi SHs,
I just saw a promo for the latest season of TMIAD. It starts next Monday on SBS.

Penguin, the trouble with colds & flu getting better is that our taste buds suddenly spring back to life. All those things that didn’t seem appealing suddenly do.

Arelkade, it’s very easy to get hung up on the number on the scales and lose sight of what you’ve achieved with your weight loss journey so far. I used to be a daily weigher and it caused me no end of grief – mostly because the scales rarely reflected the efforts of the previous day and for me weight is often affected by inflammation levels. I believe that weighing should help not hinder our weight loss and our emotional reaction to how that’s going. There isn’t one right frequency, it’s very individual – it varies from daily weighers like Thin to Cinque who doesn’t own scales. Just find a pattern that helps you. It can be useful to take body measurements as well. I found that they often gave me a more reliable reflection of progress than scales sometimes did. Measurements can also help allay fears when you see a weight gain you know you don’t deserve, often the measuring tape will tell you there is no change.

Thin, we seem to be aligned with FDs this week. I hope yours went well. I did have the mung bean stew as my meal along with 2 slices of roasted pumpkin. Because I find legumes filling it was enough. I was struggling to find the energy to paint on an empty stomach this afternoon. Looking forward to food tomorrow.

Goodnight all.

Thin, I’m not sure I understand that. Looking at “Most Popular” we would need a couple of thousand more posts to to be top. I just bookmarked the site so it is shown on the left of the screen. I also tick the box to notify of follow-ups and usually get in by clicking on the first post in my in-box.

Penguin, we only need to be ranked third in ‘Most Popular’ for the SH thread to show on my screen when it’s opened. And now, with CalifD’s last post, we’re back where we were for years before those pesky ‘Fat Busting Brits’ came along! I used to get the email notifications but there were too many so I quickly stopped that.

Have a good trip CalifD.

Good morning SHs,
I was awoken at 7am again by the construction next door. They finally have the roof on and now that they are at the point of doing walls and first fix trades they are really motoring along. It’s just the early start I don’t appreciate – I am not a morning person.

After changing their delivery date twice, I just had final confirmation that my new kitchen appliances are definitely being delivered tomorrow. That’s a relief, because I’ve already arranged for the gas fitter to put in the cooktop on Monday and the electrician will install the oven on Tuesday. I’ve decided to try and not use them so they are pristine for when I sell the house. Despite my best efforts, having to clean up the many boil overs on my current cooktop has left scrub marks and I don’t want that on a brand new cooktop. I might have to bake bread this weekend and freeze it.
To help me stick with this goal, I bought one of those plug in bench-top hotplates that I can use instead of the new gas cooktop. I also have a microwave, an airfryer (which also bakes and roasts enough for 1-2 serves), and a flat sandwich grill. I think I have plenty of cooking options. I also have a lot of frozen meals that will require little more than a microwave.

Thin – I always find us through “active topics”. We are never very far down and it lets me see what other threads are active that I might want to respond to. I’ve never asked for email notifications. After years of working in an office where it was a daily struggle to keep on top of the endless emails I have an aversion to getting any that aren’t essential. Besides, I go to our thread at least twice a day so I see any new posts without needing reminders.
I had forgotten that you normally stick to around 350cal on FDs, no wonder the mung bean stew was too many cals or you.

Despite not being a breakfast eater, I did have some fruit and almonds with my pot of tea this morning. I find that the work I’m doing on the house has increased my appetite and I really notice the lack of fuel on FDs. I have 2 NFDs to enjoy normal food. I have actually found myself thinking about food when I’m trying to get to sleep at the end of a FD this week.

I have yet more painting to do today. I finished the walls in the spare bedroom yesterday so today I’ll do the wood trim.

Hi LJoyce
I was typing and didn’t see your post.
Im sure you won’t have to cook for a very long time!! 🙂 You just need your microwave and your kettle. Im sure the painting is taking a lot out of you- its very physical. You should have a well earned rest when its done!!
Stay x

Cinque was the blood moon amazing? Worth staying up for? It has been so dreadfully hot and dry up here in the north but last night the weather turned and it poured right up til my bedtime. So, my plants are happy, but I’ll have to wait another 400 years for the next blood moon (according to my ABC). It is so so nice to have the temperature drop by 10 degrees overnight. I know that happens in Melbourne, but it’s not common in the sub-tropics.
LJoyce I did watch Lily on Catalyst and loved it. I need to know more about maths. I come from the generation where teachers didn’t really concern themselves with girls who were slow with numbers (ie, me). Congrats too on the loose jeans – denim is often a better judge than the scales.
Arel you should be so so happy and proud of yourself that you’ve broken such a significant barrier. It might take a a week or two for you to be permanently under 78 but it will happen. A few ounces (in the old money) is really only a glass of water or two. Well done.
I’m fasting again today – It’s 10.30 and I’ve had two black coffees and a black tea when I got to work. I brought a nectarine with me and the perfume is permeating the office. I’m going to hang out til noon until I have it. I am not really back in the swing of FDs after the Christmas break. I am staying with them, but when they were part of my routine I didn’t feel the hunger that I have since I started up again a couple of weeks ago.
Enjoy your day everyone.

