*thank them!
This topic contains 27,912 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by Intesha 11 hours, 22 minutes ago.
Minka, my dress purchaser said she’d be wearing them to work. I didn’t get a chance to ask her what line of work that was.
LJ, I meant the evening eating curfew, how was that working out for you and CalifD?
CalifD, Rosy, thanks so much for DD’s birthday wishes, it was a fun day. Hence I am so behind here.
Kanga, I started 5:2 with a family to feed and still do. Let’s hope your fabulously healthy eating leads to your DD not wanting to bake sweet treats as often because she’d rather eat your colourful, nutritious offerings. I was truly amazed when my DD announced yesterday that she did not want a birthday cake! When I started this WOL, I told my family that I no longer wanted to celebrate my b/d with cake. My family were so disappointed which said a lot about who the cake was for. Complete turnaround after 4 years! I have almost convinced them that sugar is the enemy, it’s empty calories and so addictive. How fortunate to be young enough that changing one’s eating habits has the potential to create real and lasting health benefits.
Anzac, OMG, Maxx’s latest antics. Roll on puppy training (read Mr and Mrs Anzac’s training, he he). Although, if you’re asleep, I’m not sure how you train him.
That’s it my friends, I have run out of time. I sat down to write this while eating my cauliflower soup which is how I know I have spent over an hour here. FD is going well but I am in danger of forgetting it’s a FD as I have rarely done one on a Thursday before.
Wow, Gday ! You are totally inspirational with your healthy habits ! Did you have any allergies that inspired you or was it just healthy weight loss ? You must be at goal now with such strict adherence !
My scales have been nice to me this week, this morning I lost an extra 100g to add to my 900g lost on Wed which takes me to a total of 1 kg loss and it’s only the 4 th day of the week! Yay! I am now in the 68s which which really gladdens my heart as I haven’t been there for ten years !
I’ve been out and about and noticed that hunger comes and goes . At one stage I felt really empty and had a gnawing hunger pang but kept on with my errands and ignored it and then about 20 mins later, it totally went away ! You wise girls undoubtedly know all this but it was a delightful discovery for me to ignore hunger and it will go away eventually.
@ Kanga, On fast days I ignore food as much as possible so no, don’t have veges. In the fast 800 , I was reading about a lady who is 46 years old (p 69 ), mother of 5 kids. 2 years ago she was over 100 kg. She said it was hard at first making food for her family and not eating it herself, but the more she could see her weight loss success, the more motivated she became. She eats mainly veges, stays away from sugar and eats within an 8 hour period. She doesn’t eat after 4 pm. She still sits with her family for dinner but just doesn’t eat. Her family accepts that what she has done is for her health, 2 years later, she is as slim as she was when she was 20.
It’s been up and down with me these past 1-2 weeks. To much Christmas chocolate left over, I think. Anyway, yesterday I ditched my FD (will be following thinatlast & Anzac65’s rule of making FDs non-negotiable from next week!!!) to open the final box of chocolate – I had already disposed of most of the chocs hanging around – and chose the ones I really really like to eat, kept those and ate them, but chucked out the rest, which was most of the box. Not good, but then, not bad either as many more could have found themselves in my mouth.
The good thing is that there are no more chocolates to tempt me. Tomorrow will be a CD as I’m out to lunch but my hostess is very careful with food as she has chronic fatigue, so I won’t be going overboard on unhealthy food. Saturday is a restaurant birthday party, so likely to be not as good. Then – finally! – from Sunday I will stop dillydallying around and get serious again. Feels like the past 1-2 weeks have been too on again off again with the WOL. Has to stop.
Note Cinque and RosyPosy have both shrunk – me too, about 2 cms at least which really messed up my BMI calculation. Have to lose about 2-3 kgs more than I’d thought to get below 25.
Interested in the caffeine comments. Don’t like coffee but I drink very weak tea and can drink it whenever I like; however, also like Pepsi Max, which is caffeinated but no sugar – cannot drink it after about 3 p.m. or I’m wide awake until after 2 a.m. Not good.
LJoyce, LingsayL and thinatlast, I agree that having a narrower eating window is a good idea. I find skipping breakfast is easy for me, and I can eat lunch around 12-1 p.m. and dinner about 6 p.m. and nothing after that (when I avoid the chocolate! 🙂 ). Seems to suit me.
Kangarootha, I’m also fairly new to this forum, and after a good December have slipped a bit, as you can read above. However, thinatlast’s suggestion of measuring everything before you start has been one I did and it has been keeping me from too much slippage – on again off again with the weight (good) as well as the diet (bad)! – Measure from top to bottom – weight, then bust waist hips backside, upper arms, thighs and calves – get a small notebook to record all that weekly so you can see your progress. It can be very motivating.
GdayfromSA, sorry to read of the fall – would have looked spectacular on video, but not so good in its result. I’m glad the back has begun to improve again.
Onwards and downwards!!!
Thin that is a brilliant introduction (and review, for me) of the process and pitfalls. I have started with the categorising and photographing some clothes and shoes that are beautiful quality, but either don’t suit or don’t fit me. I am now just waiting for Autumn so sell boots and jackets etc. One other thing I could add, from my DIL’s experience, is that things that are advertised as free may not move, but if you put a price on them, somehow they become more attractive to buyers. As they say, go figure.
I’ll check back in later…. oH has just made me a cuppa, and my feet are aching after a very long walk, so I’ll put them up for a bit, while I keep on reading.
Lovely sunny morning, start of a heatwave, but hooray for Melbourne, it is comparatively gentle.
First of all, Thankyou Thin, that is such a wonderful introduction to online selling. It is exactly what she needs and so much more comprehensive than three little tips I was hoping you could share. Straight after this I am sending it on to my sister. With your tip added too, thanks Lindsay.
I had a lovely time with my sisters. Babkas was closed so we went to ‘Mavis The Grocer’ that had no croissants and I nearly had the avocado on seed toast with beetroot puree and roasted pumpkin seeds, when I figured it was the same as I had with Minka, (on the other side of the city) and I would try something different. Everything else seemed all bread, or huge, but luckily they had African spinach and lentil soup, and that was a great start to the day (and meant I got 8 serves of veggie/fruit in yesterday). The coffee was good too.
Anzac, that Maxx! Bring on the dog training and the no compromise fast days and you won’t know yourselves!
I wanted to share my cat Miso’s latest thing that made me smile. I’ve told you how she gradually convinced me that her preference is to drink from a large bowl situated in my bath? Well I move it just outside the bathroom when I want to have a bath, which I did. Then my sister wanted a shower (the shower is over the bath) so I left it there. Miso was milling around looking unhappy, so I tapped the bowl to indicate it was there (incase she is completely blind! Like I said, it is big) but she wasn’t interested.
My sister was very slow starting her shower and ended up coming out to ask what was wrong with Miso. She decided to put the bowl back in the bath so Miso could have a drink, before she took her shower. And sure enough Miso jumped into the bath after the bowl, gave a little pirouette and then lapped away for about 5 minutes.
Then my sister got her shower!
Ooh Quacka you are a lovely cook!
Gday, I do hope that pain is settling down quickly. Haven’t you made extraordinary changes to your life since we met you. I am so glad it is working well for you, and kind to the planet too.
LJoyce, thanks for reposting those notes from Rick Kausman. This time I copied them to keep, they are so useful.
Betsylee, good to hear from you, fellow shrunk person! Hooray to have all the chocolates out of the house. Hopefully they will give you a good break before their next home invasion.
I hope today is a great CD and a good time with your friend.
It is a Friday fast day for me. Unusual! I have to keep reminding myself (and it is only 7:30am 😉 ) Haha. I’m off to write to my dear sisters and include Gumtree tips! So pleased. I have my shiitake soaking for my miso soup this evening, and lots of things to keep me busy until then.
Best wishes for your day, every one of you, whatever sort of day it is. Hope it isn’t too hot.
