LJ. It was cool, but the frost didn’t come. It would have been later than is usual, but the weather is now so erratic that anything is possible. When we watch films from the 40s/50s OH and I almost invariably ask each other “Did people really talk like that”. The reverse is now true, the TV uses a lot of people with regional accents. There is still some resistance, a southern journalist recently objected to a young reporter’s Teesside accent. Scots for some reason, or the right Scots as they vary as well, has been voted the most trustworthy accent for call centres. It was the search for info about kefir that initially brought me to this thread. Are you making your own?

Cinque, the only problem with weight loss is the floppy bits.

Lindsay L. Snap. Some years ago I was worrying the medics because of my erratic heart. After a series of tests the guy who was doing them said “my wife works with you so I know you drink coffee and run at lunch time. Don’t do either before the next test”. The next test was fine.

Anzac. I’ll settle for most of that description, but I would need to lose about another 5kg to qualify as slim by the standards of my youth. Accent not really. My old man was from Somerset in the south west and as a kid we moved every few years so I had a confused accent, but regarded Yorkshire men as southerners. Then I joined the RAF and if you need to be understood over a radio you must moderate your accent. They vary enormously over a short distance. Soon after we moved into a village on the Durham coalfield my younger brother confused Mother, who grew up 7 miles away, with “Ma, ahs gannen tut gaff toneet. Gis some geld for kets” (I’m going to the cinema tonight. Give me some money for sweets / candies). Sounds as though you are getting slimmer yourself.

LJ, I was making my own kefir but it became so prolific that we couldn’t consume it fast enough and I have gone back to buying it.

It has been a good day, the sun shone, there were isolated heavy rain showers but I always managed to be somewhere else when they happened. Thursday is always a good day. We both go to an art group in the morning and I shoot clays in the PM whilst OH does her thing. At the art group we take turns in nominating a subject. This morning we were drawing/painting peacock feathers. My first reaction was “that is pretty and it shouldn’t be too difficult” , rapidly revised to “that combination of brilliant, overlapping colours is beautiful, but this is going to be difficult”. It was. It is good to be thoroughly out of the comfort zone occasionally.

Good morning.
Crook and slow today in a CFS way. Not my granddaughters fault, I tried to do added activity.

Anzac, woot the 85’s. You will see them settle to be your new normal (and then have to wave them goodbye too). Bunch of flowers: https://c.stocksy.com/a/xeK000/z9/79419.jpg?1558271087

Ha Lindsay, re crepuscular. Just what it sounds like.
Yes, sensible caffeine intake is go!

Quacka, why didn’t I ask you about bonito flakes first? I must have googled a hundred ways of finding out if I could leave the flakes in my soup! I was too scared to try when I couldn’t find one reference. Looking forward to my next miso soup! Thankyou. I have seen the grater. Eep! Glad I can buy flakes.

LJoyce, so glad you have that filling fixed.
I was introduced to poha by a Madhur Jaffrey book, and while the Indian rice flakes are bigger and thinner, I use brown rice flakes, more like your mum used (your poor dad). It is such lovely light meal.

Good decision re the risotto. I know how hard it is to waste food, but you refused to use your body as a rubbish bin, which is good and so hard to do for those of us wired not to waste.

It is inspiring to read what you and others are eating too. I have also realised I prefer to eat more mindfully (leaving breakfast to while my granddaughter was here was not a complete success) (But she did like my homemade English muffin, once she got used to it not being an American muffin).
Lesson being, I am much better eating mindfully on my own.

I hadn’t heard of Onkaparinga blankets, but they are like the blankets of my childhood too.

Betsy, I hope the chat with your supervisor inspired you.

Haha, my trip to the UK when I was young led me to thinking with surprise “Good heavens, EVERYONE here speaks with an accent!”

Penguin, Australia was the same, with all the newsreaders speaking very proper English until we let broader Aussie accents in, in the 70’s.

Your funny example reminded me of a story my mum told of an Irish family (Irish were treated as aliens then) in the country area where they lived in the 1930’s. The doctor visited to check on a sick child and asked him several times to open his mouth and stick out his tongue. The mum finally said “Open your hobgoblin and throw out your throllollicker!” and he knew what to do.

Painting peacock feathers sounds extraordinary.

Quacka, yes! Why not stay in the 65’s! And enjoy the long weekend. Woohoo, yes!

Accountability. Delicious breakfast this morning of sauteed mushrooms and Brussels sprouts on toasted muffin, accidentally followed by more muffin with peanut-butter. So two breakfasts. Sigh. But I didn’t fit in the last veggie pot pie yesterday so I will have it for (a late) lunch. Hopefully no afternoon snack needed today (but some soup is there) and the last of the pumpkin risotto with roasted veggies and lemony lettuce for my evening meal.

Cheers all, best wishes for a good day.

Good afternoon friends, cloudy and cold in Sydney today. 19 degrees but it doesn’t feel like it

Cinque, so sorry to hear you are feeling unwell. I hope today you are resting and recovering. Thanks for the flowers 🙂 such beautiful and vibrant colours – just what is needed on a very grey day here.

