Quacka, so glad that your week’s FDs were successful! I love lime juice squeezed on my veg. Sadly, my OH still smothers his with margarine. DD nearly falls off her chair every time he does it. You have done well to train a husband. My old dog can’t be taught new tricks – although I was able, after many years, to get him out of the habit of drinking a pepsi every single day with lunch. He hasn’t had one in years.

Were there posts missing earlier? I’m sure I read some more recent ones when the earlier ones weren’t there before. After my first post today, I went for a walk very early to try and dodge the rain and was rewarded with seeing two dolphins. It started raining just then so I decided to turn back – really so I could walk alongside the dolphins. Starting to feel like a zombie having been up for so many hours already so I’ll just say hello everyone.

Good morning! It’s pea soup here in Sydney, I can’t see anything except white fog out of the office window. It’s going to clear to a sunny day, the only one for the next week so OH is madly doing laundry at home.

It’s Maxx’s birthday today and he is 1. Here is a pic, not a very good one as he wouldn’t sit still. We have some presents for him and we will give them to him when I get home from work tonight. He is currently chomping on a birthday bone. He is naughty and cheeky but we just love him to bits
https://imgur.com/a/JDb2BrU

NFD – or Lull day as Cinque says. I had a bad day food-wise yesterday, I don’t know why but it’s behind me and today I will eat very mindfully.

Have a great day lovely people

Happy Birthday Maxx. If I were a dog, I wouldn’t sit for a wax candle either. I bet he’s enjoying his birthday bone. What are his other presents? He looks a lovely, healthy dog. Does he swim? Anzac, is your office in the heart of Sydney? It’s been so long since we were there – we found it a very welcoming place for such a large city. I suppose, like everywhere, it’s changed beyond recognition in 25 years. Perth was like a ‘toy town’ when we arrived here. The population has since doubled.

Cate, your condition must be very difficult to manage. When I worked in hospitals in the US, we were always asked not to wear perfume to work because sick patients can find it particularly noxious. I’ve tried to be mindful of that in various situations. My DD can’t walk through the perfume section of department stores without her eyes streaming. Nothing like what you must go through daily I realise.

LJ, the website being down might explain my confusion over the order of posts yesterday. Gosh, I’d be in a panic if this website were to be removed for any reason! Yes, I have been lucky enough to meet seven Perth losers in person. My DD had a laugh about that after all we taught her about cyber security. Any Perth lurkers, please show yourselves here! You have nothing to lose – or do you?

A few pages back, someone was talking about limiting their snacking to fruit. I forgot to say at the time that I have restricted my snacking to spoonfuls of kefir and a few nuts. I keep a few varieties of nut available and, eaten in small quantities, find them satiating and of course a healthy choice. I haven’t gained weight from this. In fact, like you CalifD, I teeter just above and just below the 60kg mark.

Have a great day all.

Hi thin, Maxx is getting a rope toy with tennis balls attached and a new bouncy ball. He loves stuffed animals but he is a destructive little thing and chews them up in no time and then we have to take it away so he doesn’t eat the stuffing. Did I say little? We went to the vet on Tuesday (I was WFH) as he had itchy ears and he got weighed. Oh my goodness, he is 43.4 kilos and not overweight! The vet did say it would be good for him to lose a few to keep him lean so we are slowly reducing his kibble allowance as he gets treats all day from training. He loves swimming in the river but last summer he was just a puppy and scared of the pool so didn’t swim with us at home. It will be interesting to see what happens this year

I do work in the heart of Sydney CBD, on the 39th floor of a building near Town Hall station so yep, right in the thick of it. I don’t like it, I don’t like commuting because you hit the nail on the head; people are rude and unfriendly and I’m regularly elbowed out of the way (often by young men) when trying to get on the train. My lovely company embraces flexible working so I am able to start early (around 7.00ish) and leave early (around 3.30/4.00ish) so I can avoid the really peak times. I am very claustrophobic so crowded trains make me uncomfortable.

OH and I have a plan to retire to a beachside town one day, somewhere on the South Coast of NSW, and open a little café. But so long as we want to continue on our big trips, I have to keep working. Where’s that lotto ticket?

Gosh, sorry for long post all about ME. I got a bit carried away!

