Thanks Sim. I’m not worried about the weight – it will go.

Ramadan starts next week. I am not of that faith but I have had a look at the dietary restrictions. In essence it is a form of time restricted eating such as we have discussed on other groups of this site – everything within 7 or 8 hours, just a very different 8 hours. What is interesting is that all of the sites discussing it emphasise the health advantages and there seems to be a strong social community aspect to the way it works. It makes skipping breakfast look like an easy option.

Wow Thin, what a difference between west and east!
And isn’t it a nice little feeling to be slimmer than the people we were once fatter than. I feel it too. Not schadenfreude exactly, but some interesting language probably has a word for it.

LJoyce, I hope the door is looking good this morning, how irritating to have a last job to do, but what a wonderful conscientious person you are. The people who bought your home are very lucky.

Syb, I agree about the NFDs being longer and trickier to get a handle on. That first focus on Fast Days is so interesting and a bit of moving and changing and finding out what works best. But soon they start rolling nicely along… and there are the Non Fast Days, like an old attic piled with junk that we need to get sorted and live in. I got my Fast Days pretty well sorted two years ago. Still working on the Non Fast Days.

And full fat things! I was a wholefoods alternative type when those recommendations came in and turned my nose up at the idea. Even milk, because when we had a cow we weren’t making butter, and then it was goats. Had a try of margarine too and never again. Yuk. (Although I went through a stage where I processed butter with olive oil to make a spreadable mix).
I’d rather have a smaller amount of something delicious than more of something I didn’t like as much, and I never liked the low fat options.

LJoyce, I am like you with the Mediterranean diet. I have never eaten much fish and while I am willing to try it is so expensive and either full of mercury, or being fished to extinction, or both. I was glad to see in Dr Mosley’s run down that he said minimal meat and fish. So let’s do it that way. 😉

My fast day did wizz past Thin, and now look! Another one tomorrow!

Special good wishes to all the SH members and relatives who are dealing with health issues. Hoping so much that everyone is improving.

I’ve been making vegan red kidney bean dip while I have been writing (if I sound a bit distracted, I am. Getting ready for a big day going to my great niece’s first birthday party). Must head off soon.

Cheers all

Good morning SHs, I’m typing standing up this morning, with my laptop on the kitchen bench. My lower back gets sore quickly when I sit down so I’m doing my best to avoid it where possible.

Cinque, enjoy that first birthday party.
Good to know we can do the meditteranean diet with less meat & fish. I’m happy to replace my fish meals with more legumes. I do take fish oil every day but I know supplements are never the same as the whole food. You are right about the price, but I wouldn’t mind paying for a small portion weekly if I liked the taste more.

Thin, I don’t know where your weather is coming from at the moment. We are told that the icy wind here is coming straight from antactica. Maybe yours is coming via the Bahamas! Enjoy that last bit of warm weather.

Cali, I hope you are managing your current health issues and feeling like you are making progress toward a calmer life.

Joffy, I hope you found it easy to get back into the pattern of FDs.
It’s quite likely that the rheumatologist will be able to stop the steroid once the rheumatoid treatment drugs starts to work. That should help stop the weight gain that steroids always seem to cause. Once you find the right treatment drug life improves a lot. It’s always amazed me just how much difference an effective treatment can make, so stay positive.

Penguin, I hope they have found the right antibiotic and your wife’s condition is improving. The weight gain is not a surprise – worry will do that to you.
I agree that it can be useful to look at other traditions, like ramadan and see if it offers something useful to our own lives. I come from a protestant tradition that doesn’t do sacrifices for lent, but was made aware of that practice when I was married, as some of my ex-husband’s family were catholic. For a number of years I’ve adopted a sacrifice for lent, not for religious reasons but just for self improvement. It’s a long enough period of time to establish a new pattern of behaviour.

Arel, I got a bit behind with posts and only just saw your post about the change in your brother’s treatment. I imagine it must be even more frustrating when you have medical knowledge yourself and can see things they aren’t doing. I really hope the change in doctors and the new tests help your brother on the road to recovery.

