You deserve a nice rest LJ, we’re all exhausted just reading what you’ve been doing lately. You’d better start eating that freezer down quickly so its contents don’t have to get moved to the next house. I’m betting on an early offer and a quick sale of your house.

Yes, you mentioned before about giving the wrong DOB to FB which is a good start. I still wouldn’t trust FB with any of my information and, just recently, it’s been revealed that 300,000 Australians have had their personal information compromised. I’ve tried not to say ‘told you so’ to too many people! It’s unbelievable that FB is still not required to reveal a ‘privacy’ policy so its users have no idea how their personal information is being used. By ‘information’ I don’t just mean what you provide to them, real or fabricated, but data gathered from what others post on your page, what you ‘like’, and just by virtue of your association with your FB ‘friends’ and their online behaviour. I see it as the largest, most powerful political platform in the world capable of influencing over 80% of the world’s inhabitants but without being elected. That alone is enough to keep me well away. We have enough entities telling us how to think and what to say.

I spent the morning realising how much I don’t know about bridge at a supervised playing session. Luckily, there are many others in the same boat and everyone is really friendly and forgiving. I was lucky to be assigned an experienced player as a partner. I learned a lot but I doubt it was a particularly great morning for her. I was blown away by the sheer number of people, there must have been over 100 players.

Hi everyone.
Thought I’d better check in now that I’m feeling a lot better today, though still not quite 100%. Managed to get very good cold and flu tablets from the chemist that seem to have worked really well (at half the prescribed dose). Did go and water the garden this evening – nearly carted away with the mozzies!

Just had a read of all your wonderful posts. Thank you for my well wishes – helps make me feel good even when I feel ‘yuck’!

So glad you are enjoying your bridge Thin – very good brain exercise and, I imagine, lots of fun. Have a very Happy Birthday next week – we’ll all be thinking of you and sending good wishes for a wonderful day.

All the best for your first open home inspection on Sunday LJoyce – I feel that a quick sale is in order as your home looks just perfect. Also congrats on your new low kgs – all the milestones feel very rewarding, happy for you. Hope you feel ok after having your treatment.

So glad you found what works and you now feel much better Cinque. Adding lemon and a pinch of salt sounds like a great idea, especially if we don’t drink enough water to start with!

Big hi to everyone else as well, be you posting, browsing, or just having a rest. There are a few names that I haven’t seen for a while – you are surely missed!

Must go, getting a bit weary. Enjoy whatever you may be getting up to, and bye for now!

Cinque, pleased to hear that Yam Daisy is still in the works and that you had a successful FD yesterday. Cinque you are a very good detective – because you are a great listener. More clues to follow perhaps.

LJ, I think I may have forgotten to say ‘well done’ on your new low weight (prompted by Arel’s post, another attentive listener). I hope your house is now proudly on display on the appropriate website attracting lots of hits. How will you spend your time while it’s open for viewing? If it’s like WA, you need only drive to the end of your street, make a U-turn and return. The homes are open for the blink of an eye and then the agent dashes off to the next place.

Arel, glad you’re feeling better and thanks for your good wishes – I am accepting them on whichever day they are offered!

LJoyce – how beautiful is that – if I had the money I would buy it, sight unseen!!!

Sybs, thankyou – do you really want to move to the other side of the country?

Thin, I’ve told the agent that he can offer the biscuits to those who come to the open inspection, if he thinks it’s appropriate. I thought it added a homely touch. That’s not to say that a biscuit might not find it’s way into my tummy at some point – one already has!
You are right about the short opens. I remember when places were always open for an hour – these days it’s usually 30 mins.

As I’m doing NFDs for the whole weekend I decided that today needed to be a controlled day (I’ve already fasted twice this week). I’m sort of following a normal FD pattern today (one meal and fruit if needed), but with more generous food choices. I had 2 pieces of fruit for lunch and am just about to have a plum with a pot of tea. Dinner is leftovers from last night – mixed veggie mash with a stew of beef sausages, lentils, mushrooms and onions. It’s nice warm filling meal – very suitable now that the weather has just turned cold.

The rain arrived about half an hour ago, it’s meant to turn into thunderstorms tonight. I just hope it doesn’t bring any trees down on my place. At least I won’t have to spend 3-4 hours watering daily as I have been.

I have compiled my list of properties to visit over the weekend. I’m trying to get to 7 opens tomorrow and 2 on Sunday. Hopefully one of them will be close enough to perfect for me.

Hope those of you fasting are having an easy time.

