Good afternoon everyone from an exceedingly wet & sodden Kaiteriteri, the same place we over-wintered last year. We arrived yesterday after slowly making our way north from Christchurch where we had got a bit “stuck” for almost four weeks! We found a new POP (park over property) which had only been open a couple of weeks and we had such a good time with such a great bunch of like minded people we just couldn’t get away, plus the last of the autumn weather was so beautiful, warm & sunny, we really didn’t want to leave. But with not wanting to outstay our welcome, we headed north and have now hunkered down, at least for the next day or two whilst this wet front moves through.

The recent socialising and weight gain was probably the only down side of our stay, the Happy Hour nibbles and drinks were so creative and tasty, I found them irresistible, so it was inevitable I would regain some weight, but am happy now I am just at 66 and hope to be down another kg within a few more days. I certainly find my weight a lot easier to control these days, eating most of my food naked and so little of it, it is easy to pin point the culprit(s)!

OH and I are not royalists at all, in fact quite the opposite, so I won’t mention it too much, however, I will say that I agree with you Thin, Queen Elizabeth’s enduring sense of duty has to be admired. Lack of stickability in people is a soap box of mine….

Will catch up with reply posts later, need to catch up with the cricket highlights, enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone,

Turn

Turn, good morning. It sounds like you’re having a whale of a time. Do tell us more about eating mostly in the nud….

ER & Paddington tapping the royal teaspoons to the ‘We Will Rock You’ intro was just priceless. The Brits know how to put on a party.

FD for me and the weather looks gloomy so we’re having a slow day and staying put. Any other Sunday fasters?

Hello friends

Sadly Mr Anzac had to be rushed to hospital on Saturday night, he has an obstruction and is very unwell. I’m about to head over to see him

Thin, the Bowel Cancer FB page is INCREDIBLY supportive and lovely. Almost as good as this one 🙂

Please send healing thoughts

Apologies for posting twice above, the internet has been shaky and I thought I was editing not re-posting.

Anzac, so sorry to hear your news – it is very good of you to keep us informed. I hope things are all sorted for Mr A. by the time you read this. Best wishes to you both. I’m pleased the FB page is proving helpful for you.

Cinque, thank you for the congrats fireworks! I’m safely in the 58kg range after yesterday’s FD. Still indecisive about whether to revert to 6:1. I have two days to contemplate it. The weather has been horrid but we’ve managed a few good walks. OH has terrible hay fever so at least the drizzle helps settle the pollen (I think). Oh dear, the community work. I am sure your skills would be better utilised in a more senior capacity, overseeing things rather than sitting around waiting for something to cross your desk. They probably don’t realise how that in itself can be so tiring for you. I’m sure you’ll come up with a good solution and the perfect Cinque Niche will be discovered.

Anzac, sending you and Mr A all my good wishes and hopes for a speedy solution.

Hello to everyone else, hope you are having a good day.
I’ve had a very tiring one, so I’m off to eat my bean, kale and chorizo soup now.
Take care everyone.

Neil, oh dear, covid. Hopefully it will be a mild case all round since you’ve been vax’d. I don’t even know whether it’s necessary to isolate in the UK these days. Besides the two of us, we now only know one couple that’s not had it. I’ll be pretty fed up if we do get it after all this vigilance. I wore my mask in the city today, people coughing and generally getting way too close for my liking!

Lindsay, I was just thinking of you when I wrote my earlier post and wondering how you and CalifD were getting on. Your poor OH seems to be taking a lot of knocks. I hope the big picture looks brighter. So your family possibly/probably caught covid in the ER? I’m glad they kept her in though, head injuries can progress in the hours following the bonk so it’s better to be properly monitored. When DD was about your GD’s age, she was hit by a swing and it knocked her out for a nano-second. OH who’d flown medivac choppers insisted we take her to ER – to the scoffs of the other parents (only child/over-protective, etc). You always feel guilty taking up a hospital bed too but the staff said we absolutely did the right thing. I’ve also had a head injury myself. That explains a lot, I hear you say?

Hi LJ, hope the soup was good.

Afternoon all

Well the rest of us tested negative today but we have all had symptoms, so we’ll just assume that we have it. I had a big ride and a low calorie day (around 900) yesterday and this morning I weighed in down a kilo. I’ve had a ride today and I’m sticking to another 800-900 calorie day, so hopefully my weigh-in tomorrow goes well. (My macros have still been averaging around 55-60% fats with the rest split between carbs and protein.)

