This topic contains 27,908 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by LJoyce 6 hours, 36 minutes ago.
Just grilling one of the king oyster mushrooms and reheating everything else. So time to list today’s food choices.
NFD Fess Up:
Breakfast: pot of tea
Late Morning: handful of raspberries
Lunch: moussaka and 2 slices rye sourdough, buttered
Late afternoon: pot of tea and a small banana
Dinner: salmon & vegetable patties, veggie mash (potato, carrot, pumpkin & cauli), a couple of cauliflower florets, one grilled king oyster mushroom
Supper: a hot drink with either almond milk or skim milk
Good Sunday morning,
Cool and clear here, rain not due til later. I will have an interrupted posting as I need to keep getting up and putting away three little things. It is my number one strategy, much needed today as I need to clean out my spare room for my sister to visit on Tuesday. It is chaos!
But Miso the cat is on my knee at the moment so I can write til she moves (even though my tea is brewing on the kitchen bench). Sigh.
Merry so glad to have a good catch up post from you, containing excellent news of Mr Merry managing the radiotherapy treatment. And nearly over. Phew.
It is really good to read how Fast800 is working for you both. I am SO glad you can finally feel like you are on track again after so many tumultuous months. Worthy of many exclamation marks!!!! May it continue.
I forgot to put my accountability on my last post, and didn’t manage to write yesterday (4yo overnight, 4 am start), but even my simple form of accountability is paying off big time. The last two days went so much better in the choices I made about food.
Thanks so much for the feedback about a weight loss support group. LJoyce your feedback is spot on, Quacka, YOU say such lovely things. Haha. It is because of the support I get from you lot that made me want to spread it further. I’ll need to write up a proposal and see if a local Neighbourhood house would like me to run it.
Cali I do hope your headache is gone, is it isn’t a dehydration headache I hope you can work out what it is.
I liked that Caesar salad article too, thanks Thin, I hadn’t heard the bit about Aviator’s salad.
Thin I LOVE DD’s mug slogan! It made me laugh out loud.
Betsy, hello mojo! So good to hear. Even if it didn’t last for long, you know you are on the up. And you have managed to keep working on your research through it all. Impressive!
So glad you got through your cancer scare.
I’ve got my tea. A bit cool, but still drinkable.
Lindsay what a treat to get two posts in a row from you. Hooray for your blood sugar level back to normal. Cheers to Mr Lindsay, There is nothing like no after dinner snacks to make the weight disappear!
I loved the clip too!
Yes, I didn’t mean to denigrate weight loss surgery, it was specialists saying that it is the ONLY thing that works for longterm obesity, apart from a few rare people who can manage to lose weight and keep it off, that I wondered about. I still wonder about it, I can see it is an excellent tool for many people, and the claim might be proved correct. But I am thinking that all weight techniques, including surgery, might have a better success if there is good community support.
Hooray for vegetables to help avoid glaucoma and dementia!
Hello to the bees!
LJoyce, how was that beautiful king oyster mushroom? Delicious, surely! I’ve never tried, I keep going for the cheaper field mushrooms, but must splash out on other varieties sometime! And it is Autumn season, maybe now is the time.
Penguin! So good to know you are still hovering 🙂 I hope your family is well and your garden is full of fun.
Accountability: pleased I ate well for two days without thinking it out at the end of my 5:2 post. And with a grandchild visiting and depriving me of sleep, and with no coffee. Fast day today, so my normal mcnormal. I’ll look forward to planning food for my non fast days coming up.
Cheers all, best wishes for a good day.
Fasting with you today, Cinque. Aren’t you and Merry funny about the exclamation marks! People also do it with question marks. I suppose they think it emphasises that they are particularly confused. Certainly about punctuation anyway! I hope you get all the items put away in groups of three and make enough room for your sister’s visit.
Penguin, are you still practicing 5 day fasts? I’m sure Rosy would appreciate the company.
Anzac, I expect you’re at puppy training as I write? Hope it’s going well.
Yesterday, I restocked my cauliflower soup freezer supply and prepared all the ingredients for tonight’s chicken and bacon casserole which I classify a ‘family FD meal’. OFMs also like the hearty root and barley stew but I’ve already claimed that in the form of individual FD freezer portions.
OH dug up his sweet potatoes this week. They are enormous. I’ve never seen anything quite like them. They are deep purple on the outside, white inside. I had to use a nail brush to scrub the sticky substance off my hands after peeling. I cubed and roasted one with a drizzle of olive oil. It tasted very meaty and delicious. Were I to enquire about the calories, I’d have a series of question marks. Better not to know, perhaps.
LJ, sorry that you felt anxious at bridge. I understand the sheer terror but we must remember that it’s only a game and we are there to have FUN! I’m pleased that you’ve made a friend in your class. When the classes end, you will know just enough to be dangerous. The more you learn, the more you realise how little you know. The only way to combat this is to start playing. You always get those militant types but I’ve found most people at our club very kind and tolerant. I start each table by saying, “have fun everybody!”. I hope it puts things into perspective for the more serious among us.
Good morning all, fasters and lurkers,
Hi Penguin! So glad you are still here! Hello to Mrs P, waving wwwwwww. Sorry to worry you both😟. Mr M is here and says hi! He is doing well. His frequent walking and the occasional 300km walks are paying off these days. Not much longer to go now. The Forest was in something we watched a couple of days ago, even labelled, and we looked for anything familiar, but they stayed in the forest itself. Our possible trip this year went out the window laden with a few other things. We still have our future eye on the traps and the forest.
Thank you to everyone for your kind comments re Mr M. This is a wonderful supportive group of people. Forks in the road – I didn’t realise, when I made the decision to start 5:2, then to read the book where I found out about this forum, another to join the forum, that each decision would lead me to this thread and all you wonderful folks. You’ve been an important and stabilising component over the last 4 1/2 years and thank you so much! Life has it’s moments when it’s hectic and then it plonks something else on the scale, or a couple or a few somethings extra. Capital L Life happens to all of us at some time, and our need to be healthy through it is vital. There’s always going to be someone on the thread with Life coming at them rather fast and it’s so wonderful to have supportive understanding 5:2ers to cheering us on through the challenges. Thank you all so much.
Merry and Me M
I’m still deciding whether to stay on Fast 800 for a bit longer or whether the time is right to transition to 5:2 and just keep writing down what I eat and drink on NFDs, minus working out the calories.
Currently, I’m not sure what’s happening as I seem to be plateauing at 65.5kgs. I had yesterday off, had brunch out with Mr and dinner at someone’s house complete with a small dessert. They were mindful of both Mr M’s and my need to be careful weightwise right now, so that was thoughtful and lovely. And this morning it was 65.5 again for the 4th time.
I’ve been testing the starchy carb thing this week and it seems to do it even on 800 calories every day, and I seem to be carrying some fluid. I can feel it in my hands, feet and ankles, and my hands are a tiny bit achey(sp achey/achy?). Seems to me that even on 800 every day my body still goes nuts when any carb has any higher no of calories in it, even peas, beetroot etc, other vegies like kumara, potato, and pulses/beans. Anyway, I think it’s this that’s stopped the weight dropping, and not an ME/CFS reaction. So I’m going to give 800 another week and give all the starchy carbs a
miss and see what happens.
Cinque – you would be wonderful leading a weight loss support group. Just don’t give them your phone number. Your health still needs to comes first.
