Good evening all. Quick post, as a film I want to watch starts in 20 minutes.

LJoyce, what a gorgeous photo of you. And your hair is waving beautifully in the photo.

Anzac65, sounds like Maxx needs a few more days of run, run, run! Hope the tummy settles quickly, and the UTI clears up with antibiotics.

Cinque, yes, COLD! Wilbur does the same with his bowl. I usually either just mix the dry food around, or put in a tiny amount of extra dry food, just to freshen it up. Then he’s happy and eats.
Yes, I’d noted that normal house cleaners couldn’t work, but where their work was essential, for the elderly or disabled, they can.

Penguin, glad you’re managing the chemo okay. Was the house you mentioned as possibly buying the same one you referred to some months ago as being one you liked? Hope you can sell yours quickly.

Can’t make any comments re the Monty Python jokes because – shock, horror! – I’ve never watched any of the films.

Neilithicman, strange about your supermarkets during the lockdown. The only item I noticed as being more expensive than normal earlier this year was toilet paper, and that was only briefly because once people “bought out the store” they had so much they weren’t interested in buying it. Then the supermarkets had to drop the prices again to get rid of their excess stock. 🙂

Whoops, nearly out of time. Stay well and stay safe everyone.

That was the one about the Rugby coach whose team had lost 50 games in a row. My only problem with it was that they played in the colours of my old team!

Cinque, I have read most of Terry Pratchett’s Disc World books. When the wizards summoned Death he arrived with scythe and a piece of cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick.

No Betsy, this is a different place. The first one was all we could find at the time, but it needed a lot of work: a solid internal wall knocking down, a new bathroom and heating system. What it had going for it was location. It is still on the list, but now sitting about third. The new favourite is a ground floor apartment, in a conversion of a large old house, with a small private garden. It has a large old fashioned living room and is ready to move into. The location is perfect. We had a promising viewing of ours this morning, good feed back so fingers and toes crossed.

Good morning, hope you are all having a nice Sunday.
After a couple of days of gloomy weather the sun is peaking out occasionally today, so a walk awaits.

Penguin, I really hope you get a sale on your property while your favourite is still on the market.
Congratulations on the cricket win – always more rewarding when you don’t expect a win.

Cinque, I’m having to really manage my water intake. I’m finding with the reduced amount I’m eating it’s even more critical – probably because I’m getting less water from food.

Anzac, I think having the colonoscopy is a good idea as it may identify the problem, or at least put your mind at rest. The preparation is definitely unpleasant, but worth it to get some answers.
The last one I had, they did an endoscopy too (at least there’s no extra prep for that). I did get some answers and they weren’t dire as I feared. Sometimes ruling out the serious things can be as important to your stress levels as actually identifying the problem.

Betsy, I think Wilbur’s size is probably normal. I’ve never met a ginger cat that wasn’t a large male. Or maybe they’ve just all read Garfield and think they need to emulate his food obsession.

Cinque & Betsy, My nephew’s cat is little and lean – she’s also bulimic! She eats until she’s so full that it makes her vomit, then comes back for more. They have to carefully ration her food across the day so that she doesn’t eat too much at once.

Well I reached a milestone this morning, I am finally back into my preferred weight range, just. I was 77.9kg this morning and I think it’s been nearly a year since I was that weight. I know from the last 4 weeks that this will bounce around for a bit before it allows me to stay under 78, but that’s ok. Normally the daily weighing would be something I could not cope with, but surprisingly I’m finding it useful at the moment and I’m coping with the upward fluctuations. I have decided that I am sticking with my current regime on the fast800 and will continue with my limited food range. Once I’m closer to 75kg I will ease back into a normal 5:2 maintenance regime.
I’ve also been happy with my activity levels. Over recent months I’ve managed to build my average steps up from 8500 per day to 11000 per day. When I do the higher step count it used to increase my joint pain and inflammation. However, I’ve discovered that if I don’t do a really long walk, but spread the activity across the day and evening I can do a lot more without adverse consequences the next day.

Hello to everyone I haven’t mentioned. Have a lovely day all.

Good morning,
I started today without internet AGAIN! But I headed off to Northland (shopping centre) and left iinet to sort it out. And they did.
The streets were like the Sunday mornings of my youth, decades ago. Empty. I was the first car to park on the roof above Aldi and the veggie shop. I got everything I needed (including the good halloumi, and FRESH MILK!)

