Cheers for moving day LJoyce!

Best wishes Arelkade.

I’m fasting with you Thin! I was sitting here thinking what I would make for breakfast, when I remembered I organised yesterday to do some babysitting of grandkids tomorrow evening and figured I’d rather not do it at the end of a fast day since I have the choice.

So I must get that miso today!

Cali, I stopped eating added salt when I was still a teenager, I didn’t have it in the house until I had my daughter and needed it to make playdoh! Being vegetarian, and eating very little junkfood, I think that I had way too little salt and that has contributed to my illhealth now. I have bad orthostatic intolerance, which is a common symptom of ME/CFS. My blood pressure doesn’t regulate itself properly.

Our guidelines say: “Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added salt.
Read labels to choose lower sodium options among similar foods.
Do not add salt to foods in cooking or at the table.”

That does sound overly restrictive. Mostly when talking about it dieticians say to start with less salt in cooking and then taste and add little by little so you don’t oversalt, which sounds sensible.
But I do make sure I have salt through the day.

Cheers everyone, I hope you have a lovely, mindful, happy day.

Hi all.

Im trying to log in each day so i can keep up with the conversations. Hope the move goes smoothly ljoyce – are you staying in the Adelaide Hills or moving further afield ?

My thoughts on salt intake – i believe adding a good quality salt (such as Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt) to our food is vital as our bodies require salt as an essential mineral. Everyday salts have been processed so much that all the essential minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium and copper have been removed. It goes without saying that processed, takeaway and restaurant food contain way too much bad salt.

On the weekend OH and i went to a neighboring town for some shopping and a day out. I spotted a health food store and rushed in thinking i would find so many wonderful delights. The store contained nothing but wall to wall jars of vitamins and protein shakes……health food i think not. I asked the assistant if she stocked fermenting jars and she looked at me in dismay. I explained what fermenting was and she had absolutely no idea what i was talking about. Hence on returning home i ordered the jars online. I cant wait to start making yummy sauerkraut etc to add to my diet. If anyone has any favourite fermenting recipies they would like to share that would be great.

Some happy news on the home front – OH and I have decided to co-habitate. Living between 2 houses isn’t ideal and we are planning on getting married within the next 12 months anyway (but that bits a secret so dont tell anyone….lol). We are about to start the process of selling his home and making some changes/renovations to mine to give us more living space. The houseing market here is slow at the moment so we’re not expecting a quick sale but that’s ok as it will give us time to get everything sorted.

Well i must go and start on today’s chore list. Number one is to erect a shade over one corner of the chook/duck pen. Thw little buggas have been flying onto the roof of their perching shed and then flying onto the top of the fence and over into the spare block. I came home the other day to find one of the ducks in my front house yard – she had to get over 3 high fences to get there so I’m still a bit bamboozled as to how she did it.

Happy Wednesday everyone 😆😆

GDay, congrats on the happy news of you and OH combining households. Doing renovations on yours will be exciting too. And your secret about your upcoming marriage is safe with us!

Today’s FD went well. I had some retried beans for lunch, something I don’t usually have on a FD. That only left about 150 calories for dinner so I had a small can of salmon. Surprisingly I don’t feel hungry. Maybe it was all the fiber in the beans.
Thin and Cinque, hope your FD is going well.

Can’t wait to hear how LJ’s move went. She’s probably still in the middle of it since it’s still afternoon there. I hope everything is going smoothly.

LJoyce Woot! I hope you have a lovely restorative sleep and can give yourself an easy day tomorrow.

Gday, exciting times! Won’t you be busy! What a pleasure to be living with the one you love. And making your home into ‘our home’ should be lots of fun. We need a new renovator here now! LJoyce hasn’t got so much more to do.

What a shocker of a health shop! Lots of eye rolling here.
Wonderful to hear about your sauerkraut, I’m ready for long conversations between you and Cali.

I did get to ‘Friends of The Earth’ Thin and now have two 500g containers full of lovely genmai miso to last me about 6 months.
And I got to two nearby opshops, but nothing for me today.

Miso soup is cooking: fresh mushrooms, green beans and sliced radish simmering away. I’ll add yuba and laver at the end. I’m SO hungry.
And I cooked bread so my mouth has been watering for hours (breakfast tomorrow Joy).

