Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Good morning all

    FD for me today and after getting on the scales for the first time in a few days and seeing the dreaded 88 back, it is very welcome. 88.1….the weekend took it’s toll for sure. However back on the wagon big time.

    So glad your sight is so good Cali and only a few more weeks of drops and it is all over. How is the weather over there? Are you still getting some rain?

    Betsylee so glad you have taken to this way of eating (WOE) or way of life (WOL). I too have a lot to lose, but as Quacka advised it is easier to break it down into small targets. To lose 4kg at this time of year is challenging but I know you can do it

    Intesha I’d love to catch up one day. Do you ever come into the city during the week? My weekends are manic for the rest of December with birthdays and Christmas but if you do happen to come in I could definitely take some time out for a coffee or lunch. I’m so sorry to hear about your friend moving away and I can only imagine how down this must make you feel on top of all the challenges you have with your parents.

    So glad you have knocked off the previous weeks excess Quacka and your dinner sounded lovely. You are encouraging me big time! I really find the flavours of food are heightened on a FD and even the next day. It’s great! Do you make your own chilli jam? I’ve tried a few times and it hasn’t been great so if you do and if you could share the recipe I would be most grateful

    Sorry to hear how tired you are LJ and your back pain sounds awful. Is it a good idea to be digging gravel today? I know you feel obliged but I’m sure your niece would understand if you just supervised?

    Hello Thin, Lindsay, Gday, Cinque and Penguin, hope you are having a great morning.

    Is anyone fasting with me today?

    Anzac65. I’m kind of with you – I’m 12 hours behind you so the rest of my day 1 and the first half of my day 2 will be with you.

    8:20am Tues, Adelaide

    I had a sleepless night and then came close to vomiting at about 5am. Some sourdough toast eaten slowly settled my stomach and thankfully it hasn’t made want to keep eating. I took several tramadol tablets yesterday afternoon and evening and nausea and vomiting are common side effects – although I rarely get them. I seem to have more issues when taking the stronger painkillers on an empty stomach. I did eat dinner but as it was just veg it was probably digested quickly.
    I feel fine now. A bit sore first thing, but better once I did some stretches and started moving around.

    As I was up so early I baked choc muffins. My niece is coming today to help me shovel up the rest of the white gravel in the front garden. I don’t like it and she has a use for it. She’s bringing her 16 year old son to help. He’s not going to enjoy that, so I thought the muffins might soften the blow that he doesn’t get to start his school holidays by lying in bed all day.

    Intesha, sorry to hear your best friend is moving away. I would suggest you maintain a routine of talking to her very regularly once she moves (phone, email or skype). I know it’s not the same as face-to-face but it does help as I found by chatting online to this group most days. It’s still an understanding ear to listen to your troubles and in many ways it’s easier than trying to catch up in person.

    Betsylee, I’m so pleased to hear that your FDs are going so well. 5:2 has become a way of life for me too. I’ve been here nearly 2 years now. This is the first eating routine I’ve found that actually maintains my weight with minimal stress. It was a big struggle for me before 5:2.

    Quacka, congratulations on the all time low weight. The improvised dinner sounds very nice. Interesting that your couldn’t find broccoli – I have found it lately but been unhappy with the quality – it’s sprouting yellow. I’m wondering if the weather is sending it to seed.

    Penguin & Anzac, good luck with the FDs.

    Anzac, thankyou for the concern but as long as I’m careful with my movements and bend my knees as I lift the shovel up it will OK. I might let my great nephew actually heave the bags of gravel into the car.

    Good morning to anyone else who’s readying of posting at the same time I am.

    Intesha, I’m so sorry to hear that your friend is moving up north. It’s difficult to lose the proximity to close friends. You mentioned she is retiring because her partner has had a double hip op and not able to get any benefits due to her working. But Australia has national health insurance, so hip replacements wouldn’t be covered if a family member is employed? That doesn’t seem right.

    Quacka, congrats on your new low of 67.1! You should be breaking into the 66’s soon. Well done!

    LJ, couldn’t you delay moving the gravel for a few more days or weeks? If you’re already sore, I worry that you’re going to do something to make your back a lot worse. But I guess you can guage how much you can handle.

    Betsy, congrats on finishing your 2nd FD. It sounds like you’ll have a generally easy time getting through them from now on. 5:2 is such a wonderful way to lose weight and keep it off.

    My regular Monday FD is today. I really need it after the weekend.

    Phew, made it through the 36C day without too much hassle but didn’t get my walk in until almost dark. Today is a cool 23C, lovely.

    Quacka, congratulations on the personal best weight. I bought the dried mushrooms at the Asian grocer, they have a good selection and I bought the most expensive one this time thinking I don’t eat much so I deserve the best. I bought the last lot at Coles and they weren’t so good – after 24 hours of soaking, they were still too chewy. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the brand because I put the unused ones into an airtight container & discarded the packaging.

    Intesha, in my early adulthood, I was always the one leaving and going off to do exciting things. The first time a good friend announced he was moving away, I felt devastated. It was made so much worse that he had met a woman who was insanely jealous of our friendship and he told me he wouldn’t be able to remain in contact. We had been platonic mates for years and I thought we’d be friends forever. It’s tough when you’re the one left behind.

    Anzac, did your friend decide to start 5:2 (for weight loss I mean, not the cancer)? Good luck with your FD. NFD for me today, I’m off to a Christmas function with my former cryptic xword mates up in the Perth hills. Hopefully it won’t be an EFS. One of them has a winery and there’s always a lot of booze. I won’t be drinking, mostly because I don’t have a taste for wine and have never liked champagne, but obviously not when driving. I turned several of these people on to 5:2 over the years, with mixed results, and I will be taking a rainbow salad to set a good example. I chopped everything up last night so I just have to assemble it today.

    Betsy, it sounds like you’re taking to this WOL very well.

    Isn’t it funny how all of us girls ramble on and on and Penguin manages to say everything he needs to say in one sentence? Just like my OH. He thinks he was only given so many words to use in his lifetime and doesn’t want to use them all up too soon.

    Morning LJ and CalifD, your posts appeared after I started. Hope you have a good day. You too, Cinque, when you get here.

    P.S. Cinque, oh there you are! Good morning. Sorry about the cold, it’s a horrid time to get one. I seem to spend ages cleaning up after dinner even with the dishwasher. I will look out for wood ear funghi – who comes up with these awful names?

    Good morning,
    My nasty cold set in last night 🙁 Hope it is a short one.

    Thin,
    Your mushrooms do sound wonderful. I have had wood ear funghi before and loved its unusual texture. Definitely use the ‘stock’ from soaking mushrooms in your soup! You have inspired me, I’m going to look out for some mixed dried mushrooms now.

    I had the same thing happen of an ad rudely popping up in the middle of that clip. Not anything eerily relevant though. But oh they are so intrusive.

    Good feedback everyone, I loved his suggestion that if you only take 4 mins to clean up, you can’t have been cooking real food. So true.
    I take 4 hours to clear up! A sign I am eating well or that I am a terrible housekeeper?

    LJoyce, goodness what a lot of hard physical work you are doing. I hope today is the end of it for a while so you can rest and recuperate.

    Betsylee, apologies, I bet it was me that stuck a capital L in your username. It is a very cute pet name. Watch out though, we can be cavalier with usernames here (look at poor Cali, Thin and Gday!). Next thing you might find yourself being called Bet. 😉

    Good luck with your December goal.

    And good luck with drying that garlic Quackas (plural), I hope a good drying breeze springs up for a few days.
    What an excellent veggie filled meal… and the promise of tzatziki. Double yum.

    Intesha, my heart goes out to you, hearing of your close friend moving away. It is very hard.
    Congratulations on having a grandson who is 20. Isn’t time extraordinary!
    I hope you got into your nice zen place doing your biscuits.

    Anzac, happy fast day, you can hand me the baton at the end of the day. Take a good long look at your scales weight, you will be saying goodbye to the 67’s soon.

    Penguin, your two day fast is nicely encircling, I’ll be your companion finishing it off! Hope you are enjoying it.

    Oh dear LJoyce, I’ve just caught up with your latest post. I hope everything settles. So impressive that you have managed some baking already. Excellent reward for a reluctant 16 year old.

    Hi Cali! Enjoy your fast day, it sounds like you will relish in it.

    I’m off to potter around (taking 4 hours to tidy the kitchen 😉 ) and nurse my cold.

    Best wishes everyone from lovely grey Melbourne at 9:15 am.

    PS Hi Thin! Enjoy your day.

    Ha Cinque, thank you for your P.S. I left you one above too!

    Well my FD is going splendidly; it is the first time I have made it to lunch time without anything apart from black coffee with natvia. I’m going to press through and have a late lunch even! The big difference is I am very busy at work whereas in the past I have not and boredom + fasting is not a good combo

    Cinque, so sorry your cold developed. Do you have a sore throat too? I’m still on the tail-end of mine, nasty darn things they are.

    I take forever to clean up after cooking too, especially when OH is the chef. I tend to clean as I go but he absolutely does not. I’m happy that it means we are cooking healthy, real food. We have nothing out of jars or packets other than the staples like soy or other Asian sauces, pasta (I’m yet to make my own….we don’t have it very often), noodles etc. I really wouldn’t enjoy frozen meals or those ready-made sauces that you just pour over meat/veges. I’m not a great housekeeper but my kitchen is always thoroughly clean and sparkling so my clean-up is very long, but enjoyable. The rest of the house? Not so much….especially as we have a shedding-machine for a fur-child.