Good Morning! I have another busy day and will attempt my one post limit again that Cinque manages so perfectly (love all this time with my DD and being able to suggest activities that don’t get the response, “sorry, I have to study for an exam”.
Cinque, I’m so pleased that you had such fun with your sisters. And Miso is exerting her authority around the place and becoming set in her ways (she is a ‘she’, correct?). How’s that other training working out? Glad the GT tips were helpful (if quite a ramble) and agree with Lindsay’s DIL that sometimes the free items don’t move quickly. We decided to give away some oversize pelmets that were actually really good quality, professionally and custom made but it took weeks to find a recipient. That man was SO happy, it was heart warming to see his gratitude. There is one other thing, (can you believe) that I forgot to mention.
There are 3m ads on gumtree and not everyone removes their ads when the item’s sold. This means that your ad will quickly move down the list. Two things about this – use as many keywords as you can fit in the heading but make them all completely relevant and avoid adjectives there – no-one will search for ‘stunning’. And, if it’s a category with a very high number of ads, such as books at this time of year (students selling textbooks), you may have to take the time to delete and re-submit yours periodically because, when GT prompts you to renew them, they do not go back to the top of the list but remain on page 10 or wherever they’d ended up. This is where the backup description in a word doc comes in handy. Man, I do go on.
Anzac, what’s Maxx been up to since the last report?
Betsy, I find it incredible that you can throw out chocolate. Maybe this year, you can work out how to tactfully prevent so many chocolate gifts coming your way (tips from LJ)? You will be back on track in no time, you did so well in December.
GDSA, that was a spectacular fall described so well. I hope you’ve recovered from both injuries now.
Rosy, well done with your continued losses.
Post FD for me. I had one of my fave FD dinners – steamed asparagus, poached egg and smoked salmon, 1tbs Greek yoghurt with fresh dill & lime juice, 195 cals. Still too close to 60kg for comfort. I want to get back to the low 59.0s. How are you doing with that, CalifD?
LJ, you’re probably posting about now. Good morning to you. And Quacka and everyone else.
Hi Thin, I somehow missed your post yesterday. Good for you giving up birthday cakes.
Your gumtree achievements are amazing !
@ Cinque glad you had a great time with your sisters.
@ Betsy Lea, 2 cm is the amount I shrank too and yes it does mess up your bmi.
The most unusual thing has been happening to me this week. The weight is falling off me daily ! I’m used to hating my scales but every day this week bar one, they have been telling me I’m lighter. This morning I lost 300 g which takes my total for 6 days to a loss of 1.3 kg and my grand total is 15.1 kg in 17 weeks ! Bmi is 23.8. 6 kg to go. Yay ! I’m feeling euphoric !
I have to keep it quick as I want to get to the gym before it gets any hotter here.
I’m finding my food consumption on NFDs has crept up a bit and I need to get that back under control. I don’t want my current levels to start feeling normal. I’m not sure why this has happened, but I suspect it’s just a hangover of the over indulgent mood of christmas. At the moment I’m debating about which of my previous methods for getting this under control to try. I have implemented a “3 meals only” rule before (as I don’t eat breakfast it allows me an afternoon snack – but only one). The other thing that worked was photographing and posting everything I ate each day to keep me honest about the volume and food choices.
I’m thinking I’ll start with the “3 meals only” rule and if that’s not adequate I’ll go back to doing photographs too.
Must run, I’ll try to post responses later.
Good morning fellow losers
Humid and hot in Sydney today….28 degrees. Nothing like Adelaide and Melbourne though, ugh
The scales did not move overnight despite a good FD yesterday but I’m down a kilo for the week so am very happy. That’s my Christmas gain gone in one wonderful 5:2 week
Thin. Maxx. Oh dear. Here is a story for you
Yesterday at work I answered my phone, it was OH and upon my ‘hi!’ all I received was a sigh. This is a common occurrence and is the precursor to some bad news, normally of the chewed kind.
OH: They have nice shoes in Italy right? (We are going at the end of the year)
ME: Oh no
OH: He decided one of your boots was lonely without mine…and a thong, a sandal and a slipper
ME: So four shoes, none related
OH: Yup
Now my shoes are in one side of the linen press and OH’s in the other. Maxx could open OH’s side (he lost both pairs of boots and his brand new sheepskin slippers) so we put a piece of wood in the runner to stop him. He has never worked out how to open my side. HOWEVER….a couple of days ago I saw him eyeing it so I put very old shoes in the bottom and moved any good shoes to a higher shelf. Winner! Sort of
You may be wondering why we didn’t do this in the first place….it’s actually a pain because the shoes are on the bottom shelf and above are linens. So to move my shoes up I had to create space by moving some of the linen to another cupboard….to cut a long story short at the time I thought I was wasting my time and creating inefficiency but it paid off!
Anyone want a small dog (43 kilo) that is well behaved(!), doesn’t eat much (!!) and hates shoes?
Rosy – you are doing so well, congratulations!!
Betsy, put the chocolate behind you and have a fresh start like you said. You will be on the downward slope before you know it
I have to run to a meeting, will try and post later. Have a great day all
Gday, I’m sorry to hear about you injuring your back again. I hope it’s feeling better today. That will be known as The great Legos crash of 2019! 😁
LJ, your tomatoes and eggplants are beautiful! And I love the dark leaf Crepe Myrtle. I don’t recall seeing any with the dark leaves around here. You will appreciate the smaller size when you have to dig a hole to plant it. I think you mentioned that you have a lot of rocks in the soil, like here, and it can take forever to dig one large enough for a big tree.
Cinque, glad you had a lovely time with your sisters. Your op shop trip sounds like a very successful one.
Thin, very interesting reading about selling on Gumtree. Maybe I’ll try eBay one day. I’ve given things away or sold things very cheaply on Nextdoor but nothing I actually made money on. I haven’t made the eating curfew strong enough yet, although I’m doing better. I was 59.7 this morning at the beginning of my FD so I’m hoping to see some good numbers tomorrow morning.
Rosy, I disagree with the Wheat Belly book that wheat and whole grain breads are bad for everyone. For the small number of people with Celiac, it would hold true but I don’t think whole grain breads are bad for everyone. In fact I thing they a a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. I’ve eaten lots of bread on NFDs throughout the time I was losing and now that I’m maintaining and I was still able to lose and maintain weight reasonably easily. Here’s an article that I found interesting: http://nogluten-noproblem.com/2012/03/wheat-belly-busted.html The only thing that bothers me about bread products is that many of them contain so much sugar. If I want sugar, I’ll eat cake. IMHO, bread shouldn’t be sweet unless it’s some type of dessert bread like raisin or banana bread.
Anzac, so glad to hear you are making your FDs non-negotiable. I think it’s the only way to make 5:2 actually work and not having to count calories all the time. That Maxx is getting to be a ver expensive dog with all of his shoe chews. Is there any type of oil that you could rub on the shoes so he would hate the smell enough that he would leave them alone? Peppermint comes to mind, or tea tree oil. Our dog doesn’t like those fragrances. And hopefully it would wear off by the time you wanted to wear the shoes or boots so you aren’t smelling like a peppermint stick. 😁
Betsy, congrats on getting rid of the leftover Christmas candy. Weusually have dark chocolate in the house, but in bars so we can break off a piece, not filled candy. It isn’t as sweet as milk chocolate (which can be a binge food for me) so we tend not to eat too much at once. Of course it’s only a NFD treat because of the high calorie count. We keep it in a plastic container in the pantry though. If we left it out on the bench we’d be snacking on it every time we walked by.
Hope everyone is having a nice day, fasting or not.
Hi everyone. Apparently if I skip a day, there’s a lot to catch up on here! Currently Friday evening here in the very stormy, very soggy Blue Mountains, Australia. A little hail and a big deluge. Have had far too much coffee today, driving to Sydney and back, so zippity-zippity!
