Except in Australian heat…meat must be over 60deg or under 25. I can’t remember the exact range of the danger zone from my food handling course, but realistically it has to be served quite promptly from the oven or refrigerated. I’m roasting duck 2 days before, then refrigerating. If you don’t overcook it, or at least baste well, it will be delicious. I’d never forgive myself if my visitors became ill.

Sorry Nama. The lower temp is probably 12 or 15. The point is, in England they can leave food out most of the year. My mum, raised by her English mother, was a horror with not refrigerating food. I’m staggered we survived. I guess it was the cast iron stomach that helped 😉😉
P

Nama,

Our kitchen was always warm as the oven was on from midnight Christmas Eve until the spuds came out of it. None of us were ever ill from eating turkey that had been kept hot (and it was hot not warm and would be more than 60) in such a way and if your kitchen is what you think of as cool it is probably a similar temperature to a UK kitchen with oven and heating on. I would think that what you do with any leftovers might be an issue but unless your turkey is huge there is unlikely to be much left if you are feeding a crowd.

Don’t stress over it or you won’t enjoy yourself.

All the best Barata

Aw Barata! I don’t think prison is fun what so ever or being there over Christmas. I hope this young man have some nice time home ❤️

Well done Barata. Hopefully you’ll help to turn his life around. 😊P

It must be contagious as I’ve been awake since 4am and have finally given up and made a pot of tea!

I wasn’t tired last night when I went to bed despite a big walk to Kew Gardens and back so I’m not really surprised.
I haven’t noticed a difference in sleep patterns between FDs and NFDs but that might be why you can’t sleep Jo.

I shall drink my tea and read for a while, and I’ll get an early start at the gym 🙂

My FD went well yesterday and I hope my early start doesn’t make today more difficult.

In the town of 4000 that i live there are no crowds to beat to the shops certainly no line ups at opening time truly blessed Nama a new forecast is tipping 40deg Christmas Day and 42deg on Boxing Day now that’s what i’m talking about can’t hardly wait.
Christmas of Old with the wheelie evaporated air cooler with a bucket of water poured in the back over the sea grass matting in your bedroom doorway until you fell asleep then onto another bedroom timber framed house with timber floors is the original hot house good times 😉
Peace RT

Morning/evening all,

I was at the gym nice and early this morning and home early as the showers are being refurbished so no jacuzzi, sauna or swim for me today. I don’t really like coming home straight from a workout but I needed to go today in order to get back into my 3 times per week routine. The good news is that they’ll be finished this evening which is a day ahead of schedule so tomorrow I can have that swim 🙂
It was really quiet this morning and I think that is more due to the time of year than lack of showers.

It is cold but dry, bright and clear. Apparently a mini monsoon is arriving tomorrow but only for one day!

Apart from food shopping for perishable itemswhich will be done tomorrow I’ve nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the next few days.

Have a good one everybody 😜

Jo,

I am 100% into Christmas mode so I’m afraid you’ll have to do it all yourself.

My FD has gone west but I’m not surprised as I was feeling ravenous at 6am!!! I’ll fast tomorrow and maybe Thursday and will only be eating in the evening on Friday.

Dinner only on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are going to be free of calorie counting and I’ll regroup on Tuesday. Thankfully I can’t eat anywhere near as much as I used to pack away so I can’t do too much damage in a couple of days. Having said that, despite all my hard work the scales are refusing to budge again. I know that the weight will come off but it is nice to see a drop in the numbers as it encourages me to keep working at it.

Kew Gardens is closed on CE and CD but open for business on Boxing Day so I’m hoping it is a fine day. The gym is open again on Tuesday which is excellent and means no excuses 🙂

There are no family changing areas at my gym as it is adults only. It is a minor inconvenience not to be able to shower, and it only affects me for one day. The early birds are theose who are most affected as they come on at 7am and then shower and get ready for work. None of them were there this morning. Having said that, quite a few businesses have closed until Jan 3rd so a lot of the younger ones have probably left London for Christmas.
I love London at this time of year, hardly any traffic and far fewer people rushing around. Next week will be even nicer 😎

Morning/evening all

It’s the winter solstice and not light yet at 8.05.

The forecast for today is dull and wet ☹

I’m slept really well last night which is no surprise after a 4am awakening. Gym this morning and then I’m going to hit the supermarket and buy the all important brussel sprouts plus a few other items 😉

That should keep me out of mischief until mid afternoon,

Have a good one everybody 😜

Summer solstice here 😊 Lovely mild weather. Very pleasant to get the garden and pool ready for Christmas visitors. All cruising here. Good weight, but ever vigilant, especially while trying to clear out the freezer 😉😉😉 Last fast before Christmas starts right now! P

I’m glad you’ve found a way that works for you Jo!
Believe me, it is not always, not even often, a breeze for me to fast and I get VERY cold without food, but I know it is the only way to stay healthy and control my eating.
All the best for a very happy Christmas. P 🎄🎄🎄🎁

Hi again everyone.

