Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

This topic contains 28,288 replies, has 835 voices, and was last updated by  thinatlast 1 day, 8 hours ago.

Viewing 50 posts - 27,501 through 27,550 (of 28,392 total)

  • Cinque, sorry to read of your bad sleep nights. You must wake up so tired which you certainly don’t need. You’ve said before that even sitting doing mental tasks can be very taxing with your condition so I hope this gets sorted out. It makes me realise that my fear of enforced ‘sitting doing nothing’ seems trivial in the grand scheme of what you have to endure. Good to get the covid vax updated. I’m quite sure that OH and I wouldn’t have succumbed had we been able to get ours when due last year.

    LJ, good to get your news. I empathise with all you’re going through with your weight up and down and applaud your efforts to get it back to where you want it. Your joints will love you. Here, I’m reading that food inflation is driving people to entertain more at home rather than eating out (hard to believe when you see the number of people dining everywhere, see below) but if that trend makes its way to Oz, you might have a better chance of healthier food choices at social gatherings.

    Thank you for your good wishes for my foot surgery. I’ve prepared food as far as my mini freezer allows. Each day of cooking this past week saw one double portion for the freezer including the FD meals. I have a spreadsheet for each of the fourteen meals (yep, I am pretty militant). My OH can actually cook but he is SO messy you can’t believe it plus he can never ‘see’ anything despite my amazing, explicit instructions describing an item’s exact location and on which shelf it resides. How can you lose something in a fridge this small? I dread this part more than the surgery! I will have to get over it and resist the urge to jump up and do everything. My foot’s successful recovery depends on it so I must learn this new skill. As for my waist line, I’m thinking a small bowl for each dinner to remind me to reduce portion sizes.

    I had great fun devising my surgery ‘play list’. I went for upbeat songs, not relaxation. It kicks off with Wizzard’s ‘See My Baby Jive’ and contains Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody’ and Talking Heads’ ‘And She Was’ among other nutty choices. I’ll be using OH’s noise cancelling headphones which I hope will eliminate the sawing, cutting and screwing noises at the other end. If I start singing along, that Podiatrist will seriously regret inviting me to bring music. Still can’t believe this brutal thing is done under a ‘local’.

    Yesterday’s visa thingy went well with OH duly re-fingerprinted, photos taken and our uploaded documents confirmed to be in acceptable order. Before leaving Oz, I won a weekend away in Nottingham in one of those ’25 words or less’ competitions, part of which was a £100 voucher to a restaurant called, Bill’s. It was fabulous. So we returned yesterday (3.5 years later) for lunch. It was delicious, expensive and calorific (haloumi). What struck me was that it was packed – with many of the patrons being small children. How do young families afford this? OH likes to recount how he was about 13 years old before dining out for the first time!

    CalifD, are you reading? I’ve been thinking of you. My (former) step-mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It was no surprise to me or DD but the formal diagnosis makes me feel so sorry for her husband. He spent much of his life caring for his mother which probably prevented him from having a family and now faces this. DD was the last of us to see them and found it mentally exhausting. She and I were never close but I do like him very much, he’s so caring and loyal so I do hope he seeks support. I wonder how you and DS are coping. Is your OH doing OK just now? Do you get some time just for yourselves? And how is the parrot?

    Intesha, if you’re reading, have you found a new and wonderful place to live? And cut back on your visits to your dad as planned?

    Ok all, it’s my last day of walking about normally so I must crack on. FD today. Hoping to undo the grilled haloumi damage.

    Morning all, I’ve been a bit absent recently. I’ve really been struggling, I’ve been eating compulsively, I haven’t been able to exercise as much because the weather has been terrible, we’re struggling financially, and my weight is skyrocketing, up to 106.3 at the last weigh in.

    Neil, I’m so very sorry to read about your current troubles. Everything is hitting you all at once so it is perfectly understandable that you are compensating by over-eating. I have been there so many times I can’t count that high. I truly hope things turn around, weather-wise, finance-wise and work-wise (I remember work was crazy busy as you were so short staffed) soon so you can then focus on yourself and your health

    Sending positive thoughts across the ditch. Hang in there my friend

    Hello everyone,

    Neil, I am so glad you posted, even though it was to share such frustrating news.
    It is rough ground you are on, and ofcourse you need to concentrate on getting over it as easily as you can. You will be watching and noticing things that will help when you finally get some clear air.

    Whatever gets you through the night is all right.

    Sending so many good wishes that you adjust to the cold, that no more big spend items pop up, that the weather allows you some bike rides and that a new, big paying job comes up for you to get.

    LJoyce, I love it when you have a rare day at home and can catch up with us!
    All power to you getting your Winter regime into place, and I hope that it is even easer and more successful than it was last year.

    So exciting to know your trips are getting closer!

    Thin, thanks for your kind thoughts about the (frustrating!) restrictions of my life. So many different sorts of relativity. I wouldn’t enjoy post bunion surgery restrictions, so I am very glad as I get to wander about and have a bath whenever I want.

    What a fun playlist you have there! Enjoy!

    Hooray for a straightforward visa appt and a Nottingham treat! Fancy winning that from Australia and being able to look forward to going. Yum, halloumi!
    Food inflation is happily bubbling along here too. But I think things are a bit easier than in Britain, for most people. Yes, cafes and restaurants are pretty full (but maybe a bit worried).

    I am sleeping better thanks, Thin and LJoyce, it makes a wonderful difference.

    Food is still going well even though I am not doing 5:2. With three very small meals a day I am still losing weight but nice and slowly. Fat/oil seems to set off the reflux, as does too much chili (woe!) so my food is changing quite drastically as I try to get more complex carbs in while still having lots of veggies and protein (hooray for legumes!). My waist was 77cm this morning, so that is good.

    Anzac, all power to you too, and may you keep your life (ie work) at a stress level that doesn’t impact your health. Best wishes to Mr Anzac and Maxx too.

    Sending good wishes to everyone

    Neil, keep posting, you have friends here. I’m sorry that life is so tough at the moment. Empathy for the lousy weather and lack of exercise, I’m so sick of it.

    Cinque, what a tiny waist you have! And consequently a low health-risk weight. Hurray for a good night’s sleep.

    Anzac, good luck with the op tomorrow. It’ll be a tricky place to manage a healing wound/scar tissue. Fingers crossed for rapid healing.

    Ah Neil. Good to hear from you, and sorry you’re going through a tough patch. Keep at it – it will get better. Financial woes are hard .. hope they become manageable. In the meantime, just do the best you can, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Life’s too short and hard to beat yourself up over a few kilos. They’ll come off when you are ready to face the challenge again. BTW, my myotherapist believes the weight I’ve put on (belly fat) is cortisol – that fight or flight syndrome – from the stress I’ve been living with for nigh on two years now. It makes sense, because I’ve haven’t all of a sudden become self indulgent. Perhaps that could help explain your weight gain?

    Good luck tomorrow Anzac – it will be good to have it done, although the recovery won’t be pleasant. Will they biopsy it tomorrow, or are they sure what it is?

    Thin, I don’t know how young families afford dining out. It’s a thing here too. Actually there are so many stories about mortgage stress and struggling to put food on the table, but when you see the stuff that’s on the table, it’s never lentils or eggs. Almost always highly processed and expensive. Yes I know, off I go again on my little rant.

    and re entertaining at home. My friend’s husband and his brother opened a posh cake shop in Balmain in the 80s when times were tough, but people could afford a grand dessert rather than a meal out. Long story short, they thrived and franchised it and it became the Cheesecake Shops, which are now in so many places in the world. he was/is a lovely man, incidentally.

    Good your sleep is better Cinque. We can tackle a lot, after a good night’s sleep. And what a tiny waist. You must look lovely and slim. I am sorry though that your ongoing reflux is making life harder than it should be.

    Ditto Thin – not an ounce of fat. Never, in all my life, has anyone said that to me, although back in the day I was very very trim. Because I’m not tall (another illusion Thin? haha), I could shop in the children’s department. Seems a while ago now.

    And I hate to disillusion you further, but I wasn’t just tipsy. I was, to quote my dear old ABC friend, totally goat-faced. But ..I do think it was the combination of stress and all the drugs I’d been taking for my back.

    OK, I had plans to finish this post last night, and go back to all your interesting messages but time has beaten me again. So I’ll finish, and come back a bit later.
    I need to get OH off to the Wesley for a 4 hour reconditioning workshop….which I’ll also explain later.

    Best wishes Thin for your surgery, and for drowning out the noise. You’ve made some good music choices.