Turn, I love the area you’re in, we had numerous family holidays in Motueka and always took at least one trip to Kaiteriteri, although we usually went round to little Kaiteriteri because the main beach was always so busy in summer.

Thin, yeah we managed to dodge it for 2 and a half years, but it was always just a matter of time with two teenage boys. We’re all double jabbed and my wife and I have had boosters, so hopefully we don’t get it too bad.

Lindsay, your OH really have had a bad run, but good to hear he’s doing ok.

Ljoyce, a soup made from beans, kale and chorizo sound like it would be a pretty balanced meal. I made a big batch of vegetable soup yesterday and a batch of 12 dinner rolls. I had half a roll, my wife had one and a half, and there were two left over, that means my boys polished off 8 rolls between them. Their illness hasn’t affected their appetites at all, in fact I caught one of my boys raiding the cupboard for the yoyo biscuits I made a couple of days ago.

Well, have a great one everyone. I’ll check in tomorrow with how my weigh-in went.

LJ, I thought I recognised that soup! I’ve made it several times and really like it. Thank goodness you escaped the covid last week. I imagine it could be quite unpleasant with your lung issues. But you never know, after all the vaxxing. Thanks for your input about my 6:1/5:2 dilemma. Yes, I think this is a good suggestion as I think I will be using a combination of these for the rest of my life and wasn’t quite sure where to make the distinction. I do notice that a towpath G&T is quite appealing in summer time though and I know that I need the two FDs to counterbalance any more than an occasional alcoholic drink. On the other hand, we are active almost all day at this time of year. I’ve still not decided about tomorrow – but it’s summer so perhaps I’ll give it a go! Thank you.

Just a quick post as I’m heading out for appointments shortly.

Neil, I think I did mention povidone iodine on this forum in early 2020 in the early days of covid. At that time I had received an email from chemo@home (who do my regular treatment infusions for rheumatoid arthritis). They suggested that their patients (who all either have cancer or an auto immune disease) consider using povidone iodine to possibly provide some protection from covid infection. At that time there was obviously no published research specifically on covid19 as it was too soon to expect that. However, there was published research on the original SARS virus and also on MERS that indicated that coating the nasal passages and the mouth/throat with a diluted solution of povidone iodine dramatically reduced the risk of infection as iodine killed the virus when they came in contact. There was also published research on using this after extensive oral or throat surgery to reduce infection risk, (although this was about reducing bacterial infection not viral infection).
In those initial months we were told here not to use masks and had no vaccine yet, so I adopted this advice when having contact with people. I stopped using it once I started using masks and was vaccinated – especially as my city rarely had any covid cases. When South Australia opened it’s borders late last year the local infection rates soared so I decided to resume my povidone-iodine routine so that I could remove my mask to eat or drink with other people. Since that initial advice from chemo@home there has been research published specifically on using povidone iodine on SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes covid19 disease). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jopr.13209 This research was clearly done in a lab in petri dishes rather than a clinical setting with people, but the results are promising – even at the lowest dilution level of 0.5%, the povidone iodine killed all of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that it came into contact with.
Povidone iodine is available as a gargle from pharmacies and also some supermarkets in Australia. I only know of two brands available here, but this may differ in NZ. I use Betadine brand, but I think one of the Difflam gargles is also based on povidone iodine. The products are sold both as a concentrate and already diluted – I use the concentrate as it’s better value and takes up less space in my handbag! To get the coating inside the nose, throat and mouth I mix up the solution according to the directions (1ml povidone iodine concentrate + 9mls water) I then take a new cotton bud and soak both ends in the solution. I use this cotton bud to thoroughly swab my nostrils to apply a coating of the povidone iodine. Then I use the remaining solution as a gargle and mouthwash to get a coating over my mouth and throat. I refresh the nasal swabs every 2 hours if I’m not wearing a mask and I refresh the mouth/throat gargle after I’ve consumed food/drink if I not putting a mask back on when I’ve finished my meal. This process is easy when I’m entertaining at home, but I also do it when I’m out. For this I carry with me, a small ziploc bag containing the concentrate gargle, a 10ml plastic medicine cup and some cotton buds. When I enter a cafe or restaurant I’m always wearing a mask and I go to the cafe bathroom to do my betadine routine in preparation for removing the mask for eating and drinking. These are photos of the product I use and also my “purse pack”: https://imgur.com/a/qJV8uOi
Neil I hope that explains what I’ve been doing with the povidone-iodine. I believe the best protection when in public is an N95 mask – which is what I use, but I was getting tired of avoiding all eating and drinking with friends and family. While my approach provides no absolutely no guarantees that I am eliminating the risk, I have enough evidence to believe it does reduce the risk so I will continue to do this. There is also very recently published research that some readily available mouth washes may also reduce the risk of contracting covid 19 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/odi.14205 (While I find this interesting, I will stick with what I’ve been doing.)
Excellent news of your weight loss this week too.