    LJ, so sorry to hear that you were so unwell this morning but glad you are feeling better now. I hope your great-nephew appreciates the muffins and gets stuck into the manual labour.

    Glad today is cooler Thin. We had a scorcher on Sunday and driving home from the Hunter Valley the temperature gauge in the car hit 39 degrees. My friend didn’t seem so interested in the diet but admittedly we didn’t get a lot of time to discuss it as there were 9 of us all vying to yack! Well, make that 7 girls yacking and 2 blokes being the strong, silent types…haha. An ode to your observations about Mr Penguin and his ability to say what he needs in a single sentence. I envy that. Anyway, a smaller group of us are catching up for her birthday on Saturday night so I will try and chat to her then. I did talk to her older sister who is very interested. She is very overweight and needs to do something and she knows it. Fingers crossed they both get involved

    Hope your fast day is going well Cali. It is so weird that you are fasting on a Monday and I am fasting on a Tuesday but we are actually fasting together! Your day is nearly over if my calculations are correct so hope it all went well.

    Happy fasting Penguin!

    Anzac, my FD went well as far as fasting, but I just feel very lazy today and haven’t done much walking or Christmas decorating or anything. And yes, it is funny that we’re fasting at the same time, but on different days. You are all people of the future. 😁 Those of you on the East Coast are 19 hours ahead of California. It’s about 10:30pm here now and late afternoon tomorrow in Sydney. 😁 Penguin is the closest in time zones to me at only 8 hours ahead. But I figure that’s a good thing because there’s always someone awake to keep an eye on the world. 😉

    Cinque, I’m sorry to hear you’ve come down with a bad cold. Those cold gray Melbourne mornings must have gotten to you. Colds can be just plain miserable. Somebody told me a long time ago that fresh garlic is good for colds. I eat garlic so often anyway that I couldn’t say for sure, but I think it may work.

    LJoyce, I’m glad your great nephew is coming to help with the gravel. It may be great exercise for you but be careful of your back. At least do some good stretches.

    Thin, is this the meal with friends at the Italian restaurant? Chicken Picata is usually my choice when watching calories at Italian restaurants. It does have a sauce but if I ask for extra lemon on the side I can usually displace some of the buttery sauce. And I usually take home enough leftovers for a second meal because the food is so filling. I hope you have a good time. (My OH is a man of few words as well. It drives me crazy sometimes.)

    Just a quick one, because I’m laughing at the idea of OHs being men of few words. I say (fondly) of my OH, ‘no thought left unvoiced’ (although I’m not in a position to judge – as you’ve probably gathered, I never use one word when three will do). We went on holidays with a friend once, and she said she was amazed that after so so many years, we still had so much to say to each other.

    Thin I decided to go with the carpet in the end – I just couldn’t bear more fuss. Usually I’m up for it, but the events of the past few months have worn me done. A highly critical review is all I can manage at the moment.

    Intesha, I am really sorry your friend is moving away. The thought of these things can be devastating – sometimes even worse that the reality. I hope you and she can maintain a good and close friendship, even though it will likely be more on WhatsApp or Skype, than face to face.

    Cinque sorry you’re unwell with a dreaded and dratted cold. Don’t they make you feel miserable? Rug up and rest and eat well and hopefully you’ll shake it soon.

    It’s just starting to rain here, which is a relief from the high thirties. My poor island is burning, and although it’s not near the communities, it will be dreadful for our wildlife. Hopefully they can outrun it – the kangaroos at least.
    I’m fasting with you today Anzac … and it’s so welcome. I can’t shake the 3 kilos I’ve put on, although I am sure it’s a lot of water weight. My body just isn’t processing all the water I’m drinking during this heat wave.

    Great Calif that your sight is improving. How nice not to need your glasses.
    My OH goes for his new ones on 11th December and is looking forward to being able to read a little. He’ll get them before we head off to Scotland on Christmas Eve.
    OK I’ll finish here, because if I try to change pages I’ll lose the lot. Have a good evening, all.

    Well FD over. Doing cookies most of the day I had to really make an effort to eat tonight or I may have binged. I gave Dad a meal already prepared so that was easy.

    Cali my friend did not retire because of her partner it was the fact that her daughter was relocating and she didn’t want to lose contact with her grandchildren, which is understandable and not many grandparents can do that but she only has the one.

    Thank you Thin, you understand what I am feeling. My life feels like a runaway train that I have no control over. Yes we will keep in touch but it won’t be the same once she has a whole new life to explore.

    Anzac I don’t come into the city during the week and very rarely on weekends. My friend and I would meet up every couple of months with some other friends for lunch in the city but that won’t happen very often now.

    Cinque hope your cold is getting better.

    A photo of some of today’s cookies. I haven’t done this style before. I love the colours but not happy with the end result, lots of room for improvement.

    https://imgur.com/a/r75ZhPS

    Inulin report update story and statistics

    Hi everyone! Intesha, great to read your post! Hi Lindsay, Cali, Anzac, Penguin, Thin, Cinque, Merry! LJ I wish I could post a more user friendly graph here to present the figures in an easy to read format! Anyway… I’m talking ‘inulin’ as in powder, rather than ‘insulin’ as in blood sugar!

    Some of you may remember that I started taking inulin powder during the month of December 2016 or January 2017! I just remember buying it after watching the BBC documentary series ‘How to Stay Young’ featuring Angela Rippon. As Angela Rippon explained, it is visceral fat that most poses a health risk. It would have been great to have undergone a scan to measure my visceral body fat at the time of starting on the inulin powder, however, at the time I didn’t really know how to go about that locally and at an affordable cost.
    So, what I did is to start taking inulin and raising it up incrementally little by little, sometimes only raising by a gram a week. I used a kitchen scale to calculate exactly how much to take each day. It took me months to incrementally increase to the 30 grams per day that a randomized control trial found effective. If you would like to read that study, here is the link:
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4619305/
    Just as I reached my 30 grams of inulin per day goal, I happened onto an affordable and accurate test I could access locally to test my visceral fat. So, just as I reached the level of the 30 grams servings per day, I had the body scan which revealed these results:

    Test date: 29 May 2017
    Age: 60
    Weight: 56.1 kg
    Percent body fat: 29.3
    Visceral fat area cm2: 69.2
    Body Scan Recommendation for optimal health:
    Shed 2.8 kg of fat
    Gain 5.9 kg muscle

    Once I had been taking 30 grams of inulin for 8 months (I remembered Angela Rippon saying that utilizing inulin is effective at reducing visceral fat, though that it is a slow process) I again underwent a body scan to see if a 30 gram serving prompted any improvement in the above numbers. This is the result:

    Test date: 9 January 2018
    Age: 61
    Weight: 57.0 kg
    Percent body fat: 25.0
    Visceral fat area cm2: 65.0
    Body Scan Recommendation for optimal health:
    Shed ZERO kg of fat
    Gain 4.8 kg muscle

    Fast forward to April 2018 when I travelled to California for a family wedding, I only brought enough inulin for a day or two expecting I would easily find a supply in health food shop, as I do here in Australia! Problem arose, I didn’t find any for 10 days and by the time I did, I assumed I could resume the 30 grams a day serving. Unfortunately the gut bugs all starved to death and there weren’t enough left to consume the 30 grams so it ended up causing great digestive upset. As much as I tried tweaking the dose over subsequent weeks, the bloating and wind didn’t stop until I completely stopped taking inulin for a period and starting all over again by building up the gut bug colony slowly by starting with 3 gram serving per day and slowly, very slowly building up. When I reached the 15 gram per day serving mark, I again underwent another scan. Below are the results:

    Test date: 29 August 2018
    Age: 62
    Weight: 57.4 kg
    Percent body fat: 28.0 (nearly back up to the percent I was on when on the smaller amount of inulin powder)
    Visceral fat area cm2: 69.0 (back up to where it was when I had been on the lesser amount of inulin powder!)
    Body Scan Recommendation for optimal health:
    Shed 1.9 kg of fat
    Gain 6.3 kg muscle

    Interesting that my muscle mass decreased and fat percentage rose on the lesser amount of inulin powder. Also when on the lesser amount of inulin powder, I find I am hungrier, I eat more, I’m less active, so I know that the 30 grams were quite effective in boosting my health! Supporting the colony of bacteria that feed on the inulin truly did reverse my biological age markers.
    Then why am I not back up to the 30 grams power per day? My digestive tract has been quite sensitive ever since returning from the USA. I’m not sure what happened there. I find that even during previous visits to California, my digestive tract has taken a ‘hit’, even though I grew up there! Is it that there is something in the tap water that wreaks havoc? So, I’ve returned with another level of digestive sensitivity and I am only able to increase the powder now by about 1 gram per week (or so I’ve learned! …Believe me, I’ve tried larger increments and it’s a ‘no go!). I know it has been 7 months since I returned from California and I’ve gotten back up to 15 grams per day. I’m currently experimenting with increasing only by 1 gram at a time. I keep to that increment until my GI tract the extra bugs have been hatched and are happily dining on the extra nutrients. With that is a settled and easy feeling. Consequences by increasing more quickly are the return of wind, bloating and loose stools!

