Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Hi everyone.
    I am exhausted from a day of babysitting, but I did have a couple of unexpected successes today. With little prompting, the kids decided going for a walk was good idea and I managed to take them to the bakery/cafe for lunch and watch them consume bowls of hot chips and large cartons of chocolate milk – while I sipped a cup of tea. It’s funny, if I was there with adults I would have gotten endless comments, but not kids – I suspect they didn’t even notice that I wasn’t eating. They were too occupied with stealing each others chips.

    Hope you have all had a good day.

    Cinque, didn’t realise that you were alcohol intolerant. What does that mean for you exactly (should you wish to say, of course)? Sorry your FD didn’t see the light of day. But thankfully, you can take Merry’s approach and get back on the horse.

    Rae, that’s some impressive loss.

    LJ, that would have been no contest for me, the hot tea would have been my first choice. Yes, children are often too self-absorbed to notice what adults are up to. Although, having said that, I did come to realise a bit late that as parents of primary school age children, our close friends and we seemed to be doing rather too much drinking whenever we got together. I think we risked normalising the behaviour by doing that. A whole new set of high school parents who became our friends were happier with coffee visits and kayaking. Better role models.

    Forgotten what else was on the previous page. Neil was there. Hello Neil. Oh yes! Happy 18th Anniversary.

    We are at risk of TP shortages in the UK! We’ve been warned not to stockpile groceries ahead of Brexit. That will surely encourage people to do just that.

    Morning all, well last day of whole30 and I’ll also be fasting to get the best number on the scale tomorrow morning. I got through our anniversary ok, we went to a Philippine restaurant to get some takeaways and ate them in the Botanic gardens and then went for a stroll around the gardens, taking time to smell the roses. It’s the simple things that are the best. The restaurant was very accommodating, I went through their menu and there was one dish that would suit me if if was made without peanuts and beans so I went in on Friday to ask if she could accommodate that for me, she agreed and when I turned up yesterday she had a special batch of the food prepared just for me.

    Ljoyce, I know what you mean, when we went on holiday to the West Coast last October we went to the pub for a meal and I didn’t eat the chips that came with mine, the guy that served us couldn’t understand why I didn’t eat chips and actually asked what was wrong with me (pretty rude for a waiter to say). Adults really judge you if you don’t eat everything on your plate.

    Thin, are people stocking up on cheese too? I had heard that Brexit could result in a cheese shortage in the UK, a fate worse than death! šŸ˜‰

    Well I’ve just looked up my tracker and done some calculations on what I did at the gym this year. This year I have done over 11 days of exercise (around 270 hours) burning around 235,000 calories. That’s an average of 46 minutes and 670 calories a day. I never could have done that before getting this weight off and it makes me so thankful for this way of life.

    Have a great one everyone.

    Good morning everyone,
    I’ve had two good days looking after myself, and yes! back on the horse today. Fasty fast day. Fasting with you Neil!

    We’ve got hot sticky weather, but with a cool change coming, very keen to hear how Anzac and Lindsay are, and how deluged they got on their respective weekends away.

    LJoyce, lovely successes!
    The kids wouldn’t even have noticed, I bet. And hopefully you felt better without chips and chocolate milk sitting in your digestive system.

    Thin, sigh, yes. I never drank much alcohol, I think I was always less tolerant of it than most people are, but it got worse once I had CFS and I felt so poisoned so quickly. I really miss that wine with a meal, or the port in the evening, or a vodka and lime. Sometimes when my sisters are sharing a bottle I have a little watered down wine and it is a lovely treat.

    Neil, what a lovely celebration of your precious marriage. Yay for the restaurant, and yay for you making it a wonderful evening without messing up your health regime.

    PS The plumbing works are still continuing (very old pipes under there) so I am sending more back-dated sympathy to Betsy and hoping they finish today.

    Good afternoon all

    Thanks for the birthday wishes! We had a gorgeous weekend away and feeling so relaxed now

    I’ve read your lovely posts but not much time to reply

    Thin, we were in Morocco on my birthday last year and did a camel ride. Never. Ever. Ever. Again. Glad you were able to fix the Imgur problem

    It sounds like a fab ride Neil and Jony. Pity about the wind (but you are living in NZ after all. Lol)

    Happy belated anniversary Neil and Mrs Neil

    Glad you are feeling better Cinque and WOW LJ, how on earth you resisted hot chips I will never know. They are my number 1 nemesis

    So we ate and drank far too much and it has pretty much jettisoned my plan to be in the 80’s by Christmas. But we are both back on the healthy food and zero alcohol during the week mantra and with my precious three weeks holiday coming up I plan lots of lovely exercise and will have more time to help Mr Anzac in the kitchen.

    Good luck on the big weigh-in tomorrow Neil. I am going out on a limb and I bet there is an 8 in front.

    7 Kilos is fantastic Rae

    G’day, so long without internet! I would have had to go into the city to work – GAH. No way. I’ve actually applied to WFH full time even after they ask us to go back in. My boss said he will review and let me know next year. Fingers crossed!

    The deluge didn’t hit Pokolbin where we were staying so it was just cloudy and cool. Normally we would enjoy the pool but instead we read and watched DVD’s. Honestly, you don’t realise how wound up you are until you unwind. It is scary

    Out of time but will hopefully post a nice chatty post later in the week. Take care all and hi to everyone I haven’t mentioned

    YEEEE HAAAAA!

    Weigh in this morning and I tipped the scales at an amazing 84.9 kilos. I dropped almost 4 kilos in 30 days. Not only that but I shed 5cm off my chest to sit on 99cm, 6cm off my waist to sit on just 80cm, and 7 cm off my hips where mostly my loose skin hangs to sit on 90cm. No wonder my pants have been so loose. But also my stomach issues have gone and my skin is better.

    Day 1 of reintroduction is legumes including peanuts and soy so Iā€™m going to have some peanut butter with some celery this mornings and some hummus with lunch.

    Have a great day everyone, I know I will.

    Woot Neil! What a successful month.
    I hope today’s reintroduction of legumes and nuts doesn’t cause too much pain.

    Anzac, lovely to hear you got your excellent weekend.
    It is true, what ridiculous stress we put on ourselves while working (when I worked it was pretty much in crisis organisations and I found the same).

    The plumbers did their pipe work yesterday, and are back-filling today, and re concreting will be sometime in the future. I’m hoping for tomorrow.

    My quiet week has become quite busy, and next week will be tricky too. I’ll be practicing my ‘grace under pressure’.

    Yesterday was a good fast day and today will be a sensible eating day.

    Looking forward to hearing how you are going, if you can find five minutes to write in this silly season.

    Cheers all.

    Morning all. Firstly, whoo hoo Neil. That is an amazing achievement. Well done. You have changed your life.

    Rae, well done too to you for such a great loss. Isn’t it motivating?

    The sun is struggling through, and the huge weather event didn’t eventuate here at our house – just some good soaking rain, and high winds. But elsewhere in the State and northern NSW, flooding and erosion. Sad. Springbrook in the Gold Coast hinterland has had more than a metre of rain since Friday…That is a lot of water. The bush walks and waterfalls will be beautiful, once the danger passes.

    Our weekend away was just wonderful – everything I could have hoped. We had beautiful rooms at Vacy Hall, a Victorian mansion in lovely grounds. Each room had a full-height sash window that opened to wide verandahs with comfortable sofas and chairs, and the little ones played in the gardens and nipped through the rooms, while we all sat chatting and enjoying having nothing at all to do. I see a lot of my family, but honestly, they are just so busy that sometimes we all can seem a little distracted. Just having time with no pressing demands, and nothing to do, was very special. It was like the house took us back to a more relaxed time.

