Thin at last – I think you tripped over the International Date Line! Today’s a FD and it’s Monday, not Sunday. I fast Mon and Thurs. Love John
I’ve been doing whole foods CD’s for a week now until I can get back to 5:2 again and have lost 1.3kg so at least I’m making some progress. The 5.2 FD’s aren’t a problem, but the stress eating on NFD’s has been hard to control, so these CD’s are a good alternative for now.
We have some cold weather coming in tonight with 0-3° temperatures forecast overnight and around 10 daytime highs. Those night time temps would be very cold for the middle of winter around here so very strange this time of year. Winter is coming.
Neil, good to hear your boss is going to lighten up your workload a bit. Did they ever replace the people that left last year? It sounds like you’re continuing to get lots of great exercise.
Jony, your dinner of fresh fish and roasted vegetables sounds wonderful. Plain fresh vegetables are a favorite of mine. I love them on the barbie with just a bit of oil brushed over them. It’s my favorite way to eat asparagus.
Anzac, so good to hear that your dad’s biopsy came back clear. That has to be a relief for all of you. Is your friend’s new book going to be available on Amazon?
Cinque, food indulgences are the main problem for me too, especially when bored or feeling anxious. It is such a relief to know that Biden will be our next president. He’s already meeting with people tomorrow to put together a covid task force and talking with medical experts. Our numbers of new cases have been over 100,000 for the past few days, higher than anywhere else on the planet. While I smiled at all the people out celebrating in the streets when they heard the election results, I couldn’t help but worry about all the close contact, even though most seemed to be wearing masks. I hope it doesn’t result in even more new cases like all the rally’s did.
Thin, at your suggestion we watched 2 episodes of “The Queen’s Gambit” last night and the 3rd tonight. All 3 of our thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m anxious to see “The Crown” which begins next week. We also watched a couple episodes of the three Aussie series over the weekend. We’re certainly watching a lot of TV this year since we’re staying at home all the time.
Cinque and Betsy, it’s so good to see no new Covid cases there for several days. It must be so nice to have so many places open and to feel safe about going out.
Have a great rest of your day.
Jony, yes I did! I’ve been thoroughly confused by the date stamp ever since I joined this thread – there’s no excuse now because it shows my time zone. Hope the FD went well for you. Of course it did.
CalifD, so pleased that you all like ‘Queen’s Gambit’. I love the era, the clothing, the cars and whacky home decor – but it’s also a good story. OH joined me for episode four last night and liked it a lot so we watched five as well. I’m looking forward to ‘The Crown’ as well. You can try and guess which part my brother plays. Here’s an amusing review: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54799488
P.S. CalifD, your new covid cases aren’t as bad as the UK. We recorded over 21,000 new cases in a population of 66m. We’re finally being given the message that it’s up to individuals to behave according to the guidelines if we want to conquer this second wave. It’s not working if the number of people parading past our boat yesterday was anything to go by – one woman even knocking on the side of the boat wanting to have a chat about how to hire a narrow boat and whether we would let her hire ours. I mean, really, who goes up to a stranger’s door to strike up a conversation in the midst of a national lockdown, let alone ask to use their home? You can’t blame governments, people are just stupid. But, hey, we received fantastic news about the vaccine today! Hope is on the horizon.
Morning all, Hope you all had a great day yesterday.
I’m feeling good about tomorrow’s weigh in, I’ve been getting plenty of cycling in now that the weather is getting better, I had a solid fast day yesterday, and I’ve got my last gym session at lunchtime before my membership expires for the year. Hopefully I’ll see a good number on dem scales tomorrow morning.
Jony, I think blue cod is over-rated, I much prefer Tarakihi or Warehou. Harbour fish are great and I was so pleased that they were open for pickups and deliveries during lockdown. Good luck for your weigh-in today
Thin, I forgot my wallet (and keys) yesterday because I was taking my bike in to work. When I take the car I always have my keys (obviously) and my wallet because it has my driver’s licence in it. How’s the barge life treating you during the current lockdown restrictions over there?
Cali, yes we had a new staff member who replaced my workmate who retired after her stroke so we now have a team of 3 back on board, unfortunately the other team had a staff member leave and the guy who scans current consent applications retired and since the covid lockdown tightened up finances for everybody, the council is not hiring any new staff when they can get away with it. Our CEO came in to our meeting the other day and told us that there were currently 65 vacancies at the council and she had managed to hold of on hiring all but 18 of them. There is pressure from the ratepayers to keep rates low and she said it’s easier hold off on filling vacancies than it is to fire staff. So long story short, we’re still getting inundated because we have to pick up the slack from the 2 vacancies currently being kept open in our department.
You mention doing whole foods control days, Are you on the whole 30 programme, or just doing your own thing. I just heard about the whole 30 the other day and it sounds like a real no-nonsense sort of eating plan. No sugar, processed food, grains, artificial sweeteners or legumes (ingcluding peanuts) for 30 days, if you slip up you have to reset back to day one again. It’s supposed to help you shake cravings for those starchy, sugary, processed treats that we seem to struggle to fight off sometimes.
Well have a great day everyone and I’ll check in again tomorrow with my weigh-in results
Tuesday (in Melbourne) right skate down for a Fast800 day.
Anzac your post came up once I posted mine. It is such happy news for your dad and for all of you. Hooray for getting those stitches out today.
I just love that you manage to keep chatting to us even though life is so busy. Big cheers for eating well!
I do hope you have worked out a good way to get some exercise in, all power to you.
I am so glad Maxx is healing well. It has taken so long! Is it a good side effect that he must have got so used to the leash?
Haha, I am such a shorty. And age has taken a couple more inches off my height.
I was able to have a coffee with my daughter yesterday, we met up on High St and didn’t it feel weird to take our masks off to drink our coffees. Anyway she was amazed to hear I had put on nearly 7kg too. But we are living in a society where overweight is the norm, and obese is common, and I am neither. Yet.
But I have been there and I am not going back!
What excellent news of your author friend! Chronic illness and operations would give her a very deep and wise experience of life, I am guessing, and make for some wonderful stories.
Neil, hooray that your boss is taking steps to protect you from that ridiculous workload. I really think people need to get their heads together to be more creative. The economy needs people to get jobs, if it is going to right itself, and there you are with jobs vacant.
Anyway, you survived yesterday on whatever veggies were in the fridge, and a great ride. Good luck with that exercise challenge, how I would love to do it! (But it would make me very sick 🙁 )
Hmm, I am going to post this and make myself my morning coffee. And then come back for more 5:2 chat! TTFN
A quick note after this morning’s weigh-in following a FD yesterday – I plunged to another new low and I’ve now lost 4.2kg in 5 1/2 weeks, which I guess is OK. Slow and steady wins the race? I had a grin at another post, about quick-weight-loss programmes. Apparently folk feel hungry on these. Really? I would never have guessed . . .
Good morning from a sunny day in Sydney
That is very disappointing of your council Neil as Cinque said, we need people to have jobs. I do empathise with your workload, mine is so overwhelming it makes my head spin. But others are worse off in the project and the stress they are under is enormous. I’m so glad your boss has recognised that it is wrong and is doing something about it.
How lovely that you caught up with your daughter Cinque – life is slowly returning to normal in this part of the world but I wonder if it will ever really be the same as it was pre-covid?
4.2kg in 5.5 weeks is pretty much perfect Jonykiwi. Before you know it you will be at goal
We don’t have Netflix but I would love to watch the Crown and try to guess which character is your brother Thin. Is he just in one episode or throughout? Or is that too much information? I hope you find the perfect spot for your winter mooring and yes, that woman was an idiot.
Yay for CD’s and 1.3 down Cali. Congratulations on your new President and fingers crossed the old one stops throwing childish tantrums and concedes defeat.
Yesterday I managed 30 laps of our pool and 20 minutes on the exercise bike as well as our short morning walk with Maxx. As Neil said, you feel so much better doing some exercise even if it only a bit. I want to resume my lunch time walks too but every day something happens that means I remain at the desk. Perhaps today
Hi everyone else, hope you all have a fabulous Tuesday
Part 2.
Monday Melbourne. 30c forecast. Heaps to do in the garden before the heat hits it, but I have already picked the last broad beans and all the green leaves of chard and spinach.
Jony, what a perfect meal you described! Perfect at any time, but especially for a fast day. And hooray for today’s weighing. Yes, be philosophical about amount loss each week, as you say, keep it easy and sustainable and it doesn’t really matter, you are going in the right direction (and definitely losing a proud amount each week! 0.5kg is average).
Thin, haha, that pic.
Sympathy for those numbers, it is not such a hard lockdown so it really does rely on people following all the advice stringently.I so hope they do.
Cali, what an excellent way to avoid those stress-eating non-fast days. That is a great loss for a week. I am also interested to know what you mean by whole foods (but it sounds lovely and healthy!)
