We travellers have to be creative, don’t we, Amazon? We are meant to be in Greece now, so we are watching travel shows on Greece!!! I have even taken up eaten Greek food when we eat out!! P

Hello Polly
I think we were going to Coed-y-Paen as my OH has customers there or maybe to the Breacon Beacons (spelling?). South Wales is lovely. We had a wee holiday on the Gower Peninsula. All good fun when you drive a left hand drive car.
I did spend one cold day in Bridgend which wasn’t the easiest. Found a warm café and read. I usually go with OH on work trips if they are to nice places.
I heard about testing sewage. Good on NSW finding those cases. In NZ they have eliminated Covid except for people coming in from overseas.
I am making soup today, but minestrone type, with lots of lemon, southern European style. I love your idea of eating the food of places you are not going to, Purple. What about Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as a book or film.
I saw a film today called “The Mystery of Henri Pick”. Very clever French film.
I will look at the Clwydian Range on Google Earth. This is how I travel and I also do simulated train trips in various places. But less time for that in NZ than in lockdown in France
Off to bed after a good fast day.
xx Wiwi

It’s always upsetting to be a victim of crime when abroad.
When I was in Madagascar we took a couple of internal flights and after one of them several of us noticed our luggage had been tampered with.
Our tour leader merely shrugged his shoulders so on arriving home it was reported to the company we travelled with along with his poor attitude.

I would have had my bag rifled by an 8 year old as we were on the way to the airport in Rome had it not been for a local noticing and shouting at him. He wouldn’t have found anything as my cash and valuables were in a different bag but it was a reminder one must always be vigilant.

I always remind myself I appear rich to the majority of local people in many places I visit and although I would never condone petty crime or slack policing of it I can understand why such things occur.

Colombia seems to be improving in many ways both for the Colombian people and tourists and it is a great shame when petty crime mars the memory of a holiday.

Pre Covid I loved doing food shopping but now I am reluctant to go out. I’m looking forward to the time when we can go out again without needing to worry about masks and distancing but I know it’s a long way off.

Hi HCB.

Good to hear from you.
The world is in a bad way right now and the majority of the issues have been created by people.

We all have to do what we can to improve the situation.
We might not always succeed but we must keep trying and that includes fasting.

Hi everyone,

It’s a cold sunny autumnal day here in London.

This week has improved mightily since failing to fast on Monday. Two 800 calorie days and one 500. I’m aiming for 500 today and will not fast over the weekend but limit my calorie intake so as not to undo all the good work.

My new organic kefir grains are now up to speed so I’m looking at recipes to use what I don’t drink. I’ll make flatbreads tomorrow and freeze the remainder of the dough and have a plan for some savoury chick pea flour pancakes stuffed with spicy beans and veg baked in tomato sauce which will be on the menu next week.
I bought a spaghetti squash last week (I’ve not used one before) and have been busy researching recipes for it and I’m considering a seafood sauce that would normally be eaten with spaghetti or linguine or a roasted veg sauce and topping it with cheese.

I made my Christmas cake yesterday and cake no 2 is in the oven. The fruit for cake no 3 is sitting in a bath of rum ready for tomorrow.

I love baking and find it relaxing. I don’t have a problem with doing it on a FD either.

Having just read through this post anyone would think I’m obsessed with food and eating………… 🤣🤣🤣

Happy,

Good luck with finding the willpower. I’ve found mine and am considering buying a safety lock 😆

Have a good weekend everyone 🤪

Hi Purple,

Today has gone well and I can smell my tarragon chicken with roasted veggies cooking.

Keeping busy is definitely an important factor more so when willpower is flagging.

I’ve been knitting a jacket with a complex pattern in 4 colours and it’s taken 3 hours to sew in all the ends. Not a very exciting task but one requiring time and concentration and it took my mind away from my hunger which has been shouting at me since 9am, no surprise on the 4th consecutive FD after not fasting for over 2 weeks.