    And yes, LJ, the puppy does eat the fruit Rosy selects for her …it’s only ever apples and pears. Never the bananas or citrus in the bowl. Funny things they are.

    Hi all,

    Trying to tie myself to the computer for the next week to get some serious work done as I do need to get my business up and running by the EOFY to meet my Self Employment Assistance obligations. I keep staring out of the window wishing I was outside….lol. I know once I get into the swing of things I will keep going but finding that initial motivation is not appealing at all right now.

    Neil, I certainly understand how money woes can bring you down. My income reduced to a quarter of what it was when Mr GDay passed away so I’ve been scraping by week by week, barely making ends meet for the last 10 months, hence why I don’t buy meat etc as some weeks after paying the bills I don’t even have any money left to go food shopping or put fuel in the car. Still no closer to settling Mr GDays estate either, I can’t believe that when having all of our affairs in order that it’s still taking this long to get all the boxes ticked. It should be a straight forward process but as soon as I get one box ticked there’s another that requires ticking and each one of those ticks takes forever to process. To say I’m frustrated is an understatement. But I don’t let it stress me anymore as I know at some point it will be finalised.

    Thin, best wishes for surgery and great choice of music you have there.

    Lindsay, yes stress and increased cortisol levels (the stress hormone) will certainly lead to weight gain as the body is in a constant state of flight or fight. Our body is designed to have short bursts of cortisol releases for the flight or fight response but when it becomes a regular or constant release, then weight gain occurs. This is because cortisol release increases sugar (glucose) into the bloodstream and this changes the way our body processes fat and the distribution of fat. Increased cortisol also leads to adrenal fatigue (the body has 2 adrenal glands) and these glands are responsible for producing hormones, adrenaline, metabolism, body and stress regulation etc. So, as you can see, increased stress levels impact on our complete body systems.

    I’ve only read this page of posts so still behind on all the conversations.

    Must go and get Miss GDay some lunch, bye for now. xx

    Lindsay, goat-faced, ha ha. And how about that – The Cheesecake Shop franchise! Did you get a lot of samples when they were experimenting? I hadn’t realised that they’d been around since the eighties. I hadn’t known the rationale behind it. They always seemed quite expensive to me but then I’m a tight-wad. Amazed and amused to read that the dogs actually eat the fruit.

    GDSA, thank you for your good wishes. I’d been hoping you’d report on how the home schooling was going as it seems such a challenging task (emotionally, as well as teaching at such a high grade of high school). I could never have attempted that as my DD already knew everything at 15. Ha ha! How frustrating that, having had all your affairs in order, it’s taking so long to sort out all the financial details of Mr GDSA’s estate leaving you so much worse off financially.

    Thinking of you Anzac. All OK? All went well for me yesterday. Who knew that it took ten years of training to become an Advanced Podiatrist allowed to perform surgery? I had a theatre team of of seven, all very professional, capable and so caring. I was told to expect considerable pain for the first 48 hours but so far – none! OH is doing a very good job of waiting on me hand and foot; judging by the number of things I’ve had to ask him to do, I must normally jump up and down from my seat a hundred times an hour. He managed to follow my instructions (more or less) to deliver the first dinner. He doesn’t put anything away but I’m letting that go (for now).

    Despite the extra hardware now in my foot, I am under 60kgs (what a task to weigh in). 13 days to go.

    Chin up all, there’s always something around the corner ….

    Hi everyone, thank you for thinking of me Thin. Well I have come out the other side, just. After viewing 19 properties and sinking into utter despair at the places on offer and the rents they were asking, I finally found one slightly cheaper than the old one and at least acceptable to my standards. Just because I was desperate I couldn’t bring myself to live in some of those places. Units don’t appeal to me as I love having space and a garden. Probably sometime in the future I will have to really downsize but at the moment I’m too stubborn and proud to admit I’m getting older. The new place although so vastly different from the beautiful open plan, light and airy place I had has potential. Once I put my personal touch on things. I moved in on the 23rd March. I really didn’t think I would make it without ending up a basket case. I could hardly put one foot in front of the other, I wasn’t sleeping and my stress levels were off the chart. It’s finally taking shape and I’m feeling much better and actually sleeping 7-8 hours.

    I’m closer to Dad. Previously 9kms now not quite 5. He has not settled and still causing havoc. I’ve never seen this side of him before, possibly frustration that he is so dependent on everyone now. I get embarrassed at the way he speaks to some of the staff. Calling them incompetent and need to be sacked. Thursday I received an email to say they had Covid on his floor and all visits have been cancelled. That’s not going down too well as he is 96 on Sunday and we can’t visit. I only go every 3rd day.

    Neil, financial stress is so real at the moment and particularly when you have a family. Being a male I guess is harder to accept as you probably feel things are out of your control. Stress seems to be the word we most hear now and GDays explanation was like a light bulb moment as I have been under constant stress for the past few years and my weight reflects that. So take heart there is an end somewhere and you have your lovely family surrounding you.

    GDay it takes forever to finalise estates. My Mum’s took over twelve months but we had a lot of problems as her will was not acceptable and we had to jump through hoops to get it finalised. My Aunt who past last April and had everything in order, is still being processed although they have released the majority of her money they kept $100,000 in reserve just in case. She lived in a nursing home had no assets except what was in the bank and her accommodation bond. They don’t take into account the additional stress they put on peoples lives.

    Thin hope you are coping okay. I can imagine how hard it is for you to relinquish control 🫣. Lindsay loved your story about your night out, gave me a chuckle. LJ you lead such a busy life it makes me tired reading about it. I envy you though with so many friends and family to enrich your life. Anzac hope you are doing okay with your health, Mr Anzac and your job. Cinque you are a star. With all your health issues you keep us entertained with your daily life and always have uplifting things to say.

    Well I guess that’s it for me. I’m still here obviously but my life is very dull and I love reading what everyone is up to. My weight is constant still 72 but I’m hoping now that the dust has settled I can get myself into some form of routine. Take care all

    Hi all from a lovely sunny day here in Sydney. 24 today and 26 tomorrow. Gorgeous autumn weather

    Thin, I am so sorry, for some reason I thought your surgery was next Thursday. No idea why…so glad it went well and you are sounding cheerful but I am amazed that there isn’t any pain. Perhaps you are like my Dad and able to use your mind to dull the pain. For me, I need handfuls of drugs thank you very much. I hope Mr Thin continues to deliver good food and other tasks and remembers to clean up and your poor foot heals as quickly as is possible. I still can’t get over this was done under a local. Ugh

    All I can say right now is OUCH. The procedure was rather more disagreeable than I imagined and now the pain is pretty intense. I had my covid booster and flu shot yesterday morning, pre surgery, and by lucky chance the doctor put the covid in my right arm and the flu shot in my left. The skin cancer was on my right shoulder blade and now my right arm is very sore from the covid shot. I can only sleep by lying on my left side so had it been the other way round I would have been in trouble

    It was lovely to hear from you G’day but I’m so sorry that probate is taking so long. It is distressing that you are forced to live hand to mouth in the interim. Good luck with the computer work to get your business up and running

    It was interesting to read about stress and cortisol. I put on so much weight last year – every kilo that Mr Anzac lost during bowel cancer recovery I found. The stress was potentially a big part of that perhaps

    I did giggle at ‘goat faced’ Lindsay and sometimes, just sometimes, it is actually good to let your hair down, especially when you have had SO much stress for the past couple of years. I love wine so much and drank too much in past years so now I mostly have alcohol free wine which, happily, is becoming better and quite drinkable these days. However I confess last night I did use wine as a bit of an anaesthetic and I actually had a pretty good sleep considering the pain in my wound. I woke up twice to take panadol but that was about it

    So very glad you are sleeping better Cinque and a 77cm waist is incredible! Woe indeed if chili is off the list but you did say ‘too much’ so I hope that means you can still spice up your meals a little bit

    Lovely to hear from you too LJ – where are you going in October? I know where you are going in February of course (jealous as heck!). Good luck with the winter regime, I have no doubt you will lose the 2.2kg march gain and the other 5 that you are hoping for

    Hi Intesha! I was just about to hit submit when I noticed your post. So so so glad you found somewhere acceptable to live and can now settle in and put the horrible stress of moving behind you. I’m sorry that your Dad is being so difficult, there is nothing you can do sadly. Thanks for updating us, we all think of you often

    Have a lovely weekend everyone

    Intesha it was wonderful to read your post and know that you are settled and can see the way forward.

    I don’t think you should be embarrassed by your Dad. He is very old now, and with age comes frustration often. I was just reading an article about Michael Fox, diagnosed with Parkinsons at a very early age, in which he apologised to his carers for letting his daily frustrations affect how he speaks to them.