Even though it is fast day and I am wondering if I might try a couple of weeks of Fast800, I’ve cooked the beetroot that has been kvassed (can you decipher that?) and made 6 meal sized ramekins of mince and beetroot bake. I had to, I had all the ingredients! They are in the oven now.
They are very ‘Eastern European winter’ as they are lined with thinly sliced potato, then a layer of mince cooked with caraway and cinnamon, topped by the beetroot and I snuck in a good sprinkle of chopped parsley, then topped again with lemony sourcream sauce. I’ve made them before and they are a lovely meal. And I feel very productive. They might be 800 calories each, so maybe I could have one meal a day when I have one of them.

But that does mean the day is rattling along nicely and I have been too busy to think of my stomach.

Betsy I hope you are having a good day. Haha re Wilbur. I started off doing exactly the same, but Miso got so fat that now I just say “If you were really hungry you would eat the crumbs!” She would like to move to your house!

LJoyce, Oh dear that nephew cat! Miso will vomit after eating if she has a hairball (usually on soft furnishings!) and then tell me how hungry she is. She is a shorthaired cat so we weren’t expecting hairballs, but luckily that is all it is and she does pretty well on the specially formulated feed.

Woot Woot! Your milestone. Lovely work. I know you need to wait for it to settle, but here are flowers for today, in anticipation. http://theflowerstudio.ie/occasional-flowers/congratulations-flowers/#gallery/2075/933

Penguin, I love the discworld Death, and his granddaughter. Haha re the pineapple and cheese, he would fit in well at that salmon mousse dinner party.

That apartment sounds so nice! I want to live there! All my fingers are crossed for you.

Well, I am going to sit and consider whether to do the Fast800 for a couple of weeks. Or maybe even one week to see how I go. I am hopeless at counting calories, but I am hoping if I read the book carefully and study the recipes I can get a close enough idea.

Gday, how are your going this side of your 60 hour fast? And how is Mr Gday? We are thinking of you (blithely speaking on behalf of everyone here).

We have had a terrible day for Victoria, with our highest covid death toll. But otherwise the signs are good. The next few days will tell, but it looks like the numbers of people catching covid19 are falling.

Cali, I have been thinking of you as the numbers were rising here, especially when I spent most of yesterday thinking powdered milk was better than facing the shopping centre. I could feel the worrying situation really effect the way I was feeling and thinking, so much more than previously. I do feel a lot better after this morning’s shop and this morning’s figures. But I am sending so many good wishes your way.

Well the oven pinged and my ramekins are golden brown and smelling so good it is a pity I can’t eat one today.

There is a bit of sun outside so I will go for a little walk before attacking Dr Mosley’s book. Good wishes everyone!

On the subject of wizards. CNN this morning has an item about Christchurch’s official, and paid, wizard, complete with photos of him and his nominated successor in black robes and pointy hats.

Good Morning all, it’s 4am…yawn. Went to sleep at 10pm but woke up at 2am unable to get back to sleep, so here I am.

We’ve had constant steady rain over Friday and Saturday which was lovely and will soak into the ground much better than a downpour which just runs off. Tomorrow we are forecast for a day of reasonably heavy rain so again I’m happy with that. Earlier in the week, prior to the rain, we fixed one of the downpipes on the shed, planted out some Lilly Pilly trees in the spare block, fertilised the entire garden and spread gypsum (clay breaker) around other areas of the block where we intend to plant more trees and ground covers in the coming weeks.

LJoyce I love the photo. I was in my mid to late teens / early 20’s in the 80’s and had the longest, frizziest main of blonde hair. And the fashions, oh I can’t believe I wore some of the things I did, but didn’t we all. Lots to laugh about looking back now but I do hope the 80’s fashions stay back in the 80’s and don’t repeat themselves.

Penguin, good luck with the house sale / purchase and glad to hear your health is going well and not causing too many side effects, allowing you to still continue on with your daily tasks. I too love Vera, Brokenwood Mysteries (although only watched a few episodes) and Shetland (was it Cinque who watched this?). Mr Gday is not a fan of British murder/mystery/drama, he prefers American shot ’em up shows so I don’t watch much British tv now (in fact don’t watch too much tv at all as I much prefer to read at night) but when I was single I watched all of them, the old ones and the new.

