We were lucky, our Christmas lunch with friends, in a beautiful garden on a hot day yesterday, was salmon quiche (sans pastry) and delicious salads. The yummy pavlova afterwards had to be eaten, though, as it wouldn’t keep in the heat. 😉
You’ve done well with the fasts, Amazon. I don’t know how you do it day after day! Impressive!
I’ve been having trouble getting our favourite cheese for weeks now. I tried ordering 2 different types yesterday (click and collect) and managed to get one of them. Same with the lovely natural yoghurt we eat. I now order 2 types, hoping for at least 1. Supply chains are being effected here, too, combined with Xmas food buyups, I suppose. P

😆😆 B, I commented, last night, how late it was light and then remembered the date! 😏😏 Happy Summer Solstice, B. Happy Winter Solstice Northerners. 😄😄

Thanks Purple and Barata.

I’m definitely going to follow Fast 800 in the New Year.
Last week worked well and with proper planning I think I could do it for 12 weeks and if I want to go out to eat I can throw in a couple of 500 calorie days to compensate.

My hair is longer than it’s been for a while but I like having it this length for winter.

I am thrilled we’ve reached winter solstice. Less than 8 hours of light is not enough.

I don’t eat breakfast so I had something small at lunch time eg yoghurt with fruit and a few seeds or a small piece of cheese and an apple and saved most of my calories for a decent dinner which I eat early in order to lengthen the fasting time.

I’m hoping to be more organised in the New Year and maybe make soup or dhal for lunch. If it was summer a small salad with some protein maybe an egg or some fish would work.
I basically ate protein, veg, fruit, dairy.

Barata, I’ve been gaining and losing the same lbs over and again for ages and I’ve finally made a breakthrough and weigh less than at the start of the year and even with the inevitable Christmas rise I’ll still end the year lighter so a small but significant step in the right direction has been made which is good enough for me and my aim is to continue again on Monday 4th January 2022 and keep going until I get to a weight I’m comfortable with.

Yay! Final shop done (until Boxing Day – one gift to be purchased at the sales), ham is in the fridge – without removing any of OH’s beer! Menu items satisfactorily delegated to family attendees. All ready for Christmas lunch. 🙂 I just need to pick a few strawberries for the morning’s bubbles.

I’ve been busy in the kitchen today making stock for gravy, stuffing, a red cabbage dish. I’ve baked a small piece of ham and am about to cook a big batch of blinis some of which will be topped with smoked salmon for my Christmas Eve dinner.

This week has been wonderful. I had such a fun visit with my niece, her husband and my two little great nephews.
When I arrived I was putting the Christmas cake I’d made for them on the kitchen counter and the two year old sauntered into the kitchen and said ” did you bring any presents?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🎄🎅🎁

Happy Christmas everyone, I’ll be raising a glass to you all and wishing for a happy and healthy 2022 not only for us but for everyone 🥂💝

Merry Christmas, all my dear 5:2 friends. xx

Beautiful 27 degrees by our thermometer, 29 by g nephew’s watch! Gentle breeze, totally blue sky. Family almost fed, leftovers will feed us for days… Sharing makes lighter work.

And to you, too, Amazon. 2022 HAS to be better..surely? P

Yes…no more! And now bushfires are back! Grrr….

Thanks Amazon, for the reminder to be grateful for what we DO have. I have railed against the disappointments of cancelled plans so more longer planning things. I have developed the attitude that “life’s too short” in the last couple of years, and try to make the most of any opportunity. Today was a stunning summer day, so I grabbed my mate and drove around some of the harbour foreshores, with 3 Thermoses of water, letting the coast decide the route. We found some wonderful bushwalks with fabulous views and the fast day slipped by.
Well done on planning your next 5:2 adventure. It IS always easier if you don’t have to think about food. All the best. P

I’ll happily be your tour guide, A. I have fond memories of spending the day with you and Jo in London, dodging the rain, checking out the art scene.
We need to make memories every day, no matter how simple. My favourite red hibiscus was blooming yesterday. Takes me back to our first martial home where we grew the same hibiscus 🌺 P

I’m watching the fifth set of Andy Murray’s first round game back at the AO!

We were able to have our local family here on Christmas Day, which was wonderful, but we haven’t seen the WA lot for nearly 2 years and no chance in the foreseeable future. 😒 WA has shut itself off, completely, from the rest of the country and world. A bit like China!
Our weather pattern this summer is humid, hot and wet. The garden has gone mad, with some plants dying from TOO MUCH water! We were in a dreadful drought 2 years ago!
We are keeping our heads down, with so much Omicron around, but, touch wood, noone I know has had it and we are triple vaxxed. All our grandies are vaxxed now too.
P

No, Polly, I don’t go to Melbourne for the AO. I’d rather PLAY tennis than watch it. Mind you, I got sucked in watching some of the Ashes this year. 😀🙂

So easy to do on this thread, Polly! B is watching the AO from NZ on telly, not live. 🙂🙂
And it’s my plants that are drowning. Apparently this is the most humid January we’ve ever had. 😑

Ooops again. Which Australian state are you in now, Purple? Is it Victoria? Am I right in thinking that you do have pretty extremes of weather? Hope your plants do survive, anyway.

I think you both like rugby. I’m reading Alun Wyn Jones’s autobiography at the moment. He shows great respect for the All Blacks and the Wallabies and particularly for how they were welcomed in New Zealand – in smaller communities.