So sorry to hear about your condition Cate, it must be so tough but glad you have found ways to combat the symptoms a bit

LJoyce, good luck with the tradies today, hope they turn up and do a good job

Thin- It’s great that you are more mindful of affecting others adversely. I think it is such an unknown thing that so many people just don’t understand it. I don’t consider myself ill& there are people so much worse off than me. March gave me a taste of what their lives might be like.
LJ- Through an allergy group, I have got to know 2 women who had to give up work at Centrelink because they moved into new premises & became very sick. That is awful that three women gave birth to still-borns after your office move. My bet would be exposure to toxic chemicals. Another way of saying MCS is TILT (toxic-induced loss of tolerance ) It is going to become more & more common I think as the world uses more & more fragrance, especially room deodorisers. Hopefully, this may change.
Thanks, Anzac. I really am not as badly off as many people as I have the advantage of living in a very healthy environment & don’t have to work anymore. I’m still reasonably active & count myself as healthy. I hope I can stay that way. The allergy group I am in is really helpful & most of my strategies have come from them.
Hi, Suz & all other 5:2’ers!

Hi, Cali. I try so hard not to go on about the increased use of toxic chemicals as most people that I mix with scoff & are very sceptical. I don’t want my allergies to be a focus here. It’s such a supportive forum & we are a complex & diverse group of people. I hope I get to California one day as I have a nephew there.

Saturday 6:10am

Good morning everyone

It’s a lovely clear day out there, unlike yesterday when our little coastal village was covered with a thick fog. I remember once going out in our boat in fog like that and it is amazing how disorientating it is. We have a gps that shows us where we have gone before so we followed that to get out of the river and into the ocean, but the fog was thick out there as well. I couldn’t handle it so we had to come back into the river until the fog lifted. It was scary not being able to see the swell coming or if there were other boats in our path.

Happy belated birthday Maxx 🙂

I had a day off yesterday and it was a NFD. I had some firm tofu I pulled out of the freezer a couple of days ago and I wanted to try marinating it. I floured it very lightly with cornflour and then fried it in a tiny bit of oil. When it was lightly browned I took it out and cubed it and put it into the marinade. A very simple marinade of my homemade chilli jam, tamari and mirin. It was yummy and I can’t wait to try other flavours on it. I can’t believe how filling tofu is.

Weight yesterday was 67.7 and today 68.3kg.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We are supposed to get rain here again this afternoon and tomorrow so I want to get out in the garden before that comes. Things are growing so quickly at the moment and I need to make sure they are all being looked after. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, capsicums, shallots baby spinach, kale and some herbs. OH has two big beds full of garlic. I will take some photos and you will see what I mean.

Bye for now x

Hi Everyone, good morning.

Hope you are all well, and 5:2ing happily along.
I am back from my school holiday minding grandchildren stint, and I have put on a bit over a kg.

Back ASAP
Merry

Ok, back briefly. I’m on a train, going in and out of reception etc.

Welcome Anzac if I haven’t done so before, and welcome Suz. You will already know that there is much information and inspiration here.

I’ve been reading back a bit, (not finished yet) – lovely garden progress LJ, amazing windows Thin! Cinque – hope you’re going OK through your very busy period. As usual you have me looking up the names of the interesting things you cook – arrabiata sauce this time. CaliD- your decorations look fab, but I have to confess to not quite getting Halloween. I do know someone who just recently went out to buy some Halloween treat bags which have started appearing here recently, and is going to eat them herself!

Get off time.

Cinque, we were wondering what happened to you yesterday. You are usually the first poster in my mid-afternoon here. (Mid-afternoon the day prior! 😁) Glad to hear you had a busy and fun day yesterday.

Thin, great story about your cryptic crossword teacher who lived a good long life. I bet you never suspected his prior position. I’m back at 59.5 today from 60.4 the day before, my typical up and down bounce these days. You and I should challenge each other to get into the 58’s during the next month. It shouldn’t be that hard since it’s only a kg. Then we could bounce under 60. 😁

Anzac, you should take a picture out the window from where you work in Sydney. Big cities are great places to work. So much going on and great places for lunch or just walking around. I worked in San Francisco in the financial district many years ago when I first moved to California. It was certainly the best location I’ve worked in. (Except for a scary earthquake on the 12th floor. Actually, it wasn’t that bad, no damage, just frightening looking out the windows while it was happening.)

