Hello all. Thank you Cinque, from me and my 60,000 friends down the back yard. Such a happy, growing hive.

Jony welcome back – a great thing to do, starting the cycling group. Yes, there are a lot of people who are not yet vaccinated even though they are eligible, but I don’t necessarily agree it’s selfishness or even tabloid panic. I think there are different reasons -some concern about the clotting issue with AZ, people waiting for a ‘safer’ vaccine, people who don’t mind not travelling, people who don’t feel threatened, and are happy to take a ‘wait and see’ approach.

I think perhaps it’s a bit like the Brexit ‘Remain’ campaign, which was quite economic rationalist, and just didn’t have the emotional connection of the ‘Leave’ promotion. I think that’s pretty much the same with the promotion for being vaccinated. The messages are quite technical, and some people will need to be shown the benefits, in a way that engages them and makes it more real. Have you seen the NHS campaign with Elton John and Michael Caine, or seen the Singapore one?.

Cinque your home help needs a good talking to. I’m shaking my head.

Jony it is hard when our weight loss stalls, but as the long-term fasters here say, you will get there. Perhaps drop some carbs as Thin suggests. My friend and I are stuck just a few kilos from our targets …it’s a struggle for my friend to increase her cal intake, knowing we can’t stay on 800 forever. But with scales that wobble, we both feel a bit anxious about it. Our plan is 5 x 1200 for the next fortnight, then 5 x 1500 cals for the next (keeping our 2 x 800 a week), to finish the financial year on two weeks of fast 800.

OK time to get ready for dinner. We had planned to eat in last night …there’s a lovely BBQ area in the gardens, but it was just too cold…so we found a great Thai restaurant, and we are back there tonight. The food was fabulous and it was wonderful to be out and about. As I posted on FB (yes Thin, I still use it) We were out. In a restaurant. After dark. Drinking wine. Like it was 2019.

Good night all

Good morning,
Lovely morning after fast day here.

Funny image Thin.

Neil, doesn’t time fly, I didn’t have it in my head that it has been 2 years before your weight started creeping up. GPs! So good at some things, so dreadful at others.

LJoyce, you HAVE had a run of eating out and celebrations. Enjoy some classic 5:2. Cheers for stability.

Cold morning here but warming up into a pretty sunny day so I hope to do some pottering around in the garden.

I’m concentrating on my 7 veg a day and bought some fresh ones yesterday, including red cabbage. I’m not sure if I have ever bought that before! (My favourites are savoy and Tuscan kale.) So, something new and exciting in the kitchen! All the online recipes are for braised or soup. Hit me with any favourites you have!

Lindsay, that Thai meal sounds SO delicious. What a gorgeous evening.

So good to be countering eating anxiety with such sensible planning. I am cheering on your friend, and you ofcourse!
It does help my maintenance-anxiety to think of it as a long term process ie try something for a specific time period and see how it works and if it isn’t working analyse and come up with a new strategy that hopefully will be easy and sustainable. That way you don’t have the feeling you are launching into space with no safety measures.

It sounds like your bees really enjoyed World Bee Day! 😀 😀 😀

Okay, I’m off to do some pottering around in the sunshine. Glad to say I have broad beans, coriander, chard, and snowpeas from seeds I collected and resowed, and more strawberries that are asking to be divided and replanted. Oh yes and a compost bin desperately in need of a stir.

I’m thinking braised red cabbage, a chipolata, sweet corn and asparagus for my midday meal.

Best wishes everyone

Woot 😀 My brain wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. For once!
Cheers Neil.

Hi all from a beautiful sunny (earlier, it’s now dark) Kaiteriteri, west of Motueka/Nelson at the top of the South Island, where we will be “over-wintering”.

Since leaving Methven in April, we spent a while around Christchurch catching up on some jobs with the van and the truck service and WOF, hair cuts, mail being forwarded on etc., etc. We then travelled up to Kaikoura which we both love and spent the entirety of our lockdown there last year, so very fond memories. Of course as with this time of year, the sun is very low even at midday and we had some shade covering the van from a tree, then a couple of cloudy days and our batteries went flat so we moved onto a campsite and recharged everything. When the rain finally stopped and there was a break in the weather we moved on to Blenheim, beloved wine country, and a lovely private site run by a remarkable woman all on her own, could not then and still can’t now, quite believe she is 94yrs old! Absolutely amazing. She gifted us some persimmons from her own tree, never used them before, will give them a go at something when they are completely ripe. We had more wet weather for a couple of days then strong winds, so sat them out and shifted up here on Wednesday, the last two days have been absolutely stunning with no wind and cloudless blue skies, temps in the very top teens. Lets hope it continues for the next couple or so months we are here.

