Good morning,
I’m slow this morning, but I can take it easy. Nice day after fast day.

Welcome Kerry fr! Easter gives you time to savour a bit of lovely chocolate so that you won’t miss it if it becomes more occasional, and to plan for 5:2 to help make it a success!
After trying a variety of things, I have settled on regular fast day foods, it makes fast days so simple (a big bowl of miso soup with vegetables in the evening, and maybe a small bowl of soup on the afternoon if I am super hungry. I have milk in cuppas even on a fast day, so I count that too).

Welcome Kiwi 72! I hope the kids survive your fast days! Most people find they get easier and easier.
It will be good to have your health and fitness experience here. 5:2 should be a great way to lose those extra kg and then keep healthy as you go.

Anzac, aaagh, peak hour! Let’s all move to Adelaide! I hope you can get the boring documentation done easily. Lots of (non food) awards along the way maybe? And by ‘non food’ I don’t mean maccas 😉

I forgot to say which of us was Klondi, and which was me in the photo, but everyone knew, or worked it out, I think!

Thin, a lovely weigh in. Happy Birthday! A special day.
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So glad you are getting rain. We are expecting 30 tomorrow! And rain on Sunday 🙂

Quacka, woot for those 10 days! Hooray for your flight coming up. What a lovely way to beat a phobia.
The knowledge that I am more likely to die as I head out in my car, than going on a flight, is not exactly a comfort, but makes me less worried about flying.

Hi Turn, you will be great. One day, when you still think you are struggling, you will zip past someone huffing and blowing and realise you are a streamlined running machine! Have you done yoga before? I love it. I can’t run any more, but I can do gentle yoga stretches.
And you are under 75kg! Congratulations! Enjoy!
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Neil, what fun! 10 inches off your waist. Strut those new outfits!
No Cadbury creme eggs for me!

LJoyce, what a lovely piece about the kakapo parrots. I hope your infusion went well. Will you manage to keep having them at home?

Rosy, you are fasting even today? Hope it is a good one for the final one.
Talk of planning! At the end of 4 years you will be so set for caravanning. Hooray for life long learning!

Betsy, a lovely weigh in for you too. Hmm, planning and discipline is the answer for successful working from home, isn’t that always the way. Sigh. I bet you will do it brilliantly though.
I’m glad it is step by step with 5:2 weight loss, so you can make the best decisions about your medications and CPAP machine.

Klondi, a lovely description of our outing and kids. Haha calling (my darling) Inspector Thursday the offsider, even though you are correct. His family make such a wonderful counterbalance to Morse.

Wow, 30 minutes running! I don’t think I have ever been fit enough to do that, Another medal! https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vAAAAOSw27FbO51F/s-l300.jpg how did you feel at the end?

I really liked the Ask The Doctor series too, and Dr Sandro Demaio is the one I want to chat to about my healthy food project. I might watch them again if they are conveniently on iview.

Cheers all

Happy Birthday, thin!
https://cdn.atwilltech.com/flowerdatabase/y/youre-one-in-a-million-fresh-flowers-VA00807.425.jpg Hope it’s a wonderful day.

Cinque and Klondi, thank you for posting the picture. You are both so beautiful. It’s great seeing the two of you. I’m glad the day with the grandies went well and that everyone had a good time.

Welcome to the newbies. I hope you both find that this way of eating fits in with your lifestyle and that it’s as easy for you as it was for me to lose weight. I did the basic 5:2 and have maintained my weight loss for about a year and a half. 5:2 has been a very good way to maintain a weight loss. I became so accustomed to the 2 FD’s per week that I just stuck with it, eating a little more on nonfast days. It’s the only way many of us here can easily maintain.

I made a big batch of hot cross buns for family and friends today for Good Friday. People were amazed that I still make them for others even though I don’t eat them myself, I don’t know about that. I find bread making quite therapeutic, punching out my frustrations on the hapless lump of dough that rewards my violence by turning into soft spicy fruity buns of yummyness. The kids love them, cutting them in half, slapping on generous amounts of butter and tucking in. I allowed myself a quarter of a bun with a slice of butter on it just for the taste….nothing like the taste of home-made 😀

Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes and flowers. I haven’t had it yet. Rosy, you are too funny about the star signs – and spot on about religion. We will be celebrating at an Indian restaurant.