LJ – you are a wonder. Your food knowledge is fabulous! Well done you, for doing it your.
Thin – thank you for being so constant. Your FD ability is amazing. Hope your daughter is doing well.
Must go,
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry
LJ I edited to add ‘way’ but it disappeared again
Well done for doing it your way!
I have king oyster mushrooms in my FD soup – sliced down the middle then sliced diagonally down each half. They are a more solid texture than other mushrooms.
King oyster and other specialty mushrooms are much cheaper at Asian food shops as are Asian greens, and mostly grown locally.
Hi Merry, thanks for the update on you and Mr M. You’ll be off that plateau in no time, I’m sure. Thank you, DD is happy, relaxed and well. Working casually and applying for jobs in the UK. I’m not really doing anything particularly amazing – just following the naked 5:2. I have the addictive type of personality so it’s basically that I can’t trust myself with any grey areas here, it needs to be B&W. I know how easily I would be on that runaway train were I to give in to this or that, little bit here, little bit there. Where others have commented ‘it’s only 20 calories’, ‘it was only a taste’, I know I’d never get away with it because doing it once would put me on the slippery slope. For me, it’s all or nothing and seems such a small sacrifice to be able to enjoy what I want most of the time and, more importantly, to maintain a healthy weight. Whatever works, works!
Hi guys fast day for me today, decided yesterday that i would forgo food till dinnertime i made a preserving pan full of vegetable soup, soup bones, veges, soupmix scanned all bar codes and typed in all veges all my calories for the day in one bowl of soup, sure smells good simmering on the stove, might be an early dinner though my waist measurement is decreasing another 1 1/2 inches on Wednesday can honestly say i havent cheated once…touch wood it continues
I do lurk reading everything you all post you have all lost huge amounts of weight every so often you let stuff slip still trying to figure out where you are all from its fascinating, wish i knew for sure who the kiwis are, im Kerry Gaston Justice of the Peace at coopers beach would luv to have contact with some of you a but more of help what do i now lol
Hope it didn’t come out stalker like, dont really talk weight loss with anybody but you guys thankyou for being here
Good morning all. Hope you’ve all had a gentle start to Sunday. Although Cinque’s 4am start doesn’t sounds very gentle!
Thin, now I’m sure you knew that your post would sent me scurrying off for sweet potato nutrition data. My spreadsheet only has the orange (kumera) sweet potato details in it, so I had to track down some more detailed into. This is the best summary I can find and the nutrition data is consistent with other sources: https://paleoflourish.com/types-of-sweet-potatoes-with-images-and-why-you-should-eat-them It would appear that the variety you are growing, is called a Japanese yam. I hadn’t realised you could even grow sweet potato outside of the tropics. The calorie content and macro nutrients in sweet potato are very similar to potatoes – the main difference is that although sweet potato has a similar level of carb it has less of it as starch and more of it as sugars.
Thanks for the bridge advice, I am usually ok. It was just that we were practicing a NT contract and seemed to keep ending up with 3NT contracts which was a bit scary. It’s funny how at home I cam remember the bidding conventions that we’ve learned so far and how to structure play, and it all goes out the window in class. I find myself scrambling to try and remember it all and to memorise the cards played. It doesn’t take much distraction for me to forget the lot.
Cinque, the king oyster mushroom was lovely. The texture is quite different to other mushrooms that I use regularly. There were 4 in the bag I bought and one is enough as a meal accompaniment.
Do you forget what you put in the things in your freezer? I pulled out some salmon veggie patties that I made 3 months ago and got a shock when I started eating them. I had completely forgotten that they had red capsicum and corn in them.
Merry, some people are very sensitive to carb and sugar levels. I’ve noticed it seems to be an issue for people I know who have insulin resistance. When I did the 800cal VLCD diet for many months there were a couple of ladies in that group who could not lose weight on 800cal per day unless they maintained an unusually low carb level (and they were over 100kg so 800cals should have had a dramatic impact). Some needed a drug called metformin as well, otherwise their weight loss stopped. It’s worth testing it if you think it might be a problem.
Am I remembering correctly that you were planning a family wedding this year? Has that happened yet?
Penguin, hope you and yours are doing well.
Yesterday I was unusually hungry at lunch time which is why I added the sourdough to my meal. It did mean I wasn’t hungry through the afternoon which was good. It has reminded me that as I settle into colder days I need to make sure I plan enough hot food at lunch time to avoid the snack fest though the afternoons.
I might write up my food plans early today as I doubt they’ll change. I’m swapping my previous lunch and dinner plan today.
NFD Fess up:
Breakfast: pot of tea
Lunch: 2 small salmon veg patties with a generous serve of 4veg mash and one grilled king oyster mushroom
Afternoon: banana and a pot of tea
Dinner: cream of veg & lentil soup, 2 slices rye sourdough, 2 boiled eggs. For dessert raspberries and greek yoghurt.
Supper: chai with almond-coconut milk
Have a nice day everyone.
Hi Crazy, our posts crossed. Well done on the additional weight loss.
I think Turnabout and Neilithicman are both kiwis.
If you want to share info with others and exchange contact details in a less public way, you can use this link: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/contact-us/ and ask the administrator to provide your private email address to specified other forum members.
LJ I am not sure when we recorded that episode of TMIAD … but with some discussion recently about eye health, I found it very interesting. MM consumed lots of the Mediterranean vegetables – leafy greens, capsicums, eggplant etc but also took supplements with three components which I can’t remember but will go back and look – and found after the 12 week trial his macular was much healthier and his vision had improved. He recommended the supplements, which is unusual for him as he normally suggests getting vitamins, minerals etc from food.
Cinque we are on the same page with the weight loss surgery. I don’t think it is the only option – and we have our own dear SH friend to attest to that. Mr Lindsay is embracing the TRE quite well. We had breakfast out with DS, DIL and Mr 4 and Ms 1 this morning, meeting at 9, eating around 10 I guess. Although we’d finished dinner at around 7.30 last night, he eschewed his normal toast with his cuppa to wait for breakfast. It’s showing too – his tum is flatter and his weight is down 2 kilos, even wearing jeans.
Oooh that sleep deprivation. At least it is in a good cause, and fun too. But not good.
My good news is that I am down a further .6 this morning, so that makes 1.9 in total since I started 5:2 Fast 800 TRE low carb on Thursday. I know it’s probably glycogen and water, but I’ll take it. Still 2.6 til I’m back to pre-holiday weight, but FDs on Tuesday and Thursday, and hopefully closer to it by Friday weigh-in.
Anzac are you at dog training? A woman we met in the Sofitel Club in Xi-an is a breeder/shower of springer spaniels and my, it’s triggered our desire for another dog. I just love the gundogs, all, but probably will go for another Irish Setter when the time comes.
Thin the dreaded pool confrontation with the neighbours hasn’t resolved. But get this. DD called the Council 3 times while we were away, with no action. I texted the neighbour the day we got back, telling her it was dangerous to leave the gate open, and the fine was $4,000. I wanted it in writing that she’d been warned. I got a message back ‘oh such good neighbours – I didn’t know. I will make sure my uncle knows’. It’s been closed every day since, but if it happens again I will call the Council and demand to speak to a supervisor. Also tweet, which usually triggers immediate action. DD also rang the police, who said it was not their purview. ‘So’, said DD, ‘you’ll attend when a child drowns, but not to prevent it?’. ‘Yes’, chirped the young officer who’d answered the phone. ‘That’s right.’ How can you deal with stupidity like that?