    I will continue to undergo periodic body scans and keep you all updated.
    Cheers, Minka! PS I now have two days off work in a row and this is the start of my weekend, so if anyone has questions or comments, I will be around to respond! Sorry this report is so lengthy and hoping I didn’t make any typos! It is late at night and I want to post and admittedly, haven’t proof read.

    PS I kept up practicing 5:2 through the whole of my inulin experiment and continue to do so currently and into the future.

    Minka, thank you for posting your inulin results. The results you show from the 30 gram doses are impressive. But 30 grams seems like a lot. How much volume does that equate to in a teaspoon, about 10 or 11 teaspoons? Do you take it all at once or in smaller doses throughout the day? Do you mix it in a drink? I can see where it would take a long time to build up to that amount. Even half a gram left my stomach feeling unsettled, back around the beginning of the year when I tried it. Maybe your reaction in California was just having to build up again and keep all your gut bugs happy. 😁 Please continue to let us know your results. It’s very interesting.

    Intesha, I love the new cookies. They are a nice contrast in color to all the others. Your friend moving to be near her daughter is understandable, but I sometimes wonder when people do that. After losing contact with all of her friends, what if her daughter decides to move again after a few years? Would she be in a position to move again as well? It seems it would put pressure on the daughter who might feel she is responsible for her mum’s happiness. I guess it would depend on how close they are.
    As far as losing touch with her, you both would need to make an effort to not let that happen. But I think you could still remain close. Posting in this forum every day has made many of the regulars here feel like friends. In many ways I am closer to some of you than I am to people who live nearby that I don’t see or talk to on a daily or weekly basis. We share a lot here beyond our common interest in 5:2. We care about each other and listen to each other’s rants or worries from time to time, as well as sharing in the joys. Sometimes the thought process of writing things down makes us think more about what we say. It often spills over into everyday life when I mention to someone that I have a friend in Australia that makes and decorates the most amazing cookies, or that another friend has taken up bridge to help improve her memory and has actually gotten quite good at it. Or that I have a couple of friends with chronic health issues that have become quite active and seem to be improving because of 5:2. You always have us, Intesha.

    Lindsay, the thought of fires on your island with all the wonderful wildlife is horrifying. Do they have adequate fire fighting equipment and manpower to fight the fires on the island? I will be lighting a candle and saying a prayer that they get them under control quickly. It’s good to hear that yourOH will be getting glasses so he can do some reading. Is he continuing to see improvement?

    Minks what an interesting study. I will be interested to hear more about the results.

    Cali, thank you for your kind thoughts. I have those misgivings as well and no she will not be able to move back as Sydney properties are horrendously expensive. I think her heart is with her grandchildren as her DD and SiL are very goal orientated and have high profile jobs.

    I too also talk about what things have been discussed on our forum there are such a large variety of topics.

    Day after FD 69.3.

    Off to the gym this morning then back to finish the last of the cookies and bag them all up. I will also have to sort out what I will send to my DD, she has asked me for my gingerbread recipe as the children want to make some biscuits. They will get such a surprise when box arrives.

    A glorious, fresh, sunny morning in Melbourne. Hot weather on the way, but today should be gorgeous.

    Fast day for me.

    My cold is trying to burst out from under the ‘cold and flu tablet’ and it has hit my chest, but hopefully won’t settle. Thanks for all the kind sympathy. The sore throat has pretty well gone, thanks Anzac. Hooray. Got the baton, thanks!

    Thin, I hope you had a lovely day in the Perth Hills, and an easy time eating out.
    The friend who taught me so much about dried mushrooms also recommended soaking them slowly. ie instead of ‘pour boiling water over and leave them for 20 mins’ they plump up much more happily being soaked for hours or overnight (with that pinch of salt and maybe even sugar), as you found.
    Your hot weather will reach us tomorrow. Two days of it. But that is still manageable, and it isn’t quite as hot as you got it.

    Cali, a slow day is a special treat. Thanks for keeping an eye on the world while we sleep! 🙂

    Lindsay I thought of you when the news came of fires on Stradbroke Island. I do hope the damage is less than feared. Keep drinking water! That 3kg will sort itself out. Soon I hope.
    Glad to hear Mr L’s new glasses are not too far away.

    Intesha, I love those cookies! They manage to be festive and elegant.
    I am wondering if your friend is grieving terribly too. She is leaving everything (apart from her family). Enjoy the gym this morning.

    Minka, what an interesting report. So interesting what a disruption your trip made, very frustrating. But I bet your determination will gradually get you back.
    I am following GutMicrobiota Health on twitter as part of keeping up with new research. There is a link to their website https://www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/en/home/ for latest info (most of which is too esoteric for me, but I find it good to at least get an overview) incase you haven’t come across it.

    Best wishes to everyone

    Morning all. Cooler today in Brisbane, and some light rain on the Island which will help. Calif we have a very good rural fire service and Brisbane’s fire services are close. We’ve also had crews from southern states come to Queensland to lend a hand. A lot of the island is isolated national park so water bombing is being used a lot. The Quandamooka People have native title over the island and surrounding waters, and many of their sacred sites have been destroyed, which is also sad.

    And Cali I couldn’t agree more about the friendship here. This is my first ever online forum and I feel I know many of you so well. And I also feel I can share my story without censure or harm. With my OH’s troubles, for example, I have kept so much of it to myself for fear of worrying friends and family, or even, if I’m to be honest, because I have found it hard to repeat the same story, over and over. Here, I can say what’s happening, I get your kind thoughts, and then tell you again when there is change. Your concern has been very reassuring. It’s like having a group conversation.

    Minka, that inulin feedback is very interesting …great to have the detail of how it’s worked and what it can do.

    Intesha, those cookies are just beautiful. So dainty and delicate. You have a wonderful creativity.

    Cinque no sign of you this morning – I hope that doesn’t mean you are very poorly.

    I’ll check in later. (Oh, and my FD bumped off 1.6 kilos …mostly water but I won’t complain).

    Cinque. I may have suggested this before, I know that I have on one of these threads. If you are interested in the gut biome and are not already familiar with his work try “The Diet Myth” by Prof Tim Spector, or see his lectures on youtube. With a name like that he should play lead guitar but he is actually a senior medic in London with a tie in to colleagues in the USA. They have an enormous human research population. Before reading his work my 5:2 activity was based solely on calorie intake – I am the one who said there are no more calories in a single malt whisky than there are in a boiled egg. He convinced me that the quality of what I eat is more important than the quantity and the changes I made have me feeling fitter as well as finding it easier to lose weight. He also has some thoughts on limited time eating windows. 5:2 gets a mention in passing as an OK thing to do, although most of the work is aimed at keeping the gut healthy

    Morning!

    I am 700g down after my FD so happy about that. Just enjoyed a light post FD brekkie

    Cali, what a lovely post. You put into words exactly how I feel about this forum.

    Goodness Intesha, you must be a hard-taskmaster on yourself; those cookies look absolutely stunning and so professionally made! I don’t drive a lot these days and definitely not outside my local area but lets touch base in the New Year and maybe we can meet somewhere in between our two suburbs on a weekend once this very busy festive season is over.

    Minka, such an interesting post, thank you.

    Lindsay I don’t blame you for going with the carpet, especially as you quite liked the colour. Yes the principal of the matter irks but after what you have been through, another confrontation and hassle just wouldn’t have been worth it. I hope those awful fires are put out quickly and do minimal damage to wildlife and bush…and certainly don’t get out of control and head for any properties.

    Good luck with your FD today Cinque, not that you will need it. I hope your cold and flu tablets do the trick; I swear by them when I have a cold. The other thing I find very helpful is Lemsip but you have to be careful and not have that as well as a tablet that contains paracetamol.

    Has to be a quick post today as I need to get cracking on some work. Will check in later and I hope you all are having, and do have a lovely day

    Good Morning everyone

    Some very interesting posts! Thank you.

    Cali, I totally agree with you about this forum. I also feel like you are all my friends and its awesome you are all here.

    Sometimes in life it is our attitude to things that make all the difference. We need to try and see the positive in things and look forward. It can be hard at times but I hope we can all get there.

    My best friend (from work) is currently going through a really bad time with her split from her husband and now they are in property settlement negotiations. She is so stressed and it is making her sick. I wish it to be over quickly so she can start looking after herself again and move on.

    I have just been to the supermarket to buy fruit and veggies. Oh my goodness! No wonder I couldn’t find broccoli for the last two days. Both supermarkets have it today and it is $7 and $8 a kg. Cauliflowers are $5 and tiny and marked. Its sad because I love both of those vegetables and they are a big part of my diet. Cabbage are a good price so I have a red one and a white one. Asparagus is still around and a reasonable price. We have zucchini, kale, tomatoes and cucumbers in the garden. Don’t forget the garlic!! 😉

    FD for me today. I had a very good NFD yesterday and I am down a bit more in weight today. I have broken into the 66kg range and feel really happy about it. All the best to everyone fasting with me and hope it is nice and easy for all of us.

    Oh I almost forgot. Anzac, I do make my own chilli jam but I make it quite hot. I will find the recipe I use and post it up for you. It is very easy to make. The most difficult thing I find is how long to cook it for to get the right consistency. Last time I cooked one batch a bit too long and it is almost toffee!! Still delicious tasting but just a bit firm and hard to get out of the jar. LOL

    Get well soon Cinque.