Hello to everyone else, have to rush now.

A quick hello as I am getting ready to go away for the weekend! My daughter booked a little place in Warburton so we are going to have a few days in Victoria’s beautiful temperate rainforest.

I’m still sending a steady flow of good wishes Mr Anzac’s way.

Thin, cheers for a successful bout of 6:1

Lindsay, so good to hear from you. Best wishes to Mr Lindsay.
I hope your covid riddled family are recovering nicely.

Neil, are you all covid riddled too now? Sending lots of good wishes and hoping there are good things to watch on tv (or whatever).

LJoyce, best wishes for your busy time.

Hi Turn!

Thanks for such kind feedback about the volunteering. I’ll catch you up next time I write, but I think I will do a blog for them, instead of desk duties.

Catch you later

Afternoon all

Well I’m glad we only have to do online grocery shopping this week, because the shopping we got was awful. One of the avocados was bruised and damaged, the milk had a leaking lid, and they got us the greenest, most scuffed up looking bananas they could find.

Well my plans of getting lots done round the house during isolation fell by the wayside. I’m not sick, well I’ve had mild symptoms off and on, but I’ve just been feeling so unmotivated and lethargic. I have managed to get out for an hour on my bike most days, but other than that so only got a little bit of gardening and cleaning done.

Cinque, have a great weekend away, I hope you have a good time. I’m still testing negative for Covid. Unfortunately my wife is now positive and is suffering with a rare Covid symptom. She has come out in what they call “Covid rash” where her body is covered in little itchy bumps that look like insect bites or hives. They say it affects fewer than 1% of people who get Covid, so I guess that makes her special.

Thin, good luck with your 6:1, I hope you can make it work for you.

Ljoyce, thanks for the info, it seems like it’s working for you. Anything that can help reduce your risk is worth it.

Well, better get back to cooking, I’m making up a marinara sauce for the meatballs tonight. I’m looking forward to it because I’m having a fast day today and I’ve only eaten a handful of nuts so far, so a bowl of meatballs and marinara sauce (minus the pasta my family will have with it) is looking pretty appealing.

Have a great day everyone.

Good afternoon everyone.

An unexpectedly hectic day yesterday as I already had multiple appointments but had to squeeze in a visit to the dentist to put a temporary filling on a broken tooth. I go back next month to have that replaced with a crown – I’d better start saving!

After a wobbly start, I’m feeling a bit more stable with my eating. Still managing to be fairly controlled on my NFDs and my weight which had ballooned up again is heading slowly down. I’m steering clear of nuts for the next month as I was eating almonds when I broke my tooth.

Get well wishes to the multitude who are sick or are supporting sick family members.

Cinque, have a lovely weekend away with the family – hopefully relaxing enough that you don’t return exhausted.

Thin, yes that post was much longer then I intended but I felt an obligation to explain myself properly – it’s unfortunately too easy to be misleading when it comes to health decisions and whether they can be supported with evidence.

Last time I shopped, I grabbed what I thought was frozen veggie rice (usually a combination of minced cauli and broccoli). It turned out I’d bought this instead: https://imgur.com/a/73Awnb6 As I needed a soft textured meal for the last 2 night, due to the broken tooth, I decided to use it. I added a couple more veg and some poached chicken. It was surprisingly good and contained a good variety of mushrooms/fungus. It also did have the texture and flavour of risotto, which I wasn’t expecting. Before my chicken & veg additions it was 245 calories per serve, so a very reasonable FD option. Next time I will buy it deliberately as a back up quick meal for FDs.

Now that the hairy bikers soup is finished, I’ve made a big pot of veggie soup with pearl barley and red lentils – it’s also hearty enough for a cup of it to be filling. Reminds me a little of my mum’s version of scotch broth, although I had made chicken stock as the base, rather than the lamb shanks my mum would have used. It’s definitely soup/casserole weather. The weather continues to be cold here, although thankfully the rain is only occasional showers now.
I went into the city by train yesterday to my dentist and was rugged up in many layers of clothing, plus a knitted hat and gloves. It’s not often that is required in Adelaide. The sun is valiantly trying to peek through the clouds this afternoon encouraging me to go for a walk before it gives up.