I’ve just seen Biden on TV encouraging mask use. I do so hope he can make it less of a political statement. And fingers crossed for this promising vaccine! Your current covid infection numbers are just heart breaking.
I still haven’t written my INDULGENCES sign, but I have paper and pens ready. Oh yes, so often when I feel down, or tired or stressed, I just want a little something to make me feel better…. and then another little something…
Neil, haha, I am imagining one day you and Jony meeting up in Dunedin on your bikes, and arguing about fish.
Anzac, yay! I caught your post before I finished. Wo such great exercising! All power to you getting that lunchtime walk in no matter what your computer is beeping at you.
Well, another day here with no new cases, that’s 11 straight. Such happiness.
Time to go.
Hi Jony, Congrats on your loss, what is your goal weight? When I was at my start weight of 132 I was aiming for 90, when I got there I was aiming for 85, according to BMI I should be 79 to be in a “healthy weight range”, but I pay no attention to that because I’ve got a fair amount of muscle mass, which BMI doesn’t take into account so 85-87 is where I want to sit.
I looked at your wanderers facebook page and I would love to do the ride round Berwick, but unfortunately I’m playing tennis this weekend so I can’t make it, perhaps next time.
Hi Neil. Not sure about my goal – I’ll see wot my doc says. Possibly about 85kg. I started at 106kg on Sept 28. I’m now used to having fast days twice a week and generally it’s OK. However, one day I felt very hungry and empty – I presume it meant my deep fat stores were being raided, which is a great thing.
Tks for the tips on fish to eat – in the South, blue cod is almost a religion and most people eat little else when they desire fresh fish. I sometimes opt for sole fillets, cos they’re cheaper and quick to cook, but I promise I will try tarakihi and warehou soon.
Sorry you’re going to miss our 40km AOK bike ride on Saturday. I used to play a lot of tennis but now I prefer biking, as I can go on a 3 hour ride and be exercising all the time – except when I fall off and need a rest! With golf and tennis etc you spend half the time sitting around watching other people play. One time in 2001 I needed a few days in hosp and some weeks off work with bleeding on the brain after a guy smashed into me from behind on a fast gravel downhill on Mt Cargill. It was terrible, as I needed a new helmet to replace the one I smashed (but my sponsor gave me a nice new one).
Stay well, everyone, and keep starving!
Good afternoon fellow fasters!
I’m doing okay, but haven’t started my B2B2B for the week – planning on tomorrow to Friday(and if I manage 2 out of 3 days, it will be a victory! 🙂 ).
Anzac65, great that your dad’s biopsy was okay, and that Maxx is improving. Wow, with your work, you will really need that 3 weeks off around Christmas. They sure work their contracted staff hard. Yay for warmer weather to swim 🙂
Cinque, good that you’ve been enjoying the greater freedom (as have I!) and the op shops have been kind to you. You’re going to have a wonderful “op shop splurge” over the next few weeks.
Thin, Yes, I do understand the need to put the brakes on, and you do it so well, but I just don’t, yet. Loved the picture and caption you posted.
Neil, what a great strategy, to deliberately leave the wallet at home. Of course, you may have kind workmates who’d lend you money…..
jonykiwi, you’re going great guns. Just think – after 3 months, you’ll be down over 10, maybe 11 kgs – that’s a lot! Steady as she goes.
CalifDreamer, well done re the weight loss over the past week or so.
I’ve continued being really concerned at the virus numbers over your way, with family living in Arizona. I do hope some practical steps can be implemented to reduce the spread.
One piece of good news – seems like one of the vaccines being trialled in the States has been giving about 90% effectiveness in its early results, which is great for a respiratory virus vaccine. Let’s hope those figures continue and a vaccine is available within a few months.
For another of the vaccines, the one from Oxford University, manufacturers in Australia have already started vaccine production, in anticipation and hope that it will be proven to be effective and safe. Resulta of the stage 3 trials are expected in January, and then the vaccine will be ready to be given immediately. It’s a much less difficult situation here, with our relatively small population. The manufacturer plans to have 30 million doses available, which means 15 million people will be able to be vaccinated as soon as possible after vaccine approval.
Keep on keeping on everyone!
Morning friends.
I’m about to go over to the surf beach to run Rose, and a last swim before we pack up to go home tomorrow. My weight loss has slowed right down, even though I’m being vigilant and staying well under 1000 a day….since last Thursday I’ve only lost another 200 grams….but it’s down, so no complaints. That’s 6.2 kilos since I started the run of FDs with occasional slightly higher days because of social activities. Just .3 kilos to get to my birthday target, with 6 days to go (but a SIL/brothers’ lunch on Friday, and family BBQ on Sunday, and an Italian dinner with OH on my birthday).
Jonty congratulations – you are nailing it! Your fish sounded delicious. I wish I had someone on hand to do wonderful things with fresh produce. You are very lucky. Your wife must be delighted, you are tackling your weight and the health benefits that come with this WOL.
Thin, your winter plans don’t sound quite as exciting as they did pre-Covid! Spain sounded a much more fun place to winter. But….good news this morning on the vaccine, so fingers crossed for a freer life soon. Don’t you just scratch your head, at how people seem so isolated from the reality that is the pandemic?
Calif, I hope the election of a covid-aware administration gives some direction to
Anzac, good news about your Dad. At his age he didn’t need more nasty surgery and hospital stays.
Cinque, how lovely to have coffee with your daughter. How wonderfully, excitingly, normal. I can’t believe you’ve put on 7 kilos on your tiny frame without noticing. What do your home scales say?
Neil, work is a beast. Good your boss is prepared to do something about it. Leaving your wallet at home is a good strategy for keeping to FDs. I haven’t carried a wallet since I came back from NZ in March. I just have two credit cards and a $50 note tucked into my phone case (given I often see my phone bobbing away in Rosy’s mouth down the back yard, it’s a miracle they stay there).
Talking of Rosy – who said Irish setters aren’t smart. Last week she lost her ball on the bush path leading to the beach. A couple of days later, OH stopped to chat to a chap sitting on the beach. Rose ran up to him and started rummaging around in his bag….and before we could stop her, triumphantly snatched a ball and ran off up the beach. ‘Keep it’, the chap said. “We found it in the bush’. Yep, it was Rosy’s ball that she’d relocated.
Oh dear. I’m just coming back to this, late afternoon and I’d not hit the ‘submit’ button this morning. I’ll be back tomorrow, but in the meantime, thought you may like to see the little miracle nature has delivered in a low branch of the mango tree. Three day old brown honeyeaters. We saw the eggs last weekend when the girls were here, and I think they hatched on Saturday.
https://imgur.com/ParVSVf
https://imgur.com/kH4n8An
Hi everyone, a quick-in before I head to bed.
I have just caught up on the posts on this page.
Cali, Lindsay & John, well done on your recent weight loss.
Cali – I think any approach that works and you can stick to is fine. I suspect a few stews and soups in your ecopot will be necessary with those cold temperatures.
Lindsay, what a clever Rosy dog! Loved the baby birds – they must have thought you were mum coming to feed them when they saw the camera.
Anzac, wonderful news about your Dad – must be a real relief.
Neil and Anzac, hang in there with your work pressures. Hopefully things will ease off a little over Christmas.
Thin, I looked at the pics, but have no idea which one was your brother.
Cinque, hope you are enjoying the last of the broad beans and greens. I now have 2 bags of peeled broad beans in the freezer and I turned a few into bean rissoles and I also made a batch of hummus – both very yummy.
So lovely that you got to catch up with your daughter – isn’t it odd that such a normal thing is now considered a special treat.
I’ve just finished my second B2B FD800. Yesterday was easy, but I really didn’t want to do a FD today. However as I have my infusion tomorrow a restricted calorie day today was essential. I probably ended up in the 800-900 zone, but that’s ok – it should be enough to reduce the side effects tomorrow. For the next week or two I’m going back to normal 5:2. It’s funny how my mind just switches gears when it comes to which approach feels right from one week to the next.
I always use a spreadsheet to plan my meals each week and I label each day according to whether it’s a FD500 or a NFD etc. I have decided to try calling my NFDs this week MDs (mindful days) as I still struggle with them and I need to get better at stopping the snacking when I know I can’t possibly still be hungry.
My body has had too many aches and pains lately so I’ve decided I need to stop pushing myself to do more and more walking. This week I set a more modest target of 10k steps per day – my back and knees appreciate it.
Must go, it’s getting late. Take care all.
Morena everyone,
Weigh-in today was a goodie, down 1.1kg to sit on 88.7 kg. This will probably be my last weigh-in for a month because I’m thinking of doing the whole30 programme and you’re not supposed to weigh yourself while you’re doing it. I’m going to try it because I sometimes get some stomach issues and the whole30 is supposed to help you work out if there’s anything in your diet that causes you issues.
