The tahini was simply cooking sesame seeds on gas mark 4 for 10 minutes, allow to cool then pop in the food processor and then drizzle with olive oil until it becomes a paste. I have mine in a jam jar in the fridge and it should last for a couple of months.

Hummus was a tin of chickpeas drained(put keep the water), a sliced garlic clove, a tsp salt, 3 tbsp lemon, 2 tsp tahini all in the food processor with about 3 tbsp of the drained water and blitz.You can sprinkle a little cumin on the top. Store in the fridge.

You could use any veg to dip, how about peppers? I wonder if cucumber might be a bit to bendy??

If you make it yourself, you know exactly what is in it, you can adjust the contents to suit your taste, it is much cheaper and very very easy to do.

I hate peppers-yeuch.

Pink shorts are almost a good fit and will be perfect by Christmas I am guessing.

Light jumper is too loose/baggy sleeves and weirdly too long. Washed and added to the charity bag. I am going to have to shop for new knitwear soon….

Feeling peckish, so some raw carrot batons with a little homemade hummus.

The notion that eating what you like within an arbitrary time and will somehow lose weight doesn’t make any sense to me at all Lori.I have been reading more from Robert Lustig and gather that a calorie isn’t a calorie either, there seem to be a number of myths that he is dismantling. Another one is that exercise is great for fitness and burning fat in your liver and muscles, but don’t expect to lose weight. You will, however, lose inches. It is those inches around the middle are the dangerous ones as it indicates the amount of fat around your organs. Women should have a waist of 31.5 inches and men 37 inches.Others suggest that your waist should be less than half your height, but many seem to agree that BMI and the scales are a waste of time as an accurate indicator of health.
So, with that in mind, I have focused on eating unprocessed food when I am hungry, adding legumes means that we are all full for longer, so less likely to snack. I have had some biscuits and chocolate, but I am finding that as I am avoiding sugar, it is becoming less attractive to me. Weird and wonderful. I might just be breaking free of this sugar addiction.
I have put the scales away, along with the tape measure and will leave it for a few weeks and see if I can see any difference with my clothes.I am undecided whether to fast for a couple of days this week, or to just focus on whole unprocessed food.

Sounds good Lori. Good luck with Thanksgiving and the cooking.

Iona, glad you find Lustig as interesting as I do. I am on day 2 of no sugar in my tea and although I can’t say that I am enjoying it, I am finding that I am getting used to it. Congratulations on the waist measurement. I have read that exercise is good for trimming off the inches. Have a look on the internet to compare 1 lb of fat to 1 lb of muscle, really striking to see how different they are.
I need to get out running again too, but it is cold and dark so I might wait until school breaks up in December to run in daylight. I am also getting close to the size/shape that I would like to be and at almost 55 I have no desire to be skinny, but I do want to look in proportion. The infamous pink linen shorts are my goal for Christmas Day and although I can do them up, I would like to feel that I could wear them in comfort all day…and I might just to confuse my boys!

Morning All,
I have great news after 3 weeks of no scales/tape measure/FD and just putting my faith in more whole foods and avoiding sugar, there is 2 lb less of me, but more exciting than that…another half an inch off my actual(around the belly button)waist, half an inch off my hips and another half an inch off my thighs!!!!

I am thrilled. I have 2 more weeks at work with 2 Christmas Dinners in the final week. I have had some chocolate and cake over these weeks, but it has been occasional. I have also completed a whole 5 days without sugar in my tea, which after 40+ years is quite amazing.

Pink shorts are still snug but hopefully 2 more weeks will give me some ‘wriggle’room!

Thanks Lori.
My plan is to just to continue for the last 2 weeks of the winter term and then see what the damage is after 2 Christmas Dinners and a meal out with my friends! That leaves almost 2 weeks before the big day.

I had a clothes try-on last night and there are more items that either look much better or are simply too big. Either way, I am thrilled with the changes.

Never mind Lori, just make a few small changes to what you eat and see what happens. I am certain that less sugar in my diet is responsible for my changes.

Hi Lori,
I hope that goes well for you. Wish I could retire, don’t think that I will ever be able to afford to. On the plus side, I am certainly the smallest that I have been for many years and hope that I will be as fit as I am now for many years.

