Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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Cinque

3:57 am
1 Oct 22
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Hello,
I am just catching up. School holidays, birthdays and other appointments all happening at once has been too much for me! But I think I have a much slower week ahead. Phew.

My weight challenges have been cashews (stop buying them Cinque!) and then coming back from Bendigo so worn out and just wanting to comfort eat. I had good food prepared as I knew I would be crook, but then I ate too much of it on the first day. It adds up like those chocolate bars where they say one little one a week, that is more than calories used, adds up to an extra kilo or two a year. I need to avoid those excesses, especially while I am not managing frugal/fast days to balance them out.

Anyway the last few days have been fine and delicious so hopefully I keep going.

Anzac HOORAY! Good horse. I hope your work stress hasn’t bucked you off yet.

Lindsay, HOORAY! 1.1 down is brilliant.
Lovely vet news too. I hope there aren’t too many extra babies hiding.

The new opshop did not have good toys, and little Ms6 had been to a Post Office on the way here, and op shops looked old and shabby in comparison, so we gave up on them and went back to the post office to buy a present. It made for a wonderful day for her.

Turn, I hope the gorgeous weather we are currently having, floats over to NZ soon.
It sounds like your body is doing wonderful things! HOORAY!
I’m doing it the other way round (completely omitting sugar, and cutting down on grains) and it certainly suits me too.

Neil, HOORAY! Weight down, fitness up is the way to go.
I hope you have a great ride.

Thin, Cheers for getting onto that extra fast day smartly HOORAY!
Life is not a dress rehearsal. So good to enjoy every drop out of every day.

LJoyce, I do hope all the sorting and child caring is going well.

Hello to everyone!

thinatlast

6:45 pm
1 Oct 22
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Ah Cinque, lovely to hear from you. Pleased that you have a nice slow week ahead. How funny that Little Miss 6 picked up on the shabby old op shop toys and wanted a shiny new thing from the Post Office. I don’t think I had realised that you weren’t fasting at the moment. Cashews are a nice healthy thing to indulge in if you need to indulge but I know what you mean about that tiny excess adding up yearly.

I lost a kg fasting yesterday, partly because I would have dropped something anyway by refraining from the horrors of previous days’ intake and partly due to the fast itself. Tomorrow will be a non-FD which will seem very strange for a Sunday. Then I’ll have to pick a FD during the week. So who IS actually fasting these days?

Neilithicman

3:56 am
2 Oct 22
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Afternoon all, nice weather theis weekend so I got some gardening done yesterday and a decent bike ride, today I got a couple of rounds of frisbee golf in. The weather is supposed to pack in next week though and snow down to 300m on Tuesday. Hopefully it clears up again for our holiday the week after that.

Thin, I still fast, but I don’t have any set days, because I find it hard to keep below 800 calories on days I’ve been a bit more active, so I’ll fit them in on days that I don’t take my bike to work, or weekends when the weather is too bad to get out and do things.

Cinque, you and me both. I can’t have any cashews in the house because I eat them as soon as they’re opened. I buy almonds now because they’re not quite as moreish for me so I can eat an ounce of them without heading back to the packet afterwards for “just a few more”

I hope everyone else is going well, have a great day everyone.

Lindsay L.

4:28 am
2 Oct 22
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Hello all.
Taking a few minutes away from editing a PhD dissertation. The work is so technical I need frequent breaks to refocus. It’s so cold here today in the subtropics we have the fire on. My lovely pregnant dog is laying at my feet and keeping me toasty. I can feel her tummy getting bigger and bigger. Six weeks now, with three to go. I’m excited but anxious too.

Neil, I’m like you. Fasting, but not always regularly, although I know it works best for me. Too many unforeseen interruptions these days (mostly doctors’appointments for my dear OH) to be able to plan ahead too much. I do what I can.

Cinque, I feel there are more than the 6 or 7 pups that the ultrasound revealed. I have a list of buyers, although whether they all come to pass is another question. I am quite demanding in my list of ‘must haves’ for buyers. I wonder they don’t run a mile, but I am pleasantly surprised how open people are to the questions about family situations, fencing, willingness to exercise a large active dog, etc.

I don’t wonder you came back from Bendigo needing comfort Cinque. A heart-wrenching time.

Thin as the weather cools down in the UK, do you have plans to winter away this year?

DD and family have just come back from Uluru – those little girls (9 and 6) are troopers. Walked up every canyon, around every rock, excited and fully engaged. Even the 10 kilometre walk around Uluru itself. So excited to see, in one short time, a dingo, some brumbies and some camels in the wild. An adventure they’ll remember all their lives, I suspect. The little one told me (in amazement) there were people on segways going around Uluru, but so focussed on not hitting rocks on the path, they forgot to look up and see THE rock.

OK back to work I guess. Have a great Sunday all.

Cinque

12:31 am
4 Oct 22
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Good morning good people,
I’ve had a hard time with too much on and no time to recover between, so my CFS symptoms kept getting worse. Yesterday was nasty with a fasting blood test in the morning which I hoped would be quick but took and hour (in the waiting room) and I was dehydrated and migrainish by the end. However I spent the day rehydrating and resting and today I am actually getting things done! I can almost see the kitchen bench Hooray! And I am catching up here Hooray!
I might slump soon but at least I will have done this 🙂 Happiness.

Thin, yes haha re Ms 6. (I blame my daughter for taking them to the Post Office on the way here!) Although Ms 6 certainly knows her own mind… and loved the present she ended up picking so that is the main thing.

I am having a weird time with fasting. I really miss fast days and the lovely feeling of waking up so empty the next morning, but I can’t seem to push it, I feel too crook.

However, the eating days I am concentrating on are good, and I am just waiting for 5:2 to come around on the guitar (see Alice’s Restaurant).

Neil, yes re the cashews, exactly.

Lindsay, it will be exciting if Rosy has a couple extra gorgeous puppies, especially since there are so many good homes for them to go to, I was thinking of a friend who got a surprise delivery of 16 pups from her pet. It was full on for everyone.

What a wonderful time your DD’s family had around Uluru.

Best wishes to Mr Lindsay and all those appointments.
My sister has just one more week to wait for her new treatment to start, so we all have fingers crossed it will be wonderfully effective.

I hope that dissertation editing is going well. What hard work your brain has to do!

I hope you can sneak a lovely fast day in soon, and that life settles down so you can get back to regular 5:2ing. You will love it.

Same to everyone who is having trouble at the moment.

Okay, I am off to clear more space in the kitchen AND put clothes on to wash. Super productive!

Best wishes all

thinatlast

8:35 am
6 Oct 22
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Morning all,

My emergency FD last Friday meant that I didn’t fast on Sunday but I did the second one yesterday. This yielded a good result and put me back in the 58s. Back to weekly 6:1 on Sunday.

I was thinking it would be weird to continue posting about my 5:2 efforts if I were the only one still standing so I’m glad you’re still fasting sometimes Neil and Lindsay. Cinque, hoping you will get back to it soon. Sorry you’re having a difficult time. I got a tiny taste of what things could be like for you when I came down with something nasty this week. Along with the sore throat and aching bones was a complete lack of energy and every small thing I tried to do wore me out.

No plans made for winter yet Lindsay but we’re currently heading south with the boat and, once it’s moored in a marina, we will either go to Africa or Spain for the worst of the winter months. DD has given notice at the vet clinic for the end of the year (3+ years flew by) and wants to do a gorillas trek with us this winter but I’m not sure we can get permits at such short notice. I knew this was coming but I’m not relishing my DD being in a different hemisphere.