That sounds like quite a paint job for you to tackle Thin, I do hope all the stars align and you get plenty of warm fine weather. I remember mentioning I enjoyed painting when we had the business and were busy renovating and somehow it became one of my jobs! I am sure it feels most strange to be out again after being in lockdown for so long, and hugging, and eating out indoors? Will you head out to Europe to the Green countries when you are allowed to? Warmer climes for the winter maybe?

Well done on the weigh in this week Neil, I think sometimes the scales just like playing with our minds? Good on you to have made the change though, whatever you have done has worked, guess now the secret is to find out what it is you’ve done? Good luck with that one. Sorry to hear your wife has chosen to give up work for health reasons and I wish her well. I bet the boys are enjoying having their Mum around more?

The cycling group you have created sounds awesome Jon, well done. The rides look great and I see the trip you organized across the harbour made it into the local weekend newspaper, complete with photos of the boat with the bikes on, good on you. Well done for getting your jabs organised too, OH will be having his before me (because of the age difference) but I don’t think until sometime next month, he did have his flu shot a couple of weeks ago though. How is your OH coping with her retirement, leaning into it well I hope?

Your pasta and ravioli sound wonderful Anzac, however, we are not pasta fans and eat it very rarely, I won some vouchers for an Italian restaurant meal whilst in Christchurch and haven’t used them yet, they are not dated so will probably use them next time we are there. (Or give them away, haha) I would join you with the roast chicken and vegies though. I’m glad you’re keeping up with your walking, I am quite sure that just half hour once or twice a day helps so much in shifting weight, it certainly works for me and if I can find an incline all the better! I lost more weight whilst we were walking Bernie those two weeks than I have all year. Hopefully I will find a similar daily route here, minus the dog, haha. Good luck with your contract renewal and the continuation of WFH.

Enjoy the beach Lindsay, for once I can say snap! Well done to Rosy, we all know how beautiful she is, now it’s time for others to see it too. Is it cool enough for your bees to sleep through the winter? I vaguely remember my father keeping bees when I was a child, and although I have no memories of the hives, or the honey, I vividly remember his suit and hat hanging up in the shed along with the smoke bellows. I think in those days beekeeping just kinda sat alongside the geese, ducks, guinea fowl, goats, shooting dogs, cats, fruit trees and huge vegie garden. Sounds like you both enjoy roast chicken and vegies too.

At least your weight isn’t gaining LJoyce, just maintaining, I find it very difficult if we become social so well done you. I find I just don’t want to go out because I end up having to work so hard again to get back to where I was! I guess that’s a bonus for us being on the move. Have you got to where you want to be with your garden yet? It is so rewarding, all that hard work. You have a long wait until your 2nd jab, well done for getting this far.

I am sure you asked me sometime ago CalifD about the recipe books I use for the Fast800, and I am sorry I didn’t reply, I bought the original red covered one last year and have made nearly all the recipes in there with some firm favourites, one of them being chicken tikka masala, which we had tonight. The Blue covered book I bought earlier this year, and this one was born out of Michael and Claire’s’ lockdown experience with a lot more of the recipes using tins/dried beans/pulses/legumes and jars of peppers & artichokes, pantry staple foods you would probably have on standby. A couple of firm favourites have appeared from this book, pork steaks with apple cider vinegar, wholegrain mustard and creme fraiche, this can also be made with chicken. Chicken cardamom, and my all time fave meal, capsicum stuffed with tuna, capers and anchovies, topped with halved cherry tomatoes and grated parmesan served with a leafy green salad. Needless to say, it might be a while before we have that dish again, I noticed the capsicum were upwards of $2.50 each in the supermarket earlier so may have to wait until the summer months arrive?

I always buy red cabbage Cinque and use it all year round. I love it in salad for the crunch and colour. I also use it finely shredded in stir fries, it’s brilliant sauteed (in sesame oil) with shredded Brussel sprouts and sesame seeds/soy sauce. Lovely as a side dish. Throw in some halloumi or chopped bacon and pine nuts for more of a meal. Mum always used to pickle it when I was a child, but it never gets that far in this house, haha. You have had a bit of a rough run, pleased to hear that things have quietened down for you. I agree with both Thin and Lindsay re your home help! I feel it was written with such wit I could almost hear you/her talking, but at the same time, shaking my head in despair, what planet does she think she’s on? Sorry to hear one of your sisters has bad diverticulosis, my elder sister (whom I don’t get on with) had it bad too and had some of her intestine removed some years ago. Seems to have made a full recovery! Your vegie garden sounds wonderful, I am so envious.