I’m so sorry if I miss anyone with these replies. It’s hard to keep track what I’ve seen and haven’t. I’ll get used to it.
Thinatlast: Thanks for the tip to measure everything. I think the book said to as well, so I did once I’d finished reading. I don’t know my exact height these days. I think I’ve been 5’11” for so long that my husband looks at me like “You’re not serious, are you?” I’m probably lucky to be 5’10” these days. Better check that next time for an accurate BMI! Amazing about your daughter not wanting a birthday cake this year! Awesome!
Rosy: Interesting that you say Keto didn’t work for you. I have a friend who’s pushing me to try keto and it just wasn’t appealing to me! I’m not sure it’s a great thing to have your body do – to bounce in and out of ketosis. Staying in ketosis constantly just seemed like far too much hard work!
Cinque: Thanks for the welcome! I agree with your advice to reread the book – or at least the bits I can’t remember! I can see how revising and reminding would be a really great motivational tool. I’m so nervous about starting this whole journey!
LJoyce: Thanks for the recipe info! Oh good tip to make minestrone sans pasta. I love legumes and veg, so that will work a treat. Ah, I’ve heard of these famous konjac noodles. Quacka has told me about them, so I need to find some in the supermarket next time! I think my most common FD foods will be eggs and veg. Simple, no fuss, next-to-no prep. I don’t want this to be hard at the beginning! No, haven’t had my first FD yet! I’m thinking Mondays and Thursdays will my days, flexibly, though. With two kids in school and running around for my parents, I’ll have to look at each week on Sunday at a time and choose the two FDays for the coming week. At this stage, looking at the calendar, Monday 14th (this coming Monday) will be my first FD! Ack!
Anzac: Thanks for the info on your FD. I was wondering if it was ‘allowed’ to have a piece of fruit or something in the morning. I think that’s what Mini does in the FD book too, isn’t it? I was thinking an apple for morning tea, and then an early dinner. And that might be it. I’m really not sure what I’m doing yet with this whole thing, or what the best way to go about anything is. Oh no, I forget what a TDEE is. Might have to go back to the book again!
Quacka MooMoo: Thanks for your first FD info. With all that liquid, I bet you didn’t have time to eat. Lived in the bathroom that day, hey? Ha. I’ve actually done a 24-hour fast before, with only a juice in the morning, but it was a spiritual thing, and not something I’ve done since. I felt great that day. Not sure how regular fasts will go, but I want to try again. Gotta do something!!! DD is a whip-cracker when it comes to my health. If I tell her I need her to help me keep on track, she hassles me to go for walks or do weights or whatever. She’ll understand when I tell her to save me some for the next day instead. And if the kids eat the sweets in the meantime, it won’t be a bad thing for me either!
Gday: Sounds like we could all take a leaf out of your book! We have a worm septic system, so all our products need to be earth-friendly. I have to admit to loving the smell of vinegar when I clean with it. Otherwise it’s a eucalyptus or lemon blend. What does the bentonite clay do for you? Shea butter is awesome stuff. I buy a coconut body spray from The Body Shop in Sydney. It’s my latest beauty indulgence and smells like Summers on the beach when I was a kid. Love it.
LJoyce again: Thanks so much for the info on hunger and hunger signs. Have copied it onto a document and will print it out as a reminder! Might even stick it on the wall in front of my desk. Thanks again!
BetsyLee: Thanks for the tips! I’ve created a spread in my journal that helps me keep track of all those measurements. Can’t wait to see the numbers dropping! I’m on a minimal-to-no chocolate year. So far, so good. I’ve only had two bumps off the wagon in nearly two weeks. I feel better for that!
8:30pm Friday, Adelaide
It’s been a very hot day here so I got my exercise and grocery shopping done this morning and have stayed inside all afternoon.
Anzac, now you know you’d miss Maxx really, if someone took your advert seriously.
I’m so glad that a week of 5:2 has dealt with Christmas. It’s great to see your confidence with 5:2 now, when I think of your earlier struggles. It’s lovely to see someone find their feet so well. I think 2019 will be a good year for you. (It might be a good year for your shoes too if you get Maxx to dog training school!)
Cinque, sounds like Miso needs training too! Maybe she doesn’t like making a mess and knows that in the bath any water spills are dealt with by the drain.
Rosy, meal replacement shakes have their place, although they certainly won’t suit everyone. For some people they really help and you need to choose the path that’s right for you. From 2012-2015 (before I came across 5:2) I lost a lot of weight on a VLCD which replaced 2-3 meals with shakes (800-1000cal per day). It works, but it’s a very very limiting lifestyle when you do it every day for a long time. I have an “all or nothing” personality so shakes worked for me as basically all food (apart from 2 cups of veg from a very short list) was banned. I didn’t have to think about what to cook or portion control or handle food, as I didn’t have any choices. For some people this would be horrible, for me it worked, although I can’t imagine ever going back to a restrictive diet like that and hopefully will never need to. I came to 5:2 in early 2016 as I was struggling to maintain my weight loss and had regained 9kg over Christmas 2015. With 5:2 I got that weight off and have kept it off. I’m not tempted to go back to shakes but I can see their attraction if you don’t want to deal with food on a FD. Some people choose to do water fasts on their FD for the same reason.
Kanga, some people have certain days of the week that are always their FDs. Although I do have preferred days, mine move about each week to fit my life. The only absolute is that I always do 2 FDs. I tend to take the same approach that you described – I look at my week and see which days will make the best FDs.
With FD food I find it quite useful to have a few FD suitable meals in the freezer (for me these are mostly soups). Although I often do cook something simple on a FD a back up plan is so useful.
Cali, I have already dug the hole for the new tree – that’s the one that took me over 10 hours to dig in December. At the moment I need to give that hole a bit more time for the compost that I put into it to break down and for the worst of the summer heat to end before I plant the tree there. I’m not surprised that you haven’t seen any crepe myrtles with that dark colour foliage – it’s a really new variety. I think it’s only been on the market for a about a year.
Betsy, well done on throwing away most of the chocolates – that’s not always easy to do. I’m a great believer is choosing indulgences wisely – it has to be worth the calories and some things just aren’t.
Thin, that was quite a lesson on how to use gumtree. I have never tried it myself – I tend to just give stuff away, although I don’t have any valuable books lying around.
I’ve decided to fast tomorrow just in case Sunday involves an outing – still not sure of plans.
Cinque, your spinach and lentil soup sounds delicious – and good work on exceeding the daily vege target . I was reading in this morning’s Australian that eating 28 grams of fibre a day helps prevent lots of illnesses – diabetes , cardiovascular, stroke etc. But the article didn’t actually say what 28 grams represents…good information, but incomplete.
Anzac, that Maxx! what a devil he is. And what a personality Miso has, Cinque. My old moggie is being housesat by my SIL, because he doesn’t like going to the cattery. He’s a bit wobbly in the back legs – has been since birth – so isn’t grooming his back end, so SIL took him to the vet for a clip because he was getting a bit matted. And she brought a brush, and grooms him, and apparently he loves it, whereas he is not shy about giving me a nip if I try it. As my SIL says, aren’t cats odd!
Rosy I once lost a lot of weight with shakes ( LJ I think did the same) but I put it all back on or more, and my body shape changed too. I think they’ve changed a lot though, since then. But I wonder if MM isn’t getting just a tad too commercial? I think the beauty of naked 5:2 is that it requires nothing more than commitment to a way of eating that is both healthy and involves real food. Just my opinion – I am sure others think differently. And congrats on the weight loss – seems your body is really working with this WOL.
I’m with Calif, too, on the the grains issue. I think some people find grains difficult, and I know if I eat too much carb, wholegrain or not, I bloat a bit and I feel uncomfortable. But with the recommended fibre level almost 30 grams a day, without whole grains it’s a big ask. Again, just my opinion.