Lindsay L.

9:02 am
6 Oct 22
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A quick one.
Cinque, I’m sorry life is taking its toll on you lately. Hope the warmer weather puts a spring in your step.
Thin, I have bitten the bullet and am starting a full on 5:2 tomorrow. It was my bestie’s birthday today, so I took her to the lovely French restaurant I think I’ve already mentioned, and we ate moderately but well (I had seared tuna, followed by red emperor fish with vegetables. Oh yes, then a creme brulee and a black coffee. All quite small portions, and beautifully presented. Oh, and a glass of red wine.
Off soo to DS’s for dinner – it will be healthy, without doubt.
Thin your plans, such as they are, sound so exciting. I can’t believe though that it’s three years since your DD started working in Yorkshire. She’ll miss it, I’m sure, though probably not the callouts in the so very cold weather they get there.
I feel we can’t make plans at the moment – and I miss it. Actually I miss the planning as much as I miss the travelling, almost. I used to love the excitement of getting ready to go away.
Talking about going away – I had better do that now. We have to go to the supermarket on our way to DS’s. No milk and we have friends dropping off a whelping box for the girl in the morning, and they’ll probably have milk in their cofffee.
And talking of whelping – one of my show friends has a setter which whelped last weekend. She had 17 pups. Yep, not a typo. 17. Oh I hope Rosy sticks to single digits
Night all.

thinatlast

2:54 pm
6 Oct 22
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Lindsay, can you not even get to ‘your island’ under current circumstances? I think it’s important to have something to look forward to. OH used to say we hadn’t even been on the upcoming holiday before I’d start plotting the next one. The French meal sounds divine. I’ve probably mentioned in past posts that my OH used to fly helicopters for Jacques Cousteau. Now that’s dating yourself. Anyway, he said if he ever needed a new bolt for the chopper, it would require triplicate forms, committee meetings and long delays. But no expense was ever spared for food and wine on board the Calypso. Food portions were always small though rich in flavour. My favourite French restaurant was La Sommelier in Tijuana (looks like it should end in an ‘e’ but it didn’t).

DD has enjoyed her job so much, learned loads and made lifelong friends but feels that life is passing her by (26 years old, ha ha!). She wants to spend a year backpacking in South America and will do some volunteering in a veterinary capacity along the way. That will cost her a heap as you have to pay handsomely for the privilege but loads more experience to be gained from it. I can’t blame her really. Five years of high school with the sole goal of getting into vet school followed by a six year doctorate degree crammed into five years. She seriously needs and deserves a good, long break. But I will hate it.

I don’t know anything of what’s involved in dog breeding but hope for everyone’s sake the number 17 isn’t involved! Will you be keeping any of the puppies?

Oh, I’m so happy that you’re getting back to 5:2! You’ve said it out loud so you’re committed. I hope more will return to join you…. LJ, Anzac, CalifD, Betsy, Intesha ……. it’s telling that we haven’t had any newbies in so long.

GdayfromSA

6:58 am
9 Oct 22
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Just a quick check in to say Hi. I haven’t read any recent posts; the days just seem to be flying buy at the moment, so I do hope everyone is okay. Weather here is all over the place, 31 one day and 17 the next, making it hard to get into the groove of daily exercise plus my never-ending list of ‘things to do’ keeps growing by the day. Food intake is improving with only an occasional bit of junk food creeping into the diet although I still have little motivation to cook, I just don’t seem to have the passion for it that I did before. Speaking of cooking, I must go and do some vegies for tea but to be honest I’d rather take the easy path and just zap something in the microwave.

thinatlast

8:24 am
9 Oct 22
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Morning all, I’m still posting about fasting I’m afraid. It’s a Sunday FD for me today, my second of this week. I’ve managed to get back into the 58s which is a relief especially as I now have to wear thermals under my clothing.

The ‘nasty’ symptoms I described earlier in the week turned out to be covid. It was almost surreal when OH and I saw that + line appear after staying so vigilant for so long. Fortunately, this lifestyle means that we can continue to cruise while isolating. It also means we know exactly where we contracted it. Our symptoms have been a mixed bag of weird things but we’re so grateful to have had the vaccine. I’m sure that, had we been able to get to a major centre for our latest jabs, we wouldn’t have got this latest strain. Oh well, I’ve not allowed anything to stand in the path of my IF WOL so far, and covid will be no different.

Neilithicman

9:17 pm
9 Oct 22
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Morning all

Sorry to hear that “The Rona” has finally caught up with you Thin, hopefully you get off lightly. It can be a real lottery, I was sick as a dog for 3 days then started to get better, my brother-in-law felt mildly unwell for one day then better the next, my sister got ALL the symptoms and was suffering serious Covid envy from her husband.

G’day, we’re the same regarding weather, we went from 17-18 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday to 4 inches of snow on Thursday, then back to 17-22 degrees over Friday and the weekend.

Lindsay, well done on committing to the 5:2 again, I may have found something that works for fasting on more active days. Doing OMAD seems to work even if I’ve been out for decent ride during the day. I just have to make sure I drink plenty of water during my ride and either water, tea or coffee afterwards. I’ll give it a go now that I’m on holiday this week.

Cinque, I hope that you get some downtime soon so your CFS symptoms can reduce a bit. We’re going to Twizel/Tekapo/Mt Cook for our break so I’ll definitely spend some time relaxing in the hot pools up there.

The weekend was good here. I had my first round of the new Spring league for frisbee golf on Friday and got top of my division. I got out for a couple of rides on Saturday and Sunday and got a new garden put in down the side of the house. Today I’m hoping to get the lawns mowed at our house and the community gardens so everything is tidy for when we leave for our break tomorrow.

Well have a good one everyone.

Anzac65

10:26 pm
9 Oct 22
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Hello all from a soggy Sydney. The sun is back today but wow did we get some rain on Saturday. Not as bad as predicted thankfully but still pretty grim

So nice to hear from you G’day, thanks for posting so we know you are ok. The weather certainly is all over the place and I agree it makes it hard to exercise. I’ve barely done any for a few days as I have a bad cold and pretty much just resting. It is showing on the scales as they have crept up but hopefully I can get on top of this soon

Sorry to hear you finally succumbed to Covid Thin. I hope your symptoms don’t get any nastier and what a trooper to still manage to fast whilst unwell. I know I couldn’t

Neil my head is spinning at the level of activity on your weekend! Your break sounds wonderful, enjoy.

Good for you for getting back on the 5:2 horse Lindsay, you’ll knock it out of the park. I too miss travelling and while we have our lovely trip to Vanuatu coming up at Christmas we can’t look at anything more adventurous for a while. Mr Anzac is keeping a careful eye on the Qantas website looking for business/first class reward seats to gauge how many are around and there are none. Zip. Nada. So many people hoarded ff points during covid they are gobbling them up as soon as they appear. We hope to maybe do a trip next September / October if all continues to go well with Mr Anzac’s recovery. We really want to go to Egypt, Turkey, Greece and back to Venice and London – but only if we can jag business or first reward seats. We have over 1.5 million points but they are useless if you can’t find seats. Gah!