Rosy, I agree that international travel has lost its gloss now that individual countries are unable to retain their unique features, people and customs and we’re all becoming the same. It makes me sad as my life has been greatly enriched by extensive travels. The long haul flights are tedious and the security measures absurd. I bet you will love your caravan trips and ‘going round’. Something fabulous to look forward to when you retire. That forecast big rain was a bit of a disappointment – wasn’t it cold yesterday? I wore my Goretex jacket to go for a walk.

Turn, that’s a great achievement on the jogging. Well done. And saying goodbye to all things business-related and fully embracing the new life of retirement must be fun. For how many years did you have that hospitality business?

A warning to the long posters – I notice that I keep getting logged out recently. Be careful to copy your missive before pressing submit just in case.

Minka, hello again. Poor Mr M! He is still coming to terms with the fact that Ms M. means business – a fast day is a fast day is a fast day! Congratulations for doing so well with 6:1 and showing us that we can still have Hot X buns if we so wish.

CalifD, I’m with you. 5:2 all the way. I had a strange dream recently where I was getting fat and didn’t know what to do about it. Before I woke up, I remembered about 5:2. It was such a relief. What’s that all about?

I find Easter such an odd holiday. Everything closes for Good Friday and it’s dead quiet around here (yes, even the neighbours didn’t come home last night, yay, bonus, happy dance!). Then on the Saturday, it’s business as usual, cafes buzzing, supermarkets open, cars everywhere. Then all quiet again for two more days. Hope everyone’s enjoying theirs, whatever it means to you.

Turn, that big dark chocolate Guiness “egg” that locked itself inside your cupboard was looking for a nice warm place to hatch. Soon, it will hatch into a big chocolate bunny or chick, which if not gifted or eaten quickly, will grow up and lay more of these big chocolate eggs. 🐰🐣🐥 You can see how these things perpetuate themselves. 😁 And you know how bunnies multiply! 😁

I hope everyone has a nice Easter, whether it’s a religious holiday or just a day to celebrate friends and family and hot cross buns. Neil, I can resist a lot of things, but anything bread related is really tough because of the smell of it baking. I admire your restraint with eating just a small amount. I’m sure they were delicious. But buying new clothes in a smaller size certainly makes the sacrifice worth it. LJ, Cinque and Intesha do a lot of baking too and seem able to dole out the finished product in reasonable amounts. (Or give it away.) I think I relate more to Minka. Once I tuck into one, especially if there was chocolate and butter involved, there would be no stopping me. But there is always a FD to atone for our sins. 😁

I hope everyone has a nice Easter with nice warm temps. We finally got up to 25 or 26 today. It was the first day that I could wear a short sleeved t shirt outdoors. I even bought a small bougainvillea plant and several small basil plants to plant tomorrow. Bougainvilleas never make it through the winter here because it gets too cold. But ones about a meter tall are great annual plants and aren’t too expensive for a seasonal plant. Most of you can probably grow them all year down there.

Minka, l loved your post. And yes, lovely to see the photo Klondi and Cinque. You both look beautiful, and it’s so good to see the faces that go with the pictures.
Cinque great to have a good night’s sleep. Doesn’t it make things go so much better ..everything. And you in particular need it, so may it be the first of many.
Thin is it today? I hope you have a great birthday, and enjoy your Indian feast. Hurrah for good Friday and peace. Hope your neighbours stay away.
I can’t agree with you and Rosy about overseas travel. I’m still addicted and find local culture strong in many of the places we visit. Saigon is very cosmopolitan, but Hanoi is a different city altogether, for example. Rural China, and even the big cities outside the capital are all quite traditional – we see it even in Bejing, although it has become more Western since we first lived there more than 15 years ago. That said Rosy, caravaning sounds so so appealing.
Funny few days here. Babysitting on Wednesday night ended up very badly when 100 metres from my son’s home my oil light went on and the car started making a very disturbing noise. Pulled into the service station at the end of the street and put oil in, but the noise continued intermittently until we got home (it’s only a few kilometres). Impossible to get much attention from the large caryard/garage nearby on Easter Thursday, but they still have the car and apparently from a cursory inspection it’s condition is terminal. I knew we needed a new car but it’s odd to have it perfectly functional in the morning and dead as a dodo by evening. Now, what to do next.
Anzac how nice to have a long weekend after your first week in the new job. And another on Thursday.
Turn that curry sounds delicious – have you posted the recipe?
Cali can you move your potted bougainvilleas indoors when it gets too cold for them? Cinque’s right – they are a tropical plant. We have two in our back garden, shooting to the top of very tall trees. Too thorny to have anywhere else but up in the sky. But they do provide beautiful colour popping out of the green tree tops.
Quacka Birkenstocks will be absolutely fine in North Queensland. Fine and comfortable. Congratulations on making the trip – hope it’s the first of many many more.
Cinque also agree on the etiquette tips you posted a while back – and tipping. I think it’s the uncertainly of knowing what to do in countries that do tip, that makes it challenging for us. I would rather the Singaporean system ….the bill, plus, plus, plus for government taxes and service. Same net result, less uncertainty. When we were in the UK recently DD bought us afternoon tea at Kensington Palace, for Christmas. It was lovely, but the service was very average – quite patronising, actually. When we got the bill, they’d added 20% as a ‘discretionary’ service charge. Because it was already expensive, and the service perfunctory, I paid for the meal without the ‘discretionary’ service charge. The glare I got had to be seen to be believed. My OH went away muttering (quite incorrectly of course), ‘I wish the bloody Queen would pay her staff properly’. (with apologies to Royalists).