Well got to run, I’m on the bike this morning and I have to go and switch over the seats. I used to have a gel seat but my 12 year-old switched it onto his bike when we did our Clutha bike trip and now he refuses to return it so I went and bought another one.
Have a great one everyone.
I just sold my third bike for the week! I decided last week I had too many bikes in my basement, Some I bought for other family members and I got them back when they were no longer required. I quickly flicked off two cheaper bikes on a local Facebook site (one took only 20min to sell) but I decided my super duper 2017 Scott Spark needed national exposure and it was in demand, selling within 12 hours for a very good price.
Earlier I sold 2 or 3 other kids’ bikes (I always encouraged my two granddaughters to bike, buying 7 bikes in total for them as they grew up but now they’re trainee teenagers and not so keen) but now I have only two bikes left, my new Scott full-suspension e-bike and a wee one for the 4 year old grandson and later his 1 YO brother. However, forever living in hope, I plan to buy another e-bike so I can take various family members for rides. I just can’t wait to hear why they can’t possibly ride an e-bike!
One thing is puzzling me about the fasting site – people say they’ve “seen the photos” but I can’t see any pix on the site. Do people just swap pix with other members? How do they do this?
Good morning everyone,
Warm and close here, waiting for the thunderstorm (hopefully without thunderstorm asthma).
Remembrance day https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-82f267662acf51c032c60b6d5173df0f
Lest we forget.
Sweet columbine for you Penguin https://freerangestock.com/sample/112851/purple-columbine-flower.jpg
Hoping to hear you survived the terrible hot day Gday. And then any storms.
Excellent weighing Neil. Hmm it looks like you and Jony are not going to argue over fish after all 😀 Enjoy that new gel seat.
Betsy I have an excellent ‘opshop splurge’ strategy at the moment. My poor sister and BIL are moving house after 30 years and are at the pointy end. I have offered to deal with the stuff they want to go to opshops, and I have my living room full of bags and boxes! I will need to visit an opshop each day for a week at least to offload it all. Win win win, I help my sister and get to op shop, and the op shops are getting very nice stuff too.
Lindsay, what a great day. Congratulations on keeping up the weight-losing eating. You will be looking fab for your birthday.
I have NO home scales, I had them once and they did my head in, so clothes and measuring tape it is. But if I can’t find another way to keep my maintenance weight, I will have to try them again. (A good incentive to find another way!)
Fancy Rosy finding her ball, such a great story.
And oh those cute baby birds. They look so premature all pink and vulnerable, but don’t they tug at the heart.
LJoyce, yes, it is seed gathering time for rocket and chard and matador spinach in my garden, I love watching the seeds ripen, plus I have kept some broad beans to see if they will grow next year. On the other hand, I have warrigal greens growing madly, so I won’t be short of greens! I have three containers of broad beans, and one of frozen cooked greens, in my freezer. Aren’t gardens great.
Sorry your poor joints are stopping you from doing all the walking you would like, but they have been doing a lot, including your gardening, so definitely time to give them a rest. I hope the infusion goes easily today.
Good planning!And hooray for Mindful Days.
I did my sign: https://imgur.com/a/MrUAqCJ It is odd to put up such a lovely word as a disincentive but I want to remind myself that while indulgences are lovely, I am not having any at the moment.
It is left skate down today. So far so good. I am focusing on a basic meal being as many non starchy veggies as I fancy, with some lean protein (fish fillet or chicken breast) and a little dressing of oil and lemon (if it isn’t in miso soup). But on mindful days I can add in other things in small quantities. Mindful today!
Cheers all
Jony, just saw your post. The links to pictures are in the posts, and clicking on the link should take you to the picture. (Good grief 3 in mine today!)
Good evening all. Quick post, as I’ve a Zoom session in 15 minutes.
Good to read of everyone’s activities. Clever Rosy! Good sale of bike jonykiwi. Great strategy for the op shops, Cinque. Makes good sense to ease up on the walking, LJoyce. Good to get that lower number neilithicman.
And that’s it, I have to flee. Have done okay so far today – FD900. Not quite the FD or FD800 I was aiming for, but I’ll take it. Better than a TDEE or NFD. Even better than a CD, yay! Two more to go!
Goodnight all, sleep well.
Evening all
Infusion went well and I had a lovely morning walking in the hills with a friend (with a stop for a scone). Yes Thin, it they had jam & cream! (although actually I prefer scones with just a little butter).
Neil, congrats on the weight loss. Given how hard you’ve been trying to get down into the 80s lately that’s an excellent result.
John, well done on the bike sale.
The site most of us use for posting photos is “Imgur”: https://imgur.com/upload
How you load a photo depend on which device you are using and where your photos are stored. I copy my photos across to my laptop and load them from there using “the Choose photo” option (I like this option as it easily lets me add multiple photos). On apple devices I think you may be able to use “drop image” option – I haven’t tried that method. Once you have put an image into imgur the https:// link at the top will update and now has a unique identifier for your photo(s). Just copy and paste this link into your forum post and we should be able to link to your photos. (Just remember to leave a space before and the link.)
I have no idea about photo size – mine are all .jpg files and I don’t think the size matters – they all seem to end up the same size once put into imgur.
Cinque, I think I need a sign like yours to. I had too many treats tonight – just one of those times where I couldn’t find the stop button. Gee I wish I actually had one of those.
Betsy, I think today was an excellent effort. Given how much of a struggle it’s been actually following through is great and should make the next FD you attempt that bit easier.
Cinque & Betsy, hope your thunderstorms weren’t too bad. We had through the night and they so loud they kept waking me up.
Time for me to stop and head to bed. Take care all.
I’m mucking about trying to include a photo with this post. Will it work? Maybe . . .
I took this pic on my 35km bike ride yesterday. If you’re into cycling, study my bike – this is what $NZ9000 buys you in NZ. It’s a Scott Spark full suspension e-bike, expensive but amazing, especially its ability to move from full suspension to totally locked out suspension with the flick of a lever on the handlebars. This facility has already saved my bacon at least once – I was careering down a very steep rocky track near Wanaka and spotted a deep washout just down the hill (it was too steep to stop). I slammed the bike into full suspension just in time to bounce thru.
Behind my bike you’ll see Dunedin’s latest pride & joy – the $NZ224 million Forsyth Barr covered stadium, which can seat 30,000 fans under the roof (and more for concerts). It was built for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and we were there for the first Dunedin match, England v Argentina. The Poms won but the most noteworthy feature was the dismal goal-kicking of star Jonny Wilkinson. When he missed 5 kicks, Dunedin folk started wondering whether there was something wrong with their new stadium but subsequent matches proved it was a brilliant place for kickers. Maybe Jonny was on a fast day?
Reminds me – I’m now on a FD, as it’s 4.30am here. Going to be a fun day!
PS: Many thanks to LJoyce for posting instructions for rank beginners on how to post pix.
Good morning, right-skate-fast-day for me. I am not feeling like it today, but I will battle on.
I did overdo it a bit yesterday so my CFS symptoms are being nasty and I also slept badly (which is one of those symptoms).
However, I think I can keep on the skate rink (so to speak). I do love how everything is relative, as it felt such a treat to have some bacon with my veggies, and a flatbread to accompany them, yesterday.
However it is very annoying that our week has an odd number of days as I have to work out whether to have two mindful days on Friday and Saturday, or two fast days on Saturday and Sunday. I am not sure I can keep this up for another week, so I want to finish on my usual Sunday fast day. Decisions!
LJoyce, your lightning-y night made the news here yesterday, and today even more terrible news of vote rigging, yes! The NZ Bird of the Year competition!
Thin, Penguin, grim news of the covid death count in the UK. I am so glad you are so careful. Penguin, you are ok?
And Cali, the US news is just fascinating, I am presuming it will all settle down eventually.
By the time the thunderstorms got to my place they were nothing but welcome rain. Presuming it is the same for you Betsy?
Betsy, hooray for such a good day. A great start to your run. All power to you.
Jony, your imgur upload worked perfectly. Great bike, great stadium!
LJoyce, those wonky stop buttons! They plague us! But I know the day after your infusion is hard on you, so be kind to yourself. May today be a good one.
I got half my living room clear yesterday by finding someone on the good karma network who wanted all my sister’s motorbike gear. Today I hope to find someone to take all her photography gear, it would be good to see it go to a good home.
And I took stuff to three op shops yesterday (oops too much! but so good to get it done). They are all getting SO MANY donations at the moment. At the Brotherhood of St Lawrence in Brunswick there were 4 cars (two double parked) dropping off bags of stuff! I scored 4 gorgeous items of clothing (including a lovely, light, pure wool coat in green that I will love to wear next winter).
Well, off to rock another fast day. Hoping your day rocks too.
