Morning all.

Oh dear, up 1.5 kilos this week. I’m guessing it’s water retention from the salty and sugary diwali food. I might weigh again in a couple of days to see if it’s gone.

Thin, Oh the curse of being trained as a kid to always finish what’s on your plate. I’m the same with restaurant meals, no matter how full I am, or how big the meal, I’ll always finish what’s on my plate. I have pretty much recovered from my crash, the only thing remaining is a couple of lumps where my main injuries were, in my thigh and on my chest. I’ve been meaning to go to the doctor to get them checked out, but since they’re not actually sore, just…there, I haven’t been in too much of a rush.

Have a good one everyone

Greetings from Adelaide. Yes I returned home last night.
Still quite sleep deprived as I woke at 1:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I gave up and got up at 4am and started washing all those dirty clothes. Every time I sat down the cat jumped into my lap – making up for lost time.

My weight was up 2.5kg this morning. Considering how swollen my ankles and calves are from the flight I expect it’s mostly water weight. The fit of my clothing around the torso didn’t change at all during the trip, despite the amount of food I consumed most days. It helped that I did between 12,000-24,000 steps most days. Even the few days when I was sailing or flying all day I managed 8,000-10,000 (by doing laps on the boat’s sundeck, using the exercise bike in the onboard gym or walking around the massive airport at Doha between flights). There were also stretch or yoga classes on the boat before breakfast and I always did those too. Most days I had 3 very hearty meals, but once a week I ate lightly. (Fresh melon and pineapple for breakfast, salad veg with a slice of cheese for lunch and the healthiest main course on offer for dinner and no other courses – they always offered 4 courses.) I also ate desert most days – sometimes at both lunch and dinner! I’m going to have to stop that now that I’m home. I definitely can’t manage to keep up that level of activity permanently – my knees, ankles, achilles tendons, and ham strings still haven’t forgiven me for what I put them through in the last fortnight.

I had intended to do a FD today, but I’m too fatigued to face it. Over the last 3 nights I’ve managed a total of 6 hours sleep. So I’m eating light today and concentrating on drinking lots of water to help with the fluid retention. Will attempt a FD tomorrow. I did manage to drag myself out for a walk, that was comparatively short by recent standards.

Thin, Yes I am home safe and sound – arrived last night.
I’m not sure whether we were moored or docked – I’m not a sailor so I don’t know the difference. This is the boat I was on: https://www.tourradar.com/o/travel-marvel/ship/travelmarvel-capella
Basically the boat is tied off to secure it to the wharf and then a mobile gangplank (with hand rails) is used to bridge the gap so we can get off. It got interesting when 2 or 3 river boats were all docked side by side at the same spot. In that case the gangplank led into the next boat which you had to walk through to make it onto the dock. It was quite weird when the other boats had a different deck design as the only area that always seems to line up was the roof deck. Which meant walking up all the stairs on our boat to get to the sun deck, across the gangplank to the roof of the next boat, down their stairs to reception then across another gangplank onto the wharf. It felt decidedly odd.

Neil, yes I grew up with that rule too. I still find it challenging to leave food on my plate.

Amandina, welcome. Glad you have the whole family onboard.

Cinque, I did like the medieval fortresses and found it interesting that different countries had varying approaches to issues of maintenance, restoration or modernisation. Most have repaired what is left in an historical fashion while making it safe for modern visitors, others have done themed displays with armour and mannequins within the fortress and one in Belgrade has turned the very wide moat around their fortress into a modern use – basketball and tennis courts.

Anzac, that sounds like a yummy menu you are planning. I hope you find a solution for the dog phobic relative. Poor Maxx.

Lindsay, I hope Mr L’s health is better now, as too your own anxiety levels.

GDSA, I hope your stress levels are also improving.

Intesha, Is christmas in the UK still happening? If so, I hope it’s wonderful.

I promised photos when I got home. I am yet to do much culling and I have hundreds of photos, so I’ve loaded just a tiny sample.
https://imgur.com/a/E4yvv4x
https://imgur.com/a/xfMLsHl
https://imgur.com/a/nz0xKhj
https://imgur.com/a/TdinDVg

I have only managed to catch up of fairly recent posts. If anyone else has been reading or posting, hello.
Take care all.

Good afternoon everyone,

Wonderful pictures and commentary LJoyce! What a treat. I hope your sleeping patterns are getting back to normal and that painful swelling is settling down too.

Neil, I hope the wonderful Divali food has evaporated off and you are feeling light and trim.

Thin, I have the same ingrained feeling about waste, and I have tried hard to over ride it with common sense, but it is hard, especially in as far as avoiding waste is common sense, especially after all the cost and work of preparing food.