Cinque, I’m with you, can’t wait for the warmer weather to appear. It was so cold late last week there was snow fall in nearby townships (30 kms away from us), which is a very rare occurrence. Most of it melted as it hit the ground but some areas further north east of here had quite a good covering. Isn’t it great getting to the shops early when there is no one else there. Not so much over winter as it’s too cold, but in warmer times I often head into Coles at 6am to do my food shopping. Only downside is that some days they haven’t finished stocking the fruit and veg section as it’s so early but I find they are more than happy to go out the back and get what is not on display when asked.

Mr Gday is still on the wait list for further tests which is playing havoc with his stress levels. He is a stressor by nature and worries about every little thing in life so you can imagine what he is like at the moment. I keep reassuring Mr Gday that the specialist we saw was very positive about the outcome given he has not symptoms, is feeling well, no family history and his blood tests showed only one abnormality which was only slightly off scale.

Weight loss update. I’m very happy to say that the scales are still heading downwards. In April, I reached my heaviest weight ever in my entire life, just nudging the scales over 80kg, hence why I was feeling depressed along with both of us being made redundant. I’ve hovered between 77kg and 80kg up until 10th July when I decided to give up the booze and go strict keto/very low carb. On that day I weighed 78kg. Today I weighed in at 73.4kg so more than happy with a 4.6kg loss in 4 weeks. I’m also in the middle of another extended fast, ate my last meal Saturday evening and will fast until Tuesday, not sure if I will break my fast with brekky, lunch or tea on Tuesday, will just see how I feel. I’m aiming to get to 65kg. When I used 5:2 to lose weight before I got down to 62kg but for now 65kg is my goal and from there I will re-asses if I want to go further or not. I must say that when I look at my Fitbit and it’s says 8.4kg until I reach my goal weight rather than the 15kg to reach goal weight of a few months ago I’m feeling very positive indeed.

One other added benefit from being alcohol free is my Fitbit shows my Resting Heart Rate has dropped. For most of this year my RHR has been between 66-69. For the last month it’s been a constant 52-53. The same has happened for Mr Gday, a drop of about the same amount in his RHR since kicking the booze. I thought that was very interesting.

I’m super excited as today I start my Cert III in Fitness course and I’ve just noticed the log in email has just lobbed into my inbox. Another plus is that weight loss (and muscle tone) should accelerate from now on seeing as I will be more motivated to stick to my fitness routine, no excuses to slack off now. My massage course starts on 1st September and yesterday I watched a 2 hour course overview session they sent me and I loved every minute of it. Later this week I will order the massage table. I’ve gone for a good quality, electric lift table, with detachable arm and head rests. As a registered massage student I receive a discount from this company which is great. It’s Australian made in Ballarat so I’m hoping the lockdown measures won’t hinder manufacture and delivery to SA so fingers crossed. The majority of the first unit is theory so I’m hoping by the time I’m into the practical work I will have a table.

Excuse the long post, time for another coffee and then check my emails. Happy Monday everyone x

Morning all

Penguin, I think the Wizard has moved after the Christchurch earthquake and now lives in Oamaru. He’s a well known and much loved New Zealand eccentric.

Cinque, you’re much more organized than me by plotting out your vegetable’s execution date 😉 . I just look in the fridge, cook whatever I want, then panic at the end of the week when there’s some veges that are looking a bit sad and cook up a big stew or soup to get rid of them.

Congrats Gday, a 4.6 kilo loss in 4 weeks is awesome

Ljoyce, I’ve never been much of a kombucha fan, do you make yours or buy it? I found that the supermarket kombucha is awful but my brother in law makes his and that is palatable. And congrats on your weight milestone too!

I had a decent weekend, Saturday was pretty quiet because it was a bit cold, but I got out to the farmers market and butcher and then did a bit of cleaning around the house and pruned our redcurrant, blackcurrant and blueberry bushes. Sunday was better weather so I managed to get quite a bit done outside. I got the branches I pruned over the last 2 weeks all chopped up and drying ready to use for next year’s kindling, I got a new garden dug for our feijoa tree (our ground is on a slope and solid clay, so I had to dig a 50cm deep hole, cut a drainage channel, lay some drainage coil and gravel, put in some decent soil and then lay a border of stones and then plant the tree) I also got a trailer-load of aged compost from the pig/poultry farm and got it dug through some of our veggie gardens ready for spring planting.

Well fast day today, control day tomorrow and then it will be weigh-in day on Wednesday

Have a great day everyone.

Good afternoon everyone.