Betsy I know your question was to Anzac so I hope you don’t mind my chiming in. I found when I was doing my PhD I had to set myself rules . I got up very early and went straight to the office and gave myself half an hour on the computer doing bills, reading, playing games etc. I was very strict. Every two hours I gave myself a break to get a coffee, play more computer games, stretch my legs etc. I only worked til lunch-time, but then got in another couple of hours elsewhere in the day, depending on what my OH was doing. When I hit a writing block I packed myself up and went back to Saigon for 10 days or so. I’d work all day, then head out with mates from my old uni for dinner, drinks etc. I always came home with a significant chunk of work done. I think I did this 3 times. I think the main thing is just to keep plugging away. I took 2 long breaks away from my PhD when my OH had cancer, but got there in the end. Good thing it was a longitudinal study! Best wishes for your work – it sounds very interesting, and great it combines your two loves. That will be very motivating.
And finally to end my marathon post, Klondi yes I do speak some Mandarin. It’s pretty basic…but it’s a language I love, and I keep plugging away.
Enjoy the rest of your Easter all. Safe holidays.

Happy Birthday Thin!
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Lindsay. Yes, sleep. Such a blessing. Last night wasn’t too bad. We are trying little Miss 4 here again tonight. She thinks she can go back to sleep by herself.

See you all when I resurface 😉

Good morning friends 🙂 this faux summer continues here in Sydney. Another stunning sunny day and 26 degrees.

Cali, we are having the same weather right now! Isn’t it incredible? I fear winter is going to hit us soon with a thump but for now I am enjoying every minute of our Easter break with this weather. We had a swim in the pool yesterday as our solar heating got it up to 27 degrees and it was lovely. Maxx did his usual lifeguard duties on the side. He also enjoys going and biting off a bit of foliage from the garden and trotting over and dropping it in the water. Little scamp….but cute too

So glad you had a good sleep finally Cinque 🙂 it makes all the difference doesn’t it? I had a nice sleep in this morning courtesy of hubby taking fur-child upstairs early. It was lovely.

We’re off for a walk so more later….happy Easter everyone

Happy easter everyone.

Busy day here. I’ve been in the Adelaide Hills all day. I spent the morning with family and the afternoon with my best friend.

I have a photo of the chocolate I was given at the family this morning: https://imgur.com/a/ybRBSRk and yes it is sitting on my kitchen scales. That’s 807g of chocolate – every gram of it is Haighs – which makes the idea of throwing any away so abhorrent. At the moment I have 792g of it in a bag inside the wardrobe in the spare bedroom! What happened the other 15 grams you may ask – I’ll give you one guess – that was 2 mini eggs. And before you think I was restrained stopping at 15 grams I have some other photos of just some of the food on the table at the family brunch this morning: https://imgur.com/a/SQjaZkj That’s just the sweet offerings there was hot savoury food that hadn’t come out oven when I took those shots. After all that food I went to Belair National park and my best friend and I went for a 90min walk around the lake. I skipped lunch but an hour ago I was hungry and I ate 2 hot cross buns.
I can summarise today – good company and lots of tasty offerings of which I generously partook, but few healthy choices in sight – although there was a fruit platter. After a week of 800cal days I don’t feel too badly about it, but I’m hoping I forget where the rest of the chocolate is for a while.

I hope you have all had a lovely day spent with people you like and doing enjoyable things.

Hi all

Anzac. You are having a lovely Autumn as we are in Melbourne. Does Maxx not like the pool or have you managed to train him not to swim in it. He is just giving you life rafts in case you you need them

Neil. What is frisbee golf and bad luck re the ace. How is your Easter going.