    Cinque Mr Lindsay thanks you for his card, and the good wishes.
    I liked Rose’s tattoo šŸ™‚
    Thanks too for your commiserations about the foot ….ageing isn’t for the faint-hearted is it? But in the scheme of things, not too significant. I have to wait perhaps a month for the guided cortisone injection, and am under instruction to rest. I honestly can’t see that happening.

    Glad to read you are feeling better …. you must be, to be ironing! I wanted to iron OH’S shirt for toowoomba, and quite forgot where I’d put the ironing board, so rarely do we use it now (it was under the cot in the spare room). We were lucky with the weather – a beautiful sunny cool Saturday, and just a little rain on the Sunday morning.

    Anzac, your weekend sounds delightful … and not long now til your long break. Good to know Rose is half way there on her way to being a grown-up. But here is something that’s really funny. As you know, she loves nicking off with my phone, held by the cover and the screen flapping away. Well I’d just taken a photo and sent it to DD, but hadn’t closed the phone down when Rose did her usual trick. By the time I got the phone back, she’d somehow managed to take a totally black pic and sent it to to DD. We can only assume the pic was the inside of her mouth.

    LJ good for you, sticking with a cuppa with all those chips hanging around. BTW, I meant to mention the pic I posted of the lake was during our holiday at Lake Tekapo …not from the verandah of our holiday house (which looks out into bush). Pretty, and peaceful, but not stunning like Lake Tekapo.

    OK, off to do some housework before we head off for lunch with the brothers to celebrate OH’s birthday. I’m finding the WOL has gone off piste somewhat, but am keeping under the danger weight that would send me scurrying back to low carb, so that in itself is quite an achievement for this week of celebrations.

    Have a happy day all.

    OK, I’ve tried to post twice now, and both times – zip, nothing. I’ll wait to see if this goes up, and then try again (and apologies in advance if you get 3 posts that are the same).

    Whoo hoo Neil!

    Glad you had a lovely weekend for hubby’s surprise birthday Lindsay

    Today it is 3 years since we bought 8 week old Maxx home. How time has flown
    Gotcha day 3 years ago https://imgur.com/gallery/C67xge8

    Must run….

    Happy happy belated Birthday, Anzac! Sorry Iā€™m so late. Iā€™ve been reading all of your posts and then going to sleep before replying.

    Neil, congratulations on sticking to your 30 day plan and losing 4 kilos! Thatā€™s a huge amount in a short time. It didnā€™t sound like an easy plan to stick to, but was a good way to get some weight off quickly.

    Jony, so nice that you and Neil could meet up for the bike ride. Thank you for posting the photo. You both look great! I love seeing all your pics of the area too. What a beautiful country!

    LJ, good on you for resisting the chocolate milk and chips with the kids. They were likely too busy with their own food to worry about that other people are eating. Even adults arenā€™t usually as interested about what weā€™re eating in most cases. Iā€™ve found if they do ask, a short simple answer usually suffices.

    Cinque, does the plumbing work in your building affect your water or is it just noisy? It sounds like your ā€œquiet weekā€ isnā€™t as quiet as you would like it to be. Hope you manage to relax some in spite of it all. Congrats on the fasty fast days.

    Thin, did your OH get his visa papers that were supposed to have been mailed?
    Do you still have your Amazon Prime subscription? Thereā€™s a new series on there called The Wilds thatā€™s been pretty good so far. Weā€™ve only watched about 4 episodes so far and I could see that type of show w going off the rails, but enjoying it so far. We have a bunch of different series that weā€™re watching now, 2 or 3 episodes every night after dinner. Most of them are still Aussie series, but weā€™ve finished a few of them.
    A question: How would you make a ā€˜flat whiteā€™ if you were to make one at home? Judging from some of the TV series, it sounds like all you drink down there. I can see lots of recipes on Google, but every one seems to be different amounts of espresso and frothed or scalded milk. Thin, is that the same as your frothy coffees?

    Lindsay, so sorry to hear about your foot. I hope itā€™s feeling better now. Youā€™re right, aging isnā€™t for the faint hearted, or as some here say, ā€œGetting old ainā€™t for sissies!ā€ Glad to hear you had a beautiful place to relax. I looked up Vacy Hall and itā€™s beautiful. What a nice place to relax. a meter of rain up on the Gold Coast in that short a time sounds awful with flooding and erosion. Itā€™s feast or famine these days with the rain. Either too much or not enough! I hope it keeps the fire danger down this year.
    Itā€™s been cold here and just a nice amount of rain, finally. It had been a mostly dry Autumn. We can certainly use the moisture.

    Our state is being really hard hit with the covid cases now. Hospitals are getting overly full and ICUā€™s running out of space. Theyā€™re even getting full in our area, which is a little more remote. There are still too many people not wearing masks and weā€™re seeing a hundred cases or more in this county on many days. They just received the first vaccines but it will be many months before there are enough for those other than nursing home patients and health care workers. I hope they have enough for all of them. Even though they can come up with more hospital beds they are running out of skilled health care workers, some of whom end up with covid and have to quarantine. Calif is now looking to recruit workers from overseas since this whole country is getting overwhelmed with cases. While all this is going on, we have some elected officials petitioning the Governor to make restaurants essential businesses and let them open for indoor dining during the lockdown because too many are going out of business. There arenā€™t words….

    https://imgur.com/43DI7Xd

    Kia ora, whanau!

    I was on babysitting duty yesterday, as you can see from the pic. I invited younger daughter to bring Loukas (almost 5) out to Macandrew Bay so I could take him kayaking on Otago Harbour. We had a great time, although Loukas kept grabbing the paddle and we ended up going around in circles a few times. The only sealife we saw was tiny krill, which left a red carpet on the artificial beach after washing ashore. One day I was heading out for a harbour paddle when I heard on the radio a pod of killer whales was cavorting in the harbour near Aramoana – my destination. Needless to say I changed my plans that day . . .

    Hearty congrats, Neil, on your latest loss. You know I probably helped, when you joined us on the Wanderers ride last Saturday. I threw in that extra loop down towards Port Chalmers because I knew the ride back into the sou’west gale would severely test your legs and burn lotsa calories. The wind was so strong that going down with the tailwind I was just sitting on my e-bike not pedalling but doing 20kmh! When I got to the turnaround point I looked back but did I see the other 10 riders on our outing? No, just the plucky Neil. The rest were hightailing it to the Ocean Beach pub at St Kilda, licking their lips. We gave the AOK Wanderers group a great sendoff after 5 1/2 years of wonderful rides. I’m gonna have a rest now . . .

    Anzac, what a bonnie pooch! Is it a GT or a Lab? We’ve got retrievers in the family and they’re wonderful dogs. At our place we’ve just got Bruce – and he’s a cat! The SPCA gave him the monicker and we never got round to changing it.

    Is everyone worried about the festive season coming up? All that temptation. We’ve just had a dummy run here, as today, elder daughter headed north to the Bay of Plenty with her family for several weeks and as is our tradition, we had an early Dunedin Xmas brunch at our place. It came a day after a riotous early birthday celebration for Loukas, who arrived in this world on Boxing Day and usually misses out on a birthday party with his friends. So we’ve all had lots of practice at scoffing calorie-laden festive grub and should be able to stack it away come Christmas. It’s the day after one of my two FD’s, so that’s OK!

    Keep shrinking!

    John

    Jony, if you can be bothered, on the previous page is a link to my Silly Season Challenges from previous years. It explains how good planning allows us to enjoy all the season has to offer without gaining weight, if not continuing to lose.

    Neil, well done.

    Lindsay, lovely way to celebrate. That’s what I can’t wait for over Christmas – long chats with DD without distraction.

    Anzac, Happy Birthday Maxx!

    CalifD, thanks for the recommendations. I don’t have Prime at the moment as Netflix plus BBC iPlayer is more than we can possibly watch. Our Amazon packages are arriving much faster than the specified time to a hub locker nearby. Although, having listened to a recent documentary about Besos and the Amazon business model, I am trying very hard not to contribute to wanton consumerism and only ordering what’s absolutely essential.

