HI all, Sunday arvo quick post.

Intesha – sending you best wishes – I certainly feel for you and hope that life turns for the better xx.

LJoyce – hoping your health improves and you can bet back to your normal routine – but I bet those haiges were super yummy and I’m sure they were purely medicinal.

Neil – I’ve always had cats, 2 at a time, never just one, and over the years many of them have gone missing. Some gone forever and some just come and go, disappear for weeks or months at a time and then return. I don’t worry if ours go missing now, in fact our 3 legged cat vanished for over 2 months and returned a few weeks back, only appearing every few days and then gone again, back again a few days later etc. Our cats are outside cats in our environment, to keep the mouse population down.

My work experience starts tomorrow, even though my back is still not good. Had remedial massage on Thursday which was extremely painful with only a slight improvement on the pain since then. I also applied for, and got the job to run the gym creche (2 hours a week), not a paid position but I get 2 hours of free fitness classes a week as payment. So it looks like I will be spending a fair bit of time in the gym from now on, which is a bit scary but also exciting. I’m psyching myself up to step outside of my comfort zone with this and make the most of it.

Must go, I want to read through all of my Cert III study workbooks to refresh myself before I head into the gym tomorrow. The gym owner is pretty laid back and I don’t think he will expect me to know it all, just want to be prepared as best I can.

Best wishes to everyone

Good morning, it’s a fasty Sunday and a nice sunny, warm one too. Birds are chirping, kayakers paddling by, solar panel working its magic, I’ve just seen the first duckling of the season.

LJ, I’m with you on grocery packing challenges. Here, we must chuck everything back in the shopping trolley as fast as we possibly can after scanning and then go across to a packing area to arrange items in bags in our own time so as not to hold up the next customer. I’ve become very good at dividing items between our two day packs and, until it croaked last week, a pull along shopping bag. We’ve been re-using the same four plastic bags to carry the remainder of items back to the boat for a year. So, I don’t call them ‘single-use’. A big problem is the amount of plastic packaging used on individual items in the first place.

I can’t quite understand the logic of some of the rules around plastic bags. I’d always re-used mine as household rubbish bags but then we had to start taking our own recyclable bags to pack groceries – and buying plastic bin liners. I composted for the 26 years we lived at our last house and recycled most of the rest. I rarely, if ever, wasted food I’m proud to say as that’s a large part of household waste. Lindsay, you’re plastic-free – how do you manage your household waste that can’t be recycled or composted?

CalifD, we hope to see some friends soon under the same circumstances as you saw yours. We all get our second vacc. doses this week. We have testing packs available to everyone (symptomatic or not) so I suggested that we all four take a test the day before we meet as added insurance. I took my first test the other day, it was quick and easy and the result revealed within half an hour. I hope those of you struggling to get a vaccine soon have success. Our dear friends in their eighties and nineties still haven’t received theirs in Perth.

‘Call The Midwife’ fans will be pleased to know there’s a series 12 promised. Actors revealed that the use of masks to make acting safe during covid actually makes the show more true to life. They’d originally departed from this reality so as to show viewers more of the actors’ faces. We’ve just started, ‘Peaky Blinders’. I couldn’t get into it the first time but now I like it.

Have a great week all.

ya

Hello all from a gorgeous sunny day in Sydney – 25 degrees. Same tomorrow but then I see the forecast is low 20’s for the rest of the week.

I had a pretty terrible weekend food-wise as Mr Anzac went to the footy yesterday and instead of doing housework I curled up on the couch with Maxx and binge watched about 10 episodes of The Leftovers. I taped all 28 episodes from Box Sets on Foxtel and we are low on space so I needed to get through some. While it was fantastic to actually relax for a change, I found myself wandering into the kitchen constantly snacking. Anyway it seems to have kicked my motivation back and today I feel like I can finally return to the WOE again. Today I set up a new spreadsheet with starting weight and will record everything I eat and drink every day. I write down the whole day’s menu in the morning then have to stick to it. I’m aiming for 800-1000 calories Mon-Fri and then eat below TDEE on the weekends. This worked well for me previously

I’m really sorry your lung infection is persisting LJ. I do hope you can kick it soon. It does make it so much harder when you are (a) doing less activity and (b) being at home so much more. Glad you were able to watch the memorial service online

My Dad had his first dose of AZ last Wednesday. In hindsight not good timing as he had a new fridge being delivered the next day plus a friend who is a builder coming to do some patch work on some cracks in his bricks. Dad being Dad had to go and hold the ladder for him etc. I rang him Wed arvo and he was fine but apparently came down with the chills on Wed night then felt dreadful and zero energy on Thursday. But being a stubborn old thing he wouldn’t take it easy and almost collapsed. Luckily his builder friend was there to get him inside and once he sat down he was fine. He felt much better on Friday and by Saturday he was 100%.