I’m sorry to hear you are suffering awful CFS symptoms Cinque. You shouldn’t have to wait an hour for a simple blood test, that really is terrible. I hate blood tests as I have teeny weeny veins that run away and hide when a needle approaches. I had chest pain last Monday so the doctor sent me down the hall to their pathologist to do an ECG (all clear) and blood tests. She had 3 attempts and had to give up and told me to come back the next day, which I did, and she managed to get some blood. I also had a a chest x-ray and that was all clear too. So a mystery as the pain was gone the next day. Glad to get it all checked anyway

Sorry, a long ramble so I really should go and do some work. Take care all and hi to everyone I haven’t mentioned

Cinque

12:04 am
11 Oct 22
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Hello everyone from beautiful Melbourne,

It is a bit chilly this morning but we should have a day and a half of warm weather before the deluge.

Thin, so sorry to herar you have got covid. I do hope you are recovering already.

My doctor sent me to get a blood test in case my worse symptoms lately might be after effects from asymptomatic covid, but it turns out I haven’t had covid and I can see that I’ve been doing too much lately (with visiting my sister and grandma stuff) so hopefully staying still will mean my symptoms subside a bit.

Congratulations on the excellent 5:2ing and all my fingers crossed that you can get a trek to see gorillas! What a wonderful thing it would be to do with Vet Girl!
Well, Vet Woman now.
How did those years go by so quickly? What a wonderful adventure she is beginning.

Lindsay, were you able to start 5:2 again after that elegant French birthday meal with your bestie?

Yikes 17 pups! Rosy, 8 will be fine!

I’m also hoping you can at least get to your island getaway soon.

Gday, Hello! I love it when you manage to check in.
Yes, the weather has been (almost) that changeable here too.
I do hope you get your cooking mojo back, but well done for managing (fairly 😉 ) wisely without it.

Maybe the first step will be to manage some bulk meals that you can chill or freeze and then microwave through the week?
That’s what I want to do, sigh. I am too frightened to write a list, it will reach out the door!

Thanks Neil, I have slowed down. Phew.
So glad you had a good frisbee weekend and best wishes for that new garden and an absolutely wonderful break. Good luck with the OMAD too.

Hello Anzac and Soggy Sydney!
Fingers crossed Mr Anzac can nab a great holiday for you.
Ooh that chest pain must have been a fright, so glad it has gone away.

My veins seem to be okay but my blood flows slowly! I think it is that slight dehydration I am constantly battling with. Anyway everything was normal from the blood tests (including no sign of previous covid) so that is a good thing.

Ok, if I had that list that went out the door, it would include putting up my bread for it’s second rise and getting some henna on my hair. I am off to see what I can do.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this already but there is a new podcast I am loving. Very American and sweary, I will warn, but fab breakdown of so many weight loss scams, science and advice. If you like research and analysis you might love it too. The School Lunches one is the best breakdown of what makes for suspect research that I have ever read (listened to).
https://maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com/

Best wishes all

thinatlast

9:56 am
11 Oct 22
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Cinque, lovely to hear from you and I hope things settle down for you. You haven’t mentioned the community centre activities so I hope that’s going well and not contributing to wearing you out.

Anzac, Vanuatu is exciting! And it sounds like the world will be your oyster with all those Q points. Hopefully they become available around the same time that Mr A is able to travel as far afield as Europe.

I’m afraid we’ve always had a low opinion of Qantas, but especially now. I don’t understand how they enjoy the reputation and loyalty they seem to command. Fifteen contacts so far including numerous useless calls with its absurd call centres in China and the problem is still not resolved. And why can’t they find an Australian for the top job?

Between them and Optus allowing my personal details to be hacked three years after I ceased to be a customer, I am not impressed. My own little home based business had a secure website with a more robust search engine back in 1993, well before these major forces in the Australian economy even had a website. How do they survive in business?

Well that was a good rant!

Thanks for asking. Our covid symptoms were quite assorted but I would say mild and short-lived in the scheme of things.

Anzac65

7:30 am
14 Oct 22
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Good afternoon and happy Friday all

Finally a lovely sunny spring day with warmth and even a bit of humidity. The washing dried in an hour so that always indicates summer is on the way

Glad your covid symptoms were short lived Thin and I loved your rant. We have had our issues with Qantas and once Mr Anzac sent an email to the CEO directly (we read somewhere that you could do that and guessed his email address based on other Qantas email addresses) and lo and behold a very senior and professional lady called us from Melbourne to address our issues. They were resolved in 10 minutes! We were owed credit points from a cancelled flight plus we were due a big lot of bonus points for getting a Qantas cash travel card. They said we hadn’t met the terms and conditions for the bonus points but we had a good argument and she graciously gave in. Win!

I hope you have managed to slow down enough to feel better and recover Cinque.

I’ve lost 2 kilos in 2 weeks so feeling good about that. Onwards and downwards! We are hosting another lunch for a second thankyou lunch to some friends who have were so supportive when Mr Anzac was so unwell. I am cooking (eeeeeeek) and it is Italian and there is nothing remotely diet about it. I’ve pre-made mushroom arancini from scratch and made a nice roasted capsicum and garlic sauce to have with it. I know that boscaiola is a favourite for three of the friends so I’m doing a chicken version with mushroom, bacon, shallots (green onions) and….yep….cream. Yikes! Mr Anzac has made a greek mosaico chocolate log for dessert but as I don’t have a sweet tooth I will most definitely pass on that one.

Hi to everyone else, I hope you are all ok. Have a great weekend

Anzac65

7:39 am
14 Oct 22
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Forgot to add that Mr Anzac makes his own pasta so that will be an extra special addition to our nice lunch!

thinatlast

7:53 am
14 Oct 22
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Anzac, well done on the two kgs off. Don’t worry about the feast – smallish portions as you will possibly have leftovers to enjoy on another day. Although as yummy as that all sounds, maybe not. Laughing at your Q issues and still marvelling at the number of points you two own. I won’t give up til I get a result. Have a lovely time with your friends.

Cinque

11:08 pm
14 Oct 22
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Hello,

Thin, oh dear, Qantas and Optus woes. I am so sorry.
Hooray for getting the mild end of the covid possibilities (thanks vaxx!), and recovering well.

Anzac, yay, how nice to see the scales going down. Double nice because it is an indication that life has been a bit more manageable overall.
I hope you have/had a delightful feast with your friends. Omg homemade mushroom arancini, my mouth is SO watering!
Cheers to Mr Anzac!

Well, I finished up my group on Wednesday. It just didn’t get any impetus and the two people coming were concentrating on losing weight, rather than maintaining.
One is doing some expensive, intensive online American course that was one of those: this fortnight you need to start the day with two pieces of fruit and next fortnight no fruit at all and red meat or something, and lots of psychology. She likes to share how good it is.
And the other participant had just been diagnosed with diabetes and first found 5:2 good, but then found she was bingeing on NFD days and decided to go back to Weight Watchers, which they have both been on previously.
I tried to get the conversation back to maintenance in the future but they both were adamant that you just have to stay on Weight Watchers, and my brain just might have been imploding.
It felt irredeemable.
But at least one is happy with her online course and the other one has an appt with the dietician about living with diabetes.

I’m doing pretty well with my eating. Trying to get organised by cooking bulk meals. Yesterday I was hoping to make bulk layered ramekins to freeze. I managed to cook greens for the bottom layer, and soaked and cooked turtle beans for the middle layer, but that is as far as I got. So hopefully today the beans will become a tasty stew and I can prepare cauliflower and purple carrots for the top layer, and get it all in the ramekins and in the freezer.
Wish me luck.

Sending out best wishes to everyone
x

thinatlast

7:59 am
15 Oct 22
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Cinque, so nice to hear from you. Thanks, yes, we felt grateful for the boosters because one of two of those symptoms were a little scary and it was easy to see how vulnerable we might have been. We’re now in a major centre with walk-in boosters available but we’re not eligible for 28 days due to natural immunity. It’s the first time I’ve shopped at Aldi and not felt terrified!