Hubby and I are now both enjoying mountain bread instead of normal bread (thanks again LJ). We just had lunch and the two of us were full after two pieces between us filled with chicken and a bit of an Asian spicy sauce (home made)with shallots, coriander and a tiny bit of cheese. He had 2/3 and I had the other third. Yummy and hardly any carbs or calories. We put them in the toasted sandwich maker (thin filling in between two sheets) and close the lid. They are just like quesadillas

Quacka, I am so happy for you for reaching your lowest weight ever on 5:2. Me too! You will turn heads for sure in your bikini on your holiday. How many sleeps now?

LJ, isn’t is always nice to get a dentist appointment over and done with? How are you feeling today? I hope your aches have eased

Re English accents, I might have told this story before. My first venture overseas (I was 19) I went with a girlfriend who had relatives in Barnsley in Manchester. After about 36 hours of flying we landed at Manchester airport (it was May and 4 degrees in the early hours of the morning!) we went to her relo’s and her grandmother was talking to me and I couldn’t understand a word! I’d never felt so homesick

LJ, I have enormous trouble with Scottish accents too! Another funny story, same trip but we were in Corfu. Some Scottish boys were chatting us up at the bar and I couldn’t understand a word. My friend’s Dad was Scottish so she didn’t have any trouble. So I just politely nodded and smiled until my friend elbowed me in the ribs and hissed ‘you just agreed to go back to his room!’. Oops! I immediately changed my tune to be ‘no thanks’. Ha ha

I agree that your attitude plays a huge part in your food choices. I’m beginning to realise that is the crux of my food issues. I just need to re-route my thoughts from ‘I need to eat something to feel better’ to ‘If I eat something now I might feel better for 5 minutes but then will feel worse’.

Anyway, enough with the self-analysing. It is almost the weekend so that is a reason to be happy 🙂

Have a great rest of Friday my friends

Thanks everyone for your encouragement about getting to the 85’s. It makes me more determined to not move up ever again but instead continue to move downwards.

Good evening all.
My back feels somewhat better this evening due to a physio treatment today. Unfortunately I have to go back for at least two more Friday treatments and resume taking anti-inflammatory tablets to try and make the improvement permanent. My only other option was cortisone injections, but the last time I had a cortisone injection into the shoulder joint I had an anaphylactic reaction, so I have sensibly declined that treatment option.

Cali, I’m sure home brewed kefir is better but after looking at all the pre-made options I’m happy with one brand. It actually releases gas when I open it so I know it’s active. I can also take some of it out and add it to fresh milk to create more kefir, which reassures me that there are plenty of live bacteria in the kefir. I’ve tried other brands and none of them allow me to create more kefir with fresh milk so I stick to just the one brand. I often make more when I only have about a cup left in the bottle. I just refil it and leave it on the bench for 24-36 hours – I can make about a litre this way.

Well done Quacka on getting to a brand new weight level. Hitting new numbers when the scales haven’t been moving in the right direction for a while is a big deal.

Anzac, I too have a flat-bed sandwich press and have also made quesadillas from mountain bread. Both as a yummy meal for me or cut into lots of little triangles as a party snack for guests. My favourite filling is sundried-tomato pesto, grated cheese, sliced mushrooms and red capsicum.
I have tried to use them as a base for pizza too, but you need to cut it into really tiny pieces (or use a knife and fork) because it’s too thin to be self supporting.
You can also turn them into chips by cutting into small triangles and drying them out in a low oven. The are great as dippers on a healthy platter with things like hummus and raw veg. A vast improvement on any cracker that you can buy, which all have too much fat and salt.

Cinque, sorry to hear you are not well today. I have a quiet day will improve matters.
You have reminded me just how long it’s been since I have made English muffins – or bread for that matter.

I too had the experience of people in the UK and Ireland understanding me but unfortunately not being able to return the favour. I understood why when I got to the B&B in Dublin and was bombarded by questions about “Neighbours”. It would appear that many over there are addicted to Australian soaps, so they are used to deciphering Australian accents. I’m afraid I was unable to answer any questions as I’d never watched the program – the look on the B&B hosts face was full of shock.

I need to be up early tomorrow to make a cherry and almond madeira cake for my best friend. It’s her birthday cake request this year. Tomorrow we are going out to lunch at Aldgate and then op-shopping with a walk in the hills squeezed in somewhere too. What a nice way to spend a day, I’m really looking forward to it.

Hope you all have some lovely plans for the long weekend (those of you in states where you are getting one of those).

Why it does this I do not know, but from time to time my MacBook decides that this thread is junk. After a while I realise that life has gone quiet and check the junk box and there you are. It did it again today.

Penguin, I often read back over what I’ve written and believe it deserves to be in the junk box!

Looks like a nice sunny day today – it’s 7.00am and the skies are blue anyway. It’s very cold and I’m sitting in the dining room with the air con blowing and just watched a very lovely sunrise come up over the valley.

Maxx is full of beans so I imagine he won’t let me tap away and ignore him for long. We’ve already had two games of ‘find’ where I hide bits of kibble around the lounge and dining room while he patiently (?) waits in the kitchen until I give the command ‘find!’ and he hunts it down. It gives me about 5 minutes of respite! He is definitely a morning pooch and falls asleep early each evening either on the couch with us or tucked up in bed.