Penguin, I do love Georgian architecture, such pleasing proportions and symmetry. I’m sure the apartment is lovely.

Penguin & Cinque, I too prefer Terry Pratchett’s stories with the witches. As to the few Discworld Films that have been made – I think I’ve seen them all, but my favourite was Going Postal – I loved the golums.
In Adelaide there is a little amateur theatre company called Unseen Theatre Company. They mostly perform plays of the Terry Pratchett books. I have been attending these with some close friends for years. They always perform in the Bakehouse theatre – so called because it used to be a bread bakery in the late 1900s. As you can see from the list of their plays, they do a lot of Pratchett, although I do also remember going to a Ben Elton play that they did too: https://unseen.com.au/

GDSA, I am glad you are able to commence your studies now – good to be able to pour your energy into something that will set you up for the future. I also think that the electric lift massage table is definitely the way to go – easier for the more infirm to get on and off, also easier for your back as you can set it to the perfect ergonomic height.

Betsy, oh dear, fresh baking in the house is deadly. I have carefully avoided that lately – apart from 2 birthday cakes which left the house intact. I chose the daily 800 as it was moving between 500 and NFDs that was proving difficult, I needed some daily sameness. Hopefully the B2B FDs will get you going again.

Neil, yes I do make my own kombuch, and if I do say so myself it’s really nice. I’ve perfected the recipe to my personal taste now. The nurse who does my infusions shared her scoby with me but hadn’t successfully made a batch herself that she really liked. After trying mine she took my recipe home as she did like what I’d done.
My jar makes about 2 litres at a time. I always start with 4 heaped tsp black tea in leaf form (normally a mix of darjeeling and assam) which I brew in a teapot for 6-7 minutes. Then I strain it onto 100g caster sugar (a lot less than many recipies advise), stir to dissolve the sugar and leave until it gets to room temperature. I pour the sweet cooled tea onto the scoby and then top up the jar with cool water. After brewing for 7-9 days I drain most of it into a jug (leaving at least a cup of kombucha in the jar with the scoby as this is needed to get a good ferment next time). I flavour it with a Twinings cold water infusion tea bag. I’ve tried a few flavours and my strong preference is for the blueberry, apple & blackcurrant flavour. I also add 1-2 tsp of powdered stevia per litre of the finished kombucha. If it’s a little strong I dilute with some water – sometimes necessary if I’ve left it fermenting for more than 7 days. I put mine in clip top bottles and refrigerate so that it becomes lightly carbonated. I make a new batch about every 3 weeks as the bottled kombucha lasts me that long. That meant that I leave the scoby in that cup of kombucha that I left in the jar for about 10 days before starting the next batch. It seems to survive these short hibernations very well.

Cinque, My plan is roughly the same – mostly veg as I know it will keep me around 800 without pesky calorie counting.
I tend to do something similar with my veggie purchases too – although my plan in often also about sensible scheduling so that I have the right leftovers for later – eg leftover mash so I can make a shepherds pie with less effort.

Hello to everyone who is reading and not posting. Have a nice evening.

Hello HK, you are doing exceptionally well if you are sticking with FDs regardless of the difficulty. I think that is one of the big challenges in this way of eating. I agree that a busy day is always easier.

Penguin & Cinque, there was an error in my earlier post. It should have said: “They always perform in the Bakehouse theatre – so called because it used to be a bread bakery in the late 1800s.” I got my centuries mixed up!

Take care all.

Good morning, after a gorgeous day yesterday, rich with saturated golden light, today is grey and dull, but with any luck I might be able to eat my midday meal, sitting in the sun.

Now Neil, how food sits in the fridge varies greatly between one woman eating 800 calories a day and a family of four that includes two growing boys!
I am laughing at myself because I was feeling low on food before my shopping trip on Sunday and now I think I will be right for a month. My cooking went well yesterday, so I have good things in the freezer while I eat up the fresh food.

You did have a decent weekend. Enjoy today and the weigh day tomorrow morning.

Betsy, there is nothing like having a few ripe bananas to conjure banana bread.
Haha walking to Dan Andrews’s press conferences, brilliant way to get fit! They’ve been at least an hour long for weeks now. And I hope you have a spring in the step today as numbers (touch wood and whistle) seem to be settling, and the tragic death rate has at least not risen today.

LJoyce that Discworld theatre is such a treat! And that theatre must be so beautiful too. What fun they must have. Your kombucha sounds lovely.