    ‘Flat White’, I discovered when arriving in Europe, must be unique to Australia/NZ. I’ve had to explain what I wanted here. With my own coffee machine, I would grind my own beans, make a normal size cup (not mug) of coffee and then froth enough milk just to top it off. In Oz cafes, this is the choice with the least amount of milk (other than black obviously). Cappuccino and latte have lots more milk and I never order either. No idea why they call it FLAT white because the finished product doesn’t look flat. On the boat, I don’t have my super duper Rancilio coffee machine of course and only have a plunger – and a milk frother that requires use of the microwave – no problem on shore power in the marina, but can’t generally be used on ‘the cut’ unless we’re underway.

    Cinque, hoping the plumbing noise and disruption outside ends soon.

    OH and I had a haircut yesterday! I’d carefully selected a salon but was dismayed that they weren’t wearing visors as they had been when I’d peered in last week. This was my second haircut since last November! I really like the cut and the owner said my naturally greyish ‘highlight’ colour is much sought-after by the younger generation nowadays! So, I’m ‘in’.

    Evening all.
    Rising to the ‘flat white’ challenge.
    My understanding is that a flat white is a cappuccino, without the frothy top….so the barista treats the milk the same (i.e. heats it with steam), but then pours the hot milk only on to the expresso coffee, holding the foam. The end result is the same milky coffee as in a cappuccino, but a full cup without the froth. (I wait to be corrected).

    Morning everyone

    Day 1 of reintroduction went well. I had no issues whatsoever with the legumes and peanuts. I did however have a glass of my home-made lemon cordial, since I’m allowed sugar as well. I woke up this morning with a headache, so I’ll try not to have too much sugar in the future.

    Today is back on whole 30 to make sure my body’s worked through the stuff I ate yesterday before the second food introduction tomorrow. Second introduction is non glutenous grains, So I’ll probably start with some porridge, have some corn with lunch, and some rice with dinner. This is the one category I wouldn’t mind being the cause of my stomach issues, but the least likely to be the cause. That’s because I don’t eat a lot of non glutenous grains, except for occasionally corn, and some rolled oats in my homemade muesli that I eat a couple of days a week.

    Lindsay, yeah, the difference between flat white, latte and cappuccino is the amount of foam. Flat white is supposed to be steamed milk without the foam, latte is mostly steamed milk with a thin layer of foam on the top, and cappuccino is half steamed milk and half foam. But I’ve found it really hard to find a good flat white, most cafes you won’t find any difference between a flat white and a latte. This page shows what it’s supposed to be

    https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/451837775101543867/

    Thin, nice to know you’re hip with your hair colour šŸ˜€ My wife is complaining about her couple of grey hairs and even coloured one in with a black vivid. I try to tell her that I think her greys are sexy, but now I’ll tell her they’re trendy too.

    Jony, yes, that extra couple of ks must have made all the difference (it didn’t hurt that I biked 12ks to get to the start of the ride and another 5ks uphill to get home after it šŸ˜‰ ). I’m not too worried about Christmas, I usually stick to meat, fruit and veg at our Christmas dinners, so the only issue will be the presents of chocolates that we invariably get given from relatives. But the Cristmas/New Years break is usually the time I’m most active. I go out camping, biking, kayaking, hunting, gardening with my wife and boys, so we burn off any of the excess food that we eat over the festive season

    Cali, sorry things are going so bad over there, stay safe! We kind of forget that there’s still a pandemic going on because life is pretty much normal over here and has been for a while. Covid barely gets a mention on the news except to list the couple of cases we get a day that are people in managed isolation that were returning to the country from overseas.

    Anzac, Awwwwww, taht’s a cute pup, I’m guessing not so small and cute now though šŸ˜‰

    Cinque, hope all your plumbing work gets done today, it’ll be good to get everything sorted.

    Well back to the grind, I’ll write tomorrow to let you know how I get on with the non glutenous grain reintroduction. Have a good one everyone

    Good morning everyone,

    Penguin, a traditional bunch of flowers for you today https://cdn.idsitnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/04/spring-wonder-bouquet-lrg.jpg and I am hoping that you might be having an easy quiet day.

    It is a lovely morning here (still a bit humid but okay) and rain forecast, fingers crossed, my garden wants it.

    I had a good day yesterday but wasn’t quite frugal enough in the evening. I get another go today.

    Lindsay, I am so glad your wonderful post made it through. And that Mr Lindsay enjoyed my birthday greetings. But especially that your weekend away was everything you hoped. Oh, those easy unstressed times with family are gold.

    Well done keeping under the danger weight, you don’t want that alarm siren going off. I do hope it was a lovely lunch yesterday.

    Anzac, aww! Little Maxx. Happy Birthday to him! https://shop.paperrussells.com/v/vspfiles/photos/PRGN819-2.jpg What an amazing three years he brought with him.

    Cali, so glad to have a good catch up from you. It is so hard to hear of how terrible the covid pandemic is in your state, and knowing there are states where things are even worse, and that the post Thanksgiving surge is in full swing. There are no words. Wishes from the Southern Hemisphere keep flowing, and I am so relieved you are keeping safe.

    I loved all the flat white responses but Lindsay what a clear, brilliant explanation. You should work with words you are so good at it šŸ˜‰ šŸ˜‰ šŸ˜‰

    Jony, what a treat babysitting with kayak!
    I don’t have much of a problem with Christmas food as it just isn’t part of my family tradition, and the family my daughter married into doesn’t have it either. And my limited social life protects me from social dos and edible presents. The link Thin mentioned https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-third-annual-silly-season-challenge/ has heaps of discussion and suggestions about the challenges.
    So many people seem to find it important that they do feast, and then plan to fast hard at the end of it.
    But the main trick is to think in advance how you want to get through it, what things you want to avoid and what things you want to enjoy. And practice saying ‘no’ haha. Good luck.
    PS Are you still under 100kg? With all that activity I am thinking you will be.

    I babysat yesterday and we did some Christmas decorations and then went to Darebin parklands which Miss 4 loved, next time I will take a picture of her with the lovely wild ducks and little moorhens.

    Thin, I am horrified the hairdressers weren’t masked. Sigh. But great that it is such a good cut. I’ve read of youngsters dyeing their hair grey. You are naturally hip, haha.

    Neil, what a nice surprise to manage the legumes and nuts so well. (Noting that peanuts are a legume, so maybe check out tree nuts separately). Oops re the cordial. I bet it tasted delicious though.
    Good luck with the oats and corn and rice. Yum.

    Well the concrete is done. They did manage to do the whole thing without cutting off the water at all. I sneaked out to write Miss 4’s name in the concrete (her sisters name is in concrete in another part of the flats) and the workman caught me, I’d thought he had gone. He seemed more surprised than upset though.

    Sending best wishes to everyone.

    Hello All, writing from Melbourne and about to embark on this for the first time. Don’t need to loose alot but need to do it is way I can maintain. As I lost 8 kg earlier this year and have slowly watched as 4 of them have crept back on. Anyone local keen to share the journey?

    Hi Kell and welcome to the forum. There are people from all stages here, some just starting out, some well into their journey, and some that have been doing this way of life for years. We’re always here to offer support, advice, and shared experiences. Good luck with your weight loss goals.

    I forgot to add on my last post. According to my biometric scale my body fat percentage dropped over 3% during my time on the Whole30 programme from 29.5% to around 26% and my metabolic age dropped 6 years from 53 down to 47, if I keep going it may even get as low as my actual age šŸ˜‰

    I booked a health checkup at the doctors to make sure I haven’t done anything stupid with my iron, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels over the last month, but I’m pretty sure most things should be ok.