Cinque. I forgot to say, if you are meeting Dr. Sandro, can I come too, he is rather charming.

LJ. Wow, that food, I hope there was a lot of people to share it. Is that a bowl made of chocolate? It all looks yummy, obviously you aren’t the only cook in the family. Good that you are supporting a local business, I’m sure you can make that chocolate last and prolong the pleasure.

Thin. The news from Sri Lanka is very sad. so many lives ruined and for what? I think I have found my new mantra, ‘ food has no power over me’. I wrote it as a bit of a joke but on reflection, this WOL has given me control back over what I eat. Now I chose what food goes into my mouth and enjoy it, rather than mindlessly getting as much as I can as if there was never going to be any more. I can also ignore supermarkets, social eating and other traps. Thanks again and again Dr M.

Good afternoon, another groundhog day of sunny and 26 degrees here in Sydney

I am so sad to read and hear about Sri Lanka. We spent two weeks there in 2014 and loved it. I call it India without the poverty. More horror in our beautiful world 🙁

Klondi, Maxx loves the ocean or the river but just isn’t interested in the pool. We used to put him in when he was a puppy to make sure he knew how to swim and he would just swim to the steps and hop out. He stares down into the water and sometimes hubby will encourage him in but he backs off. I’m happy as I have hair in my food, my clothes, my hair, the furniture, the floor (you get the idea) so I am very happy to have a hair-free pool!

LJ, that food! But your 90 minute walk will help keep off any excess.

Betsy, glad you have moved off your plateau. Your doctorate sounds very interesting and I admire your discipline. I feel a bit sad when I think about PHD’s as my nephew did his in environmental chemistry through the mining boom, but just as he finished the boom went bust and he couldn’t get a job. Now he is the most educated tour-guide in Europe. However the good news is he has finally met a lovely girl (he is 33) and they want to get married and have babies so they are coming home to Australia next year to do just that. We are all hoping he will do some sort of refresher and try again to get a job using his degrees.

I’m envious of your rain Thin. Dry as toast here but I’m not complaining whilst it is Easter. We have been swimming! In April! Diabolical.

How is that lurking egg going Turnabout? I hope it hasn’t hatched!

Cali, I’m with you re fresh baking bread. I can resist many things but not that.

So, Maxx was a naughty nightmare yesterday so I think I have once again convinced hubby to take him to training. I have a promise that we will go next Sunday. I threatened to take him myself and I think the thought of me trying to find the place, control 40+ kilo dog without injuring myself and the ensuing doctors bills if I did convinced him. We shall see. He has started jumping up at people again and that has to stop immediately. He will jump on the wrong person and hurt them and I can’t type what we could be forced to do. It’s not his fault, it is ours for our inconsistent training

Ok, time to get dinner going. Happy Easter Monday everyone

For some reason I was really hungry yesterday and I couldn’t stay out of the cupboards/fridge. But at least with this WOL my body is craving things are better for me. Before fast 800 I would have been raiding the cupboards for toast, scones, chips, lollies and chocolate, these days I’m grabbing nuts, blue cheese and dates. I did allow myself one of the hot cross buns that I made, but I cut it up into quarters and ate it through the day rather than one big starchy hit.

Oh, additionally it’s my first post-fast 800 weigh day tomorrow, I wasn’t very organised this week because I took the week off to look after the kids during school holidays, so I didn’t really do fast days and non fast days, I just ate what I felt like I needed. Some days were more, like yesterday and some days were less. I didn’t count calories but I doubt I went over 2,000 on any of the days that I ate more. It’ll be interesting to see how that’s reflected on the scales tomorrow. There will be a bit more stability from tomorrow because I’m back at work now (although Thursday I’m off again for ANZAC day)

Morning all, it sounds as if everyone had a good weekend.

Lindsay, bad luck about your car – will you be getting a new one? The car that DD and OH sort of share broke down last year when DD was on a vet prac down south about 4 hours’ drive from Perth. It couldn’t have been more inconvenient (or expensive). Pleased to hear that you’ve had a quiet weekend with the tenants away. Ours returned last night with the anticipated noise bubble that follows them everywhere they go, but we feel very fortunate to have had those peaceful four days without them.

LJ, your baking is amazing. I don’t know how you cope with all that constant temptation. That black lab would be fun to play with. I can feel some pet sitting coming on…..

Quacka and Anzac, what lovely summery activities you’ve been enjoying. I know it’s autumn here because our navel oranges are turning orange. The only downside of that tree is that all the fruit becomes available at the same time.