Flab is also plentiful here……

Well done girls!
I don’t knit…can’t stand unpicking mistakes…but often get absorbed in sewing. I don’t have the patience for big projects any more, but sewing for little people is always an excellent one day distraction. 😉
We are in our family celebration month now, so I have to be very careful weighing up the party eating with the aim to not gain weight (or cause bloodsugar spikes). I’m getting pretty good at it, and surprised what counts as party food these days, compared to pre- 2013! With COVID, it is a good excuse to prepare our own, healthier, food and celebrate picnic style. Life CAN still be fun and healthy.
Have a good one. P

Hi HCB
It sounds as if you have jumped back on the wagon really well. Great work! Your poor husband will be feeling the cold because he has lost weight. It is important to make sure he keeps warm or he will start eating to warm up. Mr P is particularly light at the moment, and even on mildly cool nights (it’s Spring here), he has to put jumpers on.
I restarted my old frozen kefir after about a year and it worked, but took a couple of weeks of careful nurturing.. only using a small amount of milk each day, initially. As we don’t use it much these days (Mr P finds it doesn’t agree with him if he has it often), I buy commercially produced, natural kefir. It IS easy, and delicious.
We are having stunning weather, and are enjoying the great outdoors and longer evenings. Even the mossies haven’t been a nuisance yet! 🙂 No more big pots of veg soup; replaced by salads every meal. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. P

Hi Amazon,

You put me to shame with you Christmas preparations! I have been vaguely thinking about it. But got no further than making a cake for Dad.. who I might not be able to visit until 2021 at this rate… ah well, it’s a Delia fruity boozy cake so keeps well….

I did try sauerkraut a couple of years ago in a large bowl, but struggled to keep it submerged and wasn’t sufficiently impressed with the results. However I did buy a fermenting jar from Lakeland months ago to try again, but keep forgetting I’ve got it… another job for the to do list…

Good to hear you’ve been managing to catch-up with friends and family outdoors. As you say, on a fine sunny day autumn is a great season outdoors.

My back has also recovered well, although everything is sore today after emptying one of the compost bins and turning the other one into it. I was inspired to tackle them by the discovery of a rat in the one we’re filling. As I emptied it it became apparent it wasn’t one but 5! Clearly litter mates, nowhere near full grown, and terrified of me of course. They made their escape and I have rat proofed the compost bins so they can’t get back in. They were quite cute, but all the same I hope our resident owl (or the cat) will get them!

I failed at fasting last week, feeling a bit pressured with work, but fasted successfully yesterday. Fingers crossed it’s good enough for maintenance. I didn’t buy any peanut butter or nuts this week, to minimise snacking temptation. Sadly though, I’ve been eating a bit too much spelt flatbread… I really really need to not comfort eat my way through the rest of the pandemic!

Hi A and H,
I thought you’d all abandoned the thread! I even checked if I had been unsubscribed. 😶
I find it so strange how sometimes fasts are SO easy (last Monday) and yet others jolly difficult (Thursday 😒) I gave up at 10am and just accepted the loss. I also had no intention of postponing until Friday! So Monday is looming now, and another fast. This time I must!
I think if it starts crumbling, it is probably better to just accept the hiccup and move on.
Glad to hear you are both busy, Amazon with Xmas preps (wow!) and socialising, and Happy with rat eradication! I find I have to put bricks all around the base of my compost to keep them out. Mind you, I also have netting and wire cages around anything edible to stop the brush turkeys and possums too. The cockies are currently eating the wattle seeds. They break off one end of the seed pod, then systematically move it, with their tongue, along in their beak, removing each seed (a bit like a pea pod), then dropping it when they reach the end. Very neat. Very efficient. 🙂
Keep safe, girls, we WILL get past this. P

Amazon,

Thanks for the cabbage leaf tip! That’s a genius idea!

I have a Mackenzie roll in my car, and various moulded lumbar supports in chairs. Pilates has really helped my whole core and I’ve noticed a general change in shape around my buttocks and stomach, I guess as a result of muscles actually working 😂 But yes, once a back sufferer always a sufferer. I think before a couple of weeks ago, my last severe do with my back was about 4 years ago. While painful, every now and then I need a reminder to be vigilant and not get complacent.

