Good morning all. First day of Spring, but was such a cold night here – I even had to get up at 5am and put the heating on for an hour as the cold had woken me up (the welcome warmth was enough to let me get another hour’s sleep). Thankfully I can now see the sun emerging so my walks today should be nice.
I have finally managed to skim read all of the posts I’ve missed lately.
Neil, What a scary episode with your son. It really can be just millimetres between a few bruises and serious injury. I very glad that all turned out well.
That’s quite a collection of seedling sprouting. I have put all of my seeds in to sprout too and have potted up some cherry tomato seedlings to grow on a bit before they go in the garden. Luckily it’s not as cold here so I use the back verandah, which is sheltered but gets sun in the afternoons.
Turn, it’s good that you are able to get out and about, rain or not. I was pleased to hear you say that people are trying to keep their distance in the supermarket. Maybe this little outbreak has served a good purpose in reminding everyone that some caution is still advisable. I notice here in Adelaide, that it’s only when we get a rare case of community infection that I see more caution. Otherwise I appear to be the only one sidestepping others in the shops.
A bit sad about the rarity of healthy shopping in your supermarket trolley. Although I admit I’m more like Cinque and prefer to get most of my fruit and veg elsewhere. I find if I get it from the green grocer it is fresher and keeps much better. I usually walk to the green grocer 2 or 3 times a week to buy produce for the next few days. It’s a good excuse for a walk and it means I never have to put up with over ripe bananas.
Thin, Penguin & Neil, My last experience in a kayak was many years ago in the Bay of Islands in NZ. My ex husband and I did a paddling expedition with a guided group to look at a waterfall. After the instructor telling us that it was rare for the kayaks to turn over and it usually only happened to men as women had a better centre of gravity for kayaking, I unfortunately proved him wrong. We were padding behind the waterfall when some of the water landed on my kayak in just the wrong spot and the force spun the kayak over with me trapped in the kayak underwater. After getting over my fright I was a very wet and grumpy. I’ve never gotten into one again – not keep to repeat that experience.
Cinque, my hair is red at the moment too – though not as red as yours. I normally use a light brown colour and add a little of a copper-gold highlight to the colour. (It as close as I can get to my pre-grey colour). However last time I did my colour I was in the mood for something a bit more vibrant so I added quite a lot more of the copper-gold. Normally the red fades very quickly but it’s 2 weeks since I did it and the colour is still lasting. I might continue the extra colour I’ve quite enjoyed it.
Anzac, is Maxx one of those dogs that loves baths or does he view it as cruel and unusual punishment? My neighbours used to bath their own labrador when she was smaller, but now that she’s fully grown they have been calling in the mobile dog wash to tackle that task for them.
HK, I’m sure champagne free FDs are much easier! I’m very impressed with how easily you’ve slipped into a 5:2 pattern. Also glad that you are seeing results.
Betsy, I’m pleased for you that the scales are now showing downward movement. I hope the continued restricted days are easier for you to stick with now. I’m not surprised you needed a break from it though after those many weeks where you were so controlled. I find my mental commitment gets to breaking point after a while and I just need either a day or even a week or two off – I think my sub-conscious has rebellious streak, I can picture it as a toddler having a tantrum about being denied things once too often.
Betsy & Cinque, I saw the announcement that your premier will present a plan for exiting the current restrictions this weekend. I hope infection numbers continue to fall over coming days so that the plan can be a positive one.
Cali, I hope the fires are not getting worse. They announced here a couple of days ago that we will be sending Firefighters over to help. It sounds like they will be housed in a bit of a self-contained bubble while there to help protect them from covd. I’m hoping the arrival of autumn heralds some consistently cooler weather for you.
Hello to Lindsay, Quacka, GDSA, Intesha, and anyone else who is reading.
I decided to look back at the numbers (you all know how much I like numbers), to see if there were future lessons for managing my eating and weight.
I spent 6 weeks on Fast800 with and across that time I too 2 days off, but stayed within my TDEE and didn’t have any added sugar over those 6 weeks. I also ate no bread or grains, but did have legumes and a wide range of veg. I averaged about 12,000 steps a day and lost exactly 8kg, I stopped when I got to 75.9kg. As I mentioned earlier I knew that this weight loss would have included the loss of most of my glycogen stores so was expecting a harsh weight bounce upward once I went back to normal 5:2. I’ve been on 5:2 for one and a half weeks now and after an initial increase in weight of 2kg I now have 1.3kg of that off and am down to 76.6kg. My goal is to get back to 75 and stay there – hopefully maintaining my glycogen stores but getting rid of a bit more body fat. I have also increased my activity to an average of 13,500 steps since resuming 5:2. My NFDs eating seems quite generous to me, but that amount of activity increases my TDEE from it’s depressing 1380cals when I’m sedentary to an amazing 1900cals. It’s been a whole lot easier to stay under a TDEE level that feels that generous. I think it’s also helpful that I am mostly avoiding added sugar still – just an occasional piece of fruit & walnut sourdough. It will be challenging to maintain that level of activity in the heat of summer, but I need to do it as often as possible as the extra activity is making maintenance (and even a little more weight loss) on 5:2 a whole lot easier. To get to that amount of step I just don’t sit for any length of time. Basically every waking hour I make sure I get and do something for 5 minutes of more. I also do two walks a day of 30-60 minutes each and I aim to make the morning walk as brisk as possible to get my heart rate high enough for cardio benefits. I was also interested to see that so far my weight is only going down by small amounts after a FD, but it’s also not bouncing up again on the next NFD but staying stable at that level. I’m not sure why – I’m thinking it might the lack of added sugars in my diet. I know from past experience that if I overindulge in sugary treats I do seem to retain more fluid for a couple of days afterwards. It has the same impact on my body that salty foods seem to have for most people. I am going to need to practice moderation with sugars – occasional and small treats only.
I also looked at why I hit a wall with Fast800 when I got to 75.9kg. I think it’s because I had originally decided that I just needed to get into my preferred weight window and preferably into the 75s. When it was going so well I adjusted my target to get below 75, but I think my sub-conscious was not happy with me reneging on that original promise and I just couldn’t go on with it. Still I’m very happy with the way it’s turned out and I’m doing ok on 5:2 with my 2 FDs around 500cals. I had been nervous about returning to 5:2 as I’d previously been having so many issues with NFD eating. The added activity and corresponding higher TDEE is helping a lot. It reminds me of the time I was working hard on my previous house and garden to get it ready for sale and I was so active I lost weight on 5:2 without trying and with an increase in my food intake on NFDs. It just confirms that getting enough activity seems to be the key to making maintenance on 5:2 much easier.
In between several cups of tea a a few other morning tasks, it’s taken me 2 hours to write this! Time to stop and post. I need to get out for that first walk of the day.
Have a lovely day all.
1:15 am
1 Sep 20