I’ve only used the yuba in my miso soup, but I have been thinking what else I would do with it. Once it is rehydrated it doesn’t really need cooking, so I think I might use it in a stirfry. It would want a good sauce so it could soak up the flavours.

My packet is 200g and contains 209kj per 100g and has 6 sticks. I have one in my miso soup so I figure that must be 70kj a stick, and so 17 calories?
I thought it would be more than that!
Ingredients are listed as soybeans and water. (not much water 😉 )

Ooh Lindsay, steamed dumplings. Yum. I’ll be cheering you on tomorrow and Friday.

Soup is ready. Bliss.

Question. What is an op shop?

Penguin, an op shop is a thrift shop, a shop for used clothing and household items. They don’t call them op shops around here but I got so used to hearing them called that on this thread, that I’ve started using the term, even to family members.

LJoyce, can’t wait to hear all about your new home. You already have your bed unpacked, so I’m guessing a few towels and kitchen things will be next. Are all of the kitchen appliances already there? So excited for you at your new home!

Cinque, I still have to get some miso which I put off yesterday. But it was a successful FD eating other things. I lost 1.2 kg as of this morning.

Lindsay, I love steamed dumplings. I wish I could find a good place for them nearby.

Hope everyone has a nice day.

Good morning all. Up earlier than planned as I had trouble sleeping – new bed, new sounds.
My niece and her daughter are coming today to help me unpack. I think that means I won’t be fasting as I’ve promised them lunch out.

I think I am going to try some of these bean curd skins – other than being low in calories, are there any worthwhile nutritional components?

Went to see my GP yesterday – he’s very happy with my weight loss and bp readings. I had a shingles vaccination, available free of charge for those of us who are over 70 years old, since age makes us more susceptible

Thin, I think people should not have pets if they are not prepared to look after them, it’s so cruel.

wow, these dried bean curd skins (sticks) are actually quite high in calories, glad I have not bought any:-))

actually I have not heard from Julie since she got back from her trip with pneumonia, and I don’t really want to pester her – of course I hope that she is feeling a lot better now than last time we heard from her.

Stay, I didn’t think twice about taking care of the little dog. I felt slightly less charitable later when I had to sweep and mop where I’d kept her during the thunder and wash the bedding. She smelled pretty bad. The owner was very apologetic and grateful when he finally arrived several hours after making contact. And I now know where they live so, if I see her again, at least we can take her back.

Sybs, it might be possible to shop around for lower cal bean curds. Because it’s all in Chinese, I can’t tell how it’s prepared. It’s very light though – a large packet weighs only 100gm and you wouldn’t need much.

We went to a new Italian restaurant last night. Against my better judgment, I ordered pasta for the first time in years, tempted by the seafood component. I found it very average and could only eat half. $90 for three of us. No extras, no drinks, just the main dish. Are those of you living in the eastern states paying these kind of prices for basic food?

Morning all. A FD, and the first day of winter. Bliss on both counts. A very chilly 2 degrees to get us started, and up to 22 by midday, and perfect blue skies. We are having a wood fired heater installed week after next so that should warm us up a bit. We have too much glass and too few window coverings to be warm in winter, but this should do the trick.
Calif and Cinque, pleased to report the dumplings were heavenly! We ordered two plates, and ate just enough. My slim OH likes the pan fried ones, but as he’d left his glasses at home and I had to order, he paid the penalty and I went for the steamed ones.
I had the loveliest day – my eldest brother and wife have just moved back to the city, and we ran into them. We see them quite often, but it was serendipitous to just see them standing at the lights, and to be able to go for a coffee and a chat. I’ve missed them in the decade or so they’ve been away.
So LJ, how’s the unpacking going? I loved that you woke early, because of new sounds. Hope they were pleasant ones.
Thin I wouldn’t be happy paying $30 for an average pasta dish. I guess the seafood increases the price, but still, a lot of money.

Good morning. I had a sleep in, which is good, but it means I am very slow getting going today.

Those beancurd sticks! I had to look up kcal and am relieved to see that it is equal to a calorie. So strange that there is such variance with calories yours have more than double mine! I can’t work out why.
This is a nice article about them though: https://tofu.expert/?p=300 It talks about the nutrition Sybs.