I’ve enjoyed everyone’s Eurovision discussion. I was only vaguely aware of it prior to SBS starting to screen it, so I don’t remember the earlier competitions. I guess I see it as a bit of fun with maybe a couple of reasonable songs thrown in. There’s usually one or two song I like enough to buy on itunes – but it’s never the winner. Last year I bought “City Lights” by Blanche (Belguim) and “Beautiful Mess” by Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria). The year before I only bought the dance track that Spain entered “Say Yay!” by Barei. My taste always seems to vary from the popular – I never seem to like the books that get good reviews either. Maybe I just like being contrary.

I’m trying not to worry at the moment, but not really succeeding. The buyers were meant to have their finance in place by yesterday, but they haven’t. I was going to spend the weekend packing. Instead I have to put the house back into open inspection mode because their lender is sending a valuer on Monday morning. I suspect the delay is because they want to borrow over 90% of the purchase price and the lender needs to be sure that they’d get their money back. My conveyancer and agent are both behaving as if the contract will proceed without a problem but I won’t feel reassured until I know they have the money in place. As my purchase is conditional on the sale of my current house, if they don’t get finance then both contracts will fall through. That’s not a prospect I want to deal with. But I can’t control that, all I can do is make the house look as “valuable” as possible and hope their valuer thinks the purchase price is reasonable.

I’ve decided to fast today as there’s likely to be a lunch or dinner at my cousin’s house tomorrow that I get invited to. I have a bowl of the miso broth with broccoli and oyster mushrooms leftover so no need to cook.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

I picked up fresh Tasmanian Salmon at Coles last week, 3 pieces, about 120g each, came to $10 – that’s not bad for 3 meals, froze it all. Tonight I’ll have 1 piece with cauliflower mash, some greens, and maybe some dal on the side, it’s NFD, so I can indulge a litte

I’ve just reheated and eaten my FD miso soup. I think all the chilli sank to the bottom. The first bowl was pretty mild, but tonight it really packed a punch. It was just miso, aromatics and veg, but tasty and very filling.

Penguin, I can see by the tone of your last post that your wife is much better. Very happy to see that. I hope the sausage roll quality control testing went well.
Sausage rolls remind me of my father, to say he had an addiction to them is not an overstatement.
I must admit I don’t follow the traditional abstinence for lent. (Giving up meat would be no hardship for me so it’s not really a sacrifice.) I identify something that would be a genuine sacrifice and that it would be useful for me to feel better control over and I focus on that. One year I gave up bread for lent – that really hurt.

Thin, I won’t lose my deposit as I made the contract conditional on my sale settling on 30th May for a specific amount. That protects me.

It’s been an easy FD although I’ve needed lots of hot drinks to deal with the cold here.

Thin’s neighbour isn’t the only one who has set days for food. I have just compared notes with OH and both of us can remember which days we ate what as kids, and it was certainly fish on Friday.

LJ your Dad’s addiction to sausage rolls reminded me of the neighbours where we lived last. We had Jewish neighbours both sides, members of the same family. One side was very firm in it’s commitment to dietary rules – would drink with me but ate nothing that came out of my kitchen, although I was more than happy to eat his! The other side had a real pork pie habit.

LJoyce, we weren’t Catholic but my mom very often bought take-away fish plates on Friday nights after work. I loved those fish plates that I think were Perch filets from Lake Michigan which bordered our town. They came with French fries (chips), cold slaw and the best tarter sauce ever. We were very disappointed if she didn’t stop there and get them on the way home. Fish Frys on Friday nights are very popular in some of the mid western states in the US. They don’t really have the same tradition here on the west coast, not for takeout.

Penguin, I am so relieved to hear that your OH is feeling so much better. Thank goodness for antibiotics! I know a couple people who had infections that made them seriously ill. One thought it was an infected tooth, the other a swollen arm. Neither ever found out what actually caused it and both were in the hospital and then home with IV antibiotics. Both fully recovered, but it was pretty frightening at the time.
I think Mrs. P owes you your own batch of sausage rolls for all your worry over the last week!

LJoyce, it seems like there are always last minute worries about home sales closing for one reason or another. But since both parties want it to go through and the realtor’s commissions are dependent on the deal closing, they usually find a way to make it work. Still, I sympathize with you having to deal with last minute uncertainties. Fingers crossed that all is resolved soon.