    You are so right about Cinque – you do keep us entertained and uplifted about your life and how you manage your challenges.

    How is the foot going Thin? Good to hear you are letting OH get away with a few little things. I can’t imagine how frustrated I would be if I didn’t let my OH know the error of his ways, kitchenwise! Oddly, he doesn’t appreciate my guidance, haha.

    Yes, the Cheesecake shops. The family was Polish, and the mother had a cheesecake shop on Brisbane’s outskirts. Her two sons took her wonderful recipes when they started their business in Balmain.

    OH’s reconditioning workshop was excellent – but a story for another day, as we have to shoot up to Ipswich to have the girls groomed for a show tomorrow. Then on to a family picnic.

    How are you going Neil? Nice weekend planned?

    Hi all, the cortisol makes a lot of sense since I’ve been putting on weight mostly round my belly. I had a look at how to lower cortisol levels and aside from the general lowering stress things like meditation and yoga, they recommend focusing on a plant based diet, lowering caffeine (a big one for me because I’m up to 2 cups of coffee and two cups of tea a day now), processed food (sugar and starch is what I’ve been eating), exercising and getting more sleep.

    I’m on holiday this week so hopefully I can get out and do some stuff with the kids, get some rides in (the weather has cleared and is supposed to be better for the next few days) and start to wean myself down on the caffeine.

    Have a good one everyone.

    I ran out of coffee before I ran out of posts. I’m only allowing myself one coffee a day for now (my permitted five minutes’ movement per hour would otherwise be devoted solely to loo trips). OH kindly got it ready for me but he’d put the coffee grounds in the milk frother!

    I doubt they have full patient compliance on this post-op regime; they want you to keep well hydrated but, by the time I get the dratted shoe on (it’s not the bulky blue bunion boot that you’re probably imagining) and crutch my way to the toilet and back, my five minutes are up. No time for tooth brushing, strip washing, dressing, let alone putting things away in the galley as I pass. Nevertheless, I’m determined to comply for the best possible outcome so the diuretic drinks must go. Caffeine’s not good for healing so there’s always an upside. But I miss my coffee. I’m not comfortable but I have absolutely no pain whatsoever. Twelve days to go.

    I asked the podiatrists what others said they were doing while on this regime. They launched into all the things people did that they shouldn’t have been including the lady who’d asked her husband to vacuum the house during her procedure, he hadn’t, so she went straight home and did it. D’oh!

    Anzac, I’m sorry you’re in pain and the procedure was unpleasant. I’m surprised they gave you a covid booster on the same day as the op. I can understand how a drink would make you feel relaxed but please take extra care with alcohol/medications. I hope you find a way to get comfortable and the pain leaves you very soon. Are you taking some time off work to recover? Enjoy that weather while it lasts.

    Neil, you sound a little more upbeat. I hope you have a good mate that you can unload on (besides us). Enjoy your holiday and time with the boys. Four cups of coffee and tea per day doesn’t sound much to me but I know what you mean. Processed food has no place in our lives really, does it?

    Intesha, gosh nineteen properties to view. Nice that you’ve found a new home and within jogging distance of your dad. Don’t be embarrassed for your dad. The staff are used to cranky people and they’re being paid to deal with him so you don’t have to. They’re not judging you on your dad’s behaviour. He’s lost his independence and control and that’s hard for someone of sound mind. You did so much for your dad to keep him independent for as long as possible and now is your time. Get out and enjoy yourself.

    Lindsay, have fun with the dogs and the picnic. Thanks for enquiring about my foot, dull account above, feel free to skim through. Sounds like a lot of us here could use that re-conditioning clinic.

    Cinque, LJ, all OK with you?

    P.S. Almost forgot to say that OH’s visa has been approved already. Thirty two months so a bonus two. It is no longer called the Spousal Visa but the Partner Route.

    Oh dear, I’m talking to myself here now. Just checking in, FD successfully completed. So happy to weigh in at 59.7kg this morning. I’ve tried to keep my portions small. Ten days to go….

    Anzac, are you healing nicely? Not too much wine with your meds?!

    Evening all, I had a better day today. The sun was out, I got out for a 60km bike ride. I only had one coffee, and food wise I kept my eating to a couple of feijoas and some peanut butter during the day, then a beef casserole for dinner and some cooked quince and coconut yoghurt for dinner.

    I seem to have passed my stress on to my mother-in-law though. She currently has her siblings visiting from Fiji, Australia, and Canada, and if that wasn’t stressful enough, her partner’s mother died over in Melbourne, so they’ve had to abandon her siblings and fly over there to sort out the funeral arrangements, since he was an only child there isn’t anyone else. When they got over there he tested positive for Covid, so the rest home won’t allow him in to deal with all the arrangements, so it’s fallen on my mother-in-law to deal with all the funeral arrangements and cleaning out the unit that her partner’s mother was living in.

    I’m hoping that we manage to avoid Covid, since we had a big dinner with all the family before they flew out. I hope everyone else is doing well.

    Evening all . Neil, Glad to hear you’ve had a better day. Hard, for your mother in law to have to manage everything, and also miss out on her siblings’ visit. I sense your mood is a little lighter? I hope so.

    Thin, just 10 days to go. Hope you are enjoying the birdlife, and your photography, and sorting your Africa pics. No dancing to that music now! Good work on staying under the 60.

    Anzac, how is the wound healing? Is it painful still?

    Gday thanks for the explanation about cortisol. It was an expanded version of what the myotherapist explained, and I am sure there will be a lot of people on the forum who’ll read this with interest – sometimes I think we all struggle knowing why doing the things we’ve always done doesn’t always deliver the results we’ve always had. Stress is such a hidden under-miner of good intentions.

    OH’s reconditioning workshop was great – but oh, the nutritionist’s advice had me biting my lip.

    So first he had an hour with a physician (useful), then an hour with a physio (also very useful with some good exercises to gentle rebuild muscle), then an hour with a speech therapist (he sees one privately at the ENT surgeon, but this one told him strategies no one has ever mentioned).And finally, nutrition.

    I sat in on that one. He’d dropped about 10 kilos when he was ill – not good – and he was never an overweight man. So, she asked about the food we ate, and we got a ‘tick, VG’ or something similar. But then started talking about extras to build him up, and give him more protein and calcium. So, he’s to have 3 glasses of chocolate milk a day, icecream for an afternoon snack, and cheese and crackers pre-dinner. Oh, and his baked veges are to be cooked in olive oil (I dry bake them with just a quick spray of olive oil usually), and he’s to put butter (she said margarine but that was a step too far for me and I said no, so unhealthy) on his toast and under his crackers, etc. She approved his cereal for lunch (I don’t, but what do I know?), but he does have it with a banana and some grapes and milk, and a teaspoon of honey. Now he has to add some almond meal. I mean, the thing is, OH gave up butter a decade ago. And the idea of putting butter UNDER the peanut butter and marmalade he has with his cup of black tea as soon as he get up was quite horrifying to him (and me). All in the interests of getting is weight back up. I explained we try to not eat processed food (no crackers!) so I will adjust the advice. No point getting his weight up if it’s going to clog his veins. We’ll see what she says at the next appointment.

    OK time for me to put the girls to bed and cook OH’s dinner (mine too, but he’s the focus at the moment).

    Cinque, you haven’t posted for a little while. Is all okay with you.

    goodnight everyone – sweet dreams. (or good morning for you Thin).

    Good morning everyone from a cold and soggy Melbourne.

    I’m okay thankyou, just too much happening, especially the the last few days.
    I had my hospital appointments on Monday and it was a big day, I could hardly move yesterday.

    I started the day with my flu vax in one arm and my covid vaxx in the other, then hours at the hospital in the respiratory clinic with a lung function test and an appt with the specialist. She was lovely and everything was good, the things I was sent there for aren’t very much of a worry, so woot!

    It is my goal for my waist to be under 77cm, at the moment I am there first thing in the morning, some mornings. So I’m close.

    Thin, sending good wishes and hoping your enforced stationariness isn’t driving you up the wall too much. Hooray for no pain! I hope that is continuing.

    I do hope Mr Thin has mastered the coffee making, I am off to get one now and then I will write more. Hooray that his visa is all approved!

    Back with a coffee,

    Lindsay, haha when you have your mind turned to weight loss, a weight gain regime is a bit of a shock.
    Butter under marmalade is wonderful though!
    I am sure that Mr Lindsay’s body will be using all those calories to help his systems and organs get back to best health, there won’t be any spare cholesterol to go in his veins.
    Hopefully he will enjoy it all until he is back to a healthy weight.