I think that’s enough rambling for me for tonight, I am still reasonably stable in the 69’s, am hoping to get more off now we will be stationary for a while. I have been full of a cold all week and not had one decent nights sleep, it was the funeral today of a very dear friend, she was younger than me too, and Mum has been in contact to let me know Dad has been quite poorly again too. Sigh.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, it looks like it should be fine weather here, I hope it is where you are too,

Turn

Happy Saturday everyone. Wow the last week has flown by but I guess that’s what happens when one is busy.

Thin, yes I am a believer in taking home leftovers when eating out and I really get annoyed when establishments refuse this, especially when they site the excuse that it’s because of hygiene reasons and against government regulations which is a total lie. Sadly (according to my upset belly) the leftovers from the Indian restaurant were so minimal it wasn’t worth taking anything home, even though they did offer to give us a take home container. Boat painting can be time consuming and tedious, I recall all too well from my many years of sailing, pulling the boat out of the water onto the slipway each year and scraping back, pre-preparing and re-antifouling the hull. A big feat in itself when I had a 25ft fiberglass yacht as my first boat but even bigger task when I moved to a 40ft steel hull yacht. Plus all the ongoing above deck and below deck (inside) maintenance which is never ending. I did enjoy those days and feel blessed that Miss G Day spent her early childhood days on the water most weekends.

Cinque, thanks for asking about my health. My back pain is on the mend, still not fully cured but certainly a lot better than what it was, thanks to some therapy at the gym , hot and cold therapy as well as electronic pulse therapy. The physiotherapist treatment did nothing at all to improve my condition so was very impressed with the gyms treatment. My skin condition has improved but again has not been cured. Yes the worm farm is going well and tomorrow we are adding another layer so the worms can migrate and we can harvest the castings and the juice for the garden.

I’m not planning to line up for the Covid vaccination any time soon. I have been hesitant all along because of the short time frame for testing and my concerns around future side effects which we may not know about for many years to come. Because I am in an extremely low risk area and I am a low risk person I will hold off and see what happens in the near future.

Neil, perhaps you could be suffering from Andropause (the male menopause) which is a condition relating to age related changes in male hormone levels which effects weight, muscle mass and sleep to name just a few. This condition is not discussed much but it is real and effects many men. I know from my own experience that female menopause has been the reason for my weight gain in the last 18 months and my inability to get back to my previous weight despite doing all the right things in terms of my health and wellbeing.

Time to go and start on tea which is roasted eggplant layered with homemade passata and a celeriac and chickpea sauce topped with gratings of parmesan cheese.

Cinque, I had to laugh about your grandikins being so upset at the sound of the garage door opener, thinking their time with you was being cut short. They really love playing with you! Is the apartment DD and SIL looking at close to you?
I used to ferment red cabbage along with sliced beetroot sometimes, It turned out a beautiful red color. Cabbage ferments so easily, so I won’t often add it to other vegetables to get them started more easily. I need to get busy. So many good probiotics in sauerkraut.

LJ, I didn’t have much arm pain at all from the vaccines, but OH had quite a bit the following couple days. DS didn’t have much pain but she did have some swelling. I hope yours is gone by now. I interchange the hard white and red cabbage in recipes. The main difference seems to be the color.

Neil, congrats on getting back in the swing of fasting. Now that you’re started again, I hope it will be easy to stick with it. Stress definitely seems to make weight loss more difficult and it’s not good for our health in general.

Turn, it’s so good to hear from you again. It sounds like you’re having a wonderful time with your travels. And such a beautiful place to travel.

Thin, did you say that season 10 of Call the Midwife is available in the UK now? We’re on the 3rd episode of Season 9 and from what I’ve read, they won’t show season 10 until sometime in October. Did you know that Helen George who plus Trixie is in a relationship with Jack Ashton in real life, who plays the priest on the show? They have a darling little girl who is 2. They apparently met on the show.

Gday, we always take home leftovers from restaurants. Some people are horrified at the idea, but I hate wasting food.

Hope everyone’s week is off to a good start.

I’m so sorry you are feeling down Cinque and I admire that you can still stick to healthy eating despite having a hard time

I’m worried for Victoria too; hopefully they can clamp down and stop too much further spread

Glad your back is better G’day. I have made an appointment for my Covid jab in a couple of weeks but a big part of my brain is very hesitant. But I will get it as I am a part-time carer for my 95 year old Dad and I can’t take any risk – albeit how small.