Merry, it seems like you’ve hardly been at home this year! You’ve really been all over the place this year. So when will you travel to Caligornia? Cate, if you come to visit your brother, be sure to let me know. It would be great to meet people from this forum. Although I feel like I know some of you so well already.

Suz, hope you survive all the food at the conference. It sounds like there is hardly a break between meals. Pace yourself. 😁

Quacka, I never thought of marinating tofu after frying it. Did it absorb a lot of the marinade? I still have a couple packs in the freezer that I’m looking forward to thawing and marinating. Chili jam and tamari sound like good options. Tofu has such an interesting texture after freezing, almost like a sponge.

Hi everyone

Maxx said a big thank you for your birthday wishes. He had a lovely day and enjoyed being spoilt.

Cali what a great idea about the toy in the sock. I’m going to try it with a tennis ball. Well done with your FD and 11,400 steps, that’s not easy to do. Funny you mentioned earthquakes; I lived in New Zealand for just under 2 years (and that’s where I met hubby – another story for another day) and the earthquakes were terrifying. They funny thing is, what I considered an earthquake was a mild tremor to the locals and they continued on as though it wasn’t happening! San Fran was an interesting place, we visited for the first time last year on our big 25th wedding anniversary trip (Cuba, New York, San Fran and Fiji). I really loved it but the homeless people made me sad. The best day was a trip to Napa where we went on the ‘wine train’ and had a really fabulous day being spoilt on the train and then exploring a hugely interesting winery in a castle.

That’s just awful about those poor woman with still-borns LJ, was there an investigation?

Cate, I love your positive attitude; a positive mind is very powerful. My Dad is proof of that. He never lets himself get stressed and is always so positive and now 93 and going strong.

Thin, WHF is a typo for WFH which is ‘work from home’ (but I’m sure you knew that!). That was an amazing revelation about your former crossword teacher. I didn’t even know you could attend cross work classes. I like doing them but certainly not cryptic.

I love how forums like this one offer so much support and the only other one I am on is a Labrador forum. They saved Maxx and I am not exaggerating. When we first brought him home we were not expecting a biting hurricane and I don’t know if you know much about Labrador puppies but they are the most challenging. We also unfortunately had OH’s best mate and his girlfriend invited themselves to stay for 10 days. Yes 10 of my precious 14 days off were spent being cook, cleaner and taxi driver for them. They were very lazy and what made it worse they were night owls, going to bed at 3.00 or 4.00am and Maxx was getting me up around 4.00am. So I remember sitting on the back porch with bleeding hands and arms and a yellow crocodile running around chewing me, the outdoor furniture, plants and deciding that he had to go back to the breeder. We were obviously doing something dreadfully wrong because no little 8 week old puppy should be behaving like this. OH who was caught in the middle and staying up with his mate then getting up to help me agreed. I happened on the Labrador Friends forum and discovered many many people around the world with puppies the same age going through EXACTLY the same thing. The wise ones who had been through it and often many times gave advice on how to calm him and we decided to keep him. Oh thank goodness because even though he is still naughty and cheeky we just love him to bits.

There, I’ve done it again, gone off on another rant! You all are such great listeners I can’t help myself 🙂

Quacka, we had a thick fog yesterday too. I couldn’t see one single thing out of my work window. But it cleared to such a lovely day. We’ve had sunshine today but there is a big storm hurtling towards us so not for much longer. Hope you had a lovely arvo with your nephew, wife and kids.

Cinque, glad you had a lovely busy day yesterday. It sounded really nice. Sorry to hear you are really tired now, take it easy.

Suz, the reunion sounds great and very busy. Well done on organising and speaking, neither are easy things to do. You can’t control the meals because you are out of your home but glad you were making the best choices possible.

Hey Merry, so nice to ‘meet’ you and look forward to future chats.

