Oh Barata! That blonde joke was the best! (Another brunette here)

Oh Happy I know that feeling too well! I just love food!
I guess we just have to remind ourselves why we fast, plus how good that food will taste tomorrow, without the extra condiment of guilt thrown in. I still sometimes only succeed with a fast by telling myself I can do ANYTHING for just one day….

Well it wasn’t the lowest cal fast day! It was barely above freezing all day. By 3pm, sat at the computer, the cold was spreading up my arms, and no amount of hot drinks warmed me up. I normally eat once a day on a fast day, but today I couldn’t last til evening ☹️ It’s forecast to get even colder through the week, so I’m not sure whether I’ll try again or just hold off as long as I can and eat mindfully…

I’m already in double thermals for chook duties!!

Good Morning,
RT – I hope your son is better by now! That was for sure some unpleasant experience for the entire family.

Jo are you already back in action? I am
jealous … I have still that should situation and from Sunday to Monday I couldn’t sleep with a sharp pain on my back left shoulder blade. I couldn’t breathe deep it would hurt.

Happy there no heater in your home?

Be well kids 😘

Hi Fast Trackers and Hello World (You All know Who You ARE) :wink
Hi my cyber friends and thank you every one for your kindness and thoughts spending 3 weeks in the Renal ward in a major metropolitan hospital is intense, challenging and thought provoking and when the curtain is pulled around in a 4 bed ward the conversation is open 😉 and in general terms most patients are a lot older than our 25yo and facing being on a transplant waiting list other’s undergo constant dialysis some extreme times for their families. Our son returned home over the weekend and returned to work yesterday we are relieved and have contented souls the outcome was too much protein leaking from the blood into the urine Nephrotic Syndrome. We had considered a meat processing zoonotic disease perhaps given our industry Leptospirosis or heaven forbid Q Fever which we all need to be vaccinated against to work but gee whiz so grateful for the outcome he has 2 injections into his stomach a day with medication and change to diet with regular blood and urine tests for the next 3 months. Yes Happy organised chaos way more better for me 😆
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
Peace RT

HCB,

I’m not always cold, but we have had a very cold couple of months, with this week the coldest. It’s -4 at the moment, forecast to be a max of -2 today, add on a bitterly cold east wind and it feels like -12!

I’m going to have a go at fasting today though, I’ve got the heating on and I need the reset on portion control and hunger.

RT,

Glad to hear your boy is OK. No one needs scares like that!

Hi Jo,

We’ve got a really solid and well sound-proofed old farmhouse, so no rattles in the night thankfully! But I’m with you on the windchill, this is rare for us up north too! I’ve had to go round to the front door from the outside to dig the snowdrift away before I open it, and I could barely stay upright in the wind. We are officially snowed in now, we’ve got drifts 2 – 3 foot deep, even OH’s 4WD can’t cope ☹️

Re: being completely vegan. Apart from loving my cheese and yoghurt, I’m a bit put off the idea by potential health ‘disbenefits’ – does it not take more careful planning to make sure you are getting a properly balanced diet? It isn’t as simple as just cutting out meat, fish and dairy (you mention you failed before due to low protein). I’d be too lazy to plan my macro and micro-nutrient consumption on a weekly/ daily basis, but I have cut down meat consumption massively so wonder if I’m getting enough protein as a flexitarian. How are you doing it differently this time?

I think you will need to replace the bracket, RT, in case it fails at an inconvenient moment! 🙂 Good one!

To update you on my kitchen saga (renovation was to take three weeks, we are now at the end of week five!), cabinets, water and power almost completed so I was planning to move everything in this weekend. Then the fridge was delivered – to discover the cavity is too small by about 15mm! The builder had used his original plan measurements, ignoring my alterations, and not checking the specs for the model we advised him. So cabinetry and bench will need to come out, and the fridge is sitting in my office space. You can imagine how I feel! 🙁 🙁 But I will be pleasant enough when he (finally) turns up; as you say, RT, 90% is how you cope with the little things life throws at you.

Keep warm and safe, all you Europeans (am I allowed to include the Brits in this grouping now?)