Merry kicking those carbs, even though the food is healthy, may be just the ticket. It’s not forever – just to get you over the hurdle. And yes, this forum is wonderful – I think back to my OH’s crisis times last year, and how you all cheered us on, and it made a difference. A real difference. Glad you are both doing better.
Thanks for the tip on sharing details LJ – I didn’t know that.
My bee keeping handover wasn’t a great success. They hated me. I had my gear on which was just as well as they kept attacking my face. The beekeeper said it may have been because they smelled perfume on me (I’d just washed my hair). It was quite intimidating. If they keep this up I’ll get a smoker to calm them down. He was quite concerned about it, but said I just needed to keep the veil away from my face because they were trying to sting through it. Devils.
Happy Sunday all.
So good to read everyone’s posts. Penguin, it’s good to hear from you again. Please check in more often!
Lindsay, I laughed at your story about Pia Zadora and the audience yelling out, “She’s under the stairs!” That’s so funny. Glad you’re back home again and had a great trip.
Thin, your brother has a part in Season 3 of “The Crown” right? You’ll let us know what part he plays and the episodes? We just finished Season 1 last night and are starting on Season 2 tonight. We’ve been bingeing on it almost every night. Have they announced when Season 3 will premier?
The vet said yesterday that Isabella’s toe has healed well. She cut off the big bandage and said we didn’t have to do the last antibiotic last night. I’m keeping both birds in their cages for at least another week until hopefully the seasonal high hormones die down. I can usually tell by the amount of noise they make. Isabella let me pet her today so I guess she isn’t too upset with me. I’m sure she was glad not to be grabbed in a towel twice a day. Amelie seems bored in her cage and it’s hard to get the broken toys out to refresh them without her escaping and refusing to go back in. I did push their cages together, with a few cm between them a few days ago. They do enjoy each other’s company.
LJ, glad your lung infection has improved so quickly. Do you still have to finish the full course of antibiotics?
Hi Cali… Glad the Pia Zadora story amused you too. And good outcome for your birds…what a saga.
This is something else that I found sweet, from this morning’s ABC website.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-26/bryan-kozlowski-the-jane-austen-diet/11091044
Lindsay, I’d meant to ask about the pool gate. Well done for keeping the neighbours on side and now they know so there’s no excuse. Disgraceful behaviour by the local council. My OH believes that all new laws should have an expiration date. Utterly pointless making laws that can’t be enforced. Well done also on the weight loss and good job to Mr L. too.
I thought of you (and Cinque and Klond) with your funny grandie remarks yesterday when passing a mother with a tiny tot at the river. Mum was explaining how dolphins live in the river. Tiny tot, barely able to walk or talk, replied with much conviction, “No Mummy, that’s where mermaids live”. I laughed out loud as I walked by.
CalifD, glad the birds are happy and healed. I don’t think Season 3 of ‘The Crown’ comes out until November. Yes, I will let you know but it’s not terribly exciting unless you’re his rellie. It’s a step up from an ‘extra’ because it’s an acting part but a non-speaking part (that means a big difference with the pay but you don’t appear in the credits). With a little illicit help, I was able to watch ep 1 of ‘Summer of Rockets’. Highly recommended, Penguin. My brother appears in eps. 2 and 4 of that. He’s appeared briefly in a lot of things like Poirot (usually a dead guy at the bottom of the stairs) but we’re most proud of his role as a death eater in Harry Potter IV.
Crazy, it’s best to ask JJ in admin if you want to make contact with someone in particular. Some people have briefly added their own email address to their profile, inviting posters to make contact and then removed it once contact has been made. I imagine you want to remain anonymous here as you previously mentioned that you’re responsible for jailing and bailing people. I believe Neil is the only kiwi here. Turn lives in NZ but I gather from her posts that she’s English.
LJ, my partner likes to play in NT. I am scared of them. But I’ve realised that, instead of counting trump cards, you just keep track of cards played in your longest suits which means that it’s possible to win tricks with, say, a 2 or 3 of clubs – very satisfying! I completely agree with you that you can fully understand all the theory, play it out well on the computer and then go to pieces when faced with a deck of cards! I know that you will ultimately do very well at this game. Maybe one day, you, me and Betsy can find a way to play with each other online, ha ha! Not much of a challenge for Betsy, I suppose ….
Thanks for the info about the sweet potatoes. I have been meaning to post a photo because I don’t know my armchair sports well enough to compare it to certain ball sizes. Bigger than two tennis balls and smaller than the ball than came over the fence recently. That doesn’t help you. I will post my photo now and then open your link to see if the photo matches up to your diagnosis. https://imgur.com/Wzn9rd7
P.S. LJ, you’re spot on, it’s Japanese. It did turn golden when baked. I like the look of those purple yams (inside). Now to work out what 130g looks like. Sadly, we had less luck with the vine grape tomato seeds. I successfully got the seedlings happening before the wx turned colder. I brought them inside to continue growing in the window sill. We keep a very warm house and it’s a sunny north facing window so I was thinking ‘greenhouse’. They put on fruit in the vine fashion but won’t turn red. Now I wish I had just saved the seeds for next season.
And possibly my favourite China pic
https://imgur.com/a/30qwAWc
and an earlier one from Bali (of course)
https://imgur.com/a/9lBHxXR
Merry, I was in the Brecon Beacons last weekend. Thought of Mr M. The latest move here is to release beavers into the Forest in the hope that their dams will control some of our small rivers that tend to flood the lower villages. Unfortunately they imported European beavers which were diseased, so they are all back in quarantine. Next they are to reintroduce the Pine Marten. The chicken keepers are not happy about that but the foresters think it a good idea – we are over run with grey squirrels. With the problems following the release of wild boar I am slightly worried about unintended consequences.
Thin, it is quite a while since I did a five day fast. Of late I have been very relaxed about it all. My weight is sitting at my first target, that is about 3 kg above my second target, and a gentle application of the 5:2 is keeping it there. If it creeps up I find two days of water fasting (but with a splash of milk in my coffee) takes it back down. My experience of the years of 5:2 is that the dreaded plateau works both ways – if my body decides that 97 kg is where it belongs (remember I am 6’5″) and I put on weight it easily goes back down again. My pre-occupation now is more fitness: regular gym visits, Pilates work outs and some serious gardening. I am also trying to eat 30 different kinds of fruit and veg each week. The first six days of this week I am up to 25. I need it decide if I am going to lose that 3 kg. I quite liked it when I was there, but it will cost me some new shorts and new holes in my belts. My heavy winter coats are already too big.
Lindsay. Yesterday afternoon a swarm of bees passed through my garden, made me duck. It reminded me of a rhyme from my childhood; “A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay, a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon…” and so on in decreasing value.
Anzac. My neighbour has two dogs. A Basset whose legs are so short and ears so long that he stands on them and a rescue mutt that came from Romania. Normally I get on better with dogs than I do with people but the rescue mutt doesn’t trust me. Not that he trusts anyone except his new family. Poor thing has had a hard life.