Hope you are all having a good day.

More crossed posts as usual.

Neil, I hope you are all on the mend and able to take advantage of your post isolation freedom soon.

Anzac, wonderful news. I hope there are no further relapses.

Thin, I did have a giggle at your attempt at a NFD. Will you try again next week?

Sunday FD for me. I don’t think I could ever give this one up. I’m at my lowest weight at the start of a FD for months so I have a spring in my step. Mexican Chicken for dinner. Anyone else fasting?

Hello everyone.

Yes, Thin I’m fasting today too. I have the last of the veggie, lentil & barley soup for dinner (and some stashed in the freezer for future FDs).
I don’t recall you telling us you were off to Andorra – were is Andorra (please don’t say Europe – I know that much at least)? Are you going for a specific reason, or is it just a place you have yet to explore?

Neil, it happens to all of us. I think there’s is a rebellious element to our psyche that decides it’s had enough when we try and impose restraint every day. I like to think of it as our inner child having a temper tantrum.

I am trying to reduce my tea consumption this month and finding it challenging. It has made me face up to just how much tea I drink in a day and how ready I am to reach for the kettle when I’m thirsty. This exercise is reminding me to drink more water and less tea – something I find very challenging in cold weather.

Hope you are all having a nice day. Enjoy the last of the long weekend – for those of you benefiting from the Queen’s Birthday in that way.

Thin, that was the plan, however I haven’t slept well the last few nights and I was really struggling with my first day back at work after a week of isolation, so I caved and had a coffee at lunch time. I was really lacking energy after work too so I had a half a cup of leftover beef saag curry at dinner time. Still only a 200 calorie day, and no carbs or sugar, so that should help rectify some of the damage from the weekend.

Ljoyce, yes I faced up to my dependence on coffee a few weeks ago, I was having 3 cups a day, I went cold turkey for a week and now I’m having 3 a week rather than 3 a day.

Well I’ll probably need a coffee tomorrow as well if I don’t get an early night tonight, so I’d better head off now. Have a good one everyone.

Good evening all.

Thin, Andorra sounds like a lovely spot. I hope there are some lovely mountain walks to be had.
Wow, that’s a lot a daylight – about 6 1/2 hours more daylight than I’m getting at the moment.

Neil, 3 cups a day doesn’t sound like much – not when confess that I had a 3 pots of tea a day habit.
I hope it’s not too challenging to settle back into the office. It should be easier when you aren’t attempting a water fast. (I’m not sure I’d take that on in summer, let alone winter.)

I’m making good progress on the tea reductions. I used to use a medium sized pot with 2 heaped tsp tea each time. I’ve now changed my pot to a little 1 cup model and I’m putting about about 3/4 tsp in. I’m allowing a maximum of 3 mini pots per day but aiming for 2 where possible. I’ve found I can more easily do 2 if I replace the afternoon pot with something else – today it was cocoa made with almond-coconut milk and stevia. What I’ve quickly realised is that the cup of tea I enjoy the most is the first one in the morning and I always enjoy the first cup out of any pot more than the others. I think the rest was just habit and I don’t miss it as much as I though I would. In part I think it’s also that the first cup is perfectly brewed for just the right amount of time but the longer you leave it the more stewed it becomes. It means I was drinking it just because it was there and I don’t like waste. The little pot means I get one perfect cup, no stewed tea and no waste.

My weight continues to go in the right direction. About 3 weeks ago, after a couple of bad weeks, I was back up to the high 80s again (up by 6kg in a fortnight). As I was struggling to manage my appetite in the cold weather I realised I needed to reduce the sugars and starches in my diet as I need mild ketosis to manage appetite when I’m struggling. I have aimed to get my carbs mostly from veg, some fruit, legumes and lactose from dairy. The change is certainly helping to manage my appetite and I’m down 3.7kg after a fortnight, although I know much of that is my glycogen stores and water. I pleased that my cold weather food cravings are now better managed, which is a big help on my NFDs.
A few weeks ago I instituted a new rule of not eating after dinner and that has gone well and I’ve not broken it. Last week I decided that I needed to get a handle on my tendency to nibble too much in the afternoons. So I decided to try and stick to 3 meals a day. As I rarely feel like breakfast, my choices are usually lunch, dinner and one snack. So far I’ve stuck to it, but there’s a lot of internal negotiation when I’m hungry by 10:30 and have to decide whether I’m willing to trade my afternoon snack for a late breakfast – so far the answer has been “no, just wait another hour and then have lunch”. This is an eating skill I didn’t grow up with, if I wanted food I ate it, which is why I was always overweight. It’s fairly late in life to work on this, but I’m glad I’ve finally got around to it.