Scales were 85.4 today! Wow. Cinque you were definitely right that the UTI was inhibiting weight loss. I hope to see the very elusive 84 by the end of this long weekend. If, of course, I can stay controlled

Cali, good idea and good investment in the new air con. It is so important to be comfortable and it sounds like you have extreme weather where you live too, just like here, so it really is necessary.

LJ, so glad your back is feeling better and I hope you wake up today with even more relief. Your day sounds really lovely and I hope you enjoy it thoroughly

Ok, time to walk the pooch. Have a great day everyone

PS Does briam sound right for that Quacka?

PS2: Thin and other ‘Endeavour’ watchers. New series started on ABC TV last night. Missed it but hope to catch up today.

Go Neil!

Hi everyone
Oh my goodness, Cinque. Idk if Briam is the right word fir that breakfast but it sounds delicious and it makes me hungry! Thank you for flowers x

I’ve packed my bag for our trip today. Quite traumatic knowing that I need to take everything with me that I want and stay under 7 kg. I am at 6.2kg, pretty happy with that considering I have Birkenstock’s, joggers, thongs and a nice pair os flat sandals in there! We’ll see if that will changeover the next few days…..

Neil, great job on the work out. I admit I’ve stopped working out, again. Idk. I’m just a slacker. Lol (not)

Anzac, keep going girl! You are doing great. Won’t be long and you will be ready for your OS trip x

Ok, OH is making dinner. A stir fried dinner with lots of veg, pork and miso chilli sauce. Omg, has anyone read about the woman with the tapeworm larvae in her brain? Lesson? Cook your pork well. Kinda makes me not want to eat pork anymore even though it probably wasn’t the cause of her problem but it MIGHT have been. Ugh! I’m off to eat my porky dinner. Wish me luck xx

Hello Everyone,
So exciting to be packing Quacka!
What an excellent opshop expedition LJoyce.

It is my welcome Sunday fast day today. I’ve got some babysitting to do in the middle of the day, and hopefully I can fit hennaing my hair after that.

It is a lovely morning, why did you leave Klondi?

Accountability: skipped snack but then added in some walnuts at the end of the day, yesterday. Glad to have today’s fast day.

Cali, I added to the clothing collection today by buying a new winter dressing gown and 2 jumpers – after failing to find anything suitable second hand.
I’ve taken some photos of the labels on my kefir for you: https://imgur.com/a/0SRv8Eg In Australia it’s illegal to sell unpasteurised milk for human consumption, so even though they use organic milk it would have been pasteurised before they turned it into kefir. This brand contains organic milk, organic milk powder and kefir cultures. I know that the milk they use has not been homogenised, because the cream comes to the top of the kefir bottle. The addition of milk powder is something manufacturers often use to make yoghurt products thicker, which is presumably why it’s also in this kefir. I found that most of the other brands on the market were not made from fresh milk but from powdered and they had a lot of other additives and many were sweetened. Initially the only place that sold this brand was an organic health food store in Stirling. However there is an independent supermarket chain chain here that has also started stocking it, so I don’t have to travel far to source it now.
If you are able to buy a raw milk kefir then it should have live cultures in it, because it won’t have been heated at any stage.
Glad to hear that the girls are back together and not fighting – yet.
I like this briam recipe: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/briam-greek-roasted-vegetables/ Although I plan to include slices of eggplant and red capsicum in mine too. I also usually use oregano rather than rosemary in this dish.

Cinque, hope the babysitting was not too tiring.

Quacka, how exciting getting ready for your trip. It’s quite a skill getting your luggage weight down to such a low level.

Neil, I’m tired just reading about all that exercise? Well done.

Today’s food choices are a lesson in what happens when you shop while hungry. I spent 2 hours looking for a dressing gown and jumpers before I made it to the supermarket. Which meant it was 1-2pm while I was buying groceries. The last thing I passed on the way to the checkout was crumpets!

NFD Fess Up:
Breakfast: pot of tea and a banana
Very late Lunch: 3 wholemeal crumpets spread with nut butter and topped with slices of cheddar and then grilled.
Late afternoon: pot of tea and another crumpet – this time just lightly buttered.
Dinner: moussaka and roast veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkin and carrot)
Supper: a hot milk drink

I’m fasting tomorrow.

Thin, just letting you know that WW have both cauliflowers and AC milk on sale at the moment.

As my post was getting long thought it best to submit before I lost it so here’s part 2. Went to the cinema to see Rocketman last weekend and really enjoyed it. Don’t know his name but the actor did an amazing job playing Elton John. The movie was a bit ‘darker than I expected and focused heavily on his drug and alcohol abuse but the music was really good…..have had Elton John songs going round and round in my head all week. Yesterday we went and saw Aladdin and I was a little disappointed. I didn’t realise it was a musical and although the story, effects etc were good I thought the ‘bursting into song’ bits spoilt it.

Weight loss is erratic as is menopause at the moment. Grrrr. I lose a bit of weight then put it back on. Just a continual yoyo. So I’m thinking I might change my ways for awhile and see what happens. Instead of eating between noon and 6.30pm only I’m going to eat my first meal at 10am and it will be my largest meal of the day, 2pm will be my second meal of a moderate portion. 6pm meal will be a very small portion. Each day will be maximum 800 cal with 2 x 500 cal days each week. Will also do a 15min HI workout at 5.30am, 4pm and 7.30pm. All the things I’ve done in the past that have led me to loose weight are not working now so all I can think of is to change it completely and see what happens. Wish me luck

Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere forum Chatelaine.