Oh shame about the group but good that you saw it wasn’t going in the direction you’d intended. Especially if your own health was taking a bit of a hit in the process. Better that you can now concentrate on yourself, making those healthy ramekins to freeze and tackling the list that goes out the door.

Neilithicman

9:53 pm
16 Oct 22
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Morning all,

I’m back from a good week away. We had good weather, beautiful scenery, awesome bike rides, kicking back in the hot pools, and great food (I’m not expecting much loss on the scales because we stopped off at the cheese factory and sweet factory in Oamaru, the salmon farm in Twizel, and the famous pie shop in Fairlie, plus we were doing the whole travelling eating thing. Stopping off at cafes and bakeries to grab lunches while we were driving.)

There were only two things that marred our trip were an incident in the car park of the salmon farm at Twizel where a guy reversed into our bikes. Luckily no damage to our bikes but there was a dent in the back of his car. The second was on the last night of our holiday the rugby club beside the place we were staying decided to have a loud party that went until 3am and I had to get up to drive back home the following morning. Needless to say, I had a couple of coffees on the way home.

I’ll have a catch up on the posts from the last week later this morning

Have a good one everyone.

Cinque

11:03 pm
16 Oct 22
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Good morning everyone,

Neil, what a great break.
And how amazing to have a dent in that car and no damage to the bikes.
I do hope you have caught up on sleep. Yuk, those long loud parties.

Thin, that long list just about gave me PTSD. I need to brace myself to look at it again.

Sending out best wishes to everyone.

I don’t think I am well enough to visit my sister again, and she is in the last stages of her cancer now. The cancers have got so big there is no treatment possible and she probably only has a few more weeks. I am hoping we can manage some more zooms. But my heart is breaking.

Making the most of every precious day.

LJoyce

4:27 am
17 Oct 22
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The absent LJ finally reappears.

It’s been a while and as yet I haven’t gone back and read all the posts I’ve missed as I know myself too well. I’ll find so many things to respond to that I’ll feel overwhelmed and I’ll put it off. So I’ll start instead with a quick catchup of what I’ve been up to and get back to normal posting this week.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago my aunt’s house has been sold to settle her estate. Her son has been clearing out 70 years worth of “stuff” for several months and has refused all repeated offers of help until the sale contract was signed. He then finally accepted that he no hope of doing it all himself and allowed my cousin’s daughter and I to help. It’s been tiring and slow and working in spaces that were musty and mouldly has not been good for my lungs. We finished about 10 days ago, but I have many boxes of photos, letters and other keepsakes that my cousin has asked me to go through and categorise. I’m making progress, although some photos date back to the 1890s and the only person in them that i recognise is my grandmother as a child. This isn’t the first time I’m I’ve lamented that we don’t sit down with older relations and go through old photos and name people. Those of us left behind haven’t a hope of recognising who anyone is.

The school holidays were busy, but it was fun doing things with the kids. I also spent some time with my cousin’s daughter and her two kids – since my cousin died earlier this year, she and her husband have had no babysitting options and I intend to help them. I suggested we have a couple of day outings in the school holidays where we worked out whether the kids would be comfortable being left with me. We knew their daughter would be fine, but their son is autistic and need to be with people he sees very often and trusts. It actually went well so I think we’ll be fine with me babysitting as long as it’s at their house to minimise the amount of change.
I know I don’t need more responsibilities, but I’m very attached to my cousin’s family and I do want want to help. They are very kind to me.

My activity levels have also picked up pace a bit as my best friend retired two months ago and I’m finding we make plans to do things throughout the week. Instead of just one walk together on a weekend, we are now going places and walking 2-3 times a week. The company is nice and the extra walking is good for me, but it adds to an already busy weeks. That said, I have to hurry with this post as she is due here soon – we are going to the Mockingbird Cafe (an eclectic cafe, gallery and bookshop) at Glenelg this afternoon and a walk along the esplanade. https://www.mockingbirdlounge.com.au/

There has been one more change in my life, but to explain I need to introduce you to someone: https://imgur.com/a/G38OKEU
Friends of a relative needed to rehome her, so I offered to take her. It’s sooner than I thought I was ready for a cat, but there is always going to be something I think I should do first, so I decided to just say yes. I’ve had her for week and she has finally settled in after a fearful first few days, poor little thing. The young boys in her previous family named her Silver and that’s all she’ll answer to at present, but if I can get her to answer to Sylvia then I’m make that change. She’s only been here a week but has already brought joy to my life.

I did stick with my eating plan through the whole of winter and got down from 89kg at the end of autumn to 81kg by the beginning of spring. I’m not being as strict now but have thankfully remained at 80-81kg. I want to get down into the 70s again but I feel much less panicked about it at my current weight.

I must go and get ready for my afternoon outing. Take care everyone.
I will catch up on all the posts I missed and will post again soon.

Anzac65

5:56 am
17 Oct 22
Permalink

Hi everyone

Neil what a wonderful break you had, so active and I’m sure all that activity will offset any extra calories

Cinque, my heart breaks with you, I’m so sorry as I did not realise your sister was so ill. I knew nothing about the suffering that cancer brings until this year and I joined the Australian Bowel Cancer suffers and carers FB group. I hope you can manage some zooms as I’m sure that will bring some light for her. Every day now I wake and say my mantra out loud “Every day is a gift”.

Lovely to hear from you LJ and Silver/Sylvia is beautiful. I’m so happy that you were able to get down to 80/81kg. I’m still struggling to get out of the 90s but I seem to have my mojo back and am doing well at the moment, if a little slow

Another meeting looms at work, take care all

Neilithicman

1:56 am
18 Oct 22
Permalink

Afternoon all

I see that Michael Mosley has a new series of his “just one thing” podcast, except this one is all about sleep. I’m definitely going to follow that one because sleep is one of the things I struggle with. Getting to sleep isn’t too bad, staying asleep is what I struggle with.

Cinque, my heart is breaking for you too. It must be so hard to not be able to get some face to face time with your sister, zoom just isn’t the same.

Ljoyce, your new addition looks a lot like my sister’s cat. It’s a grey tabby that her daughters decided to name “Raincloud”

Thin, are people still masking in the supermarkets over there? We’ve pretty much done away with masks here but some people still mask up.

Anzac, You and me both it seems, although I’m struggling to get out of the 100s, let alone the 90s. My goal of 85-87 seems so far away.

The weather was a bit crap today, so I didn’t take my bike in. I was planning a big riding weekend away over labour weekend, but finances are a bit tight after our holiday last week so I’m going to can that. I’m just going to stay around Dunedin and do a few day rides around here that I haven’t done before. One that may be a bit ambitious is a big loop from Outram out to lake Mahinerangi and back past the Waipori power stations, it’s around 80 kilometers with over 1000 meters of climbing but I think my fitness level is up enough to handle it.

Well have a good day everyone.

Neilithicman

11:42 pm
18 Oct 22
Permalink

Morning all

Just a quick stop off to report that at my weigh in this morning saw no change to my weight from last week, so Anzac was right, the extra exercise I did with my cycling did offset the holiday eating.