Kangarootha I’ve found the most successful weight loss program for me involves 5:2, 16:8 (ie leaving 16 hours between evening meal and first meal of the day) and low carb. It is tough, but the most effective while I’m in the weight loss phase. While I’m on holidays I’ve eased up – I am not fasting, and am eating carbs, but am still sticking to a minimum 14 hours from the evening meals. That, combined with a lot of walking, seems to be holding my weight steady.
LJ our posts have crossed. I found I completely lost my appetite while on the shakes. Sometimes I’d realise I’d gone more than a day without one. I was meant to have 3 a day, and the weight fell off, but I also lost a lot of hair, and also my gall bladder, which is not uncommon apparently. Like you, I’m all or nothing, and while it was good for weight loss, it was dreadful in the end for my health. Perhaps one a day would be quite, quite different.
Good morning everyone,
My sister asked me to thank you Thin: “That is brilliant information, please thank your friend, it’s so thorough and practical.” And that is before I send her the excellent extra tips about managing the ads.
Haha re my ‘one post a day’ skill. I generally just don’t have the concentration later in the day.
Yes Miso exerts her authority, no I can’t get her to come in on hot nights, yes she needs training, yes I think someone else is also feeding her, yes she has personality! (And if it had been me she would have waited for her drink, I think my sister is a nicer person than I am.)
Betsy, once when I threw out chocolates, I rummaged through the bin a few hours later and got them out again.
Shocking I know, but at least they were wrapped. But I did horrify myself.
Rosy Posy, so lovely to be losing nicely. Your goal weight must be in sight? Ha, then you get to the fun of figuring out how to maintain your healthy low weight! Stage 2!
LJoyce, those are excellent strategies to use for your brain reminder. I’ve just been through similar and I am doing the ‘sitting down and planning what each meal will be’ which involves the imaging and is easier for me than the photos. It is full on, but I am already reaping the benefits. I wonder how long I will need to do it for.
Oh dear Anzac, what a destructo Maxx is being. It breaks my heart to think of those beautiful things chewed. Still a couple of weeks before training starts? Eep!
Cali, good luck to you with strengthening your evening eating curfew. I do it by promising myself I can eat whatever I like in the morning. I started doing it years ago when I was a student, and would promise myself I could eat a box of chocolate for breakfast… and then was amazed by not feeling like eating chocolate for breakfast after all. That made the strategy work very well!
There is a new book out I want to read even more than I want to read Dr Mosley’s new one. It is by Giles Yeo who is a British geneticist whose research area is obesity. It is called “Gene Eating” and he goes into the science, good and bad, behind many popular diets.
One interesting thing he said in an interview, when asked if liposuction or lap band surgery was best for losing weight, is that liposuction is really problematic as it takes out fat cells where (even if unsightly) fat is stored safely. If not enough fat cells are there, any excess fat has to be stored around our organs, and that is where it gets dangerous.
(I think I might get it for my kindle).
Goodness, I am being so chatty I might post this one and write more.
Hi Kanga, I am giving you reams to read! Feel free to skip!
But it is exciting that you are gearing up to your first fast day. You are planning well. I rather hope you are like me, and at the end of that first scary fast day, you can say “Wow, this feels great!” and know it is a good system for you. We’ll see!
Some people take a while to get it organised in their life, and there are people it just doesn’t suit.
LJoyce, best wishes for today’s fast day. I had a lovely one yesterday, and I will be fasting again on Sunday (wo!) so I will be book-ending you!
LJoyce and Lindsay, so interesting to read your similar experiences of using shakes as the main tool for weight loss. Sobering too. Hooray for 5:2.
Lindsay that research is in The Guardian too, I read it this morning!: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/10/high-fibre-diets-cut-heart-disease-risk-landmark-study-finds
It is an interesting question about guidelines to get enough fibre into your day. While there are lots of different nutrients involved, I think fibre might be the main thing behind the ‘5 veg and 2 fruit’ serves a day, as the simplest way to help people be confident they are eating enough fibre.
I am pretty sure that if people on a low carb diet are eating all their serves of veggies and fruit, they will be okay.
Because it is a big issue for my YamDaisy Cafe project, I had a good google for something easy to help work out 30 grams of fibre a day and I thought this is good: https://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.shac/files/Fiber%20101.pdf
Legumes rule!
Speaking of which, I am missing legumes! I broke my jar of black beans the other day, quite spectacularly, and too much broken glass to be able to save any beans (or even put them in the compost, sigh). So I am soaking the last of my chickpeas to make hummus. I have some split red lentils, but it is time to buy a new packet of legumes. Excitement! I think it might be mung beans!
It will be a bit of a cooking day as I am making an Indian slow cooked carrot dish and then all I have in my veggie compartment is zucchini from my garden and cucumber from my sisters! Time to make that zucchini loaf…. if I can remember where I saw it!
Also having a tidying day and a planning day, and trying to remember I am fasting again tomorrow! The weather is being merciful today.
Best wishes fasters, controlled eaters, normal eaters, and anyone enjoying ‘morning after fast day’ (like me 🙂 ), I hope it is a great day.
No shoes Maxx!
I managed to stick to one post yesterday, ha! I did peek in here once and found things I wanted to respond to but restrained myself. We’re going kayaking in a few minutes so this may be cut short. I shall have to paddle hard as there’s a full cooked cafe breakfast awaiting us at the other end. We haven’t done this for ages and DD and I will share a big breakfast so only half the potential damage.
CalifD, how was your weight after yesterday’s FD? I’m still at 59.7kg. Stuck there.
Anzac, Maxx! Oh dear. Two weeks until February. Hide the shoes. Or buy some for him on gumtree.
Cinque, your sister is entirely welcome and I hope she has much success. LJ, I’m too tight to give everything away but I’m sure if we had family here we would pass things on to them. It started as an experiment to see if we could fund $8k for DD’s high school music tour just with unwanted items around the home – and developed into a massive downsizing experiment that’s lasted years.
Kanga, I’m sure you’ll quickly slip into this WOL. Keep it simple and all will be fine. And you can always ‘phone a friend’, well a sister, for instant support.
On the question of shakes, Intesha is the expert on this. She was working her way through a supply that she already had on hand when we first met her here. I’m sure they work for some people – as LJ has explained. My personal opinion is that we must learn to eat food properly to sustain our optimum weight.
CalifD, “If I want sugar, I eat cake”. Ha ha. I’m one who couldn’t look at bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc without gaining weight when I started this WOL. However, it took me many months to realise this because, before I started 5:2, I was mainlining everything in sight so would have had no idea which foods were having what effect on me. It was only when I started eating so much less that I was able to notice the effect bread, and other carbs to a lesser extent, were having on my weight. I’d reached a plateau and decided to heed the advice given on these pages which, until that point, I’d been ignoring. I gave up all the offending carbs and immediately resumed my previous half kg per week loss until I met my optimum weight. Since then, I have re-introduced some of them in very small portions very occasionally. I rarely eat rice and no more than a spoonful, never eat pasta and have a teeny piece of bread with soup sometimes but only if the soup comprises the entire meal. Everyone’s different though.
We’re off ….. see you tomorrow for fasting, Cinque. Hi to everyone else.
Good morning everyone. Hope you all have some nice weekend plans.
Lindsay & Cinque, I found the same fibre research on the BBC news service. They have a science broadcast about it and also an article that does list the fibre in a range of foods.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46827426
(I haven’t included the link to the science broadcast as I can’t get it to play – Lindsay, as you are in the UK you may be able to.)
One thing that I think isn’t well understood is that by breaking down fibre when when we prepare food, we also reduce the amount of fibre. My dietitian said that a general rule of thumb was that cooking vegetables (or fruit) reduced the fibre by half and if you then pureed it, you reduced it by half again. The same is true of grains and seeds. If you consume them whole there is more fibre than if you grind them into a flour first. Essentially the more we break down the fibre in our foods the more calories are available to be absorbed and the less fibre available to our gut bacteria. I do also shudder at the advice to switch from white to brown bread – most commercial brown breads are poor choices too and don’t have much more fibre than white.