As you have been carefully monitoring your FDs for a month and are confident you are under 500 cals then it likely that the FDs aren’t the problem. You need to look at how many calories and possibly what foods you are eating on the other 5 days of each week (the NFDs). You have mentioned that your weight is only 66kg, so you likely already have a healthy BMI or are close to it. It doesn’t mean you can’t lose more weight, but it does make weight slower, a bit more difficult and subject to plateaus. I am assuming that your health situation means that you may be limited in adding enough vigorous activities to significantly increase your calorie needs. For example, I walk for 5 hours a week but my actual TDEE is still at the sedentary level.
I would suggest that you work out your TDEE for your goal weight: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/ and be conservative about activity level. On your NFDs you should ideally stay at or below this TDEE. If you regularly go over your TDEE, then this just cancels out the FDs.
You do not need to count calories every day, just until you are sure you understand what you ar eating on the NFDs. I did initially, but I don’t now.

There is one other issue that can affect some people, but I don’t know if it’s relevant to you. That is insulin resistance and diabetes. For people with these issues weight loss can be even more difficult and even a low calorie diet can lead to no weight loss. There are a few people in that situation on this forum and I’ve noticed that watching their carb intake and following a Mediterranean diet seems to help.

Hello Southern Hemispherites!

Return greetings to Quacka, LJ, Betsylee, Thin, Merry

Cinque, didn’t I read a couple pages back that you are contemplating a community weight support group? I read references to your proposal. I’ll go back and read your original post. Your wisdom, experience and poise will be very inspirational to those with whom you meet, the same as those qualities that you share with us, do the same.

So much has happened! My following update on my ongoing low carb/keto journey will answer some of the questions a few of you asked on previous pages. It’s been that long since I’ve written. …4-5 pages ago!

Well, I continued to lower carbs and raise fat intake. Klondi, I’ve learned to time my fat feeding! In other words, I now focus on eating the bulk of my fat grams in the early part of the day, so that I have time to properly digest them before I lie down to go to sleep! Eating the fat earlier actually provides me with a lot of daytime needed energy so doing that fits perfectly with physical challenges of work duties etc. Doing so also affords me peaceful uninterrupted sleep!

Lindsay, I was thrilled to read that you too are experimenting with low carb. I’ll keep watch for your experiences and updates. You may have even written some that I’ll go back to previous pages to discover!

Thin, I guess I feel like I’ve been on this viscous circle of hunger. I fast and feel free of hunger on the FD. I break the fast and within hours, my gnawing hunger resumes. The gnawing hunger isn’t anything new. I’ve felt it most if not my whole life. 5:2 has given me some freedom from the hunger I didn’t previously experience. I really thought that counting calories would let my brain know I’m not really starving and so the hunger would go away on NFDs. After all, why would I be hungry when I know I’m feeding myself the exact number of calories I need to maintain my weight? I could then fast 1 day a week instead of two. I really thought that would be my long term answer to this lifetime problem! Compounding this conundrum is that my work has been very physically demanding and very changeable from week to week. It had become problematic finding a second day to fast during the week in light of my previous adrenal fatigue challenge. I really wanted 6:1 to work.

It was just an accident that I found a book in the library about low carb high fat and from reading that I because the author spoke about levels of satiation that sounded good to me, as I wrote above, I continued to experiment by lowering carbs gradually raising fat intake. I’ve only kind of loosely tracked these as grams and so continuing has felt more like a natural process. I’ve been finding myself gravitating toward fat as a food preference.

I didn’t actually expect to feel and better as I raised my fat and lowered my carb intake. As I said I’d read that it was helpful for satiation. I didn’t expect to have more energy. To my surprise, I began to wake up and starting my day feeling how I used to feel prior to my big adrenal crash of 2012. Even though I’d come a long way since weaning off cortisol replacement steroids 3 years ago, I still had to be hyper-vigilant about energy expenditure. Instead of feeling like I was hanging by a thin thread of energy that could break at any minute, I’ve come to feel like I’m standing on firm ground that is supporting me. This and the level of satiation I experience has plenty for me to want to continue.

A couple of weeks ago, while in the chemist, I happened across a bottle of keto sticks. I decided to buy them and I couldn’t believe it when the keto stick registered that I was in ketosis! I was surprised because I hadn’t fasted beforehand and I’d previously had a bottle and tested during and after FDs and never found myself in a ketogenic state. Here, I’d been eating to my fill and I’d slid into ketosis without realizing.

I haven’t remained in ketosis every day. I have to chuckle because when I feel tired, foggy brained and dragging around I check my ketones and so far each time I’ve felt that way was when I was not in ketosis! Feeling the differences has motivated me to want to become ‘fat adapted’ which would entail remaining in a ketogenic state for 12 weeks or so, for the purpose of converting over to burning fat as my body’s primary energy source. This will take far more focus than what I’m currently doing, though I feel it will be worth it.