Hi all,
So glad to read that your lad is recovering RT, kidneys are very precious. What a frightening experience for you all.
Hard to imagine how cold you Northern Hemisphere folk must be feeling. I have only experienced living in snow once (in Oklahoma) years ago, made me realize then why people can go crazy in those situations! Everyday life is so hard!
I wont complain about our balmy early Autumn weather – just back from a lovely lunch to celebrate 45 yrs married, how did that happen? Jo we went to Cloudehill in the Dandenongs where I took you, beautiful food and a Kookaburra watching closely from a tree for scraps.
Barata, take a deep breath, it will all be over soon and your reward will be so worth it! Very frustrating about the fridge though!
Just recovered from having 17 month grandaughter overnight – was pleased that DIL finally trusted me with her but knackered now. Husband thought it would be nice to hang a swing under the oak tree for her….she loved it and didn’t ever want to get out of it! Try spooning cereal into a moving mouth! In the end I handed her the bowl and she ladled it in with her hands! Much easier to feed them outside, the birds can eat all the mess!
Sunday and Monday we are off for a beach house stay, so looks like a Saturday Fast day for me – give me strength! I bought a huge bag of blood and bone recently, so maybe a day in the garden. Attempted this when minding four legged grandchild, but he tried to dig it up as soon as I applied it.
Have a lovely weekend all!

Thanks Purple.
Some rain would be lovely!

Hello,

Wow! I am chocked with the crazy weather out in Europe. Actually today there’s a nor’easter causing trouble on the east coast. Here is nice and warm. I need to fill up the fridge to please my SIL. I might need some coolers to travel with refrigerated items.
Barata we’ve been through 2 kitchen remodels. Both had problems because the designers were not paying attention. Also it took longer than planned. I was lucky that one house we have a second little kitchen. Right now we are dealing with roofers. I think there’s price gauging because of so many damages from the last hurricane. We have to be on a so called waiting list for 6/7 months in order to have ours.
Jo thanks for asking! I took Aleeve for 3 days and now is gone. This pain is a mystery.
Happy Anniversary to de Nama’s … what a blessing. You both deserve a medal 🏅
Let’s fix that crack on the boat! No comments. Thanks RT.
Stay warm in Europe and for the ones down under enjoy your good weather.
Back to cleaning 🙊
🌻🌴

Hi everyone,

I’m back from 32C heat into the land of snow and ice and bluddy freezing!

Oh yes and a car with a flat battery in the airport car park…….

I rang the parking company and was informed I should press the help button at the exit barrier. I did so and was informed that the staff were all really busy and it would be an hour before they could send anyone to get my car started so I got in and waited. After a couple of minutes the guy from the call centre rang me to check I had been able to make contact with the on site team via the help button. When I said that I was alone and my phone battery was very low on power he said he would try to get someone to come sooner and 3 minutes later a very nice man arrived and got the car started.
They were so helpful I shall be sending an email to their customer services to thank them.
Fortunately I knew what the weather was like (one of the bonuses of social media) and was dressed accordingly complete with thermal gloves 🙂

Ecuador was fab and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the travelogue will come later as I’m cream crackered.

RT, sorry to hear your son has been so poorly and you all had such a fright. Great that it is something that can be treated and that he is on the mend.

Welcome home Amazon. Thank goodness you revieved help quickly…far too cold sitting in a car in the carpark in that weather! Sleep well, I look forward to your travel tales. P

Morning/evening all.

I slept really well last night without waking until morning. I was up and out early and home from the supermarket by 8.45am. The shopping is all packed away and I’ve unpacked my case and done the laundry so I’m now sitting by the fire tummy full of egg and avocado on toast, drinking coffee and reading up on what’s been going on in the world while I’ve been away.

I was very lucky not to have had to wait long for assistance yesterday evening.
The car was fine this morning so it was obviously due to the weather and not lingering problems from the alternator and battery replacement carried out last month.

It is warmer today and the snow is melting. My dwarf daffodils are in bloom on the kitchen windowsill which was a cheering sight this morning. I treated myself to some lovely pale pink and white tulips this morning 🙂

I’m still a bit weary after an overnight journey and not getting much sleep on the plane but I don’t need to do anything now the shopping is done.

I ate more meat and fish on holiday than I’ve done in the last six months. Everything is free range as there is no intensive farming. I did have a couple of very good vegetarian meals one of which was a delicious quinoa risotto which I’ll be trying to replicate at some stage. I managed to stay in control food wise but did eat 3 meals on a couple of occasions. I mostly stuck to breakfast or lunch plus dinner.
Choice was limited in some places as we were in the middle of nowhere but the food was very good and varied. They do like to serve potatoes AND rice so a lot of rice went back to the kitchen untouched.
We were also served up a couple of home cooked meals, one at a farm we visited and one at a small family run cocoa plantation. Both meals were excellent and the farm meal had a huge variety of different vegtable dishes on offer, with everything including the beef and chicken, produced on the farm.