Lindsay, I didn’t see your post about the bees before. When you mentioned the handover of the bees, what did you mean? You already had the hives in place, right? So the other beekeeper just brought the bees? I thought you already had some there. It sounds scary that they would swarm around your face. I bet it was the smell of your shampoo. It sounds like your pool gate thing with the neighbor is resolved, at least for now. The roses in Beijing are beautiful!
We watched 3 episodes of season 2 of “The Crown” tonight. I’ll never look at Prince Philip the same again! Who knew there was so much drama in their early relationship. It seems that none of the members of the royal family are that happy and they dread a lot of their duties rather than enjoy them. They certainly are restricted in what they can and can’t do. I’ve always tended to see just the glamour and romance of it but if this show is mostly accurate, it makes me wonder if the whole concept of a monarchy isn’t outdated in modern times, especially since they don’t really have any ruling power. It certainly is expensive to maintain.
Thin, “Summer of Rockets” sounds interesting. Unfortunately it will probably be a while before it makes its way over here, unless Netflix picks it up. There are several streaming services now and it’s hard to keep track of what is streaming where. We subscribe to only a few but since we discontinued satellite a year and a half ago, it’s a lot cheaper.
LJ, great info on the sweet potatoes. I’ve never seen those king oyster mushrooms but they sure look interesting. The only really large ones I’ve seen in the stores here are the portobellos.
Cinque, hope you are managing some sleep around the grandies visiting. They seem to be quite active at those ages. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy little kids have.
Lindsay, in response to your Bali desserts post, here’s one for you spotted in Sri Lanka last year: https://imgur.com/zGoFnp5
Penguin, I wish I were more adventurous with my fruit and veg. intake. I love them all (OK there’s one purple thing I don’t eat) but I’m too stingey to fork out the prices demanded here when I’ve seen the cost in Asia.
CalifD, I’m interested to hear how your thoughts on the British Monarchy have changed since watching The Crown. I understand that the show is quite true to life but it would be fun to hear what the Queen thinks about it. I’m the opposite – whilst I would definitely not call myself a monarchist, I can barely keep William and Harry straight, I do love how The Queen has been the only stable thing in my life since I was born, how tirelessly she has worked to fulfil her promise to ‘serve the people’ and how much money the royals have generated for the British economy, not to mention charities. I thoroughly dislike the ‘fairytale’ aspects of it, all the hangers-on, the entire Meagan Hollywood actress thing and her apparent disrespect for the institution and all it stands for. (Why marry into it if you have nothing but disdain for it?). You are quite right in that the Queen reigns, she does not rule. I’m sure there are many that believe the royals cost the taxpayer plenty.
Good evening again.
I’ve had to drag myself away from looking for Italian recipes for next weekend. It’s family dinner next Sunday and I’ve promised an Italian feast. It’s funny how I manage to settle on the right starter and mains easily enough, but the dessert I agonise over. At the moment I’m thinking meringata (Italian version of an ice cream cake) or Torta della nonna (Italian version of a custard tart). I might make both. Every time I try to plan one of these menus it’s always the dessert I spend the most time choosing. I think it proves that at heart I am a baker and not a cook. The other tricky thing is the use of cheese as one great nephew won’t eat anything with cheese in it – except cream cheese in desserts. His sister loves cheese except cream cheese in desserts which she won’t eat. Seriously, I pity my niece trying to cook for them every day!
Thin, that’s an impressive homegrown sweet potato. I have tried to find the purple ones (purple inside) but to no avail, here it’s only the orange ones and the Japanese ones that are available. I like them but find them almost too sweet. When I’ve baked them whole the juices that drip out form a sweet sticky toffee on the base of the pan, so I can see the sugar content easily.
Cali, I’m very glad to hear that Isabella’s foot has healed and she is still affectionate. Ordinary oyster mushrooms are readily available here but not the king oyster version. I used to think the name was because they were so huge, but you can also get a tiny version too and they are also called king oyster mushrooms. I think the little ones would be excellent for soup.
Penguin, 30 different fruit and veg a week? Wow. You are certainly giving Cinque another example to aim for. I hope your veggie patch is looking productive. Do you still have that friendly robin watching while you dig.
Lindsay, I hadn’t realised rose gardens were popular in China, lovely flowers – and bee.
I read that article about the diet and lifestyle of Jane Austen and her characters. I scoffed a bit when he got to the bit about meat and protein being the dominant part of the diet. He seems to be forgetting that the combination of meat and alcohol (due to alack of safe drinking water) meant that many had grout by middle age. I bet they weren’t doing any long walks then!
I’ll have to completely redo my NFD meal list as today has not turned out as planned. I just didn’t feel like lunch and by mid afternoon when I was hungry I didn’t feel like salmon patties. So I changed everything around. Of course it now means I have to rearrange my meal plans for the next few days because I’d already thawed the salmon patties.
Revised NFD Fess up:
Breakfast: pot of tea
Lunch: small banana
Mid Afternoon: pot of tea, 2 boiled eggs on toasted kibbled rye sourdough
Dinner: Cream of veg & lentil soup, veggie-pancetta bites (bite sized gem scones that I made from a zucchini slice batter). Raspberries and greek yoghurt.
Supper: chai with almond-coconut milk
I’m trying to use up the many meals in my freezer, which means most week I can just concentrate on making a few suitable veggie accompaniments. It has certainly kept my grocery budget down for the last couple of weeks.
I came to a target of 30 types of fruit/veg having read “The Diet Myth” by Tim Spector. He is a senior medic doing impressive research in London and in co-operation with others in the US. You can see one of his lectures, possibly more, on YouTube. In terms of impact on my life I would put his book on a par with 5:2. 5:2 took serious weight off me before I read the Diet Myth but I suspect it could have had a similar effect. Certainly combining the two results in a much healthier life style. I now take an interest in factors other than calorie count.
Thirty fruit and veg, with the aim that veg is the larger part, is tricky here as well. My veg garden is obviously seasonal. I am currently very bored with asparagus, so for variety some has to be bought. As a gardener I also find myself very critical of the state of some of the veg on sale, I throw better specimens onto the compost heap. With the best of intentions, some weeks I can only reach 30 by cheating and counting herbs. Writing this I find myself asking if I can count the sweet potato bread that I made or the dried fruit in the scone that OH bought this morning? Probably best not.
Hi all
Intesha. What a lovely memento having those photos of your dad. That is something for you both to treasure.
Rosy. No wonder that you have been successful, no tasting while cooking and no temptation in the house. I am not much of a foodie but I do like watching Master Chef, more for the theatre than the food.
Anzac. What a lovely dog Maxx is. Bobby waits by our back gate the whole time we are out, rain, hail or shine. We had to put a kennel and a water bowl out there for him for his own good. If OH is out on his bike, he somehow hears him coming and races around to the gate to meet him. He greets us as if we had been gone for days whenever we come home. That’s why it is so nice that we can take him with us in the van.
You are also tiptoeing up to your goal, I’m sure you will get there soon
Cinque. We certainly are getting a healthy lot of rain at the moment. You are such a community minded person, what a lovely idea to set up a help group. You already have done research for Yamdaisy project, will that help you getting something off the ground. You would probably need some professional input to give it credibility but I bet you could do it. If it was only 5-2, you could call it Dr Mosley’s Fan Club but of course, you would spread the net far wider than that. If it does go ahead I would like to be its first member. Keep us informed if you decide to go any further. I like your strategy for tidying up. When I think of it, I make sure I don’t leave a room empty handed, there is always something which should be put away somewhere else. I also do ten minute cleans, it is surprising how much you can achieve in that time when you focus but I have to say, most of the time, I just forget and then I panic. Oh dear, Miss J up to her usual tricks.