What’s with all the bots that have been hitting this site recently? It seems like every day there’s some spam message showing up on the thread.
Jony, yes that picture has come through. My bike is a much more humble 28 year-old specialised hardrock that I picked up for $150. It hasn’t stopped me putting 3,000 kilometers on it just this year alone though 😉
Cinque, do you think it’s the lockdown that has caused the boom in donations to op-shops? People having a good sort out of all their stuff?
Ljoyce, glad your infusion went well. Scones are one of my kryptonites and I’m going to miss them when I do my whole30 month.
Good luck with your other fast days Betsy
It was a lovely day yesterday so I went for a walk at lunchtime to see how far I can walk during my lunch hour. I walked from work to the botanic gardens and back again in 50 minutes (5.4 kilometers), so I should be able to handle the 4k per day for the 100k before Christmas challenge just with my lunchtime walks.
I took my bike in to work again this morning, for Jony’s benefit, I live in Brockville and I always take a 45 minute-1 hour ride on the way to work, today I went along Dalziel Road to halfway bush, through Wakari and Ross Creek, down the Leith Valley, Up Opoho Road, down Lovelock Avenue past the Botanic gardens and then round past the stadium and railway station in to town. Riding really helps me clear my mind and improve my mood, so I’m enjoying the lighter mornings now so I can get out for a decent ride before work.
Have a great day everyone and have a nice easy fast day for those of you on the hunger train today.
Good Afternoon everyone.
Having a bit of a lazy day today so a chance to catch up on posts.
Cali, deepest sympathies to you on the passing of your cat. We lost one of ours recently too. She was probably about 12 years old so we now only have the one cat (the 3 legged one). We’ve always owned 2 cats at once so Miss GDay has been pestering for the last few months for a replacement kitten which I’m going to put off until the Xmas school holidays are here.
Neil, the scenery in those photos is stunnning, how fortunate to live someone so lush and green, unlike the brown, dry surroundings of home now that the warmer weather has hit here in SA. Lunch break walks are great. When I was working, although my lunch break was only half hour I would go for a powerwalk as I was fortunate to be able to eat my lunch at my desk while I worked.
Cali, we are The Crown fanatics too and very much looking forward to the next season. We binge watched most of it so I expect we will do the same this time.
Jony, great weight loss so far, keep up the good work and dedication to fast days.
Lindsay, dogs are so intelligent aren’t they. A dog I owned years ago used to chase rocks I through into the water at the beach and retrieve them and bring them back to me. I worked out after awhile that she was bringing back the same rock, even when I would through the rock in amongst other rocks in the water. I proved this by marking a rock with a texta. Even when I threw the rock further out past where she couldn’t touch, she would dive under and pick up the exact rock. Still amazes me to this day. She was the most intelligent, beautiful, friendly rescue bittsa dog and I still miss hear dearly to this day.
Has anyone been watching a new cooking show on SBS Food on Monday nights called Living on the Veg? I’m really enjoying it and have joined their mailing list to be able to access their recipie base. I see they have quite a few books available at Booktopia so I might throw out a few hints for Xmas. Speaking of books, one of my belated birthday presents arrived the other day, Bill Grangers new cookbook called Australian Food – a signed copy. I pre-ordered it in June for the October release so I could get the signed copy. Everyone else in the household just rolled their eyes and said ‘who’s Bill Granger’….lol.
We are watering a friends garden for him while he goes away for a week or so, so will head out later this afternoon, get that job done and will do the weekly food shop I was supposed to do yesterday so will grab a hot chicken for an easy tea tonight. I’ve been prepping salad veg every few days, making enough for 3 days so I have no excuse not to eat salad every day. All I need to do is add the olive oil for dressing and easy peasy all done so that will be the accompaniment for the chicken.
Well I need to go do a few small chores before it’s time to collect Miss GDay from school and head into town. Happy Thursday everyone x
Neil and Cinque, my whole foods eating plan consists of all fruits and vegetables, even the starchy ones like potatoes, chicken and fish, legumes and whole grains. Whole grain pasta only and not too much of that. Minimal amounts of olive oil and about a tsp of butter with the potatoes. No added sugars. That’s about it. I eat what I consider normal quantities, not measuring or counting calories. I’ve lost 1.3kg in 10 days. The biggest thing is that I haven’t been hungry and haven’t eaten all that much. It’s probably due to higher fiber in the unprocessed foods. I’ll try to stick to it for a few weeks to break the pattern of all the overeating and then switch back to 5:2. I still think 5:2 is the most sustainable. I just got into a crazy eating pattern on my NFD’s. Neil, it looks like it’s similar to that WholeFoods30 diet that you mentioned. I’ll have to compare to their list.
Jony, great progress on your weight loss. What a beautiful bike! I hadn’t heard of e-bikes before but after you mentioned them, I started seeing references and articles about them over here.
LJ, glad your infusion went well. Those scones sound wonderful. I love scones but never tried baking them. They’re something that I buy when I see them at a bakery. They could easily be addictive!
Cinque, great job on getting all of those things to the op shop for your DS. Are they downsizing or just moving a long distance? The coat you bought for next winter sounds lovely. I’ve found some of the most lovely jackets and casual coats at the op shop here over the years. Oh, they just released a second season of Mystery Road here. Most of the Aussie shows we watch are on a streaming service called Acorn TV. It’s only about $6 or $7 per month and we’re watching about 4 different series now with lots of seasons and episodes for each, especially McLeod’s Daughters. Great lockdown entertainment.
Gday, I found Bill Grainger’s Australian Food cookbook on Amazon. It will be released on Dec 15 here. I looked at the preview which had several brekie recipes that look really good. You’ll have to let me know how you like it. What is Australian food though? Judging from what we talk about here it seems as varied as American food, with lots of ethnic dishes from around the world.
Lindsay, Rosy is so smart to find her ball in that guy’s bag! Animals are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for.
Our Covid cases in this country get more out of control every day. People are just too careless about wearing masks or figure it’s a political statement to not wear one since the president often ridicules people for wearing them. I’m glad Biden is already putting together a covid task force and has been meeting with doctors and scientists, even though he won’t take over until late January. Worrisome times.
Ah, another Fast Day! They seem to creep up on you. Usually in my life I’m fighting the clock, wishing I had more time, but on FD it’s the opposite – there’s a huge gulf between my meagre brekky and dinner at night that has to be filled somehow, but not by eating. Coffee’s OK. Today I decided on some gardening, so I sprayed the roses and reorganised one garden to stop an unwanted plant from choking a lovely mini bush rose I have planted there.
About 4.30pm I decided I needed a walk, so I nipped down the hill to the city beaches, a great asset for Dunedin. The attached photo shows the view looking back to St Clair hill – our house is near the top and looks over St Kilda and Middle Beaches and also the wide expanse of the blue Pacific. From our lounge, my wife has seen whales playing in the bay but I haven’t been so lucky. However, the views are always stunning.
Neil – thanks for the descrip of your bike. I’m surprised it’s still going with all the work you give it! You’re obviously a machine when you’re riding a bike. Shame you can’t make our ride on the Taieri on Saturday but good luck with the tennis. Yell out if you’re on sometime for a coffee at Long Dog, at the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool.
To all the other posters – sorry I haven’t commented on your interesting posts so far as I haven’t got my act together yet but I am thinking of you all as you keep shrinking and I know it can be tough sometimes. I expect to go under 100kg in the near future so you’ll hear me yell wherever you are when that happens! The last time was in 2014 when I was dieting before flying to Cyprus for our dear younger daughter’s wedding to a South African Cypriot, and of course a week of celebrating on that amazing island put paid to the diet! Then the happy couple flew to NZ to live and my daughter insisted on having another wedding in Otago for all those who couldn’t afford to fly to Cyprus. So more celebrating and eating and drinking . . . I’m pleased to report daughter and hubby have put down roots in Dunedin and have two boys now and our elder daughter also lives here with her partner and their two girls. So all our family is here and we see them lots, so we feel very blessed!
Dear all
Life has been very busy on all fronts and I just can’t keep up with all the action on this forum, so I am sad to say I will be leaving. It’s very hard to leave because there’s so much warmth and interest here but I’ve reluctantly decided that it’s time. Thank you for all the support and the helpful advice. I have copied and pasted many useful tips and will be referring back to them. With your help I have lost 6 kilos which is probably about as much as I needed to lose, so I will keep with the FDs but they will be ‘Food Awareness Days’ where I will record calories and be moderate, and continue to train myself in a more aware way of eating.
Thanks to everyone and warmest good wishes to all, wherever you are.
Helen Kate
Hi Helen Kate, there’s no need to leave completely, there are many that hover on the forum but don’t post regularly. Don’t feel yo need to keep up with the chat, this is a support for the 5:2 way of life so pop in on the thread anytime you need support, want to share a success or need to vent over something that’s gone wrong. We’re always here for help and support, we’re all in the same boat.