    I got my wife to take an after shot of me so I can compare to what I looked like before I started. The pic on the left is me at around 89 kilos and on the right is me at 84.9. Definitely a lot less fat around my chest and trunk.

    https://imgur.com/kV1VaDT

    Have a great one everyone.

    Welcome Kell. If you’re looking for a sustainable way of keeping those 8kgs off, you’ve found it!

    Neil, great results.

    Cinque, you’ve shocked me – writing in the concrete! Sorry if I made it sound as though the hairdressers weren’t masked. They were wearing masks but not face visors. I just feel that, being in such close proximity to so many people, it would be sensible to use all the PPE one can muster. They were taking one measure that I wasn’t expecting – customers’ coats were being placed in large storage boxes with the justification that this would prevent coats coming into contact with those of another customer. I don’t think they’d thought that one through! Meanwhile, they use hairdryers. And, like almost all stores, customers are required to use anti-bacterial gels going in and out. Why does everyone accept this useless measure without question?

    Good morning from cold rainy Melbourne,

    Welcome Kellbell!
    Congratulations on getting that 8kgs off earlier this year, and sympathy for 4 of them sneaking back again.
    5:2 is a great way to maintain, easy and sustainable. I am sharing your journey although (brace yourself) the cheeky kilograms that sneaked back on me did it even while I was doing 5:2 for maintenance. (I was eating too much in the evenings on non fast days, I have realised.) (And maybe at other times too) I’m back to doing 5:2 for weight loss.

    Neil, yes, I can see how svelte you are around the hips!

    Thin, what is wet concrete but a clean slate to write on? (At least I wrote small, and in the corner).
    Whew, re the hairdressers were/are wearing masks. I haven’t heard of the coat thing before, the science of it does seem a bit loose.

    The Sydney covid outbreak is our big focus here. How privileged we are to be worrying so hard about 17 cases, but we know how easily it can balloon. Hopefully the wonderful community response puts a cap on it quickly.

    Oh lovely, Miso the cat has just vomited on the carpet.
    What a pleasant note to leave you on!

    Best wishes to the Friday fasters!
    And cheers to mindful, delicious, but no more than sufficient, non fast day eating.

    Cheers all.

    Second reintroduction day, non-glutenous grains. Porridge for breakfast was fine, popcorn for morning tea…NOT COOL!! I feel like crap now, stomach pain down in the same place I usually get it. According to the programme I should note it down and after the rest of the reintroductions, do one day when I eat other non glutenous grains to see if I still get the pains, and then one day when I just eat popcorn. This is not pleasant.

    Good morning, a lovely Saturday here and we have a week of temperatures in my comfort zone.

    Neil, yikes that popcorn. Good luck for for today’s introductions.

    Miss vain here was pleased to notice her face looking less jowly during our zoomsister call yesterday!

    Day before fast day for me, making it a good one.

    Best wishes that your day is a good one too.

    Hello everyone,

    Anzac, Intesha and anyone else in Sydney, we’re thinking of you and hope you remain safe and well.

    Neil, I think developing a list of foods that need to tested one at a time is an excellent idea. As popcorn corn is a possible problem I would also suggest that you test corn in its other forms too – corn cobs, polenta, cornflour, corn oil, corn syrup etc. This would be useful as excluding popcorn is not much of an inconvenience, but having to check every label for any form of corn would be quite onerous.

    Kellbell, welcome to our forum. I came here with a similar issue. I had lost weight by myself and regained a few kilos. I came to 5:2 to get them off and keep them off. Like Cinque I have occasionally yo-yoed a bit, but have mostly stayed in my preferred weight range. Very occasionally I need to shift kilos fast and I use the Fast800 program, but mostly I stick to 5:2 and try to get speedier weight loss by being careful on my NFDs. It’s been a very reliable tool for weight maintenance for me, so hopefully it will help you too.

    Cinque, I too shocked by you writing in the concrete. Every time I see that on my daily walks I assume it was teenagers – I might have to rethink that assumption. I bet your grand daughters were impressed to see their names there though.
    I hope Miso is ok now – and the carpet.

    Thin, I hope the current debate over what the restrictions will be for christmas in the UK still allow you to spend those planned precious days with your daughter. Does she have time off, or will she have to dash off to deal with pet dogs who ate the tinsel (or the turkey)?

    John, I have babysitting a couple of days a week in the school holidays, but we definitely won’t be kayaking. The most daring pursuit may be me walking with kids on scooters – usually with them racing down the hill at break neck speed and we worrying about what I’ll do if one ends up with broken arm.

    Cali, things seem to be going from bad to worse over your way. I can only hope the combined effect of a new administrations and the vaccine rollout will gradually improve the situation in coming months. I think it will make a difference, but will also take time to show in infection rates. I was pleased to see Mike Pence not only getting the vaccine live, but wearing a mask during that process. Hopefully it will create a positive influence with the willingness to vaccinate.

    Penguin, I’m hoping that you have moved into your next abode and have at least the essentials unpacked by now.

    Intesha, I’m also hoping that you found a new home that is suitable for you and Dad.

    Hello to Lindsay and Anzac, and anyone else I’ve missed.
    Take care all and try not to get too frazzled by the Christmas busyness.

    Disappointing news from Sydney. Stay safe everyone. One member of our family friends with whom we spent almost every Christmas for 30 years lives four miles from the outbreak. She wasn’t going to Perth anyway due to the airline raising the fare from $300 to $1300 one way and of course the other daughter can’t fly from London. With the three of us here, our friends will be having a very quiet Christmas Day in Perth. I expect we’ll be mastering Zoom.

    LJ, as for us, DD was fortunate to already have been allocated exactly the five days off that we’re allowed to mix. She has the NY period on call which, last year, was worse than Xmas but perhaps not this year especially as we’re almost certain to be back in lockdown. In fact, DD is on call the night of 23 December which means that, should she get a call out to a cow caesarian at 7.59am on Christmas Eve, she could be working most of that morning. We can live with that but fingers crossed she gets some well-earned time off. I think she’s exhausted.

    Tinsel and turkey! – chocolate is the usual culprit for sick dogs over Xmas but this year has seen dogs swallowing face masks with fatal effects. How will you spend Christmas, LJ?

    CalifD, with Moderna’s vaccine now approved in the USA, things will soon be looking up for Americans. I do like Mike Pence and think he’d make a great President.

    Time to go, we have to take the boat across the marina for diesel and go to the mobile butcher in the town square. There’s a nationwide shortage of turkeys and we are caught between having inadequate freezer space to store one and waiting until the last minute risking missing out altogether.

    Disregard the above. Christmas has been cancelled in the UK. The coronavirus has outwitted the people. It’s nature’s way of fighting back. We totally deserve this. Some of us get Christmas Day only. No one will be able to have a Christmas tipple because they’ll have to drive home. For others, where my brother lives and in London, Christmas is cancelled completely.

    This morning, I was so angry with a woman that I spoke up for the first time. At the mobile butcher, who had his area perfectly organised for keeping everyone covid-safe, an unmasked woman barged past me to get some beef while I was still being served. “What part of keeping six feet apart do you not understand?” I asked her. She totally ignored me. She had to wait for us to pay and exit via the one way corridor before she could get served anyway – so why do that? I blame people like her. The only problem is that it’s not people like her that suffer.

    I’m laughing having re-read the above, the villain is an ‘unmasked woman’. Times change!

    Good morning everyone,

    Thin, so much sympathy that you won’t be able to have those five days with your daughter.
    But I am relieved that, as a result, the UK won’t get the terrible growth in numbers the US have been getting after Thanksgiving.
    I laughed at the ‘unmasked woman’ too. And hope that she wasn’t as dangerous as she was acting. She will have heard you, even if she didn’t react.
    Yesterday I read about a dog who managed to get the advent calendar off the wall and eat all the chocolate.