Hi everyone

Good news is, I’ve made the effort and seeing rewards – back on the downward trend. Big whoosh of 1.5kg this week. Feels good for my mindset!

Enjoying reading everyone’s posts.

Penguin: so glad your OH is improving. It’s been so long since I had a sausage roll, but I can still smell and taste what you are experiencing at the moment! Enjoy each bite!

Thinking of you LJoyce and know you will be glad after Monday’s valuation – just a little hiccup!

I hope all of you experiencing setbacks or illness feel a whole lot better real soon.

For those who may be travelling – have a safe and enjoyable trip!

To all the Mothers out there, be they of 2, or 4 legged ‘children’ – have a wonderful Mothers Day
🌹🌹🌹

Enjoy whatever you are getting up to and bye for now!

Penguin, decades ago my mum worked as a nanny for a Jewish family in NY. They had dinner plates designated for dairy and others designated for meat. But they also had plates that could be used for either meat or dairy. Whatever rings your chimes.

Thanks for your MD wishes, LJ. OH had a pilot friend over yesterday lamenting that he must take his wife and in-laws to a buffet lunch costing $90 per head today. He was naming the shares he could have bought for that princely sum. He has my sympathy. I hope I never get to the stage where I’m willing to spend $90 for one lunch. I’ve woken to a beautiful pot of flowers with a heart-warming note of gratitude attached from my DD and that’s more than enough for me today. Almond & coconut milk coffee under way. Leftover chicken & bacon casserole in the fridge 249 cals. It will be a great day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mums here! 🌺🌷🌸🌹💐 I hope you’re having nice weather and some sunshine.

Saturday night here still which is our movie and pizza night. Pizzas are in the oven and we’re trying to decide whether to find a Netflix movie to stream or watch another episode from the new Lost in Space series.

Arel, congrats on your weight loss. Sometimes it takes a while for that whoosh effect.

I haven’t resumed fasting yet but have been maintaining at around 59 this past week. I’m still not very hungry most of the day, probably due to the change in blood pressure meds or something. I guess I should be happy about that since I’m feeling pretty good otherwise.

LJ, we have House Hunters International on TV while we’re eating, and the tv family is looking for a house to rent in Adelaide. Looks beautiful! The family is moving from the US.

Morning Sybs, you and LJ can find the recipe for my chicken and bacon casserole by scrolling down our FD recipe page: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/ It’s a decent sized portion, yields about 4 heaped ladles full of nutritional goodness. The best part for me is that the whole family loves it so, served with a bread roll and bulked up with rice or couscous for them, I usually have the extra portion leftover for my next FD which is what’s happening today. It’s also an easy recipe to take on self-catering holidays as all the ingredients are readily available. It even has wine, hard to believe really.

Arel, I liked your wishes for mums of furkids so that includes you, CalifD. Good to know you’re both feeling good and keeping your weight in check.

Penguin, I agree that movement is the key. Getting my activity balance right certainly helps me manage the arthritis. I use mobic as an anti-inflammatory and as long as I take it with food it’s fine on my stomach. Because my faulty immune response if for excessive inflammation all sorts of things will set it off. For three days in a row I’ve made a point of not sitting if I can stand and not standing still if I can move. So I’ve gone from siting down with a cuppa to pacing the hallway drinking it. It’s improved my lower back pain a great deal.

I also agree with you on the weird entries in Eurovision – there are always some and for some reason unknown to me Europeans seem to like voting for them. I would class this year’s winner in that group. Usually I like the dance tracks, but my absolute favourite this year was the ballad from Germany – it bought tears to my eyes and songs rarely do that.

Every country seems to pick a different day as “mothering Sunday”. For us it’s always the second Sunday in May. I suspect our fathers day is different too – first Sunday on September.

When you say tomorrow is one day of a water fast, do you mean the first of several or is this a single FD?

I’m quite pleased with myself for skipping lunch and treating this morning’s generous morning tea as both breakfast and lunch. All too often after a morning like this one I keep eating all day. I’ve managed to distract myself by cleaning.
Dinner is warming in the microwave as I type – yet another meal from my freezer stash – Delia Smith’s Chicken Basque with roasted carrots, parsnips and broccoli on the side. Penguin, I know you’ve mentioned not liking broccoli but have you tried roasting it (need to blanch or par boil it first)?

