Hi Fasters

Great you are back, Emel. I have not been that present lately, but am back on track now ( for the past week)
Sorry about the wee doggy, Jo. I hope she will be better after the op.
The problems you expressed about keeping on track are mine too, though my OH is very supportive. I had a book from the library about the Med régime. I remember Purple talking about this a year or so back. My staple meal is Frittata with veges olives and egg. I dislike pastry now (good thing), so I don’t care for quiches.
Amazon, I liked your comment about being happier now. I feel this too. Fasting evens my ups and downs.
Purple dear, you are an INSPIRATION.
I had a strange incident yesterday which is a lesson to me. As Barata has said, it was a perfect Wellington day, and we decided with friends to do a walk involving 800 steps (FYI, Barata the Paekakariki Escarpment Track) It was a fast day for me so not much fuel on board, but about 750 ml of water.
I went into fat burning mode, and as it was hot and we had drunk most of the water, I lost all energy, and as this walk is on a nearly sheer cliff over the sea, the consequences of fainting could have been nasty. Fortunately the friend went off to get water, and the incident passed. I think the lesson learnt was that probably a walk like that which is tough (10km and several ascents and descents of 200m by steep steps) is not compatible with a complete fast and the water question was plain idiotic on our part. I have the shakes this morning still.
My lovely physio strapped my damaged tendon so that was not an issue, but I’m getting tired of this tendon problem.

I have noticed however that on fast days the inflammation is less and I have less pain with this tendon ( and all my joints too)
Up day today and FD tomorrow. I find ADF easier to maintain than 4:3, and can anticipate social events with back to back.
Glad to be back on track and have my energy levels rising again.

I have visitors tonight. The menu is pork fillet, and a salad made with crotons, Halloumi, sundried tomatoes, mesclun and a vinagrette, followed by a low sugar banana cake.

Happy day/night.
xx Wiwi

I agree with you Wiwi that it sounds like lack of fuel, you’d used up glycogen but hadn’t started using fat stores efficiently. Burning fat on a fast day and being fully adapted to use fat as your main source of energy are not the same thing. It takes time (not one day), and very low carbohydrates, for your body to make the switch.

Endurance athletes (and those non-athletes who cycle long distances!) refer to this as ‘The bonk’ (Google it for full explanation).

I do a lot of walking now, 6-10km flat or rolling is fine on an empty stomach​, but I can’t fuel/ enjoy a proper mountain walk without keeping glycogen stores topped up.

Amazon,

I suspect we may both be right… if Wiwi is not used to that level of exertion in a fasted state.

I can only go by personal experience (cycling up to 100 miles a day, 15 mile walks taking in a mountain along the way), and both dehydration and running out of glycogen will play a part.

Of course if it is dehydration proper, then something to restore electrolytes other than plain water would be necessary…

Well then I guess we can assume that Mr P was water depleted but not salt depleted. When exercising hard, and sweating a lot, you’ll be losing salt too….

Hi all. Well sitting in the Adelaide airport waiting for my flight to Canberra. Today i decided to fast again as i thought it might be easier than fitting it in the three days that i am with my sister and father. I can’t believe ive done it. I did not sleep well last night and had a hard day with a staff member and then drove into Adelaide. Normally i would have succumbed to the fatigue but i decided to wait until Canberra for a small dinner. So a black chai tea was my choice of beverage and all is well. Of course i spent fifteen minute s trying to work out my password as am using my new phone . Exercise is something i love but i go through phases when i do anything not to workout. Wiwi after my trip to new Zealand i stand in awe of those who walk there. Best go .

Hi again,

Happy, I guess we are probably both right 🙂

Well done emel, you’ve just reminded yourself that you CAN do it and you’ll be so pleased with yourself tomorrow 😎

It is so cold outside. I just walked down to the local supermarket for milk and came back with a huge bag of fresh veg including some beautiful looking English asparagus.
FD dinner tonight will be an AJ burger (180 calories) with roasted asparagus and tomatoes and steamed spring cabbage.
I love this time of year with all the lovely new season veggies.

Hi Fast Trackers and Hello World (You All know Who You ARE) 😉

I went to the cemetery yesterday to lay some flowers on a grave.
As I was standing there I noticed 4 grave diggers walking about with a coffin.
3 hours later and they’re still walking about with it.
I thought to myself, they’ve lost the plot!!

My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday,
so I went to our local pet shop and they were £70!!!
Blow this, I thought, I can get one cheaper off the web.

Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs are not Happy.

My neighbour knocked on my door at 2:30am this morning, can you believe that 2:30am?!
Luckily for him I was still up playing my Bagpipes.