    Neil, I dreamt about you last night. I was telling your doctor that I thought you might have diverticula even if it didn’t show up in your colonoscopy!
    This thread rules my subconscious!

    LJoyce, Miso is fine, she vomits most often this time of year as she licks her winter coat off and makes furballs. She is pretty sure she will get Whiskas today so is spending a lot of time in the kitchen looking expectantly at me. Only 9 hours to go until I give it to her. (Carpet is fine too)
    Well, I am redfaced about my cement writing, and being a dreadful rolemodel for my grandchildren. (I think they might grow up more law abiding than me though.)

    Well, it is my Sunday fast day today, and I am having another reread of the Fast800 book, so very 5:2 focused.
    Also, my first zucchini flower!

    Best wishes all

    Hello friends

    Forgive me for not posting but we have had devastating news. One of our close friends committed suicide and we are shocked to the core. He had a lovely family, plenty of money but obviously something was going on or he was hiding depression

    2020 just needs to end

    Anzac, big hugs to you and your husband, such tragic news.

    Anzac, so sorry for your devastating loss. Big hugs to you. Make sure Mr Anzac is talking.

    Cinque, I hope you’re having a great FD today. You’re not red faced because of my comment? You should know by now that anything I write can be safely ignored. The Fast800 book sounds good. I’ve never read it since the old 5:2 has always worked so well for me. Two weeks without alcohol have really helped me get back on track. Now that we have five days of Christmas treats to condense into one day’s eating, next week will be interesting. For example, mince pies & egg nog (carefully resisted until Christmas) were always our Xmas Eve tradition while wrapping presents. I felt so sad when DD said it will be the first Christmas Day of her life that she’ll be waking up all alone.

    Morning from an overcast Brisbane. Off today for OH’s annual cancer check, so I’ll drop by later. Always a tetchy time for me, although he appears quite sanguine.

    Cinque, I laughed out loud at your getting caught by the concreter writing your GD’s name in the newly laid cement. Don’t be too hard on her LJ and Thin šŸ™‚ It’s good to keep a touch of the rebel/devil. And I bet the little one loves it.

    Cinque, did you see Norman Swan on the ABC (That Christmas) talking about how his family didn’t celebrate Christmas in Glasgow where he grew up ….but mysteriously a stocking of presents was left at the base of the bed overnight, He and his brother knew it was meant to be a secret….but discovered much later than many of their friends had had the same experience? It was a sweet reminiscence.

    Thin, how absolutely awful that your Christmas has been put on hold. I know how much you were looking forward to that time with DD. Another rite of passage, I guess, that first Christmas waking up without parents. It’s hard on you all. We had two Christmasses in China…the first we flew our kids up and had a wonderful, snowy time, and the next we all met up in Hong Kong. Seems like a long time ago.

    Sydney, Europe, the US….all going through the worst of times. And the timing couldn’t be worse, could it? I must say I was amazed when originally the UK decided to let people have a Christmas break ….as if the virus would agree to that! But …..the vaccine is making its way to people, and it would be so good to see some light at the end of this very long, dark tunnel.

    Penguin, I think of you often and all the particular challenges you’re going through. Best wishes to you and your family.

    Anzac, truly shocked and saddened to read your news. No words – but hope you and Mr Anzac are okay.

    Calif, how are things in your neck of the woods. Decorating the house, and started baking yet? How are you spending Christmas?

    We have a man coming today to put in screens so Rose-marie doesn’t take out the screen doors (again). It’s either that, or flies, and I hate flies! The opening is only 400 high, so she’ll have to screech to a halt and come through at a crawl, so who knows how successful that will be. Rosy isn’t good at slowing down.

    Have I complained about the cuckoo that’s come to stay? Honestly, it squarks in the wee small hours, just like the kookaburras, but as they’re native, I am used to them. Apparently the cuckoo will head home to Indonesia or PNG in February, and I for one will we waving it good riddance.

    Where are our Dunedin pals this morning? Off on a faraway hill somewhere? Or off to work Neil?

    On that note – take care friends … enjoy these last few days before Christmas.

    Oooh, I should go back and edit out the errors – the random question mark, and the ‘we’ not ‘be’. I am sure there are others. But if I edit my post, it will fly off to that great place where missing posts go, so if you can ignore the errors, so will I.

    Afternoon all

    Anzac, no words, I’m so sorry for your loss. Sending cyber hugs your way.

    Cinque, nice to know you’re thinking about me šŸ˜‰ From what I read, diverticulitis is in the colon. The fact that I got the stomach pains half an hour after eating the popcorn and the pain was up high rather than my usual place means it must have been a reaction in the stomach rather than the intestines.

    Thin, I just realised it’s been over 6 weeks since I’ve had a drink and I haven’t really missed it. I’m allowed to drink now (well non gluten based drinks so beer and whiskey are out) but I’ll probably save it up for Christmas day now. We’re having Christmas dinner at our house so I won’t need to drive anywhere.

    Lindsay, I’m here, just busy at this time of year unfortunately, this is my first opportunity to post today.

    Well I had my dairy day yesterday. Apart from a little bit of stomach churning (forgive the pun) and a slight bloated feeling (and what comes with the bloating later on) I didn’t have too bad a reaction to dairy. So I think I’ll keep it in my diet, just greatly reduce the amount I was eating. There were a couple of side effects that I may try again to see if they were related to the dairy or completely unrelated. I got one of my vision migraines about an hour after my flat white, and I had really crazy dreams last night. Today is back on the whole30 eating before the final re-introduction tomorrow, the final one is gluten (dum dum dummmmmmm). After that I’ll take a little break over Christmas and then further test out the things that caused me issues.

    Have a great one everyone and I’ll catch you tomorrow.

    Good morning from lovely cool Melbourne, with rain on the way.

    Anzac, I am so sorry to hear your terrible news. There is an extra dreadfulness in suicide that is just heart breaking. I hope you, and all his family and friends, can find some solace in each other. https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/single-white-lily-rebecca-cozart.jpg

    I had a very good fast day, thankyou Thin. I am really enjoying rereading the Fast800. It is packed full of the latest research (at time of printing) so a good update on the 2013 research in his first book and documentary.

    Oo, a big change for DD this Christmas. What can I say to you all squishing five days of Christmas foods into one day? Small portions! That is what I will say.

    Lindsay, hoping all goes well for Mr Lindsay’s cancer check.
    I did see Dr Norman Swan talk about his childhood Christmas times. šŸ™‚ It was lovely.
    What’s with that cuckoo? I had to look it up. Well, it is sort of native! I’m sorry it isn’t calling later in the morning though. It would be a welcome visitor if it wasn’t waking you up.

    Is there a dog door in the screen now? It will be good for Rosy to learn to slow down a little bit on her way in or out, and a new trick.

    Ha, I didn’t even notice the errors.

    I’ve had a lovely breakfast on my morning-after-fast-day and will head off to buy veggies for my low carb midday meal. My nephew has arrived (after a sleepless overnight bus ride from Canberra) for a couple of days before he heads to his mum’s. He will mostly be out and about, but it is nice to catch up.

    I’m hoping all of you are making the most of this precious day. Anzac, may you be swaddled in kindness.
    Best wishes
    Rebel grandma šŸ˜‰

    https://imgur.com/KR31A5G

    Has anyone seen summer? It seems to have departed Dunedin and it’s cold, windy and rainy outside – the forecasters say this crud is going to continue until Xmas Eve, so at least our ice cream is not going to melt!

    The picture shows younger grandson Lexi ( 1 3/4). He’s a little character who is trying to grow up fast. He’s very interested in how things work and the other day while he was at our place he figured out how to open the logfire door (it wasn’t going) then he found the little shovel and started moving the ash from the firebox to the carpet. Great fun. And he’s one of those kids who, when told off for doing something naughty, will look you in the eye and start doing it again. Fun times ahead as he gets older! On the plus side, he’s a sweet, affectionate wee guy.