So glad things are getting a bit more back to normal over in the UK Thin. Sounds like the weather is warming up too

I hope things went well at the gym today G’day. I also hope your back didn’t suffer further damage / pain from it.

Congrats on already shedding 0.5 Betsy. I hope to see a fast tracked downward trend from today onwards

Ha ha Cinque, how on earth did those cashews ‘accidentally’ jump into your shopping bag huh? Are they Mexican jumping cashews? I do love cashews too….especially salted roasted ones. In fact any salted roasted nut I enjoy so that’s why I don’t buy them. Instead we have raw nuts in the house for when Mr Anzac makes our muesli and they don’t tempt me anywhere near as much

I hope your sugar cravings are diminishing Neil. I get carb cravings that I guess are the same and it is so hard to resist….especially if you are having work or other stress in your life

I managed 15 minutes on the exercise bike this afternoon on top of our morning walk with Maxx. I did hope for a second walk but work got busy so it didn’t happen.

Take care all

A quick hello on my Wednesday fast day.
I’m going well with my low carb veggies.

It was home help today and I had my old maskless helper. So I have just got the heater on after having the house nice and open for a while.

I did wake up feeling much better this morning, which made getting ready for homehelp much easier, but I think I have run out of puff now.

LJoyce, how are your lungs? I do so hope they are working well. And that your eating plan is going well.

Anzac, an indulgent day before getting into the swing of sensible eating can be just the thing. Hoping you are acing the sensible eating okay now. Sitting down and planning the day’s eating is such a good move, it works better than anything else, for me.

I am glad your dad is fine now after overdoing it while recovering from his first vaccination.

Haha re the cashews. I did argue with myself, but not hard enough.
Unfortunately I know how to wonderfully and easily salt and roast nuts in the microwave. I promise not to tell you the trick!

It sounds like you are having lovely weather for walking Maxx.

Cali, lovely weather where you are too, 26c is the upper limit of my happy temperature zone. I do hope the pollen has eased off though.

I know what you mean about packaging. I have done too much supermarket shopping lately and the amount of packaging is ridiculous.

Betsy I rang the La Trobe UMC but while the receptionist I spoke to found there was a cancellation that day, she dismissed me when I wasn’t over 65. Afterwards I wondered if I might have pushed a little harder, but I have spoken to my clinic and they will ring me when they are ready to give me one, and that will be easy. Hopefully the flu shots will be in next week, I have never known them this late.

Sending best wishes to everyone,

A sunflower for you, Penguin https://www.gardendesign.com/pictures/images/675x529Max/site_3/helianthus-yellow-flower-pixabay_11863.jpg

Cinque, as usual we have crossed posts. Have a good FD.

Hello,
I am generally terrible at the end of the day, but I will see if I can be coherent for a quick catch up.
I’ve had a lovely day after fast day Eating a normal amount is such a pleasure!

I also did a big veggie shop and I have cooked a vegetable curry and a pumpkin and eggplant traybake. Stored in fridge and freezer. And I also fitted in one zoom sisters and another zoom sisters and two NZ cousins! One of whom I haven’t seen as an adult (she is 60). Plus I henna’d my hair. A productive day.

Good vaccine news for Australia, I think things will get a move on now.

LJoyce SO HAPPY to hear you are feeling a lot better, I hope that is even more so today. I hope you also got a nice shopping trip today.

And I hope you have had your lovely normal meal this evening and feeling replete.
Keep warm!

Thin, that is exciting science news!

Oh dear, food waste stories break my heart.

Ha, true, planning not to eat is bizarre, but necessary most of the time!

Good night lovely ones

Good afternoon all. Hope you are keeping well this ANZAC day.

Cali, thankyou for the remembrance field of Flanders poppies.

I was up before dawn to join my neighbours at the bottom of our driveways, candles in hand to listen to the dawn service from the Adelaide war memorial on local radio. Numbers were limited at the service in the city due to covid so many of us observed this from our driveways.
Despite covid, I was glad to see the march held this year in Adelaide, although the supporting crowd was limited to family members of those marching so I watched it on tv.
For my family, the march was the important event of the day as we always came to Adelaide so my Dad could march (and when I was really little my grandpa also marched). The rest of the family stood on the street an cheered them on. I remember the last time my dad marched. He refused to use his walking frame and was horrified by my idea that he ride in a jeep. He insisted that the army marched everywhere and was adamant that if he couldn’t march he wasn’t going. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep up and had drop out before the end. After that he was true to his word and didn’t attend another march, he watched it on tv.
I was very pleased to see than many of the services around the country mentioned the ongoing support that veterans need. I remember the emotional scars that my dad carried with him through life.