    Thankyou for that lovely compliment from you and Intesha. <3

    Hello Gday, tied to the computer! Are you getting back into the swing of it?
    So much sympathy for all the different types of strain you are under at the moment. I do hope things start sorting themselves out.

    I also appreciated your explanation about cortisol and weight gain, it explains my life!

    Intesha, such a treat to read your post and find that you have found a new home, close to your dad, and with some garden. Here are some house warming flowers: https://res.cloudinary.com/dizexseir/image/upload/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto/v1627283264/ProImages/vipwxs7fzyoqmaj8iygv.jpg
    Have fun putting your personal touch on things and making the most of its potential.
    It sounds like your dad is making life interesting for everyone at the home. I do hope he settles down and settles in.

    Anzac, Ow! Nothing like having part of your back cut out to realise how much we use those muscles all the time. I do hope the pain has lessened. Hooray that you can still sleep on your favoured side. Sending best wishes.

    Mend well card for Anzac: https://www.thortful.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Get-well-soon.jpg

    Mend well card for Thin: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/tulips-flowers-bouquet-get-well-soon-wishing-card-92940981.jpg

    Neil, I hope you are having the most wonderful holiday week and hopefully with less stress.
    Be like me and do a deal with the universe that you can keep two coffees a day if you give up the sugar and processed junk! 😀 😀 😀

    Okay, I am off to put things away so homehelp can clean everything.
    Best wishes all

    Morning all, that was weird, my weight dropped by 1.5 kilos last week despite me not being overly strict on my eating

    Hello everyone, thanks so much for the get well wishes. Today I was able to put my shoes and socks on all by myself so things are definitely on the improve. I was getting dressed to go and get some follow up blood test results and the very wonderful news is everything is in the normal range. I had a few concerning reads on my last one so I had to focus on lowering sugar, losing some weight and getting more active. Long story short a very good result

    Cinque, your day at the hospital would have tired anyone out, let alone poor you with CFS. Thank you for the lovely get well card

    Neil I am no scientist but a slight lowering of stress could have had a big impact? What ever the reason HOORRAAYYYYYY!!!!

    Wow Lindsay, I too thought the nutritionist was rather over the top so I do understand the lip chewing. I hope you can come to a happy medium so that Mr L gains weight in a healthy manner. So glad the rest of the reconditioning workshop was excellent

    Thin, 59.7 with your post-surgery lack of activity is AWESOME. The covid booster on top of the surgery was my fault as I didn’t inform either doctor of the other procedure. D’oh! All good now though

    Did I mention we have booked a lovely week away for Mr A’s birthday in June? I can’t remember and I don’t want to go back and lose this post. We had two criteria: Warmth and ability to get business class flights with FF points. We landed on Townsville so have two nights at the Casino before going to Magnetic Island for 6 nights. We were surprised at how reasonably priced the accommodation is compared to our first choice of Port Douglas. Literally 1/3 of the cost so yay! My parents met on Magnetic Island ~65 years ago so I have always wanted to go there. We often are in exotic places for my birthday in December as that is our travel window so it will be nice to do something a bit special for Mr A’s

    My weight has stalled as expected due to the lack of activity but hopefully I can resume walking tomorrow. I have a new spreadsheet with goals for the June holiday and other special occasions after that. I do better when I track carefully

    Must go and do some work which, as expected, is starting to ramp up. Boo

    Take care all

    PS:. You all know how much I love salad so it’s amazing to have these lovelies just outside the back door. Also ideal for San choy bau or other lettuce-wrapped delights

    https://imgur.com/a/ruB6aUl

    https://imgur.com/a/R5qLbqH

    Good morning – nice to read a few positive notes this morning.

    Anzac, how great to have your own fresh lettuce right outside the door. I’m pleased that you’re on the mend and can put on your own shoes and socks. It’s always good to have something to look forward to – when I visited Port Douglas decades ago, it was a sleepy little fishing village and that’s how I want to remember it. I’ve seen the photos of what it’s become. Also visited Magnetic Island in the eighties, it was a backpacker magnet. Fancy your parents meeting there, were they on holiday? There’s nothing like a good spreadsheet to get you organised! I have spreadsheets for everything.

    Lindsay, at least there’s ice cream on the list! You got the big picture and you know enough to adapt the recommendations to your lifestyle. My grandmother was a tall, upright, slender lady. When her GP thought she needed to gain some weight, his recommendation was half a bottle of Guinness each night before bed and to remain seated for an hour after meals before doing the dishes to allow the meal to digest!

    Sometimes the professionals leave us wondering. When I was being shown how to use crutches, the podiatrist kept using the phrases, ‘bad leg’ and ‘good leg’. We were taught never to reference them that way but always to use, ‘affected’ and ‘unaffected’. This was simply to instil a sense that the affected limb remained an important body part with a potential for recovery. Particularly important after stroke when some patients can experience neglect of the paralysed side. Small point, but they don’t know everything! Your OH will be a busy man with all that rehab going on.

    Cinque, so glad that you’ve been given a green light with your lungs but sorry it took so much out of you to find that out. Yippee for the vaxx. Thank you for the tulips. OH came back from shopping with white roses the other day. That was unexpected and appreciated. Yes, thank you, he has nearly got the coffee sorted. And I’m getting extremely fast at performing tasks so as to be able to squeeze more into my five minutes. I find it so strange to get waited on hand and foot, mostly foot in this case. Yet I realise that I’ve been doing the same for him for years when there’s ‘nothing wrong with his legs’ (as DD would enquire).

    I’ve been sticking to small bowls of food rationalising that, as I’m doing nothing, I’m not needing much to eat. I have dropped down to 59.4kg proving what I knew that, for me at least, it’s what I put in my mouth that mostly controls my weight not my exercise level. And Cinque, I think you are right in that it takes a fair amount of energy for your body to heal, so hopefully some of those calories are heading towards my foot for repair.

    I had a big bonus when I was counting down the remaining days. I realised that Day 14 is the day of the follow-up appointment. So I lost an extra whole day and now it’s only seven. That seems manageable.

    Neil! Yay!

    Anzac, good news that you are healing well and able to do more.
    Your upcoming holiday sounds so lovely, and just what you both need.
    Gorgeous lettuces!

    Thin, I bet you are getting the absolute maximum out of each 5 minutes.
    Yay for Mr Thin’s coffee making.

    Aren’t small bowls of food the bomb!
    I used to think I made sensible sized meals, but I was wrong.

    Hooray for a manageable 7 days.

    It is a beautiful Autumn day here, and a very partial solar eclipse this afternoon. (I remember the total eclipse here in ’76 when all the birds settled down for the night and then gave a surprised dawn chorus when it ended.)
    I’m planning to walk over to the op shop, just in case they have something gorgeous, and then pick up veggies from my DD. Lovely.

    Best wishes for your day, everyone

    Hello friends.
    Nice to have that lovely autumn day Cinque. It’s warm here during the day, and cool early mornings and evenings. Lovely, to gallop the dogs while it’s relatively cool.

    Thin, that dietary advice for your grandmother I am sure still holds. MY OH has always been the ‘bound up from the table after meals’ type, while I’ve been more sedentary. Therein lies a clue, maybe?

    The very Chinese physician we saw at the workshop also used ‘good’ and ‘bad’. ( I agree, by the way, that stigmatising a body part this way isn’t at all helpful.) Because OH has difficulties going down the stairs (his eyesight doesn’t help), he struggles to take the first step. instead of telling him to step off with the leg that had had the skin graft/baker’s cyst, the physican said to use the bad leg to set off to hell (i.e. down) and the good leg to set off for heaven (up).
    Funny.

    Wow look at those lovely lettuce Anzac. And in pots. Your OH must have a very green thumb. And doesn’t this say loud and clear that even people who live in apartments can grow fresh food? Actually my vegan brother has an apartment on the river, high up, and his verandahs look like mini-jungles, he grows so much. But he does have a green thumb too.

    Your trip away sounds lovely Anzac. I like north Queensland. Despite the tourists, I feel Port Douglas maintains a nice village atmosphere. I preferred Palm Cove though last time. I think it was to do with the hotels. We had a posh one in PD but a fair way out. It was a Pullman – we had a beautiful apartment but there was nothing around, and at night it felt a bit like a retirement village. We were at a Mantra at PC and could look out to sea and watch the passing parade. How lovely to leave Sydney winter behind for the warmth of the north.