    My better half is having the very first day of her retirement today – and she’s away Xmas shopping again. I think we blokes get the best deal when it comes to this time of year, as women generally seem to be in charge of finding and buying the pressies and also planning for and buying food for the feast. We offer to help but they just say we’re bloody hopeless!

    My fasting is going, er, slowly. I’m still adhering to the 5:2 regime but once again the scales are being stubborn. After last week’s second fast day I was 100.0kg and then the same the next day after a hilly 36km bike ride. And now we’ve got Xmas this week, with all its temptations. I intend to try to take it easy on the fattening grub, so I don’t expect a big blowout.

    Cinque – I’m not upset you dreamed about Neil and not me. With your dreams, who needs nightmares?

    Anzac – very sorry about your friend. We had a similar situation with the daughter of close friends recently and she left two little kids. No-one saw the warning signs. We’re just trying to support our friends as best we can – that’s all you can do.

    L Joyce – I think scootering is more dangerous than kayaking. It’s so easy to take a tumble and hit something. When I take kids kayaking I usually stay reasonably close to the beach and they wear good lifejackets. Mum and grandmum get a bit neurotic but you’ve got to let kids experience the great outdoors and get away from those accursed screens. The next adventure this summer with the almost 5-year-old will be camping and Luke is really looking forward to living in a tent in the wilds.

    Merry Xmas everyone – hope you get what you want, rather than what you need!

    John

    Grrr, just lost my lengthy post chatting to Neil and Jony mostly. I’ve lost the will to re-write it. I’ll just say that my two weeks alcohol free have really helped and I’m back in the 57s for the first time since September after yesterday’s great fast. Like you Neil, I haven’t missed it and have lost the taste for it.

    Morning all.

    OH came through his annual check with flying colours, so all calm now for another year. It’s more than 5 years since his last cancer but the urologist is super cautious because OH only has part of one kidney, so we’ll keep checking in each year.

    Neil, Thin, I’ve pretty much lost my taste for alcohol too. Occasional g & T, and I ordered a glass of wine at dinner on Saturday night, but as OH had finished his, gave him mine because I was just as happy with water.

    DS is coming soon for a bee harvest, and then a swim with the little people. It will be 34 here today, so good to start the bees early.

    Jony camping is such fun (for children and adults). They do need the experiences and your kayaking with them sounds safe. My heart goes to my mouth when I see ours on their bikes (my usually gentle 7 year old GD gets a set, ‘get out of my way or else’ look which terrifies people (actually it’s just super concentration but they don’t know that).

    Cinque, my dog doors were a complete failure. The installers turned up 3 hours late ….I was quite cross, because I could have finished all my Christmassy stuff but raced home from the shops to be on time….and the door was never going to stop her. 400 x 260 was the largest they had, apparently. So it’s flies for us this summer, or getting up and down to let her in and out.

    congratulations thin – 57 is a great number.

    Just hearing the news that police are investigating a woman from Berkshire who spent 22 million in Harrods. My, that is some hamper!

    Cinque, that x@*&^%$ cuckoo is most unwelcome. 3 am this morning it started shrieking. Persistent and discordant. We never see it – well, lots of birds here so hard to know what is what as they fly through the bush at the back of the garden, but the noise is not nice. Not like my lovely butcher birds and magpies.

    Jony, hope your wife loves retirement and you enjoy being able to do more things together. My OH and I are loving our time together, after a few bumps as we adjusted to both being home. What is it one comedian said? I married him for better or worse, but not for lunch.

    OK, my 40,000 girls are calling so time for me to suit up. Enjoy your day, all.

    Afternoon all

    Well today is gluten day so I had a slice of toast with some avocado and tomato for brekkie and I’m tucking into a nice tomato, spinach and feta scone as I type.

    I went to the doctor for a general health checkup (I want to make sure I haven’t screwed up anything like cholesterol, iron, etc with this diet before I continue) I explained what I’d been doing for the last 6 weeks or so and why I was doing it. The doctor said that the place I was getting pain was quite a common area for people with IBS because it’s at the junction between the small and large intestine, and if you get gas it can build up there and cause the type of pain I described. I asked about the popcorn and he suggested that it could have been one of the hard shells from the popcorn lodging in one of the folds of the stomach, it can cause a sharp pain while your stomach was trying to dislodge it. the only thing of note was my blood pressure was a little up, which is odd, but he wasn’t overly concerned about it. He commented on my low pulse and asked if it was normal (it was just 46 bpm when he measured it) and when I said it was normal because I’m pretty fit and ride my bike a lot we got chatting about that because apparently he is really into it, and running (he does ultra marathons so way above my league) I’m going to get my bloods done tomorrow to check out the rest of the stuff (iron, cholesterol, glucose, liver, kidney and thyroid function, etc).

    Thin, so annoying when a post disappears and you can’t get it back, I don’t think I’ve lost the taste for alcohol, I guess I’ll find out on Christmas day, but I don’t miss having the Friday/Saturday evening drinks, I guess I didn’t need them to wind down like I thought I did. I also didn’t need the energy drinks/coffee to survive. I’ve been having just one coffee a day because I enjoy the taste. I even prefer the long blacks to the flat whites that I used to drink now.

    Jony, shame on you, I’m doing the bulk of our Christmas shopping and food preparation. Mainly because my wife is awful at choosing presents.

    Lindsay, It wouldn’t be too hard to spend lots at Harrods. I heard that Gordan Ramsay just opened a burger restaurant in Harrods and is charging Ā£150 (about AU$266) for a burger…and it doesn’t even come with fries you need to pay another Ā£6 (AU$10.50) to get some chips with it!!

    Well back to the grind, I’ll catch you all tomorrow, it’ll be interesting to see how my weight went this week with all the reintroductions.

    Ugh! Gluten is similar to dairy, makes me feel a bit boated and gives me a bit of stomach pain.

    Anzac, Iā€™m so sorry to hear about the death of your dear friend. It must have been so shocking for everyone. Didnā€™t you lose another friend earlier this year? Big hugs to you.

    John, your grandson is so cute! I think all kids love to make messes but I can see how moving ashes from the firebox to the carpet would be particularly distressing. But itā€™s hard to stay mad at a face like that!

    Iā€™ve been following the news about the outbreak in the Sydney area. Anzac and Intesha, please take care and stay safe. The numbers are small, but they can spiral out of control in a busy area. Australia did such a good job of getting things back under control for previous outbreaks and know how itā€™s done.

    Thin, Iā€™m so sorry to hear about that new Covid strain and having your Christmas plans curtailed even further. But I can certainly see the reasoning behind it. I hope the British are more cooperative than Americans about mandates. Our numbers are higher than I ever thought they would be and a good number of people still think itā€™s just the flu and will go away on itā€™s own. Meanwhile the ICUā€™s are getting maxed out and they are having trouble finding enough staff. They started giving the vaccine to healthcare workers and politicians last week. They approved the Moderna vaccine which will hopefully be shipping soon too. It sounds like between the 1st and 2nd shots and then the 2 week period afterward, that it will be close to 6 weeks for it to have an effect for those vaccinated. So things will likely get a lot worse before they get better. Weā€™re going ok here but I feel much more cautious about trips to the grocery store.

    Cinque, cats always seem to cough up hairballs this time of year. I cut a big mat of tangled fur from our cat tonight while DS kept her intent on something else. She reall does seem to like it once the tangle is gone and her fur can be brushed, but she only has a few minutes worth of patience.

    Neil, my first thought was diverticulitis with that popcorn pain thing too, but glad your doctor found a probable reason. It sounds like thatā€™s just something to avoid in the future. Hopefully itā€™s something that will eventually go away. Popcorn is such a good source of fiber. (And fun to eat.)