The wife has been missing a week now.
Police said to prepare for the worst.
So I have been to the charity shop to get all her clothes back.

Sat opposite an Indian lady on the train today, she shut her eyes and stopped breathing.
I thought she was dead, until I saw the red spot on her forehead and realised she was just on standby.

When I was in the pub I heard a couple of plonkers saying that they wouldn’t feel safe on an aircraft if they knew the pilot was a woman.
What a pair of sexists.
I mean, it’s not as if she’d have to reverse the bloody thing!

Local Police hunting the ‘knitting needle nutter’,
who has stabbed six people in the rear in the last 48 hours,
believe the attacker could be following some kind of pattern.

Just got back from my mate’s funeral.
He died after being hit on the head with a tennis ball.
It was a lovely service.

Have A Happy Weekend All You beautiful Losers 😆
Peace RT

Has anyone else noticed we’ve lost all our UK mob? Is this what Brexit meant? 😉 P

Welcome back Britain 😁😁

Well Jo, despite sunny days, we are now starting to feel winter. …on go the layers. Digging out hats, gloves and scarves 😊
Had a good fast yesterday, but another rubbish night. It HAS to be doing good 😊
All the best with your fast. P

Yes yes! I’m still here too. A depressing cold week, and back to work. I haven’t had any popping my back out incidents for over two weeks now, so hopefully I’m on the mend, but it’s stiff and sore and hasn’t really appreciated the sitting down all week 🙁

I had to attend a all day meeting yesterday. I’d decided to do two 24 hour fasts again this week to try and retrain my appetite. I spent six hours of yesterday’s fast sat at a round table, the ‘centrepiece’ of which was pan au chocolat and Danish pastries in the morning, and then a selection of deluxe biscuits for morning and afternoon breaks! I stayed strong 😁

Hi Happy,

I wouldn’t have had a problem with the biscuits, but the pain au chocolat would have been my undoing………….

I was on the go most of the day yesterday and as a result didn’t sit down to a meal and ate too many carbs culminating in sharing garlic bread and chips in the pub last night!

My small glass of kefir satisfied my growling stomach and I just need to get through the next 2 hours then I’ll be toddler chasing for the afternoon.
I’m going for a super strict roasted asparagus with a poached egg for dinner tonight.

I’m glad to hear that your back is improving albeit not a speedily as you would like but hopefully it’ll continue to improve.

My back is behaving itself at the moment which is fabulous. I always expect to be stiff and sore when I get out of bed and unable to reach the floor until I’ve done some stretches but it has been fine for nearly 3 weeks which is nothing short of a miracle. My knee has also settled down.

Jo, when are you going to learn that your back is weak and you need to do some core exercises for several months in order to strengthen it before you sustain a serious injury and are really incapacitated. Maybe you should swap one of your classes for Pilates.
Mine has improved so much and it is defintely down to the exercises as I’ve not changed anything else.

Jo, the stretch exercises are probably good for keeping you flexible but you need something to improve muscle strength.
I am doing sets of crunches, sit-ups, pelvic curls etc plus some Pilates moves 4-5 times per week to build up strength followed by a series of stretches and it has taken a couple of months for me to notice any difference but it is working. I shall continue it indefinitely as I rather like being pain and stiffness free.

I go to the pub quite often with my best friend as we love pub dinners but it isn’t the same as “going out for a drink” which I’ve done a few times this year and enjoyed it so much I intend to make it a habit 😉

Evening all,

I’ve had a lovely time at the steam museum.
We were there in time for the man who comes and plays his guitar, sings songs and tells stories to a very enthusiastic group of pre-schoolers and my great-nephew was mesmerised by the whole thing. We then went round the museum which was very interesting and I shall be returning without toddler in order to give the exhibits the attention they deserve….
We also went outside and played with miniature models of pumps etc and lots of very cold water 😆

I watched everyone else eat lunch and cake while I drank my coffee 😇
I’ve just had my roasted asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes with poached egg.
I’m very pleased with the way this week has gone and hope I can keep it up.

Hi Happy,

Yes I’ve done ADF this week. NFDs have been OK although I ate too many carbs yesterday and was starving all day today AND I didn’t get to eat until a couple of hours later than is usual for me on a FD as on my way home from the museum I visited a friend who is poorly.
I am really pleased I managed to avoid eating at the museum although I was force fed a pasta twirl by an insistent toddler and in the interest of world peace it was easier to eat it 😆

Eating later than usual will actually work in my favour as I won’t be hungry again by bedtime 🙂

I’m going to stick to ADF until I go to Hull at the end of May and if it works out I’ll continue when I get home.

Mmm, soup and bread, lovely!

