Hello,

I’m hoping to do a proper catch up, and be quick, so that will be interesting!

My sister had a beautiful funeral on Wednesday and I was able to watch on livestream, which they did really well.

Neil, big congratulations on your weight staying stable. I am thinking more and more that that is the trick: to live in a way that our weight does stay stable.
That allows our brain and gut biome and hormones and everything else get into a good stable working relationship, and then losing some weight can be done slowly and sustainably.
Belated Happy Birthday wishes! https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT9pcayNVD9mdtr19H_vHsg16vf3RIuowohbw&usqp=CAU

Anzac, much belated Happy Anniversary wishes for such a wonderful milestone after such a fraught year. Blessings to you both.
http://i.123g.us/c/anniv_flwrs/pc/110536_pc.jpg

Thin, a sensible decision re gorilla trekking in Africa, but O I am so sorry it is not a good time to go.

LJoyce, your trip is so exciting! I carefully looked at your link, so I am very sorry it was not the right one. But how gorgeous to be checking out Eastern Europe, and they will be well set up, I am sure, to welcome people who only speak English.

I also thought of Thin and Anzac when the shonky awards were announced: ‘Qantas, The Spirit of Disappointment’ https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/consumer-rights-and-advice/your-rights/articles/2022-shonky-winners

Must go, I am going to zoom at 11am, but just with two sisters now. O my heart.

Best wishes to you all

Good morning from a lovely sunny Sydney. A rare sight these days

Cinque, I am so glad you were able to witness your dear Sister’s farewell. I do believe live-streaming came into being during Covid. I am so sorry for your loss

Thin, one of the UK ladies on the labrador forum had to take her pooch to the river the other day because it was so hot for this time of year. 20 degrees in fact. It is only going to be 22 here today and I call that chilly for this time of year. Glad you are also getting some sun

I finally got the courage to weigh myself after my terrible 10 days and boy does it go back on so much more quickly than it comes off. I am, as so often, extremely cranky with myself. I am also cranky because I hurt my knee yesterday and can hardly walk so there goes my nice walks for a little while.

I will need to change my username soon, once I leave my current job as I used my work email to set myself up here.

Those pakora’s sound delicious LJ. Re the job hunting, I am looking at two roles only at the moment. One is at one of the other big 4 banks and is all about payments which is my speciality. The other is at the regulator APRA and is a data role that also appeals as I love getting lost in data. It is early days and I’m currently waiting to hear back from the recruiters. I normally don’t use them but I haven’t had time to reach out to my contacts yet

I’m off to a friend’s birthday in Wollongong today, I’m getting a lift down but need to catch the train back and that will be tricky with my knee but I really want to go. I have presents for two birthday girls and also two thankyou gifts for some other friends who were so wonderful while Mr Anzac was so unwell. We held two separate thankyou lunches for our friends but these two were unable to make either. I’ve checked the lunch menu and there is a nice sounding chicken salad with lemon dressing that should hit the spot. Everything else is fried or covered in cheese. Ugh

I can’t remember if I mentioned that Mr Anzac is in New Zealand currently? He went over for a reunion plus to see his best mate for whom he was best man via livestream in February (NZ had shut the borders). How awesome that he is already well enough to travel like this, a mere 8 months after the first diagnosis. He has to wear protective clothing and take spare clothes in case but he was fine

Hi to everyone else, have a lovely Saturday

Anzac, yes, it was 20C here one day last week – in late October! Isn’t it possible to change the email address and keep your username here? Fabulous news that Mr A is jetting off all by himself. Gosh, a video link wedding! I think I’d have just postponed it. I hope the train wasn’t too painful and that you had a lovely time with your friends. Whenever I hear ‘Wollongong’, it reminds me of the bicycle I bought there on our way over to Perth.

Lindsay, good news on the weight loss. That’s significant. I was wondering how it was going as your last post said you were embarking on fasting again the next day.

Sorry to hear of OH’s latest health challenges. No wonder he’s feeling knocked about. I bet the puppies are cheering him up a bit. I know all too well about the squamous cell carcinoma. A nasty little fast growing thing. Mine was on my lower eyelid and my eye was sewn closed for a month while a skin graft was grown from the upper lid membrane to create one for the lower lid, then a new lower lid created from a graft taken from behind my ear. I had the Mohs surgery and a top plastics man did the grafting with an excellent outcome. All that could have been avoided had the correct diagnosis been made when I first reported it but five months passed with the doctor insisting it was a stye. Left another four months the specialists said it would have killed me. Avoid mole clinics.