    Cinque, very happy to hear that your hospital visit threw up some very good outcomes. But what a day! You must have come home exhausted. Here’s a thing though. We had our flu shots the other day. Our GP said we could either have our covid shot the same day, or we had to wait a week. Didn’t know that. Were you following that advice, or was it just an unhappy coincidence you had them both done at the same time.

    Neil, a great result, this whoosh you’ve had. Don’t question it .. you put in the work, and now it’s paying off.

    Intesha, how are you going, putting your stamp on your new home? Hope you are loving doing that.

    Gday I felt for you, reading your post. Losing your husband, your income, your way of life. It takes strength and resilience to come through. I am sure you will, but the journey isn’t easy. Big hugs.

    OK I am going to post without a reread so excuse any errors. I really must get back to work, or I’ll be hammering away at midnight.

    Have a great night all (and morning, Thin).

    Good morning everyone.

    I am posting while the irobot vacuums the house – it’s almost as good as having a cleaner. Although I’m not sure the cat would agree – it’s still her enemy.

    I finished my highly restricted days yesterday (I ate little other than vegetables over the last week). It got boring, but did what I hoped – I am almost back to my weight of the beginning of March. Today is a relatively normal NFD and tomorrow I’ll do a FD.
    For the next few months I had planned to track calories on the NFDs, which I really don’t like doing. I’ve decided to try a different system for a couple of weeks and see if I still lose weight. I was reminded of a lent challenge I did many years ago where I restricted my food daily to one normal meal, one small meal and one thing (eg, a dinner plate sized meal, a small cereal bowl sized meal and one piece of fruit). As I’m looking for something I can do long term, I decided to increase the “one thing” to two – so I can have a small snack mid morning and mid afternoon. This is roughly what I eat on a good NFD. On the bad NFDs it’s the repeated snacking that causes the overeating. It also means I have to plan ahead and make sure I have what I need in my bowl to see me through the next few hours, because I can’t graze. I have to appreciate each mouthful more slowly and not scoff it down and then look for something else (which I do too often). This will encourage me to use mindfulness more when I’m eating – something my dietitian is always encouraging me to do. It’s a practice that I know helps, but I forget to do it. I do still plan to follow a 2:1 program (2 NFDs then 1FD). I may need to switch the timing of a FD day occasionally, but 2:1 is a FD cycle I usually find comfortable and it adds 2 more FDs per month than 5:2.

    Thin, how like you to cram as much into your 5 minutes as possible. I’m sure that following recovery advice will be worth it. Excellent weight.

    Intesha, very pleased to hear you now have a new and more affordable abode. I was worried for you, as we hear stories here of how horrendous the Sydney rental market is. I agree with the other comments about your father. Staff are used to dealing with difficult residents.

    GDSA, I am sorry for all the burdens you are carrying at the moment. I really hope that your load gets lighter soon.

    Lindsay, I can just imagine your disbelief when listening to the nutritionist. As Thin said, I’m sure you can adapt the advice to healthier choices, like healthy fats.

    Cinque, did the walk to the op shop result in any lovely finds?

    Anzac, excellent lettuces – good for a salad lover. I must say that while I enjoy salad in hot weather I don’t look forward to it in cold weather. Although I did find last winter that I found warm salads enjoyable.

    Neil, you certainly have a lot of stress in your life, I hope there is an improvement soon. I agree with the earlier advice of not being hard on yourself, just get through difficult times the best way you can manage.

    My food plan for today is: airfried spicy veggie fritters with greek yoghurt for lunch and baked mushrooms (filled with egg, cheese and a few breadcrumbs) with roasted cauliflower, broccoli and a potato for dinner. I have a banana and an apple for snacks. Although as yet I’m still not hungry, so I may not need both both pieces of fruit.
    Monday will be my first NFD challenge – babysitting all day.

    I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. After some colder days, it’s mild and sunny here. Time for me to head out for a walk and get my daily dose of vitamin D.
    Take care all.

    Anzac, I forgot to answer your travel question. In Oct-Nov I’m doing a 16 day river cruise from Budapest to Bucharest and back again, stopping at different countries on the return journey.

    Ooh LJ I am so envious of your travel plans. Who are you cruising with? You’ll get such beautiful autumn colours on your trip.

    I’m heading to Melbourne for 5 days early next month, and then up to the Sunshine Coast for a week later in May. We had to cancel our long-awaited trip to Bali until after OH sees the heart interventionist surgeon (funny name, eh?). Usually after stents, patients can travel after a fortnight, but the dr recommended we not go to Indonesia (or anywhere else without a first rate hospital system) until he was sure everything had settled down. We’ve rebooked for July.

    Beautiful day here in Brisbane – sun breaking through now, after an overcast morning. I’ve got a colour in my hair (be gone, raccoon stripe!), have taken the girls to the park for a gallop, and need to wash and blow dry them before a show tonight and another one tomorrow.

    Oh, and there’s the PhD to finish editing. Sigh.

    Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

    Good to read the posts, a much cheerier outlook it seems.

    Cinque, fancy remembering the year of the last eclipse and that dawn chorus from the birds afterwards. I read that enthusiasts travelled from all over the world to Exmouth to see this one – I bet that cost them a pretty penny and I hope they weren’t too disappointed with where they’d landed after it was over. It’s a bit frightening that we have memories from fifty years ago, isn’t it?

    LJ, nice hearing from you. That robot vac sounds the biz. Reading your eating plans reminded me of PerthGirl who I met for coffee in Perth and who told me that she never snacks. Any snacky type things (like nuts) form part of their meal. She was a slim one. And I recall Dr M. mentioning how we’ve become conditioned to snack all day. All fine he says but NOT if you also eat meals! Other than a very occasional ‘treat’ of an ice cream or some salt & vinegar crisps and a Tizer (yuk) in a beer garden of a country pub, I do not remember EVER being given snacks as children. I do remember the refrain, ‘Don’t eat that, you’ll spoil your dinner”.

    Well, I’ve inched up to 60kg after delicious spicy pumpkin soup and some dratted rustic bread for dinner. Does it every time. All I ate the rest of the yesterday was a bowl of cereal and a pear. I have just four days of this incarceration to go but there’s a birthday to contend with; OH has been asking for a week what type of cake I’d like (none) and we’ll get a Nepalese takeaway from a great restaurant we’ve visited a few times when here before. That won’t help the outcome. I have a FD tomorrow which will.

    Have a great weekend all. Stay happy. Stay strong.

    Hello everyone,
    Oh dear, I needed two days recovery after minding darling Ms8 on Friday, and she wasn’t even particularly hard work.
    Glad to be feeling pretty normal today, I’ve already got henna on my hair (much needed) and once it has done its work I hope to get to the shops (also much needed).
    I didn’t make it to the opshop the other day, so maybe today!

    Lindsay, I was glad when they said I could have both vaxxes at the same time, so efficient! I didn’t react to either one, so that was good. I was just an idiot to make it on the same day as my hospital appts. I hope your ones are all easy too.
    Won’t you love going to Bali in July! And I do hope Melbourne puts on lovely Autumn weather for you when you visit. Ooh and I hope the shows were great as well.

    Neil, woohoo the scales finally getting their act together! I hope this week they are good too!

    LJoyce, hooray for that irobot.
    I love hearing about your eating plans and it sounds like this one should work nicely.

    I am still working out how best to eat to suit my reflux. Definitely small meals and definitely low fat (every time I try and test those ones I regret it). Hooray, I do seem fine with ‘lightly spiced’. I really should do a week without coffee to see what difference that makes, maybe tomorrow I can start that.

    Hi Thin, it is easy to remember that eclipse from 1976 as I was visiting my one week old niece who was the first baby I saw being born. I was living through great wonders!
    But yes, I can’t believe it was nearly 50 years ago!
    (Good grief, that little baby is coming up to 50!)

    Good points about EITHER snacking OR meals.
    Ha ha the rustic bread. Hooray for a fast day.
    Have you had your birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/3b/d2/f33bd218ac0858a89e96229c73e23e1c.gif

    Best wishes to everyone, how are you doing Gday? Is your home getting nicely arranged Intesha? Where are you Turn? Are you still reading our posts Cali?
    Best wishes to you all!

    a quick whip away from my editing to answer your post Cinque (oh how I love a distraction when I’m editing).

    The 8 year olds can be exhausting, even when they’re not hard work (if you know what I mean).

    I love the thought of henna – but too much grey in mine to contemplate any more. I remember though how lustrous it made my hair … I am sure it does the same for yours.

    Thin inching up to 60, even though it is absolutely not what you want, is a reasonable outcome for someone struggling through a ban from the kitchen, and all movement. You’ll knock it off very very soon. And happy birthday. Hope the Nepalese meal was fabulous.

