Good morning all.

I had second thoughts about my choices Monday morning, so I took some boxess back to Ikea and bought an alternative. I feel more confident that I’ve now made the right choice. I have not however started building, I haven’t even opened a box yet!

Lindsay, I think an evening with your daughter sounds like the perfect thing to do – the dinner sounds yummy too.
I had a giggle at your description of the encounter between Rosy and the lizard.

Anzac, I am so glad you had lots of Maxx cuddles to get you through yesterday.

Cinque, Hopefully babysitting doesn’t impact your health too badly – no more grasshopper days. I hope your grand daughter likes broad beans. I didn’t like them as a child because of grey wrinkly skin – as an adult I’ve realised they can be shelled and then peeled and they are so much nicer then – sweet and delicious.

Thin, you really have made good use of that hairy bikers low cal cookbook that was inherited with the boat. Your description of the various FD meals you concoct from its pages sound really inviting.
How lovely that your homegrown tomatoes are finally ripening.

Neil, what a fabulous weekend. I hope the good days continue and that plans are well underway for lovely birthday celebration.

HelenKate, I loved your list of the changes you’ve noticed – especially the increase in control and confidence. I’m so glad 5:2 has been so successful for you.

Calif, glad the smoke has finally cleared. I’m sure you are heartily sick of electioneering. I certainly hope that Trump does not get a second term. Luckily he doesn’t own a golf course here so I doubt he’ll be moving to Australia – maybe Scotland or Ireland.

I dropped my car off for an overdue service this morning and then went for a long walk. Unfortunately the headache I awoke with is still there. Maybe a little food at lunchtime help. Actually some more water might help too (I’m channelling Cinque). After a NFD on Sunday I did a FD800 yesterday and am doing another today.

I have a lunch in the city tomorrow which will be a NFD and I was thinking about how I move forward from Thursday. Because the weather is gradually warming I don’t feel the need for hot food at lunchtime. I’m thinking that I’ll try to do mostly controlled days with fresh fruit or a smoothie for lunch and then dinner that padded out with extra veg. It’s not dissimilar to my FD800s but I’m careful with my meal choice on the FDs. I’m determined to arrive at December at the bottom of my weight range – unlike last year where I was shocked to find myself 8kg up from that weight.

Have a good day all.

Morena everyone

Well I’ve had a good week, I had the feeling I was dropping weight because the last few days I’ve had the familiar flushed skin feeling that I get when I slip into ketosis. And this morning confirmed it. I dropped 1.5 kilos from last week to be sitting on 88.5 kilos! it’s the lowest I’ve been since April.

Have a great day everyone

Just a quick hello to everyone before I get some sleep. We had some excitement here on the weekend with a 15 acre bushfire, mostly grass, bushes and a few trees that was very close to here, that started next to the freeway. There were huge plumes of smoke but they brought in planes to drop retardant and helo’s dropping water. And fire trucks, of course. The perimeter was contained within a few hours. Very stressful here. Everything is so dry. Luckily there was no wind. Our weather has been lovely but we need rain badly. This has been an unusually warm October. A couple good rainstorms would eliminate what’s left of the fires.

We have a cat that hasn’t been eating and went to the vet for an X-ray because we thought he might have been blocked up. They didn’t see anything there, but his lung looked hazy. Could be pneumonia or infection, or could be a growth. He will go back for another X-ray of his lungs if the antibiotics don’t help. We have antibiotics for him twice a day and are waiting for bloodwork reports to come back. So we’re worried.

I badly need to get back to fasting and away from the stress eating. My knees hurt from the extra weight and my skinny clothes don’t fit. Between the lockdown, election news (much of which I’m trying to avoid) things seem overwhelming lately. We did do the early voting and I dropped off our ballots to a lockbox yesterday. I’m glad that’s done. There is definitely something to be said for having a short campaign period like you do in Australia. Ours seem to go on forever! Is NZ and the UK the same?

LJ, did you get started on your Ikea furniture yet? I hope you’ll post pictures.

Cinque, glad you’re past the grasshopper stage and feeling well enough to babysit Miss 4. Have you been brushing up on your Mario game skills? 😁

Anzac, isn’t it amazing how animals seem to know and try to comfort you when you’re sad? Maxx is a sweet and dedicated dog.

Penguin, I hope your delay in posting means that you’ve had an offer on your house and are getting ready or in the process of moving house. Also hope that your treatments are going well.

Thin, so glad to hear that you had some time with DD and with your friends. Are you happy with your haircut?

Hi to everyone else. I’m getting sleepy eyed here. Take care and send some of that rain over this way!

A quick good evening from Adelaide.

I have just finished a FD500 (fruit & almond milk smoothie for lunch and chilli-bean soup for dinner). While I won’t be counting calories, my plan to have just one proper meal each day for dinner with fresh fruit or a smoothie for lunch should mean my calorie count is 1000-1200 most days. This means that on those days when I have social events I can let my hair down without panic. The next event is a halloween kids party that I’m going to (and baking for). I’m making mummies (sausages wrapped in puff pastry strips) and severed witches fingers (green shortbread shaped like fingers with red icing as blood). I’ll take pics of the results.