Ha ha yes, presumed AJ had Oz citizenship as well as ‘Still Calling Australia Home’. Another friend mentioned the shonky awards yesterday but added that shortly after that announcement, he was awarded a $4m bonus for the past year’s work. After reading that report, no wonder LJ was talking of waiting until the airlines ‘get their act together’ with the baggage and delays.

We’re fine re covid, thanks for mentioning. I was over it within five days and OH, four weeks on, is still coughing but he does that anyway. I think his BP meds have that as a side effect. Or maybe he had man-covid.

Lindsay, yes that was Perth. Sorry, I do ramble and you’ve said before that you have excellent doctors – I really just meant to mention as a warning here that if there’s any question, see a dermatologist not the mole clinic. The latter are fine for zapping off common or garden moles, a real cash cow for them. They have the fancy machinery but an inadequate level of training for anything non-basic. I was fortunate that we could afford the level of expertise that suddenly became necessary because that wouldn’t have happened on Medicare. I got an outstanding result cosmetically (plus I didn’t die) and was mostly frustrated because we had to shave a month off a long-planned four month trip while that graft was cultured. Both the Mohs and grafts are fascinating surgeries actually.

As for the NHS, it’s bursting at the seams. I won’t elaborate on the various factors that I believe are contributing to that. When OH was given his spousal visa, he paid a king’s ransom to access the NHS which we were happy to do – we believe it can only survive if everyone expects to contribute something. The whole country is in an absolute mess at the moment as I’m sure you know. I’m probably not the best person to be making comparisons as, besides my eye thing, I experienced two other very serious medical profession screwups in Perth.

Morning all.

A lovely sunny day here in Brisbane – 25 degrees, which is cool for this time of year. Long may it last.

I am cleaning out the pantry, and I delighted to say that I’ve found nothing untoward. A tin of asparagus soup, which came from who knows where, and contains 15% asparagus. What do you think the rest is? Chemicals, probably. It’s been binned.

Calif it’s good to hear from you. A difficult time in your life, dealing with whatever comes your way in terms of your OH’s health. I understand perfectly. It seems sometimes here that we get one thing fixed, only for something to break out somewhere else.

Thin I take yor warning about those skin clinics. I see a dermatologist annually for my skin checks (our lovely young GP is a neck-up doctor for me). But my friend who until recently worked for a specialist dentist, said they too often found skin cancers in the mouth. I know my dermatologist doesn’t check my mouth.

Here’s another medical story I found amazing. A friend had cataract surgery last week. She said her specialist did 32 ….yes, 32….in one day, alternating between two theatres. Seems a bit production line to me …. even at 15 minutes per surgery, it would have been non-stop for 8 hours. Hope she wasn’t the last on the list.

LJ how wonderful for you to both have a new cat, and to be planning travel. I wouldn’t worry too much about language issues – it’s amazing how you can get by, when you are open to the challenges of travel, as you will be. I’ll look forward to hearing your plans, as they develop. BTW, we went to Ireland a few years ago on Cathay premium economy – worth every single last cent.

OK back to the pantry. Kind souls keep donating bottles and jars for honey – but we haven’t harvested this spring, so far, because the bees are slow in emerging with all the rain and cold weather, and any honey they have they need for their brood. So, my pantry is overflowing with empty containers.

Have a good day all.

Big hugs and thoughts Cinque.

Cinque, does this thread still open two pages behind the current one for you? It seems years since we reported this to JJ.

Neil, that horrid realisation that you’re coming down with something, ugh.

CalifD, nice to see your post but sorry things aren’t going so well for your OH again. It must be very difficult for you and your DS.

We once booked Premium Economy seats from India to Oz on Malaysian Airlines. When we got on board, we discovered that there was no such thing. The plane was filled with mosquitoes and utterly filthy. Now I’m used to dirty airplanes as we fly Ryan.

Turn, are you out there? Are you pet-sitting for Xmas? We’ve been selected to do a corgi-sit in Stockholm over Christmas. I’m just putting together a short cruise to Helsinki beforehand. Very excited as we’ve not been to Scandinavia before although DD has been to Iceland. After that, DD will head off on her adventure and we hope to go to Botswana for the rest of winter. Flight to Stockholm: £12.99.