Brussels sprouts are good sliced in half and sautéed in a little bit of water and olive oil with salt and caraway seed until they’re just starting to brown on the edges. You could also add pearl onions to the mix. OH isn’t crazy about Brussels sprouts either, but he’ll eat them that way.

Good morning from cold grey Melbourne.
I had a big day at the family do on Saturday. I’m glad I went as my daughter and grandkids couldn’t have gone without my help and I saw lots of relatives I haven’t seen for a long time. But on the other hand it was a long way, kids hate travel, it wasn’t a CFS friendly function, I’m not close to any of the relatives I don’t usually see, and it will take a lot of recovering from.

Yesterday they re-wired our street (I think that’s what they did) so the power went off at 7:30am and before very long I headed over to my daughter’s. Goodness I am hopeless without electricity these days! Had an easy day but decided it would be another 6:1 week. They promised the power would be back on at 3:30 and it was, although they were working at the building over the road until late in the night, and building alarms went off through the night too. Hopefully all is done now.

Lovely Mothers Day. (Quite Interesting: Our day started in the US as mothers’ activism for babies health and anti war http://fortune.com/2018/05/11/mothers-day-history/ ) (It morphed into sentimentality and commercialism). My daughter gave me a card that said ‘Great job mum, I turned out awesome’. Haha.

I loved your Jewish family story Penguin. Such a good instance of the extremes of observance. I always loved how my Mozambican Muslim neighbours observed Ramadan as a precious occasion to think about helping others and appreciating how lucky we are, while my young Malaysian Muslim relatives hooned around their home town after sunset going from party to party.

LJoyce, fingers crossed the house stuff gets sorted nicely and quickly, I can imagine how stressful it must be.

Need to go and a) tidy up and b) get to work on the Business plan. Everything has been conspiring to stop me, but I will prevail.

Best wishes to you all. I hope it is a lovely water fast day Penguin.

Just in case anyone is interested, Kitchen Warehouse has electric yoghurt maker / fermenter for $49.95 and offer free shipping at the moment.

Addit:
Back into Monday and Thursday fast days!!! xx

Thank you Cinque. I will look into that complaint section for neighbours which I wasn’t aware of before reading the article you posted. Following our experiences all summer, we decided to re-evaluate our own use of airbnb. Although we consider ourselves a quiet family who are respectful of others’ property and amenity, we concluded that our continued use of such platforms must contribute to some extent to the detriment of the locals of the cities we visit. Consequently, I haven’t visited the website in planning our upcoming trips. I just find it interesting that as other countries of the world begin to count the cost of nine years of short-stay rental platforms in their cities, our own short-sighted council decides to embrace the concept. Lindsay, I hope you’ve had some peace as summer comes to an end?

Arel, no cosy warm fires here. It’s 3pm and I’m in a T-shirt and shorts about to meet my walking buddy. 27C. I hope you can make use of some of those recipes.

LJ, hoping all went well today but I don’t suppose they’ll tell you right away, if at all.

Good morning everyone, another grey, cold morning. I am very grateful for my snug little home and warm clothes.

I have realised that I can fast today. I have a friend visiting overnight, but she will like soup for a meal (she has had the gastric surgery). Just not miso soup! I will make something else.

So I am fasting with you LJoyce. And sending more good wishes that you hear soon that everything is going ahead. With the care you have taken of your home, it would be very strange if the valuer wasn’t impressed.

Thin, I have been enjoying a podcast by mother and daughter journalists Geraldine Doogue and Eliza Harvey, and in the last one they discussed the problems with using air bnb’s. Very interesting. A different view. But here is the link in case you are interested. https://longdistancecall.com.au/

Arelkade I love hearing of the lovely times you spend with your dad. I hope he can come to stay again soon.

Cheers to any other Tuesday Fasters and to everyone else: I do hope you have a lovely mindful eating day. (Oh dear, mine was mindless eating yesterday, the result of that big weekend I think. Hope you can avoid one of them).

Good morning Arel, Cinque, Sybs, Merry, Cali, Thin, Penguin, Lindsay, Minka, Joffy, Intesha and Quacka (You can always tell the mornings I have time to spare – I can check the last 2-3 days of posts to see who’s around.)