Weirdly, I continue to lose weight. 57.6kg. It’s a new PB and a weight I’m sure I haven’t seen since I was about 13. Must go for a walk and then study my bridge notes so that my partner and I can dazzle the novice group with our creative bidding.

Finally found time to check in. So many interesting things to read. Also saddened about the bombs in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. My Sri Lankan friends are very upset about it all.

Turnabout’s egg in cupboard concerned me – maybe a giant dinosaur will hatch?? 🙂 Actually, chuckled at CalifDreamer’s post re egg possibilities.

Was thrilled on Saturday to reach a new low weight – and then followed it with a NFD and 2 TDEE, so I’m fasting (FD800) for the next few days to make up. Too many carbs. Yes, the hot cross buns got me. I know they’ve been around the stores for months, but I haven’t been buying them (much), so bought some over Easter. Last time, I ate two and threw the rest away immediately. This time? Some helpful person told me that they freeze well, which I probably didn’t need to know, so they’re in the freezer for NFDs. Yes, I could still have thrown them out….. weak!

Klondikekween, speaking of hot X buns, this year I’ve just been eating them on their own, no butter or jam, which has at least kept the calorie count down a bit. Congrats in completing the 5K park run. Good for you!

LJoyce, 800 gms of Haigh’s chocolate??!! What a temptation that would be to me. So strong of you to only eat so little before putting it away.

thinatlast, congrats on the new low weight. That’s great news.

Cinque, good that little Miss 4 survived the overnighter, and even better that you survived her 🙂

LindsayL, thanks for the suggestions re applying myself to my study. I have a “garage room” set up to do the study, but spread my references over everything so it’s too messy to use – step one is to clear them away so I have an open working area. The other thing is trying to transcribe interviews; it just takes ages, much longer than the interviews themselves. But…. just have to get serious about it and DO IT!

Anzac65, sounds like Maxx really needs that obedience school, but the faux summer and the beach have been lovely for you. Same here in Melbourne. It’s finally cooled off now, but wonderful over the Easter weekend for the kids on school holidays. But… driest start to the year in Melbourne ever.

Keep on keeping on the downward trail everyone!

Weigh in this morning, I dropped another 600 grams, so I am now officially less than 20 kilos from my goal at 109.6. My total weight loss to date is 21.9 kilograms. I’ve decided to set lots of little milestones to check off now to keep myself motivated and excited about losing weight. The first milestone is 25 kilograms lost, that is just 3.1 kilograms away, then 105 kilograms which is 4.6 kilos away, then 30 kilos lost, then the magic double digits a mere 9.7 kilos away.

Another grey Melbourne morning here, nice weather for me though.

I’m all topsy turvy as I have run out of miso paste and haven’t had a chance to get down to Smith St to buy more. And I am taking little Miss 2 overnight tonight for the first time. She is very excited. Life is an adventure. But I will fast on Friday I think.

Lindsay, what a relief to be able to get your car fixed, and what good friends to give you transport in the meantime. Best wishes for a good day.

Betsy, thanks, and my sympathy… translations! I have done a few. I hope (if you can’t get the professional service) you can do little blocks followed by some stretching and star jumps! At least doing them makes the issues and themes pop out.

Neil, big congratulations. Those little milestones are an excellent idea. by the time they have all been ticked off, your new habits will be so ingrained they will be able to hold up pretty well against those old habits.

Hi Cali, I hope you got more good hours of sleep.

I did get a bit done yesterday, but not nearly as much as I hoped. Better get going now. Cheers all.

Good morning everyone,

Good to see so many posting and some newbies too – this is a great thread where you will get views from some very experienced 5:2ers. Looking forward to seeing you ackieve your goals.

Well done Neil – congratulations!

I keep hoping I can get back onto the forum consistently, so here goes again.

Senior female, late 60’s, been on 5:2 for 4 1/2 years, lost 21kgs and reached goal weight of 62kgs in Nov 2016. Mon Thurs faster, 1 x 360cal meal after 6pm on Fast Days, 2 meals on non-FD starting after 12 noon, have a chronic illness, ME/CFS, so unable to ‘exercise’ as such but quite mobile now after 21 yrs, and some new medication, stress response is eating grainy carbs and sugars – intolerant to most grains so has other consequences beside weight gain.

Check-in 67.3kgs today, but still comfortably in size 12, and 5’6”.

Update:

Some epic face stuffing( EFS) after mistakenly buying hit cross buns on Thursday instead of Saturday, and buying too many.