Helen Kate, lovely to see your post. Well done getting through that hard day fasting. I don’t know why some are so much harder than others. Suggestions: a bad night sleep makes it harder, getting cold might make it harder, some people find that what they ate the day before affects their fast day. Busyness is a big one. There is nothing like lots of distraction! Hoping your next fast day is easy peasy.

I was learning Italian (just starting) at around the time I joined the forum. Hence my name, I just love the sound of cinque, and I am one of five sisters and fifth in our family of seven children.

Penguin, in my experience disappointing home made bread still tastes better than almost anything bought. Good luck with the next batch.
You might love the Phryne Fisher books. I don’t think Kerry Greenwood is the best of writers, but her characters (especially Phryne), and the satisfaction at the end of each book are very good, so perhaps that is good writing after all. They are based in Melbourne in the late 1920’s which is fun too. I love the tv series they made and there is a film too, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Well so far so good doing fast800. This is my third day (counting my Sunday fast day). I’m off to distract myself. Ooh and the sun is peeping through. Best wishes all.

Hi everyone from Whakatane, it’s a very wet one today and is forecast the same all day with strong winds tonight too, it’s coming over from Oz apparently, so what you all had last week by the looks of it?

We have had some really lovely warm and sunny days of late though so not complaining. I hope you find some sun for your lunch Cinque, and what a scrummy lunch it will be with all that new fresh veg? The beetroot and mince bake sounded great and so tasty.

Sounds like you had a great weekend Neil although colder than you would have liked but a lot accomplished, clay gardens are so difficult to manage I find, but having said that, any garden right now would be appreciated! I can’t believe the prices of vegies this winter, but then I think it might be our first winter here in NZ for about 8 years! So that might have something to do with it? Just as well I’m not eating so much haha.

You can have some of our rain Penguin, I’ll send it over for you, nothing worse than humidity? Glad to hear that you have your treatment under control and good luck with the house sale, got everything crossed for you. Not sure how England won the cricket either coming back from 177 for 5! We’ll have to see how well they do without Stokes for a while?

I have decided I’m with you LJoyce on too many choices becoming a downfall. I am tending to stick to the same meals on my 800 cal days or I tend to fall off the wagon. I also love Georgian architecture, my younger sister lives in a ground floor apartment in a beautiful Georgian building in Farnborough, Surrey in the UK, and it has a large stained glass window at the top of the stairs it’s just beautiful and wonderfully serene. I think it was built as some sort of convent. Also congratulations in reaching your wright goal, so happy for you.

Well, my weight has certainly been pretty erratic since passing that stone, up and down like I don’t know what, I have been the same weight the last three Tuesdays so am determined to keep it going in a downward trend this week, need to keep with the time frame I set myself, if not, I may be forced to do an extended fast as you have Gday, well done to you, not sure I could manage all that time though, maybe when the weather is a little warmer!?

Watched all three episodes of the Salisbury Poisonings last night which was really good, surprised it was made so quickly, given it only happened in summer ’18, but a good watch. Also just a couple of episodes into the Gloaming, filmed in Tasmania and Melbourne, bit of a slow start but unfolding nicely with a great cast. Looks like we might be watching a bit more with this rain today!

Hope you are all enjoying your day fasting or not,

Turn

Good morning all

Super busy at work so a quick post to say hello. Today I start my prep for the colonoscopy. Cinque, you would be horrified at the things I can eat today and tomorrow – or more around the things I can’t eat. NO VEGETABLES AT ALL apart from well cooked pumpkin or potato! In addition I can only have meat, egg, fish, white bread, white pasta, white rice, milk and clear liquids. Ugh. Thursday is clear liquids only then Friday nothing after 10.00am. I’ll be glad to see this over and done with.

So glad you are going ok Penguin and good luck with the house sale. That apartment sounds lovely. Sending some of our rain your way although I think it has finally stopped.

G’day, that is an awesome drop and you must feel amazing. Good luck with your studies and also everything is crossed for your hubby

I need to dial into a meeting so more later……

Neil, Rough. I guess your Cathedrals are as important to the community as ours.

Turn, that rain hasn’t arrived here, although parts of Wales are under water.

Anzac, Good luck with the colonoscopy.