    LJ, what desserts are you baking up for the holidays? Is your whole family getting together? It was great looking at your garden the other night (your daytime) on FaceTime. You have so many heathy looking plants and a nice variety of harvest times.

    Lindsay, the only times Iā€™ve heard cuckoos is years ago when we were in Tuscany and at home on a cuckoo clock. The ones we heard in Italy didnā€™t seem too loud. Surely the cockatoos there can make a good deal more noise. Do they come around where you live? We lived with a Moluccan Cockatoo for 18-1/2 years and he could scream louder than I could. I canā€™t imagine what a whole flock would sound like! But it was mainly around sundown that he squawked, not at night or early morning.
    I hope you get that screen door sorted with Rosy soon.

    Thank you to everyone for the ideas on making a flat white. I tried with steamed cashew milk this weekend because that was the only milk we had on hand. It didnā€™t froth very well, but maybe I didnā€™t do it long enough. It still tasted ok. I had to run vinegar through the espresso machine to descale it because it hadnā€™t been used in a long time. It seemed to take forever to run enough clear water to get rid of all the vinegar after.

    What is everyone cooking for Christmas dinner this year? We are kind of turkeyed out after Thanksgiving and having turkey breast one time since. Iā€™m looking for more ideas.

    Take care everyone and stay safe and well.

    CalifD, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. I couldn’t ever get my almond milk to froth at all. Yes, that was interesting how the definitions of flat white varied from region to region, even cafe to cafe. I’d never googled it before Neil sent his link – no wonder you were confused. I certainly was. Traditional turkey for us. There’s a shortage of brussel sprouts – that’s a ‘no go’ item for my Christmas dinner.

    Lindsay, how frustrating. Lateness is so annoying and shows no regard for the other person’s time. To qualify, it’s 57.9kg! I’m happy to see the 7.

    Jony/Neil, I handle all the Christmas arrangements and organise the presents. In recent years, we’ve tried to minimise wanton consumerism and, at her request, buy experiences for DD rather than material things. It’s interesting that the country benefitting most from this crisis is China. Lindsay inspired me to look more closely at the origin of products before buying. It’s not easy. The wealthiest person in the world is Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon. That’s telling. I do love the minimalist lifestyle dictated by living on a boat. OH, less so.

    Neil, I realised it sounded incorrect to add that ‘I’d lost my taste for it’ in the same sentence that began ‘Like Neil, I haven’t missed alcohol’. I’m glad you feel a bit boated today. Just kidding.

    I’m feeling very positive after the increasing doom of recent days. Astra Zeneca’s vaccine is expected to be approved within days of Christmas AND the days are now getting longer. Cheery thoughts.

    Merry Christmas all! And what a wonderful New Year it will be.

    A fairly brief post before bed – tomorrow is lots of baking/cooking I need to try and respond tonight.

    Cali, I have a christmas eve lunch to go to at a friend’s place and I’m making that key lime pie recipe again. (Her parents emigrated from Europe and their tradition was to celebrate on christmas eve, so she usually has either a lunch or dinner for friends on christmas eve.) I’m spending christmas day in the Adelaide Hills with my cousins and aunt, who I’m very close to. There will be the 3traditional roasts of turkey, pork and ham (I don’t know why, but we’ve done all three.) Personally I didn’t care about the meat, I always thought the stuffing was the best bit! I am making a starter of blinis topped with a mixture of sour cream, cream cheese and dill and then a twirl of smoked salmon. For dessert I’m doing a cheesecake dip platter – a bowl of soft cheesecake mixture surrounded by fresh fruits, little meringues and shortbread fingers. There will also be a traditional christmas pudding and an icecream pudding.
    If you don’t want to roast a turkey you could do pork with crackling or a glazed ham – or try the French tradition – an entree of oysters followed by roast beef.
    When it comes to frothy milk, I’m told that you need to either use cows milk or oat milk.

    Thin, I have you can squeeze lots of joy into the one day you are allowed with your daughter.

    Neil, it’s useful finding out which foods are triggers. I guess now you just need to work out whether they are banned permanently of whether some things are worth the after effects. My friend’s daughter is lactose intolerant an avoids dairy, but she’s already said she’s making an exception for key lime pie at Thursday’s lunch.

    Lindsay, excellent news about your husband’s health.
    I’m surprised about the dog door, I though the larger size doors were meant for a labrador sized dog and I imagine a red setter is similar dimensions.

    Jony, I agree about the scooters. Every time I expect to be dealing with a broken arm or worse – never more than a rare graze so for.

    Cinque, I hope you are managing your energy better than I am – I’m making of a hash of it this week.

    Anzac, hope you and Mr A are doing ok.

    I had a dismal day of eating too much today. I was utterly exhausted after a busy weekend and then a full day of babysitting yesterday. I just keep reaching for food today – probably a search my missing energy. Tomorrow I’m planning a FD800. I’ll aim for 500cals for planned food, plus enough extra for tiny tastes of things that I’m baking to make sure they are right. I have to bake the key lime pie, shortbread and meringues. I also need to so some of the blini and cheesecake prep as I won’t have much time spare on christmas eve. I can see couch potato day (or two) coming up on boxing day.

    Take care everyone.

    Morning all, well I wasnā€™t surprised to see a rise on the scales this morning after the blowout yesterday. Gluten not good. Not only did it make me feel unwell, but seemed to trigger my appetite. I was eating all day and this morning I was up 900 grams to sit on 85.8kg.

    So what did I learn from the whole30 programme?

    *My body likes eating whole foods, not only did I drop weight and have my stomach issues clear up, but my skin improved out of sight, brain fog went, any cuts I get seem to heal faster.

    *I like cashews and popcorn but they donā€™t like me.

    *I frickin love eggs. I ate about 10 dozen during the last 5 or 6 weeks and would still eat them every day

    *Dairy isnā€™t too bad so I can let some of that back into my diet, but not nearly as much as I was eating.

    *Gluten is not good, Iā€™ll try to cut it out as much as I can

    *Sugar triggers my appetite, the days Iā€™ve eaten sugar I have gone on a massive binge so Iā€™ll avoid it as much as I can.

    *I donā€™t need alcohol and caffeine, Iā€™ve been drinking it out of habit.

    Iā€™ll go back after Christmas to test some of the things that caused me issues, but now Iā€™ll try to base my diet around these things that I learned.

    Have a great day everyone.

    Wednesday, late morning, Nice cool day,

    Jony, Summer nicked off from here, certainly because I put away the last of my winter clothes. But it will be back for a couple of days after Christmas.
    Lexi sounds like great fun, and clearly an excellent tooth brusher.
    Best wishes to Mrs Jony https://www.ftd.com/blog/content/uploads/2018/11/retirement-messages-messages-720×500.jpg
    Good idea to avoid a Christmas blow out, wo! you are sitting right on the 100kg aren’t you. Well I am betting that early next year you will say good bye to it for good.

    So sad to hear of the young mum lost to suicide too. Such pain. My brother died that way thirty years ago and it is so hard on the kids.

    Lindsay, what a pity that rainbird cuckoo doesn’t have a lovely fluting call, that would be much nicer to wake up to. I’m imagining a suburb of swear words being let loose every 3am.
    And oh no, the dog doors. More swearing. Keep a fly swat near by!
    And I do hope the honey collection went really well. No stings!

    Neil, what a lot you have learnt from your Whole30, and what a good doctor to sort any issues through with.

    Cali, hooray for washing the scale and vinegar from your espresso machine. Good luck getting some fine froth for your flat white. Nice tip that oat milk might do it! I must remember that for dairy free friends.

    This might be the sound Lindsay is trying to sleep through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFCr_D8n6io

    Our focus on making Christmas food easy means we are going with a deli spread (a treat for us), hams, cheeses and bits and pieces. If I can, I will make my cheese and spinach tart (nice Christmassy colour). We are going to Preston market today where there is a whole load of gorgeous delis and we will really treat ourselves.