Cali,
This time I made the mixed veggie mash the easy way. I put the carrot and potato into a big pot of salted water to boil for 15 minutes (they take longer so they go in first), then added the butternut, sweet potato and cauliflower and boiled for about another 15 minutes – I just stick a knife through the various veg to make sure everything was cooked. I don’t even peel the carrots or potatoes – just scrub them well. I cut everything into quite large chunks (the larger the pieces the less water they absorb). Once cooked I drain off the water and leave them to sit for about 15 minutes. I then remove the cauliflower and squeeze the water out, then put it back in the pot. I add lots of freshly ground pepper and whatever other flavours I feel like. Yesterday I added a big dollop of low fat cream cheese and a little unsalted butter. I have also been know to use parmesan cheese, minced garlic, fresh parsley or fresh thyme leaves. Normally I’d use a potato masher or a stick blender to mash it all together, but yesterday I just used a fork, which makes a lumpy texture that’s a bit like champ (Irish mash) rather than a smooth puree.
If you have the time, you can bake the butternut, sweet potato and white potatoes whole and boil the carrots and cauliflower. You then have to scoop the baked veg out of their skins and add it to the drained boiled veg before mashing. It’s more work and takes longer but you get less water in the mash and a better flavour from the baking.
The reason I like a mixed veg mash is that I just have to make one thing and I have a range of veg – it beats having 3-4 saucepans on the stove just to get veg variety.
Cali, when I bought this house it ran entirely on rain water and wasn’t connected to the mains water supply – I added all those pipes. All the rainwater is caught on the roof of the house and drains into the 2 tanks that are close to the house. There are another 2 tanks up the back of the property. To get the water from the catchment tanks up the hill to the back ones requires a pump, which I no longer have since the last one died. Collecting rainwater off the roof into a rainwater tank has been the norm in Australia. I think it’s part of the building code (in my state anyway).

Good morning SHs from a cold wet and windy Adelaide. I had to drag our some winter clothes this morning to go house hunting. I get to wear my new purple poncho that I bought at a second hand store a couple of weeks ago.

In an effort to avoid the temptations of fast food and bakeries today I made a pot of oat-barley-rye porridge for breakfast. I now feel quite full and hopefully it will stay that way for a while as I think it will take quite some time to digest the coarser grains – they certainly take a bit of chewing. In deference to that research about raw honey being helpful to our gut bugs, I took great delight in drizzling a teaspoon of honey over the bowl of porridge.

At the last minute my best friend has decided to come with me today – that way I can look at the surrounding streets while she drives. I have a full day planned, with 7 open inspections from 11am onwards.

Given that I started my day with porridge it is obviously a NFD. Hopefully one with good choices.

Cinque, enjoy your day with the grand kids, hopefully there will be a break in the rain for a walk with them. When you pull skirts off the rack, do you overestimate size, thinking you are bigger than you actually are? I think a few of us still do that.

Cali, well done on your op shop finds. Looks like we’ve converted you to the joys of rummaging through second hand clothes. I think that part of the joy is that we are finally able to buy the “thin” clothes that everyone else has donated because they can’t fit into them anymore – just like we used to do when we gained weight.

Arel, I’m pleased to hear you are finally feeling better.

Thin, has the family all left yet? Hope your daughter enjoys this vet experience as well, she’s certainly getting variety.

Well I might do a little bit of cleaning before I leave so there is less for me to do tonight.

Have a nice weekend.

Thin, WA is huge! I found a map comparing WA to CA: https://mapfight.appspot.com/western.australia-vs-california/western-australia-australia-california-us-size-comparison

Here’s another interesting map show Aus climate areas to the climates in other parts of the world: https://awol.junkee.com/this-fascinating-map-shows-us-australias-climate-twins/30294 Thin, LJoyce and Cinque have weather similar to different parts of California. It seems to me though that Adelaide and Melbourne get hotter in the summer than the Bay Area and are more like the Sacramento area.

Thin, were you able to recover your notes? It is sad if you lost them.

Cinque, have fun with your grandies, playing in the rain.

LJ, can’t wait to hear about your house hunting adventures. Hope you remember to take pictures so you’ll remember which is which afterward. After you’ve seen a few they all seem to combine in your mind with all the different floor plans and such. Glad you have a friend to go along.