Betsy, a church is a church. Ours is over 900 hundred years old. There were Romans, Celts and Saxons on the site before that, but it doesn’t get as many people as some of the new ones. All extreme age gets us is a leaky roof. The people are more important.
Have fun with Mandarin. When I lived in Hong Kong in the 60s I picked up some Cantonese. It is pretty much all gone with lack of use, although my expression of surprise remains ayyyaaaar. Typically, I suppose, I can still order a beer or some meals in Cantonese, but it is unwise to do so because after that I have nothing to offer. Some of the Romance languages are so close together that they can be a problem. If I slip something Spanish into Portuguese I can cause offence.

Hi all, bad news and disastrous news

Bad news is I was up 600 grams on my weigh-in. I’m not too worries about that because I’ve maintained my other measurements so that should go easy enough.

The disastrous news is here in NZ we’ve had our first community transmission cases of covid in over 100 days and that means that the whole country has stepped back up to level 2 restrictions, and Auckland where the cases were found has been bumped back up to level 3 restrictions 🙁 I’m really hoping we can nip this back in the bud soon so this outbreak doesn’t turn into a situation like they have over in Victoria.

Well, have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone

I was shocked to hear the NZ have 4 new Covid cases and no idea where the family caught it. I do hope they find the source ASAP and avoid a second wave. Fingers crossed for you Neil. Things are not improving here yet but at least the numbers aren’t growing; but so many deaths in Victoria. So so sad

Talking of languages, I studied French before we went on our trip last year. Funny, every time I said something in French when we were in France or Morocco, they would answer in English. Not sure why – LOL

I went to a school that specialised in languages Cinque and did a few months of Japanese. It was very challenging. I did really well at Indonesian so studied it for 4 years but I can only remember a couple of words now.

I remember you said you were studying Norwegian Penguin. I imagine that too would be very difficult, but good on your for always challenging yourself, just as Lindsay said. In fact I am often in awe of everyone on this forum for your talents, abilities and setting challenges. I feel like a sluggish couch potato in comparison! But everyone is different. I think I put so much energy into my work I don’t have much left outside of that environment.

G’day, it’s lovely to hear you sounding so much more positive, especially with what you have been through.

That theatre sounds lovely LJ. I love live theatre and we went a bit nuts when we were in New York in 2017. I had to double check that because it feels like last year, not three years ago. We saw Cats (didn’t like it, too operatic), Carol King, Kinky Boots and another one for which I have forgotten the name. Then last year we went to the West End in London and saw the Tina Turner story (spectacular) and the Abba Mama Mia (disappointing, just like the movie)

I am missing fruit and veges and it’s only been 24 hours! I keep walking past the fruit bowl that has some lovely apples and mandarins and my mouth starts watering. I had a very unsatisfactory breakfast of ham on white toast. Ugh

You are right Betsy, I would actually rather not eat than stuff myself with white carbs. I have a crusty white roll that I’ll have with some turkey for lunch and dinner is a nice steak with some potato. That’s it. I also bought some low sugar sparkling apple juice (it’s on the list of allowed liquids) which is delicious. Otherwise 2-3 litres of water and that’s it.

I do have to smile at your Rosy and her thieving ways Lindsay. It does stop – but not completely. I can now hang tea towels on the oven door, but if Maxx comes looking for playtime and gets ignored that is his first port of call for getting our attention. I wish I had a dollar for every tea-towel I’ve rinsed after being ‘Maxxed’, I would be rich. Yesterday we had an electrician downstairs for several hours and every time he and OH would speak Maxx would bark like a mad dog. Even down to the WOO WOO WOO WOO howling. The labrador forum said to reward him with little treats when he was quiet, but that only worked for as long as I was feeding him. As soon as I’d stop he would start up again. I ended up having to put him outside and close the door which is something I don’t like to do as he doesn’t really understand why he is being punished. Sigh

Ooops, better go and prepare for an 11.00am meeting I am running. Hi to everyone else and have a great day

I have just spent 30 minutes replying to everyone. Then I seem to have swiped left and it has gone! Things to do now so I will attempt to remember it all later.

It has been a busy, hot and humid day. This afternoon we went into town to have a look at that possible apartment. We are about 600 feet higher than town and as we went downhill it got hotter. Even up here, it was 39C when we got back, which may not count in Australia but it feels warmish to me. We have just had a thunderstorm and it is raining again, so I’m hoping for a cooler night. The apartment was not quite as splendid as the photographs, they never are, but it will do us well if we can get it.

I think I know that Phryne Fisher series. I may have watched a few on one of the minor channels last year. Our digibox is playing up and will now only receive about half the channels it should so it may be some time before I see it again. I am not buying a new box until we move.