LJ you asked if Maxx would still do tricks without food. He would for a while but would soon lose interest. It comes out of his daily allowance so that he doesn’t put on weight (I wish someone had that much control over my own food intake!). Is your arm ok now? I only know a two people who have had the AZ jab here (My Dad and the developer I work with who is 68) and they both had bad side effects the next day (chills / flu like symptoms, exhaustion and for my developer some very bad nose bleeds)

Lovely to hear from you Turn!

Hi to everyone else. Please know that I read your posts every day avidly and with much enjoyment but I can’t always find the time to reply.

Dammit! Back up to 97.8

Cinque, I wonder if your breathing problems might be partly caused by allergies? When the weather gets cold and rainy here, wet leaves on the ground can produce mould which creates asthma symptoms for me. Wearing masks this past winter really helped with that. I hope you’re feeling better very soon.
I’ve been reading the news about the outbreak in Victoria. I’m glad that you and Betsy have had your first jabs. They can offer quite a bit of protection, even before the second ones. I think they are doing the right thing with the 7 day lockdown. It has worked in the past. I hope a lot more people get vaccinated. That seems to be working over here and in the UK.

Neil, I’m sorry to hear about your extra kg’s. LJ’s suggestions are good ones. A lot of us seem to struggling right now. I do like the idea of a Mediterranean diet along with fasting. Lots of vegetables.

Anzac, glad you have an appointment for your Covid jab in a couple of weeks. I felt hesitant at first too, but it turned out that side effects were minimal and it’s a relief to know that my family is safer now. I read that vaccines are becoming more available there now so hopefully many more people get vaccinated. My 92 year old uncle had no problem with either jab. It’s good not to have to worry about him.

We’re still having the green smoothies for lunch several days per week. It’s an easy way to get in lots of fruits and vegetables. I use a lemon, banana, blueberries, lots of mixed greens and spinach, a carrot and fresh pineapple these past few days. Only ice cubes and water for the liquid. It’s definitely harder to drink them in the winter when it’s cold and I really need ice in them, so it’s mainly a summer thing.

Take care and stay safe.

Turn, lovely to read your long post, yes we hope to head to the Canary Islands for the winter this year. The weather, to touch on a typically British subject, has been utterly awful so far this year. But there is hope ahead, today being the first of two weeks of sunny days forecast with temperatures rising to around 23C. Yesterday was the last of the cooler 14C and we moored outside a pub to meet some friends and had to eat indoors although they had a beautiful outdoor area on the canal.

On our way to the pub, we passed a moorhen nest with the teeniest chics I’ve ever seen. So sweet. By contrast, I’ve seen a couple of spectacular Red Kites both soaring and walking in a field. They’re much larger than a buzzard – about 66cm. A pair of swans and their eight cygnets just visited the hatch. Of course, we didn’t feed them but they were enjoying morsels off the hull.

Anzac, hello to you, I can’t remember your posts but I enjoyed reading them. Hope you’re doing well.

GDSA, I hadn’t known that you were a sailor. They say you never finish building a boat until it sinks. Needless to say, we haven’t even started the prep/painting but hope to now.

Although the vaccines appear to have been prepared in haste, they haven’t really. At least in the case in AZ’s which I followed avidly (mostly because I’ve had shares in the company for twenty years), the scientists behind it have been working on other vaccines for decades so it’s basically a case of substituting one antigen for another. It’s the govt. regulations that normally take forever. The other factor is that it’s because there has been so much scrutiny, and with so many millions of jabs administered, issues like blood clots come to the fore. In any general population, people become seriously ill or die but the manufacturers are bound to cite these issues whether or not they have anything to do with the vaccinations. I’m sure you’re reading plenty. I hope Australia comes to grips with this because indefinite lockdown is no solution.

Cinque, sorry to hear that you feel blah and hope that you perk up soon.

CalifD, I didn’t know that about the Call The Midwife actors and can’t remember what series I said we’re up to but believe they’ve promised a Series 12 or 13.

Neil, sorry to read this. Keep going.

LJ, Turn, I feel your pain about meals out. It’s a source of anxiety for me too. LJ, I can understand how you don’t want to miss out on these gatherings. I didn’t have family in Australia but much of my socialising centred around meeting friends for a coffee (and that’s all). I could get hours of nattering out of two cups of coffee. Often they’d have cake but I never would. It doesn’t have to be lunch. Also my regular bridge and cryptics provided great social outlets – I know you’re not looking for more opportunities to add to the stress but I was just thinking that if you had some stable social activities, it might be easier to decline some of the gatherings at your less desirable venues.