I agree with Cinque – legumes rule. I have a really high fibre need – after years of tracking foods and symptoms I’ve found it is the only thing that keeps IBS symptoms at bay and I’d never get the levels I need without legumes as a main source of protein.
Lindsay, gall bladder issues happened to others in my support group (online) when I was on the meal replacement shakes too. I had mine removed when I was 22 so not an issue for me. I’m not surprised that maintenance was an issue after you stopped the shakes. To me this was the biggest flaw in this approach – it doesn’t teach you what to do next. I tracked everything and was struggling to keep my weight stable. I decided to find a dietitian to help me figure out maintenance, which started me down the road to mindful approaches to food and also self acceptance and self awareness. All of these have helped me understand my body better and also my thinking patterns when it comes to food. I also found 5:2 which did make maintenance so much easier – much less of a daily battle.
FD for me in lieu of tomorrow. I had very broken sleep last night which I hope doesn’t effect my appetite too badly. We had high winds here all night and also this morning – lots of banging and clattering in the neighbourhood which kept waking me up. I even went out in the middle of the night after one loud band to reassure myself that the fence was still standing.
Hi everyone I had a fun day yesterday with hub and friends off-roading in the sand dunes and along the beach of Lancelin a seaside town about an hour north of Perth. Everyone had a greasy , carb laden pub lunch while I sipped a large Diet Coke. Actually I wasn’t even tempted and was rewarded by a 400g loss this morning which makes the whole weeks loss of 1.7 kg which I have only managed one other time. Total loss in 18 weeks is 15.5 kg, bmi is still 123.8 . Today is the paella party which I am looking forward to. I have just had a delicious Zucchini frittata and 2 coffees for breaky.
@ LJ I am over half way through Michael Mosely’s Fast 800 and it includes some interesting sections on the very things you are referring to I.e thinking patterns, mindfulness, self awareness, meditation, sleeping well, stress relief and how to follow the low carb Mediterranean way of life.
I have found fasting easy while I’m on holidays and don’t even bother with shakes. It’s easy because I can have unlimited amounts of water and don’t have to worry about frequent toilet visits which would be a problem at work.
At work I need more energy so sip on a thawed protein shake. It’s quick, easy and convenient . On the weekends we go out a lot but usually very healthy stuff except I do have some alcohol . When my holidays are over I am going to experiment with how long I can delay my breaky shake and will either sip it in the car or have it at work.
@kanga, Keto didn’t work for me because it is too rigid, limiting and inflexible. You have to keep to 20 g carbs daily to start with which means there are only a few things you can eat. I compensated by eating too much meat. It also ruins your social life. The Fast Diet is the only thing that has ever worked for me. As we have all read there are many ways to do it.
Believe it or not, my FD dinner will be spaghetti.
https://imgur.com/vciAdEg
I think I’ve mentioned making tuna-chilli pasta before, but as I have bought another packet of the Slendier legume pasta, I though I’d use it to make a FD dinner. This is a variation of my favourite pasta sauce for hotter weather.
50g (dry weight) Slendier edamame bean spaghetti – 240kj
150g spiralized zucchini – 90kj
50g baby spinach leaves – 50kj
100g cherry tomatoes – 65kj
95g tin Sirena tuna in chilli oil, drained 473kj
1 clove of garlic
+ as much of the chilli oil as my calorie limit will allow.
The meal (without the oil) is 918kj. Depending on what else I’ve eaten throughout the day I can add 1 or 2 tsp of the chilli oil (170kj per tsp) to the pasta.
The final pasta will be 259 calories if I add 1 tsp chilli oil or 300cals if I add 2tsp. On a NFD I’d add all the chilli oil that’s in the tin (about a tablespoon) as this is basically what dresses the pasta.
Today, every time I feel like eating something I can remind myself of how much better the pasta will taste with extra chilli oil on it.
The zucchini spirals I will soak in boiling water then dry them off in a non stick pan. The pasta is boiled for 3 minutes and I add the spinach 30 seconds before it’s done then drain well. I put the garlic, tuna, oil, cherry tomatoes back into the pot that I cooked the pasta in, just to warm through. As soon as it’s warmed I add the pasta, spinach and zucchini and toss. Then eat. The only fiddly part really is the zucchini and I’m only adding that to add some veggie bulk and because I need to use the zucchinis form the garden.
The other version of this that I make, is to add a small tin of drained salmon and some lemon infused olive oil instead of the tin of tuna and chilli oil. It’s a very quick meal to throw together and has flavours that I really enjoy in summer time. I used to make this with a large both of normal spaghetti, but not these days.
Good morning friends! Just a quick post as we are having a busy busy Saturday preparing for a party we are having next Saturday. Our annual pool party with our friends and of course hubby and I love cooking so we are testing out lots of different types of finger food. I’m sticking to tiny tastes because the calories will add up very quickly
Gosh it’s hot today but nothing on other parts of the country. Currently it is 33 but feels hotter. Maxx hasn’t moved from the cool tiles in front of the fan for hours poor thing
I made the spiced chicken meatball dish with with roasted home grown cherry tomatoes last night. YUM! I did have a very good NFD and the scales dipped again so yay for that.
Will try to sit down and do a proper reply later but right now I have to make beef koftas to freeze for next week.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
PS: 24 whole hours and Maxx has not chewed anything. Mind you, our surfaces are clear and there’s nothing on the floor so unless he starts eating the walls (which, by the way, he has done in the past) he can’t chew anything!
Cinque, thank you for posting that link to the semi dried cherry tomato recipe a few days. I have just prepared one kilogram of cherry tomatoes and popped them into a cooling oven. I followed the recipe as written, although I did omit the sugar and I used fresh rather than dried thyme. I’m hoping they look good in the morning. I’ll freeze some and I’ll turn some into a pesto, which will also get frozen.
I feel like I’m making good progress with the pile of home grown produce.
@lindsay , many thanks for your encouragement , congrats and support. Well done for managing your weight so well on your overseas holiday.
Hub and I traced our weight gain due to 3 major overseas holidays during the past ten years. We didn’t have the knowledge or skills to manage our eating as we do now and as you do Lindsay.
The first 6 week holiday was to to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
The second 7 week holiday was western USA and Canada.
The third 6.5 week holiday was to Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France.
It was a wonderful experience but each time we came back a bit heavier. If we had our time over again we would have managed our eating much better. Hindsight is a fine thing !
Hi everyone. So I woke up this morning, and randomly decided today would be the day I’d bite the bullet and start 5:2. So it’s now 7 pm Saturday, and I’m currently working my way through a massive salad. Simple – grated carrot, cucumber, lettuce and tomato, with a half Tbs olive oil and various herbs. Seriously having trouble finishing it all! Only thing I’ve eaten all day is two boiled eggs for lunch. Have saved myself 80 calories or so for later if I need them. Maybe a bit of turkey or something with protein, I’m thinking.
Lindsay: Thanks for the info. I haven’t done a lot of activity today but I was exhausted from a really heavy couple of days of lots of driving and being out and about. Maybe I’ll build up to 16:8 eventually, but I think today I had lunch around 11 and dinner at 7. There’s the 8 I guess. I accidentally did 16:8! Lol
Cinque: No problems! I appreciate all the info you’re giving me. I need it! I’ll work my way through it. I’m glad to have started this WOE before uni semester starts in a few weeks. Hopefully I’ll have settled into it by then!
Thinatlast: ”Phone a friend/sister” – I love it! Quacka has been cheering me on via text today, so that’s been really nice. (Thanks, Quack!) She’s good for the quick questions! I mean, she’s good for lots of things, but the quick questions being answered today has been helpful! Ah, that didn’t come out how I wanted it to. I love the gal.