Have a good day everyone.

I’ve just reread recent posts and can’t believe it’s so long since I wrote anything. I do it in my head, but not on the site, apparently.

A busy morning looking at the bees (but no hive robbing – they are too busy putting down supplies for winter) The point of today’s exercise was to check all was well, the comb was being constructed neatly (with the top bar hive, they start each bar by creating new comb) and that there was evidence of the Queen (ie, brood). A small part of one bar of comb broke off, and I brought it up for the little ones to look at …and amazingly, a few bees decided to hatch there and then, before their very eyes. I was as excited as they were.

My house is chaos and I have to think about whether I want to vacuum, or have a snooze. Both of my children and partners came, each with two children, one with an additional dog. And through the kids and dogs ran….up the back steps, along the verandah, through the family/breakfast room (right between the adults, chatting) and up the waterfall into the top courtyard…and then back again. Nice to see them, nice to say goodbye.

Intesha, I read your post and am happy you have somewhere nice to live, but concerned about the other challenges you are facing. You must be such a strong woman – but should consider the advice others have offered. Take some respite, where you can. It will boost you for the future.

Today is Week 13 of my Fast800, or rather, Week 1 of my transition out of it. Results so far? My friend and I both lost exactly 10.7 kilos, with virtually nothing in the past 2 weeks (a paltry .5 of a kilo in the fortnight). LJ, you are so right – time to step up the calories. But my friend is hesitant – even though the scales are showing it’s time to move on, she is worried it will cause her weight to creep up again. So we trialled 5 x 800 and 2 x 1000 calories last week – same loss as the week before on the full 800 – and this week we are doing day about. Next week though I am going to move to 1200 calories and keep my two FDs at 800. Over time I may go to 1500 on my NFD, at least until I’ve shifted this last 5 kilos.

My doctor is delighted, particularly when my blood pressure was 98/55. I am now off what was already a rather small dose of medication …he’d recommended it last visit, but I wanted to see it sustained over a few months, before I finally agreed. I’ve also had all my screenings – Mammogram, bowel screening (what a fun little activity that was) and bone density. I’ve had my first Covid shot, and my annual flu shot, and a skin check scheduled for next month. It feels good.

Here’s question. Why are some people so uncharitable? My friend entertained her extended family for an Easter morning tea, including her ex-husband and his new wife, two of her kids (hugely supportive of her loss) and grandkids, and her DIL’s mother. No one, not one, mentioned her weight loss even though she’s now 30 kilos lighter than last time she saw some of them. I find it odd …if people don’t want to comment on weight loss, would a ‘you’re looking great’ actually kill them? My friend was really excited about showing off her new shape, and felt very flat when it wasn’t even acknowledged.

Moving on….I should really post more often, and I wouldn’t end up with this long-winded rant.

Cinque, you asked what lessons I had learned from the 12 weeks. I didn’t want to reply until I’d actually done it (many a slip, etc). but have given it a lot of thought. I think it’s knowing that I will never ever ever go back to my old way of eating. I’ve never really overeaten, but have in the past chosen the wrong foods. Carbs are not my friends, so I know that pasta, rice, potatoes, and most bread are no longer part of my diet. I’ve moved to a much more vegetarian way of life too. I see my husband is in much better health because of it, which makes me happy. We don’t drink much anymore ….not that we were ever heavy drinkers, but would happily share a bottle of wine a few times a week. That habit is broken. I’ve learned that I don’t need the cupboards full of clothes anymore – that I don’t need clothes for ‘fat’ and ‘less fat’ days. I’ve learned that a belt can hold up trousers even if they’re too big (hadn’t worn a belt in years). And I’ve learned that I do have the willpower to sustain it.

I could go on an on….but as I have already, will stop there.

It’s time for my snooze.

One more thing….I will never be as slim as I was when I married. My skin is already showing the effects of weight loss….I could lose another 10 kilos and not 5 …but I don’t think I’d look better for it.

back tomorrow – enjoy your day all.

Lindsay, thanks for answering my plastics question about bin liners. We, too, use bread bags. It was driven by the lack of waste disposal facilities provided and the discovery that a bread bag would fit in the smaller litter bins along the way. Larger boaters’ centres have recycling facilities but these are few and far between.

Good job with your new diet decisions and bad habits broken. Very much like mine. I did get back into my wedding dress before throwing it away. I’d never weighed less than my OH before reaching my goal weight.