Hope you are all doing well. Take care.

My fasting friends, Im devastated and heartbroken, my dear, sweet and deeply loved MrGday passed away suddenly yesterday. I am inconsolable and struggling to comprehend that this has happened xx

G’day, I have no words, that is really devastating news. I hope you are holding up ok. I’m sure everyone on this thread will be keeping you in their thoughts and prayers, but I hope you have lots of in person support over there, and don’t be scared to ask for help if you feel you need it.

Oh no, Gday,
I am so sorry.
What a terrible shock and a terrible grief.
Sending you all the good wishes and so much love and care.

Dear G’day I am so very sorry to read your devastating news and I am sending heartfelt thoughts and prayers across to you. I will hold you and your daughter in my thoughts

Good morning everyone,

Gday, so many heartfelt thoughts. I know it will be a busy time as well as a grief stricken time. Do you have some support? How hard it must be for DD too.
https://cf.ltkcdn.net/dying/images/orig/221723-2121×1414-condolence-card.jpg

I had the weekend away and I so loved spending extended time with my daughter and granddaughters. Warburton was misty moisty and we had a visit to the redwood trees, I didn’t realise they were so like pines, but SO tall, and planted in rows it was amazing views and so very quiet. Also with lovely little fairy fungi, of all different types.

But I was very tired after driving home, the trip starting off wet and rainy with lots of traffic, and ending up dark and wet with lots of traffic. I had to concentrate harder than I do much these days!

Ofcourse eating got messed up a bit, and I haven’t had a chance to do a veggie shop this week. Luckily I have my homegrown pumpkin and warrigal greens in the garden!
But I realised I haven’t been getting nicely hungry between meals so that is my resolution.

You have convinced me to cut down my coffee, Neil, after thinking ‘3 cups a day is fine!’ I realised I do enjoy it more if I am more frugal with it.

LJoyce, I do agree that the first cup of tea is the best. I cut down how strong I make it too (I was making it stronger and stronger over the years and it was getting ridiculous). I enjoy it more now.
That little teapot is the perfect solution.

Thin, how lovely to be going to Andorra!

Neil, is everyone happily over covid in the household? Cheers for your good decisions and what gorgeous cravings Mrs Neil has!

Well, I did rather walk into the community centre on Tuesday and bulldoze my project through the way I think it ought to be done. (Which, you will be glad to hear, involves proper accountability). That way avoiding getting further into the tangle of confusion. So I am writing up my idea and getting the manager to check it through.

The only problem is the term is nearly over and I wanted to get this project running before I started my support group. Let’s see if I can make haste (slowly).

Finally, today is my birthday!
A nice quiet one, although I will see at least one sister, and have A NEW CAR! (Second hand, but lovely and modern, the air-conditioner works and I will fit in both grandchildren’s car seats). My lovely sister and BIL have a new electric car and are kindly passing their old car on to me.

Sending good wishes to everyone,
<3

Thinking of you G’day at this horrific time for you. I hope you are ok

Happy birthday Cinque, I hope you have a lovely time with your sister

Happy happy birthday Cinque, enjoy xx

Cinque, LJ, Neil, it’s interesting that you’re all talking about reducing your tea/coffee intake as OH has been reading papers on caffeine addiction and why it’s not treated the same as other addictions. No plans to cut down on my 2-3 cup habit I’m afraid, there are too many things I no longer eat and it’s one of my great pleasures.

Cinque, what a wonderful trip you’ve had. And a new(ish) car! And getting those community people sorted out properly. Well done, such a lot accomplished.

We are enjoying temperatures in the twenties at last. Yesterday, OH and I waxed the boat and a man walked past from another boat and said it was too hot for him to do anything (21C). Later this week, the forecast is for 33C in the south and it’s being described as a potential health hazard.

Turn, in which part of England does your mother live (if you want to say)?

I came through my second non-fasting Wednesday unscathed. We are in the Yorkshire Dales and it’s hilly so we can challenge our walking a bit from the flat towpath style that we’re used to. The scenery is just stunning and the people lovely.