Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Morning all. Weigh in this week was back down from last week. I’m still feeling a little bloated, so it might drop a bit more over the next couple of days, as long as I can stay away from the bread and sugar.

    I do have a giggle when I see you Aussies complaining about the cold in winter. We’ve had a bit of a dreary one so far. May is usually pretty good weather, but this year it’s been pretty cold and grey, they said on the news last night that it’s been our coldest May since 2009. We’ve struggled to get out of single digits on quite a few of the days, but the worst thing has been the wind. It’s been so windy all month, at a time we usually have nice settled calm weather.

    Well, have a good one everyone

    Good morning everyone,
    Melbourne is very cold (comparatively 😉 )

    Giggle away Neil, I know you are right, but goodness it feels cold!
    I remember a Canadian friend laughing when we complained years ago, she said “Well, you aren’t dressed for it!”
    Respect, she came from a place that got to -30c
    And just a few weeks later I was in Queensland (Mackay) and saw guys complaining about the cold morning, while wearing shorts and thongs.

    (But I am dressed for it and have the heater on, but my internal thermal regulation still isn’t adjusted. So hard in Melbourne when the weather jumps around so much, we never acclimatize.)

    Hooray for the weight coming down. Best of wishes for this week.

    And sympathy for the cold, cold, cold where you are.

    Thin, hello, goodness what a wonderful outdoorsy, active life. I hope your next stage will have some action adventure built in too. Even just a little bit.
    Yay for DD getting a much more manageable package.

    I’ve heard people talk about Clarkson’s farm and it sounds so good. I overdid him a bit on Top Gear, now I think his driving me up the wall might outweigh the important insights into farming.

    I hope you can keep snug in the gloom.

    Anzac, woot! One more sleep.
    Best wishes for the most wonderful time!
    Sympathy, yes, I know all those eating points so well. I only left the alcohol one off because I am so alcohol intolerant. (A bit miserable that it is so good for me to be alcohol intolerant and have LPR).

    Hooray that your knee is improving and good luck with the million tasks.

    I am stuffed, but it is because I had little Ms 9 for the day yesterday, which was such a treat.
    Luckily I have had some great meals stocking my fridge and freezer to make meals easy (some good cooking a couple of weeks ago). Nearly through them now so I have the pleasurable job of deciding what to make next.

    Sending out best wishes to everyone

    Anzac, have a super trip! So pleased that your knee is better. Your poor family visiting England; the weather has been rotten for them. I’m sick of it especially when I think that, in a couple of weeks, the days will start to shorten and we’ve hardly had any decent weather yet. I’m pleased you like ‘Clarkson’s Farm’. (Cinque, I didn’t like him at all on the Top Gear show but now I’m his greatest fan.)

    Neil, well done with the weight loss. Your description of your weather reminds me of a winter I spent in Queenstown. That wind howling up the valley! We’ve been toying with the concept of relocating to NZ when we get off the boat but the weather is the thing. We know there are milder places on the north island. Perth is becoming increasingly dry so we question the merits of starting from scratch in a hostile climate. For now, we do nothing and keep floating. Making decisions is increasingly difficult with age.

    Cinque, here they say, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. I do commend the British for getting out and doing things in the outdoors regardless of the weather. People faithfully walk their dogs in the pouring rain, go kayaking in a freezing canal and anglers will sit patiently all day in horrid weather. How lovely to care for the grandies, well one of them anyway, How are they all getting along? Hurray for meals ready to go.

    DD was here with us again for a night which was a treat. One week down and she’s enjoying her new work-life balance strategy of a three-day work week. (Which might seem funny after 16 months off).

    I had a good fast day on Sunday where I didn’t feel hungry at all, just a nice light, empty feeling all day.

    There are swans nesting opposite, Canada Geese came over with their goslings to see if they could get a hand-out (no), also a robin and a heron. I always think of Penguin when I see a robin which leads me to think about Merry.

    The sun IS shining this morning so I must get out and take advantage.

    Hello all.

    Neil you are so right to have a giggle at us Aussie’s for complaining about the cold, I know that I couldn’t live in the cold temps of NZ that you are used to. It has felt extra cold in the last week due to a lack of sunshine, quite a few overcast days making it feel very gloomy indeed.

    On the bright side we did have some rain last week, about 3 hours of light rain, enough to see me out in the garden spreading fertiliser around the garden beds and lawn, which I might add is looking spectacular at the moment. I must have looked a sight as I couldn’t find my hooded raincoat ( just shows how long since I’ve needed it) so to save my long hair getting wet I donned a shower cap – it gave Miss GDay a good laugh but did the job.

    Neil what a find with those floorboards and a great job in restoring them, they look fantastic.

    My laptop is back with a new hard drive installed and everything set to run super smoothly. Some of my data and photos were stored in the cloud and some on the hard drive, now everything is saved in the cloud (and also on my portable hard drive as a back up) so the laptop is super, super quick because there is no data on the actual hard drive other than the operating systems. Plus everything is now synced between my laptop, desktop, iPad and iPhone to the cloud storage and everything I save, download etc will now automatically save to the cloud. Very happy indeed.

    Have been busy putting the office/gym back together, building flat pack storage units and putting together a few new pieces of gym equipment. The new carpet tiles look fantastic. I’ve been very mindful to not refill the room with unnecessary items and clutter so I’ve had to say goodbye to quite a few bits and pieces that I love but are not really necessities. It’s looking good and going to plan so far and I now have substantial bare floor space in the centre of the room for a free weight/exercise area.