Ecuadorian food is very tasty but not heavily spiced and they serve a mean chilli sauce which varied from place to place, with all meals. They don’t serve bread with all meals which was great for me and I didn’t eat any for the first week apart from trying a small piece of rye bread because no-one at my breakfast table could work out what it was! I always joined everyone at breakfast time regardless of whether I was intending to eat. The tea was rubbish and the coffee varied but was mostly very good.

I managed to avoid snacking too for which I gave myself a big pat on the back as everyone else was doing so. The sweet snackes were apparently very sweet indeed so it wasn’t difficult to resist them but the savoury snacks were more difficult but I stuck to having a handful as a starter before dinner. I haven’t weighed myself but I don’t think I’ve gained much as my clothes fitted the same at the end of the trip as at the start.
I’m going to do my first FD on Monday and take it easy this weekend to get my body clock back to normal and acclimatise to the 30 temperature difference.

Have a good one everybody 😜

I shall give an account of my tour at some point, probably after I’ve sorted through my photos which will remind me of little things I’ve already forgotten………….

Amazon that time you feel like talking, in my case I am in bed still 🤣🤣🤣. Lucky you with so many threads…I can’t hardly handle this one.
About the food in Equator I have no idea what they eat there. Based on other countries in South America including mine rice and beans comes first. I do remember as a child eating rice, beans and potatos… those days of carb abundance are over. I still love rice and beans doesn’t matter how is made.
I am taking it easy and slow today 🌻
Have a good day kids 🌴🥗

Amazon,

The food sounds good. And your trip demonstrates the benefit of not being a strict vegetarian/vegan. It’s interesting that you had some good chilli chocolate. We love chilli, there’s very little I don’t add it to, but I’ve been disappointed in every chilli chocolate I’ve tried in the UK.

And I’m afraid I’m with Jo…small flat or not, I get my wash bag out first, then dirty laundry, then ‘other’…over the space of a couple of days 😊

Jo,

Yes, we’re thawing now, thankfully. The snow is beautiful, but getting snowed in can be trying, and as you say the ice can be lethal.

Fasting hasn’t gone at all well this week, but next week is, well, another week! And it will be warmer, yeay.

The chocolate from Ecuador is organic and most proper chocolate is vegan as it is a mixture of cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar and sunflower or soya lecithin.

When we went to the cocoa plantation we saw the difference between the organic and non organic plants. The organic plants produce fewer pods over a longer period of time.

We also made some chocolate by roasting dried seeds, peeling them and then putting them through a mincer. We used it to make hot chocolate which is made with the addition of sugar and cinnamon and is delicious.

They also like to use cinnamon in a welcome drink in many hotels which is served warm and contains alcohol made from sugar cane, cinnamon, lime, sugar and some hot water. It is customary to drink it down in one go………………

Hi RT,

I had decided that while I was on holiday I wanted to try foods I’d not had/seen anywhere else, enjoy my meals, have a few drinks and not get up on any morning and regret having eaten too much the night before. I thought I was expecting a lot of myself but I had no problem refusing foods readily available at home or not eating if I wasn’t hungry and my reduced appetite made it difficult to overeat.
I was amazed at the amount of food some were putting away three times a day and then remembered that I used to do the same!

I really enjoyed eating fresh fruit most days and have decided that I’m going to try to incorporate more into my diet.

I am looking forward to fasting tomorrow 🙂

I love you work Amazon this is brilliant “I had decided that while I was on holiday I wanted to try foods I’d not had/seen anywhere else, enjoy my meals, have a few drinks and not get up on any morning and regret having eaten too much the night before.” I continuously review the main game outside of my standard 4-3 now with the emphasis on fresh food cooked well one fry pan wonders one big salad bowl compilations or one pot master pieces and really love the actual simplicity of this. Simple food cooked well. Enjoy your short getaway Nama in SA beautiful part of the world down there and not overly commercialised for tourists
“There is nothing else you can do to your body that is as powerful as fasting”
Peace RT

Happy Hump Day fast trackers 10880 steps in the bank a food free fast on my menu Amazon well done you I am a firm believer that food free fast days is the optimal strategy and continues to be my doable.
RT

I’m with you. It’s useless setting unachievable goals RT. The important thing, I think, is to aim for food free and, if as an experienced faster, your body is screaming for food, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater by dumping the fast completely. See it as a micro fast and eat something small, low carb/low gi to get you over the hump, and continue on. There is absolutely no point in being totally miserable, but also pointless to toss it all in and pig out. Moderation folks. Happy days. 😉P