I’m fasting with the Monday fasters today. DD took us to get our second jabs yesterday and wanted to celebrate my recent birthday with a pub meal so I knew I wouldn’t be fasting. OH and I had already had a pub lunch on the day so two meals out within a week have left me close to my trigger weight.

We’ve been in the area of Foxton Locks for two weeks now. It’s a picturesque scene. There was a live jazz band opposite our mooring on Friday. It was a beautifully warm, sunny day with the sun streaming in the boat and the advantage of enjoying the music without being near the crowd in the waterside beer garden. The crowds at the staircase locks (ten of them) were behaving as if covid was no longer a factor. I was the only person wearing a mask. No attempts at social distancing whatsoever. When we go up the locks later this week, we’ll definitely be wearing masks. Who knows what those people with their unsupervised superspreader children will be shedding from above the locks?

Happy Anzac Day antipodeans!

Neil, it sounds like a great trip. Without knowing the size of that bag of jellybeans, I can’t really comment!

Good evening all.

I’ve been trying to catch up with news. Good to read that LJoyce is finally managing to throw off that lung infection. And, well done in managing that walk, even if it took 45 instead of 30 minutes.

Sorry you couldn’t get the vaccine at LTUMC, Cinque. I thought with your CFS/ME diagnosis, you’d be allowed in. From what is being said on the news, it might be good to get the flu shot asap, first. After such a restricted life last year, it seems the authorities are anticipating a worse than average flu season here – maybe it’s the same in California, CalifDreamer. Much less flu because of the masks, social distancing, etc. However, apparently 800-1000 people die in Australia from the flu every year, so it’s not a benign infection.

LindsayL, congrats on the weight loss, and great that the bees are doing well.

Thin, surprising that masks are being ignored a lot now in the UK. There’re not enough vaccinated folk around for herd immunity to take effect. Good that you’re being cautious.

Anzac65, loved the photo of Maxx. Good that your weight is trending down.

Neilithicman, I echo Calif’s remarks – good that you were driving home in that heavy storm, not trying to ride your bike through it.

Re weight, lost another 0.2 kg this past week, and planning my first FD tomorrow. Hope it goes well.

Like LindsayL, I’m in the throes of getting lots of health checks done. Thursday I get a skin check and I’ll have a couple of heart health checks in the next couple of months, too, including a Calcium CT scan on June 22nd. Apparently it’s a CT scan of the heart blood vessels, and it picks up if they have calcium deposits in them, and thus plaque. I’m hoping for a score of zero. Anything over 100 and my ongoing debate with my doctor re statins for cholesterol will die an unnatural and rapid death 🙂 We’ll see. Even when I lose weight, it won’t necessarily mean a lower cholesterol. I’m in the category where the test is useful, strong heart disease history in the family, no diagnosed heart disease, and borderline cholesterol.

Okay, enough. Saw my supervisor yesterday to look at my statistics – mind blown again. He is just such an expert! Anyway, I’ve several things to work on further, so there’s progress.

Oh, forgot – bags. Saw on the news a new Aussie product, currently only available online, a film wrap made entirely of potato skins, being made now by a relatively small family firm. The wrap biodegrades more quickly than orange peel. Apparently the big stores like Coles have expressed interest in it, so maybe something like that will become available soon. Also re food waste – in Whittlesea local government area, anyone who has a green bin for garden waste has been given a kitchen bin with biodegradable bags. The bags and suitable food waste – including bones, kitchen wipes, tissues, shredded paper – can be discarded into the green bins for recycling as mulch. A much better idea, for those who don’t compost food waste, than putting into normal garbage. My normal waste bin now only goes out about once every 4 weeks, and then is usually less than half full.

Stay well, and goodnight all.

Good sunny morning after a super moon night everyone!
Sunny here at least 🙂

Cali thankyou for such a beautiful Anzac picture.
LJoyce, it would have been a beautiful candlelit vigil with your neighbours. (I didn’t wake up early enough this year).

Anzac, your greenhouses will be wonderful! Beautiful fresh food year round. Mr Anzac is a treasure.
Yay for a well behaved Maxx!

Lindsay, woot, those 12 weeks of Fast800 done and dusted and a wonderful chunk of excess weight all gone. How sensible to transition carefully out of it.
I loved reading the things you have learnt from the experience and don’t they make for a great lifestyle change.
Wonderful news to be off medication and have such a healthy blood pressure.
Big change in the wardrobe! Hooray for belts.

I have also had my first vaccination, yesterday morning. The Austin Hospital Clinic opened up for over 50’s walk through. I did go on Monday but there was a queue so I gave that up and went early yesterday morning. All very easy (apart from getting there early!) I had a bit of fever and headache last night, but all gone now.