And what you’re already doing, balancing meals out with FDs and eating less food on other days is a good solution – as long as it doesn’t consume us. Yesterday, I had the pub lunch but no breakfast or dinner, just a mug of homemade soup. As you do, I carefully chose the meal online days ahead so there’d be no impulse or plate envy ordering! It does irritate me when the people who order all the ‘extras’ are the ones to suggest splitting the bill. But I can get over that – eventually.

You have to be confident that you’re doing the right thing even if you’re in the minority. I got so despondent when we had to go into a large town recently. So many obese people, struggling to walk, struggling to breathe, and for the first time, I noticed a new trend of grossly overweight young people (twenties) on mobility scooters. Just awful. It put me off eating lunch out and I couldn’t wait to get back to the boat.

Hats off to all of us – we are bucking the trend.

Hello, look it’s me!

Feeling glad that our number of new cases are much lower today (4 new cases compared to 12 yesterday) with excellent testing numbers, so fingers crossed the excellent contact tracing means all new cases will already be isolating. And that everyone continues lining up to be vaccinated!

Also finally feeling back to my normal level of mediocre health after a week of breathing difficulty. Hooray! It was exhausting. Saw the doctor yesterday and I am off for lung function tests. She seemed a very good clear doctor but was in hurry so didn’t address how this last week seems more acute than chronic.

I did think it might be an allergy Cali, and took zyrtec in the hope it would help, but it didn’t. However I am wondering if it might be related to my dust mite allergy since I have had the house closed up more this last week. I am being vigilant now. Infact, I not only feel well enough to post today, I might also vacuum!

Anzac, thankyou for those kind wishes. I have been sticking to good foods, and woot! today I feel ready to fast!

I do hope you can enjoy your workshop today, Anzac. I wonder how many covid kilos others there are contending with.

The last week has reminded me how stress and struggling with life turns 5:2 from being easy and sustainable to another stick on the camels back.
Sending good wishes.

LJoyce, I agree about the beauty of beetroot and red cabbage. Wonderful colours. (Go Cali)
And I also agree with you about paring the meal back to delicious simplicity.

So true that it is best to have a sustainable strategy to cope with social eating, instead of it being a feast every time. I will be interested to hear what you work out for yourself.

I just listened to an interesting program on the issue of Ultra Processed Food, which is so much of the food we eat when we are out. It seems to have issues beyond nutrients, fibre and calories (I was going to link but can’t find it again).

Neil, Damn and Blast! So frustrating.
I’m barracking for you keeping it in the mid 90’s.
Remember that exercise is excellent for general health, but not so much for losing weight. I’m another one saying concentrate on those Mediterranean Guidelines and see if you can be kind to yourself without comfort eating (my current advice to myself too, of course).

Btw, I wish when people talk about the Mediterranean Guidelines they would start with the ‘plenty of fruit and vegetables’ instead of putting that last.

I gave myself a fright when I put on a coat I hadn’t warn for a year, and it was so small I couldn’t easily button it up. I was shocked! But then I remembered that I washed it (a gentle hand wash) even though they said dry cleaning only. It came up well, but apparently shrunk a bit! Glad to say my other coats fit okay.

Ok, time to go and see how much vacuuming I can do.
Best wishes everyone,

LJ, it was the last two series of ‘The Crown’ that my brother appeared in.

Cinque, hurray for mediocre health (when compared to having trouble breathing).

Roof repair and painting are finally underway. We sanded our fingers to the bone prepping, then the 12 days of promised sunshine ended after day two but the first coat of primer was already long dry by the time it rained. It is very satisfying working with high quality materials. The hire boaters are out in their dozens, hundreds maybe, it being a bank holiday weekend so we are happy to stay put while they zoom down the canal in a big hurry.

Good morning all from a sodden wet Kaiteriteri!

Well, that certainly was a weather event like no other and poor Canterbury are still getting it, Ashburton has been declared a state of Emergency with rivers overflowing and banks bursting everywhere. And it is still raining down there. Thankfully we now have just a fine drizzle and it is a lot brighter, I don’t think it even came light yesterday, lightning, thunder and such heavy rain for such a long time, I didn’t know the sky could contain so much water? Now everyone is just left with a clean up.