Neil, we all thought you had really cracked the Covid problem. That you can get it again has the rest of us worried.

In my lost earlier post I seemed to chat to about half of the group about languages. if I have given the impression that I am a linguist I have over cooked it. It is just that I have worked in a lot of countries and very early on realised that people are more co-operative if you try to speak their language, so I have dabbled in a lot of languages. Even going on holiday I try to learn the survival structures before I go – how to get a meal, a bed for the night, a train or theatre ticket. It can have unexpected benefits – a Belgian traffic cop halved my on the spot speeding fine when I spoke to him in his own language. I have a northern ear. I hear German or Norwegian clearly and have problems with the southern Romance languages. Portuguese I read without difficulty but spoken Portuguese flows past me like music. I had real difficulties with Cantonese because a word could have several meanings depending on tone: a dog, the number nine or an obscenity. The Chinese guys I worked with had an interesting sense of humour so I was never entirely sure I could trust them until I had checked. My approach to languages is probably my Father’s fault. He came back from the war as I was learning to speak. His Arabic teacher had believed that adults should learn like children, so he started them off on Arabic versions of English nursery rhymes. My ” Mary had a little lamb” was in Arabic.

Hello everyone, quick post to say I am surviving the pre-colonoscopy day. My last solid food was before 10.00 this morning and I am drinking loads of water, some Gatorade and apple juice. I can drink these clear fluids up until 10.00am tomorrow (Friday) and then nil by mouth until after the procedure. I have to be at the hospital at 2.00pm

The next steps in the preparation start at 4.00pm today and based on the instructions, I will still be feeling the effects past midnight. GAH

I am already dreaming about the chicken and vege soup that is waiting for me when I get home tomorrow night

Penguin, 39 is super hot anywhere but especially when you aren’t used to it. I hope the rain has cooled things down and tomorrow is much cooler. My friends on the labrador forum and their dogs are all melting over there

Today I was bringing in the washing and had to strip off my jumper leaving just a t-shirt. It was 22 or 23 degrees and sunny and just beautiful. Spring is coming!

Sorry, must run. Work is busy – but I’m not complaining as it keeps my mind away from thinking about how hungry I am. I just keep telling myself that it isn’t hunger, it is my body shedding fat. Ha ha

Take care all

Thanks Penguin, good to know. Glad it’s a bit cooler today for you

Hi everyone

I had a longer babysitting stint tonight as my nephew had errands to take care of after work, so I’ve just had quite a late dinner for an 800 cal day. The macaroni cheese that I made for the kid’s dinner was looking good, but I resisted. Thankfully my dinner just needed 15 minutes in the airfryer when I got home. I feel pleasantly full now.

Penguin, I would concur with Anzac, 39C is hot in anybody’s language.

Anzac, good luck tomorrow, I hope you have some answers very soon. Enjoy that lovely soup when you get home.

HK, Cinque & Penguin, I have attempted to learn both German (at school) and French night classes) but struggled. I have a good memory for nouns, probably because I can tie the word to an object in my memory. I find verbs, adverbs, pronouns and sentence structure difficult to remember and gender based pronouns are just a nightmare.

Neil & Turn, I have been watching the news on NZs cases – they have been showing your PMs press conferences here daily. I hope you get better numbers very soon and most importantly can find out how the virus got into the community so procedures can be changed to deal with that risk.

Hello to Thin, Lindsay, Betsy, GDSA and anyone else who is reading.

I needed a break from my 800cal days yesterday. Nothing drastic, I just really needed a hot lunch as well as dinner, so I added a 2 egg zucchini omelette. Today I’m back on track and quite happy with my 800cals. On this type of plan I find I need a slightly less restricted day every 10-15 days. What I’ve learned though, is that you still need to stick to the foods you’d normally be eating on 800cals – no sugary treats. Yesterday’s deviation didn’t derail me and I am now firmly lodged in the mid 77s. I’m feeling a great deal less stressed about my weight now than I was a month ago.

Take care all.

Goodmorning,
My pyjama pants are very loose this morning, every nice reward for my Fast800 week, especially as my midday meal yesterday was bigger than I meant it to be! Back to a smaller serve today!

Anzac I forgot all those days of prep for the colonoscopy. Oh well, it will soon be over and done. Ooh I would love those 22 degrees, but at least today will be a lovely morning before colder wet weather rolls in again.