    Weight is still steady but it’s time I factored in a few fasts over the next few weeks to drop a few kilos. The cold weather brings on the cravings for carby comfort foods so I’m mindful of keeping things in check rather than allowing my weight to creep up. Miss GDay has been on at me for weeks to make creamy pasta and garlic bread so I gave in tonight – it was delicious but I know it will show on the scales tomorrow. A few more meals like that and it’s too easy to stack on a few kilos in a short space of time.

    Hope everyone is travelling well, take care and keep warm x

    Alarming news just breaking that Dr M. has gone missing on the Greek island of Symi.

    Yes Thin read this upon waking just now (5.30am Friday here). Last seen 1.30pm Wednesday (Greece time) so doesn’t sound good. He went for a walk along a rocky coastal path and didn’t return so Clare raised the alarm. Everything crossed he is found alive and well xx

    I see they have drones out looking for him, hopefully they find him safe and sound.

    Thin, there are certainly some nice places around New Zealand, but like everywhere there are payoffs. Bay of Plenty and Nelson are really nice areas that are usually pretty mild in the winter, but then the payoff is that they are more prone to extreme weather events. Cyclone Gabrielle absolutely destroyed some areas around 18 months ago. Dunedin on the other hand has reasonably settle weather, we have the lowest rainfall of any of the major cities, but the payoff is it can be kind of cold and grey during autumn, winter it can be cold, but is usually calm and sunny.

    The last few days it’s been surprisingly mild. May was our coldest May since 2009, but the first week of June I’ve been waking up to temperatures around 12 degrees.

    Gday, the flat pack furniture is the bane of my existence. My wife always corralled the kids out of the house whenever I was putting together anything substantial, because she knew that the language that would be coming out of me for the next couple of hours would be strong enough to strip the paint off the walls.

    I hope everyone is going ok, and I pray that they find Dr M fine soon.

    I just read about Dr Mosely and it’s not looking good for him. It’s just terrible but all hope is not yet lost

    We arrived in Townsville last night where we went from deluge flooding rain and cold to 28 degrees and glorious sunshine today. Off to Maggie tomorrow

    Neil, when Mr A first moved to Sydney he scoffed at us in our big coats and gloves and walked around in shorts in winter. Now 30+ years later he is as rugged-up as everyone else, complaining about the cold.

    Must get ready to go out, chat more later

    Good morning everyone,

    It was a worry to hear this morning that they still haven’t found Dr Mosley. I think it must be good that they know he made it past the rocky cliff.

    Thin, I can imagine you settling happily in NZ… and it would be cool to have you back in the Southern Hemisphere again.

    My granddaughters continue to be simply gorgeous. Miss 7 is into dinosaurs (as well as penguins) (she read about giant prehistoric penguins and got hooked), Miss 9 is growing up way too quick, and she made friends with a dog the other day, a big step for such a dogphobic.

    I did another batch of bulk cooking (chicken and veg soup, Shrewsbury stew, fish pot pies) so my freezer is stocked again.

    So lovely that your DD has more time (a 3 day working week is so civilized!).

    Say hello to the swans, robins and herons. So nice to think of Penguin. It is currawong, magpies and pigeons here, and the noisy noisy miners.

    Gday, I am so glad you got some rain. How happy that garden will be with water and fertilizer.
    Woot for some nice fasts.

    Hi Neil, Hi Anzac!
    Anzac, enjoy that holiday, so glad you could escape the deluge.

    Best wishes all

    Terrible news this morning. I am so sad to learn of the discovery of a body in the search for Dr M. I shall be forever grateful for him for the 5:2 concept. It literally changed my life. Ten years on, I remain a faithful adherent and have maintained the 23kg loss I achieved through intermittent fasting. All my thoughts are with his wife and children this morning.

    Such devastating news. Shows how tenuous our lives are and we should treasure every day.

    So very sad to hear that Dr M has passed. I have been checking the online news sites every couple of hours for the last few days, holding onto hope he would be found alive and well. . Appears to have fallen down a steep rocky slope. Yes intesha life is so very precious for us all, we never know what is around the next corner. Feeling so sad for Clare and his children 💚💚

    This is so sad. Our dear Dr Mosely is gone and in such a sad way. He gave us all a new future and changed our lives. I’m in tears and yet so grateful. Praying for his wife and children tonight. RIP Dr Mosely and thank you.

    Really sad, the report I read said he was only 10 meters from safety when they found him.

    Hello to everyone,
    I have been reading lots of lovely comments and articles and clips marking Dr Mosley’s sad death. A lot from people who are grateful to him for 5:2 and other shows, and lots from people who worked with him who talking about his kindness in making their interview easy, or the good work he did as producer and behind the scenes.

    Like you all, I am so grateful for 5:2 and so appreciative that he really did follow evidence and presented it in a way to get it out into the community and all over the world.

    That is such a beautiful expression cinque; it sums up just how I feel. Sad but grateful for a wonderful man. I feel for his poor family and his many many friends

    Morning all, weight bounced up again this week, having stomach issues again, which is probably the likely cause since I didn’t go crazy eating last week.

    We had our coldest morning of the year so far, it was around -6 degrees, and everything was all white and crunchy.