We did spend the day wisely though as we knew it was coming and I managed to complete some wet weather jobs I had saved up. One of them was baking the black bean & chocolate torte from the Blue book and it was yummy. At 175 calories per serve, it will take us a while to get through it so could be putting the rest in the freezer tomorrow, if there is room.

I remember someone mentioning a while ago about the TV programme Wakefield and we have been watching it keenly, I love it, more than OH, but find it really good. Another one we are also watching is Smother, set in Ireland, finding this really good too, it does remind me of a book I read but can’t remember the title, it’s definitely not the same as the TV show. We also both enjoy Call the Midwife too, we are just a week behind it airing in the UK here, but we watch it through the Android box so there are no ads. My younger sister bought the original book for my mother who read it, then passed it around to us girls to read afterwards, thought it was great and when they announced it w
as going to be made into a TV series knew it would be a hit. My favourite character was Barbara but they killed her off.

The scales were kind to me this morning back to 69.4kg after a bit of a naughty night on Friday, would love to get into the 68’s but have decided slow and steady wins the race, and it has to be sustainable. I have learnt so much about my eating habits, relationships to food, and what does and doesn’t affect my weight since starting this WOE, I know what I can & can’t eat now, my mind is in such a better place, I no longer have food guilt.

Best off to do some vacuuming, and the coffee machine needs a deep clean and new filter, enjoy your Sunday everyone,

Turn

Such a cold morning here in my part of Melbourne!

Hello 5:2ers!

Turn, that weather sounds absolutely mad. I hope you get some sunny weather next.
Ooh yum, nice baking. That torte sounds magnificent.
You are nicely under 70kg, all power to you.

Thin, woohoo primer three. Great work.

I had a good eating day yesterday, as in delicious food, not too much, mostly plants. It was a bad day for breathing though, so I was feeling despondent and a bit scared, but hooray! Today I have woken up back to normal.

I realised my lung function test is on Wednesday which is my home help day. At first I was disappointed because I was very interested to see how the current covid outbreak changes my homehelp’s dialogue and behaviour. But then, with a mystery case and the worrying virulence of this variant, I am quite happy to have to cancel.
When I was on the phone to the council I asked about worker vaccination and they said they were encouraging workers to get vaccinated, but it had to be in their own time and some of them weren’t eligible yet.

Well I plan another day of good food, not too much, mostly plants. And a cognitive helping fasty fast day on Wednesday!

Sending best wishes to everyone.

Evening all.

Well it just keeps on getting better, I’ve been off sick since Wednesday and was just back at work today.

It’s been pissing down with rain all weekend here, but we haven’t had it as bad as South Canterbury. There have been mass evacuations in Ashburton, a town about 3 hours north of us because they’ve had close to 300mm of rain in the last 3 days. It’s strange because a couple of weeks ago there were news stories about how dry the autumn had been and the lake levels were really low. I guess it never rains, but it pours….literally!

I’m not expecting much from the scales this week after 5 days on the couch with my cold. Well, reset and try to work on things this week .

Have a good one everyone.

Good evening everyone!

Thought I’d surprise you by showing up again (joke, joke!). I haven’t been wearing the splint on my hand for some days now (not supposed to remove it till tomorrow, but it just became too difficult) so I’m finally able to type more freely, and can even do my own cooking, yay! I still have some food left over from all that was given to me, but it’s in the freezer, and I’ll only slowly eat it. It was very kind of folk to bring me meals, but it was generally more fatty, spiced and salty than my own cooking, so I put 5:2 on hold for May. Starting again tomorrow (not today, as I’ve already eaten too much 🙂 ). Anyway, feeling much better about tackling the downward journey again.

Lockdown again – great sense of deja vue, but this time I’ve made a mental list of major but somewhat tedious chores that need doing around home and am dedicating this time to tackling them. One down, halfway through the second, so it’s working. Not setting a timeframe, which allows me to work at my own pace instead of feeling pressured, which tends to be a recipe for failure.

Oh yes, despite the past month, my weight has shown little variance, which is a major yay!

Great to read of folk getting the vaccination. I’ve had to control my mental smirking at all the folk here in Victoria who’ve suddenly decided that yes! Have to be vaccinated NOW, and annoyed that they are having to wait for appointments. Where were they in the past several weeks when the vaccination hubs were so quiet?! “Amazing” to see how relative indifference and lassitude towards vaccination changes when there are active community cases around.