Merry. What great news about Mr M. He must be a strong personality to handle what has been dealt him and manage his health. And you are still looking after yourself too, and inspiring others. Champions, both of you. I’m so glad that you find this forum such a help, you have helped plenty of others with your cheerful posts and your rallying ‘onwards and downwards ‘. I record all my food on MFP and I realise now that it has probably helped me enormously. I might get OH to record his intake just as a list as I can’t see him wanting to work out calories but it would make him accountable.
LJ. I think the weight loss journey is a bit like a marriage. The weight loss period is the honeymoon period when you can achieve anything but maintenance is when you settle down and have to get used to everyday living in this new way. Sometimes it’s harder than we expect. How do you find the sourdough bread after it has been frozen. Do you just defrost it or do you need to freshen it up in some way. I found my home made bread us a bit dry and really only OK as toast. Yes, clean knickers gets the laundry done and shortage of loo paper gets the shopping done. Those mushrooms are amazing, I imagine they are also low cal, I can definitely see you would only want one. They look like they would go well on a barbie.
Thin. I must admit I thought you were so into 5-2 for so long that it had become the natural way to eat for you. I can see myself fasting for two days forever but eating a bit differently the rest of the time once I meet goal, maybe I’m fooling myself that I can do this long term. I will rely on you and our other maintainers for help. Not a coffee mug, OH has a T-shirt which reads ‘You can’t scare me, I have a daughter ‘ and he does and she can be scary, in a nice way. So do you have a plan for all those sweet potatoes, can you freeze them raw or cooked. Sounds like you don’t want to waste any. Nice story about the mermaids, children have such a lovely world view. Currently I have to ‘read stories from my imagination’ with Mr G as the hero.
Betsy. You sound like a warrior, with full armour. That weight hasn’t a chance, looking forward to hearing great news on the 31st. I like your mother’s quiet rebellion. My dad wouldn’t have been bothered if mum had voted differently and as she was working class too, there wasn’t much discussion.
Calif. it’s a shame that our pets don’t realise that we are just looking after them when we give them treatment but I’m sure you will be back in her good books soon. Do birds have good memories? I wouldn’t want to be part of the royal family, while it looks like a cushy life, the public believes they own them and it must be very daunting. I don’t think it costs the UK much at all because the queen gives back quite a lot of the revenue from her estates, I believe and the value of tourism must be huge. And I don’t believe everything that is written, particularly about Meghan, Diana and Kate copped it too when they were new.
Quakka. I’m sure no kids will go shoeless to school and you will have completed those orders flawlessly. Your bosses wouldn’t go away for 6 weeks if they didn’t have confidence in you. Two years ago we were in Cairns and went out in a boat which took us to a big pontoon and we went snorkelling, had a ride in a semi-submersible and a glass bottomed boat, fun but expensive and definitely a one off. We also went on a cable car up the mountains to a very touristy little village and took the scenic railway down, again only a one off. Didn’t get to any beaches that I remember and couldn’t go to the National Park areas because of Bobby but I believe they are worth a visit.
Lindsay I thought you would drop that weight quickly and no doubt, some more. Don’t remember seeing that particular episode of Trust Me but OH has macular degeneration in one eye and his eye doctor recommended oily fish so we both have regular meals of sardines etc. unfortunately his has progressed too far to improve it but it might help in his good eye. Hope you have permanently fixed the pool problem but that response from the police was disappointing. Perhaps putting something in writing to them might improve their behaviour. Bad bees, you might have to give up showering for a while, maybe they will get used to you. Wonder why that photo is your favourite, beautiful clarity in the picture.
Crazy. With your shrinking waist, you must be shrinking all over. How are you going with your clothes. There must be some which are ready to go out. I admire anyone who can put off eating all day, I’m a committed breakfast eater so that’s not for me. I’m in Melbourne at the moment but for the next three months I will be NFA (no fixed address) as OH, Bobby (the dog) and I will head north for the winter but I will be posting all the time. My email address is in my profile so feel free to contact me if you wish, others have. I’m sure the other kiwis will declare themselves.
Penguin. You would think by now that the people responsible for our environment would have done extensive research and modelling to work out the best way forward. Not checking to see if they had healthy beavers is just a no brainer. I guess the chickens might be a bit nervous and once the grey squirrels are taken care of is there anything to keep the pine martens in check. That is a serious variety of food you are tackling, there must be times when finding that much variety and working out ways to prepare is quite a challenge. Please don’t stay away so long again, you always introduce a new perspective.
I’m hovering again on the scales, I saw 70k a couple of times this week but on Friday, official weigh in day, I was back to 71kg. That is still down for the week so not complaining really. Might change my FD to Wednesday this week as that is when we are travelling. That way we won’t be tempted to buy horrible service station food and our money can stay in our pocket. I was horrified when I worked out how much our travel food must have cost us last year as I was too lazy to plan ahead. I have bought really good thermos travel mugs which can keep drinks or soup quite hot for hours so that might be the answer this year. Only three more sleeps to go
Penguin, I had never heard of Tim Spector before, but on the basis of your post I just bought the Kindle copy of his book on Amazon and will be reading at least some of it today. I’ll check out some of his YouTube stuff too. Fascinating stuff. For the 30 different fruits and vegetables do you count different leafy greens as separate parts of the 30? Just thinking about the produce section of our grocery store, it seems
Ike it would be easy to come up with 30. Keeping them fresh until using them all might be a challenge. How do you manage?
Thin and Klondi, I think we see mostly the fairytale aspects of the monarchy from over here. I only paid attention occasionally when Princess Diana was alive and now that Meghan is married to Harry because I watched her on Suits for all those years. Thin, it seems to me that Harry may have more disdain for the monarchy over the years because of the treatment his mother received than Meghan has. I can understand wanting a couple days with the new baby before meeting the press. Being out there in full clothes and makeup hours after giving birth seems absurd to me.
Klondi, I don’t think you’re kidding yourself about sticking with 5:2 indefinitely. For me, NFD’s have become more of a challenge the past couple of months but a lot of that is stress eating lately. I had stayed very close to goal for over a year of maintenance and I’m determined to get these couple of kg off and things back to normal. It takes quite a bit of overeating to put weight on, just like it does to take it off when you’re fasting 2 days per week.
Here we go again. Cali, if it is discernibly different I count it. A spring cabbage is one, a Savoy cabbage is two, broccoli (if I can bring myself to eat it) is three. Salad greens, unless very different, I count as one. Red onion, white onion, shallots are three. The idea is as much variety as possible, so fruits, nuts – anything to achieve the aim that the bulk of my diet is veg. I eat a lot of fish, but will happily consume a steak or a really good burger. I tried the Australian practice of putting shredded beetroot in my burgers but that didn’t meet with much favour in this hemisphere. Finding 30 varieties isn’t too tricky if you are prepared to pay for them, the trick is eating 30 varieties.