Lindsay, I’ve noticed dentists checking around my mouth for abnormalities in recent years. They didn’t always do that.

Sunday Fast seemed to go well and when I woke in the night feeling hungry, I thought this is good, there’ll be a nice big loss in the morning. But only 400g down which is less than half my normal post-FD drop. Ho hum.

Morning all

Well two lots of good news and some bad news for me this week. Good news is I recovered from my cold reasonably quickly. I was feeling better by Monday morning just in time for work 🙁 Second good news is I finally saw some movement on the scale, I was down half a kilo this morning from what I was last week.

The bad news is I got knocked off my bike by a young driver on Tuesday. She didn’t look both ways before turning into the street I was riding along, clipped my front wheel and knocked me off the bike. I got off pretty lightly, just a graze on my palm and a slightly twisted knee. I’ll be off my bike for a couple of days with my knee, I hope it doesn’t take any longer than that to come right.

Cali, great to hear from you again even if it’s not good news on your partner’s health.

Lindsay, I think I need to go through our food cupboards too, we have some stuff in the bottom of it that have been sitting there for a long time. I’m guessing the rest of the soup is water/stock, but definitely plenty of chemicals no doubt. I’m really pleased to see asparagus back in season and appearing in the supermarkets over here, I love asparagus.

Thin, 500g is what I dropped in a whole week, so 400g in a single fast day is definitely nothing to be too downhearted about.

Cinque Little by little is the best way to make things stick. It seems to be working with me cutting down on dairy, I haven’t been getting the same stomach issues that I did when I was having cow’s milk in my coffee, I’ve cut down on the starchy carbs but my next goal will be to try and reduce them even further.

Anzac, I hope Mr Anzac enjoys his time here in NZ.

Well I hope everyone else is ok. Have a great one everyone

OMG Neil, can you just stop riding now please? Too many hits and near misses. How about a nice stationary bike in your house?

Cinque, that was a nice long post from you and it sounds like things are going alright. Poor flood victims. I don’t think it’s of any use to contact JJ on that glitch again – she said it would be a ‘very long time’ before it’s fixed and she was right. By ‘telehealth’, do you mean healthcare providers holding video calls with patients?

Lindsay, if that’s you holding the puppy, you are very slim. But I’m guessing by the stain on the shirt, it’s not you but possibly the vet. Are you keeping any puppies? Well done for persisting in the pursuit of your OH in the face of hostility! I’ve no experience with corgis and can’t say I’m a big fan of any selective breeds. I did ask DD about the ‘issues’ associated with the breed and before rattling them off, she said, ‘behavioural’. And I have to get reacquainted with the vacuum cleaner as corgis are big shedders. We were also offered sits with two chihuahuas in Denmark and a bull mastiff in Norway.

Hello everyone

Yikes Neil, I’m with Thin and your family. Find a cycle park and ride there! I hope your knee gets better quickly and glad your cold was short-lived

So glad your health has been a little bit better Cinque, may it continue. Still sending cyber hugs for your sadness and grief

Mr Anzac had a wonderful time in NZ. He has been best mates with this guy since they were 5 years old so over 50 years. He said they had belly laugh after belly laugh and he also caught up with some other friends. I’m so glad he went

I had a lovely day in Wollongong, I saw close friends again that I haven’t seen in such a long time. The train trip back was largely along the coast so the scenery was beautiful. I live in Southern Sydney so the trip was only one hour

Lindsay I am sorry to read that your OH is not doing so well.
I do hope things improve quickly. That puppy is gorgeous. If I didn’t still have PTSD from when Maxx was a puppy I’d have another in a heartbeat. Labs are knows as ‘crocopups’ and amongst the most challenging puppies to raise

Lovely to hear from you Cali, I’ve been thinking about you. Also glad that things have been going a little better with your OH, albeit with some setbacks lately. Hugs

How is the kitty-cat going LJ?

Thin, don’t mention the fur. When Maxx waddles around the fur just floats off him like little furry clouds. I should get the vacuum cleaner surgically attached to my arm. Those dog-sitting gigs sound amazing. Chihuahuas in Denmark and a bull mastiff in Norway. Wow

I’ve decided drastic action is required else I won’t want to go on our lovely holiday to Vanuatu. So for the past three days I have had very very few carbs after brekky (and then only the carbs in our homemade muesli) and NO SNACKING. I’ve dropped 900g in three days!