Not just a FD for me, but a quiet day at home. I want to pack, but am not willing to tempt fate on that one.

Cali, I will never get the actual valuation results as it’s the buyers lender that arranged it and the buyers who will have to pay for it. I’ll just hear whether they have their finance or not. If they get it, then I can assume that the valuation was high enough to cover the loan. The valuation is usually the last step so it should only be days now before I hear. (They look at credit history, income and capacity to repay the loan first.)

Cinque, always glad to have company when fasting. Have you recovered from your overexertion at the family get together?

Thin, I hope you are making the most of those warm days. This is one weather pattern that shows no inclination to head east. The rest of us are freezing, so enjoy it for us all.
I agree with Arel’s comments about that recipe link – I had looked through that page some time ago but don’t remember seeing most of those recipes. Once I’m in my new kitchen I will have to start experimenting as I really like the idea of have meals that work on both FDs and NFDs.

Arel, so glad you enjoyed your time with your dad, it always makes me smile and brings back so many memories when you talk about him. The things that made my dad happy were so similar in his later years. I offered him a home with me when he was still in his own home and able to care for himself with a bit of help. As he became more infirm it was not a suitable option and he needed aged care. If he fell over I couldn’t get him up and as I was still working that was a problem. But I did enjoy lots of day visits and outings. I often baked (things mum used to make) on the days dad was here, so that he would have the reminder of that aroma. He behaved like a big kid when it came to licking the bowl through – my mum never let him do that. He also loved being able to take the biscuits back to the nursing home with him and share them with others and say they were just like Joyce (my mum) used to make.

I’ve not traveled in recent years, except to stay with family, but I have been dubious of airbnb. I definitely wouldn’t feel safe renting a room in a stranger’s house and renting a whole place is probably more expensive than a hotel room – I don’t need 5 stars, just clean. Although that said, my neighbour has an airbnb room that she lets out occasionally and I’ve not heard a peep out of her visitors. I thin it’s different for a family traveling – renting a house/apartment is probably much cheaper than multiple hotel rooms. All the negative stories seem to be where it’s a whole house being let and it ends up being a all weekend party.

I wanted to report back about my approach to getting my lower back pain better. After several days of standing and moving rather than sitting I’ve noticed a huge improvement. So much so that I’m still using my makeshift stand-desk for my laptop (I’m standing here now typing). Last night I slept all night without needing pain relief and without needing the pillow between my knees. It’s made me realise how often I sit to do things where I don’t actually need to be sitting. It’s also reminded me that I will need to be careful when I start packing, that I don’t lift things that are too heavy for me.

Good morning all,
FD yesterday and woke up feeling lighter this morning. I won’t be weighing for a few weeks just going by the fitting of clothes feeling needing to move belt holes etc.
Thankyou everyone for your wishes.
LJoyce I did remember you have RA and hearing you got it aged 38 ouch. I have read a lot of forums on it and the young mothers and teenagers that are putting up with RA is what keeps me quiet about my problems. Yes Methotrexate 20mg a week just makes me tired on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Fd’s have come back easier than I thought. I was worried the couple of bits of fruit early morning may set my hunger dragon off but it’s been OK and I haven’t missed having my eggs for brekky.
Meals for the day:
2 x white coffee 300kj, 160g plums 260kj, 150g mandarins 267kj (weighed the peel I removed today) 500g beef and vegetable soup 1100kj (bought the wrong soup), 100g kidney beans 400kj Total 2327kj or 567cals.

Cinque, get well soon. I hope you have the same virus I had a few weeks ago. I developed the dreaded sore throat during the day, gargled with TCP over the next couple of days while the inevitable cold & cough lurked in the background but which I eventually fought off with my own immune system. Unfortunately for all of us, OH then managed to catch something that he’s sure I gave him but which which manifested itself in a lengthy and violent manner requiring one entire day of bed rest and lots of moaning and extreme coughing for the remaining weeks. He gets the ‘flu injection; I don’t. I know it’s not possible to get ‘flu from the ‘flu injection but he does get the man ‘flu every year whereas I can’t recall when I last had a cold. Here he is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbmbMSrsZVQ

Cinque, I hope your sore throat and runny nose passes quickly. That’s how my cold/flu thing started in March. When it got to the coughing stage, Mucinex Cold & Decongestant pills worked pretty well, especially at night.