I’m having a much better NFD today. We took Maxx for a 1.5 hour walk this morning with lots of meet ups with other dogs and a couple of swims in the river. The humidity is awful today as the sun came out and after all that rain. Poor Maxx has been horizontal on the tiles for hours. I’m marinated some chicken in some Asian spices and we will have rice and a nice salad tonight. I cook on the weekends and OH during the week (except I am now doing my own on FDs). I have been tempted to snack even though not hungry and for the first time in many years I have been able to resist. Yay!

Gosh I think I’m trying for the longest post ever. Sorry!

Have a beautiful rest of the weekend

LJ, I always hesitate when buying new furniture or carpeting because of all the chemicals used in their manufacture, including tons of fire retardants sprayed on furniture in this country. California is on the verge of passing a law banning the chemicals. The process has been going on for some time. I thought it had already gone through. https://chemicalwatch.com/67350/california-assembly-approves-flame-retardant-ban The other thing that apparently has a lot of off gassing chemicals is pressed wood furniture which is so common these days. There isn’t a lot of affordable furniture that doesn’t contain at least some. I guess that’s another good reason to have windows open when the weather is cooperating.

Anzac, we’re a couple hours away from San Francisco now and understand that the homeless problem is much worse than when we lived closer. It’s a huge embarrassment when a state that has the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world can’t do better for its poorest.
We did the Napa wine train tour years ago when we lived in the a Bay Area. It was for OH’s dad’s birthday and was a very enjoyable day. Napa is beautiful with all the wineries. We are lucky to have other wine growing areas with lots of wineries closer to us now again. It makes for a lovely warm weather day to visit a few and have a nice picnic on the grounds.
I’m glad you found the Laborador forum when Maxx was a puppy. Forums are such a good way to connect with people with similar interests. I joined one on cataract surgery before I had mine and I gained a huge amount of information. I don’t know what I would do if this forum ever disappeared. I depend on it so much for support and encouragement. It’s probably a good idea to keep in touch by email with a couple of people here, to have another way to connect in case something were to happen to this forum and piece together another.

Cinque, thank you for posting that Twitter link from Marty Fields. It’s always inspiring to see other people who have been successful on 5:2. I had to laugh at his reply to a question about it, “Standard 5-2 diet. Google it. It’s the easiest of all those sh#!#!y diets.” 😁🤣

Good Morning everyone,

Hey Quacka, laying in bed here too, and have 5 mins. Nearly called you Q. Didn’t know about the salt water/ protein floating connection. Thanks for the tip.

Maxx is cute and maybe he’ll slow down a little when he’s 2. Imagining raising seeing-eye puppies as an ongoing thing. Labradors are a lovely family dog once they get past the chew everything in sight stage.

Taking some visitors sightseeing today, so some ‘away from home’ food strategies today.

Marty Fields looks great, and younger!

Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Hello all. I won’t even try to answer everyone’s post, but want to say how your concern and warmth has helped through this difficult time. My OH can’t believe that he (and I) are receiving the kindest of messages from as far away as Tasmania, Western Australia, Melbourne, South Australia and even the USA .
There is no real improvement since the emergency appointment last Tuesday. We saw the surgeon again on Friday – still no change. OH has had glaucoma for a very long time, and had a drain inserted ages ago to relieve the pressure, but it recently failed. When his sight deteriorated, he was referred to a specialist surgeon who operated to free the scarring. The hope was the wound would then scar just a little and this would hold the pressure at a good level , but this isn’t happening. In the meantime my poor love can’t watch tv, can’t read. Thank goodness for his Ipad and for podcasts (and for the ABC and Conversations).
I’m reading and will post when I can – I know you’ll understand if I am a bit self-obsessed at the moment. I do find this forum so entertaining and interesting, so will echo what others have said recently. Thank goodness for it!