Thin, what an interesting conversation with the dietician, so similar to one I had with a friend, although my friend’s belief was that it set off binge eating.
I had understood that the slower steady loss of weight, that generally happens with 5:2, is better for our metabolism than faster weight loss.

I am glad the poor dog is home and hopefully you won’t have to rescue it again.

Eating out is too pricey for me!

Cheers Sybs, wonderful assessment from your doctor!
I can’t wait to be able to have the shingles vaccination after my sister has had shingles so painfully she has needed very strong medication and feels like she has lived the last several months in a fog.
Your soup sounds so good.

Stay, haha, how many parents are looking after the pet they warned their kids about the longterm responsiblity… she says with her daughter’s cat on her knee.
So exciting about your daughter’s home. Hope the finance all comes through nicely.

Isn’t is weird how sometimes things are just too hard, and a couple of weeks later we are in the groove. I hope you stay in the groove with your sensible eating days. Hope you don’t blow out TOO much over the weekend. But, as you say, there is always Monday. So do enjoy the weekend!

Lovely weather here for the start of winter. Blue skies and sun, but very crisp.

Lindsay, so lovely to hear of your happy unexpected meet up with your brother and his wife. It is so nice having dear family near.

Yesterday I got a call to pick up a cold display unit and pie warmer that was donated to YamDaisy (community food project). My sister and I picked them up and they are in my little flat for the moment! The cold display unit is this sort: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/COUAAOSwrFtZ~5ft/s-l225.jpg a really wonderful donation but omg SO HEAVY. We had help getting them in the car, and my sisters long experience of working in theatre to help this end. But I am recovering still.

Well somehow it is nearly midday and I need to get going. It’s my second lull day of the week as I thought Tuesday was a lull day while it was happening and then moved my fast day. (Lull day being the day when I didn’t fast yesterday and won’t fast tomorrow. There is usually only one week). I feel amazed.

Cheers to everyone, I hope it is a good day for you, fast day or non fast day.

I do get a lot of amusement from this thread, thank you all!

LJ, CalifD, I am sharing a pot (yes, pot) of T2’s Daintree with OH and DD. Thought of you two. It’s a lovely tea and so rare that everyone’s here at the same time to share a pot (even if we are all in different rooms).

Lindsay, I did laugh about your dumpling selection. Had your OH left his hearing aids behind as well? Or is he just extremely well-mannered? (My OH would have had no trouble correcting my verbal order in front of the waitperson.)

Sybs, GDSA, I always choose my dish on-line before going to a restaurant and had pre-selected their only salad – goats’ cheese and pumpkin. On arrival, the menu made the seafood linguine sound so good that the prospect of defrosted marina mix didn’t even enter my mind. There were two deliciously plump prawns but the rest wasn’t recognisable. Lesson learned. Luckily, I did realise that I wasn’t enjoying it much and stopped eating before I got halfway through, so no weight gain this morning. In the past, I’d have mindlessly eaten the lot and then regretted it. Your idea of asking for food on a bed of lettuce is interesting and something to keep in mind, Sybs. I agree GDSA, pasta is just pasta – a cheap filler.

LJ, you’d mentioned before that you couldn’t move into the front bedroom right away d/t no block-out blinds. It’s great to be able to have a selection! I agree that a quiet, dark room is preferable but I’d also be loathe to give up the ensuite (as I am one who gets up at least once during the night).

Cinque, what a great catch-up post you have given us. I forgot to go to your links before starting this so I haven’t seen the donated appliance. I suspect that, when I do, it will answer my question about whether your DS worked in theatre in a medical capacity or as an actress. And now I’ll read up on the bean curd link you that posted.

P.S. I’m guessing theatre nurse – autoclaving?

Good morning,
I didn’t think about the two theatres. My sister was a stage manager in theatre (and other shows) and involved in lots of ‘bump ins’ and ‘bump outs’ which involved moving all sorts of things, lots of them heavy, and odd shapes, through odd passages and doorways.

The beancurd skins link I put I loved for its ‘English as a second language’ quaintness. But it mostly explained that the bean curd skin that forms while heating soymilk, is just like the skin that forms when heating dairy milk. It is scooped off and laid flat, or scooped off and made into sticks.