In the meantime I continue by keeping with the increased dietary butter, eggs, cheese, coconut oil, cocoa butter buttons (which I carry in my purse to snack on for energy before a demanding work shift), grass fed meat, avocado, above ground vegetables. I haven’t as yet missed the carbs when I’ve eaten the recommended 175 grams of fat and 80 grams protein. I’m too full! As I’ve said, it feels so good not to need to snack; to be able to eat dinner and not require anymore food before bed. This is a ‘luxury’ feeling for me. I’ve rarely known it in my life. My tally of the lchf caloric values of what I’ve been eating on some days according to My Fitness Pal is between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day which is what I’ve been eating roughly for the past month or so.

Have I gained weight from eating the extra calorie? Yes. I weigh 400 grams over my goal weight envelope.

Sadly, this will be my last post for awhile. I never thought I would ever come to a point of ever writing that I would be taking an intermittent fasting break for any substantial period, though that is now on the cards for me since I do want to become ‘fat adapted’. Author and nutritionist Christine Cronau (who is my ‘Dr M’ of keto) recommends to forego intermittent fasting while the body is converting from using sugar as fuel into using fat. Once the body has made the conversion, it is recommended to add IF back as part of the keto lifestyle. I’ve already experienced some downside (called ‘keto flu’) to doing both at the same time. This happened prior to finding the keto sticks and testing and realizing I was even in ketosis. Now that I know, I’m heeding the advice!

In any case, who knows what will happen. Maybe this is time period is just my keto ‘honeymoon’ and I’ll find the marriage incompatible in the long run. Rosy, you shared the challenge of practicing keto amidst social engagements, which I totally ‘get’. It could be my undoing! I will let you know and I’ll return here tell the story and appreciate the motivation I derive from reading your posts.

Morning all, I’ve been absent as very busy and expect to remain so for some time. I’ll explain another time. The last time I read a post, LJ was saying that she was to be studying ‘stayman’ in bridge the next day so that must have been last Thursday. I only have time to skim now.

Minka, sorry to see you go but I, too, will probably be a less frequent poster for a while at least. I miss the daily connection here but I found I was spending too much time reading all the posts and then compiling my own ramble. I don’t like missing the posts but I’ll try the ‘popping in’ method and see how it goes.

I do hope to go back and read the posts about accents. As a child, we used to sit around the dinner table as a family and speak with Yorkshire accents (sorry Penguin). It was a great source of amusement. One of the favourite lines which a member of my family had heard between two Northerner friends was, “Our Stan’s bleedin’ down back passage”. The reply, “Well bring ‘im in lad, don’t leave him i’ cold”. Another was overheard on a train nearing a seaside resort by my grandfather and often repeated. Husband to wife with crying child. “What’s wrong wi’ our Billy?” Wife: “He wants a bucket and spade”. Husband: “Well give ‘im a damn good ‘iding!”. Not funny at all spoken in my southern English accent.

Quacka, exciting time for you!

Anzac, so glad you’re in the 85s. Look forward to reading more success.

Cinque, thank you for the alert. I happened upon that Endeavour episode and caught half of it. I do wish they’d say in the programming text which series it is they’re showing. This would be more useful than the half sentence of explanation full of errors. Morse was in uniform so I’m assuming it was a prequel to the previous Endeavour? I was fasting with you yesterday. 57.7kg today.

Absolutely chucking it down with rain this week, fabulous. We’ve had quite a lot this week which is great.

Part 2.

Gday, so glad to read your posts, the chooks will get their pecking order sorted and then they will all be happy. I love the ducks way though!
You sound a lot happier than last post, did you find out some answers? Minka’s trick of eating fat earlier in the day sounds like it might be a way to avoid reflux. good luck with your new regime.

Minka, what a catch up. So glad you have found things that seem to work so well for you. Sending you so many good wishes and I will be delighted to see you back here when the time comes (but surely you are allowed to pop in even if you are having a 5:2 break).

Thanks for the lovely things you said about my weight loss support group idea. If my health could just improve a couple of notches I could catch up on things and get it going! Fingers crossed.

Hi Neil, I am so glad the gym membership is working out so well.

Accountability: My basic 5:2 is going along well. I had a great fast day yesterday and (surprise!) a plate full of veggies instead of my usual miso soup.
I indulged in homemade flat breads and coffee this morning. Lunch will be sauteed carrot and broccoli with salad vegetables, halloumi and dry roasted seeds to sprinkle on top. My evening meal will be a big bowl of light vegetable soup with a pumpkin pancake. Oops, haven’t thought of an afternoon snack, if I need one. I’ll have a think.

Lovely sun coming through my Melbourne window, jonquils poking their leaves above the soil, along the driveway, and my garden is generally very happy.
Hope your day is as lovely.

Quacka, news please!

Best wishes all.

Hi everyone

Argh! The only news I have to give you Cinque is that the weekend hasn’t gone so well with the eating and am looking forward to a B2B Tuesday Wednesday. On Friday we drive up to Sydney and then fly out (hopefully) Saturday morning. I admit, I’m a little **** scared but at the same time super super excited.