Hello to everyone, I hope you are going well and have had a good day today.
I still have fingers crossed for Victoria that the infection numbers stay low and will allow for some major changes this Sunday.

Take care all, time I went to bed.

Good Afternoon all from a very wet and flooded South Australia (well in my part anyway). After a night and day of steady rain, thunder and lightening we’ve just had the most amazing downpour (3pm here). I’m sitting at my desk looking out through the sliding doors to a backyard that is fully underwater. Mr GDay is just gone to collect Miss GDay from school, she normally walks but not today. The rain is so heavy the gutters cannot cope and the water is gushing over the sides of the house and sheds. When it eases I will have to go and investigate the car shed which I have no doubt will be flooded to some degree. I love a good thunderstorm but I have to admit some of the thunder claps and close lightening bolts made me jump to high heaven.

Have been busy with study most of the week. Submitted 2 assignments, one of them 34 pages long. Weight this week has been on a downward trend which is good. Now the weather is warmer (except for today) I’ve been keeping up with a daily fitness routine and have managed 2 fast days this week. Oh I was going to write more but the lights are flickering so think I might log off as I know other areas around us have lost power today so we may be next.

Good evening all.

Good to read all your posts, and catch up on news. Seeing I’ve been off the radar for about a week, I thought there’d be more to read, but I guess as we move more towards Christmas/ end of year, everything just seems to become busier.

Thanks for all the encouragement re eating. I haven’t been going great, but not a total disaster either. Then today I was gifted a box of 6 deluxe donuts as a thank you for something I’d been doing – sigh! Fresh, sweet, gooey donuts – sigh! Did eat 2, then gifted the rest to friends – and then ate half of another one. Well, better than the entire box.

CalifDreamer, so glad the air there is now much cleaner and with less smoke. What a terrible summer of wildfires you had. And now not long till the presidential election and the results. Hard to know who to hope for, but at least this last debate was considerably more civil. (I would vote for Biden, or not vote at all).

Anzac65, hope that work has settled down a little. Are you still having to have all the Zoom meetings with London late afternoon? What a hassle for an early bird like you.

Thin, great visit from your DD, lovely for you all. Also enjoyed the description of your houseboat – sounds really beautiful.

LindsayL, pity you have yet more revising to “look forward to”, but sounds like it’s nearing the end. Good that OH is back with you.

Cinque, are you crossing your fingers with me re an easing of restrictions on Sunday? With the new outbreak, I wonder if they will actually occur, or be pushed back another week.

HelenKate, you are doing so well, and really learning to listen to your body and giving it what it really needs, rather than what it might think it wants. Go girl!

Neilithicman, yay for getting so many results you wanted. Happy birthday in advance for the 29th. Have you managed to resist the bottle of whiskey you were given???

News for me – thankfully, skin lesion on face is sun damage, though the dermatologist wants to see me again in 6 months just to be sure it’s still okay. Don’t need to use the chemotherapy cream on it to get rid of it unless the mark bothers me – no, it doesn’t, so that’s okay.
My plumbing job finally was started yesterday. The original plumber was still delaying on giving me a quote after 4 months, despite me contacting him several times. He said he still wanted to do it, but – after still no quote, contacted another plumber. Unfortunately, the drainage problem is much more serious than we initially thought, so much more extensive work is being done, at triple the cost (ouch!). Well, if it’s done right this time, I’ll be happy anyway. They’re having to fix something that wasn’t done when the unit was built 26 years ago, digging up concrete, etc., so it’s a big job.

Nothing else from here. With all that’s been going on, haven’t done a successful FD yet. I tend to do well till dinner time, but then, once the hunger dragon awakens, it awakens with a vengeance ( 🙂 ). I’ll find out the damage at my weigh-in tomorrow.

Fortunately, tomorrow is another day to begin anew (with no more donuts!)

Hello,
A quick catch up before I make my evening meal.

LJoyce, Your Halloween plans sound such fun! Eating frugally, it is good to have a treat to look forward to. And what better treats than witches fingers and mummies!

Thanks so much for those crossed fingers, they might have kept the numbers lower than they would otherwise be. This latest cluster is (another) reminder of how quickly it spreads. I fear that not enough people will keep behaving covid safely (went to the hairdresser yesterday and she was not covidsafe, sigh) (but at least I did get my hair cut). I am with you and Betsy, fingers and toes crossed. And on the edge of my seat tomorrow morning to hear the numbers, and the announcements. Not so confident of opshopping on Monday now.

Penguin, great news that the sell and buy are done. It is the Georgian place you are moving to? Sending so many good wishes to you and Mrs Penguin. Moving! Yikes. Busy busy busy. (Stress stress stress).
I’ll look for a baldy, clean shaven flower for next week!
So glad you are still managing to read posts, and it is so special when you manage to write one.