Re vaccinations, just a suggestion – try taking an anti-histamine about half an hour before you are due to have the jab. I always have to do that before the flu injection, so I did it for my AZ jab too, and just had a mildly “off” day the next day. Zyrtec, Claratyne, Telfast, I don’t think it matters which one you take, but it may help.

Good to read all the posts (on this page, didn’t go back further).

G’DayfromSA, one of my friends felt like you re vaccination – until this current outbreak, when she and her partner are now jumping to be vaccinated. This current Covid variant is so much more infectious, a few people seem to have caught it just by passing an infected person in shops. I know you live out in the country, but with the Melbourne outbreak, regional Victoria has been shut down as well because a couple of infected Melbournians visited a couple of country towns not knowing they were infectious. So far so good with no regional cases, but it could happen still. And something like that could as easily happen in SA as Victoria. Just something to think about. Meanwhile, glad the back pain has lessened.

LindsayL, glad the bees are doing well, and that your weight has come down close to your goal.

Cinque, sorry to read that you’d been having breathing problems. Glad they seemed to have settled a little by Monday. Did you vacuum? You seemed more energetic in your writing. And what gorgeous grandkids! They love their grandmother.

LJoyce, it’s good to read that you have increased your steps again to 10,000 per day. I’ve only been aiming for 8,000 per day, and failing some days, so that needs to change.

Neilithicman, I’ll join you on getting the weight down again! 🙂

Turnabout, sounds like you were caught in the recent torrential rain in the South Island – I thought you were up in the North Island now?

Thin, houses and boats, they all still need maintenance, groan. Good you could seee your daughter.

Anzac65, love your Maxx stories. Even though he’s older, you still have interesting stories to share. He sounds a bit like KungFu Panda – motivated by the food reward.

CalifDreamer, your smoothies sound yum, but definitely a summer drink.

Stay safe, stay well, and goodnight all.

Hello lovelies,

I truly thought I wrote a post yesterday, I was so surprised to find it wasn’t there 😀 😀 😀

I’m off for my lung function test this morning (glad it is still able to go ahead) (we are all bracing for the lockdown to be extended, 6 news cases today) so I had better type quick.

My breathing has been fine! Phew.
Thin, interesting about that weird breathing difficulty you had. So glad it resolved itself. It was an exhausting long week and I have also been thinking with so much sympathy of people who battle it all the time.

I hear it has been stinking hot in the UK, too hot to be up on the roof? But delighted to hear you have had a day there with no covid deaths.

Hoping the feds will get to work on quarantine centres stat. Hotels just can’t do it.

I have now written to my local, state and federal representatives about home care workers particularly about their vaccination. There is a current state govt blitz to get workers in aged and disability homes vaccinated. It seems the federal govt out sourced the vaccination program to some organisation that hasn’t actually been up to the job.
As far as I can work out council workers are not included even though they go to multiple homes and shopping centres each work day.
I would like to demand that I have a worker who is vaccinated. But who should I ask about that? I’ll see what response I get from my email.

Oops time is going fast and I have done nothing but talk about myself.

Neil, I am glad you are over that nasty cold, and woot you are doing well on the scales. Yikes the weather.

Betsy, so glad to read your post and HOORAY the cast is off. Well done keeping your weight stable over the weeks. And hooray for the good people giving you food, but won’t you love get back to your own choices. What are you going to delight yourself with today?
And thankyou I am so much brighter now. My grandkids have sent me letters so I am excited for them to arrive.

Fast day, but I have eaten already! I needed breakfast, so my clever little microwave bowl of veggies, and an egg.

Okay off to get nice and ready. I might wear my mask in the car because the cold weather makes my nose run and I don’t want to turn up at the Lung function place sniffling.

Best wishes all.

Cinque, I hope you get some answers and results from your letters about the covid safety measures of people coming into your home. Good for you for taking a stand. I agree with you about hotel quarantine also, doing the same thing and expecting a different result is silly. I do also understand the complacency given the relatively low numbers. I was surprised that the vaccination programme was outsourced.

I do still experience that breathing thing but it’s intermittent and is usually resolved by turning onto my right side.

LJ, a post from you popped up while I wasn’t looking. I love cheesecake and probably have some about once every three years. I agree, I love Cinque’s reminders to eat mostly plants and only in small quantities. Yes, thanks, the boat painting is going well due to magnificent weather at last. 26C. That’s indeed a heatwave in England. I’ve achieved four coats of primer and a light sanding. Now have to clean the entire thing with degreaser and fresh water (when we get to the next water station, we are then committed to six locks). After careful masking, (all 57′ of it x 2 plus roof attachments), I can begin the top coats.