Yesterday I slow cooked (four Hours at low temp) a rolled shoulder of lamb buried in a pile of thinly sliced onions, then served with some other veg. Recipe from my favourite, but unfortunately infrequent,TV chef – Simon Hopkinson. There are left over onions so tomorrow for a family barbecue I shall halve some red and yellow peppers, fill with the onions, some cherry tomatoes, slices of garlic, anchovies, drizzle of olive oil and bake.
Penguin, we’re the same with eating a lot of fish and only occasionally red meat. Are nuts counted as a vegetable? We do eat a fair amount of nuts. Are you counting only serving sizes of fruits and veg, or any amount? Garlic for example, would usually be a small amount and normally onions would only amount to a chopped up slice. (I’m still reading the intro to the book.)
I count nuts and would regard a handful as a serving, but I’m not worried about serving sizes, variety is all. If I have a few cherries I count them. I guess I eat a lot more onions than you do, I cook with them, and leeks, and consider most sandwiches to be incomplete if they don’t have a slice of raw onion in them. My garlic levels are pretty high by most standards. In summary, I guess that on the average day very few of my varieties would in themselves be large enough to count as a serving but collectively they fill me.
Klondi. I got the idea of shredded beetroot in the meat from an Australian website. A slice of beetroot makes more sense but I have never seen it tinned. The only way I really like it is to grow my own and harvest it young and small, then ensure no vinegar goes near it. What is wrong with broccoli is the taste. It is a Marmite/Vegemite veg, love it or hate it, nothing in between. Interestingly, new varieties don’t have the extreme taste, but have lost the really healthy aspects. I live in a livestock area, as I write this the nearest sheep is about fifty metres away. Even so, we eat a lot of New Zealand lamb – they come at different times of the year -but this one was local.
Good morning all
Winter has hit, it was very very cold this morning and it is only getting to 19 today. Only one day into the early twenties this week and the rest 18 or 19. Our faux summer had to end sometime
Congratulations for your huge week and successful ordering Quacka. I hope you were able to rest up and recover on the weekend
Thanks LJ for the information about low carb. I need to do it because I thought I had an ok weekend but the scales shocked me this morning. I know you are all sick of hearing it; don’t worry, I’m sick of saying it. I’m going nowhere and really have to face reality and wonder if this is for me. I’ll give it another week then reconsider – possibly back to WW – and that does NOT fill me with any enthusiasm or motivation. Maybe I just have to realise this is the weight I will stay. No idea but feeling very down about it.
I didn’t get on the computer all weekend and my 5:2 inbox has 44 new items this morning! I have read the first few but need to start work so I will read them all slowly through the day. Have a good one friends
Wow, this forum has taken off, I don’t know if I can keep up with all these posts. Slipped a little in the weekend but managed to snack mostly on nits and a nice blue cheese so not as bad as the carbo-loading I used to do. I spent the weekend doing some building work at home, I built a set of exercise bars for my boy and replaced a fence that I’d been putting off for years but finally had to do when it fell over.
Have a great week everyone.
Good morning from my cold, windy, rainy part of Melbourne.
Monday, a new week!
So interesting to think about the 30 kinds of plants a week, Penguin. My research would say definitely count herbs and if the dried fruit is a different type from the fresh fruit you have been eating, you could count it too.
I remember an article bemoaning the limited number of veggies Aussies eat (decades ago so it would have been about 12) compared to the Indigenous people living in the Dandenong Ranges on the edge of Melbourne, who had over 300 plants food sources.
You (and Tim Spector) have inspired me to concentrate harder on variety. It is tricky living on my own, but I think I can do a lot better than I am at the moment. I won’t try to count them until I’ve got my 7 serves a day in better shape. Then I will!
Good morning everyone,
Another week begins and great to read all your posts!
OH has 6 days to go now, so we’re on the homeward run.
Klondi- thank you for encouraging words. Mr M is doing really well. The cancer was a shock but we have been in sudden severe health stuff twice before, one for each of us. Mine was 21 yes ago and Mr M’s was a decade before that when we came within a whisker of losing him. We went through a very early ‘mid-life crisis’ while having small children. That was the one that really shook us and took longer to come to terms with. Turned out to be a genetic cause no-one knew was in the family, so all and sundry headed off for tests. Mr M was the unlucky one, but he survived and after a few years you’d never have known he’d been sick. So, we’ve been in this territory before and we’re practiced at keeping ourselves ‘up’. Attitude is a key part of handling what life throws at us.
LJ – thank you!!!!! Insulin resistence may be the challenge. I don’t fit the profile, except for having to be inactive for years – 2 years mostly in bed then very slowly recovering over many years. Blood tests have never shown any suggestion of pre-diabetes. HoweverME/CFS is notorious for giving normal blood test results even though there is a problem. We show the symptoms and outcomes but the tests don’t back it up. It’s weird but happens to just about all of us.
Penguin – I’ll have your share of the broccoli, I love it. After I got sick I had almost a compulsion to eat it and other leafy greens. Must have something I really need.
Have to go now,
Onwards and Downwards
Merry
Post 2.
Love your sweet potato Thin, I was so surprised when I learnt they are lower GI than potatoes, since they taste so much sweeter. I wonder if that means they will suit your diet better. I hope so. I have stuck to the sweet orange kumara but have been thinking I should try purple or white ones.
Merry, good luck working out how to balance 5:2 and 800. It is comforting to have two tools in your belt that you can swap between as necessary.
The starchy carb thing is even more of a tricky issue to understand and rule on.
Giving them a miss for a week sounds like a good idea. Hopefully then you can introduce tinier serves less often.
This is my 6th day without coffee. Sleep hadn’t been any better so I figured I would end my scientific experiment and enjoy the best brew again, but in the early hours of this morning I had such a good long dream (including my daughter deciding to do all her cooking in a firepit in her backyard haha)that left me feeling my brain had washed a load of amyloid platelets away and I feel (slightly) refreshed this morning, so I will give it a few more days.
Crazy what a wonderful pot of soup that sounds, just what is needed this weather. Can you pop a serve through the monitor at me please 😉
I do hope you can link up with Neil and Turn.
LJoyce, what fun to find surprise veggies in your patties. I’m looking forward to that happening for me. At the moment my turnover is too quick.
I copied out a recipe for a tart with a big rectangular base, spread with a sourcream and egg base and then artistic placement of sliced veggies, including a king oyster mushroom. So beautiful. I’d love to make it for a special occasion (once I get my pastry sorted).
In the meantime I am going to look for new types of mushrooms at the excellent Asian groceries we have near here.
Lindsay, I am so glad you have kept up about the pool, you may save someone’s life. You might have already!
Don’t think the bees hate you, they just wanted to check out what flowers you had growing all over your head! I do hope that next time you can get acquainted more easily, it will be worth buying a different brand of shampoo.
The Beijing roses are glorious!
Cali, I am so glad Isabella’s toe has healed well. Are you all enjoying each other again now?
Thin, if you can keep the tomato plants alive over winter (I often can in my sheltered garden in this concrete sink of a city) they should fruit happily next summer. Fingers crossed, they sound lovely.
Penguin, haha, that poor Basset hound. And I am glad the other poor dog is with a family it can trust.
I’ve read all the posts and the interesting and varied viewpoints.
Anzac, I just want to reply to yours. I hope you don’t give up. I know that most people here will just say it’s all OK and you’ll be fine and I will be the one giving the tough love. But I don’t want you to leave us. I know from introducing so many people to 5:2 and being able to actually speak to them in person as they progressed (or otherwise) that there can be simple misinterpretations of this WOL that people just hadn’t understood.