Neil
Good morning,
Such a lovely post HelenKate, congratulations for being nicely 6kg down and ready to maintain that weight.
Neil said it beautifully. We will always be here (I think!) if you ever want to pop in and let us know how it is going.
Best wishes and all good things.
Neil, ha yes those spam posts come in waves. JJ is so good at getting rid of them thank goodness.
Spot on re opshops, it is definitely post-lockdown donations from people who have been clearing out wardrobes and rooms while they have been stuck at home. Bonanza time.
The first couple of visits I splashed out and bought anything I might use, but now I am going to be very picky.
Gday, lovely to see your post. Hello to your three-legged cat.
Ooh I missed that new cooking show, I will chase it up on SBS on demand.
Bill Grainger’s book is sure to be a treat.
Your clever dog sounds such a wonder, and haha I knew what you meant re word mix up.
Yum for those salads too!
Cali, what excellent eating. Beautiful nutritious foods and perfectly sustainable. Yes, everything else is ‘indulgences’ for me I fear (the difficulties of being small, old and sedentary).
I am very grateful that this feels do-able for me at the moment. Eating patterns and cravings just might actually change! (Even if it takes years and a few frights along the way).
My sister is moving from the city (close to me) to a new home about an hour’s drive away. So proud of how she and her partner have done it through lockdown and with various health issues making things hard. They are still getting their old home ready for auction, so stress levels are high.
I think modern Australian cooking is likely similar to modern Californian with maybe more South East Asian and less Mexican, and some wonderful Australian Indigenous foods.
Enjoy that TV! I think you might be an honorary Australian.
The covid surge is such a worry in your country, it is a dreadful time ahead. Sending all best wishes to you and everyone who is working so hard to keep people safe and healthy.
Numbers are frightening in the UK too, but it takes a couple of weeks for the new restrictions to be reflected in numbers. So surely they will start leveling out over the next week, and then start going down.
A new report on climate change is the news here, hard times ahead for us all.
On that sombre note, I am putting my left skate down and gliding off to the kitchen for the pleasure of a breakfast. I have decided to do my Fast 800 day tomorrow and then see what happens on Sunday, but I would like to do another fast day and then get back to 5:2.
Best wishes all
Hi all.
HelenKate, as Neil says, you don’t need to leave because you don’t post often. If you feel the forum can help, why not drop in from time to time? It will be nice to know how you are doing …..and if not, best wishes for the future.
I had the most stressful day yesterday, including things too boring to trouble you with. The worst was selling the old car – five young fruitpickers from Bundaberg turned up at 6.30 (instead of the 4pm we’d agreed on), practically took the car apart, then started making ridiculous offers. Finally one told the bidder ‘they’ve lived in China and Vietnam, they know how bargaining works’ before finally I told them to take it or leave it. I’d only told them we’d lived overseas, to explain why the car had such low mileage. They wanted to drive it back to Bundaberg, so they came in and did a bank transfer and off they went. I was anxious about it….My stepdaughter was scammed of her savings recently through an internet transfer….but I guess it’s my lack of experience in these things.
Back from the island, and my scales here are showing that I’ve put on .5 kilo, which is disappointing. We stopped for brunch on the way home, and I ordered an rissole sort of meal, which turned out to be made with potato not meat, and was deep fried, and was served with too much bacon, some avocado, and the salad which I thought was the basis of the meal was a wedge of tomato. I’ve been vigilant ever since, so maybe it’s just the different scales.
Cinque, that op shopping sounds wonderful. I never get such lovely things here – I wonder if it is because Melbourne has the 4 seasons, so you get coats and jumpers, while the shops here are mostly cottons and linens (which can sometimes look tired).
OH is taking me off to the city today to go to a well-established camera shop to get a closeup lens for my birthday. So much beautiful wildlife on the island, that could be captured better up close…and my bees too, of course. My brothers’ lunch has been postponed until Monday, my actual birthday
LJ and Cinque, no delicious broadbeans in my garden (you are such lucky ducks to have them) but I did come home to the most wonderfully red tomatoes. They don’t usually get to that colour because the little ones love to harvest them .
Calif, I just reread my last post and realised that I’d stopped halfway through a sentence and didn’t finish what I wanted to say to you, which was I hope the new administration can get people on board for whatever measures the covid panel deems necessary to get it under control. I am horrified people seem so blase about it. I guess we are lucky, being an island and able to stop international travel, but Victoria in particular is an outstanding example of how it can be controlled, even after there’d been a significant wave.
Jony, we like you are privileged to have our kids close by, after my daughter (a journalist) lived in Canberra for years, and our son in Vietnam. When my son married in Vietnam he asked my daughter to be joint MC with my DIL’s favourite cousin. And you can guess the rest. The favourite cousin fell head over heels for my DD, and they now live a 10 minute walk away, with their two little girls, 7 and 4. My son and DIL live two suburbs away, with Mr 6 and Ms 2. The little ones are known in the family as the double cousins.
My goodness Jony that pic of Dunedin’s city beach is spectacular. I bet you can hear the bees humming in those beautiful bushes. What are they?
Neil, great to be in the 88s again ….Looking forward to hearing how the new program goes. Such restraint, to be able to stay off the scales for a whole month.
Gday great story about your dog. I get that Rosy smelled the ball in the guys backpack, but how did you dog recognise a rock underwater? Super clever.
Loved your post Betsy – covered everything, in just a few short sentences. I must work on my verbosity!
Great weekend all. I’m doing my first Spring harvest tomorrow ….we had a little late winter honey a few weeks ago, but the hive is humming.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/zL5Xv9E.jpg[/img]
To Lindsay L – you were inquiring about the yellow flowers in my pic of St Kilda beach in Dunedin – they are lupins, which were planted about 100 years ago when the good folk of Dunedin realised they had a wonderful recreational asset on their doorstep. First they got rid of the public dump in the sandhills! The lupins were planted just 72 years after the area was settled by Europeans. The extra pic I posted was taken at Lake Tekapo, where our family lived for a couple of years in the 80’s (my wife came from the area). In 1975, we were married in the church pictured – the tourist icon Church of the Good Shepherd. We had tourists banging on the door trying to get in as our wedding ceremony took place. Anyway, the reason I posted the file pic was to show the multicoloured lupins which brighten the Mackenzie Country. We loved them when we lived there but environmental groups are now pushing to get rid of the flowers, because they were introduced. I know a guy at Lake Tekapo whose Mum used to drive along the highway in her wee VW Beetle and throw pounds of lupin seed out the window. If she did that now she’d probably be arrested for distributing a noxious weed!
Good morning on my fast weekend,
Lindsay much sympathy. So sad your car didn’t go to respectful people. I hope you have been able to recover from that and whatever other stressful things marred your day.
Those cheeky scales! But a typical ‘morning after eating out’ result. Hope that .5kg is gone now.
Yay for those red tomatoes. My tomato seedlings are settling in and the yearly race is on to see if I will have red ones by Christmas.
It is an op shopping bonanza at the moment, but at times I go for weeks without finding anything. You have to be lucky and manage to pop in after someone with the same taste and size as you has just cleaned out their wardrobe, I think. (And come down to Melbourne for coats!) Incentive to visit them often 😉
Jony what glorious lupins, and so lovely to have the church in the background.
I caught that ‘Living on the Veg’ show, Gday. What lovely things they do with vegetables.
I am going to do that Olympic worthy skating trick of right skate then right skate again, haha. I am very much feeling my strict week has given me a great weightloss boost, so I might as well do the big weekend and then get back to two days a week next week.
My sign will stay on the fridge to remind me that health, and fitting into my clothes, is a greater pleasure in my life than food indulgences.
Best wishes for a lovely weekend.
Afternoon all.
Man it’s hot. 38 degrees today. Unfortunately we came home to a pool that’s as green as the grass (it’s usually ice blue) so no respite there for me. All that storm water pushed the chlorinator out of sync.
Cinque, I didn’t mean to moan about the car stuff ….I think it was because they came so late, came in a mob, were quite impolite in how they pointed out the car’s defaults (a common negotiating ploy), and there was some cultural stuff there too. All throughout the transaction they talked in Chinese and sent numerous texts, which made me uncomfortable knowing they had my bank details. I am sure they are all perfectly nice young men, doing what young men do when they buy a car.
The other things? Oh, we had some firewood delivered into the carport, and then we had two cars to juggle, and I ended up moving the wood and it hurt! And I found I could fit into a lovely short black and white pencil skirt so wore that out, and in the process put the keys (which I don’t need for the ignition) in the back pocket, and consequently put a hole in the skirt. And then I changed to my equally lovely new skirt …and the zip went. And too much rushing around, and lots of other minor irritations that added up, but nothing too significant.