Minka, your posts have been very interesting and I think it’s the proof that we are all different. You have found what works for you and that is awesome! No need to feel hungry all the time anymore. Please do pop in with updates. I am thinking of trying VLC when I get back from my holiday purely because I find eating carbs makes me want to eat more . I will still eat plenty in the form of veggies but very low amounts of processed carbs. I think it will work for me.

thin, please don’t pull back from posting here. I need your encouragement and example to follow. How about just doing a quick post? I will appreciate it 🙂

I just had a big discussion about eating with OH. Oh it was definitely a discussion! I had just cut up a big board of additions and toppings to put in our roll ups for lunch. I explained to him that it would be no problem for me to eat that whole board and then half the mince mixture. I told him that he wouldn’t be able to. He agreed. We discussed family genetics too. He said to me “ are you saying I’m skinny because of my genes.” My answer was ‘exactly’. His whole family are skinny. There is not one that is even pudgy, let alone a fat one. Most of my family are fat. The ones that aren’t are married IN to our family. He argued it was because they eat s**t. They don’t. I tried to explain that we just eat too much. Of good food. Our portions are ridiculous. He said it’s all about exercise, and yet I know that isn’t all true. All I know is it’s really hard to explain things to someone that doesn’t have a problem. I know you all understand what I’m saying.

Hi Chat, the only advice I can give is to keep going. Make sure all your food is measured and weighed with a good scale. Work out your TDEE and stay below it. Otherwise try 800 cals per day every day. Neil here, is doing it and has had amazing results. If you spend some time working out what you can eat for those cals you will be amazed how you will not feel hungry. One more tip. Cut out bread, pasta, potatoes, rice. Cut out alcohol. Also sugar. Your body WILL respond. It doesnt need to be forever. Just get a few results happening and then let’s see what happens.

Gday. I really am feeling for you now. I read of your new food and exercise regime and I want to say good on you! My only concern is the 3 times a day HIIT. Could you day one time a day HIIT and then twice of just exercise, running walking uphill walking etc. Its proven HIIT works better with a break between. Our bodies really are a pain sometimes.

I had Chinese for dinner last night. Smorgasboard, so over eating. Weight today is a total disgrace. Idk what it is in Chinese that packs it on, keeping in mind I ate no rice, dims sims, or spring rolls and I did eat a tiny amount of noodles. I expected it so not too worried.

Time for me to chuff off. Take care all x

Hi again!

I thought to write just a bit more to share… Well maybe a ‘bit’ more than a bit!

Neil, you got me thinking! Gosh, here I go with another written gush! Apologies for the length! My passion spurs me on…

…You mentioned Mediterranean Diet enabling ketosis, which is considered less restrictive… I also know of those in my ‘Keto forum’ who are able to embark on becoming fat adapted and fast at the same time. I also attempted this without realising, as I mentioned, though with unpleasant consequences. This is primarily because I have a history of adrenal insufficiency and I am a thyroid patient who takes thyroid replacement. So if I went by what all the thyroid and adrenal doctors and experts advise, I shouldn’t even be fasting in the first instance since intermittent fasting is said to stress out my already weak adrenal glands to the point of leading to even less cortisol output (which for me is pretty low already). I actually wanted to practice 5:2 for a couple years before I got the courage to investigate whether or not there was anyone else in my shoes who was successfully practicing. I found Cinque and Merry’s contributions over on the chronic fatigue thread and both Cinque and Merry gave me tips and help which gently guided me on how to start. If it weren’t for their coaching I may have not succeeded since I have this unusual condition of chronically low cortisol. In fact in the first months of practicing 5:2, I had to schedule every fast day to fall on a day in which I had nothing else on so I could remain home and rest. I’d not long weaned from taking cortisol replacement of daily oral hydrocortisone pills. I hated taking them, though they were necessary for the 3 years I was on them. Over time I have improved and have been able to fast on some work days though not when I have to exert myself extensively or I end up in an energy crash the next day. I call these ‘fitness hangovers’ since They entail waking up the next morning with a migraine, feeling brain fogged and fatigued. They come about from placing more demand on cortisol than my body is able to make. I can take stress doses of. oral hydrocortisone pills to Get me back on my feet, though I do my best to prevent them from happening. The problem lies often in not knowing exactly how much Is too much and is an ‘overdo’, since it is only the next day that I know that I pushed myself too far.

So it is my own body that has already let me know that while my brain, muscles, organs and glands are still converting from using glucose into primarily using fat for energy that the stress of this uses more cortisol than usual. My experience was that the last couple of times I fasted without realising I was in ketosis I was lead to sudden energy deficit and incurred an associated work injury related to this. In retrospect I felt I was pushing my cortisol envelope too far. I agree I’m now playing it safer than others may need to do.

As I mentioned, I’m being ‘Keto coached’ by Christine Cronau who herself, had chronic fatigue syndrome when she commenced her lchf/Keto journey. I said every adrenal/thyroid expert advised against IF, well they are even more emphatic about the contraindications of going Keto! It is considered way too far out of ball park stressful and I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told or read that the thyroid requires carbs to properly function. So, similar to how I hung onto Cinque and Merry’s guidance with IF because they were proving the ‘experts’ wrong, I do so with Christine’s suggestions.