I wish we could have a coffee and a chat about it because the last time I tried to put something in words here to someone considering leaving, they fired back at me that I had made them feel stupid. It has nothing to do with intelligence, I know you are highly intelligent. But, as I said a couple of weeks back, what you’re doing is not working and something has to change.
How badly do you want to get this weight off? Please will you first try these things for two weeks before you go to weight watchers? Have you read the 5:2 book? With so many variations on the theme expressed here, it is easy to misunderstand the premise of 5:2 as devised by Dr M. Will you consider working out your TDEE for the weight you want to be and then strictly completing two FDs for two weeks at that calorie count? During that two weeks, how about giving up alcohol altogether, stop eating bread, rice and pasta? This is just to kickstart your loss and give you a boost. If you go to WW, you’ll have to give up practically everything so this is surely worth a try.
I also want to suggest something that no-one else here is going to say. Is it possible that your dearest husband is a feeder? He must be on board if you are to succeed. You have confirmed that he’s not overweight. Even if he doesn’t change his own habits in support of you, he must not sabotage yours. I know this all sounds harsh and Cinque will not be employing me in her maintenance support group! But the fact is that just saying all is fine and you’ll do better next week isn’t working for you, is it?
Please give it another try Anzac. You are young and you have a real opportunity to make lasting changes to your health and longevity. I totally understand the cycle you’re in. I spent most of my adult there. It’s so depressing being consumed by your weight. It took me until age 58 to sort myself out. Please do this for yourself while you’re still young enough to make a real difference.
Post 3, I’m a chatterbox this morning.
Cali, aren’t those little ones energiser bunnies! And so funny.
Loved the mermaid remark, Thin. Oh the confidence they have!
LJoyce, it will be win win whichever dessert you chose to make! And yes, ha! Penguin has given me another goal to aim for. A fun one.
Klondi, is it this Wednesday you leave? Like, the day after tomorrow? Exciting times. I hope all the preparations are going well.
Thanks for the feedback re the possible group. Yes, I do want the basic idea to be that everyone chooses their own way to diet, and to maintain. Hopefully we can get guest dieticians to answer questions and we will just have to tell people to check things with their doctor as we would not give health advice. I’d have the basic advice about Australian Dietary Guidelines and interesting articles published reputably, like by the Conversation for conversation.
I’d love you to come! Even though I would volunteer my time I am a qualified community development worker and have run groups before. But the place where I am working will need to check my program and supervise me. I rather hope they would commit someone to work with me and then, if it is successful, take over after a while, so I could set up another one somewhere else.
Ha, Neil, I’ve just added mightily to the post overload, Something to read while you are on your exercise bike?
Cheers to everyone who has been losing weight, or maintaining nicely, and good luck everyone for the week ahead.
Cinque, a large rectangular tart sounds like a perfect base for one of those king oyster mushrooms, maybe cut down the middle. They are so dramatic looking and it would be a good way to display them, with other smaller vegetables.
That 30 fruits and vegetables in a week would come to about 5 per day. It would involve more frequent grocery store trips for me to keep them all fresh, although some veggies I almost always buy frozen, like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I eat around 3 pounds of broccoli myself, often having a 1 pound or about 45 kg bag to myself as a FD lunch. It’s my favorite veg. But I need to start including a bigger variety. OH isn’t very enthusiastic about most vegetables other than a variety of salad greens, so I will need to get creative.
It’s only about 14-18C today and light rain off and on. Summer doesn’t seem to want to arrive. But we can always use the rain. Unfortunately it has made a lot of the roses and geranium look brown and crumpled. I think it’s the on and off rain and cooler nights.
I wanted to mention that 5 mg of melatonin has been a big help for OH and sleeping this past week. And we both are happy with the weighted blankets. They do seem settling at night.
Thanks Cinque, I’ll take your advice about the tomato plants.
Klond, I think the sweet potatoes will last in a dark, cool pantry until eaten. I’ll be giving OH the lion’s share! Have a fabulous, safe trip. Did you know there’s now a thermos type gadget requiring no electricity, that allows you to cook whole stews, etc on the road?
Hi everyone else, have a great day. I must get going as I’ve spent too long harassing Anzac.
I’ve just started a mindfulness journal today where I’m going to write down everything I eat. Hopefully that will help me cut down on the pig-out sessions. I’m also picking up a new exercise bike because the one I currently have is a cheap piece of crap and the resistance is too low for me now, even on the highest setting. I picked up a new tennis racquet last week too so I’ll have to get out at some time and give it a try.
I’m going t try to be strict on my eating and do some decent exercise for the next two days before my weigh in and see if I can jumpstart my weight loss again which has been slowing down recently.
Hi Thin thanks for taking the time to respond. I don’t deserve it over and over but I really do appreciate it. And I feel nothing except gratitude, no negatives at all
I will give it two more weeks and I will try to cut out all starchy carbs. I love meaty salads so that is great for lunch and I will also start skipping breakfast as it tends to get the hunger demons going. Plus there isn’t much in the way of breakfast foods that I like that aren’t carby. I’m not giving up fruit though but I never go overboard on it anyway.
I’m in two minds about hubby being a feeder. He never gives up on me despite hearing my bleating for so many years but his only answer to weight loss is exercise. He thinks you can eat what you want so long as you are active but that is completely untrue for me. He doesn’t cook low carb/fat meals unless I give him a recipe, buy the ingredients and help him; otherwise his go-to meals are lots of meat and starchy carbs so of course I end up eating it on NFDs as I am hungry and tired after a long day at work. So I also need to get organised with a meal plan for him to make for me, even if it is different to what he is eating. My FD’s are fine as he either makes me a stir-fry or I take one of my FD meals out of the freezer.
27 weeks until the holiday and I guess I can leave buying the coat until close to departure date. I just don’t want to have to buy a coat online as I know the sizing will be unknown and I’ll end up with an expensive piece of clothing that doesn’t fit properly. But the biggest size in-store is still way too small for me
I’m so sorry to be a downer. Again. One more go. I’m right now in another all-day workshop with about 20 people in a room with munchy food all over the table. I am not tempted today so that’s good. Anytime I get tempted I am going to walk to the kitchen and refill my water bottle. I brought my own lunch and will have that and still get my lunchtime walk in as I missed out every day last week as we were so busy.
Thanks again Thin and everyone for being so supportive over the past months
Good Morning everyone
thin, you are not harrassing Anzac. You are showing your concern and being a good friend. Sometimes a friend needs to put it straight down the line and I’m sure Anzac will understand that is what you are doing. My turn.
Please don’t give up on this WOE, Anzac. You know this works and you can do this. You have already proven this to yourself. Ok, you haven’t asked for advice but being your friend and the connection I feel I have with you, I’m going to give you some anyway. I second the other advice given but the one thing I want to say is veggies. I know you have said you don’t like a lot of veggies but could you try them again? Try them stir -fried or lightly steamed. Have them with sauce or even Gravox. Try a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of salt and pepper. A splash of soy sauce. Keep trying until you find a way to eat them. I know you eat salad but veggies are much more filling, both on NFDs and FDs, for very little calories. I’m talking about cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, beans, zucchini, leafy greens, snow peas etc. Not potato, pumpkin, sweet potato etc.