LJoyce, Those snacks! I wouldn’t be surprised if they are more of a culprit than the amount of hard physical work.
Anyway you have the chance how to settle down and put all your sensible rules in place. All those wonderful things you have learnt and done, while living at your old house, make a lovely healthy baseline for your new one.

Good wishes to you Arelkade.

I did about 5 hours baby sitting last night with two darlings that got increasingly tired but kept bouncing back. Great fun ofcourse, but I’ll take it easy today.

Day before fast day for me.

Cheers to everyone fasting today, and those enjoying a lovely morning after fast day, and those who are concentrating on healthy sensible eating (that would be me too).

Hi everyone

Just popping in to say hello!

Had a wonderful day, yesterday, with my brother – for his birthday, + OH, sister, other brother, our father and nephew. We all enjoyed just being together and catching up.

Think of you all everyday, reading all your interesting posts: thank you.
Wanting to be more mindful in June!
Hoping you are feeling more settled into your new home, LJoyce, with each passing day – the start of new beginnings – enjoy the adventure of getting to know your new surroundings!

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

Hello everyone. A post FD today, and I’m cooking a pumpkin and chick pea casserole with cherry tomatoes and spinach. It’s for tomorrow night because my lemon thyme has expired, but I’ll get some and add it in tomorrow. It’s a recipe I found to cook for my vegan brother. If it’s up to par, I’ll do the calorie calculations and post it.
Arel so nice to have all your family around to help each other through this difficult time. Thoughts are with you.
Sybs great to get the shingles vaccination. My OH has had it, and I’ll get it too even though it’s quite expensive – our doctor gave us a pretty graphic description of shingles….I am sorry your sister had the dreadful experience Cinque.
Your little ones sound like my daughter’s. Enchanting, but sleep is never high on their agenda. That said, we went to the 2 year old’s swimming lesson during the week and brought her home with us while my daughter got on with her study. As we pulled up, Miss 2 said, ‘I tired. It my bedtime.’ She woke after an hour in the cot, then cuddled up with me and slept on for another hour in my lap. Unheard of.
Thin having me order is the price my OH pays if he leaves his glasses behind. That’s the rule (which he sometimes even takes notice of).
OK is baking vegetables to have with some salmon, and we have the 3 series of Silk from the library, so that’s our night taken care of. An older series, but so so good.
Enjoy your night all.

thank you Arel, I am quite pleased!

lovely that you all managed to get together and visited your brother for his birthday.

Good morning. A cold morning. But I am so fortunate to have a heater, a lovely
padded silk jacket and a purring cat on my knee.
Plus, my computer is working properly today. Lovely.

Yes it is Sunday fast day and I am going to enjoy every minute of it.

Arelkade, so lovely to hear of the family birthday celebration for your brother.

Sybs, what a great weigh in! Fantastic work. I love how you have worked out what suits you and have made it your way of life. Isn’t it a relief to find the way that works for you. More than half way to your goal weight! Woot!

Lindsay, that chickpea dish sounds wonderful, and it also sounds like it would be almost impossible for it not to work!
Yes, my grandkids do sound like yours. No doubt they will end up having some sort of normal bedtime. Eventually. Isn’t it so lovely to have a little one sleeping in your arms.
I should go dumpling eating with you, without my glasses, as I always go for the panfried ones too. Even though the plain steamed ones are perfectly yummy.

Thin, I think you are right about dieticians. And the ones I know brace themselves for all the fads and just wish people could follow good sensible guidelines. I think 5:2 is still too small and recent to get past the fad label.

Well, this is the best health day (so far) that I have had for weeks, and just in time as I have a busy start to the week, I need to get the place ready for two sisters staying over on Monday evening, and everything else on my list.

Luckily I don’t need to think much about food prep, fast days are great that way.

Best wishes all.

Late morning and afternoon we went to a local art gallery “Nature in Art” – does what it says on the tin. They had an annual exhibition of nature artists and an exhibition of David Shepherd. It worked for me on several levels. David Shepherd, who died recently, painted aircraft, trains and wild life. he was, if not the best, one of them. Somewhere around 1976 /7 I stood behind him and watched him paint a Lancaster. That painting was on display and brought back some good memories. The other display, as usual, provoked three responses in me:

I’m as good as that.

I’ll never be as good as that.