Have a good one everyone.

thinatlast

10:36 am
20 Oct 22
Permalink

I did a highly unusual Tuesday FD this week. We’d spent the weekend with DD so that I could attend a foot clinic. I’d been on a waiting list in Oz for over two years, now it’s been three more and it’s not going to get better by itself no matter how hard I try to ignore it. The waiting list is only five months here but I must give serious consideration to the feasibility of elevating my foot for two whole weeks post-op, with loo trips on crutches the only permitted reason to get up. I thought I’d be getting a massive boot and be up and about immediately.

There have been a few meals out this week but I’ve managed to stay under 60kgs. DD collected us halfway across the country due to pesky rail strikes. The return was partly by bus. I find striking selfish as everyone is already suffering with 10% inflation. A train driver already earns more than a vet. Tighten your belt.

Cinque, I’m so sorry to read about your sister. I’d not realised her cancer was in its final stages. I hope you can get some pleasure from the zoom time and precious past memories.

Neil, like Cinque, I was also wondering how a car could incur more damage than a bicycle but maybe that’s karma. It does sound a dangerous occupation cycling on your roads. Please stay safe. Some people like us still wear masks in supermarkets but I’d say covid is largely forgotten despite high infection rates.

Anzac, how was the lunch for friends? I bet they loved every bite. Just for amusement purposes, not a whinge, I’m now on my 35th contact with Qantas, the latest being a phone call from Sydney last week to ask if this was a good time to talk – to let me know that someone would soon be contacting me from a different department. I said well it’s 2am but now that you’ve woken me up, yes, I can talk. No further calls …..

LJ, I’m so surprised that you’ve acquired a cat. Are you planning to re-activate your covid-interrupted o/seas travel, your main reason for downsizing? I assume it’s no longer possible to visit CalifD in her current challenging situation but wondered if the rest of your trip might go ahead? It’s so kind of you to do so much babysitting. Not my idea of a fun time at all, let alone on an ongoing basis. I might consider looking after a dog.

thinatlast

10:55 am
20 Oct 22
Permalink

Oh dear, a big long diatribe in duplicate, sorry! I’ve reported myself and hope to get one removed.

Neilithicman

9:54 pm
20 Oct 22
Permalink

Morning all

we were lucky with our bikes; they were on a bike rack that was attached to our tow-ball. When the guy backed into them the bike rack shunted sideways a bit which absorbed some of the impact. The guy ended up with a bit of a dent in the back panel of his car, we had nothing I could see on the bikes.

I managed a 600 calorie fast day on Wednesday, did ok yesterday until dinner time where I are a fair amount and ended up with around 2000 calories for the day. I’m going to try a second fast day for the week today, but I’m struggling to stay awake today. I didn’t sleep very well, I’m already onto coffee number 2 and it’s only 10am.

It’s a long weekend here this weekend so I’m looking forward to getting a bit more downtime and recharge.

Have a great one everyone.

LJoyce

7:17 am
21 Oct 22
Permalink

Good afternoon everyone.

I have finally caught up on a month of posts.

Cinque, my heart goes out to you right now. I am so sorry that you are unable to spend more time with your sister because you have your own health struggles. I hope she is well enough for you to have some phone or zoom conversations with her. It’s not the same as being there but all contact matters at this time and you will remember and cherish those conversations. Sending you hugs.

Anzac and Lindsay, after all of health battles your OHs have had, I’m so very pleased to read that they are both making good progress and reclaiming parts of their normal life. Such a blessing and I’m sure it’s a relief after the stress of a cancer battle.

Neil, I had a bit of a giggle about your bikes winning the crash test with a car. It says good things about your bike rack. Sounds like you had a great holiday with your family. How is your wife going in her journey back to better health?

Thin, the little holiday away from the boat sounded nice. Sorry to hear about your covid infection. You sound ok in your recent posts – are you both well now.
I have been planning to adopt a cat, but I’ve been putting it off until I got the garden finished and the house storage/robes reconfigured to better suit me. I haven’t finished those tasks yet, but this little cat needed a home so I though I might as well say yes as there will always be something that will be easier done without a pet around. Although I’m comfortable with dogs (we always had a family dog through my childhood), all the we had were mine as I had a tendency to bring strays home. I can book the cat into a cattery if I go away, although a neighbour has already offered to have her.
As to travel. I am actually planning a trip for the northern autumn 2023. I’m not recreating my cancelled trip this time, in part because of Cali’s challenging circumstances. I am also not wanting to do a trip yet that involves being crammed into a bus for days on end, being exposed to everyone’s germs (which is what the Canadian trip would involve). So I decided the safest choice was probably a river cruise as I’d have fresh air through the verandah on my cabin and most sightseeing is done on foot. I do plan to wear a mask during any air/bus travel, or when in a confined space with others. I’ve spoken with my doctors and they are comfortable with the risk as long as I remain fully vaccinated and obtain good medical travel insurance. I decided I can’t put my plans on hold forever and I’m hoping that by the latter half of next year I will be able to have both an annual flu and covid vaccine. I’m currently looking at river cruise options for the Danube as I’ve only been to western European countries before and most of these cruises are to places I’ve not visited. This type of trip gives me a lot of control over the amount of sightseeing and the amount of walking I do. It will be a good test of just what my body can cope with. I am also hoping that by waiting a further 12 months the airlines will have gotten their act together by then. Although I have bought a cabin sized trolley case and am planning to manage with only cabin baggage.

Lindsay, lovey news about the imminent arrival of some little red puppies. I’m sure we are all waiting impatiently for the photos.

GDSA, It sounds like you are doing better some days, but still struggling. I am hoping that the number of better days grows and that you can find joy in those things that you used to.

Hello to everyone else, I hope you are going well.

In my previous post, I mentioned the weight loss through this recent winter. It was a surprise for me as I never manage to lose weight over winter – I’m usually celebrating if I can just maintain. I though it might be helpful if I explained how I approached it. (Useful for me to write it down and reflect so I learn.)
I thought about what normally drives weight gain for me in cold weather. I have a stronger appetite and I crave warm comfort foods, especially things that contain starchy carbs, sugars and fats. To counteract this I decided to cut out most starchy carbs and added sugars over winter. I did this because I knew I needed a moderate carb intake to help manage my appetite. I aimed for no more than 30% of my daily calories from carbs and for most of those to not be from starch or sugars.
Then I found substitutes for the foods I knew I usually sought out in winter:
-I used cauli rice or mixed veg rice instead of grains.
-I stopped buying/making high fibre breads and sourdoughs and bought small low carb wraps or mini wholemeal pitas instead. This was important as I usually eat a lot of toast in winter (including toasted sourdough fruit loaf as a favourite afternoon snack). It meant I could still make a sandwich or even a mini pizza.
-I replaced my usual bowl of muesli or porridge with a bowl of berries topped with a little greek yoghurt and a small sprinkle of muesli as a garnish.
-I cut back a little on my usual fruit intake and added more raw veg snacks instead (eaten with hummus or ricotta). The fruit I did buy included plenty of berries (expensive, so they continued to feel like a treat) and I switched out my usual apples with those intended for kids lunchboxes (100g instead of 200g each). I mostly avoided the high fructose fruits.
– I usually crave hot desserts in winter, so ditched the bread and butter pudding and made stewed fruit served warm with a little greek yoghurt. I did rhubarb with strawberries and mixed berries with apple – sweetened with stevia.
-I monitored my NFD calorie intake much more closely than I usually do.
-Each week I replaced 3 of my usual winter dinners with warm salads (a big bowl of mixed leaves, with some cherry tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot or grated cabbage and a small piece of lean marinated chicken/lamb/beef that I added to the salad along with the pan juices. I normally can’t abide salads in winter, but the addition of hot meat actually made it very palatable. As I don’t cope well with food waste, I bought a family sized bag of salad each week – enough for 3 large bowls. It forced me to stick with the warm salad plan as I didn’t want to have to throw food out.
-I added two extra FDs each month. This allowed me to maintain 2 days between each FD but those extra days really helped to keep the weight loss moving each month.
-I made sure I met my activity targets each week – I aimed for a minimum of 50,000 steps a week. It not a high target, but it’s what my body can reasonable manage and it puts my TDEE around 1650.
– I aimed for FDs at 500 cals and NFDs at 1500. If I had a meal out and couldn’t control the food choices I just ate what was on offer and got back on program for the next meal. I have a bad tendency to stress about eating out and this was really the most relaxed I’ve ever been about it – that was helpful, as not beating myself up about being off program for one meal meant that I could put it behind me quickly and move on. It felt like much more normal behaviour.
Once I got back to the bottom of the 80s and could fit into most of my normal clothes again I eased off a bit. I’m mostly doing just 2 FDs each week now – unless there are a lot of meals out when I’ll add a third. I am not as careful to avoid added sugars and starchy carbs now, but I rarely consume these at home – they are occasional treats when I’m out and I really do look forward to them. Getting sourdough or ciabatta with a cafe meal feels like a great treat now. One thing I am mindful to do is to ask myself when consuming high sugar/fat/starch foods is “is it worth the calories”? If the answer is yes then I slowly enjoy every mouthful and will happily get back to leaner fare at home. If the answer is no then I stop eating it and consider whether I’m ok with that or whether I want to buy something else that will be worth it so that I can actually have my planned treat. The decision I make on this varies, although mostly I am happy with just stopping at the couple of mouthfuls I’ve had if I decide something just isn’t up to par.