So far so good today! I’m excited! This day is almost over on my first FD. I feel good, aside from a headache.
It feels quite odd to be fasting on a Saturday – a rare occurrence for me. However the day has gone well and my “spaghetti” dinner was very nice.
Rosy, it’s very useful to identify danger times for weight gain. You will know, for any future holidays, that you need a plan for managing your weight while away.
Kanga, well done getting through your first FD. Saving a few calories just is case is something a few of us do too.
Anzac, it sounds like the only time Maxx behaves is when it’s hot. Maybe turn up the heating every time he misbehaves.
Kanga great you’ve taken the plunge – let us know how it went (and what you lost, if you’re weighing). Drinking more water than usual may help with the headache. I always leave 50 or so cals on my FD for a square of Lindt dark chocolate…..satisfies the need for something sweet, but not too sweet. The 16:8 is a target, not a hard and fast rule. Anything over 12 hours is good. I’m travelling with a group, so it’s not rigid for me at the moment – more like 14:10, but I am still getting the benefits.
I found this site really useful in explaining the benefits, and how to manage time restricted eating.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting/time-restricted-eating
Cinque I’m with you – pulses/beans all the way for fibre. But … for us low carb folk, it’s hard. Ditto with the 5 serves of veges, two of fruit. I rarely eat fruit because I know the sugar isn’t for me. It’s really hard to get 28 grams of fibre from low carb food. Thank you for the link to the fibre chart – it’s great and will be really helpful to use as a yardstick, once I am in maintenance. Thanks too LJ for the link to the fibre foods.
Just a quick post to say hi for now. We still have 2 Christmas trees that HAVE to get undecorated and taken down today. We’ve been so lazy or busy during the week.
The new doctor who took over after my doctor that I liked so much suddenly left the practice, was not a good match at all. He actually let me leave the office with BP over 200 systolic. I got it down at home with another med. I made an appointment with OH’s doctor who is new for him also, but seemed very nice at the first appointment. This one is in his 50’s and more experienced.
Thin, my weight was 58.9 yesterday morning after Thursday’s FD. That’s the first time in months that I’ve been in the 58’s. But it was up to 59.8 this morning after some very good black bean soup and big salad last night and other things during the day.
LJ, re your dietician saying that cooking or blending fruits, vegetables and legumes reduces the fiber doesn’t sound right to me. Doing some quick Google searches, I can’t find anything to support that. There is only one website, sfgate that says it does on one page and then directly contradicts it on another. Have you or anyone else done any research? I found this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3602558/#!po=34.3750
Also, when we chew foods with fiber we break them down, and our strong stomach acids certainly have to have a big effect. The only other thing I could find is that peeling fruits and veggies can lower their fiber. Interesting topic to me, especially because of their effects on gut bacteria and all that.
Greetings from the NH Lurker.
Settling into a post-Christmas routine. Have decided to devote each day to 2-3 hours of ‘work’ [projects which have been languishing] every day. This is a new/old discipline for me, and I am getting lots done!
Weight has gone back down after a horrible spike. I blame it on the 1/4 of medium-grain white rice I ate as part of a port stir-fry. I’m convinced that white rice really does ‘stick to your ribs’.
Cali, I agree with you about the fiber. The only thing that reduces fiber is juicing it, which eliminates fiber completely.
LJ, What does Dr Mosley say about fiber on his Healthy Guts site?
Good job, Kanga.
Rosy, I hear that the keto thing is losing credibility.
Lindsay, I’m still trying to train myself not to snack after dinner. If I can accomplish that, then I’d be Fasting for 12-13 hours.
Tomorrow is Book Group, so lots of yummy treats will tempt my resolve. Will follow that with dinner at home with ODH, so it will be a 1-2 punch. Wednesday will be my 70th birthday, but we don’t have much planned. I’ll host the Ladies of Skein that morning and ODH and I will have a simple dinner. Following weekend will be the party. Hope to be “Sleek” by then.
Have a good weekend, where it is hot. Here the temperature was -13 C this morning.
Good morning, Melbourne, Sunday, 8am,
I’m up early thanks to a cat fight at 5am. I am pretty sure it was Miso and the grey cat, but I only saw the grey cat. Miso came in a few minutes ago. Sigh.
Fast day for me, and I am going to henna my hair.
Kanga, cheers for your first Fast Day! I hope you have woken up this morning feeling lovely and light.
The headache was probably dehydration (you wouldn’t think we get so much hydration from food!) so if you still have it, drink lots!
LJoyce, and Cali and FM, I remember hearing the low GI instigator, Professor Jennie Brand-Miller talking about the longer the fibre the better, but I couldn’t understand it then, for the reasons you gave, Cali. It has made me more wary of blending everything though, which I know is a problem for other reasons too.
Tweet from Alan Young to Dr Mosley this morning: ‘Had the privilege of meeting Denis Burkitt In the late 1980’s, and his mantra of “bigger stools, smaller hospitals“ has remained with me ever since!’
Lindsay, it was great to read that article. Yes, sigh, it isn’t easy to get all that fibre in, and the only low carb I am on is no sugar (including most fruit).
Rosy Posy, teachers should get extra pay for those infrequent toilet breaks!
And isn’t it interesting how those overseas trips effected you. I bet that is really common.
It sounds like there is lots of good stuff in Dr Mosley’s new book.
So glad you had such a fun day on the dunes without having to eat the pub grub.
The paella party sounds great fun!
LJoyce, what a great pasta meal.
I do hope the cherry tomatoes have semi dried beautifully. I figured you would love that recipe, so much so I thought there was a good chance you already had it.
I made the zucchini savoury loaf. It was one of those ‘mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients’ loaf/muffin recipes. By chance I had every single ingredient (grated zucchini, grated cheese, chopped olives and chopped chives). But it wasn’t anything particularly wonderful and it had an extra tsp of baking powder on top of the SR flour: I am so sensitive to that taste, and I could taste it, just slightly. So I would skip that if I made it again, and add Parmesan cheese I think. I’ve sliced it and frozen the slices, which I think will be best toasted and buttered, but it wasn’t a good enough recipe to keep.
Cali, so sorry Doctor1 didn’t work out (that experience would be enough to spike anyone’s BP, too). I do hope Doctor2 will be right for you. The whole issue is so frustrating. Hope you feel well enough to take the Christmas trees down.
Hi FM, so glad your weight has decided to go down again. Even with nothing planned for your special birthday, it looks like it will be a lovely day. And a sleek one I hope! Happy Birthday wishes heading over from this side of the world!
-13! And we have 31 forecast!
Best wishes everyone
FM, Happy Birthday! 🎉 So glad to hear your lost the weight from over the holidays.
https://cdn4.1800flowers.com/wcsstore/Flowers/images/catalog/148666sx.jpg?quality=50
Cinque, the ingredients for that zucchini loaf sound good except for the baking powder. I can sometimes taste that in a recipe too. I think the Parmesan would be a great addition. Cat fights are usually very noisy and dramatic. Our cats stay indoors but every once in a while they fight. If we’re downstairs and they’re up, it sounds like elephants running back and forth through the hall. (One of them is obese and we’re trying to limit his food. He isn’t happy that there isn’t food sitting out all day after meals.)
Kanga, congrats on your first FD! I bet after a month or two you’ll settle into the routine and hardly think about them, especially if you usually do them on the same days. When I first heard about 5:2, I think it was on a Thursday. I read a bit about it online and bought Dr. MM’s book on Kindle. I believe it was early in the day and I hadn’t eaten, so I decided to make Thursday and Friday my FDs that week. The diet seemed so simple and logical that it didn’t take me long to decide. I only read a very small portion of the book at first. Really, everything you really need to know can be said on a couple pages. The rest is just building a case for why it’s a good way of eating and motivation for sticking to it. The next week I started doing Monday and Thursday FDs, unless I was traveling or had a lunch or dinner with friends or for work, and then I changed one or both to a different day. I found this forum early on and it’s really what gave me the motivation to stick with it. And seeing the pounds fall away without being on an actual diet was great.