Hello to the bees getting ready for winter.

Isn’t it finny how people react to us losing weight. I think that mostly they don’t mean to be uncharitable, but that because fat is stigmatised, many people feel it would be impolite to comment: they are afraid of seeming to notice (with the idea that we shouldn’t be judging other people by their weight), or that complimenting would imply they thought we used to look terrible, or even fear that saying something now would be very tricky if the weight was put on again later.

At least you can pass on from us, big cheers to your friend who I bet is looking terrific! And hopefully her family will find ways to compliment her inspite of it being fraught.

Aaagh plastic! I get fruit and veg from the big greengrocers in Thornbury, but even there it is hard to avoid wrapping. I find it so hard weighing up whether to buy the cheaper option in plastic wrapping or the more expensive loose ones.

Sad to hear of your colleague battling dementia, and the last Anzac day march. I am so glad his colleagues were cheering him, even if he didn’t recognise them.

Thin, yay second jabs!
And belated birthday wishes https://stylesatlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/belated-birthday-wishes.jpg
I hope you had a wonderful day on your birthday, and how nice that it was extended to time with DD.

The scenery and jazz sounds wonderful, that lack of masks less so. Sigh. Knowing that any new outbreak will be one of the new versions that spread so much more easily, means I am as worried as ever. Last time I went shopping there were only a few people with masks. I was bewildered by still one person wearing it below her nose. I mean, why?

Neil, hooray for a wonderful weekend away (and sympathy for a nightmare drive home, so exhausting! No wonder you went through those jelly beans). And yay that your eating seems to be steadying itself into your best nutritious eating. All power to you.

PS Just read your latest post. Damn! So frustrating. But you are fit and healthy and looking good. Hoping that plenty of water and veggies do the trick. I think they will!

Betsy, wonderful to hear your news and it does sound as if you are getting into interesting things with your research.
Ha, well my flu injection needs to wait a couple of weeks now, but I am so glad to get the covid vacc on its way. I could have got a doctor’s letter to put me in 1b, I think, but tricky as my doctor retired a year ago and I haven’t got a new one yet, the clinic would look after me but it just felt so much hassle.

Good luck with all your health checks. I know life has been against you doing 5:2 for much of the last while, but you have kept doing what you can, and that will count in your favour.

Haha potato skin compostible bags being better than orange skin ones. But hooray for biodegradability.

Must go, I think my house is even more chaotic than Lindsay’s was. Just three things! Best wishes everyone!

Hi all, quick post. FD going okay so far. Still some hours to go. Planning on vegetables with a couple of eggs for dinner, eventually.

Cinque, yay for getting the vaccine already. I didn’t think they were opening stage 2a until next Monday. Glad you could get it.
Just to clarify, the potato skin has been made into a film, not bags, as an alternative to something like Gladwrap.

Anzac65, what a naughty, but lovable pooch you have! 🙂

Neilithicman, ouch re the weight – hope it’s just excess salt and carbs from the holiday and comes off quickly.

Hope everyone else is doing okay.

Stay well!

Day 1 after weigh-in went well, Omelette for breakfast with some of our sweet homegrown tomatoes, lunch was smoked salmon and veggies, dinner was veggie soup with some frozen fruit and coconut milk. I had a couple of handfuls of nuts as a snack during the day. I upped my water intake and this morning my belt was down half a notch from yesterday. If I can keep clean for a week I should be ok, the problem in the last 6 weeks or so is I’ve only been able to eat clean for 2 or 3 days at a time and then the sugar/carbs cravings kick in and I undo all the good work.

Good luck with your alcohol free week Thin, I may join you since I did indulge in a few quiet tipples over our holiday.

Betsy, hope your FD went well.

Cinque, yay for the vaccine, I have to wait until at least July to get mine. They’re working through the priority cases first, border and managed isolation workers, over 75s, those with pre-existing health issues, then moving down to the over 65s, the school children, the 50s-65s, then me being a relatively healthy male under 50, I’m at the bottom of the list. I don’t mind too much though. There isn’t any cases of Covid over here and I’m not planning on travelling overseas any time soon so I’m happy to wait.

Anzac, our cat is the same, whenever I’m doing work outside she shows up to supervise. It was a real problem last week when I was painting the frame of the new glasshouse that I’m making. I spent half the time painting and half the time shooing her off the bit I had just painted.