I am having my nephew’s kids stay overnight tonight as their parents have an event to go to. It will be the fist time they have encountered my cat. Not sure how that will go as the cat is still settling in and is very timid around new people and kids are not good at holding back and patiently waiting for animals to get comfortable with them. I’m expecting to have a very stressed cat by the time they leave tomorrow morning.

Speaking of meals out, I have a birthday brunch to go to tomorrow. It’s at someone’s house so I am not in control of the food. Although I am taking the birthday cake (orange and passionfruit bundt with a cream cheese filling). Given the extra calories tomorrow, I am fasting today – my third this week. Luckily the kids are bringing Mexican take away with them tonight for their dinner, so I have a coleslaw salad with grilled beef (plum sauce marinade) planned for my dinner.

Take care all. I hope you are having a good day, and for those of you that aren’t I hope tomorrow is better.

thinatlast

8:24 am
21 Oct 22
Permalink

I’m so happy to read ‘fasting’ mentioned on this thread again!

Neil, sounds like you’re doing well, great to hear.

LJ, ha ha, I needn’t have apologised for the length of my post! Good catch up and great travel plans. I’m so pleased that you’ve done so well with your fasting and weight loss, especially while not posting here as I know the latter has been an important part of your staying accountable. So, you are weaned it seems! I need not have worried about you.

What did you mean by the airlines getting their act together? My OH is able to get a covid vax twice yearly due to his age. With your vulnerability, you might be able to also. Not only does the efficacy diminish anyway but the latest vax addresses the latest viral strain. Yes thanks, we are fine. Mine was vey mild and short-lived. OH has a lingering productive cough and says he feels weak.

LJoyce

1:24 am
23 Oct 22
Permalink

Good morning all.

Having the kids (9 and 10) to stay over Friday night was fun but tiring. They were much more patient with the cat than anticipated and she rewarded them by eventually allowing a few pats. My great-niece had to just about sit her hands to prevent herself from reaching for the cat all the time, but she was delighted when she finally got to pat her.

Yesterday’s brunch was lovely, but I ate a bit too much – brioche sliders, sushi, quiche, cheeseboard with sourdough and dips, fresh berries, cake. Everyone was sent home leftovers. I have a wedge of the lovely veggie quiche and will cook some veg to go with it for dinner tonight. As I fasted Friday I decided to postpone my usual Sunday fast until Monday (otherwise it would be 4 FDs in 8 days – too much).

Thin, my comment on the airlines relates to the many instances of delayed flights, cancelled flights and luggage that doesn’t get loaded. Due in part to airlines trying to quickly ramp back up to a full flight schedule, when they haven’t been doing that for a couple of years. Continuing staff shortages has also been an issue. It looks like the problems are decreasing, but I’d like it to be operating more smoothly before I fly anywhere. (The issues with checked baggage is what led me to think of the cabin only baggage option. I am yet to determine whether I can fit sufficient for 3 weeks in a cabin bag.)
As for access to covid vaccines, I have had 5 (all original formulation) which is all I’m entitled to in Australia at the moment. The only people who can get vaccines in Australia are not fully vaccinated. That means those who have not had 2 initial doses (or 3 doses if immune compromised) and then 2 boosters. The updated Moderna vaccine that offers better cover for Omicron was recently approved here, but until those of us that are fully vaccinated are allowed to have another booster I can’t access it. I don’t know how they intend to approach this issue in the future, but I suspect they may move to an annual booster.

After lovely spring weather last week, the rain has returned. It has been raining steadily all morning. Lovel for the garden but a bit too heavy to consider walking with a raincoat – I draw the line at anything stronger than drizzle. I hope it lets up as I did little exercise yesterday and I really need a walk today. I do need to do some grocery shopping, so I may need to add extra laps of the isles.

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

thinatlast

8:34 am
23 Oct 22
Permalink

Too bad I couldn’t count you in for a fast today LJ, but it sounds like you’ve been doing plenty of them. I had a good week eating wise until yesterday when we tackled 20 locks and the volunteer lock-keeper suggested a break halfway down with a visit to a little canal shop selling cake. I’m not much of a cake eater but there was a huge selection of moist looking, home-made cakes and I gave in. That kick-started the rest of the indulgences including half a glass of red wine, three crackers and cheese when we finished the locks and then, showing how ridiculously addictive is sugar, apple crumble and cream after a fish dinner. Still under 60kg after that lot but Sunday fasting welcome.

I’m surprised you aren’t considered among the vulnerable with your lung infection issues. Same in UK/Europe with the airlines this past summer but I think things have settled down now. If you can wear any heavy clothing required for your trip, you should get away with hand luggage. When we go to Spain, we need coats, scarves, hats and gloves for the return trip. We wear it all for check-in and then pack all those items into a carrier bag once on board. Glad the cat survived the visit.

Have a great day all.

Neilithicman

8:58 am
23 Oct 22
Permalink

Evening all.

It was a super day today so I went for a huge bike ride out to Lake Mahinerangi and Waipori Falls. It was 81 kilometres and 1500 vertical metres of climbing. It was also over loose gravel roads so I was taking it cautiously and it took around 5 hours. Needless to say I didn’t have a fast day today. Yesterday I did a bit of work around the frisbee golf course to get it ready for the open day today. Hopefully tomorrow I can have a bit of a rest.

Thin, sounded like a busy day and you did enough to earn your apple crumble and cream.

Ljoyce, that’s spring for you. Today we had sun and mid 20s temperatures. Tomorrow is supposed to be pouring rain and 15 degrees.

I’m hoping for a fast day tomorrow. I ate around 3,000 calories today but my ride burned around 3,500 so I should be good.