    Oh Neil -6…. I’m struggling because we’ve had a week of overcast weather, the sun has disappeared which is unheard of here, it’s been so gloomy but the upside is the nights have been weirdly warm – back into summer pajamas and have kicked the blankets off the bed – strangest weather the last few months.

    Good morning from…. yep, cold, grey Melbourne.
    I am getting into winter mindset and quite enjoying the winter things.
    Nicely comforted by the fact it isn’t as cold here as at Neil’s!

    <3 Anzac. I am the same age as Michael Mosley, well, his birthday was in March and mine is… tomorrow! But that has added an extra layer of poignancy, that I am getting up in the morning and making my breakfast, and he can never do that again.

    I’ve been doing well with my eating. It makes such a difference to be that little bit healthier (as in CFS symptoms aren’t so bad) and so much easier to plan well around food.

    AND I have worked out (you can tell my nature is naturally quite gluttonous) that I am much better off drinking smaller cups of coffee (and tea). I enjoy them just as much, but it feels better (and I don’t go through coffee as quickly).

    The Cinque story: learning moderation. One step at a time. Haha.

    Neil, I do hope you can figure out how to best manage that nasty bloating. It makes life so hard. But yes, if you have been eating well (moderately 😉 it will be inflammation adding to your weight. Best wishes for a good weekend, and everything settling down.

    Gday, I hope your weather is back to normal and your garden is growing happily.

    I’m having lunch with my sisters tomorrow. And time with my daughter’s family today.

    Sending out best wishes

    Happy birthday dear Cinque! I hope you have a wonderful day with your family

    Thin and Cinque, such lovely messages from you both on the tribute page. I will add mine soon

    We had the best time in FNQ but home to cold old Sydney and work. Boo. I did put on weight (no surprise) but not much and I am already working it off

    Hi to everyone else, take care

    Happy Birthday Cinque!

    Thankyou Anzac and Thin!
    I had a lovely day.

    I am so glad it was a lovely break Anzac.

    Morning all

    Weigh in this week was down 1.1 kilos from last week. I’ve been sticking to between 800-1500 calories all week, my stomach isn’t as uncomfortable as it was, but I still feel bloated after eating in the evening. I might try eating half portion in the evening and go to see a doctor if it keeps up after that.

    Happy belated birthday Cinque, I hope you had a good one.

    Have a great day everyone

    Hello all. Coming late to share my sadness too at the passing of Dr Mosely. How many people are alive and living their best lives, because of his work and commitment? It feels like we have lost a friend.

    Nothing else I want to write about in this brief note – missing in action again, for which I am sorry. My life is a bit erratic at the moment. I haven’t even been reading the page lately – most unusual, even when I don’t post.

    So, back soon, I hope.

    Best wishes friends.

    Quick hello and happy belated birthday Cinque.

    Nothing new to report from me. Weight still steady as I haven’t fasted since my last post but plan to do so this weekend. Have dropped off on exercise lately too and I’ve been eating too late in the day as well as early evening – my previous routine of eating within a four hour window, usually between 11am and 3pm has gone out the window the last few months.

    In the hope of getting back into the swing of exercise, better eating patterns and fasting, I’ve complied a weekly nutrition, exercise and fasting program to ensure I fit all of the above into my weekly schedule. A bit regimented I know but I’ve been so adhoc with everything and need to get back into a solid routine if I’m to get back into the 59’s again.

    Happy Thursday everyone although was saddened to see this morning the activists desecrating Stonehenge. I don’t get it, protesting about the government’s destroying the planet and oil production and they desecrate a world heritage listed natural structure – doesn’t help their cause at all in my opinion.

    Good morning everyone,
    Brrr here.

    Anzac, how is it going? I hope you are able to do all the activity you love doing, and have got into the mountain of work.
    FNQ pleasure, sustaining you through EOFY pressure!

    Neil, good work! Keep at it.
    I do hope you can figure out what you can do to avoid those stomach troubles. Fingers crossed for you.

    Lindsay, so good to hear from you. I’m sending you so many good wishes as you navigate your way through tricky times. Best wishes to Mr Lindsay too.

    Gday, all power to you this weekend!

    I agree with you about Stonehenge. Desperate people do desperate things, but destruction breaks my heart.

    I am going well, in my winter woollies (found a very nice woollen jacket in the opshop yesterday) and managing to keep all my various ailments managed. I need to see the dentist and it is a lot harder than it used to be! Community Dental service will ring me on the 2nd of July to discuss whether I can go on the waiting list, local dentist had the answering machine on and hasn’t rung back. I had better finish off here and try again.

    Cheers all

    PS Gday, I do thankyou for your birthday wishes.
    And I am glad to hear the protestors at Stonehenge used chalk paint. Probably less damaging than the pollution in the air and, oh dear, all the rubbish left around at the festival.

    FD for me. It’s been 8 days since my last FD because I fasted on Saturday last weekend just in case due to DD coming to visit for Fathers’ Day on Sunday. Not that we ever do any celebrating in a commercial venue on those types of dates – the crowds and inflated prices put us off. That was our third time having DD to stay since she returned to the UK and we’re so grateful for the frequent visits.

    Summer is finally here. Sunshine, warmth and no wind or rain. OH has hay fever so he’s not much fun but I’ve been painting (albeit less enthusiastically than when we first acquired the boat).