I had a good morning at the gym and the new showers are finished a day early which was good as I really enjoy a nice hot shower immediately after exercising.

I went to the supermarket and it was packed but very civilised. The staff were being very efficient at re-filling the fast emptying shelves and there were no queues at any of the deli counters which was great.
I got everything I wanted including some really interesting looking purple edged brussel sprouts still on the stalk. I’ve never seen them before so had to try them. I doubt they’ll taste much different from the more usual green varieties.
I also spied some fresh horseradish root which is quite hard to get hold of so I’ll be pickling whatever is left after I’ve used it in the dressing for the smoked salmon.

The cool box (eski) is on the back step doing duty as an overflow fridge, wonderful for keeping fruit and veg fresh for a couple of weeks in our winter weather. When I was a child we used to keep it all in the garden shed along with beer and soft drinks to keep them cold.

I’m fasting today and possibly tomorrow then it’s 23/1 Friday and dinner only on Christmas Eve.

I get very cold on FDs if I’m not careful and find going to the gym and keeping busy are the best way to keep warm.

Today has been fine and I can honestly say that I’m not at all hungry which is in stark contrast to yesterday when I was ravenous at 6am after a bad night.

It is getting dark already 😮

Morning/evening all

A misty morning which is apparently going to turn into a beautiful sunny day 🌞
I’m going to see my niece and great nephew this morning and good weather means we have the opportunity for a stroll in their local park.

I’m aiming for one meal only today, either lunch out with my niece or dinner at home.

Happy, back in the days when I did on call duties I used to work either Saturday or Sunday in three out of every four weekends, and we never got time off at Christmaspart from the BH days and someone had to work on those days, so I had to be really organised to get anything done at any time of year and it is a good habit to have.

Have a good one everybody 😜

Jo,

The original thread was abandoned due to technical difficulties. Those difficulties will still be there if you try and re-use it.

Why not start a new ‘Lose 2lbs per week – join Jo thread’, the title can be nearly identical, but won’t be beset by technical issues?

And re wanting a new thread because this thread is full of maintainers. I know you only post on one thread, so you are effectively saying that you’d rather your old weight loss buddies (who all got to goal before you) stop posting where you are?!

Happy Christmas 😀

Oh RT, if only I lived closer I’d be gate-crashing your beach party! It sounds absolutely delicious, mmmmm….. Not to mention swapping gales and rain ☔️💨💨for a bit of sea and warm sun 🦀☀️🌊

Jo, do you really think that new people will choose the old thread over this one? There is no logical reason why that should happen. Come 1st January there will be lots of new 5:2 ers looking for a home and having two threads with similar titles by the same person is more likely to cause confusion than anything else. Using the old thread isn’t going to make your weight loss journey any easier and you already have plenty of support on this thread.

I intend to do 23/1 every day in the New Year so you already have company.

I’ve just spent a lovely few hours with my niece and great nephew. We started off at a coffee shop and then went for a walk in the local park which gave the little one the opportunity to run around in the playground, splash in all the puddles and get soaked on the slide!
We then went to the small zoo and looked at the birds, pigs, goats and meerkats who were all standing up taking in the sunshine and he was greatly amused by them. We then went back to the coffee shop for lunch and sat outside in the sunshine. My meal of the day was a chicken, avocado and bacon sarnie. It also contained lots of salad with lemony dressing and was made with freshly cut granary bread, so I’ve had my weekly fix 😉

It has been cold but sunny since around 9.30am and we made the most of it as the next sunshine isn’t due until Boxing Day!

Amazon,

I’m doing 23/1 today, breaking it with ham jerk in about an hour…. I’m hoping there’ll be some left over because Jamie’s suggested leftover sandwich sounds damned good too!

Jo,

As Nama said, maintenance isn’t a ‘foot off the pedal’ situation, and I suspect most if not all of us are still working hard to stand still.

However this thread has become very chatty, with more social life than food and fasting. So perhaps everyone needs to re-focus and remember to document food and fasting successes and failures first and then social journal second!

I believe there is no sunny upland called goal. What eventually happens, and it looks as if you have reached that point Jo, you develop a deep undestanding of your body and it’s real nutritional needs. We use the 23/1 and 18/6 eating techniques very often, on top of 2 proper fasts. We eat low carb, full fat, limited sugars and processed foods and drink lots of water. The reality is, that is healthy eating for all of us. As such, we are all operating from the same score.
As I said, only the other day, fasting is rarely easy for me, but it is utterly necessary.
RT, you didn’t give us the address of that beach or a start time! I’m available and could organise a flight 😊😊
Off to buy the food for our party. Cheers P