Have a good one everyone

GdayfromSA

4:38 am
24 Oct 22
Permalink

Hello all, Again, I haven’t been reading posts but I did see that Ljoyce has a new 4 legged friend who looks very adorable indeed. I’ve always been a 2 cat and 1 dog household (although in the past the dog count did rise to 2 for a few years) and Miss Gday and I wouldn’t be without our furry children, and our feathered ones too.

The days are still flying by but at least I am motivated to get things done, although my ‘to do’ list gets added to as soon as something gets ticked off. I have also found the motivation to start my Diploma studies and to my surprise the first 5 units I have received Recognition of Prior Learning so that has cut down the amount of work to be done to complete the studies.

Another positive is last week I was accepted into the Government funded Self Employment Assistance Program. With this I receive government financial support for up to 40 weeks while I set up the business; but there are conditions – one of which is I must complete a Cert III in Entrepreneurship and New Business, plus I receive business mentoring and other bits and pieces too so it’s defiantly worth the effort. The Cert III studies started today, via online virtual training, every Monday and Tuesday for 6 hours a day, plus extra hours outside of this. So here I am back to doing 2 qualifications at once, but I must say that in the last week since starting my Diploma and after today’s induction for the Cert III I am enjoying being back in study mode. The Cert III should be a doddle given I have done a lot of the same work in my other studies over the years.

I have also re-arranged my office and gym to a much open, workable area, plus made some space for a sewing and craftwork area where I can leave everything permanently set up. Nothing worse than having to set up and pack up all the time, puts me off doing things. Now I have the sewing area set up I can sew the curtains to section off the storage area. I did get a quote for built in cupboards but at $7,000 it was way over my budget plus I couldn’t justify the price for a few shelves and doors.

Activate plan B – I purchased heavy curtains from Spotlight online which were on sale and some hardware items, ceiling hung curtain rods and for about $250 I will have my sectioned off storage area – much more affordable than $7,000. I’ve been collecting second hand filing cabinets for quite awhile now which cost me between $10 to $20 each,so they are my storage cupboards with plastic crates stacked on top of the cabinets for other bits and pieces – all tucked away behind the floor to ceiling curtains along the back wall of the room.

I must go, Miss GDay will be home from school soon and I’ve run out of my homemade muslie so i need to make some more. I love it so much that I feel deprived when I don’t have a bowl each day, plus I will motivate myself to make a vegie stir fry for tonights tea.

Happy Monday everyone x

Cinque

12:35 am
26 Oct 22
Permalink

Good morning everyone,
My dear sister died early yesterday morning at home, with her children around her. Palliative care was wonderful, so she didn’t suffer.
We were so close, she was with me when my daughter was born, and was always loving and giving. Everything, all the time, is reminding me of her.
Thankyou all, for your kind words.
It was only 6 months ago she was diagnosed. They did warn it would be slow at first and then very quick but, of course, while it was slow, we were hoping for miracles.

LJoyce, so glad to see your posts!
You have been SO busy, and needing to look after your own health, including diet, at the same time, and you did it all, even over winter. Congratulations!

A difficult job still, with those photos and keep sakes. I guess you will have to be practical and just add what info you can that is quick and easy. It will be a huge boon for the next generations.

Lovely to read about you being able to spend more time out and about with the good company of your friend. And hello silver Sylvia cat! She looks beautiful.

Neil, I’ll chase up those new MM podcasts.

Thin, I hope your foot operation works out well, very tricky with life on a narrow boat.

Gday, wo! life is busy for you but so productive and all looking so well for your new business. Enjoy that muesli!

Best wishes all

Neilithicman

2:43 am
26 Oct 22
Permalink

Cinque, I’m so sorry to hear that, I can’t even pretend to know how you’re feeling but I offer my deepest sympathies. I hope you have plenty of support around you during this time of grieving. Virtual hugs coming from New Zealand

My weigh in today was same as the last three weigh-ins. Not going down but at least it’s not going up.

I hope everyone else is well.

thinatlast

8:13 am
26 Oct 22
Permalink

Cinque, so sorry for your loss. Some solace for you that your sister passed away at home with her family present and without suffering. A sad time for you all. Take care.

Anzac65

11:28 pm
26 Oct 22
Permalink

Dear Cinque, I am so very sorry for your loss. Sending massive hugs across the country for your heartbreak

Lovely to hear from you G’day and to hear about the assistance you are getting for your business. I hear you about that to-do list, it is endless but all you can do is tick one thing off at a time. $7000 for some shelves and doors is ludicrous

The sun is finally out and it is lovely to be in shorts and summer tops

Neil steady weight is better than increasing so that’s great. I was stagnating too over the past little while but have hit the ground again and have seen slow downtrend this week. I hope to be back in the 80’s in a few weeks.

It was our 30th wedding anniversary on Tuesday and back in March I wasn’t even sure that Mr Anzac would be here after his cancer diagnosis. I certainly did not think we would be able to celebrate but here he is, cancer free and almost recovered from the two big surgeries. We are going out for an early dinner and a show (Moulin Rouge) on Saturday

Thin = 20 locks is a lot to conquer so a small setback foodwise is not a problem. Especially not for you – my warrior 5:2 inspiration!

LJ have you settled on a name for Silver/Sylvia yet?

Hi everyone else, happy Thursday

LJoyce

7:23 am
27 Oct 22
Permalink

Cinque, I’m so very sorry for your loss. I hope the many wonderful memories you have of your sister provide some comfort. Thinking of you and sending you hugs.

thinatlast

9:07 am
27 Oct 22
Permalink

Anzac, congratulations on your 30th Anniversary. An extra special milestone this year given what you’ve been through. Have a wonderful celebration. Enjoy that summer weather. Thanks for the info you sent about the gorilla trekking. I’ve since learned that it wasn’t even a ‘thing’ when I was right there in 1980. Tourism began in 1993. We wanted to spend Christmas there with DD before she heads off to South America, We’ve done a lot of research over the past weeks, even got some prices (not as outrageous as we’d expected) but, after several family discussions I think we’ve come to the conclusion that the recent ebola outbreak makes it not worth the risk at this time.

thinatlast

8:34 am
28 Oct 22
Permalink

P.S. Anzac, I got my Qantas issue resolved. 39 contacts. Six weeks.

thinatlast

8:36 am
31 Oct 22
Permalink

Ha, well I’ll just keep the thread going all by myself until someone else appears! It was a good Sunday FD for me. Chicken provencal and a tidy 800g dismissed. Happy Halloween.

Neilithicman

7:53 pm
31 Oct 22
Permalink

Morning all, man it’s been pretty quiet here recently, but understandable with some of the things people have been going through recently. Cinque, I hope you’re going ok at the moment during your time of grieving.

Thin, I’ve heard of chicken provencal before but never had it. What sort of dish is it?

Anzac, congratulations on 30 years, it must feel so good after what you’ve been through recently to get out and celebrate. I hope you enjoyed the dinner and show. My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th in December.

I have been doing pretty well eating-wise this week, I had a slip last night because my sister-in-law dropped around some Diwali snacks, so I ate a bit of barfi, jalebi and murukku. The weather has been really sunny and warm recently, so I’ve been getting out and doing some gardening and riding. I’m hoping that will help with my weigh in tomorrow.

It was my birthday on Saturday and my wife gave me a go-pro type camera for my bike, unfortunately the bike mount didn’t fit my bike and I didn’t feel like spending more to get a new mount to fit the bike so I returned it and used the cash to buy some new tyres and pump for my bike.

Well I hope everyone is ok, and even if you’re not posting, that you’re still checking in. Have a great one everyone.