Mr Merry has started his radiation and doing well. He did the 800 a day to get his weight down a bit beforehand and has settled on a weight about 5 kgs above his goal weight. Keeping this steady through his 7week radiation programme.

The (overseas) wedding preparations for one of our children are moving along well, as is planning the family exodus from Oz for the lovely occasion.

My long term project got to within a few weeks of finishing when my energy started tanking and my stress level too high to continue without compromising my health and compromising the the end result. So it will now be another year along, but my health comes first, and it was always a very long term project. Happy with it’s progress though.

Bye for now🙂
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry

Good morning, another stunning day here – sunny and 25. We did get a lot of rain overnight on Monday night and it was very much needed.

I typed a big post yesterday then forgot to submit! So here is two days’ worth

Cali, thanks, I completely agree about Maxx jumping up. It was the catalyst as it is dangerous and if he does it to the wrong person and hurts him that could be the end of him. I hope you were able to get some more sleep

Congrats on the new low BetsyLee. I’m keen to get back into my normal routine and back to work in the City next week. As much as I dislike working in the city and the commute, I simply can’t fast at home and I need to get back into it. Time is ticking – it’s already 3/4 of the way through April! I can’t believe it. 32 weeks until our big holiday (not that I’m counting LOL)

Oh my goodness Cinque, 2.5 hours to put Miss 4 to sleep? You must have the patience of a saint. So glad she slept through. Good luck with Miss 2 tonight for the first time and I hope you get some more miso soon as it is a staple for many of you on FD’s. I’m not a fan to be honest which is a shame

Oopsie Thin, last place but I presume you were playing with the big kids again? So long as you enjoy it and it remains fun it doesn’t matter where you come.

Sorry to hear about your car Lindsay. It’s amazing how much we rely on them. When the pylon in the Aldi car park jumped out and smashed into my car I was without it for a couple of weeks. I could have driven hubby’s car but I don’t like driving it in the city as it is large – an SUV – and so I only drive it when we go to Culburra. So hubby had to chauffer me around 🙂

We had a big win against Australia’s major airline (you know who I mean – red tail and all) yesterday. We were offered a bonus if we took up a travel card and transferred some foreign currency onto it. We needed one anyway so we got it, transferred quite a large sum of AUD into EUR and waited for our points. We are using the EUR as we book our hotels and tours and then whatever is left over will be our spending money. Anyway that was in January and apparently our registration for the bonus did not show up in their system so they refused to give us any points at all! Long story short, hubby ended up sending an email to their CEO Allan Joyse (deliberately misspelt) and lo and behold a very senior and posh sounding lady called yesterday to talk it through. We had proof in that we had the initial email and then a ‘Welcome to Qantas Cash’ email two days later. We couldn’t prove that we entered our details on the registration page because unless you take screen prints (and why would you) it closes and that’s it. Anyway she finally agreed to give us the points and a few minutes later BOOM there they were! Mr and Mrs Anzac 1 – Airline 0

LJ, I’m glad you have made friends with the black lab next door as she sounds lovely. We know Maxx can learn because some things he does perfectly – such as he will not touch his food in his bowl until we give the command ‘eat’. If he wanders into a room and we want him to leave we just say ‘out’ and he trots out. He is still counter surfing, but only sometimes (such as this morning I took two clean tea towels out of the cupboard and left them on the kitchen bench. I turned around to see a wagging yellow tail disappearing into the lounge room and no sign of the tea-towels. Sigh. I immediately shouted ‘scatter’ and threw a few bits of kibble on the ground and he dropped the towels before he could put holes in them. I still had to wash them out of course)

Hello Merry, so nice to hear from you. I hope Mr Merry’s treatment continues to go well. I’m sad to hear that you have ME/CFS along with Cinque. My best friend suffered from it in her twenties and thirties and it destroyed her marriage and her career stalled as she couldn’t work at all for 7 years. She is fine now but has never had great health since but she is amazing, just like yourself and Cinque, in that she just gets on with things without complaining. My other best friend has Cystic Fibrosis, so anytime I think I’ve had a bad day I mentally slap myself around the head and carry on!

Even though I’m not fasting this week I am happy with my control. I’ve lost a few hundred grams since Friday so happy with that. This week was going to be the week I officially hit the accelerator but then my boss offered for me to WFH all week and I couldn’t turn that down. Our outdoor bathroom construction is going well and hubby gets 200 percent more done when I’m home to distract Maxx. It’s a bit hard to do tiling or other work when mr curious has his snout under your armpit. If he leaves Maxx upstairs and barricaded from the stairs he will sleep for a while then start crying to come down and see what is going on.