I still can’t get rid of this indigestion, so I’m giving up wine for a bit. A test run. Might lose a pound.

Hi everyone,

Purple you beat me to it, I was going to suggest kefir or natural yoghurt for Pol’s indigestion.

I’m in my semi-nocturnal phase of the year, on occasion getting up at silly o’clock to watch tennis (4am yesterday for Andy) and also trying to get out in the fresh air during daylight hours in this lovely fine frosty and sunny weather we’ve been having here in London.

Cloud today and a couple of degrees warmer. I’m off to walk the Thames Path from Hampton Court towards home. It’s a really nice stretch with lots of coffee opportunities along the way 🙂

I’m concentrating on fitness and flexibility at the moment, continuing to be positive and not worrying about anything else. I’ve lost a few pounds but not as much as I’d like due to compliance issues. It’s so much harder to fast in winter but if the weight is going in the right direction, no point in stressing over it.

I’ve prepped a nice comforting healthy dinner of aubergines and ricotta in tomato sauce for this evening so when I get home all I need to do is put it in the oven and steam some greens.

Time to get moving.

Dear friends, we cannot let the thread whimper to a sad end. We have had such great times here, both virtually and with the physical friends we have made over the years. Surely there is news to share?

So far we have stayed safe from Omicrom, but our son in Sydney, and his son, both had it last month. It was just before their long-delayed holiday in Thailand, so fingers were well crossed that his wife and daughter didn’t come down with it too. All was well, though, and no suggestion of Long Covid for either. Granddaughter is ten tomorrow – it will still just be a virtual birthday wish. They are suggesting that we come over at Christmas, but December is a loooong way away.

How did you get on with Fast 800, Amazon? You were planning to use that to challenge your repeating kgs / lbs.

Has your indigestion resolved itself, Polly? And any progress with your domestic situation, Happy. I see Wi has returned to France, and has been able to catch up with her grandies, including the new one. 🙂

Back to the weather report! It’s less than six weeks until the shortest day, and still the temperatures are around 20 during the day. Cooler at night, though, so the lawn is slowing down its growth.

Stay safe, everyone. xx

Hi, Barata and everyone. Are we just struggling due to complacency or boredom with IF? Or maybe we are so fed up with covid restrictions and that we do so little?

I’m 133.4 lbs, so 3 over top wriggle room. In fact, I’m now pleased if I see 132 announced by the speaking scales. 😏.OH has regrown his horrible belly and is becoming embarrassed about it, but will buy snacks and sneak them I five gone to bed early or he’s watching sport in the study.

Food wise we’ve had a bad weekend as we’ve been away. Company and experience wise,it was a fabulous weekend. We went ‘home’ to the Rhondda Valley for the dedication of a memorial to the Cwmparc Bombing on 30th April, 1941. Worth a Google. As a child I used to play there without a thought. It was a very moving event and an opportunity to meet people I’ve not seen for 50+ Years in some cases. Sadly, the childhood friend who started the campaign died quite suddenly from cancer last year – a little boy, son of a nurse, who became a renowned QC.

Back to food, eating out and drinking cocktails, capped off with two extra nights in an hotel with amazing breakfasts. Oh, dear! Tomorrow I have grumpies lunch, then dining group in the evening. Blooming U3A!

It was wonderful to see families reunited in NZ! Barata, you didn’t say whether your son was actually I’ll with covid, so I’m assuming not. Thankfully, most people do seem to have cold-like symptoms, as did my sister last week, so couldn’t go to the dedication.

I will resolve to post more often – to avoid producing a screen like this!

Take care, everyone.

Yes Polly was right…it has been a LONG 2 years.
We have had dose 4 and flu shots and kept away from “the bug”, but know many who have had it. Women do seem to suffer more from Omicron. 😒 P

I just can’t do three meals a day now, even if the gap is much longer than 8. We had the hotel breakfast at 9, then had something from their snack menu at 7.30 that evening. Just one coffee at St Fagan’s museum.

Barata, I’d never diss U3A, our flipping lives revolve around it now. We’re having some fun and games with roles and pedantic people, though. My writing of fun group didn’t restart after lockdown. The remaining writing group is far too serious, with the leader intending to email everyone’s stories each month. Nope! I had enough reading of naff writing as a teacher and most of the members are not that good. I do miss my former journalist friend, though. We’re on the same wavelength and have both been successful in competitions.

Re vaccines: it’s seems to be the Moderna which has caused a bad reaction here. OH had his fourth a few weeks ago, Pfizer so he was fine. I’m due next week.

Glad to hear that. And that you’re on the mend.

Are those wagon wheels higher than before or is it travelling to quickly. I’ve just had toast, because it’s so cold.

I’m comfortable with two meals a day, the first usually after midday as I’m not hungry in the morning. Weight has dropped – with a lot of effort – to the level of my best days with 5:2, so I am very happy. It’s sustainable, but admittedly fairly restrictive. I rarely eat wheat or sugar. Plenty of wine, though 🙂

Older son came for a visit from Wellington over Easter. It’s been nearly a year since we saw him, he just doesn’t stop working! His driving is an essential industry, so there were no lock-down breaks for him either. As he was so late booking his flight there wasn’t a bed to be had in town, so he ended up on the truckle bed (all 6’3″ of him) in the lounge. He SAID it was comfortable. He was 46 on Monday!!