Whoah! While I’ve been typing I’ve been getting some serious sugar withdrawal symptoms. Nausea, headaches, brain fog, dizziness, it’s all hit me at once. That’s from only 2 days without any sugar. It shows how addictive and damaging sugar really is. I have a friend in the states who has given up just the juices that he used to drink and he says he’s dropped 37 pounds (around 17 kilos)

Well have a good day everyone, and wish me luck with my sugar withdrawal

Good evening all.

Well, a reasonable eating day yesterday. Not quite a FD after all, but still a few hundred calories below my TDEE, so I was happy with that.

Thin, there was a recent news article from ABC News talking of herd immunity. Don’t know where the calculations came from, but it was said that for the Pfizer vaccine, herd immunity would be achieved at a 70% vaccination rate. With AstraZeneca, the % required vaccination rate would need to be much higher, over 90%, I think, to achieve herd immunity. I forget the actual figure, but it was considerably higher than for the Pfizer vaccine. Another comment was that the AZ vaccine is said to be highly ineffective against the new South African variant.

Honestly, I don’t think anyone really knows. All we need to do is look after ourselves the best we can. Here in Australia, anyone 50 and over, unless prioritised earlier in the stage 1a group, is receiving the AZ vaccine, and those younger than 50 will receive the Pfizer. Maybe with some special exemptions/ cases? Not sure.

It’s all because of the reported low platelet counts and blood clots. The occurrence rate is around 1 in 200,000 – 250,000 people, but some folk are freaking out about it because, of those who’ve had the clots, 1 in 4 has died. Well, I have a 1 in 9 chance of having breast cancer (which I’ve had), with a 5% chance of dying within 5 years (it’s been nearly 13 years now), a 1 in 4 chance of dying from heart disease, and a 1.5% chance of dying when having surgery (no-one thinks about that one!), so I’ll happily take my 0.005% risk of a blood clot. As the statistician, LJoyce, have I put the right number of zeros in that percentage, 0.005%, for 1 in 200,000?

Oh well, we all do the best we can to remain healthy, and eating well is certainly part of that. I’ve been thinking recently that I need to re-evaluate my overall eating patterns and content. Unlike all of you heroes of weight loss, my diet has, if anything, deteriorated over the past couple of years. That needs to change.

Neilithicman, like you, sugar has become a major temptation to me in recent months. That’s another thing which needs to be weeded out right smart.

Enough! I’ve waffled on long enough for this time. Stay safe and well everyone!

Friday! Again!

Thin, you will be at an end of a fast day. Neil, you are starting a wonderful day with plenty of vegetables and glasses of beautiful water. Betsy, you will be having a lovely day on your new wave of 5:2 and sensible eating, I hope. Anzac, I’m presuming your weather is as gorgeous as ours today, I hope it is a lovely easy day without too many zoom meetings.

Oh cool, so glad to be corrected Betsy as I love the thought of potato skin clingwrap.

Thin, I agree with you about the personal pleasure of being slimmer, we just have to wait for friends and family to catch up and start complimenting us.

Silence is definitely preferable to those comments about how we might have developed an eating disorder!

Neil, yes it is so nice that good governance through the pandemic means you can afford to wait until the next half of the year to get vaccinated.

I do hope the horrible sugar withdrawals are gone now. How extraordinary to read about your friend giving up those sweet sweet juices. He must feel so much better.

Haha the cat, trying to help you paint.

I hope your gym card comes through today.

I’m off to get some groceries. Luckily I had just enough milk and coffee left for my morning pot.

Say hello to the bees from me Lindsay! How is work experience going Gday? Where are you now Turn? Special good wishes to you Intesha.

Best wishes for a good day, everyone!

Betsy, thanks for the insights. We have to include the immunity of people who’ve already had covid – whatever that might be. The ‘flu vac offers around 60% protection and people move freely after receiving that. Our govt. scientists have now admitted that two sets of fully vaccinated couples three weeks post second vaccination would be absolutely safe to meet indoors. That’s what CalifD and friends in California have been doing. Here though, we’re asked to ‘proceed together as a nation’ so we’re requested to wait just a little longer so as not to discriminate against those who’ve not yet been offered the vaccine or chosen not to have it at all. Thinking back to the behaviour of some people and how much at risk they put my generation with their selfishness, I’m starting to wonder how much I care about them now. The tables have turned. But I’m totally with you in taking as great a level of care for ourselves and others as is possible.

LJ, glad you’re feeling better and getting your jab soon. Wow, how interesting about your family not commenting on such a huge weight loss – and your thoughts on why.

Cinque, I’m fasting on Sundays only these days. I admit to wondering to myself whether my obsession with fasting is just another form of eating disorder. I’ve never said that out loud!