Work is still mad and now I have the added stress of having to document 3.5 years of knowledge into a handover document. I am already over the job search and I remember why I HATE recruiters. One idiot – the one with the job at the regulator that I was really interested in – didn’t submit my c.v. by the deadline. Oh but it was my fault you see, I rang and left a message saying I had some questions and it took over a week for him to call me back and therefore he missed the deadline. What the fruitcake? I told him, with icy politeness, just what I thought of that. I hope to get something before we go away so I’m all set for January but I’m not taking anything other than something perfect. Mr Anzac (the CFO) is jumpy about coming back and THEN having to do the job search but I (a) need a break and (b) will not take a job unless I am confident I can do well. He can just juggle the finances, we won’t starve. He and Maxx can always go out busking (LOL)

Take care all and hi to everyone else. Must get back to work. Ugh

Anzac, I think you’re absolutely right to wait for the perfect job. You’re highly skilled and much in demand so something will come up. Laughing about the Maxx fur. Our dingo (kelpie x) was like that. She slept in our home office and every morning there would be a dustpan full of hair. The other dogsits I mentioned were alternatives to the corgi, not in addition. We once considered fostering guide dog puppies until I researched the challenges of raising the breed they were using.

Neil, I know you won’t want to give up cycling. Being out on the open road must give a great sense of freedom. I’m sure you have reflective gear and flashing lights! Have you considered a mini trampoline for the days you can’t ride? Not now with your sore knee. When I was an obsessive runner (thirty odd years ago), I used one on the days I couldn’t get out. 45 minutes of trampolining gives huge benefits including, it was thought, anti-ageing. Not sure that part worked.

Good morning everyone from chilly (again) Melbourne,

I am still hoping I have missed getting covid, and still being reminded of my dear sister in everything I do and everything I think about.

I’ve been going well eating wise, but seem to just stay the same weight, which I am taking as a good thing since I am becoming more and more aware of the statistics that it is only a few percentage of people who can keep weight off after losing an amount.

Neil hooray for your two good pieces of news and so much sympathy for that bad news. I do hope you are healing well and quickly. Ooh what delicious ways your wife’s family have of looking after you. Good luck with keeping to sensible portions.

I think I told you all that my daughter is getting a ‘saved from the tip’ box of veggies each week, some funny shapes and sizes but good food, and I have scored the asparagus the last few weeks, so that has been such a pleasure. Some were huge spears but still tender.

Lindsay, I have also been watching the Magda Szubanski show, but I am more positive about it. I love that it is focused on obesity as a public health issue, and I am hopeful it will lead to better public health laws around ultra processed and high sugar foods.

I did feel the same cringe at the fat stereotype joke, but I am conflicted in my own head. I don’t want jokes based on stereotypes, but I also don’t want to allow my internalised anti fat bias to make me horrified by a ‘fat person eating’ joke. The show is strongly anti fat-shaming, so maybe she can want to eat instead of exercise without it being shameful. Still confused.

Hello to the puppies!

Hello Thin! yes you are right about telehealth, although with my doctor it has more often been just a phone call. So handy though.
I will try to let JJ know we need another clean up. She said it is the spam that causes it, but hasn’t there been so much less span as this site has lost popularity and yet the lag keeps creeping on.

Anzac, I am SO glad Mr Anzac had such a great time. Just what he needed.
Woot! for the no snacking and the excess weight lost.
Woot again for that icy politeness, haha.

I’m going to aim for a fast day tomorrow. I think I need to concentrate on it being higher protein to help me get through it. I’ll see.

Best wishes to you all

Yesterday I was locked out and required to give a reason for wanting to upload a post. It said I’d be notified when I was allowed back in. No such notification received but I’m back in today. I remember Anzac reporting on this once. Fortunately, I had saved my post so here it is:

~ . ~ . ~

Morning all, Sunday rolls around quickly. Squeaked in under 60kg so need a good 900g loss from today’s fast.

Lindsay, I wouldn’t risk giving ‘telehealth’ advice to someone I’ve never met but I would think management for all three of your OH’s leg issues would involve avoiding excessive strain. Presumably the medics feel that the Baker’s Cyst and hamstring tear will ultimately heal themselves and they’ve prescribed painkillers. It’s fortunate that your OH is trim and not putting excessive weight on the knee. I hope the surgery is straightforward – and Happy Birthday to you.