    Cinque, I didn’t know that your grandie was afraid of dogs. That’s sad. My brother was bitten on the face by a family member’s dog when he was two years old but, despite the teeth marks in his cheek, he’s been a dog lover all his life fortunately.

    Pleased to see the new converts to 5:2 on Dr M’s tribute page (top right). Doing it in his memory. And hopefully for themselves.

    Ok, no time to waste, I must get outdoors. Sadly, the days will now be growing shorter but it’s currently daylight until after 10pm.

    Have a great week all.

    Hi all, was nice to see a post yesterday on Dr Clare Bailey (Mosley) Instagram page thanking everyone for their kindness and support on Michaels passing. She is taking a break from the public eye for awhile but will return to carry in Michaels work which is great news.

    Extended fast over the weekend (46 hours) wasn’t as long as I intended as a visitor on Sunday after bought food which I felt obliged to eat over a cuppa. Still, 1.3 kg down this morning from Friday mornings weigh in. Being extra mindful of keeping my good carbs to a minimum for the next month so I stay in a medium to high level of ketosis and fast track some weight loss. This will be a good motivator for me to keep everything on track and not stray from my plan.

    Must dash, heading out of town today so must get moving

    Morning all, Had a frustrating weekend, Return of the bloating and sore stomach, weturn of the grey drizzly weather, and then our cat has developed an issue with her teeth that might cost us $2000 to fix.

    My stomach issue has eased today, but I have an appointment with the doctor next week to get it checked out. Chronic stomach issues can be a sign of some more serious complaints, and I don’t want to take any chances.

    Hello everyone.

    I have a new and now finally fully functioning laptop. What with crashing hard drives and new software issues, it’s been a much longer process than I anticipated. I ended up handing everything over to a professional to sort out as it was beyond me. I collected it this morning, fingers crossed that’s the end of the issues. I’ve been managing with an iphone for so many weeks now, that it feels a bit weird to be using a laptop again. The only frustration so far is that the location of the shutdown button is in the same spot as delete was on my old laptop – I’ll leave you to guess how many times I’ve accidentally shutdown in the last hour.

    In my absence we had the tragic news of Dr M’s passing. That was as much a shock to me as I’m sure it was to everyone who has found his work on intermittent fasting so very useful and life changing.

    I haven’t had time to catch up on posts yet, but once I have I will write better post.

    Morning all, and welcome back Ljoyce. It must be good to get a shiny new laptop to play with.

    I had an OK week, just had a bit of overeating on Friday with our regular movie night. But I was down almost another kilo this week, so I’m a happy chappie. Hopefully I can keep that going in the right direction.

    I’m trying to get my bike fitness back up so I can go on a trip in October, I’ve been pretty slack about it the last few months because the weather has been so grey and miserable.

    I hope everyone else is good, have a great one everyone.

    Hello again everyone.

    I have caught up on posts, on this page at least.

    Cinque, a very happy belated birthday. Glad you are still having fun with your grand-daughters.
    I took my youngest great-niece (10) with me to see Luzia – Cirque de Soliel. I loved the performance, but it was made more special seeing the delight through a child’s eyes too. She loves acrobatics and wanted to try everything that the acrobats were doing.

    Thin, glad that you and your daughter are safely back in UK after your various travels and getting to spend some time together. The bird life sounds lovely.
    Which reminds me that i need to catch up on your blog too.

    Neil, Very sensible to see your doctor about those stomach issues.
    I hope the news on your cat isn’t as expensive as you fear.
    Not sure I am enjoying the shiny new laptop yet – still trying to get used to the software which is 10 years ahead of my old laptop.

    GDSA, glad you had some welcome rain.
    I smiled when you described feeling obliged to eat food that someone had brought. I also struggle with that one.

    Anzac, so glad you enjoyed you holiday in Queensland. Hope the cold and work are not too awful.

    Lots of you lamenting the cold.
    Every time I think about how cold it is, I remind myself that is still preferable to a hot summer’s day, in my opinion. I am trying to dress properly for the cold with a lot of layers – even my Antarctic thermal leggings are getting another outing. It helps me make careful use of heating. I’m trying to only turn it on when I’m just too chilled to bear it – usually about 10C.
    I won’t need to be quite so careful with power use for much longer as I’ve decided to get solar panels installed. Because my power use is fairly modest, I couldn’t justify the cost before, but my electricity bills have increased alarmingly in the last 3 years so it now makes sense.
    That decision also led me to commit to doing a number of other things to the house in the next 9-12 months. The result of this is that I will not be travelling overseas next year as I’m now going to spend that money on solar, a major reconfiguration of my built-in storage, security screens, outdoor lighting, and new outdoor furniture. Apart from solar, these are all things that I have wanted to do but have continued to postpone due to cost. I feel ok about the decision to tackle all of this now and then get back to travelling. I will be very happy to not worry about using the aircon in summer and to having storage that actually meets my needs. I’m determined to do all this without dipping into existing savings. So I am needing to save up from my fortnightly superannuation pension to pay for work. It’s encouraging me to be frugal.

    My weight and eating has been mostly ok and I’ve continued to manage without my meal planning spreadsheet. Although I think I need to still think about the main things I’m going to cook to help me plan grocery shopping. This week my weight has jumped up a bit and I think it’s because I have been less active due to rain. We have rain forecast every day this week – very unusual for Adelaide. It’s the cold but sunny days I enjoy the most in winter – good for walking or gardening.

    Hello to everyone else. Take care all.