Gday, you got the mad weather in buckets! How is it now? I do hope there is no damage. It seems to be centering around the Gabba now to make the Grand Final interesting.

There was excellent rain here, but nothing too mad. Cold though! Lucky I still had some jumpers out.

Well done with those assignments and with lovely weight loss! You will end the year feeling very pleased.

Anzac, I hope there is no damage there either. How wise to have your anniversary dinner on the day after the thunder and lightning. Happy anniversary for tomorrow!

Betsy, yes! When we start a new page, my computer takes me to the previous page for days! I told JJ the tech officer about it, and was asked if I could take a picture, but I can’t work out how to take a picture, let alone one that shows what happens. Then it stopped doing it, and now it has started again.
You do get lots of edible gifts. Well done on giving some away.
Much sympathy for that plumbing job being so much bigger than you hoped. But hooray for getting it done right. Will it take long?

Well, another day almost done and dusted. I’m off to cook lots of veg and a chicken tenderloin.

See you all in the morning of my Sunday fast day!

Happy Anniversary Anzacs
https://greetings-day.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Happy-Anniversary-ecards-1.jpg

Betsy, hooray for the skin lesion news, I must have been very hunger distracted yesterday to miss writing that.

Thin, hello fellow faster today. Hmm, there must be a way to enjoy a pub without a high calorie drink. I hope you can figure out one.

JJ is great. I try to report spam too and she (he?) always sends a nice message of thanks.

Dan’s presser is due at 10:30, that’s in 5 mins. But goodness me we have it easy compared to other places. So sad to see Illinois’ top medical official breaking down as she reported to the public.

Anyway, off to see what is happening here. Fast day has started well and I have a big bowl of veggies to look forward to.

Cheers all.

Good afternoon all.

surprising for me to be posting in the afternoon, but I checked emails, and thought, why not?
The major news for me is plumbing! After much thought, and with the help of a plumbing friend, I did a water test on the area I was told was a problem – no problem. The extra job hadn’t been started, so I’ve cancelled it in writing, and asked for the deposit I paid to be applied to the original job – hoping that will happen. Either way, losing a few thousand dollars is better than paying over $11000 for unnecessary work.

Cinque, what disappointing news for us today, no opening up yet. Hopefully the northern suburbs clusters won’t take off and this will be a pause, not another long delay.

Cinque and Thin – yes, the numbering is exactly the problem I’ve been experiencing. I remembered today to check once I logged into our forum, and moved on to the next page.

Thin, you are so incredibly disciplined! You put me to shame. Yes, how can you visit a pub and not drink something?! Lemon, lime and bitters could be a low-cal option, if the pubs have it.

Helen Kate, I was the one who received a box of 6 donuts (twice now!). My church is running online, and there are volunteers doing all sorts of connecting up to people things. I help with 2 groups, so received thank-you donuts for both, about 2 weeks apart. It was fairly easy for me to give them away – rocky road, on the other hand, could be a disaster! 🙂
I find a plumper stomach shows for me if I have too much ice-cream. What am I doing having ice-cream? Good question. No answer except a guilty look.
A mantra I read on another forum states “delay, not deny”, and it’s a good one to hang on to!

Overall, I’m now finding that the eating is under better control than it was. Considering birthday cake, donuts and other indulgences, I’m still hoping to end October the same weight as I started it, and for me, that’s a major plus.

Have a good week everyone.

Hello all, here we are – Monday yet again

It’s happening to me too, when I click on the link in an email it is taking me to the page before. I thought I was going a bit mad!

Awful, crazy weather here. Gale force, cold wind and rain. We didn’t take Maxx out this morning due partly to the weather but mostly because the poor boy is showing signs of a slight limp. So he is on calm activities for a day or two

We had a lovely anniversary yesterday, thanks for the nice words. And thank you for the lovely flowers Cinque 🙂

Even Mr Anzac has put on weight so today marks the start of ‘healthy week’. We are determined to both lose weight and get the wine consumption way down. So weekdays will be rigid with healthy food, no wine and more exercise. We can relax A LITTLE on the weekends to keep it real and make sure we can stick to it. By Christmas we both want to lose 5 kilos each.

So glad your plumbing issue isn’t as big as first thought Betsy. I like the ‘Delay not deny’ mantra.

It really is difficult when people give you food as a gift. They are well meaning but it makes for too much temptation when, as you said HK, your resistance is low. Better to not have it in the house so re-gifting is a great idea for the rocky road.

No new cases in Melbourne today Betsy and Cinque. Fingers crossed for reopening and hopefully saving some poor small businesses.