Hi SHs,

Of the seven houses I looked at, I found 2 homes that I really liked. One had just been put under contract and final offers close on the other this Tuesday. Unless I get a brilliant offer myself tomorrow, that will be too soon for me to make a serious offer. However there were some pluses. I did find new areas within my search zone that I really like and I hadn’t looked at properties there before. I’m also a lot clearer on the type of compromises I’d prefer not to make.
It was such a mixed bag, with some houses carefully staged like mine and other just exploding at the seams with the current owners stuff – clearly some of them haven’t heard of storage PODS.
There was one open I drove to and decided to just keep driving. It was a nice house, but it had “the hoarder next door” on steroids. The neighbouring property had a front and side yard (couldn’t see the back) full of junk – old bikes, prams and all sorts of rubbish. I don’t envy the agent who’s trying to sell that property. Can you imagine the vermin that would live amongst all that junk.

My aunt is in hospital so I visited her after the house hunting, then came home to clean the house – yet again. Tomorrow all I have to do is make my bed and then try to restore some order to the garden after the stormy day we’ve had – the lawn and paving is a bit of a mess. There is still more rain forecast tomorrow, so I may be fighting a losing battle trying to get it clear of leaves.

Thin, enjoy your unexpected night with your OH, though it sounds like they all desert you again tomorrow – time for more bridge.

Cali, I didn’t need to take photos. You get a glossy brochure at each place that contains a floor plan, and lots of photos. They also have even more photos attached to their online ads. I do take a list of the places I’m going to with me that includes my comments from the pictures I’ve seen online, and also some queries I have that I need to either look at or ask the agent about. I add more comments as I walk through. I found that the more properties I visited today the clearer I got about what to focus on. I’m hoping that will help me eliminate more places by looking at their online ads and just going to the open inspections for those I’m likely to be happy with.

My NFD went fairly well, although I was craving a treat after dinner so I pulled a date scone out of the freezer and had that warmed up with a cup of tea.

I better get an early night as I need to be doing my last minute prep on the house from 7am.

Good luck today LJ.

Sybs, I have tried so hard to make myself like black coffee, I just can’t deal with it even with the most freshly ground, high quality beans. Consequently, I am enjoying my almond & coconut milk coffee this morning. It does make the frothy coffee days all the better though.

I hope you had a lovely day yesterday Cinque and that your absence this morning isn’t because you’re worn out.

Just took a long time writing Thin 🙂 .
1. Haven’t had coffee yet.
2. Cold makes me slower.
3. The cat was on my lap and kept demanding I stop typing and scratch her head. Plus a bit of letting her out and letting her in again.
4. Yesterday did wear me out!

Will make coffee now and hopefully get some things done! 😉

Hi everyone

It’s a gorgeous Sunday morning at the moment – Sun is shining, birds are singing; think I’ll spend some time in the garden this morning. My head still feels ‘fuzzy’ and sinuses still a bit wet with this head cold, but overall so much better than last Sunday! Been resting and a little lazy this last week, but finally feel like getting out and achieving results, be they pleasure, 5:2, or just because! Thank you all once again for all the well wishes – much appreciated.

Not sure whom it was that posted the link to magnesium oil, but after reading same, went to local health food store and purchased same, ready-made, with the intend on buying the magnesium flakes, at a later date, to make my own and using my current bottle to store it in. Thank you for the link!

Cinque: so glad your seedlings are doing well. Hopefully your cooler temperatures – 19’C top today, won’t cause any harm! Is it easy to make your Kimchi as it sounds like you really like it, and is it similar to sauerkraut. I’ve seen Yam Daisy mentioned as your new intended business, but was wondering what it will be – I thought a special type of café, but maybe not! All the best with doing up your business plan – sounds exciting for you. Enjoy your time with the little ones, they bring so much joy.

Thin: your bridge club sounds like a whole lot more fun as a beginner, than the more serious experienced players – I think I’d stay as a beginner if it was me playing bridge – rather laugh, and have happy brain cells, than be competitive! Sounds like your home is very busy with all the comings and goings of family members. I’ve also tried to like black coffee, but knowing this WOL is a lifetime commitment, settled on full cream milk instead so I can enjoy my coffee, or tea, as I truly like it!

LJoyce: Thinking of you today as you have your first open home inspection day – all the best for a quick sale, and equally, for a quick and fulfilling purchase that meets all your needs! Who knows, you may have a few really interested buyers, who then have to outbid each other, and the monetary result could be amazing and well above your current expectations – your home looks delightful, I’d struggle to leave it if it was mine! If it’s still cold over there, enjoy your first slow combustion fire for the year! I agree with Sybs – beautiful!!! I also wondered, as Thin did, about the cookies – I liked your answer! Enjoy visiting all the properties on your list and hopefully there will be a few that are perfect – decisions, decisions! Best wishes for your Aunt having a speedy recovery and being home soon.