Why I’m choosing 20 grams or less style Keto over Mediterranean Diet lchf: …The reason originally stems from my addiction to carbs. I am a sugar and carb binger and have been my whole life. I have healed much through IF, though eating whole grain carbs whether it be beans, pumpkin, sweet potato, brown rice triggers the gnawing hunger and cravings I wrote about in my earlier post. Restricting my carbs down to around 20 grams in the form of above ground vegetables plus the 175 grams of fat that allows me to absorb the vitamins and minerals from those vegetables (and grass fed meat + free range eggs) has lead me to a level of satiety that I have not known. So others may find what I am doing ‘restrictive’ in the way many find IF so. For me the experience has instead been nourishing, liberating and healing. My choice is being driven by satiation.

Becoming ‘far adapted’ is individual for each person. Some may become far adapted by following a low carb diet, without needing to lower carbs to 20 grams. Christine’s teenage daughter did this. Her daughter simply followed lchf which is as high as 60 grams a day. I agree that by following a Mediterranean diet could very well lead many to become ‘fat adapted’ even with the higher than 20 grams carb intake. From my understanding insulin resistance plays a major role in this conversion process for when serum fasting insulin is above 5 the conversion process can take longer and will not fully succeed until serum fasting levels drop back to the optimal below 5 upper limit. This is despite the fact that serum fasting insulin lab ranges can span ‘normal’ up to as high as 30. Unfortunately the lab ranges are based on the averages of those who are tested, which is our sugar and carb depended society, so the ab range starts are not an indicator of good health.

Last week I sent off a blood sample to measure my serum fasting insulin. Knowing how insulin resistant I am will help me gauge how quickly I will be able to become fat adapted and will be able to return to IF. Like I said, the higher our serum insulin, the longer it takes to become ‘fat adapted’. I have genetics working both against me as both sides of parents family were diabetic with my father an insulin dependent one. Most of my siblings already take Metformin and not all are over weight. So I’ll see how I’m traveling. My purpose here is good health.

I hope this clarifies a bit more of how I am finding my way forward.

PS Darn iPad auto correct… I meant to say that lab stats are not an necessarily an indication of good health. Also I meant to also point out that the more insulin resistant one is, the lower carbs need to be to become fat adapted and the longer it can take. The health benefits, some of which I’m already reaping, are worth it. …i’ll add that ever Keto expert I’ve run across also includes IF as part of the Keto way of life, if not at the start, definitely when one is fat adapted.

You may all wonder what ‘fat adapted’ actually means!?! It means that the body is in a state of always opting to utilise fat for energy over glucose. When one is ‘fat adapted’ one can eat the higher amount of carbs and remain in a state of ketosis. In other words, one could have some chips with dinner out with friends and test their ketone bodies and find that the carb laden chips didn’t throw them out of ketosis. It is a permanent state of ketosis that would take going on a two day sugar bender or the equivalent to throw them out of ketosis. Not that this would be recommended! Given that cortisol is required for me to make the gradual transition to become a fat burner, imagine the stress hormones that would be required, were I to suddenly pull the rug out from under me like that! I can already feel what a tidal wave hangover to which that would lead,

Hi everyone, just checking in. Sorry we’ll be missing you for a while, thin, but I understand the time constraints. Tonight I’ve spent more than 2 hours (maybe 3?) trying to catch up with this thread and the monthly challenge thread, and oops, it’s now past 2 a.m. Can’t stay long.

FD800 on Friday didn’t lead to any weight change, and it usually does, so my response? Had a terrible weekend of eating the wrong things. Now setting the reset button yet again. Have also realised that the battle starts at the supermarket – it’s only me at home, so if I don’t buy it, it won’t be in the cupboards to eat. Have to ignore the “specials” that only put the weight on.

Actually, I think I also have to stop having NFDs, and instead have 1550 calorie TDEEs on any day which isn’t a fast day. Yes, I know, many of you have told it to me before, a few times, but it is finally sinking in. My NFDs have slowly been increasing in calorie size over the past couple of months as the weather has cooled down – not good enough. It stops now!

Sorry, too much whinging. Also I’ll have to be VERY busy the next 10 days as some data entry needs doing before my supervisor and I meet a professor at my college who’s an expert on data analysis. Feeling pressured since last Thursday, so another reason why the eating got out of control. Realising that – good to have this forum to vent and verbalise what’s happening. Hadn’t linked the two events together till right now. Oh dear! Okay, do the work and stop the eating. Done!

Good morning, sunny in Sydney today. Tuesday 8.40am

Thin please don’t leave us! I need your candour and wit and everything else. I totally understand being busy and needing to prioritise but please please pop in when you can

It seems that yesterday and/or Sunday the eating demons were released into the atmosphere. We had a bbq yesterday and I caught myself mindlessly eating leftovers. I also got stuck into the garlic bread I made. I was 85.5 on the scales this morning, so not too much damage (yet) but woke feeling horrible and bloated. Glad that today is a FD and I am looking forward to feeling lighter soon

Cinque, sorry to hear you had a rough day yesterday foodwise too. It seems a few of us are fasting today to make up for the weekend

Quacka I have had exactly the same discussion with OH. His whole family are skinny minny’s and he is convinced that exercise is the answer to all weight issues.

I hope your FD went ok yesterday LJ and your infusion goes well today. Sorry to hear you had a rough day on Sunday, but hopefully you felt better after fasting yesterday.