Work should (emphasis on SHOULD) be better this week but who knows what they will throw at us. I’ve got some little bits of time-off coming up; I am taking Melbourne Cup day off next week and we are going to our local golf club with 4 friends for a function. Then Mr Anzac and I are going to the Hunter Valley in mid-December for what was going to be a concert but of course that was moved 12 months. We decided to go anyway and are staying three nights. The first night is the day after my birthday so we can celebrate up there. Then….bliss…the project has a mandatory three week shut down over Christmas. I’m desperately looking forward to that but, if they go ahead with this massive change request to bring two years worth of work forward, I fear it may be cancelled. We do have a trip to Fiji booked (how is that for pure optimism?) so on the miniscule chance that the Bula Bubble happens before Christmas they can’t make me cancel that. But if I’m just at home I won’t really have an excuse to demand I get the time off. As a contractor that really doesn’t look good. Fingers crossed they don’t cancel it.

I must leave it there as I have a meeting in 2 minutes. Take care all

Good morning all…well, it’s actually early evening now, after getting caught up in the day.

I’m over on my lovely island, having come over on the 6pm barge last night after having the four little ones for most of the day ….an exercise in crowd control!

I am pleased to report I am going well ….I have been on mostly 500 to 800 days, with perhaps a 1000 day for my eldest brother’s birthday celebrations. I had my very favourite Vietnamese meal, bun cha, which I suspect isn’t as innocent as it looks, but was amazing and reminded me of my time living in Hanoi.

It has worked well, having OH out of the house for 8 days, and he is no longer commenting when I don’t eat dinner, if I eat during the day. So a breakthrough there. Now, results …well, I think I’ve done okay. 3.6 kilos since I started Wednesday week ago. It will slow now of course but I have packed a very good range of food and Woolies will deliver tomorrow. I have the little girls from Wednesday through to Sunday – DD is working on the Queensland elections, and although we offered to not go away to help with babysitting, the compromise was that she’ll being the down to the ferry and we’ll go over on the speed boat to collect them.

I am going to try to work back on posts – I know I’ve missed a lot, so apologies right up front for those I miss. As you say HK, stay away for a few days and the forum just whizzes by.

LJ how are you going with the new Ikea purchases. Full marks for having a go at it. And great you’re knocking off that extra 8 kilos that crept on last year.

Cinque, the water dragon lives within the pool enclosure, and Rosy can’t get in there unless we are there too. They’ll reach an accommodation, I’m sure. so sorry Cinque, and Betsy, that the Vic freedoms are taking longer than expected.
Are you okay with that, or feel there should be more relaxation now?

Betsy I don’t honestly know what to say about those gifted ‘treats’. It is really hard to say no, when people offer you gifts out of kindness. But I think Thin once pointed out that people who are offering food out of kindness should accept it if you ask them not to. I have used the excuse in the past that my blood sugar is creeping up, and I am restricting carbohydrates. Saves offending, and actually pretty accurate too.

I have a girlfriend who loves to cook, but with only her OH at home, distributes food in her workplace, to her family, her grandchildren’s P & C tuckshop (for the helpers, not the kids). She’d often bring my OH great trays of chocolate brownies because once he’d told her he thought she made the best. Finally I had to say to her that although he’s slim, it really wasn’t good for him to eat a dozen brownies on his own,… eventually she got the message. I love my friend, but at the risk of sounding mean, I think she gifts food because she loves cooking,not out of kindness per se.

Calif, sorry to her about your poor cat. Hope the vet has resolved the issues. Troubling, when an animal is unwell.

Good to hear from you Penguin, and to read that you’ve bought and sold. Full marks – can’t have been easy when you’re still going through the treatment. Hope you are feeling well and positive about the move, and it doesn’t tire you.

Gday, your assignments sound really challenging. Are you loving this new career course you’ve embarked on? Your weather event sounded extraordinary. We had wild storms last night here in Brisbane….lots of trees down on our drive down to the barge …and this after weeks of super dry weather. I think we’ll be having more of these events as our weather changes.

Happy belated anniversary Anzac. Fingers crossed you actually get your break at Christmas. What a year it has been for you.

Good news from the dermatologist Betsy ….we pay the price for our sunloving youth, don’t we (but good you escaped relatively unscathed). And better news about your water situation – yikes, we are at the mercy aren’t we, of people who are experts in their field when we are not. A less expensive option, though dear enough.

And on that note, if I don’t sign off soon I’ll be back to saying ‘good morning’ and it will be tomorrow.

Now I have clear air, I’ll try to post more regularly and not the massive missives I seem to write when I’ve been gone for a while.

Goodnight all

Good evening all.

LindsayL, good to hear from you, and well done with the weight loss progress. You’re doing so well. I’m going to be happy if I end October as I started it – even that will be a considerable improvement on last year’s yo-yo up.
Hope Rosy and the water dragon do reach an accommodation – probably have to be training of Rosy, but she’ll learn.

Re the 2 lots of donuts I was given, all I received was a text message to say they were coming, and there they were on the doorstep. No opportunity to say “no”, and it was a kind thought. As my friends, to whom most of them went, said “most people would drool to be given a deluxe box of donuts”. But then, they froze them, and only ate one at a time, half each to husband and wife, so very well controlled eating.