Hi HCB
Well done on getting back into the swing of fasting! Sleep is important, but I do feel sorry for your poor husband…you ARE tough! 🤭🤭 I turn the ceiling fan on, even when it’s not very hot, as I DO sleep better when I’m not hot. I get wild dreams if I am too hot. 😒🙄
So sorry to hear about your fall. I know your pain. I have had quite a number of very nasty falls in the last 3 years. It is actually getting to the point that I am worrying about walking down stairs. I don’t hold the railing (Don’t want COVID)!, so I bought myself a couple of trekking poles for when we do bushwalks. Definitely using the RICE remedy, after an injury, helps quicker healing. It is cracked bones, deep bruising and ripped skin (with gravel in it) that I find can take months to heal.😒 Ah, the joys of aging!
It will be nice to see your mum again. Is she in the US too? Any movement in here, from state to state, mostly involves 2 weeks compulsory quarantining in a hotel (at your expense) and several swab tests. And the number of local cases in Australia is almost zero. We work very hard to avoid the terrible toll this virus has created overseas, especially in the US. It is a terrible tragedy the way it has been handled by some governments.
I wish you luck. P

Yes, you are right, US and Brazilian Presidents “from the same litter”.
Take plenty of sanitiser and washable masks. 😐

Hi everyone,

HCB,
sorry to hear about your fall and I hope you make a swift recovery.
Despite all the problems with Covid you must be looking forward to seeing your Mum. Take care of yourself and enjoy your time with her.

Happy,
I AM fasting today too and my sentiments regarding my recent lack of progress mirrors yours.
I have a menu plan with lots of healthy and satisfying meal ideas on it.
All I need to do now is get on with it…

I fasted too and as it is 10pm it’s almost bedtime.
You are 12 hours behind Amazon and Happy. Hope the fasts go well.
Sorry about your fall HCB. Speedy recuperation.
In the last two weeks, my knee which has been problematic has deteriorated.
I am facing a knee replacement. The wait list is about 4 months, so 4 months of pain!!
I am hoping that the anti inflammatory results of fasting do help but not optimistic. But losing 8 kgs would help.
It’s not very warm here so it’s soup on 400 cal days.
Wiwi

Hi Wi,

Sorry to hear about your knee. When I read your post my first thought was I wish the wait for a joint replacement here was only 4 months.
I hope you are able to manage the pain and incapacity ok. Do you have a knee support? There are some great flexible ones on the market.

A friend of mine in Adelaide had to have a knee replacement a few years ago, she broke her leg badly in a motorcycle accident when she was in her late teens/early 20s. Prior to the replacement she had extensive physio to build up the muscles supporting the joint and aid a speedy recovery, something you might want to consider.

It’s a fine autumn day here and warmer than the past week has been.
I’ve been busy this morning, I got up and my body was so stiff and uncomfortable I decided to do my usual workout which I’ve not done for a few weeks. I was wary of doing anything that upset the recovery of my back but the only thing I found uncomfortable was post workout when doing one of the hip exercises the physio gave me so I skipped it.
I feel much better now having loosened everything up.

I am determined this FD will be successful and have lots to keep me busy.

Happy,

My FD was a breeze, the stuffed pancakes were fab and the good news is there were two portions so I get to have more tomorrow.

I’m also going to do my workout again as I feel so much better having done it this morning.

Well done, Amazon.
Thanks, team for the comments about the upcoming total replacement of my knee.
I know about physio before and getting 110° bend to ride a bike will need some hard work. I will start swimming again as walking is quite hard, though with a knee brace it’s possible.
This only showed 3 weeks ago when I felt bone pain the whole length between my
knee and ankle.
I could buy a ticket to France and do it with no cost immediately in private hospitals with live in physio after. However …………. not such a good idea.
Next fast day here is tomorrow Wednesday.
xx

Hi everyone,

I’ve managed to get through B2B FDs. Yesterday was a real struggle but I got there and am feeling very pleased with myself this morning.
I decided working out yesterday might be pushing my back to far so waited until this morning and all is good apart from the odd sciatic twinge.

Today I’m trying a recipe of squash stuffed with onions, sauerkraut and cheese. It is supposed to contain some cream and I’m going to use yogurt. I’ll also be using Comte rather than Gruyere because that’s what is in the fridge.