    Neil, great news that your weight is on a big downward trend. Hope all goes well at the doc visit.

    LJ, I could completely empathise with your inability/unwillingness to cope with an iphone keypad. I use mine for making phone calls (who’d have thought?), taking photos when I don’t have my SLR camera handy and checking the time. As for being glued to it for social media, etc, no thanks. I thoroughly dislike trying to look at websites on a silly little screen and I’m useless at typing with it. Oh, and my laptop is 13 years old! I could do with a new one but I don’t want to learn anything else.

    Cirque du Soleil – we love it. The soundtracks are great too.

    I didn’t get far. Sunset is calling.

    Good evening everyone.

    A FD for me. Dinner was a veggie stirfry with cauliflower rice. The addition of chilli and some tamari made it very tasty.

    Thin, I had never been to Cirque de Soliel before – when they’d been to Australia previously my budget just didn’t allow for it. So it was a major treat to go. It’s why I offered to take my nephew’s kids too, as I knew they wouldn’t be able to afford it. My great nephew decided he didn’t want to go, but his little sister was really excited. It’s really nice to now have the funds to be able to do that. I feel so lucky to finally feel financially secure.
    My old laptop was bought in 2010 and was onto it’s second hard drive – which was failing and did fail during data transfer. I’m glad I have something reliable now, but I always feel a little daunted getting used to a much newer windows operating system and Microsoft software. The difference in battery life is amazing. The old one lasted about an hour. The new laptop battery lasts several days as I don’t use it for more than an hour or two each day. I’m even having to remind myself to turn it on and continue on with some of the tasks I should be catching up on. I’m so used to not having a laptop.

    Yesterday I mentioned trying to stay warm without using my ducted RC a lot. I have a secret weapon – a furry lap warmer:
    https://imgur.com/a/c6ag26i

    Take care everyone.

    Good morning everyone,

    What a treat to have LJoyce posts! SO good to have you posting, and hooray for the new laptop, I hope it is soon easy and natural to use. (I must say I don’t find them more and more intuitive, as I hoped they would be. They are more and more confusing instead!)

    Thin, sympathy to Mr Thin, hayfever is such a pill.
    Lovely to be seeing so much of DD and being able to enjoy those long summer days.
    Goodness, that painting is an ongoing thing!
    Yes, poor Josie is frightened of all nearly all animals, but dogs are the hardest to deal with. She sees a lovely psychologist on a farm every fortnight which helps, but it is very slow.
    Best thing was when they got two kittens, deaf ones! that live in the apartment with them. Little Ellie had ‘caught’ animal nervousness from her sister. But within a couple of days they were not scared of the kittens any more.
    Wo your brother! What a cool scar to bear though! (And Josie’s worst nightmare).

    Gday, that sounds a pretty impressive extended fast! But hmm, eating obligations are real. Good luck with the next month!

    Neil, I am so glad your stomach issues will be looked at thoroughly. Nothing serious I hope, but if they can just be clear about what is happening, you will have a chance to manage it.

    I hope you get some clear weather, we have sunshine at the moment, and even though it is still very cold, it is so much easier. Cold grey weather on its way here though 🙁

    But yes, it is better than the nasty summer heat!

    LJoyce, what a lovely experience for you and that lovely grandneice. Aren’t this next generation growing up so quickly!
    Thankyou for those birthday wishes <3

    You have made your usual good decisions about living your life over the next year. It will be lovely to share how you enjoy it.

    You and your furry lap warmer!

    My eating has been going well, hand in hand with managing my LPR (and my CFS). My latest delight is that a friend gave me a bag of tamarillos from her tree. I wasn’t sure how to use them, but after a bit of googling I brushed them with chili oil and roasted them… and they are just fantastic! They even freeze ok! Such a bright flavour bomb to add to any dish.

    Cheers all

    Cinque, fun to have those tamarillos and learn something new. Good for you with your eating management. Poor little grandie, scared of almost all animals. Was that triggered by a bad experience? Farm animals seem a nice, gentle desensitisation activity. I’m not a huge fan but is there a zoo handy? DD’s kindy was opposite the zoo in Perth and we spent many an hour just watching one animal. Or sometimes just watching a cage waiting for an animal to appear. As we had a membership, there was no imperative to race around and see everything at once. DD would whisper, ‘Mum there’s a serval hiding in there and it will come out when those noisy boys have gone”.

    LJ, yes, I agree with Cinque, nice to have you posting again but especially your mention of a fast day! My day is still Sunday. Are you doing two days? I reverted to 5:2 after our unhealthy food trip. I haven’t counted calories in years and years (although I remember that you did kindly help me out along the way) but something wasn’t right as I was only dropping 400g per FD instead of my usual 900g. When I took a close look, I realised that I’d introduced a simple Hairy Bikers’ recipe that required low fat coconut milk. Because I don’t use low fat anything, I’d ignored/overlooked that. Turns out the difference in calories was HUGE. And shows that the calorie count is critical and I mustn’t get smug. I’m now back to 6:1.

    Nice to have that financial security – and why you moved homes. How long have you been at your not-so-new home now? Imagine the grand nephew declining the circus! Was he sorry afterwards? We’ve seen quite a few of them but, I agree, they’re not cheap. If our DD hadn’t been a vet, or a spy, she wanted to run away with the circus. In primary school, she did a circus course. She learned the lyra, trapeze, silks and rope climbing. She’s never been competitive in sports but she impressed a few boys in high school when she ascended the gym dangling rope thingy in seconds. Maybe your little grand-N could enrol in something like that.