Calif: so happy for you with your op-shop purchases – your buying for Summer, we are buying for Winter: so nice to have worldly friends!

Sybs: Enjoy your FD and your time at the market – our Farmer’s Markets have the best fruit and veg – no comparison in taste to local shops ie Coles or Woolies.

Hi to all others, be you losing, gaining, plateauing, maintaining, or lurking – we have all made a very good choice with this WOL, and ongoing support is wonderful – thank you! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.

Time to get out into the garden – enjoy whatever you are getting up to and bye for now!

Sybs, I saw that you purchased a mezzaluna and figured that was another type of e optic Aussie fruit. After Googling it, I see that it’s a type of knife. I’ve seen those I the stores but never knew the name of them. Ouch! on the $6 price of the cauliflower. I hope it was a large one! I thought the $4 prices I often see here was high.

Cinque, I can just imagine you and the littles out in the cold pouring rain. I’m with the 3 year old – I would have cried too! Hot chocolate in front of a warm fire is a more civilized place to spend a rainy day. 😉 It sounds like the younger one is turning more independent, with a sense of adventure. Since LJoyce didn’t like our other exercise ideas, maybe the Acrofit classes would be more acceptable. I see they involve trapezes. Maybe she will find a home with a big chandelier instead. 😁 https://www.fashiongonerogue.com/sasha-luss-swings-chandelier-new-dior-addict-campaign/
http://theybf.com/2010/07/21/foolery-diddy-flashes-his-manties-for-gq-mag

LJ, good luck on your open home showing today. I’m so excited to hear how it goes. Hope the weather is nice.

Thin, Happy Whenever It Is! https://sf.tac-cdn.net/images/products/large/TBC01.jpg

optic = exotic (missed that)

Evening cherubs. Long time no on here 🙂

Too much has been happening for me to be on here. Too much stress, too much sickness, too much BS. Anyway enough of that.

LJoyce your house is absolutely beautiful. I love, love, love the floors – my folks had polished floors in their house in Mount Isa. Gorgeous. And your garden, OMG. We live on a “large” block in Perth (about 680m2). They are now selling blocks that are only 200m2+ – a postage stamp is bigger.

To all the other lovely ladies on here, I hope our FD’s have been easy and productive. Mine have been up and down, pretty much the same as my weight. I think I am going to have to rethink what I am putting into this big gob of mine.

I confess I have a question to ask that may seem weird to some but I have no idea what Miso Soup is. I have seen a heap of recipes for Miso soup being low in calories but I have no idea what it is or what it tastes like etc. HELP!!!

Hope everyone has a greatt week ahead.

Cheers Paula

Hiya Sybscairns, thanks for the info about the Miso paste – does it have a specific taste? Like soya sauce or bitter or sweet or hot as in chillis? I don’t eat a lot of salt so I will watch it and how much I use. I do not want anything too salty. I am assuming you are in Cairns, or am I way off base with that assumption? I haven’t been a member long myself and found all of these lovely people so very helpful, so welcome. This week will be like all the others in the past 2 years, appointments, appointments, appointments. Have a great one yourself. 🙂

Good morning everyone, I am up early enjoying my ‘morning after fast day’ feeling with pleasure.

Paula, so glad to see your post, but sympathies for the rough time you are having. Hoping the BS calms down as your stress levels and your health would probably improve. It is so hard to do things for your health when you are dealing with stress so congratulations for keeping on with 5:2, and probably for just going up and down and not ballooning. All power to you.

Here is my bit on miso.
It is one of the staples of Japanese food, and when I first had it I figured it was a vegetarian version of the ‘Bonox’ we had growing up. It is a paste that, mixed with hot water, makes a savoury, salty broth. (not super salty)

In Japan they make miso with a stock called ‘dashi’ that is generally made with seaweed and dried fish flakes, so it adds a bit of sea to the flavour. (But it can be made with water or other stock). Then all sorts of vegetables, fish and maybe meat, are simmered in the stock. Then mix the miso paste in and maybe add some garnishes.

The miso paste itself is not boiled, it is made from fermented soybeans and grains and gradually turns into something that is almost like vegemite. Because it is fermented it is full of wonderful probiotics and these would be killed if it was boiled.

So, it is a light and healthy soup full of goodness. In Japan it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and supper. The miso pastes are judged like wine! People arguing over their characteristics and subtleties. But in Australia people are more likely to make miso from the little sachets that have the lovely savoury flavour, but none of the probiotics.