My new kefir grains continue to multiply rapidly, I’ll be setting up a kefir stall soon 😆

The government is continuing on it’s quest to ensure those who don’t succumb to Covid lose their job, starve, become homeless, bankrupt or all four.
They are putting huge pressure on the Mayor of Manchester and are doing similar to the Mayor of London in demanding measures that will cripple the city in exchange for funding to help keep things going in the face of necessary restrictions.
IMHO they have an ulterior motive as both Mayors are Labour and they want the public to think the further hardships they are about to suffer are the fault of the Mayors rather than due to government policy.
Every day there is another article in the media regarding more money being spent on things that either don’t materialise or don’t work eg efficient track and trace and PPE. They don’t work because the government are giving billions to their supporters and donors who have no experience in such matters.

What we need is another lockdown and full financial support for those affected plus all testing and track and trace to be handed over to the NHS and community health with adequate funding which will cost a fraction of what they are giving to their cronies.

I despair 😫

Hi Purple,

Thanks,

At the moment it’s all about getting back into good habits and not celebrating a couple of good FDs but viewing them as a single small victory.

I’m also trying to make space in the freezer. I have a lot of low calorie homemade ready meals in there and intend on using them in the coming weeks to make way for seasonal goodies, all healthy of course 😉

The government are destroying the UK piece by piece and as they have such a large majority it’s almost impossible to prevent them doing whatever they please.
Having said that, half of what they do is implemented without parliamentary scrutiny…..

We are in deep trouble as the situation is similar to the USA where there are many who think the man in charge is doing a good job 😖😬

Girls,
I am at the airport right now and there a very few people traveling. Some people here and there, face coverings and hand sanitizer everywhere.
I was reluctant to ask for help but at the last minute I’ve requested a wheelchair and a brought along a walking cane. It helped a lot. Boarding in about 45 miners.

I guess I am at the “cakes/pain” group now! My plan for the upcoming year will be to learn how to improve muscle mass. I truly believe that my falling could’ve been much worse if I’ve been heavier. Mobility is paramount for quality of life.

Congratulations for those of you that Fasted and for those who had good intentions. It does help to at list try half.
I am not fasting but behaving.

Today I just did my first Covid test! The result will be within 24h. Just peace of mind.
The numbers are rising in Connecticut and the governor said that he’ll be tougher if people won’t cooperate.

Be well 🙏❤️

Purple,

Cooking party food on a FD is a tricky manoeuvre at the best of times without having pesky leftovers getting in the way 🤣🤣🤣

Enjoy the party and I hope the weather is kind to you.

I decided to cheer myself up this morning by watching African wildlife cameras (which can be accessed via youtube) and the result is I’ve now booked myself a second safari holiday next year 😆

My excuse is I’ve never been to Kenya………..

I can report my second successful fast day of the week. Hoorah! Although thanks for the timely reminder Amazon that a couple of good FDs are just that and nothing more!

P, I’m sure the party will go well and i hope your stress levels aren’t though the roof today! Of course having tried a the food at the prep stage, you won’t need to try it on the day… 🤣

I’m trying not to get too depressed by what’s happening in the country, but it’s hard to see anything positive at the moment! I’m fortunate that I have a secure job that won’t be affected by the inevitable lockdowns that are going to be with us for the foreseeable future. I can’t beging to imagine the desperate situations that a lot of people are in. Its an out of control mess. But hey, at least we’ll have a national Brexit party and festival to look forward to next year…!!

Anyway, time to start the day (in the dark ☹). First stop, what do the scales say… and whatever they say, a mindful eating day ahead. Or that’s the plan 🤞

Good morning,

The temperate in Brazil it’s very nice! Right now it’s 68c going up to 82c with a chance of 90% rain.
The city it’s falling apart and god now where millions a take food from.
Food insecurity it’s happening in the USA as well! Many children get their food from their school lunches. 😢😢😢 I am just praying and hoping for a better outcome economically.
Happy Birthday Mr. P! Enjoy been spoiled.
Good job Happy!
See you later 😘

Thanks girls. All went well. The old man felt thoroughly spoilt, even though he spent the day doing the outdoor lighting. The food went well. It really pays to plan very well, and ,yes, I HAD already tadted it, but was too busy tonight to eat much. 🙂🙂 The weather held and a good time was had by all. P