    Good afternoon everyone

    Still cold here and raining ever day, so unlike Adelaide. If the forecast is to be believed, we get a mostly fine day tomorrow. That will be nice to fit in a longer walk.

    Cinque, I am glad to be back. I just can’t get along reading and posting on a phone. I find the font too small and autocorrect drives me nuts with its unwelcome changes. On a laptop I feel like I’m the one in control of my prose.
    Yes the youngsters are growing up fast. My youngest great nephew is now 12 and at high school. (This year SA finally changed their system to match the eastern states, with HS starting at grade 7 – it was previously grade 8 here.)

    Thin, I moved into this house just over 6 years ago. It’s gone so fast. It’s also why I’m OK with my decision to spend money on the house this year, rather than booking a holiday for next year. I’ve been putting these things off for a while.
    As to my FDs, it depends. Mostly I do 2×500 cal FDs per week. However I will sometimes do 3×800 cal FDs instead. Both of them give me a similar calorie deficit over the week, but I find the second option is more effective in very cold weather. There are 2 reasons for this. On the FDs I’m looking for something hot by lunchtime – usually veggie soup and I struggle to put together a satisfying dinner with the calories left. On the NFDs I have a tendency to eat a bit too much when I’m cold, so having one less NFD each week is also helpful.

    For those of you in Australia there is a tribute to Dr M on SBS Wednesday evening.

    My pot of tea should have brewed nicely by now, so cheerio for now.

    Hi all. LJoyce I’m so glad you enjoyed CdS. I really wanted to take miss GDay but sadly going to events in Adelaide has become unaffordable. I also wanted to book for Johanna Lumley but at just under $200 a ticket I can’t justify it, adding on fuel ($150 round trip) accommodation (hard to find anything under $200 a night) food etc an overnight trip to Adelaide to see a show averages out at about $1000 for us.

    Thanks for the MM heads up, I don’t watch free to air tv anymore so wasn’t aware of it. On the odd occasion I might watch something on the ABC (via iview) and a few months ago I gave up watching ABC Breakfast (got sick of the never ending revolving door of presenters). Haven’t watched any of the commercial channels for years.

    My routine is going well, up at 5.30am every day and fast asleep by 9-9.30. Have made a few recipes from Clare’s new book – my favourite so far is tofu ice cream although when frozen it becomes more of an ice block than ice cream so I just make a small batch, chill it in the freezer for a few hours before it gets icy and eat it. I’ve made a few different flavours so far, strawberry, blueberry so will keep experimenting. Great way to up the protein intake and feel like I’m having a treat, given ice cream is my absolute favourite treat food.

    Must dash and get the dog organised for Sunday morning Dog Club meet up. Bye for now

    I month of winter done, 2 to go. I’ve never felt the cold so much as I have this winter.

    Afternoon all

    I had my doctor’s visit today, he told me it could be as simple as the fact I’m not riding my bike the last few months due to the cold wet weather, but he’s running a few tests, including a couple of bacterial infections, coeliac disease, and the big C. He’s put me on fibre supplements and will check back in a month.

    Gday, tofu ice-cream sounds interesting. I’ve been trying to up my protein as well, but I’ve been going the meat route. If I buy 500-600g of rump steak or chicken breast, each will do 4 lunches 125-150g of meat, then I bulk it out with vegetables. The steak is around 38 grams of protein, the chicken is 47 grams.

    Cinque, I am so envious, Tamarillos are my all-time favourite fruit. I don’t do anything with them, just lop them in half and eat them with a spoon. But they are hideously expensive in New Zealand. They are around $25 per kilo. I may have to try to grow some of them. We have had luck with our feijoas. We only just planted them this year, and we already had a few fruit on our plants.

    Ljoyce, I hope the tribute was nice, I don’t think we had access to it over here.

    Thin, Coconut cream calories fluctuates vastly between brands so it really pays to read the tins. Some of the brands list their product as coconut milk, but it’s thicker and higher in fat than what other brands call coconut cream, and some that list their product as coconut cream, but it’s thin and disappointing and you’d barely even call it coconut milk.

    We had our long weekend for Matariki (Maori new year) this weekend. I managed to get out for a big ride on Friday, but it was absolutely freezing. Saturday and Sunday I mucked around doing stuff around the house.

    I hope everyone is ok, have a great one everyone.

    Neil, I hope you get a negative result from the tests on all counts. Yes, the different brands vary a lot in calories. My biggest food challenge since living on the boat has been never knowing which supermarket or corner store I’ll be shopping at next, not knowing my way away around when I get there and not being familiar with the brands. Of course, we’ve overcome the latter somewhat after nearly five years. The thing I miss most is Carmens muesli. I’ve learned to cope.

    Like you GDSA, ice cream is my big treat. Fortunately, I’m limited by the silly little freezer box which is usually full. We only ate Connoisseur in Australia and only when it was on sale as we were too tight to pay $10 for it. Goodness knows what a tub of that costs now. For several years after starting 5:2, I didn’t eat ice cream at all. Here we started buying Ben and Jerry’s but that’s boycotted now due to OH not agreeing with their politics. 🙂 Ridiculously expensive anyway.