    Take care everyone x

    Morning all,

    Quacka & Cinque, looking forward to joining you today for a wonderful cleansing FD! I totally lost the plot at the first of my SS events yesterday but I won’t repeat myself here since I already posted an account on the SSC thread last night. I was 58.9kg yesterday, now 59.8kg. Deserved every ounce of that punishment.

    Quacka, I, too, noticed the price of cauliflower has recently increased while the standard has deteriorated. Good job on the lower weight.

    Cinque, yes, I’ve been soaking my mushrooms for 24 hours in warm water since you first mentioned it.

    CalifD, a very well-written post. We have a particularly good group of posters on this thread right now. I sometimes find it difficult when people who’ve been contributing a while just drop off without a word though.

    Intesha, I agree with Anzac, I think you need to lower your standards if there’s something wrong with those cookies. They’re beautiful.

    Anzac, good job with that successful FD yesterday.

    Lindsay, how exciting that your OH is getting improvement – and that you fly out on Christmas Eve. I need a trip to look forward to, it’s the first time ever that we haven’t had something planned. I would like to take DD to Rwanda or Uganda to see the gorillas as a graduation present but future timing is uncertain. The uni have finally announced official graduation day (cap and gown) will be 7 February. Can’t understand that as many students will have flown off to begin jobs in far flung places. DD says she isn’t really interested in attending – these days you get the cap and gown for completing underwater basket-weaving so it’s not that much of an honour.

    Minka, thanks for the inulin report and I do hope you decide to join us for the SSC; your goal can be as small or ambitious as you choose. I continue with my milk kefir, spread it around whenever I have extra and try to eat mainly plants.

    Penguin, I had a good laugh at the single malt and egg comparison. When people are enquiring about 5:2, their first question is usually, ‘what can I eat on a fast day?’. I often jokingly tell them they can have a double brandy if that’s what they want – before getting serious about how to tackle a FD.

    Hello LJ, your post will probably be there when I hit ‘submit’.

    11.30 am Wed – expected top temp today of 39, Thurs and Fri both 43 and sat and sun 37…..yuk. So looks like no walks in my lunchbreak for a few days.

    Ljoyce yes I agree with you that the broccoli is terrible at the moment, as is the garlic. I hate buying it when it’s not good quality but I just can’t live without garlic.

    Weight is still up and down but at least is ever so slowly on the downward trend…ever so slowly I might add.

    6 more working days and then I have 3 weeks leave…..yay. Submitted (and passed) my last unit of study last Friday. Was quite a challenge to meet the deadline so won’t enrol in my next unit until I return from leave.

    I also start my new job when I return from leave, still in the same department but in a different section so very much looking forward to that as my current role has been getting me down for a while now. Must dash….happy Wednesday everyone

    4:30pm Wednesday, Adelaide

    I’m glad to be home and out of the heat. Today was the first of 3 hot days – it gets worse tomorrow.

    I had appointments with specialists and my GP today and I’m really happy with the outcome. The surgeon that did my abdominal surgery in October is very happy with the final outcome and is happy to let my GP manage things from here. He confirmed that all the samples they took and biopsied were negative.
    My GP changed my HRT patch to one with half the synthetic progesterone, which I’m very pleased about. As long as the night sweats don’t return, the fewer synthetic hormones the better.
    All of that digging must have helped, my blood pressure was 115/70, which is excellent. I haven’t been at that level since April. With all the running around that I did before I got to my GP I was expecting it to be up.
    I’ve also had a major improvement in the seborrheic dermatitis which used to cover my scalp, and sometimes my face and neck too. It’s barely there now and instead of a scalp that has been completely white for most of my life, mine is now mostly pink and healthy looking. The doctor and I were trying to figure out what’s changed in the last 6 months (as that’s when the change occurred). The only thing I could think of was that I moved house and I do walk more now. As there is a lot less tree cover here I get more sun exposure and hence more vitamin D. Whatever caused it, I’m really happy to finally have a healthy scalp – I’ve had this issue since childhood so it seems unbelievable that after resisting everything a dermatologist could throw at it, it basically cured itself!
    It’s rather good to see 3 doctors and get such a good report from each one. Very happy – it was worth braving the heat for that.

    I did have another medical appointment scheduled for tomorrow but I’ve moved it to next week as it involved nearly 2 hours of driving and tomorrow is meant to be 39C.

    Intesha, I think the new biscuit design is very pretty.
    I think your grandchildren will adore the biscuits.

    Cinque, I hope your head cold/lunch infection clears up soon. Stay hydrated.

    Lindsay, sounds like it’s time for a rain dance to protect your island. I hope the fires are brought under control soon.
    I agree about water weight in the heat. I always seem to have fat fingers on hot days and I start to wonder just how much fluid my body has stashed away in other areas too.

    Minka, thank you so much for the data on your inulin experiment. I will admit to being more adhoc in when I take mine. I mostly use it on days when I feel I haven’t had enough inulin from whole foods. It’s alarming to think that you lost those gut bugs so quickly and that it reversed your visceral fat reduction in such a short time. I’m sure you will slowly get back to your previous level.

    Cali, I feel the same way about the friends I’ve made on this site. I’d be bereft without you all, you are an important part of my day.

    Anzac, congratulations on the FD loss. I’m really glad your FDs have gotten a bit easier lately.

    Quacka, I agree about the impact of a positive attitude. I mostly find it easy to put myself into a positive mindset – I’m definitely a glass half full girl. Unfortunately not everyone can do that easily, especially those who suffer from depression. My father had this problem and I used to get so frustrated with what seemed like a determined effort to avoid anything that might make him happy. It took me ages to realise that just as I have struggled with obesity, whereas for some people a healthy weight is easy. The same is true for mood, some of us find it easy to be content or happy much of the time and others find it such a difficult struggle to feel hopeful about anything.

    Thin, yes we usually are posting at the same time but not today as I had to rush off to appointments.
    Given the dessert drama that you described in the SSC forum, I think you got off lightly with that gain. Not to worry, knowing you you’ll have it off again in no time.

    GDSA, downward weight is good, no matter how slowly. Well done on keeping up with your studies regardless of all the others things that have made your life eventful this year. Enjoy your work break.

    I’m been picking about a handful of cherry tomatoes each day now. I bring them inside to ripen as soon as they have a touch of colour. https://imgur.com/pDRDEct They are quire delicious!

    I was determined to do a proper CD today – so far so good. The busy schedule helped a lot. I a banana with me for lunch and stayed well away from all other sources of food. I had my planned snack of ryw crispbreads with hummus and cherry tomatoes when I got home. Dinner just is legumes and greens and just needs warming.

    Tomorrow is forecast to be 39C so I’ve decided to let the local shopping centre keep me cool and provide my exercise for the day. If I’m careful with the route I can reduce the amount of direct sun between my home and the shopping centre. I have to collect my new prescription sunglasses, so I’ll walk over late morning and walk around the shopping centre for 30mins then I’ll collect the glasses, get a light lunch and see a movie. Then another 30min walk around the shopping centre before walking home.

    Quacka, Thin & Cinque, hope you are all having an easy FD – and anyone I’ve missed who’s also fasting today.

    Good news on the medical reports LJ. FD going well thanks considering all the sugar yesterday. Yes, I should get it off quickly, just in time for what are now two events on Saturday. OH and I walked for 2-3 hours this morning and it was already well down after that. With that forecast heat, I was going to ask if you will commence your shopping centre walking in the air-con but you have answered my question.

    GDSA, all the best with the new job. Hope you both stay cool in the coming days.

    Great news on your medical reports LJ!
    I am also a glass half full person and always try to be hopeful about things. At the same time I am a huge stress head that worries about everything and always thinks of all the bad things that could happen. It is a balancing act.

    Well, I’m here to report that I have had a FD failure today and I swear it is because of my weight going down again today to another all time low, from yesterday’s all time low. Well, all time low since I started 5:2 anyway.

    I think I like to sabotage myself and also test whether I can bounce back from these failures and continue with my FDs next week. Of course I can.
    So listen here, strange Quacka mind…… you will NOT stop me doing 5:2!

    I had two beers and a small portion of pork and salads for dinner. I’m estimating 800-900 calories for the day. No FD by any means but it’s ok. I will just be careful what I eat for the next few days until Monday’s FD again.

    Hope everyone else’s FD went well.

    See you tomorrow 🙂

    LJoyce you must be feeling very happy with your results.

    Quacka, I too have the same problem of self sabotage. Food is too much of a temptation even after all this time but we now know it’s not the end of the world and tomorrow is another day.

    Cookies finally finished and bagged. Now I have to decide who gets what 😱😱

    https://imgur.com/a/3lll4M6

    Intesha, I hope you are proud of that amazing effort decorating all those cookies. I have no doubt that everyone who receives them will be delighted.
    When you send the tin of cookies to your grandchildren it might be worth asking someone to take a photo of their faces as the lid comes off.

    Quacka, I perfectly understand sabotage. It’s one of the many reasons I can’t be trusted to weight myself often.

    7.45am Sydney 24 degrees max today

    I was so happy reading your post LJ, the medical results are all so positive and you must be thrilled. Also the healing of the dermatitis that must have been so hard to deal with most of your life. Hooray! Good luck in the heat today, it looks brutal. You said you wanted to do a proper CD yesterday – is that ‘Controlled Day’? Not sure I’ve come across that acronym. I am a positive ‘glass half full’ person too and I find it frustrating when trying to deal with negative people. My BIL has some mental health issues, nothing too bad, but boy you feel like walking into the ocean and not coming out after a short conversation with him. It is just so sad.