I have it as my evening meal every fast day because a big bowl of that salty savouriness (I add salt) is just what I need on a fast day.

Off to get a cup of tea and respond to other posts.

Cinque – do you use dashi or just any other stock?

Good morning SHs,

The agent said that about 20 groups came through the house yesterday. Two seriously interested and one possible. The next open is Wednesday late afternoon so that a person who missed the open can see it and another couple who want to see it again can come back. Most were viewing it as a house that they could and would extend. This isn’t a surprise to me as there is a large flat area next to the house that really lends itself to an extension.

Paula, sorry to hear things have been so stressful for you, I hope things improve soon.

I am an occasional miso user. I just use the single serve sachets that make about 500ml broth. I treat miso as an alternative to other soup stocks. I mostly use it when making asian style soups. Like Sybs, I find mine in the local supermarket but as Cinque has pointed out I’m missing out on the probiotics. I just don’t use it often enough to justify buying a pot of it.

I’m cooking this morning, making soups that will be the basis of meals for a while (and probably a bit for the freezer). I’m taking a saucepan of the pumpkin soup to my uncle shortly as he seems unable to fend for himself without my aunt there to cook for him. I think she’s likely to be in hospital for a week.

I’d better get going and make my soup delivery and then go and get more firewood.

I’m fasting and despite the cold weather it’s going well.

Cali, I was also surprised by the number of people who came to the open, given the weather. I suspect it’s because there is very little in my price bracket available here at the moment. I guess those who’ve been looking who will go to see each new listing when it first comes onto the market. There are also a few hills locals who are just nosey and go to every open that nearby.

How lovely that your azaleas and camellias are starting to bloom, they are two of my favourite plants. Camellias do really well in my town – I think they like the colder winters, hilly terrain and the naturally acidic soil. My soil is acidic enough that the hydrangeas turn blue without me needing to add anything to make it happen. I had a matched pair of lovely pale pink camellias (japonicas) in the garden that are now in large pots so that I can take them with me when I move. I didn’t leave “holes” I replaced them with other appropriate shrubs.

I’ve tried to get a bit ahead with some cooking today. I have 2 pots of soup made and I’ve also boiled half a dozen eggs as I find it easy to base lunch around a couple of hard boiled eggs. It should mean I won’t have to use anything but a microwave and toaster for a few days.
I suspect I’m going to be hungry for my FD diner quite early today – cold weather tends to do that. I’ve mixed up 2 eggs, parmesan, spinach, broccoli and tomato to make an omelette.

Thin, if they’re looking for a thrill, they’re barking up the wrong tree by rifling through my underwear drawer. I’m a sensible knicker girl, not a thong in sight. Do you think I should count them before each open to see if there’s a knicker thief out there? The agents say that the reason they takes names and numbers at opens is for security. I’m not sure I’d want to report that my valuables are all safe (I lock them away), but I’m missing a pair of knickers.
Enjoy that mung bean stew. I have one lonely portion left in my freezer and am saving it for a FD when I feel like something special.

I fell better for today’s FD. It always makes me feel lighter and healthier especially after a day when I’ve eaten too much, or eaten the wrong foods.

Good morning SHs,

It’s funny how I continue to imagine that eating a bit extra food or a high cal item on a NFD will put kilos on me. I know that hasn’t happened lately, my FDs are taking care of any poor choices I’ve made on NFDs, but I still think it will happen. It’s not unfounded, I have experience of temporarily gaining up to 3kg after a single restaurant meal. I guess I still expect this irrational response from my body. I find that each week I’m having a mental battle with myself over whether 2 FDs is enough to deal with the extras from the NFD. Despite knowing that lately 2 really has been enough because I’m more active now, I continue to distrust that recent pattern in favour of the old one I remember. The end result is that I seem to be adding either a third FD or more often a controlled day (800-1000cal) in most weeks. I think that’s largely why my weight continues to drop at the rate it is.
I’m finding it hard to stop doing this. Partly from fear, but I think I’m also getting addicted to the seemingly effortless weight loss. That’s a very new experience for me. Part of me doesn’t want to put the brakes on this, and yet I know how unhealthy it usually is for me to focus on what I weigh.

Cinque, I need to get back to a NFD pattern that sounds like yours. Well done.