Thin, that link is hilarious! It reminds me of OH when he’s sick. A “man cold” certainly produces many more symptoms and moaning and more groaning than a “woman cold”! (Cinque, you want to avoid a “man cold” 🤧 at all costs!) I have to send that link to OH and a few friends. 🤣

LJoyce, I’ve had to lay off on the caffeine lately so, tempting as it was, I didn’t order more T2. (I have quite a stash from the last shipment.) I have a few decaf teas from other brands, but none are as good or unique as the T2 teas. I’ve become spoiled. I hope to get back to them soon. Your new home will be called “The house of tea”. 😁 I hope you kept enough of those black boxes to pack what you have for moving house. I know you gave a bunch of them to your niece.

Joffy, good to hear that getting back to your FD have been easier than anticipated. I usually have fruit on FD too and haven’t found it a problem unless I eat too much at once. I try to reserve it for the last half of the day. I think it’s filling with the water content and sometimes the fiber, depending on the fruit. I can’t wait for the summer fruits like nectarines and plums to start appearing here in stores.

Frothy Thursday following an easy FD with dolphins and bridge to pass the time. I think it was the first FD ever that I had made no meal plans. My freezer supplies let me down. I ended up with a one mushroom, one cherry tomato, one egg omelette with herbs from the garden. With no oil, it wasn’t great but sufficed and the scales tell me it was a good choice.

I’ll be swapping Sunday’s FD to Saturday this week due to having organised a neighbourhood picnic which most families preferred to be on Sunday. DD will be volunteering her time to carry out free vet health checks for four-legged participants of the Million Paws Walk that day and we will have fun watching the parade of pooches. It’s our monthly live jazz club tonight so more neighbourhood fun.

Have a great day everyone. Keep smiling. Life shouldn’t be so serious!

Back to warm clothes today. Our high temp was only about 18 and it should be down around 8 or 9 tonight. We had thunder showers this morning. But it should be warmer tomorrow. I shouldn’t complain because we haven’t had to use the air conditioner yet and the heat only minimally in the last few weeks. It sounds like our weather is somewhat similar to LJ and Cinque’s lately.

I just realized the Royal Wedding is this Saturday. I definitely want to watch it if it’s broadcast live over here. My DS will likely get it early to watch it with me. OH could care less. I’m going to search the TV stations now to see where to watch it.

Had a doctors appointment today and he eliminated one of the meds that was probably the one responsible for killing my appetite. So once it’s out of my system, I’ll probably be back to fasting to maintain. So far I’ve managed to stay in the 59’s. But I just want things to get back to normal.

Hi all. Just dropping in, during a crazy week. Hope all who are not well recover soon, and those who are well stay so. Best wishes too to those with ill family – brothers, wives.
The little girls have both been very ill with croup – Miss 4 has such a croaky little voice, and the 2 year old is barking, barking. No sleep/rest for days for my DD, so we had the girls this morning so she could catch up on her studies.
I’m at work this afternoon – an extra shift that I found it hard to say no too. It’s one thing to get an email, another to run into the boss in the corridor yesterday and be asked in person.
I had an odd FD yesterday. A colleague whom I really like, but don’t really know at all well, invited me for coffee. I ordered my usual long black …but she came back to the table with two forks, so I knew it wasn’t going to be good. Up turned a decadent chocolate cake with cream. It’s a dilemma isn’t it? Had it been a friend, I would have said no, no problem at all (nicely, but no, nevertheless). But because it was a ‘new’ friend, I felt a no would have been really awkward so ate as little as I could, without appearing rude. It threw out the rest of the day – I ended up not having my lunch (usually 212 calories, around 4 pm) and just had the apple, and a very light dinner. Scales were okay this morning, but I was so so hungry. I’m with you Cinque – I love my post FD breakfasts! I’m at work tomorrow, and thinking I might try a FD (or a modified, 800 calorie day) just to nudge the scales along.
LJ hope the house settles with plenty of time for you to pack up gently.
Thin our boys with the booming voices are still at it from time to time…..I fear it’s just how it’s going to be.
Hope you are enjoying Autumn if you’re in the SH and Spring (?) if you’re not.