My birthday celebrations are out of hand – and it’s not even a ‘special’ one. Our lunch yesterday turned into just one brother and SIL, and my meal was so light on (green payaya salad, but tiny) that when we went to a nearby bread shop renowned for its sour dough, I bought OH and me a pastry that we ate, sitting in the breeze by the river, but then the carb giant had struck, so had two slices of sour dough bread when I got home. So now it will be lunch with just OH on Monday and the brothers’ lunch on Tuesday and a special dinner out on Wednesday. But I am determined I won’t let it creep over the magic number over which I’ll never go again, so eyes down on Thursday, to get back on track.
Jony is St Kilda beach one of the ones that looks over to White Island? How beautiful your home sounds. We were in Dunedin in February and just loved it. We left there to travel to Lake Tekapo for 4 days. Also amazing. Oh the pic of those lupins. (And congratulations to the civic fathers (for they would never have been civic mothers:-) for getting rid of the tip in the sand dunes).
I’ll finish with a conversation with Ms 4 on Thursday. We were weighing Rosy, to gauge her weight to give her her flea/tick treatment, and we really happy skinny Rose had put on a little weight. Elfin Ms 4 took it all in, then said seriously, “I think I am heavier too”. “I don’t want to be heavier, I want to be lighter” I said. “Why Marmar?”, she replied. “Do you want to be lighter so Barbar can carry you when you get tired.” And wouldn’t that be just lovely?
Enjoy your weekend all.
Afternoon friends
Just had a nice catch-up of your lovely posts after a frenzied morning of spring cleaning. The family are coming next weekend and the house was in desperate need of a good clean. I’m only about 30% done but I am aching with all the scrubbing so decided to start again tomorrow. Mr Anzac has a good long list of chores to be done too.
Mr Anzac’s garden is going gangbusters apart from several plants that were smashed in a hailstorm a week or so ago. We saw the black blob heading straight for us so he jumped in my car that lives out in the street and took it up the road to the shops and parked in undercover. Sadly just as he got back the hail hit and he didn’t have time to rescue those plants that weren’t under the eaves of the roof. We lost all of our basil and a large coriander plant which was our first ever that we had success with. Also most of the parsley. He was heartbroken 🙁 but has replanted more basil, coriander and parsley to replace it.
I used shallots (green onions) from our garden for the first time last night. We will soon have red and green capsicums and the chillies are ready for picking. Nice!
I’m struggling with weight loss as usual. I have a good couple of days then let work stress overcome me. I’m not gaining but I’m not losing either.
Happy belated birthday Lindsay! Those people who bought your car sound very rude but at least it’s over. You have done so well recently with your weight – it’s an inspiration.
I’m so glad you can go op shopping and see friends and family again Cinque and Betsy. Australia and NZ are so lucky that we are where we are with this dreadful pandemic. I can’t imagine what it is like in the US and Europe; it must be terrifying, especially for older people.
I need to put a similar sign to yours Cinque 🙂
Like the others said HK, no need to disappear forever. We will welcome you with open arms whenever you can pop back to say hi.
Down to 88 Neil! Well done. And you are doing so well too Jonykiwi. It is such a coincidence to have two of you from Dunedin who both love bike riding. Nice!
Cali, wonderful news about 1.3 kilos in 10 days. I try to stick to a similar eating plan but I fall down with bread. Whenever I knock that almost completely out I immediately start losing weight. That and wine. It is FAR too easy to use work stress as an excuse to pour myself a big glass of wine at night. Or more. That too has to stop
G’day, I can’t get over your clever pooch finding the same rock every time! How I wonder?
Maxx is going well and starting to mature. I have had tea-towels hanging on the stove door for 3 days now and they have not ended up in his mouth. Mind you, he only does that when he is desperate for attention and feeling ignored. His limp is completely gone and he is really turning into a fabulous (if hairy) companion. He and Mr Anzac are best buddies but he still comes to me when he wants a cuddle. Awwww
On that note I will say bye for now and will try to post more often.
Take care all
I’m well behind on posts this week so have just read a few.
Neil, last week you asked how lockdown was treating us. All is fine thank you. We’re just floating along keeping well away from everyone. We are having a huge spike in cases – widely thought to be the result of people having a last fling before lockdown came into force. Not sure why we were given five days’ notice but I think the plan was leaked. As I said before, you can’t legislate against stupidity.
Jony, I would have loved to have seen your photo but it won’t load at my end.
Anzac, Maxx is really settling down? Phew! At least you’re staying the same weight and not gaining. I agree about bread and wine. Disaster for me.
Cinque, good job getting the priorities right.
HK, well done reaching your goal weight loss.
Lindsay, what rude people. We had a similar experience with one of our cars last year. Unfortunately, the man realised that we were leaving the country and took advantage. We also had some really rude people buying our TV. I knew the value and I was offering it at a very fair price (and they’d already knocked me down before driving over). It turned into an argument and I asked them to leave but they wouldn’t go! The child was coughing all over us (this was all pre-covid of course) and I just wanted them out. When they could see that I wouldn’t lower the price any further, the woman picked up the TV and stormed out with it and the man threw the cash all over the floor. They weren’t Australian. But overall, I loved meeting everyone buying our things and still correspond with the couple who bought our other car.
Run out of time. Looking forward to my FD tomorrow. Hello to everyone, LJ, CalifD and all.
Lindsay, I am most interested about your poor SD’s loss of money through giving someone her bank details. If you have time and it’s not too complicated/personal, please could you explain how this can happen? I regularly gave mine to buyers when I was downsizing over many years and friends cautioned me against it. My bank assured me that no one could access my account with just my name, BSB & acct number. You always hear of scams though and I’m curious how they do it.
Rugby news: Multi world champs the All Blacks were humbled again tonight – this time by Argentina for the first time. I’m a hopeless AB fan, as I didn’t mind – the Argy fans were so ecstatic and it was good to see them come out on top finally after trying for about 35 years.
thinatlast – Re the Tekapo lupins pic you wanted to see, I posted again just after the original one and the pic worked the second time.
LindsayL – yes, St Kilda beach is one of the 3 beaches along one 3.5km stretch of sandy coastline that is called Ocean Beach. They look out towards White Is. My house is closest to St Clair Beach, the only one that has commercial businesses, including a newish hotel built to resemble a ship, several restaurants and bars plus the Hot Salt Water Pool. I’m pleased you visited our former home, Laske Tekapo, after being in Dunedin. Tekapo is wonderful too, although one winter we were there the temperature plunged to -22degC. I love skiing and curling and skating, so I grinned and didn’t bare it!
Photo: Will this pic get thru? If so, it shows our AOK Wanderers mountain biking group after our Lake Waihola coffee stop, half way thru today’s monthly AOK ride, a 35km trip around the Taieri Plain on a 26degC day. I’m on the left.
Morning.
Sooo hot here today, but I’ve put off my honey harvest because of the weather, so today’s the day. DS is coming to help. The idea of putting on a full bee suit plus ugg boots in 38 degrees isn’t thrilling, but needs must. The hive is bursting out of its skin, and the risk is they’ll swarm (ie leave with the old queen to find a new hive) if they get too crowded.
Thin, I am not sure how my SD was scammed….she was embarrassed and didn’t provide too many details. But I think it involved someone purporting to be from her bank, phoning and asking for access. She feels stupid, but she said they sounded so plausible, and they had so many of her details (ie address, age, her driver’s licence) that she accepted that one account had been compromised. She said first she saw the $5,000 from that account being transferred into the larger account, then as she watched, saw all their savings being stripped.
Anzac how nice Maxx is maturing into a great companion who doesn’t chew teatowels! We still need to put ours on top of the range hood (along with newspapers and anything else that won’t cram into the drawer). A shame about your herbs, but better your car was protected. I’ve planted a giant leaf basil this year – truly, the leaves are the size of bread and butter plates. Unfortunately while we were away, with the rain and heat, they shot away and are in seed already, but I’ve struck some in water, so away we go again.
Dinner out with friends last night and all okay, food wise. But …my friend made us some caramel/chocolate slice to bring home. sigh. And I had one. another sigh. But the good thing? Half way through, I realised I didn’t really like it and was eating it out of habit. And I threw the rest away. It was a revelation, honestly, that I just don’t like that food any more.
Jony you look like a nice fit bunch, and nice pic. minus 22 is toooo cold. Our coldest was minus 15 in Beijing. I so loved living there, but a shocking climate with temps up to 40 in summer sometimes, and the sand of the Gobi Desert cold penetrate every little crack when those winds blew.