I’m sitting the lounge room with the autumn sun on my back. As my front windows face north I get lots of sun in the cold weather, unless it’s cloudy and wet like the last few days. It feels like a treat to have that warmth on my back.
Today I can get out into the garden and clean up the leaves that litter all the lawns.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi everyone🙂

Hope you are all well and happily 5:2ing, the newbies are excitedly finding their clothes a bit looser, the maintainers contentedly maintaining, and the readers and lurkers, hope you’re 5:2ing or looking at getting started.

My project time is over, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to achieve world peace, but very happy with what I was able to achieve. In other words, I wasn’t able to finish in time for the deadline, about 15% still to do, but will continue working on it slowly now till the next opportunity comes along. And, sorry, I still can’t tell you what it is.

Now OH and I are looking after grandchildren through 2 weeks of school holidays while their parents are working. Today is a low energy day, as I overdid it a bit yesterday. Keeping track of a busy,busy 5yr, old with no fear, on an extensive tidal rock platform at the beach, was an exercise in itself. The blueringed octopuses are having a bumper year this year around here.

Away from home, not in my own kitchen, is always a bit of a challenge. I was staying in the 64kgs quite well, going down slowly, but back up to 66right now. Eating gluten free bread, and carbs always whack the weight on me, then it goes quickly when I stop.

Back later,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Hi everyone.

Merryme, great to see you back here! Sorry to hear that you didn’t have time to finish your project, but accomplishing 85% is still a cause for celebrating. We’ll look forward to having you back here more often now. 2 weeks with the grandies ought to get you plenty of exercise, whether or not you need it.

Cinque, happy to hear you had a good controlled NFD. It sounds like we all need more of those. I know I certainly do. I’d like to stay below my 59 kg goal or maybe set a new one at 58.

Thin, I guess I have that fear of waking up one day and deciding I’m tired of fasting. But I hated being overweight and feeling heavy. Doing 5:2 isn’t really very difficult so I don’t know why I’d give it up. I think buying new clothes, even at the op shops will keep me motivated. The only problem is that I have plenty of jeans and pants now and will run out of closet space for them if I buy many more. (I did get rid of a box of unloved old clothes yesterday, with more to follow.) So is trading being overweight with being a clothes hoarder a good option? 😁🙄

LJoyce, I think just continuing like you are with losing can’t be a bad thing. You can always stop and maintain from wherever you are. But I know that it’s hard not to obsess over weight sometimes. Maybe the thing is just to keep busy or to find something else to obsess over. 😁 You could always obsess over your floors in your new home and keeping them as shiny and beautiful as the ones in the house you’re leaving. That will be no small task with all the rollerblading, salsa dancing and jumping from chandeliers! 🤣😆😉

Welcome back Merry, I’ll add my praise for your hard work on “the project” and commiserations that despite that intense effort a pesky 15% remained. Having spent some years managing projects at work, I remember the stress and long hours to try and stick within deadlines and still do the quality job that is important to you.
I can’t say that I think 2 weeks of looking after active grandkids full time qualifies as a break. But enjoy your time with them anyway – you can rest when you get home.
I agree that the place or situation has an impact on eating behaviours and weight. At home is easier than being away and normal weeks are easier than special occasions like easter, christmas, birthdays… I think it’s because life often gets into a good rhythm that helps our habits and I find any break to the pattern usually spells danger. My current problem with wanting (and having) treats every FD started with easter. The pattern got interrupted and I haven’t managed to get back into it again yet.

Thin & Cali, thanks for the advice. I think I just need to commit to not adding extra FDs for a while, regardless of any overeating on other days. Even writing that down feels awfully scary. I suspect adding extra FDs actually increases my desire to eat treats on the NFDs. If I don’t stick to 2 FDs I can’t get back to my usual relatively healthy eating pattern. So I hereby promise to do no more than 2 FDs this week.

Cali, I think hoarding jeans and pants is preferable to hoarding pounds.

I had a productive morning. I needed to mend a wooden fence as some of the planks had either fallen off or were coming loose. I don’t own any outdoor extension cords so it took 3 indoor extension cords to reach all the way to the fence. Luckily putting in some screws with the electric drill was very straightforward. The fence is old but it looks ok now. Getting that done seemed to make me brave and I tackled something I really have no clue about. I have a section of pavers that don’t sit flat as rain has moved the sand under them. So I dug up the worst one and moved the sand around to level it out. Of course once I fixed that one the other looked worse, so I kept going and ended up doing the whole 2 metre section. It looks much better and I’m glad it worked out as I really didn’t know what I was doing.

I’m just having lunch then I’ll tackle the house cleaning.