What’s involved with breeding puppies – why do they need to be under constant supervision? Is that for training?

We’ve had two sunny days of 16C. It feels warm for mid-November. I seized the day and did some touch up painting yesterday. The paint went on fine in the sun. Then we went for a walk across some Warwickshire paddocks. It’s getting dark early now and I am counting down the weeks until the winter solstace!

I now have the mini cruise to Helsinki booked. Surprisingly inexpensive – until I added a smörgåsbord for the three of us one night and the price literally doubled! The cabins were a pleasant surprise, modern decor, spacious and a sea view. The ship is putting on an ABBA tribute in one direction and a Queen tribute in the other so it will be fun. I’ve never been on a cruise and cruising doesn’t appeal to me at all (a friend in Perth described it as doing nothing but advancing and retreating from the buffet) but I can handle one night of feasting.

~ . ~ . ~ end ~ . ~ . ~

Cinque, good morning and all the very best for a fasty fast. I have never met the doctor who referred me for the toe osteotomy. I had to upload a photo of the deformity to a link he sent me and then he phoned me back to confirm my suspected diagnosis. I read that they get £50 for a five minute phone consultation. What a cash cow. I love wonky vegetables and always buy them here – but oh, the packaging, so excessive in England. I liked hand selecting every piece of fruit and veg in Perth.

What are the reasons given for only a small percentage of people being able to maintain a weight loss? I know in my own case it was foolishly returning to eating the calories needed to sustain my former weight. I did this twice after a significant loss. But then I found IF. Isn’t this the answer? We know that we are still tending to eat more than we require to maintain the new weight so we compensate by fasting one or two days a week. And that act of fasting helps us keep portion control in perspective on the other days and helps us make healthier choices overall. Not only do we lose a little weight after each FD, we don’t gain the little extra that we might have had we not fasted. Can’t fail – can it?

I did lose 900g yesterday so I am springing along happily today. Have a great week all.

Good evening everyone.

It’s been a rough few days here. We had a sever storm here with damage in pretty much every street. I was without power and internet for 2 days and relies who live in the Adelaide hills had a tree stuck by lightning with collapsed onto their roof – they now have some large holes covered with tarpaulins. They had to deal with the tree and the tarpaulins themselves as the emergency services were so overstretched. It’s still quite cold here but so much calmer.

A much needed FD for me today. My aversion to food waste proved a problem in recent days. As I was without power from Saturday to Monday, I panicked about food in the fridge-freezer. Most of the freezer was ok, but I had the fridge contents on ice and many items in the top drawer of the freezer had started to thaw around the edges. Once the fridge was back on that gave me 3-4 days to eat the partly thawed, bread, bacon, pakoras, vegetables, cream etc. I should have just thrown a lot of it away, but I didn’t. I’ve been madly eating – honestly it’s stupid behaviour. I put an end to it today by fasting. Everything I haven’t eaten won’t keep so now I do have to throw it out.

Neil, I’m impressed at how quickly you’ve recovered from the bike accident and also with your confidence at getting back on the road again. I do understand how important it is though, to stick with the exercise you enjoy the most – despite the risk. I hope your future cycling is accident free.

Cinque, good luck for your FD. I’m glad to see you are looking forward to a fasty FD – you weren’t up to those for a while.

Lindsay, happy belated birthday. I hope your husbands procedure went well.

Anzac, the kitty cat is going well thanks, but I am also experiencing clouds of hair as she moves. I can’t keep up with it.
I hope there is better news on the front soon, despite the incompetence of recruiters.

Thin, I know it’s not as far, but 12.99 to Sweden sounds amazing. I’m looking at over 2-2,500 to get to Europe on basic economy or 4-6,000 for premium economy.

I have been working on the back garden and have finally sourced the shrubs and climbers I need for the ornamental section and all the holes have been dug. Now I just need to drill holes in the fence to put up the wires for the clematis and I can plant. The only thing I still need to source is a ground cover to fill in the gaps around the salvias and an ornamental feature (still can’t decide between a very large pot or a bird bath or a potted lime tree). The other part of the back yard is the raised veggie beds that I finished a few weeks ago. The veggies are growing really well, despite the unseasonably cold and wet weather. https://imgur.com/a/tGAq69U I sourced some veggie support structures that were more expensive, but heavy duty and a bit more elegant and I hope long lasting. My favouite is my elegant bean support poles.