    I saw the MM tribute programme a couple of weeks ago. If it’s the half hour summary programme of his work. It mentions the famous tape worm experiment. Seemed like such a nice, kind man. After the initial on-site autopsy, I kept thinking we’d get a better explanation of his death like ‘snake bite’ or similar. It just seems like such a terrible, preventable tragedy, a fateful decision almost inconceivable to those of us used to dealing with such searing temperatures. Very sad. A young English lad has since gone missing in Tenerife, last heard of two weeks ago in a frantic phone call saying he was lost in terrain, had no water and 1% battery left on his phone. No trace.

    GDSA, I haven’t watched any commercial TV for years. I later gave up the ABC which assisted my BP enormously. Years ago I watched Kerry O’Brien (on the much revered 7.30 Report) literally make up utter nonsense regarding a company story about which OH and I and a handful of others knew the exact details, not released to the press. The standard of BBC journalism is just embarrassing. You can’t read a single paragraph on its website that doesn’t have an error. And its so-called ‘BBC Verify’ – the self-appointed purveyors of truth? Woke national broadcasters should be subscription-funded. These days I believe nothing I read and little of what I see.

    Well, there’s a big rant. All is well here except the weather. No more whinging you lot! Today the weather was warmer in Auckland than in Cheshire. I don’t think it will ever stop raining.

    Morning all, my weight had a little ping upwards this week, but nothing too extreme, just a few hundred grams.

    Thin, I will continue to whinge! It’s been cold, wet, and grey here for weeks. Strong winds that felt like our roof was about to be lifted off, thunderstorms, the guy who does our mail at work says he’s been emptying 45mm of water out of his rain gauge the last few days, our forecast for today is more of the same with a high of 8 degrees that feels like 1 degree with the wind chill. I’m really sick of it. I just want our regular winter where we get cold frosty mornings and then beautifully sunny days afterwards.

    Hello everyone, from a beautiful sunny winter’s day in Melbourne, after a cold night!

    I’ve my first free day after some busy ones (school holidays). But I must be tireder than I think. I have already burnt myself, spilt things and I keep losing track of time, wish me luck. I want to make a batch of spanikopita triangles for the freezer.

    Josie’s fear of dogs is an autism/ADHD thing of overreacting to a perceived threat, and then it spiraling. There is a proper name for it, but I can’t remember what it is. I don’t quite know how it can be overcome, but logic and assurances don’t work! Glad that some one trained is on it.

    Ooh, isn’t zoo membership a great thing. (Younger granddaughter goes often with her mum, but Josie chooses to visit me instead. )

    Goodness LJoyce, how can it be six years since you moved?
    You are so good at strategies. Having a cold weather 800 x 3 strategy is so sensible.

    I have the Dr Mosley tribute program ready to record, but plan to watch it live tonight. Thin, I agree, it is such a sad waste. A small fateful mistake, and all the work he put into having a long healthy life, just gone like that.

    Gday, a good icecream is such a wonderful treat food so hooray for that tofu recipe.
    (Thin I hope you can find someone selling home made icecream so you can have a treat! I just loved making my own, and even the Connoisseur brand seemed wanting in comparison.)

    Neil, I thought you had stomach problems months before winter arrived. But wouldn’t it be good if getting back to lots of bike riding did the trick. Fingers crossed that they can cross off all the serious things and find something simple and easily fixed.

    I do hope you can grow a tamarillo tree. They really aren’t suited even to Melbourne, but my friend’s one is wonderful and productive, they must have a very sunny protected place for it.
    I do like them fresh, but these roasted ones are such a revelation to me. So simple and zingy and they take the place of tomato sauce, cranberry sauce… any condiment! I’m just about finished them, but I wish I had enough to stock my freezer so I could have them all year.

    Best Matariki good wishes for the weekend past. And hoping you get some sunny days like we are having…but that big high is stationery over us at the moment, you will have to entice it over to you.

    Off to see if I can manage those spanikopitas before the fresh cheeses go off in the fridge.

    Best wishes all

    Morning everyone, sorry for long time between posts (again)

    Whinge away Neil, we are having a wet cold winter too. I am so sick of being cold! I hope all of your test results come back with positive news

    I hope you didn’t burn yourself badly Cinque, take it easy and try to get some rest. Those spanakopita triangles sound divine

    I can’t stop thinking about how sad and tragic the loss of Dr Michael is and his poor wife & family must wake up every morning and think ‘if only…..’

    G’day / Thin, we rarely watch commercial t.v. anymore now that we have discovered streaming. We do watch MasterChef Australia faithfully and also Have you Been Paying Attention but that’s about it

    I’m doing well with slow weight loss and was 92.5 this morning after a 900cal day yesterday. It’s still too slow and the jacket still won’t even meet around me but I will push on. The pleasing thing is my ‘bounce back’ was 95 and now it is 93 so my body has adjusted to a slightly lower weight

    Thin your DD sounds so interesting – I can just picture the boys going WOW when they saw her dangling from a rope

    Lovely to have a nice chatty post LJ and so glad you have your laptop back

    I must run but hope to catch up more soon. Take care

    Yes I’ve been having stomach issues on and off for a year or so now. My test results all came back normal, including the coeliac one. I might not be coeliac, but my issues always seem to follow after I’ve had more sugar and flour products than normal. I suspect that it’s just my body just can’t deal with those as well anymore. As always, I’ll try to keep my sugar and wheat intake down, but it is so tricky to avoid. The doctor gave me some prescription fibre supplements and will re-check in 4 weeks.