I have been ill in bed with a virus for 2 days, which has meant some snacking on things for Christmas! Not a huge disaster, but just goes to show the desire for unhealthy stuff when feeling low.

I have a skirt(charity shop bargain) that I love but have never been able to wear as it was too tight with a muffin top. Just tried it on and I could wear it next week, which is completely thrilling. Little way to go for those shorts though!

Hello Everyone!

I did gain 2lb after all those Christmas Dinners, but lost a smidge off my waist, so very pleased with that. I still haven’t been out for a run. Either the weather has been awful/i have been ill or simply too busy. Every week that goes by is making it harder to put on the running kit, just because I know that I will find it hard, but I also know that it is not as hard as I think it is going to be(based on past experience). I am very much a shorts/vest top/sunglasses runner and not grey cool/wet days.

I am struggling to get back into the groove and think that chocolate is my personal gateway drug to just about anything. The siren call is very much there in the background and if I allow it to be heard, will lead me off into madness. Sugar is my drug of choice and there have been some serious lapses fast friends.

I met a friend for lunch which was lovely but ended up as a main/pudding and a beer. We ate a light meal later, not because we were hungry, but were off out to a gig and couldn’t eat later. Breakfast was paid for and I ate more than I should have and then more that I shouldn’t have one my way home. Somehow a bag of chocolate leaped into my hand and within a few moments they were gone(61.8g sugar!!!!)They were not worth it either. Ho hum.

On the basis that my biochemistry has lead me astray, I am back on the wholewheat pasta and home cooked meals, avoiding sugar where I can. I am a happier/calmer person with less of the white stuff in my diet. Having stopped sugar completely in my tea, has saved me another 21 tsp of the white stuff a week.

The plan is to stay on the path of sanity up to the big day, eat what I like on those 2 days and then get pack on the path again. I am not making dozens of mince pies this year and I might just buy a box instead, on the basis of when they are gone they are gone. But I can’t get past the 22g(5.5 tsp) sugar per pie!!!

Hi Lori,
It can be tricky can’t it? I think of you every time I scoop out some homemade hummus and devour it with carrot sticks!

I am buying bits and bobs to eat over the festive season, but certainly not in the quantity that I did last year. We shall just have a bit more than we usually do with some extra treats. Hopefully the damage will not be too great!

My youngest son has given up alcohol and wants ‘healthy’drinks, which is almost impossible if you take that to be no/low sugar. so he has decided that Lime and soda water will be his drink. He has lost over 14lb by having 3 meals a day and only snacking on fruit, but the extra calories in alcohol(that he is no longer consuming) certainly seem to be helping too.

Hi Mollie,
On the basis that you can gain or lose 10 lb in a day, scales are not accurate at all. My focus is on my decreasing waistline as a good indicator of health. Skirts/trousers are tried on regularly to see how they fit, which is my best guide. If those pink linen shorts fit better than they did a few weeks ago then I will be pleased..and then thrilled when they look fabulous.

I have made a small pile of the food/snacks bought and have to stop myself from bowing to the pressure to get more…and more. I can see how and why I have managed to put on 10 lb every Christmas by looking at the sugar content in both sweet and savoury foods. It is going to be a challenge, but interesting to see how I cope.

I am going to get back to the 5:2 after the big day and combine that with more wholefoods and all cooking from scratch(batch cooking is the secret). I started the 5:2 in January 2013 with a weight of 11 stone 11 lb/BMI 30.5/struggling to fit into size 14 jeans..and was miserable. Before the festive onslaught I was 10 stone 2 lb/BMI 26/size 10 jeans. I know that 23lb less of me is great, but I am really thrilled that I have shrunk 4 inches off my waist(all that visceral fat gone), 4 inches off each thigh and 4 inches off my hips and 3 inches off the bust too.

I am going to try and find goods that weigh 23lb just to see how much less weight I am not lugging around on these short legs.

Thanks Iona. I have a box of 12 mince pies sitting in plain sight and still sealed. I have decided that making any this year is simply too dangerous, I will make loads and then eat loads like I did last year! Well done on trifle avoidance…not a fan myself.

Is it just me or is there a lot of pressure to buy loads of food for just 2 days? It is just a roast and there are only 4 of us. I try hard to avoid the nonsense where I can and have bought far less this year than last.