Hi,Cinque. The canary symbol is a good one. Up until this year, I was the canary for my sister & could warn her when she should put on her mask. Now I need one too. I’m glad that I am not reacting as badly as I did back in March as I don’t want to be there again. I think my canary abilities are returning to me again.
Cali- I really don’t know when I’ll get to California, but that would be lovely. We have a friend who alternates between Cal. & Tas each year. She’s a friend of our son’s really. They go to so many music festivals. She’s lovely!
Once again I see California being progressive re banning certain toxic chemicals 🙂
LJ- I know when I am being affected by toxic chemicals as I get the symptoms, like brain fog & shakiness, headache etc, whether I can smell anything or not. My first instinct then is to get the heck away, but that is not always possible. It is much easier when you can smell something as it gives you a chance to hold your breath until you can escape.
Anzac- thanks for your comments. I was having a far from positive day yesterday & you cheered me up immensely.
That was an attempt at a catch up. I know I’mnot great at this.
Hi to all the SH’ers & a special hi to Lindsay & your husband. I really hope that things improve for him soon.
This is a warm & supportive forum & I’m glad that I have found it again. While I may not post often I read every day & enjoy hearing about everyone’s day-to-day lives. I’ll be with my sister in Victoria during the week & she can’t tolerate EMR, so I will be using my phone sparingly.

Sunday morning, 21C, rain forecast

Good morning. Thanks for the explanation on WFH which I got the wrong way round. No I’d never heard of it, probably too isolated having done it for years! In Australia, I think it would be possible to hold a complete conversation in acronyms.

Too bad I can’t get your snails for our lizards.

Merry, I know – there are people who repeatedly give homes to labs in the pre-training period for becoming guide dogs. We almost did it but, luckily, someone warned us how destructive they can be as young pups. As adult dogs, they are frequent visitors to vet clinics because they have another trait – eating anything in sight.

Anzac, that sounds like a marvellous trip. I’d love to go to Cuba. OH and I and another couple almost made it about 25 years ago when we were living in California and Americans were forbidden from visiting. We were going via Mexico but it all became too complicated.

Cinque, your FD meals sound tasty. I’m having one of the kippers that I bought weeks ago. I finally managed to get my glasses, the tin and a calculator in the same place at the same time. It gave the nutritional value for a serving size in Kj which I have to convert accurately for a FD (no random dividing by 4). The tin contains 200gm but a serving size is 75gm. How stupid is that? So two people can enjoy a tin with 50gm left over to waste or three people can share it but they won’t each get a full serving size. Perhaps one is a child so they get less – assuming a child would eat kippers. Or one greedy person can consume the entire tin. I’ll be having 100gm with 80gm steamed asparagus. Hoping the remainder will last until Wednesday’s fast? And that I still like them. And that they don’t stink up the fridge.

CalifD, I accept your challenge. You set the terms. Quite surprised to still be under 60kg today after Friday’s wake and then a neighbour coming round with some delicious home made treat yesterday as a thank you for some work we did at her house.

LJ, yes I guess being able to keep a secret is a pre-requisite for being a spook. His daughter didn’t even know what he did for a living when they were growing up as the children were a kidnap risk. He’d often spoken about his army days in India but nothing beyond that. He carried a fancy leather attaché case which could have been a clue.

Quacka, in keeping with the spy theme, I think ‘Q’ is an excellent name. Only Merry would come up with that.

Cate, have a nice trip. What is EMR please? Electronic Media Something?

Hello again,

Lindsay, thanks for the update, and I am so sorry that the news is no improvement. It is very hard and so frustrating for Mr L. I am glad he has you. I share his choice in podcasts!
I hope that each day gets easier, especially if it involves improvement in eyesight. I am afraid my candles aren’t doing their job, but I will persist! Here they are: https://imgur.com/a/BQGITep

Cate, warning! 29C forecast for Melbourne tomorrow! Bring your board shorts!

Quacka, let the filo defrost slowly in the fridge. I am with LJoyce, preferring to buy it unfrozen, it so easily gets a bit of dampness on it as it thaws and that makes it go soggy and stick together. So if you have a hard time with it this time, know it is the filo pastry’s fault and not yours!

I’m so glad others noted and commented on your salty water tip. I’d missed it. It is such a good one!

Enjoy the kippers Thin. Put them in a container in a container in a container so they don’t stink out your fridge!

LJoyce, I think lack of sleep is my greatest enemy too (except maybe sugar) for making me get the munchies. Fingers crossed we both have a great sleep tonight.