Hi:

Here is a link to an interview with Dr. Longo that took place just a couple of weeks ago (Jan 8, 2018). It does not cover the whole of his book, but does cover his thoughts on ‘intermittent fasting’ (a meaningless term), the ketogenic diet (another meaningless term), the stem cell replacement and rejuvenation effect, fasting and cancer and eating windows – whether to do 16:8 and skip breakfast (no to both). Pretty informative overall, with information not in the book (which was originally published in Italian over a year ago). He also answered the question of what he eats every day and whether he fasts. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+dr+longo&view=detail&mid=6D8F7CB8DEE99AFB8F436D8F7CB8DEE99AFB8F43&FORM=VIRE

It was worthwhile for me, even though I’ve read his book (twice).

Enjoy!

Hi L:

You’re welcome. You probably know, but I believe anyone interested in the ‘other health benefits’ of fasting needs to read this book. It is clear there are many other health benefits from fasting, and just as clear 5:2 and similar programs will not provide them. If you don’t want to purchase the book, you can get it from your library fairly soon, I would suspect.

But the benefits that come from 5:2 and losing weight – lower blood pressure, better cholesterol and triglyceride are just fine!

After finishing the painting I decided to dismantle and move the dining table and chairs – now stacked in the lounge. Then I moved the fridge (on wheels thankfully) so the electrician has easy access to the powerpoint I want moved. OMG, what a crop of fluff and dust there was under it. I’ve swept it up and decided to wash the floor too. Now I have space for the new appliances to be stacked in the kitchen tomorrow.

I’ve stopped for the day now. Just having a cuppa.

Cinque, I like sourdough but didn’t want to keep a starter alive. I find white sourdough more sour than some of the denser grains – possibly because the flavours are more complex so the sourness doesn’t dominate. Thanks for the Checkout clip. It reminds me why I don’t buy commercial bread from supermarkets and bakery chains. Luckily there are a couple of bakeries in the local area that make bread that’s similar to what I’d make myself – useful when I don’t have the time or inclination to bake. It was fibre content and wanting to make bread that contained no white flour that initially got me into regularly baking my own.
The burnt mouth felt better by the next day, so all good.
I did wonder whether the flying pastie was saying “pick me pick me, not that silly rissole!” I might pick the pastie tomorrow, if I’m in the mood and if it doesn’t try to attack me again.

NFD, but I’m not cooking, I’m raiding the freezer. I’ve taken a dish of mixed veg gratin out of the freezer (been there a while) and 4 small marinated lamb loin chops. Enough for 2 NFD dinners. So tonight’s onerous task is to turn on the oven and tomorrow it will be the microwave. Even feeling tired, I think I can manage that.

Down seven pounds during January, for which I claim no credit at all. Three weeks of the flu destroyed my appetite. At one stage I was down ten, but I am getting better now and in the last few days have put some back on. I am going to have to re-train myself, the weight regain is because the recovering appetite has been for the unsuitable foods – a tin of shortbread biscuits someone gave us at Christmas is no more.

Arel. We also have a stationary bike. We got it some years ago to build up OH’s leg muscles before she had a knee replacement and it is now almost never used. Dr M had a programme on UK TV last night about fitness and stationary bikes scored well for HIT. I think when this lurgy has finally gone I’ll join you.

Arel. Similar approach. I mixed flour and water to form a batter, then grated into it an unpeeled pear. An apple would have done, but I had a pear. I don’t recall actually measuring any of it. I covered it enough to keep the insects out and fed it daily until I had enough to use. The only problem I had with sourdough was patience. Compared to my conventional bread it takes for ever!

Good morning everyone,
I was worrying too Thin! 😀
I hope you have had a lovely chat with Mr Thin.

Nice work Penguin, you’ve had your shortbread now, so draw a line as you might as well keep the other 7 pounds off! But keep taking it easy for a while longer. If you are like I was, you will wake up one day and feel really well.

It is a lovely morning after fast day for me. Just about ready for coffee.
I’ve got some delicious leftovers I am pulling out of the freezer for the next couple of days and I am working out how to group them into yummy meals. Not too hard luckily!

Best wishes for a good day everyone!