The definition of a success in our house is a game of Monopoly completed without a row!
Have a lovely time Iona and Lori as well as all the other Fast Friends.

I am cured.

The Christmas Pudding was OK but I enjoyed the ice cream more than the pud, so I don’t think that I will bother next year. It is weird,but I can only assume that less sugar in my diet has changed what I enjoy. I would have assumed that less sugar would mean that I would want more of the sweet stuff when I had it, but I don’t. I am grateful for the change and now don’t even think about sugar in my tea.

Just 5 days until 2016 fast friends. Lets be kind to ourselves.

Thanks Lori, I am feeling better each day.

I feel really bloated though and have been thinking about next Christmas and what I will do differently. I won’t bother with the bubbles or Cider, I won’t bother with mince pies/Christmas cake or pudding. I won’t buy any cole slaw as I am the only one that likes it, and perhaps no dip as my son and I are struggling to get through it. The huge amount of chestnut stuffing and left over turkey has been a huge hit with the boys along with the raw Cranberry sauce. I am not a fan of turkey and fail to see any joy in it as leftovers. I will buy less crisps and crackers, a smaller box of mince pies for my two. Hopefully I will remember that next year!

Bermuda Lori? Sounds wonderful, I am very very jealous in grey gloomy England. That is plenty of time to make such a change. My top tip would be to look at the sugar in your diet(there is lots in the savoury as well as the sweet) and see what changes you can make to reduce your intake. The aim is to consume no more than 6 tsp in total a day, which is a grand total of 24g. Once you start reading packets/jars/boxes you will see what a challenge that can be. But if I can stop having any sugar in my tea after 45+ years….then anyone can reduce their daily sugar consumption.

I have several days of antibiotics to go and need to eat with them, so will have to leave fasting for a while yet. My goals for 2016 are to fit comfortably in those pink shorts, whittle another couple of inches off my waist and get back into running.

I am leaving the leftovers to the elves and getting back to more wholefoods and avoiding sugar. I am rather nervous of the grand weigh/measure on Friday, but hopefully it will still be much better than a year ago.

Off out to clock up 10,000 steps.

Hi Cinderella,
As a Lidl shopper myself(local shop opened in the summer) I can understand the temptation to buy all the wonderful goodies. I looked at lots of things but most of them went back on the shelf/in the freezer once I had seen the sugar content. All the Christmas food is almost gone, chocolates re-gifted and the freezer is rather empty.

I was the most organised that I have ever been at Christmas(all prepped the day before) inspired by Jamie Oliver. Just as well as in a rash moment I opened a bottle of Cava(Lidl about £5-very good) and thought that it would be a good idea to have a glass while I cooked dinner, bearing in mind that I rarely drink. I was very relaxed!

I am rather glad, after all the hype and pressure that it is all over for another year. Next year I will buy even less and will re-gift the chocolates again.

I am very pleased with my Oxfam dress, very 1940’s and fits like a dream. I just look at the Boden stuff, the rest is a bit overwhelming.

Your poor husband. I can imagine the comments!

If it works for you Benny…
I have 4 young men to feed on a budget, so rice/pasta/potatoes feature in our diet regularly. I like fish but they don’t,so that is what I eat on a FD or homemade soup. I wont touch anything ‘diet’ or low fat now because of the sugar content and feel fuller as a result.

I eat 3 meals a day and miss breakfast when I am fasting. I am fed lunch for free at work, so make my food choices on what is available on a FD, as well as on a NFD.

I started running just 3 years ago. There is a local half marathon in my city with many roads closed for most of the day and I wondered if I could complete the course, uninjured. I am not sporty at all, but started running between 2 lampposts and then walking between the next few until I slowly got a bit better. I have now completed 5 half marathons and numerous 5/10K. I am not fast at all. My logic was that if I was lugging less weight around then I should be faster.

I don’t fast for the last 2 weeks before a Half and I haven’t found that fasting has boosted my energy levels. Less weight to carry has done that along with less sugar in my diet. Looking better in my running kit(unforgiving lycra) is a great incentive although I do love to run when it is warm enough for shorts and a vest, not so much when it is cold/wet/grey/winter!

That is a good idea Lori. I might well join you with a weigh/measure tomorrow too. Whatever the numbers are tomorrow, I am in a much better place than I was last year.