    FD for me today and I must admit I am quite hungry – I guess because I had an early and quite small dinner last night. But I have a coffee brewing here on my desk so will have that on a few minutes. I have a mini plunger here and OH grinds up coffee beans for me every couple of days and I keep them in the fridge. It saves a fortune buying coffees – I can’t believe how much money people spend on coffee and food at work. Most of them buy 2-3 coffees every day so that’s around $12 then they buy breakfast AND lunch! I worked out that by bringing my own coffee and food I save around $15 per day, and that includes counting the cost of buying my own ingredients and that is a whopping ~ $3,500 per year! I can spend that on a holiday instead 

    Gday, thrilled to hear that you have finished studying this year and congratulations for making the deadline and passing. I have 12 more working days then a precious 2 weeks holiday. I can’t wait. We are doing nothing but pottering around the house, swimming in our pool, walking and playing with Maxx and catching up with friends. Awesome. Good luck in the heat over the next few days.

    Thin, I bet any damage from those desserts has already dissolved from your FD yesterday. And a 2-3 hour walk will help so much. I have the next four days at home, working from home Friday and Monday (my birthday) so I hope to get some good walks in too.

    Quacka – you and I both are positive but also both stress too much! My biggest problem is on the surface I am cool, calm and collected but underneath the little duck feet are swimming madly. I grind my teeth something terrible and wear a retainer at night, but the years and years of doing it have taking a toll on my jaw and I suffer from TMJ which means I can’t open my mouth very wide. I have physio sometimes that eases it (and OMG does it hurt!) but it always comes back after a few days. But I always tell myself that it is NOTHING compared to what so many others suffer. Please don’t worry about the FD, 800-900 calories is still way below your TDEE and we can’t be perfect all the time. You are doing SO well and I’m sure you will continue to do so.

    Cinque, how is your cold?

    I’m a bit worried as we had a big deadline yesterday and my boss and I (we are a two woman team) got it all done and submitted. Phew! She was very happy with my work so that is always good when you are a contractor. But now we have another slow period where I don’t have a lot to do except think about food….so I need to find ways to distract myself. Wish me luck!

    Good morning everyone. Still feeling seedy and coughy, but not snotty (thanks zyrtec). Lovely day after fast day. I’m not going to complain about how hot it is here today, because I have seen South Australia’s forecast.

    Glad to see more rain up your way Lindsay. I hope the Stradbroke fire is finishing up, no news down here is hopefully good news up there.

    Penguin, thanks, yes I have read Tim Spector’s work (and the experiment with his son!). A lot of the research that comes through that site I linked is about specific illnesses and not so relevant for us, but it is the best way I have found to keep an overview on new research as it is published. It is just fascinating all the things they are finding out!

    Gday, a big congratulations on getting through everything that has been going on, and a lovely count down of 6 working days now. Or maybe 5? And a more enjoyable job to come back to. Excellent.
    A downward trend is all you need!

    LJoyce, Hooray! Such wonderful results from all those appointments. I heard doctors (Radiotherapy 3RRR last Sunday) saying that new research is indicating that the benefit we get from sunlight is something yet unidentified, but more than just vitamin D. There are other health benefits to getting sunlight on us. Maybe you have found one.

    I loved your insight about your fathers depression. I have learnt that (the hard way) too.

    Quacka, sympathies for a disappointing day, but you won’t self sabotage yourself out of 5:2. Onwards and downwards.

    Anzac, well done with your big contract! Have a nice unwind without nibbles, if possible. Mindfulness, relaxation and some brisk walks until your next contract!

    Your coffee sounds like heaven! I am having some too. Not freshly ground, but fairly close and still good.
    You are so right about coffee and food at work. Expensive, and not as healthy or delicious as good home made.

    Hmm, I’m off for a second pot of delicious coffee.
    All the best everyone.

    Merry, are you ok?

    Quacka, like everyone else, I completely understand self-sabotage and I’m quite good at it but, please, can you do it on a NFD? You are making me nervous abandoning your FDs! I don’t want to lose you. Remember, FDs are non-negotiable. Can we get Anzac to make you a sign?

    Anzac, your holiday plans pottering about and spent with friends sound lovely. I understand those health issues such as you describe with your jaw. We try to consider the overall picture and compare ourselves to people worse off – but they’re still irritants for you to cope with. It’s all relative. I never take my good health for granted and always answer that I am ‘very well, thank you’ when asked. My OH, on the other hand, says ‘not bad’. I feel bad that I laughed when I read that you can’t get your mouth open very wide as I was wishing I’d had that problem at Tuesday’s lunch.

    I feel the same about buying coffee. I have a Rancilio machine at home and a good grinder so I can make it as well as any cafe (often better). I love having coffee with friends and chatting for hours in the latest cafes but I wouldn’t wait in line to get a coffee to go, I just come home and make my own. There’s a cafe opposite the bridge club where we go for the post mortem on Mondays. I always ask for it extra hot, it always comes luke warm and the owner really irritates me with his persistent upselling efforts, “any morning tea with that?”. I would have ordered it had I wanted it surely. I get him back by stealing the paper’s cryptic crossword each time.

    Intesha, beautiful cookies. How will you spend your days now that they’re complete? Still no sign of Christmas in our household. I can’t bring myself to get the tree down from the attic.

    I need a couple of those CDs, LJ. Scales have reminded me that I won’t get away with three events in one week unless I pull my head in (Aussie vernacular Penguin and CalifD). Quacka, I’ll try harder with you, OK?

    Cinque, hope you’re not feeling too awful today. My ‘shrooms in their own broth made a nice miso soup. Thanks for the hints.

    Hi Cali, You were asking about the 30 grams of inulin I take and that it sounds like a large amount. I actually do not rely on spoons for measuring inulin because it is very fluffy and so easily packs down to different densities on the spoon. I suppose if I were meticulous with measuring, I could rely on a teaspoon being the same weight each time I scoop out the inulin! However, I’ve experimented with that and my teaspoons weigh anywhere between 2 and 3 grams! I guess it depends on how firmly I scoop the powder. My internet search reveals that an inulin teaspoon weighs 2.8 grams. So going by that 30 grams a day would be exactly 10 teaspoons.

    When I’m taking the full 30 gram dose of inulin per day I go through a kilogram bag a month and I buy in the full kilogram bags and order 5 or 6 at a time.

    How it is best to work up to the 30 grams is to start by taking just a gram or two, or if you are using measuring spoons, start with a 1/2 level teaspoon once a day. When enough of the microbes have sprouted, flourished and grown enough in your digestive tract, and the colony is large enough to eat up the full serving of inulin, any wind and bloating will disappear. My experience is that the wind occurs when there aren’t enough bugs to eat up the full serving of inulin and so what is left ferments and causes the wind. This is my theory anyway! So, when you are at ease taking the 1-2 grams or 1/2 teaspoon, it is time to start taking a second half teaspoon at different time of day. So, I started by taking one at breakfast and then later added the second serving after dinner.

    As the dosing is raised the number of microbes that dine on the inulin grows. In other words, you are fostering a bacteria garden in the digestive tract. You are feeding and watering the friendly critters and the colony grows! Over feeding is like pouring too much fertilizer on a plant which can kill plants. Hence why it is good to be gentle and attentive and slowly increase the feeding process.

    I slowly raise one of my servicing by the 1 -2 grams (or 1/2 teaspoon), such as the morning serving and then when the intestinal biome has taken that up, I then increase the evening serving size. Slowly I continue so that each serving size is 15 grams morning and night.

    I said that I ate less when on the full 30 grams of inulin. I realize what I meant is that I naturally ate better, was less prone to over eating and did make healthier choices. Generally my NFDs were easier. I didn’t find myself eating as compulsively. I do really think that there is something to the view that our gut biome has a lot to do with what we crave and how satiated we feel.

    I take my inulin powder a variety of ways. I’ve taken it in everything from plain glass of water to mixing it in yogurt, juice, whey protein concentrate powder. I’ve even mixed it into savory soup and a stew once! I find my digestive tract is happier when I mix it with something rather than take it plain in water on empty stomach.

    Cali, your unsettled stomach would most likely be from the inulin passing through your digestive tract ‘unconsumed’. In other words, the seeds of the bacteria laying dormant in your GI tract would not have yet sprouted and so there was little or nothing to dine on the inulin! By continuing with the half gram, over about a week or two, your inner ‘seeds’ may have sprouted dined on the inulin which would prevent gas formation. …Well, that appears to be my experience. I haven’t done a lab test on this! I can imagine a bio-chemist chiming in telling me I got this all wrong! …And I am aware that possibly those who are FODMAP sensitive may not be able to take inulin at all due to lack of certain enzymes present in the GI tract.

    I have to chuckle, one of the issues I had in California was that I was staying with many different people, relatives, friends, motels, Airbnb and moving around so when I finally found and was able to buy inulin, I should have bought a set of measuring spoons to travel with as well. Instead I relied on whatever spoon was available in the particular kitchen where I was staying (if there was a kitchen!). So my spoon portions were all different and I was taking it at different times of day so the whole protocol went into willy nilly mode, since lots of travel in cars, on trains was involved. I don’t think my ‘inulin garden colony’ was happy, well what was left of it after I starved it for at least a week!