Yikes Thin, that TV experience sounds horrible. I find the psychology of selling stuff quite interesting (now that I don’t have to do it any more). My DD sold her 4 year old’s high chair arrangement….a high chair that converted to a actual chair at different levels. It was very expensive but a good investment because it lasted her two for 6 years. She put it on at almost the price she paid for it …and was inundated with calls and it went within the hour. Neither of us could understand why the buyer wouldn’t have paid $20 more for a brand new one.
Anzac, re wine. I recently bought DD 24 of Qantas’s little inflight bottles which were on sale…187 ml, I think they are – enough for a good glass and stops her problem of opening a bottle and having more than she wanted, or having it go to waste. Just a thought.
Hello to all who’ve not posted yet ….Cinque, Calif, LJ, Gday…and those we haven’t seen for a while.
OK time to get my Sunday started. Enjoy it all
Good morning,
Oh dear Lindsay, what a day. I think I find the clothing sadness hardest, I do hope they can be fixed. I hope the car stress has settled down and the wood moving hurt has subsided. And also the temperature!
I hoped with La Nina we would get a cooler year and less fire danger, but climate change is overpowering it. Fingers crossed SA and NSW.
Hey, every birthday of yours is a special one! At least you can count on your 5:2 Forum celebration being a completely no calorie affair.
The pastry and sourdough do seem to be particularly nice splurge. I hope you can remember the pleasure… and avoid doing it again for a while, haha.
That glorious run of celebrations is a bit like running the gauntlet. Good luck! I hope you can focus on the people and make it to Thursday.
Laughing, you have the best reason to be lighter! It will definitely make it easier for Barbar to carry you!
Ooh I have just seen your lovely new post. Best wishes for the honey harvest! I hope the bees are all quiet and drooping in the heat (like I go), and cause no problems.
Hooray for throwing out the caramel slice.
I fell prey to hot chips yesterday after a bit of confusion looking after Miss 6 yesterday and I didn’t have food for her (she has some tricky eating). We bought chicken and chips (and fruit) and I didn’t resist the chips. I ate quite a few (enough to remember that I don’t feel good after eating them, so I stopped. (Also ate some chicken without skin.)
I am pretty sure it remained a Fast800 day, but not a low carb day, as they have been lately.
End of part one (it is that sort of day)
Back again,
Anzac, spring cleaner extraordinaire, I hope you woke up today without too many aches, and get all of those chores done.
What an awful experience with the hail. I am almost as devastated about the basil and coriander and parsley as Mr Anzac is. I hope the new plants grow well. What a gorgeous crop you have coming.
Your shallots are our spring onions, and isn’t it nice getting them straight from the garden! Do you cut them off an inch from the soil so they grow again?
Kudos to you for managing not to gain weight in spite of stress eating days. That is really important. It would be so easy to pile on weight and damage your health, and you are successfully avoiding that. I do so hope you get some clear air soon so you can be without stress eating and get rid of those extra kilos that you don’t want to be carrying around.
Hooray for that maturing, companionable Maxx. Big pats from me.
Thin, hooray to see your post. Governments are damned if they do, damned if they don’t, giving warning about lockdowns. On one hand it is an emergency and needs to be done stat. On the other hand you need to give people and businesses a chance to prepare. I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed the result of your shut down starts showing in figures soon, and the health infrastructure is able to manage those people needing intensive care.
My poor priorities got a rumple over the weekend, but they are straightening out now and are looking good for the road to the future. Phew. Already I am finding my clothes that bit looser. It is a gamechanger eating those non starchy veg on fastdays, they have turned it from such a struggle day, to an easy one.
Jony, fab photo!
Oh dear poor All Blacks, but yay for the enthusiastic Argentinians.
Happy fasting, those of us who are Sunday fasters, and happy weekend all!
Good afternoon all.
Go well, HelenKate, but feel free to pop in to say Hi occasionally – you don’t have to read all the posts just to say hello to the rest of us.
jonykiki, you’re doing well, good for you. Like Thin, I couldn’t open some of your imgur photos. Don’t know why. I could open the first, with your super-dooper electric bike, and the one with your cycling group, but for the others, the site just kept “chewing its cud”. I guess I could have kept waiting, but gave up each time after about 15 seconds.
Thin, glad you’re doing well during the new lockdown. Are folk stupid, though?! Fancy knowing the problems and still going out for a “last” night on the town before lockdown happens. You have to wonder about people 🙂
Anzac65, good to hear from you. Greta that you finally have a maturing Maxx who still loves his “mummy cuddles”.
LindsayL, hope the hive-robbing goes well. Has to be done, or you could lose half the bees. Hmmm! Selling things. Sometimes you have to put a higher price on them than you really want so the buyers think they’re getting a bargain when you drop the price down for them. Doesn’t sound like either you or thin had positive experiences, though – well, for her it was only some of the buyers, but still….
Sad about the clothes. Overall a rather frustrating and upsetting few days.
G’Day from SA, sad to read of you also losing a cat – getting a new one when MissGD has time to give it lots of loving during the school holidays sounds like a plan. I’m thankful to still have my Wilbur. At 15, he’s doing very well for an “indoor-outdoor” cat.
Neilithicman, great that you’ve been able to return to more bicycle riding, now the light is better early in the day.
Cinque, you must tell me where you buy all these wonderful clothing bargains. I mainly look at Salvos stores in Bundoora and Epping, Vinnies in Epping and South Morang, and Savers in Greensborough, and generally it’s books I’m looking for. However, when I’ve browsed the clothing racks, nothing has really appealed. I think there’s a poorer demographic, so anything of better quality possibly gets snapped up very quickly.
CalifDreamer, I do hope the new administration (assuming they’re allowed into the White House finally) will be able to take steps to bring more control into your Covid-19 situation over there. Meanwhile, stay safe!
LJoyce, hope you’re doing okay with your eating plans. Be gentle with yourself, though, around your infusion days.
Nothing much to write here. My weight is continuing to creep upwards (by which you can see that my FD800s didn’t pan out) but I need to take pressure off myself, not saying I’m going to “do this” or “do that”, and just quietly doing what I can.
The plumbing is nearly finished, with just a little bit of finishing off to do, so that’s pleasing, and I’ve been organising to sell a few things to help bring to credit card down to manageable proportions, so that’s working out, too.
Not much study has been done in the midst of that, so I’m facing a supervisors’ meeting on Thursday with little to report. Can’t cancel it, though, as I cancelled out of last month’s. One positive, a preliminary draft of a couple of areas of the thesis received a positive response from one of my supervisors (and also from another several weeks ago) so that was encouraging. Only the beginnings of the Introduction, Literature Review and Methodology, but it’s a start.
And that’s it from here. Keep on keeping on everyone!
Kia ora, Betsylee! (Kia ora is Maori for g’day mate!) I note you are having probs viewing my pix. I think I’ve only lodged two so far so you’ve managed to view both those. I posted one of them twice when it didn’t work first time around (I’m a forum beginner). To make it up to you I’ve posted another bike pic tonight, showing riders on the new A2O trail in North Otago/Waitaki. The 300km trail starts at the Hermitage, Mount Cook Village (in backgrd of this pic) and ends at the blue Pacific Ocean in Oamaru, my birthplace and also my home town for two years in the 80s.
It’s good to see so many posts on a Sunday!
Lindsay, thanks for the info. I can understand that people are reluctant to share that kind of thing. They can’t believe they’ve been had. The poor girl.
Jony, thank you for re-posting. A problem at my end I think. I had the same problem as Betsy.
Cinque, oh dear re the chips. Hurray for a lovely FD.
Betsy, yes my selling dramas were minimal, unfortunately those people do stand out. I loved downsizing and, over the years, met interesting people and made friends through some of my sales. I’ve mentioned before that I sold £100k worth of household clutter (and some good things) over 8 years. You never know what you might have of value in your shed.
Good evening everyone
I’ve finally made real progress on the furniture building (and I have the blisters on my hand to prove it). After ignoring the pile of boxes for a fortnight or more I have now fished the larger 7 drawer unit. And the 3 boxes of craft supplies and tools that I had never unpacked since moving to this house are now stored. Every drawer is full! I still have one more narrow 5 drawer unit to build, but that will be for paperwork and office supplies. I’ll start that tomorrow. This is the progression of the build: https://imgur.com/a/uN5TSyF
I had an excellent FD500 yesterday and had planned to be mindful today. That was fine until this evening when I decided to have one of the remaining halloween shortbread fingers with a cup of tea – unfortunately I then ate the remaining two as well. The only positive thing is that they are now all gone and no longer posing a temptation every time I open the fridge.
John, lovely scenery in your pictures. I also loved your story about the tourists trying to crash your wedding.
Thin, hope you find a suitable mooring for the winter soon – I’ve been following the dramas of all those you have investigated on your blog – the last one sounds like the worst of the lot.
Lindsay, I hope you managed to gather honey without heatstroke or being stung.
I loved your story about losing weight so that your hubby can carry you – have you told him yet?