Just please don’t give up because I believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself xx
The excitement is really building for our little trip away. It’s only 5 nights up there (and Klondi, I admit I am a little jealous of your three months away lol) but it going to be a really good experience for both of us. We are planning on snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef and also doing one or maybe two fishing trips. We are planning on doing only half day activities so it leaves us time to go the National Parks and have a look around as well. I have been busy googling things to do and have found a half day snorkel where we go out on a jet boat and there are only 25 people on the boat. We get to snorkel in two different places and leave about lunch time and back about 5pm. There are lots of fishing charters but we are looking at mainly inshore fishing and also in the estauries. I would love to catch a big Barra and a Mangrove Jack. Woo hoo! Again these trips are only 4-5 hours. I saw the cable car ride too, Klondi, and that looks amazing but I just think we are going to run out of time to do all the things we want to do. I can’t wait.
I was up early this morning and have cut up a tonne of veggies to make a big pot of veggie soup when I get home tonight. I have worked out the calories and it will be 288 if I eat half the pot. I already know I won’t be able to eat that much so am thinking of adding some lentils or four bean mix in to make it more filling. I might even add some tofu as I have a bit of an addiction for it at the moment.
Last week, there was discussion about nuts on here and so I decided I would try eating them instead of reaching for the vita wheats and vegemite when I was feeling like a snack. They are very satisfying. I am curious though. I think you mentioned, thin, that we don’t absorb all the fat in the nuts so the calories are not really as high as stated. Is this the same for all nuts or just almonds? Don’t worry I won’t be eating extra to compensate, I just love learning about food.
Winter has surely hit this morning. It is windy as well and I really feel for the outdoor workers today (like my OH).
We went out fishing on Saturday morning and we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. Such a difference to today. We caught lots of great fish and I managed to get a really nice Snapper on very light line, only 3kg line. It was a great battle but I eventually managed to get it in the boat. We kept him and OH made Balinese baked fish for dinner on Saturday night. It’s his specialty and it is amazing. All the other fish were thrown back to continuing growing until next time.
OH had mentioned that he’d seen whales on Friday so I was looking out for them but didn’t manage to see any this time. It’s great that they have started their migration again and I hope we get to see lots again this winter.
OK, it is almost lunch time. It has taken me a long time to write this post as I have been doing work in between and I also wanted to think carefully about what to write to Anzac.
Never give up xx
Hi … just a very quick post for Anzac. Keep going. Give it a fortnight without carbs (try to give up fruit short-term – carb laden, even the lower ones). You will rock it. Think of your long holiday in a fabulous coat in a smaller size. Keep your eyes on the prize Anzac. You can do this….
And…re the veggies….it’s true, they are lifesavers. I posted a soup a few days ago …. can OH make it for you – it will really fill you and give you your veggies you need. Here it is again. Mostly veggies, a little bit of protein, and so so filling. Great to have in the freezer so when you head in the door, tired and hungry, there it is waiting.
In a little olive oil, fry a large onion with two cloves of garlic and a little chilli. Add two large chopped capsicums and cook for a few minutes. (I also added a long chopped aubergine last time). Add 150 grams of ham, and toss it around for a few minutes. Add a tin of tomatoes and a litre of chicken stock (I use water and Vegata powder). Cook away for an hour or so. Blend about a third of the soup to give it thickness, then add a bunch of spinach or other leafy greens. I also added some rocket, diabetes plant, and red spinach leaves from my garden. I also put in a little bit of hard parmesan for flavour. Continue to cook, low, until it thickens, and chop parsley on top to serve. I made a double batch yesterday and have just parcelled it for my FD lunches this week, plus 3 to freeze. Filling, FD meal, and very little carbohydrate.
Good luck and stay fast. x
Wow, have I missed some posts this morning.
I want to respond to Anzac first.
I know it’s difficult to feel you are doing the right things and not getting a result. Whether you stick with 5:2 or go to weight watchers (which I am also very familiar with) it will require either cutting back on what you eat or changing some of what you eat. I think that is just an inescapable fact if you want to get your weight loss moving at a reassuring rate. Moving to weight watchers will just mean that issue moves with you.
I definitely agree with Thin’s suggestion that working out your TDEE for your goal weight and planning your NFDs to stay under it makes a difference. I had to be controlled and mindful of my calorie limits on NFDs to lose weight on 5:2 otherwise my weight stayed the same from week to week. I realise that it means some daily monitoring until you get used to your appropriate NFD portions and probably a new food balance, but you would also have to do that on WW.
I also agree with Quacka, that the low cal, low sugar/starch vegetables are your best friend. If you like salad but are likely to have trouble facing a plate of cooked veggies every night I have a suggestion, which might not create a lot of upheaval with the current cooking regime. On NFDs have a vegetable first course followed by a much smaller portion of whatever your hubby has cooked for dinner.
– eat the American way by starting with a salad before main course. Just be mindful of the calories in the dressing. This might be an easy option for your hubby to add and it fits in with your liking for salads (which is easier I think than forcing yourself to eat what you don’t like – that can feel like punishment).
– or take Lindsay’s idea and have a generous bowl of vegetable soup as entree. Sometimes pureeing soups can make them more appealing.
I think it’s wise that you have started to eat later in the day. Cutting out breakfast if you aren’t really hungry is something I did too and I think it helps. It’s not for everyone but the only way to know is to try. I also think there’s something illogical about eating a meal because it’s a meal time when we aren’t hungry.
I also think that trialing low carb as Thin and Lindsay have suggested is also worth consideration. Even if you don’t have the type of insulin issues than require this, one thing this way of eating does well is to control your appetite. Once you are about three days into a low carb regime your appetite reduces dramatically which makes it much easier to control portions and snacking. This would require more changes with your hubby’s meal prep but is worth working through if an incessant appetite is a key part of the problem. As to fruit, Lindsay is right that many are high in carbs and sugars. However there are two you can include in moderation. Strawberries are a safe choice – they have similar calories and carbs as red capsicum (but actually less sugar). Rockmelon (canteloupe) is also fine in small portions – similar calories and carbs as carrots.
I have other ideas, but frankly I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed so they can wait for now. Finally a big hug. You can recover from any setback.
Anzac, I agree with all the suggestions here and would like to add that beans are a good NFD food because although they’re higher in calories than green veggies, they’re high in fiber which fills you up quickly and keeps you feeling full for a long time.
If you like WW, how about doing 2 – 500 calorie FD’s and then doing WW the other 5 days? It’s been a long time since I followed WW, but I think they still have the point system, or if you have a booklet from when they did, it’s easy to follow on your own. The points end up adding up to somewhere that’s probably around your TDEE anyway and might be a good way to keep track of your eating, particularly if you’re already familiar with the system. I remember that when I went on WW, I went to a few meetings but then just followed it on my own, with their points system. It seems like it should be even more effective with the two FD’s.
Anzac don’t give up. If you would like to catch up for coffee/lunch I would love to meet you. I can always come into the city.
This forum is and has been a lifesaver for me and today Merry drove an hour to my place and took me out for coffee and lunch. We had a lovely few hours of just chatting about everything. Not even my closest friend has been there for me during this very emotional time. I’ve only met Merry once before and this gesture from her was so unexpected and welcomed. Even though most of us don’t know each other we have formed a bond and I’m very thankful for that.
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10:00 am
25 May 19