Take care everyone.

Morning all

The weather the last few days has been a bit gloomy. It’s still been reasonable temperatures, but just grey, drizzly and foggy but I still took my bike out. I’m hoping to get out this weekend and ride one of the new sections of bike trail that has opened up on the Clutha Gold trail.

Ljoyce, having herbs as a ground cover is good. It does the job plus you can use them in cooking. We have silver, variegated and regular thyme, variegated, golden and regular oregano, a couple of types of rosemary, purple and regular sage in our front ornamental garden.

Thin, That is dirt cheap flights. Even domestic travel is expensive over here, because Air New Zealand laid off half their staff during our covid restrictions and now they’re struggling to get workers back and mothballed planes back up and running.

Well I hope everyone is doing ok, have a great weekend everyone.

Anzac, the sooner this job ends the better, it sounds. Who needs all that stress in their life? What date do you fly away from it all?

Neil, yes, it’s a familiar theme everywhere. Flights were severely disrupted this past summer due to lack of airline and airport staff but a huge demand for travel. So many people were paid for sitting on their bums during covid and now we have the consequences. Same in hospitality. Walking down any high street, almost all shop, pub and restaurant windows display a sign needing staff.

Cinque, how are you going? Was it a great fast day?

Lindsay, hope OH’s surgery went OK.

I’m enjoying my second coffee after Sunday FD. 600g drop. The temperature has also dropped and it’s been raining quite a bit. We managed to get an appt for our covid boosters this week.

Good morning everyone,

Covid got me. Well, I presume it did. RATs have been negative but apparently they only have about 60% success rate with the new variants, and I am starting to feel better so I won’t chase up a pcr test. I have been isolating of course (very easy for me) and thanks to all those vaccinations it has basically been CFS symptoms with added nasty cough.

It has kept me away from the forum though, not even that much concentration.

Lindsay, I wondered if you watched the final of the Magda series and what you thought. It reminded me that it wasn’t actually about obesity, but about chronic illnesses, and I thought it was good about the need for a good public health response.

Thin, so exciting to be off to Helsinki (I was there in ’78! I wonder if it has changed at all 😀 😀 )

I love how you have your weight so beautifully managed with your regular weighing and know exactly what you will do and when.

I seem to be going a bit differently because too often the last couple of years I haven’t felt well enough for fasty fast days. I try… and just feel more and more dreadful.
But luckily that has been balanced out by getting better habits so that I am not eating more than I require so often, and some days eating that bit less than I require.
It is like blunted 5:2 but it is working for me and I am hoping you don’t all throw me off the forum for not doing it by the book!

It does seem that while ‘going back to your old ways of eating’ does play a big part in why people who diet put weight back on, there are other factors like changes in metabolism and hunger signals, and also changes our bodies made while we were fatter, like our fat cells stretching bigger, but basically there hasn’t been enough research. It is clear however that most people, over 90%, regain the weight and generally put on more.

Ooh I think I might do several posts to catch up. See you again soon.

Part 2.

Neil, hooray for less of a rollercoaster. Less anxiety producing, if nothing else!

When you spoke about being divebombed by the bird, I first thought you meant beak first, like magpies divebomb here in the nesting season, causing injury sometimes. So bird poop is better than a wound…. but only a bit.
Ooh I remember it happening to me (parrot, I was just standing still minding my own business) and I felt so picked on and affronted!
I do hope the helmet cleaned up nicely, as well as your poor head.

And I hope your workmates are quickly back on board!

LJoyce, I did think of you when that storm hit Adelaide. But oh dear, 2 days without power and internet.
Sympathy for the ‘how to not waste all that good food’ organisation kicking in. I am the same. In general it is such an important instinct.
It sounds like your garden wasn’t effected, and that you are all set to have it growing beautifully over summer. It looks extraordinary already! Are they zucchini? Ooh there is nothing like the tender little zucchini you can pick from your garden.
And it also looks like you will have tomatoes by Christmas!

Anzac, so much sympathy for your difficult weeks, but cheers and medals for getting through!
I do hope you manage to get to Vanuatu and have the absolute BEST time. If anyone puts you down for having extra bulges, feel free to punch them in the nose and tell them it is from me.