Penguin, those are impressive Norwegian words. ‘Pin’ is a lot easier to say!
Hooray for cooler weather, and I hope the humidity is less by now too.
What an artistic couple you are. The flower had such lovely architectural symmetry I thought a dahlia grower would like it. I will go to the opposite extreme next week I think!

Hi LJoyce, goodness me, macaroni cheese would be hard to resist at the end of a long hungry day. Congratulations. Your clothes and your knees will reward you.

I am starting to think how I want to eat after this week, It has been a good reality check and I am eating enough that it is quite sustainable. But I am sure I will need breakout days, or maybe an extra serve of veggies with my meals. It will be a good scientific experiment on myself to figure out what suits me long term.

Oh dear, my heart just dropped at the news out of NZ yesterday. When covid sneaks in it is like a fungus growing underground, only being found when the mushrooms pop up. I do so hope it hasn’t spread too far.

Betsy, weren’t our numbers a lovely relief yesterday! Hanging out for today’s numbers. I woke up this morning to news of the outbreak at the RWH, but I am hoping that is all counted in previous days and that it won’t be spreading. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

Ooh, well done with that Xinjiang Province compliment!

I do think your friend has it right. We would have so much more sugar in more recent recipes, and fluffier texture. But how I was brought up does stick in my brain, so it is just as well I don’t eat those things any more. If it is in a loaf tin, I would keep calling it banana bread!

How is studying going after your break? I do hope you are enjoying it, or at least ploughing through it and fitting it around your 10,000 steps and 5:2ing.

Cheers everyone, I hope today is an easy and good one. Bye now.

Good morning all

Cloudy today, 20 degrees

I am very surprised that I am not famished. I don’t understand it but I am not going to complain. I have had nothing but water, Gatorade, apple juice and jelly for just over 24 hours and I’m fine. Possibly the DISGUSTING gunk I had to take at 7.00pm last night has a side effect of filling you up? Or, more plausibly, it is a mental thing where you know you have no choice but to stick to it so you just accept it

The sleep section of my fitness app says I managed 1 hour 24 minutes of deep sleep and 1 hour 35 minutes of light sleep last night. It sounds right as I was up and off to the loo a lot plus some noises in the street that were annoying. Lots of whistling around 11.00pm so I can only think someone was looking for his/her escapee dog. Then Maxx wanted the loo at 12.30 so yep, pretty darn tired today. I worked until 10.00pm because I’m so busy plus it took my mind off everything. Finishing work at 12.30 to get ready to go to the hospital at 1.30

I like the sound of your new eating pattern Neil. I do try something similar as it suits me too (with fewer calories). I really need a couple of days of ‘regular eating’ but I just tend to go overboard on those days. I will try harder

So scary about the news from NZ. My heart dropped like a stone this morning with the news of a potential spread outside of Auckland. Fingers crossed they can contain it

Hooray for loose PJ pants Cinque! Whoo Whoo!

Betsy, I just realised your post did not come into my email FD inbox. I tend to read them there and then login to respond. I happened to scroll up and saw your post – I wonder if this has happened before? I love love love banana bread and might make some soon. I just have to freeze it quickly before it gets consumed en-masse

I am fascinated to read about your overseas language studies HK, Betsy and Lindsay. I would have loved to do that.

Must run, have a great Friday and hi to everyone else

Cinque. Discussing sleep wear again?

Neil, It seems we all have our share of selfish idiots. You are sounding very organised.

Anzac, the lack of hunger sounds right. Before I hit my target weight I fasted totally for 2 – 3 days every month, just fluids. Hunger was never a problem and counter intuitively I had enormous amounts of energy. I remember that disgusting gunk!

Overcast and cooler here after an enormous thunderstorm at 2.15am. It had us up and about so at 9am OH is still sleeping.

Does anyone else suffer from the need to post, then go back in to change the occasional word?

Cinque, I’m not stuck in a lock, although there was one last week where we feared we might never leave; everytime OH opened the paddles of the top gate, the lower gate re-opened itself. Fortunately, a passing dog walker stopped to help on the third try.

Anzac, all the best with your colonoscopy today. Thinking of you.

I’ve been lurking and read most of the posts but, as usual, can’t remember much (that much hoped for benefit of fasting, staving off dementia, doesn’t seem to have kicked in yet).

All the best to everyone.

Happy 6th thinaversary thin!