Yes, the “joys” of childhood summer holidays at the beach sans sunscreen, which I don’t think existed in the 50s. Maybe zinc cream? My family couldn’t afford that anyway. I’ve already had several skin cancers and pre-cancers removed from my skin, hands, arms and face, so I’m now fairly sun-averse.

Plumbing – well, when I refused to have the second job done, I lost the deposit I’d paid, but I’m thinking of having an alternative job done. By doing that, I’ll receive a discount of about 35% of the amount I lost in the deposit. There’s still a problem with tree roots and broken pipes, so will get 2 pipes relined, instead. About half the price of the other job, so much better, and should solve the cracked pipe problem.

Cinque, really I should have started with this – we are out of lockdown as of midnight tomorrow night, yay, yay, yay! Still can’t travel more than 25 kms from home, and not to regional Victoria, but pubs, cafes, all retail will re-open. What a relief. And if all the numbers stay stable, more easing of restrictions in 2 weeks. We still can’t have visitors at home, but you’ll be able to meet with your family in outdoor spaces so much more easily. How are you feeling about it all?

Hey, I might actually be able to visit the local op shops. I’ve had 5 or 6 bags of goods to donate just sitting around home for months. And although plumbing will be done, it won’t be as expensive, so yes, maybe some new clothes could be in order. Mind you, with the lockdown and our cooler weather, I haven’t been wearing many different clothes in recent months – a few items – wear, wash, re-wear constantly. Haven’t even worn a lot of the clothes in the wardrobe, but something new always gives a lift of spirit.

I’m babbling on here. Hope everyone is well. Oh, most of the first plumbing job is finished, just re-concreting to do. The guys tried to clean up – let’s just say that their idea of cleaning up differs considerably from mine 🙂 . I’ll be hosing and scrubbing down the driveway, I think.

Okay, enough. Really, really happy. Hope you’re all well!

Morning all.

Yea Melbourne. Congratulations Cinque and Betsy and all other Melbournians. Freedom at last. You’ve done so well. Who would have been the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews? He looks exhausted, and after those early hotel quarantine debacles, seems to have done well and not buckled to pressure. Long may the ‘no cases, no deaths’ reign.

Neil, that weather is pretty extreme. The thought of the fire going is lovely though.

Betsy your plumbing situation sounds really complex, but it seems you are getting it in order without spending the huge sum you first thought.

I can’t remember wearing zinc when we were young …. the lifesavers wore it and we thought they were so so gorgeous in their white stripes across tanned skin and speedos. I wonder what they look like now? Mmmm, perhaps best to keep the memories of youth. That first sunburn of the holidays was almost a rite of passage.

Coming back to your earlier post Gday … how is your worm farm going? Named them all yet? I got my worms from Bunnings ..they sit in a box on the shelf, just waiting to be given a lovely home. Mine live outside the laundry, and in return for vege scraps give me lovely worm wee, which is wonderful for the garden (but not neat, as I discovered).

Also late joining your conversation with Thin about soft drinks. What more can be said! When my kids were little, we thought (were told by the current experts) that fruit juice was a good option, so off they went to school with their little popper boxes. Now of course we know it’s pretty much sugar in a box with no fibre etc. My friends (same one who cooks) have like us temporarily given up alcohol, but over dinner will order two or three diet cokes. She wasn’t impressed when my tactless (Glaswegian) OH told her she was drinking chemicals.

Scales continue to be kind this morning, after another good day. Down .4, which takes me to 4 kilos all up. I’m being pretty strict – 500-800 most days, IF, and very low carb, but feel better for it (and can just squeeze into my new togs, which was the trigger when they arrived and couldn’t be squeezed into).

Happy day all …..and particularly Cinque and Betsy, to enjoy the new freedoms.

Good morning all.

Betsy and Cinque, I am so very relived that restrictions are finally easing for you both. My heart fell when I saw the weekend numbers and realised Sunday would not bring the good news that everyone was expecting. What a relief that the reopening was only delayed by a couple of days.
I hope you have fun op-shopping. I imagine there are many people like Betsy who used the time at home to have a good clear out – there should be many new donations to rummage through.

Betsy, it was really well timed to discover that the expensive plumbing job wasn’t necessary – I’m glad you have found a way to use the deposit for other work that also needs to be done. I has similar issues with tree roots in the drains when I lived in the Adelaide Hills. I found that I needed a plumber with an electric eel to remove the small tree roots on an annual basis before they had a chance to grow larger and split the old terracotta pipes.

Lindsay, congratulations on the weight loss during your self imposed isolation from MrL. I’m glad you are now getting to spend some time together in your lovely island home. The grand daughters will love it too I suspect – with many requests to go swimming. I still remember you telling us that one of them wanted to swim in the ocean when you were in Europe over Christmas in 2018.

Neil, glad you’ve had at least some good weather. It feels more like winter than spring here at the moment, so I think your weather is also likely to be a bit erratic too. Hopefully you’ll get dry enough weather for cycling.