That is an interesting technique, I’ll try that.

However, for this thread, we ate lunch there. OH had a baked potato, Coronation chicken and salad. There was nothing I really fancied so I had a cup of tea and a piece of Victoria sandwich cake. This was pretty tasteless. Not bad, but uninspiring. Once upon a time I would have eaten it, but I didn’t (OH finished it). My point is that 5:2 has made me much more selective about what I put into my mouth.

Cali. Chocolate chip and marshmallow pizza? We live on different planets. More seriously, as we don’t see that this side of the Atlantic , how does that work – basic pizza base or…?

Cali, and I thought I had a sweet tooth! I can only imagine how welcome your fast day will be today. Drink lots of water!
I do hope you can start weaning yourself off that particular medication soon. One less swag of side effects to deal with.
Haha just imagining you biting your tongue with “And how’s that working out for you?” sitting on it.
Jasmine is a lovely gift from a hot day! It is the scent of summer here too (but you make me glad to be in winter for a bit).

Penguin, so glad Mrs Penguin has recovered. Busy times ahead, and grandchildren do seem bad for healthy mindful eating at your place! I hope you can fit in a couple of water fasts as I imagine you’ll feel good to get rid of some of those cheeky pounds that have sneaked back on.
Love the eating out story. I too am learning only to eat what I really want.
I googled ‘David Shepherd artist’ and got a page of stunning pictures. It would be wonderful to see the exhibition. And certainly inspirational. I hope you get lots of chances to paint. Do your grandkids like watching you paint?

LJoyce I hope the unpacking is going well, and that the gas is connected.

For those battling high blood pressure, I heard a good interview on a science program yesterday where a researcher talked about bowel health (this research https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/high-fibre-diet-and-acetate-supplementation-change-the-gut-microb ) helping high blood pressure because of the good gut bacteria, that the high fibre feeds, being useful. She says just sticking to 5 vegetables, 2 fruits a day is what is needed. Hmm, 5/2, how will we remember that? 😉

Well, I had two meetings today before my sisters arrive this afternoon, and both of them have cancelled. A lovely relief, except that I was hoping to make some YamDaisy headway. Never mind, happy to go with the flow when sisters are coming.

A lovely ‘day after fast day’ breakfast for me (and I managed to eat it more mindfully). Coffee time.

Best wishes all.

Cinque, thank you for the link. I have forwarded it to OH.

Hi everyone

Just wanted to say a quick hi and let you all know I’m still alive lol
Have been really busy so am trying to catch up with three pages of posts! I’m on a FD today, going ok so far. Hope you are all well and enjoying life. Take care 🙂

Hahaha just found my original post from 2015, I think. So here it is, forward 3 years and not much has changed apart from the gammy hip which is for replacement in 3 weeks! Eeeek! Anyhoo here’s the post…….

Hi all, I’m new here and trying, no!, I intend to loose 10kgs! Since I turned 50 I’ve given myself a fool’s pardon to just eat what I like….dumb, dumb, dumb, and I’m menopausal!!! hence the 10kg weight gain. So, this sounds like the way to go.
A little bit about myself…..I’m 50, doh!! originally from Co. Down, Northern Ireland and emigrated to Western Australia with my husband and 2 kids (now 10 + 14) 7 years ago. I do Bootcamp 3 mornings a week and really need to get back into walking my poor neglected dog Mollie on the other mornings…..I lost this habit 6-9 months ago and haven’t felt motivated enough to get off my butt and keep ‘er lit as they say back home!
I CAN do this, I WILL do this, I just need to fit back into my clothes as I refuse to buy new when I have so many just lying around doing nothing!
Confession time, alcohol is my main problem (I have loads of others which I won’t go into here! Ha ha ha ha, and which I must address at my next meeting! LOL I jest!! No hate mail please 🙂
I just love a beer in the sunshine in the afternoon/evening and when the sun shines here most of the time I’m sure you can appreciate the seriousness of my problem…..it wasn’t so bad back home, since it bloody well rained most of the time!!!
Soooooo, I intend to have 4-5 alcohol free days a week and just take it from there. I had a little practice last week and made it to 3…..Yay! Go me! So here goes, 1st fast day tomorrow, the resumption of the four-legged friend plod and I’ll talk to y’all soon. Xx