    Ok deep breath….

    I just went to Myer to get some presents for my gorgeous great-niece. On the way back down the escalators I decided to stop at the dreaded big-girls clothing area as I am currently wearing clothes that are practically rags to work. I haven’t been clothes shopping in ages as I hate it. I instantly saw a gorgeous top in my favourite autumn colours and decided to try it on. I started digging around for size 18 or 20 then thought ‘between Weight Watchers and 5:2 I’ve probably 8-9 kilos so why not try a 16’. Well, blow me down with a feather it fit perfectly! I’m not kidding myself, it is a big 16 and floaty but I actually thought it looked ok! Also the physiological impact is incredible. Woot woot!

    Here is a pic
    https://imgur.com/a/DarNyod

    Glad I made you giggle about my jaw Thin, it IS helpful that I can’t shove large handfuls of food into my mouth at one time! Mind you, I can shovel plenty of small handfuls in when I’m on a roll. Your Christmases sound nice, catching up with friends. I have a similar temperature coincidence. When its at our place, with the pool, it is cool. When it is at my sisters place, in the mountains with no pool (and it’s always hotter in the West), it is scorching. So it’s at our place this year so everyone in Sydney can expect a cool day.

    Glad you are enjoying a nice day after FD Cinque and your cold is a little better by the sounds of it?

    Having a very good FD, the shopping expedition has helped. Very nervous about the next few days though. I have:

    – lunch on Saturday with the girls for a friends birthday at a cheap Italian place. I never order pasta as I find it stodgy (unless I make it myself at home) and every main meal is either schnitzel or has a creamy sauce! I know it’s not a FD so I shouldn’t worry too much but I don’t want to spoil two very good FD’s by having a blow out. I think I’ll order a pizza with hardly any cheese and take half home for OH and a green salad
    – lunch out with OH on Sunday for my birthday (which is on Monday). Not sure where we are going yet
    – Sister and BIL coming for dinner on Monday with Dad. This was a surprise as I don’t even get a ‘happy birthday’ text from family members normally. I have asked OH for a bbq with lean protein and salads so that will be ok.

    Thank goodness for the Silly Season Challenge – thanks Thin!

    Hi again Southern Hemispherites!

    Anzac, I love the top! The colors would match with lots of other clothing items and how fun to discover a whole size shift downward! As Merry says, ‘Onward and Downward’ or something to that effect!

    Thin, I will take you up on your invitation to join the Silly Season Challenge. I know I could benefit and with the warmth and culture of your group I may be able to get back on track so to speak. I’m admittedly off the rails on NFDs.

    Cinque, thank you for posting the gut microbiota link! There’s great info there that I will explore! I too was surprised how quickly the inulin garden critters starved to death while traveling! It was like going on holiday and leaving without water and coming home to see it all shriveled and dead!

    Lindsay and Anzac, I’m glad you found some helpful info in the inulin post!

    LJ how much inulin do you typically take? I think you once said that you didn’t take inulin on days when you fasted. Do you leave a span of several days in between servings of inulin? Also, loved your home grown cherry tomatoes! …So colorful that I could see that photo turned into a water color painting!

    I’m aware that those with a stronger or healthier digestive tract than mine might not need to be as careful and might possibly be able to go on and off a teaspoon or two without ill effect.

    Intesha, you are an amazing baker! I remember viewing the cake that looked like a ladies handbag! It was gorgeous and probably tasted as good as it looked! I’m a cookie monster and have been known to eat half a batch in quick time if I bake them myself! I wouldn’t have been able to resist yours if I received them as a gift! What a delight to give as a gift! I’ll keep you and others posted on my visceral fat prognosis!

    Our posts crossed Minka. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂 I’ve never heard of Inulin and I just googled it very briefly. It is a fibre right? I have a couple of teaspoons of physllium husk most days in water but not sure if that is similar?

    Anzac, I love that top too. Just the colours I would choose & very exciting to be down to sz 16. We have that Italian restaurant birthday dinner on Saturday. I’ve chosen Atlantic salmon with ink risotto and will have to leave the rice on the plate which will go against my principles. In the morning, there’s a farewell morning tea for a guy who’s leaving our street after 60 years. Imagine having to attend TWO non-Christmas events on one day thrown in with all the other silly season stuff.

    Minka, I’m very happy that you’ll pop in to the SSC, it’s quiet this year which is actually better as it makes it easy to keep up especially when most of us post elsewhere. I know a lot of people do the monthly challenge thingy so they probably didn’t need yet another thread. No spreadsheets, pocket lists or pressure to report in daily on the SSC.

    I woke again at 4am and couldn’t sleep thinking about this and that. Decided to get up at 5am to stop my mind racing. I weighed close to 60kgs. Disaster for my December pledge. I went for a walk and then weighed 59.1kg which I happily recorded. Thank you scales. Salad for dinner tonight.

    6:30pm Thurs, Adelaide, still too damn hot!

    It was a scorcher here today but I managed to mostly stay out it by wandering around the the shopping centre for 6 hours. Broken up by sitting in the cinema for a couple of hours. I would not have set any speed records for my walking, but I did manage to stay on my feet and mostly moving for 4 hours. All in air conditioned comfort. It also involved some shopping, but I’m quite pleased that I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t on the list I left home with. It would be a tough gig on a FD though! I bought felafel and a grated cauliflower ball from a vegan eatery for lunch (both deep fried) – very yummy. Today was a NFD definitely not a CD, although I did avoid all the sweet bakery temptations that I walked past.
    It’s going to be 38C tomorrow so I may need to return if I want to do any walking. I only have to brave the hot sun for the 10 min walk from my house – and some of that includes the shade of trees.

    Anzac, what a lovely top. Like most of us you still think of yourself as big – it takes a while to believe you are a smaller size – I still have trouble working out which size to try on.
    Yes a CD is a controlled day or a CNFD. I think it can be whatever you want it to be, but for most people it’s a NFD with some controls imposed. For me it’s a day where I hope to eat near or less than my 1400cal TDEE and where I also aim to eat fresh whole foods, no processed foods, no sugar other than fresh fruit. I also try to eat more mindfully and be very aware of how much of my hunger in genuine. Since I reached maintenance, I use my FDs to allow myself to eat a bit more than 1400cals on my NFDs. All to often a NFD becomes an “eat anything I like” day. I can’t cope with very many of those and keep my weight stable.
    Anzac, I agree about how much you can save when not buying drinks, snacks and meals during working hours. You do have to be organised though.

    Minka, my approach to taking inulin is anything but scientific. I take 1-4 tsp depending on how deficient I think my diet is in food based sources of inulin (eg https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/19-best-prebiotic-foods). I also have gaps where I may not take it for a day or several (sometimes deliberately and sometimes forgetfulness). I usually take it in one of two ways:
    – as a drink, either mixed into a small glass of kefir or a smoothie. (I like this combination as I’m getting prebiotics and probiotics in a single hit)
    – sprinkled onto a bowl of cereal before I add the kefir or almond milk. (Cereal in winter means porridge of barley and oats or in summer it’s muesli with oats and wheat bran – all food sources of inulin.)
    As I only have cereal 1-2 days a week (usually for lunch), I more often have it in a glass with kefir. On a FD I stir it into 1/4 cup kefir, on a NFD it’s 1/2 cup.
    I find I can vary the dose from day to day with no ill effects for my gut these days. As I often need to take antibiotics I usually keep the dose at 2tsp per day while I’m on them and then for a at least a week afterward.
    I use the inulin powder you recommended to me some time ago, that is made from jerusalem artichokes. For me the most common sources of inulin that I eat regularly are: bananas, berries, legumes, alliums, asparagus, konjac, oats, barley, wheat bran, linseed, chicory root (as a hot drink that I have most evenings), cocoa. I would consume several of these things most days.
    I have no idea what effect my eating and inulin consumption has had on my visceral fat as I haven’t had it tested. For me it was always a backup plan for those days when my food choices were not as good as they should have been. I remember the tv program that you mentioned where Angela Ripon looked at the benefits of having sufficient inulin in our diets. I remember her concluding she couldn’t eat enough legumes to get it from food so she would take it as a powder. I may well have remembered it wrongly, it was quite a while ago.

    I’m planning a FD tomorrow. I have some skinned chicken thighs marinating in tandoori spices that I will grill with zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms tomorrow. I’ll have a modest serve for dinner tomorrow and the rest the following night.

    I very much enjoyed having an airconditioning vent in my bedroom last night. I suspect I’ll be making use of that for the next few nights too. This is the first time I’ve ever had an airconditioned bedroom.

    Hi Anzac, The inulin is a specific type of fibre that has been found to significantly reduce visceral fat. Different fibres feed different strains of intestinal bacteria and each bacteria has a different result on our health. I’m aware that inulin specifically triggers biological processes which contribute to the reduction of visceral fat. I’ve read that psyllium has proven to contribute to decrease in belly fat, though I’ve yet to see studies specifically about the underslying visceral fat also shrinking, however, one would expect that there would be a carry over!

    Anyway, the following snippet from the link at bottom of post better explains the relationship between visceral fat and inulin better than I can:

    “Visceral fat surrounds internal organs and has been proven to be detrimental to health – with high levels of it restricting the function of major organs.