Anzac, I hope your new healthy week is going well and that MrA is also coping with the restrictions. Hope Maxx improves soon as I’m sure you all miss the walks.

Cali, how is your cat going? I hope the antibiotics have helped.

HK, I’d never thought of the parklands as a source of buns! Though I’m sure a cairn terrier could find any food titbit that’s hiding in the bushes – aren’t they just lovely dogs. My aunt and uncle had one that they trained to not leave their unfenced yard – it never did. (They could give a labs a few lessons in how to obey instructions!)
I have the same issue with falling behind in the posts, I have decided that it’s just going to happen sometimes if I want to respond to what I’ve read.

Thin, I rarely go into a hotel or bar these days, but I used to have the same issue with ordering drinks in hotels/bars because I don’t drink alcohol and find soft drinks too sweet. I usually just order bottled water. Another calorie free option is to have soda or plain mineral water with a slice of lime or lemon. My other backup is soda lime & bitters. It’s still a soft drink but not very sweet and less sugar than other options. It looks like other people’s drinks so I didn’t have to put up with the inevitable comments about drinking water. (These days that wouldn’t bother me, but when I was younger and out with work colleagues is was an issue.)

Penguin, absolutely wonderful that you have contracts for you house sale/purchase. I know the packing will be a big chore but I do hope it goes well and that there are no delays with contract settlement.

I still have not started building the furniture. I have had issues with extra joint inflammation over recent days and my hands and wrists are just not up to job at the moment.

My eating plan has also hit the wobbles – mainly because it’s so cold that I find myself wanting a hot lunch again. I am managing to keep the excesses to a minimum though. Yesterday’s FD500 was a struggle as the hot food I had to look forward to was a cup of butternut-lemon soup for dinner. I enjoyed every mouthful but it was a long wait through the afternoon. The weather feels more like late autumn here and not springtime.

I hope you are all having a good day.
Betsy and Cinque enjoy planning your first outing!
Take care all.

Hello everyone

A quick and rather tired message from me before I throw myself into bed.

Betsy and Cinque, I am so happy for you Melbourne people. You have done a fantastic job, but what a hard stretch it has been. Enjoy those op shops! And the freer socialising.

Thin, I smiled to read of you sunbathing on the roof smothered in baby oil – my sister and I used to do the same – not a great idea under the Australian summer sun!

Lindsay, I’m intrigued by the island you go to. Is it a small island? How long does it take you to get there on the ferry? Is the barge the same as the ferry? When I go to Kangaroo Island to my sister’s place it is a 2 hour drive to the ferry, then a 45 minute crossing (twice that if it is rough) and then another half hour or so through the bush to her place. I get the feeling that your island might not involve so much travelling.

LJoyce, nice that you have known such a good and well-trained cairn terrier. I loved ours dearly but she was a stubborn little creature with quite a bit of attitude – and I loved her for that too, as one does.

There is so much more I could respond to but I need to go to bed and get some sleep.

I have a dear friend arriving from Alice Springs tomorrow. She will stay with me for a week before going into hospital for a hip replacement operation. This will be a challenge for me – can I maintain the IF and my morning exercise routine and my daily walking with her here? I shall do my best.

Best wishes to everyone
HK

Morning all, well I roller-coastered back up to 90.1 kilos again this week. I’ll try to keep my eating more steady this week and see if my next weigh-in I can get it back down to where it was last week. I went through this roller-coaster period for a bit at the beginning of the year, with my weight jumping up and down by as much as 2.5 kg per week before settling down at about 90 kilos. Hopefully this time I can get it to settle a couple of kilos lighter.

Thin and HK, I would never dare sunbathe, I’ve got really fair skin and burn in about 10-15 minutes in the sun, so my parents always made sure that as I kid I wore plenty of sun block. Probably just as well because my dad has had several spots cut out and one came back as being melanoma. I’m going to have to get a mole map done at some stage so I can keep track of it in the future.

Ljoyce, I know what you mean about the cold, I don’t crave hot food when it’s cold though, I crave the starchy crap that I shouldn’t be eating, usually piles of toast or pasta. I envy my son, he’s going through a growth spurt and can eat mountains of food and still stay skinny. The other day he had a tub of popcorn, big drink and an icecream at the movies in the afternoon, came home and while I was cooking dinner he ate all the sushi I had made for my lunch the following day, ate a salad and two huge pumpkin burgers that I made for dinner, was sniffing around for dessert, then he was eating half the lunch he was packing for school the following day as he was making it. I told my wife that her vege garden better hurry up and grow or we’d need to take out a second mortgage to feed the little bugger.

Cinque, In the sugar docco I saw a while back they stated that there’s been a big re-think recently about how bad fats actually are for you. When there was a big health push in the 1960s there was an American scientist that put forward that fats were bad, while a UK scientist was putting forward that it was sugar that was bad. The US scientist won out and there was a big low-fat movement where everything has been loaded up with sugar to improve the lack of flavour you get from removing the fat. When you see old codgers on the news that have hit 100+ and they ask them the secret to long life, they all seem to say that growing up, they all ate bacon, cheese, butter, etc and walked everywhere.