Cinque

2:20 am
1 Nov 22
Permalink

Can only do a quick update today, I’ll catch up properly soon, but just wanted to say I fasted yesterday. Hooray! It felt lovely.

thinatlast

9:16 am
1 Nov 22
Permalink

Cinque, great news. I’m pleased that enjoyed your fast and are probably experiencing your light and empty feeling today. Don’t worry, there isn’t much to catch up with here!

Neil, Happy Birthday. Shame about the go pro. I’ve been trying to get DD to use hers to record some of the surgeries she’s performed. I hope you had a fun Diwali celebration. A week or so ago, we heard fireworks and noticed quite a few piles of what looked like offerings next to the canal – fruit and colourful fabric and trimmings like from a sari. I didn’t make the connection.

Chicken provencal is made with chicken thighs, onions, tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini and red wine. I use a Hairy Bikers’ recipe and it’s hard to believe it’s a FD meal. It’s under 300 cals. I always feel really full. OH has rice with his. I just checked our recipe page to see if I’d posted it. It’s not there but I found a lot of other great FD recipes that I’d forgotten about. Unfortunately, the thread turned into general chit chat and lost its original purpose – but there are still lots of great ideas there. Meanwhile, here’s the HB version in case you get any cool days.
https://kitchenlaw.blogspot.com/2017/07/hairy-dieters-chicken-provencal.html

Neilithicman

7:55 pm
1 Nov 22
Permalink

Morning all

Well 5th straight week at the same weight. No loss, but no gain (well I was 100g down on last week but anything that’s within 100g of where I was, I count as being stable)

Cinque, great to see you stop by, even if it was for a brief visit. Glad you had a good fast day.

Thin, I’m not a big fan of wine in cooking but it might be worth a go. I was excited yesterday to see asparagus back in the supermarkets. The price of capsicums, tomatoes and cucumbers are starting to come down again so we’re definitely moving back into salad season.

Well have a good one everyone.

LJoyce

6:55 am
2 Nov 22
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Good afternoon everyone.

It’s been a few days since I posted, as the last week has been busy for me with lots of medical appointments and some walks with friends. My last appointment was this afternoon and I have a welcome few days at home now.

My eating has not been up to par this last week. Good FDs, but far too many treats on the NFDs. The unseasonably cold weather weather here has not been helping. I will get my NFDs into a better pattern.

My big news is that I finally booked a holiday today. I’m doing this one in Oct-Nov 2023. https://www.travelmarvel.com.au/trips/europe/eutc15/mar2023-dec2023
I looked at a range of options, but the travel company were offering to waive the single supplement for this date – which is a huge saving for me and makes it a much more affordable holiday. I had been thinking of doing a longer river cruise from Amsterdam to Bucharest, but it would have cost twice as much and spend too much time in countries I’ve already been to before. The tour I’ve booked goes only to places I’ve never seen, which is better value for me, given that I haven’t been to many places yet. Although I’m a bit nervous about arriving in a country where I don’t speak a word of the language and I’m not sure how many locals would speak English, but I’m sure it’s not as difficult as I’m fearing. I only have to manage for one day before joining the cruise – I decide to book a hotel room and arrive a day early – just in case my flight is delayed as I don’t want to miss the cruise.

Neil, happy birthday for last Saturday. I understand the temptation – I have a fondness for Indian sweets too. One of my absolute favourite sweets is gulab jumin – swoonworthy. Excellent that you kept your weight stable despite the indulgence.

Cinque, lovely to hear from you. Take care of yourself, we’ll be thinking of you.

Thin, the chicken provencal does sound very good – and similar flavours to chicken cacciatore (which I think uses white wine and adds black olives to the mix). Definitely casserole weather here at the moment. Our late spring weather feels like winter – it’s even snowing in some places.
I have a serve of your chicken and bacon casserole recipe for my FD dinner tonight – I’m really looking forward to that.

Anzac, a very belated congratulations on your anniversary. I get the impression that you and your husband make a pretty good team – not surprised you’ve lasted this long.
As to your question – my cat now recognises Sylvia as her name. Although I mostly refer to her as “gorgeous girl” (when I’m grooming her to remove the endlessly moulting hair) or “my little flowerpot” (when she takes up residence on the pot plant stand). https://imgur.com/a/zeKx2yO It’s amazing how quickly a new pet becomes such an important part of our lives.

GDSA, I’m so pleased that you are now ready to move forward with your career plans. Excellent news on the government support and the recognition of prior learning. I hope it goes very well for you.

It’s after 5pm now, I think that means I can heat up my FD dinner. I’ve been looking forward to it all afternoon.

Take care everyone.

thinatlast

8:39 am
2 Nov 22
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LJ, I get an error message for the link to your trip plans. so I can’t see which town you’re flying into but I’m sure if there’s an international airport, staff at the hotel will speak English. Happy to hear you were having the chicken and bacon casserole for your FD meal.

Anzac65

10:39 pm
2 Nov 22
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Happy belated birthday Neil!

LJ that trip looks fabulous, I’m so happy for you

Thin we have had a mad, massive debacle with Qantas recently. I won’t go into the detail as it is just boring but it still isn’t resolved, none of it was our fault and yet they have now charged my FF account 7,000 points to ‘help’ us on the phone. GAH!!

I’ve had a bad week all round, foodwise, workwise, travel plan wise so I need to get back on the horse and stop stress eating

How are you Cinque? I know you are grieving and I’m so very sorry

Have a great Thursday everyone

LJoyce

10:51 am
3 Nov 22
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Good evening everyone

Yesterday was an easy FD thankfully and I did a bit better with the snacking today too.

Because I’ve been busy, I haven’t felt much like cooking lately and have diminished the supply of precooked meals in my freezer. But today I had run out of excuses. I had an excess of fresh veggies in the fridge and the garden. A bit of pantry hunting unearthed a bag of chick pea flour. So, with the addition of lot of spices, that became 4 dozen pakoras. I don’t deep fry anything. I baked them in the oven on baking paper lined enamelled trays. I cook them until they are just set but not yet crispy – they are then ready for either the air fryer or deep freeze. I kept a few out for lunch and froze most. To airfry just spray lightly with oil and air fry for a few minutes until they are crispy. Lunch today was crispy airfried pakoras with a yoghurt-coriander raita and salad. Opening the freezer and seeing the big bag of frozen pakoras makes me happy – many more ready meals that I won’t have to cook for those days when I’m just not inclined to start chopping.

Thin, I’m flying into Budapest and I don’t speak a word of Hungarian. The link I included was actually the wrong itinerary – my river cruise is Budapest to Bucharest and then back to Budapest, stopping in different places on the way back. I’ve never been further east than Vienna, so I am looking forward to seeing a (very) little bit of Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The trip is 15 days from 30Oct-13Nov which is a month later than I was hoping to travel. It means taking cold weather clothes which is going to make my hand luggage only goal rather challenging.

Anzac, how is the job hunting going? When you last mentioned it, it sounded like there were multiple companies that may be interested. I hope you can find something that meets your needs, both financially and also allowing some home based work. It’s so hard to give that up once you realise how much easier it makes your life.
The Qantas issue sounds frustrating – I heard today that Choice gave them a shonky award for their behaviour over flight credits and lost luggage. I’m not sure who I’m going to fly with. I’ll let the travel agent hunt for the best deal among the airlines with a good safety record. If the price isn’t too eye watering I may fly premium economy so I have more room and a footrest – I’m just not sure if it’s worth paying twice the economy fare.

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.