    Such a relief that the vaccines are being rolled out in the US and the UK. I hope it is your turn to have one, Cali, before too long.

    Thin, in the 57’s and finding ‘no alcohol’ easy. Win win.
    Tricky to give DD an experience gift this year! But I am sure you will find something wonderful.

    LJoyce, sigh, energy has been a bit tricky this week, but I let go of everything except hosting my nephew who has been staying for a couple of days, and that has been really nice. We are having a family late lunch at Noodle Kingdom today and then my sister will take him to their new place and pop him on a train to go to his sister’s place for Christmas.

    I had a bingey day yesterday too! Something in the air? It was cold and I had slept badly. I ate too many slices of toast and then made eggplant dip and ate half of it. Two pieces of chicken for dinner really hit the spot, so maybe I was craving protein. I feel fine today, and hope to have a good fast day tomorrow.

    Well, off to decide on an outfit for the great excitement of going to Noodle Kingdom. First time eating out since we shut down in March. Not really confident but very much looking forward to eating with family.

    Best wishes everyone, big hugs to you Anzac, are you ok?
    And thinking of you Penguin, here are some Christmas flowers for you: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/christmas-flowers-6-1509114086.jpg

    Cheers

    Sorry to hear you had a slip yesterday as well Cinque, back on the horse today. I was feeling all itchy today, maybe the Gluten affected me more than I thought.

    The one thing I missed in what I had learned from whole30 was that I need to stay away from my trigger foods. Those foods that once I start eating them I lose control. My trigger foods are chips/corn snacks (like twisties, cheesels, burger rings, rashuns, etc) roasted salted nuts (raw nuts are fine), lollies, chocolate, and toast.

    Hello all, thanks for the kind thoughts and wishes.

    Is it really Christmas Eve tomorrow? This time last year we were in Paris and freezing cold but enjoying the novelty of a cold Christmas. On this day last year we did a food and wine tour around Montmartre and I have a video of me eating my first snail. You really have to laugh at the look on my face as I try to politely keep the disgust off it!

    We found out our friend did indeed suffer from depression and was bipolar. Not many people knew. Cali, you are correct, this is the second friend lost for Mr Anzac; he lost a neighbour of another friend who used to come over when the boys got together or when they went out as a group. I never actually met him. This latest tragedy has really knocked Mr Anzac sideways. At least he is talking about it which is healthy.

    I’ve managed to keep a lid on my eating and have lost most of the weight I put on during our lovely 4 day weekend away. Being off work means more time for exercise and thinking more mindfully. I can also help with the cooking more as I have time.

    Neil, I have really enjoyed your whole food journey and I’m now wondering if too much gluten might trigger my diverticulitis. I have been having bread instead of muesli for breakfast for the past 3 days and today I have quite bad pains way down in my tummy. I have a box of antibiotics on hand (as suggested by my doctor) for when this happens to try and get on top of it quickly.

    How sad about your brother Cinque, I’m so sorry. I remember you mentioned it before and it is just so hard for the people left behind. Our friends wife put a post on FB yesterday and it broke my heart. I hope you enjoyed the markets and your lovely family lunch at Noodle Kingdom.

    LJ your baking descriptions and the key lime pie are making my mouth water! I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow with your friends and Chrissy day with your family. Re stuffing, I was never keen on it until Mr Anzac started experimenting and he now makes the MOST delicious chorizo, bacon, onion and fresh herb stuffing. We are going to the Blue Mountains tomorrow for the family Christmas and he has been instructed to bring it. We are also taking a couple of roast chickens and some ham as my sister is doing Roast Pork and I don’t eat it. If I have pork it has to be loin and be disguised with a sauce or something.

    Thin, yay for 57.9 and giving away the alcohol. But boo for only being able to spend one day with your daughter.

    Hang in there Jony, get through Christmas and hit the 5:2 hard in the New Year.

    Lindsay, I do so love hearing about Rosy’s antics because I’ve been there and while it is a frustrating time it is also a time for making memories. We pulled out the ping pong table today for the first time in 2 years. Last time Maxx was racing around grabbing any ball that ended up on the floor and popping them. Today he watched and barked a bit, ran under the table in excitement a few times but then ambled off to have a snooze. A totally different dog.

    Stay safe Cali, I get despondent every time I hear about what is happening over there and also in the UK and Europe. So far it looks like we are under control with our latest outbreak but it is early days.

    Take care all

    Hi everyone

    Well what a year.

    Firstly, I just want to say hi to all my old friends. I havenā€™t forgotten you. Your stories, your support and your posts got me to where I was. Unfortunately Iā€™m along way from ā€œwhere I wasā€ right now.

    So here I am.

    I was going to start a new thread, just for my own misery thing, but I think I really need to be back here.
    Hope thatā€™s ok šŸ™‚

    I havenā€™t read any of your posts friends. Please forgive me X Iā€™ll catch up in time I hope.

    Anyway the whole point of my posting was to say Iā€™m coming back to 5:2. Whatever happens with the reflux bs, I will deal with. I canā€™t keep going the way I am.

    Such a self serving post, and I donā€™t expect any response from anyone. Just I couldnā€™t start on my own without posting here first.

    I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Years.

    I may not post again until Iā€™m able to, but I will be reading and thinking of you .
    Xx

    Well that was a sucky way to start the Christmas holidays. I got knocked off my bike by a car this evening. I smacked my knees on the handlebars and will be off my feet for a few days and got a possible concussion, other than that Iā€™m fine. My new bike on the other hand is not so pretty. šŸ˜¢

    Hi everyone, popping in to wish you all the very best for Xmas and hope the New Year is a much better one than this one.

    Still havenā€™t found anything suitable to move into. There are plenty of properties around but always not quite right. Everything has closed now until the new year so I have to take a step back and try to destress and take some me time. I seem to have done nothing but sort, cull and pack and itā€™s doing my head in.

    Weight has been fairly stable, hovering around the 63 mark but Iā€™m not even going to stress about that for the next few days, it will only be Dad and I so no great eating feast. Still going to cook a turkey breast and pork and try to enjoy it all.

    Quacka so good to hear from you, Neil so sorry to hear of your accident and hope you are okay. Anzac such terrible news. We all hold in so much, afraid to let people know we are slowly falling apart because of pride. I know the feeling all too well. Itā€™s so sad that our society has become so insular and afraid to reach out and become involved.

    I wonā€™t name you all but to each and every one of you on this thread, thank you for your constant chats and involving us in your day to day lives. Sometimes thatā€™s all you need to read about how others are coping with their daily struggles and to know you are not alone.

    Please take care over this silly season, enjoy your time with family and friends and we will all start 2021 with a clean slate and no regrets.

    Merry Xmas to each and everyone of you.

    Happy Christmas Eve everyone,
    I am blown away by how often you all write! Iā€™m getting multiple notifications a day. What a fabulous little community you have created here, Iā€™m feeling lucky to have found it.

    Neil, so glad to hear you are ok after the bike incident. What a fright that must have been. Am sorry about your new bike.

    Anzac Iā€™m so sorry to hear the news of your friend.

    I have completed 3 FD now and discovered that it may easier for me save it all up and have a more substantial dinner. Two of my days I have done this way am managed quite well. The day in the middle I had a small Lunch and spent the whole afternoon thinking about food and waiting for dinner! Today mark 1 week and I am feeling less bloated am more mindful of what I put in my mouth on the other days.
    Weighing myself this morning I seem to dropped 1.5kg. That seems like a lot for the week so will wait another week and if itā€™s still off then Iā€™ll claim it! But it is an encouragement.

    Feeling grateful to have connected with you all.
    Have a wonderful, joy-filled and restful Christmas and for those live where COVID insists of ruling the roost may you stay safe and well over this Christmas period.

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