Congrats on the 4kg Lindsay, long may it continue!

Well back to work, I took my bike in today because it’s back to being a lovely day again (I guess it’s not just my weight that’s on a roller-coaster at the moment). Have a great day everyone and happy fasting.

PS woot! I tipped it! It went to the right page!

Ooh, no maybe you did Neil, your post came through while I was writing. Yay!

So true that fats aren’t the terror they were made out to be (Feed him sugar might be more successful 🙂 ).

Cheers.

Interesting how all our experiences with the sun were similar. Except Neil sensibly avoiding it but then Neil, you do have youth on your side, a younger generation. Was that doco ‘That Sugar Film’? When I’m in the store, I try to remember it’s the food manufacturer’s job to sell us junk and make us think we must continually snack, it’s my job to fight back and resist it. Funny about your son’s growth spurt.

Lindsay, odd that your friends wouldn’t discuss their reasons about reducing alcohol. You’d think they’d be proud. Great about the ‘new’ car and how you went about it. Years ago we had a Toyota Camry station wagon, it looked dated even then but we could pack a heap of camping gear into it. In 2006, we upgraded to a 2004 Corolla station wagon which we kept until last year and loved it but although it seemed bigger, there was considerably less room in the trunk – or whatever the back end of a SW is called. Still in touch with the lovely couple who bought it from us. We tended to hang on to our vehicles.

Lindsay, the link I posted isn’t of our boat but the latest release of the fitout company. Ours is 10 years old. Each is individually crafted with the owner’s input. I see this one has gaslift cabinetry hinged at the top which OH and I had lamented ours didn’t have.

Cinque, have a great FD, it’s almost over now. Well done for getting us on the right page.

On the move, must get going.

Good evening all.

Well, the plumbing saga continues. Work in progress, but not finished. I’m getting a couple of storm drainage pipes cleaned out and then relined, and the relining works better if it has time to dry without getting wet. A few days of light rain are forecast for the next 3 days, then there’s a public holiday (Melbourne Cup day – a holiday for a horse race, only in Melbourne! Or only Victoria? Not sure actually). The relining will probably be finished next Thursday. All up, I will probably have paid around $2000 less than if I’d gone ahead with the other job. Not good, but much better than it could have been

With all that, though, I’m saying that’s the end of my “retirement” car 🙂 . I’ll just hope my 7-year old Toyota Corolla sees the distance. Well actually, I’m sure I’d buy a new car if it became necessary, but it sounds good.

Hmm! Seems several of us have had the same or similar experiences with the sun, CalifDreamer, LJoyce, Thin, etc. I remember during high school how it was almost a badge of honour to be the person with the worst sunburn. Like Neilithicman, I have very fair skin, so I never tanned to more than a light brown and was so envious of those who were a rich dark brown colour. Now, seeing a dark brown tan horrifies me. Okay if that’s a person’s normal skin colour, but not if it’s just sun damage. I remember my Chinese friends would avoid the sun, using parasols if they were outside in sunny weather – commenting that if they got too much sun “their skin went black”. Nowadays I often copy them, and use an umbrella if I have to walk on a very hot day.

Hope your skin lesion also turns out to be nothing, CalifDreamer. Your cat is a bit of a worry. How old is he (she?)? My guy has recovered well from his tooth abscess, and is eating really well again, having been off his food for weeks – guess it was too painful to eat, and it wasn’t until swelling on one side of his mouth appeared that I realised there was a problem and took him to the vet’s.

Did you get to the op shop, Cinque? I went to Westfield Plenty Valley and did a little shopping, bought a birthday present for a friend, plus a few items I was getting low in. It was such a pleasure to just be allowed to do it! I’ll gradually get to other things, like op shops. It’s a bit difficult until all the plumbing is finished – still trying to pin down which day the concreter will be coming.

Neilithicman, I chuckled over your description of your son’s eating. Years ago my friends’ two sons were teenagers, and the wife epically described them as having hollow legs, or that their stomachs were bottomless pits, yet turn them sideways and you couldn’t see them as they were so thin. That didn’t last, alack – maybe they got too much into the habit of eating a lot, and by their more sedentary 30s, they were both quite overweight, and still are (not in early 40s). Sad.

HelenKate, hope that you can work around your visiting friend and maintain a reasonable form of IF. I think the suggestion of just drinking something while she eats breakfast is a good one. She might feel neglected and ignored if you don’t join her, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat what she does.

Time is escaping me. I’m now trying to be in bed at a reasonable hour, and get up earlier in the mornings. Don’t like the idea, but certainly feel better for it.

Sleep well everyone, and stay safe!