Cinque, I sympathise with the hot chips. The saltiness makes them so addictive, but I too have the same reaction – I remember that I don’t feel well after eating them (I think it’s my lack of gall bladder). Well done though on the alternate day fasting – that’s quite a step up from your usual reliable 5:2 pattern.
Betsy, I’m glad the plumbing saga is nearing its end. I suspect your supervisors will be understanding. I suspect you aren’t the only student who has had trouble writing with the effect of shutdown and then finally being released from it.
Anzac, sorry you lost your herbs, but thankfully your car was saved from hail damage.
HelenKate, so glad you have gotten to your goal so quickly. If you have time, please pop in occasionally and let us know how you are going.
GDSA, I too have been watching “Living on the Veg”. Some good ideas. Although I do agree with one of their guests who asked why they spend so much time making fake meat – what’s wrong with delicious veg?
Neil, have you started your whole30 yet? Let us know how it goes – it looks quite restrictive.
Some worrying news today (especially after Melbourne’s experience). An elderly woman in Adelaide’s northern suburbs has tested positive for covid and so far 2 family members have also tested positive and others have symptoms. One of the infected family members is her daughter who is an employee at one of the quarantine hotels. At this stage they are assuming that is where the infection originated as we have had no community cases for months prior to this. They have traced her movements (which unfortunately include a shopping centre and a hospital emergency department) and put every potential contact into quarantine. I just hope the tracing does the job, as we know how quickly this can get out of control. I hope people are more cautious here after this reminder of how easily this infection could spread again.
LJ, I wondered where you’d gone. Hiding under all those IKEA boxes. That’s not good reading about the Adelaide covid cases. Stay safe everyone. Vaccine is on its way. It’s nearly over. Well, the end is in sight anyway. You’re still reading my blog? Thanks. We in Newark are on the River Trent (I’ve felt a bit out of my depth compared to the canals, excuse the pun). A small marina that previously told us they were full for winter has a space. It’s in the market town where DD works several days a week so, after lockdown ends on 2 Dec, we hope to be able to spend some time with her this winter. Meanwhile, we have two more weeks floating about opposite the castle which ends eight months’ cruising.
Also LJ, that BBC review about The Crown was for the principal actors’ performances. My brother has a teeny non-speaking part so no credits. Actually, he has TWO non-speaking parts so there’s a clue for you! Look for the same guy playing two different characters. It starts tonight I believe.
Morning all.
First day of whole 30 today. I couldn’t really start it until now because we had a big family lunch yesterday as well as several Diwali celebrations with my wife’s family.
Ljoyce, it is pretty restrictive what you can eat, but not restrictive how much you can eat. It’s an elimination diet so you cut out all the stuff that could be causing you issues sugar, artificial sweetener, alcohol, grains, pseudo grains, legumes, dairy, processed food etc, but there’s no calorie counting and no weighing during the 30 days. This morning I had some kumara, avocado and blueberries for breakfast and for lunch I have a salad made from more kumara, boiled eggs, carrots and asparagus with a little olive oil for the fats. The idea of it is: 1. it helps you track down anything that causes you issues as you slowly start reintroducing foods after the 30 days. 2. It’s supposed to be a reset button for your body, helping to break the habits and cravings for the crappy foods that we really should be avoiding. I am pleased that I’m still allowed tea and coffee on it, I’ll just have to get used to drinking it black. When I was on fast 800 it was days 1, 2 and 3 that were the hardest as I was going through withdrawal for all the sugars and starches that made up most of my diet, I’m assuming it will be the same here.
No ride for me in the weekend (Looks like yours went well Johny) , but I probably would have been too tired to go anyway, because I spent all Saturday either playing tennis, gardening and cutting the hedges and then Sunday cutting my mum and dad’s hedges. I crashed on Sunday afternoon and just about fell asleep in the hairdressers waiting for my son to get his hair cut.
Here’s hoping you can spend some quality time with your DD Thin. I googled the castle at Newark-on-Trent and I must say it’s not a bad sort of view to be having to put up with for two weeks.
Ljoyce, flat pack is my nemesis and when I’m putting something together my wife usually has to take a walk with the kids to protect them from the torrent of obscenities that flows out of wherever I’m working from.
Betsy, I hope you manage to find something that works for you, keep playing around with different ways until you hopefully find something that works for you.
Cinque, congrats on the looser clothes! That’s always a good feeling.
Lindsay, what do you do with all the honey you’re getting from your hives? Do you sell it, keep it, or give it away to family and friends?
Anzac, it’s such a good feeling eating out of your garden isn’t it, we’ve been eating our spinach and Rhubarb, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on our gooseberry, currants, blueberry bushes and our plum trees and it looks like they’re not too far off, so soon we’ll be moving into our freezing, jamming, juicing and preserving cycle to work through the glut of fruit that’s approaching.
Well have a great day everyone and I’ll keep you posted how I’m going with the whole30 over the next month.
Good morning,
Lovely to have TWO non fast days in a row now. Haha.
Betsy, I lucked it big time at the Brotherhood of St Laurence opshop on Brunswick Rd.
It can be so tricky finding clothes. I have to take into account my size, my style, natural fabrics, the condition of the piece of clothing and whether I really need it. It is hard to find something that fits all my requirements and that I really fancy, but this is the one shopping thing I am in to (an outlet for my ancient hunting instincts). Plus, come to think of it, I am more likely to find something I like in an op shop than in other clothing shops.
Sympathy for the hard time you are having with food at the moment. Hmm, you are right, it is self defeating to stress about it, keep quietly doing what you can until a better time comes. Soon I hope.
Yikes, the plumbers still having things to finish off! Is that the second job you organised, to avoid losing your down payment? I’m glad the end is in sight.
And yay for selling things too.
Three days to your supervisor’s meeting. I bet you will have things to discuss to build on your good ideas.
Jony, what a stunning picture!
Thin, hi! Happy day after fast day. Best seller of household clutter eva!
I am so happy to hear you will be in a marina near your daughter. It will make for a lovely winter!
Neil, what a delicious start to your Whole 30. Thanks, yes, I am feeling much happier.
LJoyce, so awful to hear the Adelaide cluster has grown so quickly to 17. It happens so quickly and easily, cheeky virus. All power to your health system getting onto top of it quickly. They will have learnt from our troubles, I expect, and be in tip top shape. And I think it may be a good sign that they have found the new cases so quickly. All my fingers and toes crossed that it can be stamped out before spreading much further.
Hooray for some furniture assembled and craft supplies in their place. Good luck with the next one!
Oops shortbread. Gone now. Whew. We don’t have much wriggle room do we, you and I.
Well, I have friends visiting in a few hours (first outside family for so long!) and I want to get my home welcoming and very covidsafe for the, Lucky it is a good day to have all the doors and windows open.
Best wishes to you all.
Good morning, I think you have sent your heat down here Lindsay; 33 here and 41 in the Western suburbs. We took Maxx out early as he doesn’t like the heat at all. He is now chin-down on the cool tiles and I’ll put the air-con on later
Very bad news out of Adelaide with the cluster growing from 3 to 17 in one day. Take care LJ and HK
Great pics jonykiwi!
Good luck with the whole30 Neil. I love how enthusiastic your posts are and they are very motivational
I had to buy a bunch of coriander yesterday and compared to the stuff we were getting out of the garden it is horrible. We have planted 4 seedlings and they are already growing and there is no sign (so far) of them going to seed. I put home-grown chilli and shallots (green onions) into an Asian salad last night with carrot matchsticks and purple cabbage with fresh lime juice and a touch of sweet chilli sauce. Yum! We threw some chicken on the barbie and had a few spoonsfuls each of duck fried rice from the freezer. We are both still intent on losing 5 kilos by Christmas. Mr Anzac – for a change – has put on a lot of weight too. He was 93 and now he is 103. Normally he just thinks about losing weight for 5 minutes and it disappears but now he knows how I feel as he is struggling.
Glad your plumbing woes are almost done Betsy and good luck catching up with your studies.
Cinque I mentioned to Mr Anzac about cutting off the shallots but he isn’t keen. He thinks they won’t grow back or if they do they will be tough. As someone who likes to have good ideas himself (if you know what I mean) he can’t be swayed and it’s his garden so I’ll leave him to it. We have about 10 pots full of them so we will have more than we need.
I think I mentioned that the family are coming next Sunday for some birthdays (including mine in December) and I’m so looking forward to seeing them. This is only the second time this year. Mr Anzac and I are planning a feast and they will bring dessert and nibbles.
Hi Thin, I hear from my labrador friends that it’s cold and wet over there. Stay warm and dry.
My calendar just told me that it is your birthday today Intesha. If you are reading I want to say a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you are ok
Stay safe and onwards and downwards everyone
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We pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Mosley. Michael was an integral part of our lives, […]
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
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