I’ve just made spelt soda bread with excess kefir. Ready in half an hour. Someone needs to take it off me…. 😊

Yes, the soda bread crust is crunchy….and the middle is soft and moist…. as soon as the rest is cool it will have to go in the freezer! But I’ll know it’s there….!!!

Amazon,

That sounds like a fine brunch. I might have to steal that for tomorrow!:

Good morning… Returned from Canberra yesterday… Up at 4 awake over half an hour before, then we took our dad to the airport for his venture to PNG for the next three years. We do not really expect him to return,,,, his Hope actually…so it has been a fairly arduous time…dad is 81, trim and fairly fit for a man his age however type two diabetic, high blood pressure, irregular heart beat and his cognitive capacity somewhat diminished,… He is off to set up a community garden in the highlands… Mmmm long story and it is not romantic but since his bleed on the brain 6 years ago, he has done some outrageous things and we thought him outrageous before !! Anyway, we can’t do anything now and it will be his last story…..I did manage to have a fairly positive time, tho following one incident with him I did resort to a cherry ripe!! Anyway this week I won’t be traveling across the country so two fast days are planned . I was pleased that my fast days put me into a pretty good place for my visit.,, I actually think my mojo is returning…

What an interesting choice of activity Emel. I presume he knows PNG and wants to make a difference. Don’t underrate him ..he may have many health issues, but I know plenty of 81 year olds doing their own thing despite chronic illnesses.
Be proud that he wants to give his time to others instead of just sitting watching tv.
Glad you now feel on the path back yourself and good on you for seeing him onto the plane. Have a good fasting week. P

I am so glad that it’s 5pm in NZ. The fast is soon to be broken.
Sorry about the wee dog, Jojo. Hopefully she is recovering with the treatment.

Thanks for advice received about my brush with dehydration last week. It took a few days to recover from that. Fortunately the tendon problem is over.

With my 2 children and my ex, I spent nearly 3 years working in the PNG Highlands(volunteer high school teachers). I wonder where your father is going to work, Emel. The experience was amazing for us all as the transition from stone age to computer age was less than 50 years. In our area, they waged war with bows and arrows, and resorted to magic when things were going wrong.My own father aged 80 came to visit us while we were there. It’s a very dirty place and hygiene was essential. Where is he going exactly, Emel? We were in Tari at the end of the Highland Highway.
The trouble with that PNG experience is that no other travelling would ever be so knife- edge exciting as that. It still blows my mind when I think about it. I had the chance of visiting students in several African countries on Aid projects about 15 years ago, but would never have swapped my experience for theirs.

I will be interested to hear about your Dad’s experience.
Remembering those years has got me through to break-fast time- the usual broccoli fritatta.

xx Wiwi

Hi Wiwi Yes,Dad knows PNG from the fifties when he traversed the highlands undertaking surveys. Colonialism was alive and well in those days!!! He is however, a soil scientist and a reputable one at that! He is going to a village an hour and a half outside Mt Hagen,. There is no electricity in the village as the warring tribes cut the power lines. There is a generator that runs for a few hours each evening! He visited in November last year and travelled to Ponpendetta , a few years earlier. I forgot to mention he is practically deaf so struggles with communication. A cantankerous fellow, I worry that he will offend all and sundry( no different to our experience of him in Australia) it is a long story…my sister who works as a senior official in the dept of environment was talking to the High commissioner in PNG the other day for work at the end of her work conversation she requested that she speak on a personal matter. The HC was astounded with my father’s decision so our concerns are not without reason..anyway he set off with happiness and whilst he could barely get his tickets out of his folder and did not understand anything that the attendant asked him…( we translated!!!) he has gone. Not sure what communiques we will receive..but we will see…I do have a very difficult relationship with him, but my heart was broken as I watched him leave….tears still flowing!

I understand your worry, Emel. It’s a remote and extremely challenging area. Is your Dad known in the area he is going to? Yes, it’s the wish to be useful and his skills will be so useful. The slash and burn policy of the land has impoverished the soils, I believe. I know that the aged are treated with a lot of respect. My own 80 year old father during his weeks with us was tended to so lovingly by the locals in Tari (400 km after Mt Hagen) and went to some extremely remote places. We were given news of him by runners, as we had to work and could not go with him.
In fact my father had already spent some short periods in PNG too in the 70’s around Ialibu looking at the forest as a botanist.
What ensured our security during our time in PNG was being adopted into the local “tribe” and we were passed from hand to hand as we travelled around. We had no idea of this, but the students told us we were constantly under surveillance. ( I have to add that the same people had taken nearly everything we owned).
I guess Jojo has expressed very well what I would also like to say, he has a “mission” and needs to carry it out. I am a just little envious of him doing that.
xx Wiwi