Ooh look, I think I have caught up. Best wishes all
xxx

Neil, I leapfrogged your post yesterday and when I saw it I was all ready to sympathise with the weight jump, and today, ha, it has gone.

Blame the scales, not the bodies!

But I am still intrigued by the way it takes several days for a bit of binge eating to show up on the scales. How does that work?

I feel a bit betterer today so off to clear up in the kitchen I go. Best wishes all.

Neil, like Cinque, I read your sniper post thinking it would have a violent ending. My OH was an avid cyclist before we left Perth and would often get dive bombed by aggressive magpies defending their nests. Your wife’s reaction was interesting!

Cinque, oh no, covid caught up with you. I think nowadays it’s a question of when, not if, we get it. We had our booster vax yesterday and I’m not feeling great after that. No particular issue, I just feel out of sorts. I went to bed at 8.30pm feeling intensely tired but woke after an hour or so and couldn’t sleep most of the night. But, once you’ve had it, you needn’t fear it so that’s good.

Cinque, thank you for following up about the weight gain after a big loss theories. It makes me grateful to be among the 10% even if it was the third time lucky for me. This week, I remained the same weight for several days in a row, until we had a pub curry after the booster jab yesterday. Up 400g.

Lindsay, sorry to hear your OH’s surgery recovery has been so involved with extras thrown in. And, with all that puppy towelling required, no wonder you initially gave him the option of delaying the breeding until after his treatment. But I expect they also brought a lot of joy and smiles. Agree, disgraceful introducing all that sugary rubbish to baby food.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I mentioned to Anzac that Qantas finally resolved my issue. Today, I had a response from another supervisor hoping to re-resolve things. She states that reason I’d been unable to purchase something on their website was because I only had 25 points at the time. (I had tens of thousands). But, not to worry, she has re-instated my 25 points (she hasn’t) and apologises for the delay getting it sorted out. Why on earth would I have been trying to spend 4,700 points in order to keep 25 points from expiring?

We were just having coffee with some Aussies on a friend’s boat (passed each other on the canal). They had business class tickets with Q to England that were cancelled during covid. Q refused to give them the option to travel at a later date, instead converting the tickets into vouchers which, because of the excessive price increases, were only worth premium economy seats (or whatever they call it) when they used them on this trip. What a way to run a business.

While I’m having a good old moan, the pesky rail workers, yep the ones earning an average of £42k and up to £62K, have announced their Christmas strike dates. The first falls on the day we travel from opposite sides of the country to meet at the airport. Not the end of the world but damned annoying. We might have to spend two nights at the airport hotel now. I just can’t see how they think it’s acceptable when the whole country is suffering from high inflation, colossal energy bills, food prices rising weekly, etc. It just seems so utterly selfish and short-sighted.

Fancy Cinque and Lindsay both having visited Helsinki. I am so ignorant of all things Scandinavian and looking forward to exploring. It’s snowing in Stockholm. These same Aussies from earlier have just returned and had a fabulous time there.

Good morning,

Welcome home MR Lindsay!
https://img.freepik.com/free-vector/welcome-home-background_395-2147490899.jpg

How nice for you to have him right there Lindsay, it must make life so much easier as well as nicer. So sorry to hear about the pain though. I do hope it is getting less every day.
Hooray for them making the immunotherapy treatment easier! I do so hope that he (and you!) get a much needed break from more health difficulties and can just enjoy the puppies and life.

My cough is getting less every day. So straightforward and clear, which is wonderful, especially compared to the nasty chronicness of ME/CFS.

That baby food situation is dreadful, Sugar in everything is the food business way to maximise profits. Sigh.

Thin, yes, I am glad I should be immune from covid again for a while, although some people get reinfected after a month. Sigh. But ofcourse I will be doing all the covid safe things still.

Good luck navigating life among the strikes, the idiots and the general madness of life.

Best wishes to everyone

Good morning all

A quick post I’m afraid, as I have a friend arriving for a walk shortly.

I saw my doctor yesterday and at the end of the consult he said that although I’ve had all the covid boosters that I am entitled to, GPs can now authorise further vaccines if they think it’s warranted. He took me straight around to their practice nurse for the new Moderna vaccine (the one that covers omicron). I was pleasantly surprised about that and very grateful. If anyone else is in a similar situation please have a chat to your GP.

Cinque, sorry to hear you caught covid, but glad that you are on the mend. I hope there are no long term impacts for you. Sending you virtual hugs.