    “Scientists also show the fat, which is most visible around the middle, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and dementia.

    “Inulin is an insoluble fibre which bypasses absorption in the small intestine in order to reach the large intestine, undigested.

    “It is here bacteria feed on this ‘soluble fibre’ to produce short chain fatty acids (SFCAs), which have been proven to promote the loss of visceral fat, by increasing fat metabolism.

    “While inulin can be found naturally in foods such as chicory root, dandelion root, asparagus, bananas and wheat, these foods would need to be consumed in extremely large quantities to realise these benefits.”

    https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/663037/inulin-diabetes-fat-exercise-reduce-inulin-weight-loss-treating-diabetes

    Good morning everyone

    It’s Friday so it’s my day off but it is going to be a strange day today. OH has his Christmas party today and he will be getting home very late tonight so I will have the whole day and evening to myself. I have so much to do. I am going shopping in about half an hour to stock up on some more food for Christmas Day and also the holidays. I like to get in early and beat the heat and also the people!
    I will be starting to clean the house also. Have I mentioned before that we have a 5 bedroom house? We will be having family stay with us and there will be people staying in all the spare rooms except one, so I have a lot of cleaning to do.
    I won’t bore you with all the cleaning details but it involves windows, fly screens, washing etc. Fun!

    Anzac, congratulations!! It is an amazing feeling when you go clothes shopping for the first time after starting 5:2 and find your dress size has gone down. I actually couldn’t believe it when it happened to me and then when it dropped again I was really stoked. I went nuts and bought lots of clothes lol. Some of them are too big for me already.

    thin, don’t worry. I will never abandon 5:2. I love it! I love being smaller, feeling lighter and being able to wear clothes that I like instead of just what fits. I also enjoy having a break from eating and drinking and, as Cinque says, that lovely light morning after fast day feeling.

    This week three different people have mentioned my weight loss to me. Two were shoe reps that haven’t seen me for a few months. Both asked me how I have done it and so I got to talk briefly with them about 5:2. One of them then told me him and his wife had been on the Curves (or Contours) diet and had lost a lot of weight about a year ago and have now put it all back on. Ummmm, no wonder when it involved eating six (small) meals a day. I would not be able to do that!
    The other person that mentioned it to me was my OH’s sister. I have seen her many times since starting 5:2 but we were talking about exercise and then she mentioned my weight loss. It was a nice feeling. OH’s family are all greyhounds (skinny) by the way.

    Yesterday we set up a net over our tomato plants to stop the fruit fly from getting to them. I was sooooooo happy! We now have plans to net the big garden bed which has some other tomatoes, chillies and OH’s other babies, his capsicums. I will take some photos and post them up later today.

    Oops just remembered I haven’t posted the chilli jam recipe, Anzac, sorry. I will do that later also.

    I have to run now or I will be late getting to the supermarket and it will be getting hot.

    Have a great day all. Will be back later x

    A lovely post to start the day Quacka. Have fun cleaning!

    And I didn’t say, Intesha, what a wonderful set those last biscuits were. You must have got into your zen zone! Have fun giving them out! I show the ones for my grandchildren to everyone who comes visiting.

    Thin, glad you liked the mushroom stock (relieved even 😉 ) Good luck with those events. I really hope you catch up on sleep soon. (I had a good night last night, a rarity, so I hope I can pass it on).

    Anzac, hello Ms size 16! And what a lovely purchase.

    LJoyce, hooray for your air conditioned bedroom. Thinking of you getting through the heat today. I’m on survival mode, looking forward to a big cool bath and very glad to have my air cooler on.

    I think my cold is past the worst, but I am having one more rest day. Friday lull day for me.

    Sending out good wishes

    Ah with great highs come great lows. I went to the supermarket after work yesterday to get the veges for my stir fry and a steak for OH. Guess what I left with? Two juicy grass-fed steaks. I decided I couldn’t stomach the stir fry so ended up having a normal sized meal on a FD. Half a small steak, about 6 fat oven chips and a salad. And just because we don’t do anything in halves, we also opened a nice bottle of red wine and polished it off. GAH. So I am still 87.4 instead of slipping into the 86’s as I hoped. So today will be very very light

    And just to add to it all, today I am WFH and we took Mad Maxx to the dog park. He and a boxer barreled into me and down I went, in the mud, and twisted my ankle. And it’s my birthday weekend! Damn damn damn. Bl00dy dog, lucky he’s cute. Thankfully we know the boxers owner from meeting up frequently on walks and she held both dogs (with great difficulty, Maxx is 43 kilos) while OH sprinted the entire length of the dog park to get the car and move it closer. By the time he got back it wasn’t hurting quite so much and he was able to put Maxx in the car and come back and help me hobble to the car. On the way home he said ‘I left with a clean dog and a good wife, and am coming home with a stinky, filthy dog (he ran into the bog) and a broken wife 

    So much for lots of walking and exercise bike this weekend. Quadruple damn. It is turning black already 

    Anyway, onwards and upwards..I mean downwards (weight wise). At least I can’t walk to the fridge – ha ha ha

    Quacka – enjoy the cleaning! I know it’s a chore but it looks and feels so good when it’s all done. We did a massive spring clean 2 weeks ago and it was great to get it all done

    Thin, it seems we both suffer from periodic insomnia. I was awake from 3.00am this morning thinking about stuff – drat that brain! Enjoy your social events and don’t worry too much about the intake as you will soon rectify any damage.

    LJ, so glad you were able to avoid the heat and all that walking was fantastic exercise. Hope you can stay cool again today and enjoy your FD. You are so organised so you will breeze through it as you always do 

    Thanks so much for the info on inulin Minka. I’m going to read more on it and maybe start taking it too. Are there any side effects?

    So glad your cold is better Cinque, but I agree that another day of rest will be best. Enjoy your lull day

    Hello friends,

    Anzac, sorry to read of your mishaps (the one in the supermarket and the one in the park). Wow, Maxx weighs 43 kgs? That’s a big dog. Maybe he needs some IF, ha ha. I’m just remembering our dingo weighed 12 kg but she was a medium sized dog. I hope your ankle recovers quickly.

    That’s awful waking at 3am – it’s still yesterday. I did better today at 5am. DD was already up to study before her very last day of uni ever. She worked 12 hours in surgery rotation yesterday and today they have a greyhound cadaver to operate on as part of the rotation assessment. Surgery is her thing and she wants to do it perfectly. I can hardly believe it’s almost over. Finals start on Monday. And, yay, no more huge uni bills.

    Cinque, pleased to hear that you knocked that cold on the head. Enjoy your lull day.

    Quacka, that is so rewarding that people are commenting on your weight loss and enquiring about 5:2. I empathise with the cleaning. OH and I finally completed all the window cleaning, we can now see out but they look as though a couple of amateurs have had a go at them. Depending on where the sun is, we are still noticing missed spots. While I was chatting to my brother on skype in the UK recently, his window cleaning service arrived, cleaned all the external windows on two storeys using an extendable pole and some special liquid that requires no rinse. The whole thing was over in minutes and cost him £17.

    LJ, stay cool over there. Which movie did you see? It’s still very mild in Perth. I love this time of year, comfortable 20s.

    Minka, looking forward to reading your SSC goal. Or just come for a chat and don’t set one at all.

    Hovering just below 60kg. Today will have to be very controlled to mitigate what’s coming tomorrow. I find my body takes about a week to recover from a digression like Tuesday’s. It can absorb one thing but three in a week seem to take quite a toll. At least next week, there’s just one Christmas party (a company that OH contracts his flying services to). Check it out, I think it will be fun: https://ultimocateringandevents.com.au/christmas-party-solutions/quay-to-the-amazon/
    I’m already looking forward to “delicious cocktails and tantalising morsels of food”. And all we have to do is walk to the ferry on our side of the river to get over there. No parking, no driving.

    Morning all. We’ve just been for a very bracing walk beside the seaside, and going out soon for breakfast. My OH and I have come to Margate for a couple of days away. Usually we pop over to the island, but we both felt we wanted somewhere different, not too far away, and with no pressure at all – just a good time for us to reflect. We have a lovely room looking out to sea, and although it is blowing a gale, the sea has such restorative powers.

    I am struggling with NFDs. I seem to crave sweet things (think icecream) and of course the more I have the more I want. FDs are keeping my weight stable, but I blew the second of my BtB fasts on Tuesday when our dinner plans went askew. DD and family were coming to us for a BBQ and I had my FD fish ready, but we got an urgent call from her at around 5 to relocate to her place because her neighbour had been held up at work and her daughter couldn’t be left alone. The best laid plans…..
    I am feeling disappointed in myself, because I really wanted to shed more weight before our holidays. Quacka, Intesha, I think I suffer with the same self-sabotage. Sigh.

    Thin I hope your DD does go to her graduation – it’s such an achievement, and although she may not think so, she should be there to share the moment with her fellow students, with her family watching on proudly. You made me laugh btw about cap and gown for everything…..can you believe the local child care centre puts caps and gowns on the four year olds when they leave for Prep?

    Congratulations G’day on getting another unit under your belt. Good to go on holiday with it over for the year. Do you have much longer to go? (Am I able to ask what you are studying?)