    LJ I’d love to trial a robot vacuum, but I don’t imagine the girls would leave it be. Puppy is even more of a handful than Rosy – or maybe I’m just older.

    We had an excellent weekend, where on Saturday Scarlett took out Baby Puppy in Group and she was best baby in all the babies in the 25 odd breeds. And not a moment too soon – she turned 6 months on Sunday, so now competes with the big kids.

    I’m off to buy a new car this week. Well, new for me. Not brand new. Our car is just too small to carry two dogs, us, and the odd grandchild. Not that they’re odd ..just occasional, I meant. So it’s a station wagon for us. I’m hoping it will be cost neutral…trading down our hybrid for a VW. Or at least not too much more.

    Now,just in case you hadn’t had enough of my girls, I’ll leave you with a pic of the baby (with her ‘what are you doing?’ face).

    https://imgur.com/a/ghsdqox

    Hi all from a warm and sunny Twizel

    I just wrote a lovely long post, only to find it had got lost! Bugga.

    So, I’ll try again. My apologies for not posting sooner, I have been lurking in the shadows and keeping up with most of the posts however, not quite finding the time to put pen to paper.

    We are currently house sitting for friends who have returned to the UK for a family holiday and minding their three year old working Cocker Spaniel called Musky, who is gorgeous but very “full on”, lots of boundless energy, chases rabbits and loves water, so goodness knows how many kilometers she runs when we take her walking? I’ll try and get some images of her, she really is quite lovely, very affectionate, playful and happy, sure she will wag her tail off one day!

    My weight has crept back up to 71 kgs, shock…horror. Last Oct I was 65.5kgs, so how did that happen? Well, not doing everything or anything for that matter, that I should be doing. Old habits die hard I suppose, new training obviously takes more years to become part of my make up. So, back to it today, no excuses now I have dog walking duties, an energetic dog at that, just wish I hadn’t got a problem with my right knee. I’m using lots of Anti inflamed cream with Voltaren gel, but it’s not getting any better. Resting it is an impossibility at present.

    I seriously need to get some weight off as we fly to the UK on Sat 10th June, first time in 4 years and I’m getting excited now. But it really is just around the corner and I need to be more strict with myself or goodness knows how heavy I will be when I get back????

    Good to catch up with everyone’s busy lives, and weight loss, all seem to be going well at the moment. I’ll fill in the last few months as time goes on, just must be away to get dinner prepared, scotch eggs tonight, baked not fried, so will post again soon.

    Take care all, Turn

    Cinque, all we have to do is mention these lurkers’ names and they magically re-appear! Great to hear from you, Turn. Which part of the UK are you visiting and for how long? What’s the working Cocker Spaniel’s job? Yes indeed, the old, bad eating habits die hard.

    Lindsay, the doggo looks very cute. Maybe instead of a robovax, you could get a robolawnmower and your dogs cold chase about after it in the garden in between walkies. We’re moored opposite some fancy, manicured properties in Market Harborough and one of the gardens has one in use.

    Cinque, you mentioned an irobot. Does that do the ironing? Now you’re talking! Not that I do ironing. Thank you for the birthday greetings and flowers, Cinque and Lindsay. Cinque, maybe it’s time for you turn things around and start having Miss 8 over to look after YOU.

    All the talk of doggies reminded me to ask if anyone’s seen, ‘Colin From Accounts’? It was a refreshing change to see some new (to me anyway) Australian actors as it always seems to be the same ones recycled in everything. I found it hilarious and just weird enough that I often thought ‘did they really say/do that?’. Another series that I enjoyed recently was set in Nottingham and called, ‘Sherwood’. The background is from the Thatcher vs. coal miner unions era, but it’s a present day drama. I couldn’t believe how many top class actors they kept trotting out during its six episodes and there were some stellar performances.

    So maybe this will be enough to bring CalifD out of the woodwork? How are you three?

    The podiatrists told me that they can always tell whether a patient has followed the protocol. The proof of what I’ve been (not) doing had jolly well be in the pudding therefore. I’m hoping that at least half of this massive bulk is bandaging. Two more days after today. Isn’t it funny how our metaphors so often involve food? I think we listed some before, years ago?

    Morning all.
    Lovely cheery posts from Turn and Thin.

    Not long to go now Thin ….how free you’ll feel. And tick, big time, for following the protocols. Not easy.

    My girls would hound anything robotic … they have a very strong chase instinct. It’s coming up bee cleaning time (when the workers throw the drones out, to prepare for winter), and the water dragons sit under the hive to catch them. Yum (apparently). Rosy can spot one way down the back yard, from the verandah. The lizards launch into the pool when they see her coming, so it’s my job to scoop them out and over the fence. They’re not easy to catch, and can be really big. It’s a circus, actually, and I don’t know how it will go with two dogs.

    I’d love to see a pic of the cocker Turn. They are such sweet little dogs, and a very popular breed (if the dog show numbers are a guide). Cockers, including the Americans which have such lovely skirts that go to the ground, Labs and Golden Retrievers are the dogs of the day.

    I bought my new car yesterday, so am just waiting for $$$ to clear into the buyer’s account, and she’ll deliver it. Pretty happy with it – a 2020 VW Trendline station wagon. Now to get the other one cleaned up and on the market pronto. I also bought a super hair dryer for the girls’ coats. Expensive enough to have one dog professionally groomed – but too much for two, so I’ll do it myself. It’s like a great big vacuum cleaner. As DS said,”DON’T HIT REVERSE.”
    Here it is ….could be useful for me on those cold winter mornings when my hair won’t dry. https://imgur.com/xMfTQwz

    I also had a plumber come yesterday to put in a hot water shower outside the laundry to wash the dogs. Too easy, he said, pipes are all there, shouldn’t take more than an hour. Then quoted me $720. Wish I could get that hourly rate for academic editing!

    On that note, back to it. Have a great day all. Hope the sun is shining on you Cinque, and you are feeling well. And Neil, hope you’ve turned your particular corner and are back to your old optimistic self.

    LJ, Gday, Anzac, Intesha, Calif, and all I’ve missed…enjoy your day.

    Hi all,

    Had to laugh at you question of the dogs occupation Thin… they are just a bit different from the show dogs, which were bred from the original working dogs and tweaked a bit of course. Originally bred for flushing out game when hunting/shooting, but not much retrieve in this one. Sometimes getting her to drop my slipper is quite lengthy but a work in progress!

    Hopefully theses work, haven’t used Imgur for the longest time, so let me know if not. https://imgur.com/v7eYCEq https://imgur.com/1C1cdYp

    I think it would be safe to ask where we are not visiting in the UK as we seem to have done our usual and planned trips the length and breadth of the country, flying in and out of Manchester via Singapore, spending a week with a large group of friends in Devon nr Plymouth (12 of us), few days further round the coast at Corfe Castle, and time with my sister in Surrey. Few days in Newcastle then a week up on the Northumbrian coastline with OH’s brother and family before another week on the west coast nr Lancaster with friends. then we’ll spend a week in the Peak District catching up with more friends before heading down to Norfolk to spend all of August with my parents, driving back to M’cr for a night before flying home, returning into NZ on Sept 7th, so three months. It would be lovely to meet up with you for a coffee somewhere if you would like, not sure if you know where you’ll be then??

    Lindsay – I think that is quite ridiculous what they quoted you for the outdoor shower plumbing job, daylight robbery! I wish I could have commanded those hourly rates at what ever job I have had, nothing is simpler than plumbing!! And please don’t hit reverse with that blower vacuum, I’d hate to see the result?!

    I hope you have recovered from your babysitting duties Cinque and are feeling better now, we have booked our Covid boosters for when we return to Christchurch, thought it wise to get them before travelling through Asia and staying in the UK. OH is having his Flu jab too. Pleased to read your post and it reminded me to do something about it.

    Well done on your loss Neil, hope your weigh in today was going the same way too?

    Mine is still in a downward trend, not very quickly but having a very fast day today so hope to see a bit more movement on the scales in the morning, preferably going down.

    Fabulously warm, sunny and calm day here today, hope you are all enjoying a good weather day too,

    Turn

    Hi everyone, a quick post as work is crazy again

    Just because we haven’t had enough drama, poor Mr A has shingles. He is extremely stoic about pain but he said this is really sore and I can tell by the fact that Mr activity has now sat on the couch for 4 consecutive days. Luckily my wound has healed enough so I can look after things including poor neglected (ha ha – never) Maxx

    I have taken my eye off my weight goals again and quite a bit has crept on. I really can’t seem to get this going for any length of time

    Happy belated birthday Thin, glad your foot is feeling ok

    Gorgeous pic of the puppy Lindsay. Yay for your new car and dog grooming vacuum

    Your trip sounds wonderful Turn, I love the anticipation of a trip almost as much as the trip itself

    Cinque, did you try some days without coffee? I don’t think I could!