Betsy, a post from you also appeared that wasn’t there when I started. Hello to you too.

Neil, I missed the post where you’d said some weight had dropped – hurray! Sorry to hear you’ve had a cold.

Betsy, I completely forgot to ask about your hand, so pleased to read it’s all good news. Now you can cook your own food!

Cinque, how did you get on with the LFT?

Anzac, those weddings will provide good motivation. Try not to outshine the brides though. So pleased that you’ve had your first AZ dose. I had no side effects at all other than the anticipated soreness at the injection site which was fleeting and mild. Yes, aren’t the English funny with their ‘heatwaves’? You should see the photos of the beaches on the front pages of the papers! Could think of nothing worse. It was bad enough on the canals over the Bank Holiday weekend with a constant parade of boats but things have settled down somewhat now – probably in part because we’re on a remote part of the Oxford Canal with no facilities.

Cinque, great results, well done. Yes, everyone certainly has rights but those rights end where they affect the rights of someone else. With rights come responsibilities. And those younger people should keep in mind that ‘long covid’, more likely to affect them, is no picnic. And blood clots are a symptom of covid too. I’ve sensed your unease and I think you’re right to feel anxious, Australia is on a knife-edge.

Betsy, I can remember when I last had cheesecake – it was on my birthday in April 2020! We had haloumi with home baked rolls two nights ago, my weight went up 600g yesterday. It’s back down a bit today but a reminded that bread cannot be on my menu. And haloumi not too often either. See you tomorrow for Sunday FD, Cinque.

Degreasing revealed about ten more small rust bumps and the entire ‘sanding plus four consecutive days of primer’ has now been repeated. Frustrating but there are no short-cuts with prepping.

Hi all from another cold and wet day here in Kaiteriteri.

In fact, it rained here all day yesterday, has been raining here all day today and is forecast for the same tomorrow so I guess this weekend it is our turn for the massive deluge. Loads of surface flooding throughout the site but certainly nothing like they got in Ashburton last weekend, no rivers with banks to burst here, plus we are on the edge of both the Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks, so all the tall trees on the hills tend to pull in the rain clouds. I shall soon be out of rainy day jobs! OH loves it ‘cos I always end up baking something, today it was wholemeal date scones.

I do hope you are enjoying that book this afternoon Betsy, kinda one of those days here today too, might be on the cards for tomorrow seeing as it’s a long weekend, Queens’ birthday. We have decided, so far anyway, to stay on the South Island this winter for a change. The good thing is we are not too far from the ferry across the Strait if we should change our minds. Well done with the hand outcome.

Great results from those letters and tests Cinque, are you still eating the red cabbage, did you find any favourite dishes with it.

Great you get to come across the ditch again next Feb Anzac for wedding celebrations, what a motivation for your weight loss. I have felt the same trying to lose weight without an end goal as such, having that focus at the end date does seem easier for me. I know you can do it.

Great news on your weight loss Neil, have you managed to work out what the culprit was which stopped you from losing weight, or, made you gain weight? Could it have been the Jelly Beans? How are you going with the weather, not too much rain down there I hope?

Good luck with the next round of primer Thin, surprising what degreaser exposes? I know what you mean about the heatwave over there, Summer seems to have arrived though. We have been watching the cricket from Lords, two days of sunshine and a day of rain so no play! My mum can finally get out in the garden but she is also watching the French Open, such a dilemma! Hope you still find time to cook your chicken tikka masala for your fast dinner tonight?

Speaking of which, it must be time for dinner here too, enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone,

Turn

Good morning, even better than expected – 57.9kg. That’ll be short-lived but it’s a good start to the week. Hoping you all have a great one.

Morning all, I had a productive weekend. I got some pruning done at the local frisbee golf course, had a few rounds of frisbee golf, got my glasshouse frame and windows completed, got a batch of kombucha brewing and spent some time with the wife and kids chilling out with some movies.

Still struggling with my eating. I know I shouldn’t be eating the stuff that I do, but I just can’t seem to stop myself from eating it.

I’ll redouble my efforts this week and try to get the crap out of my diet.

Kiwi contingent posted meanwhile! Hello Turn and Neil.

Big congrats Turn, I hope you have a nice long time in the 68s. And that the sun keeps shining.

Sympathy Neil, congratulations on all the good stuff you have been doing with, and for, your family.
Keep doing the best you can, and hopefully something will click into place and make eating less easier again. Be kind to yourself, there is so much going on that we don’t understand.

I’m off to get some things done. Woot.