CalifD, I just started a new Netflix series called, ‘The Queen’s Gambit’. I binged on three episodes last night as OH likes to watch his US Great Lecture series that he’s subscribed to and I find them too boring (he chooses Physics and such like). I think you’d have to understand chess just a little bit at least to fully appreciate it but the story line is good. I could really empathise with the 9 year old Beth – I even looked just like her when I was nine and we had to wear the same pinafore uniform!

Hope your cat feels better soon. Yes, less than a week until the election but I fear that, whoever wins, that will not be the end of it. Some fear civil war. Let’s hope the result is accepted graciously this time and that whichever side loses immediately look to what attracted the other half to their choice of leader and start to address those concerns. I’m pleased to say that, like you, I’ve mostly avoided the entire circus and very relieved that OH and I are not compelled to vote. I’ve even had US readers of my narrow boating blog slamming each other in my comments section. Hello! Wasn’t it better back in the day when we didn’t discuss sex, politics – and what was the other thing – in public?

My internet is not working so I am tapping this out laboriously on my phone but wanted to say a big thank you for the support and suggestions re sticking with IF when a friend is staying. I stuck with it yesterday, and did my walking too!
And it didn’t feel so hard. But it had seemed almost impossible before your warm and sensible messages. Thank you.
HK

Oh dear, I should have proofread my post last night before heading off to bed!

“Helen Kate, another idea for having a cupcake while your visiting friend eats, would be to serve it in a fancy teapot or coffee mug. That might make it feel like something a little more substantial.”

‘Cupcake’ was originally typed in as ‘cuppa’. That darned auto correct on my iPad changed the whole meaning of that sentence!

Hi all. Have just skimmed, yes literally skimmed through posts as there seem to be so many since i last posted and i am so time poor at the moment.

Penguin, best wishes on house sale, purchase and health. Ljoyce, hope the ikea purchases come together…flat pack furniture can be tricky for sure.

My Gday was a big one for slapping on coconut oil and sunbaking in his life before me…I put a stop to that. Im surprised that he has not had a sun/skin issue so far.

I skimmed through a conversation on fat/sugar. Apologies I didn’t read in full but I’m all for eating full fat products, cheese, yoghurt, milk, quark etc as well as olive oil, coconut oil, animal oils etc. Anything that is reduced in fat is replaced with sugars to make it palatable.

Sorry but cant recall other posts but hope everyone is going well and weight is on the downward trend.

Our car shed flooded as expected after the downpour but all good no major damage.

Our worm farm is going well. We have them in a sheltered spot and they seem to be thriving. We will certainly have to re-evaluate before the intense heat of summer given our climate but fingers crossed we can work something out to keep them happy.

Been busy with study and garden chores…. both of which make me happy so all good. Pulled up the last of the winter veg from the vegie patch, mostly broad beans and carrots have been prolific and have so enjoyed making different dishes with them both. Yesterday we planted roma tomatoes, baby spinach, onions, basil, capsicum, chilli, pumpkin, radish, lettuce, zucchini and more that I cant recall right now.

Michael Mosley and his wife Clare have just landed in Australia to do some filming (cant remember what the doco was about) and they have to go into 2 weeks isolation. Clare posted on Instagram that she was worried about how they would cope for 2 weeks together in a hotel/motel and asking people for provide 5;2 recipes they could cook that would be easy to do in a motel setting. I’m guessing they are in Sydney. If they were in SA I would be happy to cook and bring it to them…..lol. I actually prefer Clare’s social media posts to Michaels, much more practical and down to earth than Michaels marketing stuff.

Must go now and start preparing tea. MrGday has multigrain bread in the breadmaker which will be ready in 1.5 hours and I need to go and make garlic soup, which we have with crispy prosciutto and douka.

Hello friends from a FINALLY sunny day in Sydney. I’m quite sure every household has done at least one load of washing as we have had so many cloudy/rainy days in a row. It was a novelty at first after years of drought but that has well and truly worn off now.

Like G’day I skimmed the missed posts and don’t have time to reply but please know I am always thinking about you all

Healthy week going well food-wise and we have been very good with our wine consumption. However I am stuck behind the laptop for up to 16 hours per day (sigh – so much for a better week) so have done zero exercise. Not helped by poor Maxx’s strain; he is only allowed a 5 minute on-lead walk each day for a couple of weeks. The vet thinks it is only minor as he is still bouncy and wants playtime so it can’t be bothering him too much. He sat like a lamb and let the vet check through his paws and pull his legs. Good boy Maxx. It breaks your heart, though, looking at his little face as he limps towards you 🙁

My Dad’s surgery went well and he is fine thankfully. We will take him on Monday for a dressing change and the biopsy results. Fingers crossed as if he needs another go at it he will need a skin graft and up to a week in hospital.

I’ll try to post more on the weekend but as we have visitors staying over on Tuesday night we need to do a visitor clean. Ugh. Very time consuming and I truly hate housework. But it must be done

Take care all

Happy belated birthday Neil!

5:2 is off limits on Birthdays. That is the wonderful thing about it

Enjoy your tennis and cycle and have a great weekend