Welcome chatelaine and good luck. This forum will help you greatly as there are some very wise owls out there and everyone is so supportive

Better get stuck into some work. I will lurk and post a bit later.

How could I have forgotten my most exciting news? At training on Sunday Maxx was an absolute star…he still jumped up at people in the beginning but once class started he was focussed and he didn’t lunge around trying to play with the other dogs. Then at the end of the hour we heard the words we didn’t think we would ever hear from the trainer ‘I want Maxx to go for grading’. WHAT? Grading is where you go in front of the head trainer and she puts you through the paces of heelwork, sit, stand, stay etc and if you pass you move from 1st class into 2nd class. We honestly didn’t think he was anywhere near ready and didn’t even give the poor pooch a hope but…….he showed us didn’t he? He passed with flying colours. I was so proud of them both and very glad I had sunnies on as my eyes were strangely watering 

There were three successful ‘graduates’ and they all received a blue ribbon and lined up for a photo shoot. I have a photo but I probably should Photoshop hubby’s face out so I’ll do that when I get time and post it

Good morning all.

I’m doing my usual start to the day when I’m not in a hurry. Sipping my first cup of tea while reading the posts on the forum and vaguely listening to the DW News in the background.

Thanks for the support. I did get through my FD but was awfully glad when 5pm arrive and I could have dinner. Because dinner was only veggies I had enough of a calorie gap to have a cocoa in the evening – it felt like a very decadent way to end a FD.

Betsy, I think of those days as controlled days (CDs). For me they are days where I try to make healthy choices, watch my portion sizes and aim to be at or under my TDEE for the day. Just remember that when you get to goal being able to eat a bit more on NFDs is a luxury that your FDs will give you, so this current need for restraint is not forever.
As to needing more food in the cold weather, I completely understand. I find I need to make sure I have nice veggie soups on hand as they help give me warmth and volume without a huge calorie hit.

Klondie, Sorry to hear about your bereavement. It’s a good thing that you get to go back to be with your sister for a few days as I’m sure she will appreciate the support.

Anzac, congratulations to Maxx on graduating from grade one.

Quacka, I don’t think people who’ve never had an issue with their weight ever really understand what a struggle it can be.

Minka, what a struggle you’ve had to manage weight and health. I’m glad you’ve found something that works. I completely agree that those with insulin resistance have to be much more restrictive with carbohydrate intake to achieve ketosis. I saw that in the support group I was in when I did the VLCD. I was one of the lucky ones who could eat 80g carb per day and still be in ketosis. It certainly does help manage hunger.

Chateline, to lose one kilogram of body fat requires a calorie deficit of 7700 calories. This is why weight loss is often slow on 5:2 when you are either in or just above a healthy weight range. As you are only dieting 2 days a week it can take several weeks to achieve that deficit. While our weight on the scales over the short term can be very erratic, I have found that over the long term it actually does roughly match this requirement. The only way to speed up weight loss on 5:2 is to stay under your TDEE on the NFDs or follow a much more restrictive program such as Fast800. It really depends whether you want/need fast weight loss or are content to take it slowly.

Cinque, enjoy your soup day. I’m about to make a big pot of cauliflower cheese soup with the second of the cauliflowers I bought on Sunday.

Thin, I hope you enjoy whatever it is that takes you away from us. Pop in from time to time please.

I need to get moving on making that pot of soup if I want some for lunch. Bye for now.

Thin, I hope you pop in often. You are part of the glue that holds this thread together.

LJ, hope your infusion went well. Your roasted vegetables look perfect. I guess asking the cauliflower in water is the key. Do you add some olive oil prior to roasting?

Cinque, it’s easy for me to get a little dehydrated on FD’s if I’m not actively thinking about drinking water. It usually results in a headache. I try to keep a big glass of water or flavored seltzer with me wherever I go to remind me.

Klondi, I’m sorry to hear about your sister’s partner. It must have been a shock to have things go downhill so quickly. That’s so sad. It wasn’t a very good way to start your trip but it’s so good that you were there for your sister.

Anzac, congrats to Maxx on his graduation to level 2. What a smart dog! He just needed the direction of the training classes.

Minka, I’m sorry 5:2 didn’t work out well for you. But everyone is different and that’s why there are so many diets out there. I wish you well on your lchf diet.

Quacka, hope you got everything packed and are excited about your trip. I’m not crazy about flying either, but had hundreds of flights over the years, most of them for my job, and I always arrived everywhere safely even though I was nervous for most of them.

Chatelaine, welcome to this 5:2 thread. This way of eating and losing weight can be a little slow sometimes, but if you can stick with it, it is effective. It’s the only way of eating that works for me long term. I’ve probably followed every diet out there over the years. But even when I lost weight it wasn’t sustainable. 5:2 is. There aren’t any forbidden food groups and it’s very flexible. Holidays and celebrations aren’t a problem because you can plan around them. I never count calories on NFD’s and I get far too little exercise. It took me about 7 months to lose about 12 kg. But it came off and I didn’t feel like I was on a diet. I don’t skip or abandon FD’s and they’ve become such a normal part of my week that I barely think much about them. I hope your experience will be as positive as mine.