I think I’d better post this before I lose it….

Here is an updated photo of the outdoor bathroom construction. It’s a bit hard to see through the greenery but at the top left is a sliding glass door that leads into our bedroom. Just to the right of that will be the shower and top right will be the bathtub. It’s completely private unless you are standing on our upstairs balcony (which is where I took the photo from) or peering over the rock ledge in our backyard

Outdoor bathroom wip https://imgur.com/gallery/SO1q2ry

Hi and thanks for the comments, yes I’ve had a couple of family members ask me for a referral of what program I’ve been doing to lose weight, and just this morning I had a co-worker come up to me and ask how much weight I’d dropped because I looked so good at the moment.

Yes Klondike, I have kept one pair of big pants and shirt to compare when I get down to my goal weight (I’m saying “when” rather than “if” now) pants were 52 inch waist (currently in 42 inch and looking to get to 34 inch) Shirt was 4XL (currently in 2XL and looking to get to L)

Ha ha ha – yes Lindsay, I didn’t notice him! He has his shirt off so that shows just how warm it still is. He looks a bit like a wild animal hiding in the wilderness LOL

Hello all and I have followed your posts but been a bit quiet -after a good 1st week I have taken a bit of a mini break on week two – ended up with a stomach bug over Easter and have been studying for an exam so didn’t want to starve myself. Exam done and dusted (7 to go over the next year or two) and we are now away for a few days and will be pretty tough to fast as have to battle all my inlaws as well but should be back to it next week … luckily for me I am having surgery on my shoulder on Monday so it’s a great day to fast as nil by mouth all day …. sitting round the house feeling sorry for myself may be a bit of a challenge but at least I will be reliant on others preparing food for me. Glad to hear everyone was so well controlled over Easter – with 3 young kids we have a house full of chocolate! But at least once it’s gone it’s gone .. have a great Anzac Day – we do dawn parade every year as my husband is ex military and from a military family … it’s always so cold and makes you feel like winter is really here!

Hello everyone. I’m back after a few busy days.

Betsy, I hope you have better success today with your Fast800day. I wish I could say I didn’t join you in indulging over easter – but I’d be lying. Despite hiding all the chocolate I received I have still sought it out and eaten some every NFD – not a lot, but it does bother me that I feel I need it every day.

Quacka, glad the weather is still conducive to fishing. I always get the impression it’s something you enjoy immensely – is being on the water a big part of the pleasure?

Cali, I hope when you say the weather’s been really nice, it means you are real spring weather now. Enjoy, our weather still can’t figure out what autumn is meant to look like!

Merry, really pleased to here your OH is coping with chemo so far. I hope that continues. Good to also hear that the wedding prep is also going well – not easy for an o/s wedding.
Sorry to hear about the EFS – hot cross buns will do that to you! I think the typo was appropriate as it’s the aroma of them toasting that hits you in the face and makes you want more!

Kiwi72, fasting for surgery sounds like guaranteed success in a FD to me. I hope the surgery goes well. You may find that your appetite decreases after a general anaesthetic too – they usually make me queasy for a few days.

Minka, I’m with Mr M when it comes to easter buns – they need to contain fruit and spice not chocolate. Glad you had a gluten free option available though.
I have never tried LCHF but every time my fat intake increases by any significant amount I experience the same symptoms you described. The fat level your body will tolerate is dependent on the rate at which your liver is able to produce bile – as that is crucial to digesting the fat in our diets. You may find that your hunger issues can be addressed with a dietary fat level that is higher than you originally had, but not as high as the LCHF diet proposes.

Anzac, I did wonder about how private an outdoor bathroom would be when you first mentioned it – too many drones around these days. But I had trouble seeing your hubby at all, so I think you’ll be ok.

Neil, you know your weight loss is showing when people start asking how you are doing it. That’s a huge decrease in waist measurement – very good for your heart health to lose that.

Klondi, Plateaus usually defy logic and science! Your weight will shift eventually but it’s frustrating waiting for the scales to catch up with your effort.

Thin, I think we are going to have to wait a bit longer for rain – winter maybe? I’m getting tired of having to water pot plants every few days.

Lindsay, what good news about the car repairs and the loan. Sometimes the kindness of others can be such a pleasant surprise.

Cinque, as you haven’t posted since the sleepover, can we assume there was not a lot of involved? I hope you feel rested soon.