Lindsay, I started reading the posts here and got side tracked with the very interesting article that you posted, thank you. I was hoping to find something that would convince my OH to try it – he has normal BP controlled by meds (a contradiction in terms). But, in reading, it confirms that my dribble of A&C milk in coffee (which I’m having now) is negating any beneficial effects on avoiding eating until 2pm which of course I’ve always suspected. It goes on to say that anyone can learn to drink black coffee. Something for me to ponder because the A&C milk in my morning coffee is the one thing that nearly normalises a FD for me. I really detest black coffee.
Kanga, well done! Fantastic that you just decided to get on with it. I bet today is a great one. Try not to over-compensate with extra food – we’ve all done it. You might even realise that you aren’t hungry this morning? Drink lots of water for the headache.
We started fasting on a Sunday because I thought, “why make any more excuses, let’s just do it now”. Sunday became a wonderful FD choice for me because it limited the weekend damage to one day and eliminated the need to correct everything on Monday. A bit like having control over the silly season in December and not needing to feel depressed about it in January.
CalifD, great, you dipped into the 58s. I’m looking forward to that. I bet the black beans were delicious. I hope your next GP works out. It is so important to feel comfortable with them.
FM, happy birthday! I hope it’s great. Do you celebrate with cake? You sound very busy. Is it a themed party next weekend?
Rosy, what an impressive weight loss you have experienced. I bet that was a fun day on the dunes. Yesterday’s paddle was fun but we were all in bed by 8.45pm. I think we paddled for four hours and the wind and current were against us on the way back so it was quite an effort. We went from Shelley Bridge to Kent St Weir where we had a huge breakfast at the Canning River Cafe – have you been there? We ordered two big breakfasts with an extra plate. When they brought it out, two whopping plates of food, I reminded the waiter about the extra plate and he explained that these were already half portions! They had kindly divided it in the kitchen. Then he made a second trip with OH’s. Utterly absurd amount of food but OH managed it easily!
LJ, I liked the look of your FD meal. It feels weird to change the day for me too. I only got two NFDs before today’s FD and only another two NFDs to follow it. Back to normal now.
Anzac, it sounds like you are doing well with the scales. And Maxx. How many people will attend your pool party?
Cinque, if Miso was involved, it sounds like she was the victor. No war wounds to indicate that she was there? I hope it’s a fasty FD for you.
Good morning all, so many posts with loads of information and entertainment. They are the highlight of my days. FD today.
Thin I wish I could have got myself motivated to sell all my parents stuff but everything was so overwhelming the thought of going through the process and dealing with people was beyond me plus it all had to be shipped back to Sydney. I do still have about 50 Royal Doulton dolls which Mum collected over the years and I must look into selling them.
I have been sorting, cleaning and throwing out unwanted clothes and other things so feel liberated by that.
As I said previously this year I am trying to stay more positive and do things for myself. So going with that theme I booked a trip on Friday that came up in my emails which appealed to my sense of adventure and a bit of my wanna be if I could be. The best bit being a real bargain as it was so last minute. Fly to New Zealand on 30th January (yes 17 days to go) and board the MS Regatta for 4 days. One stop at Bay of Islands and then to Sydney arriving Feb 3. This ship only has just over 600 passengers and about 350 crew. Everything is included, Bulgari toiletries, all drinks including champagne, all food even the specialised restaurants. I am doing the happy dance. I am going with my friend Elaine because she is the only one who can do things at the drop of a hat. I also had a friend die very suddenly this week of a stroke, he was only 55. So you don’t know what life has in store.
Anyway better go and do a few more things before Dad gets home.
Good morning SHs hope you are all having a good Sunday
Intesha, that sounds like a wonderful break. Good to hear you are doing things for yourself.
Cinque, this is what the cherry tomatoes looked like when they came out of the oven this morning https://imgur.com/vJKlnAp They didn’t lose as much moisture as I was expecting. I’m freezing the larger tray of yellow cherry tomatoes and the rest I will turn into pesto and then freeze and a few I’ll eat now.
Thin, I think 4 hours of paddling may have worked that breakfast off.
I doubt the legume spaghetti will feature often as a FD meal, but it made a nice change. I actually cooked the whole packet of spaghetti and I have a bowl of pesto pasta and another bowl of pasta with bolognese (from the freezer) ready to go as my next 2 NFD meals. So no cooking for a few nights.
Lindsay and Thin, I was surprised to learn that the little bit of milk was enough to break a fast as I had read it required about 50 calories. I’m not about to leave the milk out of my tea – I’d rather not have it at all. However I can console myself that I stop eating by about 7pm and I don’t usually drink my first cup of tea until 9am, so that’s 14 hours. I might see how late I can push that first cup of tea.
FM, I looked at MMs Clever Guts website and the effect of cooking on fibre content isn’t addressed. He only talks about creating resistant starch by cooking and cooling.
Cali, I’m glad you are giving your husband’s doctor a go, I really hope he’s a better fit for you that the new one at your current practice – it sounds more hopeful.
Cali you got me thinking about the fibre issue. I decided to go back to the calorie/nutrition guide http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/nutrientables/nuttab/Pages/default.aspx as I knew they listed the fibre content in 100g of raw product and 100g of cooked product. I checked a few veg and some had a bit less fibre in 100g cooked (eg carrots) but some had more. Those that had more fibre also had a higher calorie count in the 100g cooked (eg mushrooms) which probably means 100g cooked veg started out as a higher weight and has lost water during cooking. So if 100g of raw veg doesn’t still weight 100g once it’s cooked this will also have an impact on all of the nutrition numbers. Just looking at a few of the numbers I can see that the loss isn’t anywhere near 50%. It varies between veg, but seems to be 0-10% depending on the veg (after adjusting for the water loss I’ve figured out that mushrooms lose 0% and carrots 10% of their fibre during cooking – most things seem to be 5% or less). That’s a relief as I generally prefer most veg cooked rather than raw.
The only other thing I need to pay attention to is the skin on veg – if I peel veg before cooking it I definitely lose fibre.
NFD for me. I’m going to the gym at lunch time (the only quiet time there on a Sunday) then I’ll visit my best friend who lives nearby. As I won’t be home during lunch I think I’ll have a smoothie before I go.
@ Thin, yes I have been to the Cafe at Deep Water Point many times. My sisters and I sprinkled Mums ashes just nearby as it holds a significant place in my family’s heart. The magical thing that happened was a pod of dolphins swam by just as we were sprinkling , almost as if they were carrying her away !
Re coffee, I love it with milk and just like you I hate it black. My gp told me to keep having milky coffees to keep osteoporosis from developing. On this holiday fast I have 3 or 4 milky coffees before lunch, then I drink litres of iced water with Lemon, mint and cucumber floating in it, one bouillon, 1 Metamucil and that’s all I have all day and usually lose anything from 100 to 400 g a day.
The day after a big event , I always feel awful. I had a fun time, but the bloat is back and I darent get on the scales for a few days. I wonder if it is really worth it. Now I’m back in training for the ABBA party which is next Sat.
Hi everyone
Sunday afternoon, a couple of hours before we have to go to THE family dinner. I’ve decided to take my own (good) advice and approach it with a positive attitude. I’m a firm believer our attitude to things makes a huge difference, so that’s what I’m doing.
Congratulations Kanga, on your first FD! My first FD, in almost a month, is tomorrow. I can’t wait actually. I’m looking forward to getting back into it. I’m planning on eating lots of our homegrown salad veggies and also some cooked veggies for this week.
We made a lovely big salad yesterday with prawns and our homegrown cherry tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, chilli and our mild jalapeños. It was so delicious with the pesto used as a dressing ( I mixed some vinegar into it first).