    LJ what amazing health outcomes. All the hard work is showing in those results. I was reading a study somewhere online that said the use of sunscreen, valuable though it has been in reducing cancer, has resulted in more widespread Vit D deficiencies. My GP gave me a very interesting sheet that said how much sun a person needed each day, based on where they lived. Hope the dermatitis has gone for good.

    OH is out of the shower and will be ready in a few minutes, so I’ll post what I have here and be back later to finish off.

    noon, Fri, Adelaide, still too hot!

    GDSA, I know I shouldn’t be complaining about the heat here I know you are getting a much rougher deal up there. I hope the cool change that’s coming gets to you too.

    Minka, it sounds like I’m not consuming enough inulin to deal with visceral fat. I probably need to find a way to test my levels before I decide whether to change anything.

    Lindsay, your morning walk sounds rather lovely. Enjoy your days at Margate (I hadn’t realised there was a Margate in Oz).
    I too am having the same cravings for sweet treats on my NFDs. Although for me it’s sweet baked things rather than ice cream. I haven’t found the answer the this conundrum as even when I intend to have a NFD without anything sweet I seem to give in all too easily some days.

    Anzac, so sorry to hear about the sprained ankle. I hope an ice pack and some strapping get the swelling down quickly.

    Quacka, I hope you get the house sorted out and ready for guests without too much hard work. Are you looking forward to having a house full of people?

    Cinque, I hope the cool bath helps you manage the heat. You might need to leave the water in there for regular dips throughout the day.

    Thin, I am about the same at cleaning windows. When I was staging my house my niece made it clear that I was hopeless at cleaning windows and mirrors so she did it all (even the ones I’d already “cleaned”). They were spotless after she was done – some people just have the knack – that will never be me! I too have considered hiring someone to clean windows here.
    The movie I saw was Bohemian Rhapsody. Not perfect, but enjoyable and it was really good to hear the Queen music. Trying to portray a complex life in 2 1/2 hours is a big ask, but they did a reasonable job I think. I don’t envy the actor who had to play Freddie – a very big personality to step into. I will say that the actor who played Brian May was his spitting image – they got lucky with that casting.

    Cali, are you ok? I haven’t seen a post from you for a couple of days.

    I am managing to stay cool. I can’t believe how much of a difference it makes to live in a house with ducted aircon. I’ve had wall and split system aircons before – always in the lounge, but this is much more efficient. I was worried about how much power I’d use in summer with the aircon running, but this is the third hot day in a row and I’ve only needed the aircon on for 1-2 hours at a time. Once it’s cooled the space, I can turn it off for several hours – I had a similar experience in winter with the heating. I’ve figured out how to use the timer, so I can set it to turn off 1 or 2 hours after I go to bed. Thankfully it is also zoned so I can just cool the room I’m in.

    Not sure if I mentioned it, but one of the things the dermatologist asked about was the change in water supply that came with moving house. The chemicals in the water can effect skin issues. Up until I moved I’d always drunk either rain water or tap water that I’d filtered. Here the tap water doesn’t taste metallic (new pipes) so I am able to drink it without any filtering. So there may have been issues with the old pipes, or some beneficial chemical added to the water supply here that has made a difference (maybe flouride helps skin as well as teeth?). It may also be a combination of factors. I also think my stress levels are quite low at present which might make a difference. I don’t care as long as the condition stays managed. It hasn’t gone completely, but I only have a few tiny patches that are really mild instead of huge areas.

    Have a good day everyone.

    So glad you are able to stay cool in your air-con LJ. We have three units on the walls – one in the lounge, one in the dining and one downstairs in our bedroom. The layout of house means it spreads fairly well throughout so long as we close off the spare bedrooms upstairs and the bathroom.

    That’s really interesting about what you said about the water. Every time my Dad heads into the country to visit his friends he gets a rash and the dermatologist thinks it is the water. They put some sort of additives in he must be allergic to it.

    Your weekend away sounds lovely Lindsay. There’s nothing better than a view over the sea, so calming. A few of us are struggling with NFD’s at the moment (or in my case NFD and FD!). But we can do it.

    Thin, I’m sure your DD is very anxious and I hope she does really well. She certainly deserves to given how much effort she is putting in.

    That Christmas party sounds like so much fun! Amazon rainforest and interactive cuisine….can’t wait to hear all about it

    The ice has done it’s trick and I can hobble around on my foot. I had a lab report and it came back all clear – see enclosed pic. HA HA HA HA HA
    https://imgur.com/a/fGzzbF0

    I’m having a really controlled NFD. I had an English muffin with a smidge of peanut butter for brekkie and a small low GI grainy roll with a slice of ham and salad for lunch. Dinner is an Asian salad with chicken, beansprouts and herbs. Determined to make up for yesterday’s disastrous FD.

    Anzac, is that Maxx trying to make amends? Try to elevate your foot too if posible, it will help with the swelling.

    Hi everyone. It’s been a couple of busy days here and a FD today. I had an imaging test today on an artery that looked ok, even though I haven’t gortten the official result back yet, and then a doctor’s appointment, just normal follow up on the BP and all. BP still tends to go up and down. I need to get stress under control.

    LJ, wonderful news on all of your doctors visits, especially to dermatitis because you had been dealing with it for so long. Do you think all of the sunlight could have been a factor? With all the gardening and all, at this house and the last, maybe that helped. The 5:2 fasts might have helped too, since your eating window on FD is small?

    Cinque, I hope your cold is starting to dry up. Nothing worse than a summer cold.

    Minka, the whole inulin thing is so interesting. Minka, Cinque and penguin, I’m very interested in the whole gut biome thing, so thank you for the links. Beyond the the benefit of fermented foods, I haven’t read enough about it yet (much is difficult to understand, if indeed there is enough known about it yet.) But I’m convinced that it’s helpful and will be reading more.

    Thin, get that tree down from the attic so you can enjoy it! The season goes so quickly as it is. (says the one with barely half decorated tree sitting here).

    I have so many posts to comment on still, but I fell asleep on the sofa a little earlier and still feel half asleep. I’ll write more in the morning. Have a great day, everyone.

    Anzac, very funny about the lab report. But did you also have a CATscan? 🙂

    Cali, glad to hear you are ok, even if you don’t have the official report yet. Hope you get a good night’s sleep. We would use some stories about cold weather from you and Penguin – then we can live vicariously.

    https://imgur.com/a/atnfome

    This is a pic of my net covered tomatoes I mentioned earlier. I’m so excited!

    https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/chilli-jam-20121120-29n98
    https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/chilli-jam-3/22577f5a-f909-44bc-b8be-4be722af067f

    Anzac, these are the two chilli jam recipes I use. I always add heaps more chillies than what the recipe says and they are usually a mixture of really hot ones and some a bit more mild but still quite hot. I chop them all up in a mini food processor and the seeds sort of come to the top so I remove some of them. There are still plenty of seeds in there though. The sugar mellows down the heat quite a lot so I always make it hotter.

    I hardly got any of my cleaning done today. I went shopping and by the time I got home my throat had gotten much worse. I woke up with it this morning but I thought it was just dry because of my salty dinner last night.
    I have been really tired this last week and also not sleeping well at all. I have been awake since 2am this morning and most other mornings it has been 4am. Stress at work is getting to me a bit and my thoughts just start running when I wake up in the middle of the night.
    I had a yummy low cal Thai prawn salad for lunch with konjac noodles, cabbage, cherry tomatoes and a small carrot. Also lots of mint and coriander. After I ate that my throat started to feel better and I got a little bit of energy. Tonight it has started hurting again though.

    By the way, did you know that prawns are really low calorie? They were on special at our local fish market for $20kg. Pretty good price and they are a really nice size as I don’t like them when they are too big.

    I ate about 800 calories all day today as I also ate prawns for dinner. Lunch only had about 8 prawns and they are only large schoolies. Dinner was half a kilo, unshelled. I was really full and it was only 177 calories.

    Sorry my post is a bit disjointed. I think the tiredness is finally beating me. OH is still at his Christmas party so I am just relaxing on the lounge.

    Anzac, hope your ankle heals quickly and Cinque, hope you shake that cold really soon.

    LJ, I am looking forward to my family coming down to stay for a couple of days. They live about a 4 hour drive away so I don’t get to see them often enough.
    I’m also looking forward to Christmas. I love planning and cooking for occasions like that and I am probably not sleeping as I am thinking about that too. I’m not worried about it but I just like to be prepared.

    Well I better go. I’m feeling really sleepy even though I know I probably won’t sleep until OH gets home.

    Hope you all have a good evening and I really hope all of us insomniacs get a good nights sleep tonight. X

    LJ, you are fortunate not to suffer any bloating or wind with the variation in inulin servings. Maybe that is because you do consume a fair amount from foods to make up for it. Your recollection of what Angela Rippon said in the documentary matched mine. I remember Angela standing at a bench with a large quantity of chick peas, more than I could eat in a week! She said something to the effect that I would have to eat at least that many to get enough inulin to lower her visceral fat back into the healthy zone, or something to that effect! Anyway, I still am of the view that any amount is helpful and perhaps for other reasons than visceral fat reduction.

    I just spent 30 minutes with my MacBook on one knee and a clipboard on the other writing individual replies to everyone who has posted in the last 36 hours. I then proof read it, corrected it, was satisfied, hit the wrong key and lost it.

    Tomorrow is another day. As Merry says, Onwards and downwards.

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