    I love the spinach and feta mix, so simple and yet it works so well. Hopefully your burn wasn’t a bad one

    We can get tamarillo plants at the local plant shops, and my wife managed to successfully grow rockmelons and okra in our glasshouse, so hopefully tamarillos will work too, we’d just have to keep it cut back to stop it growing out the top of our glasshouse.

    Anzac, great that you’re slowly working your way backwards. Hopefully I can join you after my previous 2 weeks saw me drop 2 kilos before my 300g bpunce back this week.

    Have a great one everyone

    Post for Neil. Coeliac testing via blood is not 100% accurate, it can return a false positive or negative result. The only accurate way to diagnose is via a small intestine sample. But having said that, the majority of people have an intolerance to grains and all grain associated products anyway, it’s just the severity of symptoms that varies and for some the symptoms are so minimal its unnoticeable.

    Your best course of action is to eliminate all grain and associated products, ideally for a minimum of 2 months. If you eat a lot of legumes then eliminate those too. And although sugar may not be a huge part of gut issues, it provides no positive health benefits and continuing to consume will only increase cravings for the wheat carbs so it will just make wheat elimination harder. Double whammy I know.

    If your symptoms subside over that time, every couple of weeks introduce one item back into your diet (such as a legume) and monitor for 2-4 weeks to see how it affects you.

    It’s a long process I know but the benefits of finding the food culprit will set you up for your food choices going forward for both the gut issues and weight management.

    I do know it’s hard to ditch the grains and sugars but it’s doable and definitely worth it . My gut issues disappeared when over the years I ditched sugar, then processed foods, then bad carbs and then alcohol. As I eliminated each one from my diet over a period of a few years my gut health improved incrementally. While I now never have sugar, alcohol, processed foods, on the rare occasion I have a grain product I get bloating and guess what, I was tested negative for coeliac disease via a blood test about 4 years ago.

    Good evening everyone.

    I haven’t even turned on the laptop for a couple of days, so I’m catching a few minutes online while dinner cooks.The absence was due to end of financial year emails which required action from me – I didn’t want to deal with it, so not turning on the laptop was an avoidance tactic.

    Neil, I was wondering how you were going to grow tamarillo in Dunedin, then you mentioned a glasshouse. I must admit I’ve never eaten one.

    Anzac, although I generally like cold weather, even I’m not happy when it rains every day. It’s the sunny winter days that I love. We had one of those here today and it was just lovely going for a walk with the sun’s rays on my face.

    Cinque, I hope that burn wasn’t too severe. Sound’s like you are having a rough day. I think your body is asking for a rest.
    You have reminded me that I still have one spinach cheese & leek filo pie in the freezer. That needs to make an appearance at dinner soon. I used to do the triangles, but found a faster way to make dinner sized serves. I get a small enamel pie plate and I lay 3 sheets of filo across it in different directions. I pile in the filling and then fold the overhang over the top. It means just one is a dinner sized serve and it takes me far less time to make. I slip each one (unbaked) into a ziploc bag and then freeze. When I’m ready, I put it back into the same pie plate and bake it in the airfryer or oven.

    Thin, there has been a lot of news on the UK election here today. I suspect you are inundated with it as well. Change is afoot it seems.
    I am a bit shocked by the number of MPs in the UK lower house 650 sounds excessive to me. I feel better about Australia’s number of MPs now. (151 for 26m compared to 650 for 66m). Although in fairness, we have state parliaments and the UK doesn’t.

    Better go, the airfryer has finished cooking 2 tandoori chicken skewers – which will be tipped into the bowl of spinach salad that I have waiting.

    Take care all.

    Who let the Bots out? (Who? Who? Who? Who?)

    Good one Neil!

    Cinque, that sounded so sad about little Josie’s condition. I hope you didn’t burn yourself too badly and that you’re all rested now.

    Neil, I hope you get your stomach issues sorted out with your own dietary intake guidance. It’s pleasing that your tests didn’t uncover anything sinister. I bet your greenhouse yields lots of marvellous food. How are the renovations coming along?

    LJ, you made me laugh about not turning on the laptop to avoid the tasks. Ah yes, UK politics. Well I wouldn’t have brought it up but since you have: an interesting outcome whereby Labour claimed a ‘landslide’ victory with the lowest percentage of votes in history (34%). It also means that 80% of the eligible voting population didn’t vote Labour. I feel coup politics turned voters off – no one voted for Sunak – along with the Tories’ colossal failure to deliver on its illegal & net migration mandate. Nothing will change on that score with the new govt., in fact it will worsen, and taxes will rise.

    What concerns me a lot more though is what’s going on in the Australian Senate. The enthusiasm for diversity targets needs replacing with an awakening to the very real threat to our western values and way of life. Australia is at a turning point.

    Anzac, good job with the slowly dropping weight. I haven’t heard of ‘Have you Been Paying Attention?’. Here’s a recommendation for any 70s band era fans especially Fleetwood Mac – ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’. It’s on Prime. It’s about a fictitious band but the author says it was inspired by the relationships within Fleetwood Mac. The actors do all the singing.

    We’ve just had a great weekend with DD in the Peak District. We went to a quaint country pub and had a good hike with incredible panoramic views. We had a full day of sunshine but now it’s raining yet again.

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