    Hi everyone else, a bigger post is promised soon

    Afternoon all

    well the rest of my holiday went to crap, we had to look after my wife’s relatives because they were all sick, we had to spend one day in A&E with my niece, because she had fainting spells and her mother was away in a different town, and she didn’t have anyone else free. I had to go pick up my in-laws from the airport (who are now both covid positive) and then their plane was delayed due to fog, my bike was out of commission with a couple of broken spokes, I strained my back dropping some trees on my sister-in-law’s propert and then I bounced back 1.3 of the 1.5 kilos I lost last week.

    Hopefully things will pick up this week, my wife’s relatives have flown out, I’m back at work, my bike should be fixed by the weekend, and I managed to convince my boss to change my leave for the week I was off from annual leave to domestic leave, so I can save my holiday for later in the year.

    Hello everyone,

    First day without coffee.
    I could only force myself to start because I had ran out and glad of a reason a) to finally do it, and b) not have to go to the shops.
    So I am a bit flat feeling but fine and I will go for a week.
    I am noticing that the LPR symptoms (coughing, globus throat, post nasal drip) have been gradually improving, so long as I keep doing all the good things. That is exciting! I’ll talk to my doctor on Friday.

    Ha Thin, it is Lj’s irobot. It does sound like it should be doing the ironing!
    Is tomorrow The Day? Sending good wishes. You have done great, so surely it has healed to the max.

    Lindsay, it is great how henna hair shines in the sunlight.
    Scarlett has a wonderful sympathetic (or world weary?) look in that photo. Haha re the super hair dryer!
    Congratulations on the Best Baby!
    And congratulations on your car! It will make life so much easier.
    Omg the plumber quote!

    Turn, my brain went down the same track as Thin when you said working dog. I was thinking, ‘they must have sheep’!
    But a working breed, not currently working…. so plenty of energy on tap.

    Your UK trip will be so wonderful!
    Haha, glad to be a vaccination reminder!
    Yay for that downwards weight trajectory. Slow is fine! Possibly even best.

    Poor Anzac, poor Mr Anzac. Shingles is dreadful and so painful. My sister had it a couple of years ago and it was so nasty. Hers dragged out for quite a while, so I am sending magick power sparkles through the internet that Mr Anzac gets rid of the pain quickly.

    It really does take such focus and making losing weight a top priority, that it is no wonder that you struggle. Your life just hasn’t allowed for it. But you are great at keeping on doing the best you can, and hopefully a good space will come along very soon. Just never forget what a great person you are, and what a good job you are doing juggling all the things going on.

    Neil, what a roller coaster life with relatives is!
    Medals for you, for getting through the last week.
    https://cdn.hswstatic.com/gif/play/10479d2e-819c-4dd3-8941-196a1aa4c1b2-1920-1080.jpg
    It is looking good for things to pick up this week.
    And if Melbourne’s weather is heading your way, you will have some lovely warm days too.
    Best wishes

    Best wishes everyone!

    Anzac, oh no, shingles. There are graphic ads on TV here urging people to get the jab. OH has had one but I didn’t get it. It looks awful. Poor Mr A. Pleased that you’re all healed though.

    Turn, wow, what a trip. Your mention of Lancaster reminded me of last summer – we took the boat on the Ribble Crossing which was a great adventure. Hest Bank on the Lancaster Canal was one of the most beautiful spots we’ve ever moored – we could see the ocean from the canal. I’d love to meet you if time/geography permits. We plan to head south onto the Thames Ring this summer. I haven’t properly studied the charts yet but the part with your sister would seem to bring us the closest. Let’s stay in touch.

    Neil, oh what a rotten holiday but good that your boss changed its category so you still have holiday time.

    Cinque, good that you have the LPR symptoms under control – commiserations on no coffee. I’m with Anzac, I couldn’t do it.

    Lindsay, shocking plumber quote. As Turn says, plumbers only need to know two things: Sh*t doesn’t run uphill and payday is Friday.

    It’s the final full day of my incarceration. I’m finishing my second WASGIJ puzzle. Due to rubbish weather, I have only been able to sit up front (in the fresh air) twice. OH has done an excellent job of waiting on me hand and foot; a fair job following my meal preparation instructions and not so well on cleaning. I have a mental list of all that needs doing. Two things: he literally cannot grasp ‘clean side, dirty side’ when doing the dishes. And he cannot see an item that is right in front of his face. But we made it and we’re still talking! Weight 60kgs.

    Hello everyone,
    Guess who just had a coffee. 🙂
    Loved every mouthful.
    I decided I had enough days without, that having a coffee would make a difference and (hopefully not) indicate it does make my reflux worse.

    Thin, sending good wishes and hoping everything went really well.

    Shingles vaccines are free here once we are 70. I had chicken pox when I was a brand new baby (my poor mum, just home from hospital and it went through the kids, I am the 5th child)! Apparently I had two spots, wasn’t bothered at all and have never had chicken pox again. I am really hoping they did the work to protect me from shingles.
    How is Mr Anzac going, Anzac?

    There was an interesting thing on The Naked Scientists last night https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast/dealing-diabesity a good overview of treatments for obesity. It made me feel that group I tried to get going really was on the right track, I am so sad that it failed. Ah life.

    I spoke to my doctor yesterday and she is happy that I keep going with what I am doing for Silent Reflux. I am definitely getting less and less symptoms so I do hope I can get to the point where I don’t have symptoms at all.

    I am getting more confident that I can make small meals with the right nutrition to keep me going. My waist is still hovering around 77cm (what an image!) so it is just a matter of maintaining that until my brain thinks it is my weight set point.

    Hoping things are going well for you everyone. Especially those of you that life has been making things so difficult.

    xxx

    Cinque, yay for the coffee. Good to hear that you’re on the right track with your reflux prevention strategies. Smaller portions are something we could all use to advantage. I’ve interpreted the dormant role of the chicken pox virus a little differently from you so I’m going to read some more on that today. How is Mr A, Anzac?

    Thanks for asking – the surgeon was very happy with my foot when the bandages were removed and knew that I’d been compliant. I thought it looked swollen but she said I needed to lower my expectations, that it was a great result. I can potter for twenty minutes on the hour and gradually build it up to tolerance but I’m to expect pain and significant swelling for up to six months. I’m OK with pain but I know how hard oedema is to get rid of and that’s what’s worrying me. Lots of elevation in between activity. One more week until I can shower, eeew.

    I do remember learning in high school domestic science about calorie requirements and nutrition for convalescents (a word barely used now). Now that I’m a healthy weight, I am aware that calories are being diverted to the healing process. I finished the two weeks at 59.4kg.

    Hope all’s well with everyone. Have a great weekend all.

    Morning all from yet another bright and sunny Twizel.

    Can’t quite believe this weather, it’s amazing for the end of April. I fear it may change later in the week though with heavy rain forecast around most of the country. You look like you’ve had a fair weather weekend Neil, hope you got lots done out in the garden? I’m hoping to weed one of the raised veggie beds here later this afternoon, then turn the soil before the rains come.

    Yay for the coffee Cinque, I am so glad you enjoyed a cup at last. I had a similar reaction to coffee some years ago, but really didn’t want to give it up, but my reflux was awful, to the stage where even water would set it off. I then researched the topic and found a lot of people have the same problem and it depends on the beans they used. Usually Arabica or Robusta, but it might just mean that you need to change your blend, worth a try. I’m with a couple of the others, giving up coffee would be like losing my right arm, I’d rather forgo alcohol than coffee! At a push! Smaller meals are something I have really had to work on so hats off to you. When we are in the van I have a couple of “fish” plates we call them, in between side plate and dinner plate size, and I use them for most of our meals unless lots of liquid then it’s a wide bowl, however, there are no such size plates here, so I am having to make sure I use a wide bowl for my serving or I will be sorely tempted to fill the large dinner plate.

    I hope Mr Anzac is Ok Anzac, I know so many people who have endured Shingles, My Dad included and it seems very painful. I had Chicken Pox as a child and regularly get cold sores, usually in the summer winds, so I’m a prime candidate. Not too sure having the vax will help me. Hope you are enjoying your weekend away form mad busy work?

    I might make Saturday my new weigh in day this time, which means I’m a kilo down on last week, long may it continue!