Our boat was lifted out of the water yesterday for inspection of the hull, quite exciting. We had planned to go through the Foxton Locks today but instead we’re moored up by the pub again to hear the live jazz band and we’ll go through at 8am tomorrow before the gongoozlers arrive.

Hope everyone’s having a great week.

Good morning all.

With hope but some trepidation I hopped on the scales this morning. Two weeks ago I was just over 83kg and this morning I’m almost down to 80kg, so 3kg off and 2 more to go to get back to the top of my comfort zone. I have noticed that the one thing that always seems to result in a weight gain is a forced period at home, without my usual social events and other distractions to keep me busy. It happened last year during the various shut downs and also during the recent fortnight where I stayed home due to the lung infection. It looks like anything that upsets the balance of my life is bad for my eating patterns. It is not resilient enough to cope with those changes.

I have lunches out on Monday and Friday but will try to stick to my current plan, which is for low cal days aided by very restricted food choices. This approach means I don’t have to track calories as the restrictions always result in me eating far less than my TDEE. I don’t really understand why, but whatever restricted food list I’ve decided upon for any given day, I stick to. I have no idea why I find it easy to be so compliant with this. The fact that I don’t impose any quantity restrictions on what I do eat I think is important, as it doesn’t trigger the same deprivation rebellion that my subconscious usually engages in. I have more pondering to do, to understand more fully why this approach works so effectively for me. I am also thinking that if I want more stable weight I might need to include some days each week with food restrictions as my weight has continued to fluctuate far too much aver the last 18 months and I would really like some stability.

Hope you are all having a good weekend, take care all.

Good afternoon all.

Quick post today. Had a silly accident Friday where I slipped, didn’t fall, flung my hand out for balance and hit a nearby door jamb. The bulk of my hand moved forwards, my little finger went out and backwards. End result – broken bone, left hand in plaster and trying to type using 2 fingers of my non-dominant right hand. Quite tiring.

Oh well, really can’t complain. Friends have been really kind, taking me to and from hospital, providing food, dropping by to do things I can’t. Friend Jane today diced up this evening’s and tomorrow’s meat for cat Wilbur. Such a blessing. I did manage this morning, but with considerable difficulty. Will attend a plastic surgery clinic this week (once they phone with an appointment). Apparently they’re the ones who deal with hand injuries, and they’ll decide if the hand needs surgery. Hoping not, of course.

So, read all the posts, glad folk are doing well. Good weight loss LJoyce, sensible eating Neilithicman, yummy vegetable soup, Cinque, hope the band was good, Thin, and that’s it for now. Stay safe and well!

Betsy, sorry to hear about the injury. I to hope it heals without the need for surgery. Wonderful to have such helpful friends.

Thin, my condolences on the loss of your mother and the emotional turmoil that I suspect will surface.

Cinque, enjoy your miso soup. Another successful FD.

Good morning from a smoky, foggy Sydney. It is quite awful outside and coming back from walking Maxx my hair now smells like I’ve smoked a packet of cigarettes. Ick. I will jump in the shower to wash it as soon as I finish this post and before the day’s meetings start

A mixed bag of posts to catch up on this morning. Some positive but some sad. I’m really sorry that you are caught up in the mess left by your late Mother Thin and I hope things can get cleared up as quickly as possible. Your resolve around not letting anything interfere with your fast days is awe inspiring

Oh Betsy, your poor poor hand. It must be so painful and I do hope you don’t need surgery. Thank goodness your friends are looking after you

LJ, congrats on almost making it back into the 70’s. The walls of Mr Anzac’s greenhouse are not actually frosted glass but thick plastic. Here is a pic of the finished result. He is waiting to make sure it all works before he builds the second one.
http://imgur.com/a/b02IrMh

I managed to undo all my hard work from last week on the weekend and this is becoming a frustrating habit. I did, however, resume my walking (on my own) on Saturday and will make this as non-negotiable as Thin’s fast days. No more using work as an excuse to not exercise and make poor food choices

I’m sorry that your CFS has been worse this year Cinque, I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Hope your FD continued well yesterday

I forgot that you were also building a greenhouse / glasshouse Neil. Is there a difference between Green and Glass houses?

Here’s a pic of Maxx in the fog/smoke this morning.

http://imgur.com/a/YaNzmFy

Have a great day all

Hi all, quick hello. Managing okay. Dear friend Jane came today and helped me do a cook-up of meat and vegies in the fridge. Now portioned out and frozen, so another 5 meals available when needed.

Neilithicman, not sure why the plaster, except that the break is right down near the knuckle, not really the finger itself. The plaster keeps the two adjacent fingers from moving, apparently, to allow the break to heal.