But I am probably least worst at restaurants. I go to them so rarely and feel that it is an enormous treat and that I am the princess who will decide if I eat and how much I eat. Once I order, it is the restaurants fault if the food isn’t nice enough or they give me too much.

(That said, I do take yummy leftovers home, with the feeling I have paid for the food and should be able to eat the rest of it later.)

I’m missing Miso the cat today, as I am having some tinned fish for lunch and can’t share any with her, and because I would love a silky soft cat purring on my knee. So hello to all the cats out there.

Sending out best wishes,
Lovely weather here today and the pollen count is low. 🙂

Cinque, I’m definitely a doggie bag diner. Sometimes I even plan it and take my own container. I saw something unusual when we had the roast dinner – the diners at the next table asked for their vegetables to be wrapped in foil to go. They then both ordered dessert! I’m sorry that you’re missing your cat. A pet leaves a huge void.

LJ, I noticed the huge picture window in the cabin. As you know, my OH is a retired pilot and spent most of his life travelling through time zones which is very tough on the body. People do all sorts of things to try to combat jet lag but the professionals say that the thing your body needs most is sleep so that’s what you should give it. So you’re doing the right thing (rather than forcing yourself into the new time zone). That extra fitness will be handy if you can maintain it. Well done getting the excess weight off too.

Hello friends,

Friday morning and the sun is burning the clouds off. I have had a bit more oomph lately, and got some gardening done. I planted coriander in shady spots, and basil, zucchini and a tomato in sunny spots. I do have some radish seeds coming up too. AND I did manage to mulch, thank goodness. It is lovely to go out in the garden and try to help the little things through the hot days. With any luck they will have a bit of rain today.

LJoyce, hooray for holding onto that muscle, and losing that painful fluid.

That is a lovely message from beautiful Sylvia.

Have you got your sleeping patterns back into Adelaide time?

Thin, cute story. I can identify well with people who find a dessert out to be a special treat.

Neil, woot! A lovely weighing. Best wishes for your week… and weekend.

I have done some good cooking lately. I made a kind of calzone pie because I was in too much of a hurry to make individual ones (and was thinking how to get more filling than casing per serve). My sister had brought broad beans (mine finished a while ago) about half of them needed peeling but oh they made a great filling with butternut and slow cooked onions and a little bit of cheese sauce to hold them together. What a pleasure.
And I am building up my tolerance to acid again, now my inflamed esophagus has settled down, so (avert your eyes Thin) I am very much enjoying beetroot I pickled.

Did I tell you I have moved a bit from my focus on African food, and have become fascinated by Chinese cuisine. I love coming to understand it better, and it really suits my small meals as I stir fry or steam a veg or two. (Still loving African recipes of course!).

Sending out best wishes to everyone, and hoping it is easy 5:2 eating for you today.

Hello hello from Melbourne!

While not new to fasting, I have picked it up again after a long while. Had a successful FD yesterday but feel like I must be balancing out a bit today because I have eaten everything in sight. I have also been working from home which I find can be a bit problematic for me as I eat a lot more because I am bored.

I am unsure if we share current weights but I am the heaviest I have been in a long while. I think part of that is due to being out of routine, but also due to yoyo dieting and obsession about calories and I would really like to spend less time thinking about that.

Lovely to join you all.

Hello Effelle!
I am in Melbourne too (raining!),
Haha and sympathy for obsessive eating the day after fast day, it can be tricky to avoid that, I know from experience.
When I am in the mindframe to enjoy the lovely empty feeling (morning after fast day) I can often just coast on it through the day. But other times I am ravenous.
And boredom! It’s the worst.

As Thin said, in this thread people have just worked out for themselves if it is useful to post weight loss or not. (I don’t have scales but keep an eye on my waist measurement). We are all ready to cheer you on anyway.

5:2 saved me when my weight started creeping up again (after I had lost 15kg very easily by cutting added sugar from my diet). 5:2 saw off another 15kg nicely over a couple of years and took me to the lower end of my healthy weight range. But maintenance has been important for me or else it just sneaks back on.

I am now dealing with gerd/lpr and the small meals and good space between meals, that is needed for that, has been good for my general health and keeping my waistline around 75cm.

Hello Anzac!
So sorry to hear that work has undermined your 5:2. AGAIN!
But cheers for managing to keep your weight stable. That is so good!
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81o5ZMyRmmL.jpg

I did do my gardening at just the right time! Everything has grown so much! A couple of little basil have been, or are being, eaten but I am doing my best to protect them (and I started with about 12 so I did have excess).

Thin, brrr, your lettuces would be collapsed!
Cold and a bad foot is hard! Sending best wishes.

Best wishes to everyone reading!

Coffee time. Woot!