Well, Fast Day is just about half over! Time for another cup of tea.
Cheers to fellow Sunday Fasters and to everyone else having an enjoyable NFD eating food, not too much, mostly plants. 🙂

Thanks for Cate’s acronym explanation LJ – I wasn’t even close. Lovely for we three to be fasting together again. I do love my Sunday fasts. I made a new batch of cauliflower soup earlier and, by the same I’ve blended it, divided it into FD portions and re-heated today’s, it will be 2pm. Cinque, pretty candles. The kippers last 3 days once opened according to the microscopic print on the packet so they will be wrapped and re-wrapped as you suggest ready for Wednesday. If I like them. I do like the spinach/ricotta combo too.

Sorry thin. I missed that- was on my phone! I don’t like using acronyms usually. There are a lot of people who have MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) who also can’t tolerate EMR (electromagnetic radiation). I used to think it was nonsense I must admit but have found my phone goes haywire sometimes after I have had a reaction to fragrance. My sister reacts very strongly! We were asked once if we would consider having a phone tower on our land & I am so glad I said no.
Thanks, LJ. I’m looking forward to seeing my sister, but very nervous of the actual travel.

Thin, It’s just normal tofu that you buy refrigerated from the supermarket. You can use it fresh or freeze it. The texture changes when you freeze it. I think it was Cali who described it as a sponge, and it really does look like a sponge that you could squeeze when you see a block of tofu that has been frozen then thawed. I do exactly that, squeeze it until no more water comes out – I think you lose three quarters of the weight once you are done, but what’s left now has the capacity to absorb some liquid.
I find plain tofu uninteresting and bland, so they key to me liking it is to get it to absorb flavours.
I must admit that I don’t usually plan to freeze tofu, but if I buy a block I usually only want half of it that week, so I generally freeze the rest so that I’m sure it won’t go to waste.

Cate, all the best for tomorrow then.

Thanks LJ for the tofu info.

The kippers were really tasty and I could easily have been that greedy person who ate more than two servings. I didn’t notice any bones. Psychologically, it was a miserable portion on a plate with 5 spears of asparagus. But I had faith that, being protein, I would feel full. And so far so good although I’ll definitely be having a frozen banana later and maybe a spoonful of cottage cheese before bed. I probably wouldn’t plan this again for a FD at home (after Wednesday) but it’s a great option for next time I’m travelling.

7:29am Mon, Adelaide
Good morning SHs

Early start for me. For some reason I awake before 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Cinque, I’m also thinking of doing a little gardening today.
I need to start putting more activity back into my days and I became extremely sedentary while I was sick.

Thin, I don’t think oily fish is a choice I’d be making regularly on a FD either because of the calories.

Cate, I hope you you have a safe and fragrance free trip.

It sounds like all of the Sunday fasters had a good FD. Good luck to all the Monday fasters.

Monday fast for me – I need to get back to my routine, in the face of this very difficult situation. A dreadful night last night, with my OH in terrible pain and me totally unable to help him.
My daughter left yesterday for her first work trip away since she was pregnant with her first, 6 years ago. When the school decided a few weeks ago that today would be a pupil free day, we volunteered to have the 5 year old, never dreaming the situation would be as it is with my OH. I was meant to be at work this afternoon, but have called in sick…my first sick day in 4 years…but my OH is in no condition to look after the 5 year old (and of course I couldn’t leave him). So this morning I was up early to care for the girls and get the 2 year old ready for kindy (my SIL leaves early) and am now taking a minute to post. SIL was quite willing to take the day off work too, but really she’s no trouble and I wouldn’t have gone to work anyway.
Thank you for the candles Cinque. Very kind.

Oh I’ve missed so many posts . . . lovely to have a virtual catch-up this morning. Too much to respond to!

Lindsay, so very sorry that the difficult season continues. Trusting for better days ahead!

Sending good wishes to all!

FD complete although feeling a little hungry tonight.

Just had piece of pork and OH made a yummy spinach chick pea dish with the left over ricotta. When I worked out the calories I was happy to see the calories were not as much as I imagined them to be.
Total calories for the day 440 so I have a few left if I really need to eat something.

LJ (and any other bakers) I have a question.
OH likes to eat biscuits or chocolate after dinner so I said I would make him some cookies so that I can control the ingredients. The ingredient list in some of those biscuits is disgusting. I made some jam drops for him yesterday but they didn’t quite work out. They flattened right out and didn’t retain the cookie shape like they were meant to. Luckily the jam stayed in most of them. Do you have any idea why?