We made some more pickled jalapeños today. Guess what! We discovered some of them are actually developing heat. They are meant to be quite hot but are so mild it’s ridiculous, more like a green capsicum. We want them to be hot! We have to add some extremely hot chillies into the jars before sealing to give them a bit of bite.
I only quickly read everyone’s posts but I hope you are all doing well and I will be back tomorrow, probably about 25 times at least lol. Take care all x
@fasting me, yes agree Keto is losing credibility as it is not backed up by research. Also it is doomed to fail because of its inflexibility . On the Fast Diet our bodies go into Ketosis intentionally but the high fat, low carb regimen is unsustainable.
Hi all
Welcome Mr and Mrs Peanutz – hope this way of life is just the thing you’re looking for.
LJ and Thin there are a lot of ways to tackle time restricted eating that may not be as rigid as my 16:8 and as long as you go past the 12 hour feed/fast cutoff, there are still benefits to be had. I drink black coffee in the morning – have for years and years – so it’s not an issue for me but I imagine giving up a hot drink of your choice in the morning would be a big challenge. I can’t imagine a day without two strong black coffees, straight up.
Hope the dinner went well Quacka – good strategy for managing it.
And Intesha, great you have booked this special trip. Enjoy every second, and especially the planning for it. Such a nice feeling, looking forward to something.
We are having our last night in Glasgow after having OH’s family for dinner last night at our AirBnB apartment. Chaos in the kitchen this morning, but I resisted all offers for help to clean up last night. As it was, they didn’t leave til nearly 4 am. I thought I managed pretty well in the oddly-equipped kitchen, with its odd assortment of glasses, cutlery and plates, by turning out a very passable spag bol with salad and good bread, followed by a bread and butter pudding (the only dessert I don’t need a recipe for). All pretty carb heavy, and preceded by lots of gin and accompanied by far too much red wine, but today’s another day. (and I haven’t eaten yet so doing a bit of time restricted eating to compensate). We’ve moved to a hotel today before our flight down to London tomorrow. It was hard going, packing up, hung over and tired (oh dear, am I allowed to say I have a hangover – so far I’ve managed to keep my bad habits pretty much to myself).
Have a good day/night all.
Hi everyone. 7 am here, Blue Mountains, NSW, Aus. I’ve been awake since Ridiculous O’Clock because I had to drive my niece to work for a 6 am start. Poor kid. I was planning to do a Fast Day today but a terrible night’s sleep put me off that one. I’ll probably do my next one tomorrow instead. Thanks, everyone, for the cheers and pats on the back after my first successful FD! It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, which was a lovely surprise.
thinatlast: I’ve decided I’m not going to buy sugar anymore, so the only way my daughter will be able to make her sugary sweets is if she either gets the sugar herself when she’s out and about, or if she convinces her dad to. I have stevia to put in my coffee if I need it. Interesting how you say not to overcompensate on non-FD. I wasn’t hungry yesterday (first day post FD) but ended up having a sweet when we went out. It was hard not to beat myself up for eating some ‘junk-y’. The old diets used to make me feel SO bad when I ‘failed’. It’s taking a little while to get used to the idea that we don’t have to do that in this WOE.
Rosy: That’s inspirational about the lady who lost so much from being 100kg. I hope I’m as slim as I was in my 20s eventually! Sad to say, I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life, including when I was pregnant and nearly two weeks overdue! I don’t want to live like this anymore, so I’m hoping 5:2 is everything it sounds like it is.
BetsyLee and Lindsay: I measured everything I could in the first week of January, and measured again yesterday. Some areas I measure MORE in, so I’m wondering if I’ve measured correctly. Hard to get the tape in exactly the same spot. Three areas I’ve measured less in so that’s an improvement. I’m not sharing the weight loss yet as it’s not accurate. I wasn’t fasting when I took the first weight, so the weight this week post-fast day isn’t comparable. I’ll share next week though! I’m excited to see what next week’s loss and measurements will be! As for chocolate, I’m actually on a ‘no-chocolate’ year. It seems to upset my whole system, so I’m trying giving it up for a year. I love chocolate a lot, but it doesn’t like me! There are a couple of blips in the tracker at the moment, but that’s fine. I feel better not eating it! I think if I had it in the house, it would be too tempting, so I’m purposely not buying any for home, despite how much my teenage daughter protests.
LJoyce: That’s how I’m planning to do my 2 FD each week as well. I can’t pick two definite days each week, as my weeks vary. It’s not practical to be so rigid with my week, although our Saturdays are almost always identical, so that will be a day that I’m aiming for each week. I know a lot of people don’t choose a weekend day, but it’s easier if I know how my day looks. Re. the soups: That’s a good idea. At the moment I’m going with boiled eggs and big salads with a side of protein. When I get bored with those, once I’m in a routine, I’ll experiment with soups and other options.
Fasting_me and Cinque: Thanks heaps! Fasting_me, what book are you reading for book club? I’ve thrown myself into leisure reading before uni starts, and devouring books like there’s no tomorrow. Cinque, I did wake up feeling lighter, actually! Thanks! You’re right about dehydration – I felt like I was getting hungrier by ‘waking up’ my stomach with water, so I avoided it a little. Probably the wrong thing for me to do! What does everyone do about that?
Quacka: Thanks! I hope your FD today goes well! Text me if it’s getting hard at any time. These lovely ladies here always have your back as well. I feel so welcomed by everyone in such a short time! Ha, one day your jalapeños will be really hot and will burn your mouth off without you expecting it. Film the experience for me 😉
PeanutNZ: Seems there are a few of us new to this WOE, including me! We can do it!! I hope you and your wife – and the rest of us – find it an easy WOL to fall into.
GOOD LUCK to everyone fasting today!
Good morning, 7:30am Melbourne Monday
Lovely day after fast day here, and enjoying the cool of the morning. Thinking of Thin enjoying the same in three hours!
Welcome Peanutz, sending good wishes for a great first fast day.
Reading through my twitter feed this morning I noticed Dr Mosley congratulating someone about to start, and reminding them to drink 8 glasses of water through the day (so wee is clear, or pale straw coloured). Yes he said that too.
Someone else mentioned he was starting and 600 calories and Dr M suggested he consider starting at 800. I guess to avoid him giving up if it is too hard at 600.
Cali, Thin, luckily the cat fight was all sound and fury. (I live in fear of vet bills).
Thin, I was also struck by the way my milk in cuppas doesn’t fit into Lindsay’s article guidelines (cor, what a sentence). It led me to toast and grind licorice root so I had something else to drink yesterday afternoon (being licorice root tea 😉 ) and I will think if I can extend that complete fasting window on my fast days. Similar to you LJoyce.
And your paddling day sounds just so lovely.
Intesha, YAY! So excited to read about your trip. That’s making it a wonderful year. So glad your friend Elaine can join you. And sorting cleaning and throwing out is so cathartic. Ooh and hopefully you can use those Gumtree tips to help sell your mum’s fabulous dolls. I bet they would be best on eBay. (See how much I learned!)
LJoyce, the tomatoes look wonderful and I bet they taste intense. No doubt you will tweak the recipe to get them exactly how you want them another time.
My zucchinis have built up again.
Quacka, I hope you had a great family dinner and have the best quote from your arch-nemesis to amuse us with. Great news that your jalapenos are getting some heat into them. What wonderful pickles they will make.
I’m thinking bread and butter pickles for my zucchini (Stephanie Alexander’s recipe, but I will try cutting down on the sugar).
Lindsay, I hope the hangover is clearing and the trip to London is a lovely one. Best wishes.
Well here comes the day! Hope it is a great one. Cheers.
Edit: Just seen you have posted Kanga, I will enjoy reading it now.
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Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
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in Weight loss • updated 1 hour, 47 minutes ago by symba7
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in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 11 hours, 22 minutes ago by Intesha
6:57 am
10 Jan 19