Thin, so sad and frustrating to have to deal with your estranged mother’s affairs. Hope it doesn’t prove to be too stressful.

sorry, can’t manage more now. Hello to Anzac65, LJoyce and Cinque, and others.

Good evening all. Had my appointment at the clinic today – don’t need to have surgery, Yay! Though check XRay happening Tuesday next week.

Neilithicman, now I’ve been to the clinic, the cast has gone, and I just have a hard 2-finger splint, so much the same as you described. Only need to use the sling when I feel I should be protecting the hand, possibly when shopping or at church. Four weeks splinted, then physical therapy to re-mobilise the hand.

Thin, even with the splint, I have to loosen the front of it and bend the two fingers down, 10 reps, a few times a day, to try to keep the hand more mobile. They said it will be around 12 weeks before the bone is fully knit, but 4 weeks until I can get rid of the splint. Already looking forward to it. I’ve been advised not to drive in the meantime, as I’d probably be uninsured in the event of an accident. Don’t want to risk it.

Califdreamer, like you, I love to eat a range of vegetables. People have been kindly giving me meals, and unfortunately several have been very fatty and low on vegetables. I’ve frozen most of them – can only eat one each day! – and am currently considering what to do with them. The meals my friend helped me prepare contain a range of vegetables, grilled meat, or chicken cooked with limited olive oil, no salt, etc. – my ideal.
Never even heard of Always Greener – does anyone else know it?

Stay safe and well, everyone!

Good morning all.

The autumnal weather has finally arrived and I have needed to use the heating some evenings. It is good gardening weather as don’t get as hot and bothered by the hard work. Although I haven’t been digging in the front garden in recent weeks as I have taken recovery from the last lung infection seriously. I’m hoping for rain later this week to soften the soil before removing the last of the grass next week. Then I can finally start planting.

Betsy, excellent news on the surgery front. I hope it’s easier to manage with the two finger splint. I cracked the bone in my little finger a few years ago, in a similar fashion to your accident and they just taped it to the neighbouring finger.
Something I have found helpful with high calorie meals that lack vegetables is to halve the portion and serve them with veg. That might mean boiling or microwaving a mixture of frozen veg if chopping is too difficult. It’s really the same approach that I should use to all high calorie foods – it’s fine as long as the portion is small enough – easier said than done sometimes.

Cali, yes I am finished with antibiotics for now. I am pleased with the loss, but still have a little way to go and am just hoping my current approach continues to be effective.
Glad you are enjoying the cast iron dutch oven. I have had a leCruset enamelled dutch oven for many years (I have one of their cast iron skillets and a griddle too). I love it because I can brown ingredients on the stove top and then put it in the oven to casserole slowly, without needing a new container. I have only made bread in it once but I found it got the bottom crust a little too brown for my liking – if I do it again, I think I’d either remove it from the dutch oven after 25 minutes and leave it on the oven rack to finish cooking. I think Cinque bakes her bread in either a dutch oven or something similar, so she is likely to have very good advice. This is a good place to start with a no knead bread baked in a dutch oven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0t8ZAhb8lQ (just don’t do as she did and slice the bread two minutes after it comes out of the oven. It’s best to leave it to cool completely first – much better texture.)
I like the methods here too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZdfub88-4D0Jc_V4T_yNrA He also uses mostly closed containers to bake his bread in. He has a lot of recipes, some use a tiny amount of yeast and need to be left overnight to rise, other use a normal amount of yeast and can be made in a few hours (he calls this turbo bread). I much prefer to make the slow rise bread as the longer you leave the fermenting dough, the better the bread flavour.

Neil, any loss is a good thing, so don’t be disheartened. Have you tested your TDEE and tracked your calories to make sure your portions are right. When you were doing the extra cycling you needed to get extra calories on board and it can be easy to stay stuck on those larger portions or higher cal foods. I have that problem when I’m ill and not exercising – I need to cut back on portions and find it very difficult.
The only thing to be mindful of when buying a dutch oven, is if you want to bake at high oven temperatures, make sure the handle on the lid is rated for that temperature.

Anzac, Excellent looking greenhouse – I hope it gives you fresh produce for much of the year. I have never seen a greenhouse like that before – only the glass ones. I suspect glass would not be a good choice with Maxx around as he could go through it.

I managed to eat a very modest chicken salad at the cafe lunch on Monday and then a light veggie dinner. I always feel so relived when I get through a meal out without making a poor choice. I have similar meal challenges on Friday lunch and Sunday brunch. Not worried about the brunch, but the lunch will be challenging.
I am mixing up my daily food choices a bit more but still staying within a very limited range of fresh foods that are heavy on veg and fruit.

Hope you are all having a great day.