Neil, I agree with the other comments – our bodies are unpredictable when it comes to weight.
I tried not laugh at your story of the bird sniper. I’m afraid I failed. Sorry.

Anzac, I hope your final 3 weeks aren’t too stressful. Excellent news about the potential new job, I’ll keep everything crossed.
How do you manage to accrue enough points for airtravel? I have my WW rewards set to qantas points and I also get points daily from the Qantas Wellbeing app. Any advice on other things I could be doing would be much appreciated. I’m not even aiming to pay for my entire fares by points – just being able to upgrade from economy to premium would be worthwhile for me.

Thin, I haven’t been to Helsinki (one day hopefully), but I hope you enjoy it, rail strikes aside.

Lindsay, glad that Mr Lindsay is finally home. I hope he recovers more quickly now that he is back with you.
I totally understand your comment about vegemite toast – it’s always been my go to when I’m too tired to think about meals – accompanied by a pot of tea of course.

Must go, time a walk before it warms up – a rare 30C day here.
Take care all.

Anzac, how easy is it for those of us no longing working to qualify for a new credit card? I had an offer from an existing bank the other day and the fee was $450 per annum. They must be pulling my leg. Don’t give up on your Q issue! From the responses I’ve had, I can see that they are in chaos, make sure you wear them down, not the other way round. I hope you get the job you want. How will the new international payment system work? Or is it top secret?

Our DD had her last day at work yesterday. It’s sometimes not until you leave that you realise how highly thought of you’d been. They gave her some incredibly generous farewell gifts and the words in the cards made me cry too. She keeps the company house and car a little longer due to holiday pay and so on. I feel so sad, but on to the next adventure we go.

Morning all,

Well, I had a good weekend. I got some gardening done on Saturday and took my boy into town to hang around for a while. Yesterday I got out for a good ride for 3 hours doing some hill climbing. My weight has been up and down but is currently around what it has been for the last couple of months.

Thin, I certainly need more than 8 glasses a day on days that I am cycling, but I had read that we didn’t normally need 8 glasses a day because of the water in our food. I usually have a 1.5 litre bottle of water at my desk and work through that during the course of a work day.

LJ, I don’t know if any of the banks over there are the same, but over here you could get Air New Zealand air points if you had your mortgage with the bank that was affiliated with the scheme. My sister and brother-in-law had their mortgage with the bank and got a certain number of points for every dollar of their mortgage over $150,000.

Anzac, sorry to hear about the tooth extraction, but at least reduction of eating is a decent side effect. I had a friend that was sick for a week, she dropped 5 kilos in that week and then couldn’t eat as much the following week. She said it wasn’t a good way to lose 5 kilos but she’ll take it.

Cinque, good to see you’re on the mend with your cough. Hopefully the weather over there is improving. It always helps recovering from an illness if it’s a nice warm sunny day.

Well I hope everyone has a great week.

Nice to read your updates Neil and LJ. Those loyalty programmes are staggering. Do the mortgage companies/banks offering hundreds of thousands of points buy them from Qantas/Air NZ? I would never change my spending habits to earn so-called loyalty points but I’m happy to take advantage of them when offered. I think flight loyalty points are a particular scam because you still pay ‘fees’ and ‘fuel charges’ amounting to a significant percentage of the original fare cost. That would be like your local cafe charging you for the milk on your ‘bonus’ cup of coffee.

So Anzac, I’m interested to know – in using your points to fly business class, is your ‘fees and fuel’ contribution the same as if flying cattle class? If so, the overall percentage paid in cash would be significantly lower making it very worthwhile. Married to a pilot but I’ve only flown business class once (emergency landing so first to arrive at the scene) and once had a free flight (not a loyalty thing).

Day after FD for me, back to exactly 59kg. I’ve been regularly comparing my weight with the two years before and there’s very little deviation so I really should stop worrying. I am quite concerned about this Scandinavian trip as ‘smorgasboard’ seems the key food word. And I’ve just realised that Christmas Day falls on my FD this year. Constant vigilance is my saviour. But I’d rather be obsessing about upcoming food choices than how to get excess weight off so all is well.

It is clear and sunny but now quite cold. We’re inching closer to the winter mooring (1 Dec) and not looking forward to swapping the views of grazing cows and sheep for someone else’s portholes.

Lovely post Cinque, you sound great.