    Must dash, friends are travelling through the town en route to Christchurch and dropping off our mail, so catch up again soon. Enjoy the rest of what’s left of April everyone,

    Turn

    Hello friends

    Thanks for asking about Mr Anzac, he is very sore and although, in typical male style (sorry Neil) I get a robotic ‘I’m fine’ when I ask, the fact that he sat on the couch for 6 days proved beyond any doubt how lousy he was feeling. He is still in pain and walking all bent over but he has made it to the man cave today (garage) where he is happily working on his train set

    Thin you asked the other day about my parents meeting at Magnetic Island and I forgot to respond. Mum was there on holidays with her two sisters and Dad was an engineer in the Merchant Navy and his ship was docked in Townsville. He and his shipmates went over to the Island for a dance and the rest was history

    So glad your foot is on the mend but I can imagine it must be getting very frustrating to have to be restrictive in your movements. I hope it continues to heal nicely (and quickly if possible)

    Lindsay, funny you mentioned Palm Cove. We used to love it there and would head up for a week every winter. Then one year we received the shock of our lives when we saw the high rises going up everywhere. It went from a little village with a few shops and restaurants to a mega city almost and we hated it. We do like Port Douglas, despite it also being built up and busy. It has become too expensive though. We were looking at around $800 per night for an apartment whereas the one on MI is $400. We went with the slightly more expensive two bedroom one because (a) it has a king size bed which we are used to and (b) it has a full size kitchen so we can make some meals ourselves to save expense and calories eating out all the time

    Turn and Neil, it sounds like the South Island of NZ is having a delayed winter like we are here. It was 26 on Friday! Incredible.

    I’m so sorry your holiday turned out to be so awful Neil. Glad your boss understood and changed it so you didn’t lose a precious week of annual leave. That is one of the main motivators for me to continue contracting…..I can take as much time off as I like (albeit unpaid of course)

    Speaking of being unpaid, my new boss is a [insert the nastiest word you know] and because he couldn’t be bothered approving my timesheet in time, I didn’t get paid. This is on top of my 2 weeks of free work in February when he couldn’t be bothered to get my contract going. So I worked that last two weekend FOR FREE but now – no chance. I only logged in so I could chat with my lovely 5:2 friends

    I had my stitches out on Friday and thankfully the pathology is all clear. My poor Nephew also had one removed from his arm but his turned out to be a melanoma and now he has to go to a plastic surgeon to have more cut out. He is only in his late 30’s and that is his second one.

    Yay for enjoying a lovely coffee Cinque! I’m glad the reflux seems to be settling and your 77cm waist is giving me much motivation to get mine down

    LJ, I remember now that you spoke about the river cruise from Budapest to Bucharest. It sounds AWESOME and I would love to do something like that. It’s on the bucket list anyway. I love the anticipation of a trip almost as much as the trip itself and you are in that lovely place for two trips right now! Yay! Congrats on getting back to your early March weight

    I managed to have a good end of the week eating-wise and knocked a bit of the weight off again. That said, I did cook a very naughty chicken boscaiola last night to cheer up Mr A but I only had a very small serve after a large salad first to fill up the gap a bit. Tonight I am cooking hot toddy chicken which is a buttery/lemony/whisky sauce with parsnip mash and peas for Mr A and a side salad for me with just a dash of the sauce and some chicken. I’ve been to Westfields and walked around a fair bit so my steps are up to 9,000 today which is a good day for me step wise

    Ok the house won’t clean itself and Mr Shedding machine has done a good job so out with the trusty vacuum. Have a great rest of your Sunday all

    Anzac, I’m relieved to hear about your pathology result. And good that Mr A is on the mend too although I wouldn’t call him a typical male in his response! Hasn’t he heard of the man ‘flu? My OH I would have thought more typical – quite dramatic with any discomfort. His big toe has been hurting the whole time I’ve been laid up! Sorry Neil – do you fall into either category when feeling unwell?

    Anzac, that boss sounds a nasty piece of work. Let’s hope karma will get him. Keep up the good work with the weight loss. Your accommodation sounds wonderful. Thanks for the history on your parents’ meeting.

    Turn, envious of your nice weather. This has been the worst spring weather in the four years since we returned to England. It’s warming all the way up to 17C today – and then back to 13C next week. I like the sound of those fish plates. Let’s hope it’s gorgeous when you get here.

    I managed a short walk outside yesterday. I keep my foot elevated in between activities but I’m no longer required to have it higher than my hip so it’s a lot more comfortable to do so now. I was allowed to take off the light dressing today and my toe looks lovely and straight. This will make shoe wearing a lot easier.

    FD for me starting at 59.5kg so I could potentially be in the 58s tomorrow.

    Hello Lovelies,

    Thin, what great news about your foot, how well it is healing and how much more you can do. Hooray for shoes being comfier.
    I hope you are in the 58’s.

    Turn, hello to you in Twizel!
    Congratulations on the kilo gone this week.

    I am being careful with coffee, just one after breakfast (but after lunch today).
    I am not convinced it makes things worse, but time might tell. Thanks for the idea of changing beans.
    I am the same with water, if I drink a glassful. Filling my tum too quickly must stretch the sphincter open. I sip water slowly these days, and it seems to work best if it isn’t cold.
    Did your reflux resolve itself or are you still managing it?

    Pain is such a good teacher, sigh. I hope I get really into the habit of small meals, but if I have no fairly immediate consequences, it is so tempting to eat more. But those small meals are very good for my health and for keeping my waist at 77cm! I wish vanity and health were as good teachers as pain.

    I am also delighted that it means root vegetables and grains are back in my diet.

    Anzac, cheers to Mr Anzac, good news he is able to potter around.
    Oh dear, that boss.
    I am so angry on your behalf. I hope you can teach him a lesson.

    Excellent news that your stitches are out and pathology is clear.
    Awful news for your nephew. I am glad they can keep such a good eye on skin these days, but fingers crossed he just doesn’t have any more.

    Ooh those chicken dishes sound yum.
    I made such a good stew yesterday. I had gravy beef and no vegetables, so I found a Lebanese recipe for lamb and borlotti beans and used beef and chickpeas instead. I am glad to say it worked out very well.

    Go vacuuming!

    Sending out best wishes to everyone
    xxx

    Hi Cinque, it sounds like you are doing well with your experimentation on different foods and smaller portions. Nice to have a wide variety and not to have to exclude too many things. Especially coffee. Good job with that recipe adaptation. Drat, I didn’t quite make the 58s this morning.

    Morning all, well no movement on the scales, still the same as last week. My wife is saying that her weight is up too, she’s gained a couple of kilos since her relatives have been over here.

    I got my bike back and I’ve been able to get out riding again, which is great, I’ve also started playing in the frisbee golf winter league, so I’m still keeping my fitness level up, if only I can keep from overeating and manage to get my weight ticking back down again.

    Well, have a good one everyone.

    Good morning everyone,
    It is home help day.
    Thin, Neil and Mrs Neil, commiserations on not being that bit further down on the scales, but cheers for not being any further up.
    Yay for being back on the bike Neil!
    It is cold and windy here this morning so I am feeling for anyone out on a bike.

    Afternoon Cinque, it certainly isn’t cold and windy here, it’s been unusually warm considering we’re into May now. Last night it was 22 degrees at 10pm. The North Island still seems to be getting pounded with rain and we’re still getting unusual warm weather. Getting out on the bike has been a pleasure.

    Did you take our spring? It’s all the way up to 14C here and chilly at night. We still have the fire going and/or radiators on most mornings and evenings. The sun is shining so we must make the most of a beautiful day. Rain is forecast for the next eleven.

    Cinque, don’t work too hard preparing for the home help!

    Neil, have fun riding. My OH misses his bike riding.

    Well, I hoped to be back in the 60’s today but alas, weighed in at the same at yesterday 70.2. Maybe it will be better tomorrow, and I had such a fast day yesterday. Damn.

    Yes, Neil, fab weather isn’t it, just basking in the sunshine up here in Twizel, just fab for early May, although we had horrendously heavy rain through the night, we do need it here though.

    Been talking to family back in the UK Thin and it sounds like it’s been the wettest March on record in some areas and from what I hear April wasn’t much better. I do hope May isn’t going to be a wash out for you? Just make sure order the sunshine for June onwards? My OH misses riding his bike too, another couple of months to go yet, surgery recovery. How’s the foot?

    Hope your weather has improved Cinque and your are resting from your home help day? Are you still doing Wordle? Is anyone still doing Wordle?

    Best go, time to walk the hound,

    Turn

Viewing 50 posts - 27,501 through 27,550 (of 28,392 total)

You must be logged in to reply.