I picked the last of the eggplants today – the 8 of them have become a large tray of moussaka that is now in the oven. There are plenty more flowers on the plants, but I don’t think the warm weather will last long enough for them to become large enough to pick.

My back took a turn for the worst on Monday and is only just now improving again after physio yesterday. On Tuesday I looked after my nephew’s kids all day. My efforts to have them outside being active rather than glued to the play station hit a snag. I played hide and seek with them for a while, which we all enjoyed – although they found me easily as there are few things in their yard that are large enough for me to hide behind. By then my back needed a rest so I suggested the trampoline (sorry Thin). They were in there for all of about 10 second before they both started squealing and trying to get out. There was a bee sitting on the base of the trampoline. They looked at me expectantly – apparently grown ups are expected to deal with these things. So I looked around for something that would allow me to reach the bee and I spied a rag mop leaning against the shed. So in went the stringy end as I tried hitting the base of the tranpoline to encourage the bee to fly up – it refused to fly and just bounced around. Then I noticed that a spider had crawled out from among the mop strings and onto the floor of the trampoline! Now I had a spider and a bee to remove – where’s the old lady who swallowed the fly when you need her? It took a while, but I managed to eventually get both of them out without getting either stung or bitten. Unfortunately both kids flatly refused to get back in the trampoline as they were worried something else was lurking in there. It was back to the play station after that!

I was planning to fast Saturday but now have plans to join friends for a walking tour of Adelaide for history week. As I’m also having lunch with a friend tomorrow that left today as my second FD for the week. So far I’ve just had a tiny banana, but am planning a large plate of beans, kale, spinach and broccoli with a tiny piece of the moussaka.

Hello to anyone I’ve missed.

Good morning all.
LJ sorry your back took a turn for the worse, hope it gets better soon. Re your efforts to get your nephew’s kids away from electronic devices, you were doing the right thing even though the insect world hampered your efforts. It concerns me greatly about the amount of screentime kids have nowadays. I think the kids of yesteryear wouldn’t have let a spider or a bee stop them from the fun of bouncing on a rampoline. Electronic games provide too much stimulation, none of which has been created by the child. We used to spend hours making cubbies, riding bikes, climbing trees, playing totem tennis, dresss etc.

Speaking of dress ups, I used my holiday break to get rid of any clothes above size ten. All my clothes are small now and Iintend to stay that way.

LJ don’t be hard on yourself about the chocolate. Life could be over tomorrow and you would have denied yourself the pleasure of eating it. Having it in the house is pure torture. Make a conscious decision, Do you want to eat it eventually or not? If you don’t, pack it up and throw it in a bin down the road so you can’t. If you do, then eat it and get it over and done with and return to healthy eating ASAP. You are in charge of the chocolate, not the chocolate in charge of you.

I fasted for the first 4 days of the holidays, followed by 4 consecutive days of deliberate and conscious days of feasting with friends and family, now I am fasting till Sunday when we are out for lunch. I didn’t weigh myself as I didn’t feel different in my body. The first feast day I made a carrot cake for my friend’s birthday and thoroughly enjoyed helping her eat it. I haven’t made a cake since my kids were small , at least 20 years ago. The next day was an Easter barbecue lunch. On Sunday I made roast pork with all the trimmings for a family dinner and Monday was another barbecue party which lasted all day. I thoroughly enjoyed all the food and don’t regret a mouthful, however I am back to fasting so all the fun I had doesn’t have a permanent effect on my body .

Minka social gatherings are awful when you are on Keto. Why shouldn’t you have fun and socialise? Any food regime that denies you a food group is doomed to failure. Also what a pain a Keto diet is inflicting on the other non dieters! It takes a shine off everyone and everything when someone is persisting in denying themselves. There is a time and place for everything. With Keto, it doesn’t specify how much exactly to have of meat etc. I am proof, I went on Keto for at least a year and hated myself for being 83.7 kg. My friend and I started our diets Sept 9 last year, I was/ am on the Fast Diet Rosy style and she was on Keto. She lost 5 kg initially but missed the food groups that weren’t allowed and regained all the lost weight. She still didn’t listen to me and went on Slimming World which didn’t work either. Finally, she tried fasting and lost ten kg but still has further to go. In over 7 months I have lost 22.5 kg and that includes the silly season at Christmas and Easter. I haven’t denied myself anything or weighed food or calorie counted but still have lost between 2 and 4 kg a month. I have 1.5 kg to go.