Couldn’t agree more and it is rather depressing to see empty properties when there are so many people desperate for a decent home ☹
This topic contains 7,125 replies, has 64 voices, and was last updated by Barata 9 months, 2 weeks ago.
That’s the trouble. The developers and politicians are in bed together. The same applies to miners and pollies in Australia. “You want to dig up more of the country? Don’t worry about the water table, arable land, the Great Barrier Reef. We’ll sort that out.” Anything to stay in power.
Stepping down from the soap box…
Happy Hump day fast trackers the spring vibe is alive and well here in the SE of South Australia and the days are getting longer and the mornings are a little lighter now just perfect today unfortunately overnight a lot of damage and carnage around extreme winds and gusts registering up to to 110km with trees down and limbs everywhere etc. Bararta yes I did do the 30 day challenge last year of Eating only from the ‘Animal Kingdom’
I enjoyed it and found it completely doable a good lead in article here if interested.
http://www.empiri.ca/p/eat-meat-not-too-little-mostly-fat.html
and information resources here https://zerocarbzen.com/resources/
Down this way P record prices are being paid in the sale yards at $300 a lamb at the present time 😯
“It is easier to avoid eating than to stop eating once started”
Peace RT.
Hello,
Signing in into my rehab 🙋, my little hide out here.
No secret that Fasting can be a piece of cake. The other days are definetaly the big problem. I had two successful Fast days with less than 500 calories. Yesterday I had a small piece of grilled chicken with a cup of cherry tomato from the garden. Deep in my brain I want to achieve that cell rejuvenation perhaps a good brain set as well… who knows.
Gorgeous day! Did my morning walk with my neighbor who has that fancy Apple Watch, over 7000 steps.
That housing problems was invented here! The USA the land of greed. Trump is allowing deregulation for the banks. Banks are not in the business of losing. I see tons of predatory deals ahead.
Focus, focus. Enjoy your day, sleep or morning.
🌻
Ah, you have found Esmee la Fleur’s website too, RT. I am currently cruising the Principia Carnivora group on FB where she is features – lots of great guidance and stories on zero and very low carb. And am re-reading Gary Taube’s Diet Delusion, aghast again at how the world was duped (and many are still duped) about the rolls fat and carbs play in our health.
Meat-eating exclusively is still a work in progress (ignore the brownies and ice-cream with Wednesday’s dinner, and the last of the muesli today! 🙂 ). However, the next 48 hours will be meat and eggs (and wine) only.
I fear you are right, HCB. I see him as a threat to civilisation as we know it.
The new office-boy came into his boss’s office and said, “I think you’re wanted on the phone, sir.” “What d’you mean, you think?” demanded the boss.
“Well, sir, the phone rang, I answered it and a voice said ‘is that you, you old fool?”
What happened to the little frog who sat on the telephone?
He grew up to be a bellhop!
How does Ebenezer Scrooge make phone calls?
Collect!
How is a telephone like a dirty bathtub?
They both have rings!
Just a few to keep you going. Happy Friday, all 🙂
Nice funnies! Thanks B.
We are currently watching whales cruise by with their calves, heading for the Antarctic summer feeding spree. We were musing over island sizes while drinking 9th Island Riesling (Tasmanian). Here we were naming all the islands in the world (we could remember), that were bigger than Tassie. We both completely forgot those two large islands across the ditch! Sorry 😐 😉 (remember my grandad was a Kiwi 😐)
Have a good weekend everyone. P
Oh, P, how could you? Whales, how lovely. You are into the grog early?
I am currently watching the sparrows on the fence outside trying to be brave enough to come up to the seed feeder a little closer to the window. They will get there – by the end of the winter/spring feeding they won’t notice me 🙂
I’m sooo jealous of your whale watching P! We live in land now, but for most of my life I lived within a couple of miles of the sea. I do miss it (although yes, whales not a regular feature of my coastal living in the UK!).
I see there’s another study on diet and health making the headlines this morning
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45195474
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/16/both-low-and-high-carb-diets-can-raise-risk-of-early-death-study-finds
It’s based on a food questionnaire, so room for misreporting and error, and it’s from the States…but the numbers involved (000s) aren’t insignificant.
I fasted this week for the first time in over three months. I’d managed to put a bit of weight back on (from my low of 3kg below my upper maintenance limit), so felt heavy enough to risk it. It was surprisingly easy! I guess having been fasting now for over 4.5 years my body is used to the deprivation, despite the long gap.
Our drought is now over 😀 We’ve had a goodly amount of rain this week, enough to get our private water supply supply flowing again. I’m hoping we are going to get a return of dry warm and settled conditions again though, that’s something I could get used to!
I can’t believe you said that, B!! It’s NEVER too early for the health benefits of wine! We were having a small glass to wash down our lovely home made prawn salad.😉
Interesting article Happy. I feel most of us on 5:2 have significantly cut our white carbs, but replaced them with a wide range of healthy veg. The people in their study seem to have been eating excessive meat?
I’m concerned they are being negative about reducing simple carbs for T2D and suggesting this doesn’t help long term. Would they rather people live unhealthy lives die from overuse of insulin?
I’ve always believed we should eat alm things in moderation. That means both tupe and quantity. Unfortunately midetn diets just seem to be excess in quantity and poor quality.
The sun has just set, but the whales are still passing. The calves seem much younger this year as they aren’t frolicking as much and both mums and calves are cruising close to the surface. Beautiful creatures. We also talked to a pod of dolphins, showing off in the river today 😊P
Yes, the article and research is definitely food for thought P! I thought the comments about T2D were odd too. As you say, long unhealthy lives aren’t better than slightly shorter healthy lives!
I’ve not analysed my diet to the nth degree but, being more plant-based than animal or refined carbohydrate, I guess I must be in the moderate carb group.
Interesting observation re: your whales. I don’t know what effect this years extreme climate and warmer seas will have had on cetaceans, but it might affect breeding/ food supply?
Come on, P, remember I’m not yet retired. Drinking when the sun’s just over the yardarm on a weekday is not yet ingrained. 🙂 Give us time…
I’m pleased your water supply is back up and reliable, Happy. Having grown up in a rural environment where the water for the house relied on what came off the roof, I can understand where you are coming from. When it got really low (a) we changed to the spring that normally just supplied the troughs for the cows, and (b) the brothers took the opportunity of the low tide to get into the tank, remove the dead rats and scrub the walls.
On another note, and as I was mentioning above, I am tinkering with VLC. And very pleasingly, OH is agreeing to join me. For him, 5:2 has been a failure. His weight dropped gradually when he first started, but recently it has been increasing to the extent that I am going to have to enlarge my graph upwards! I did suggest months ago that with his insulin resistance he might have to resort to longer fasting or radically reduced carbs. Imagine my pleasure tonight when he suggested that he could do Monday to Thursday on OMAD, low-calorie evening meal. We will work with this. 🙂 I’m just so pleased that he is willing to try something different (keep the beer flowing for now, though)
Morning/evening all,
After another day of heavy rain we have blue sky and sunshine and the forecast for the next 10 days looks good, fair weather and low-mid 20s which is perfect 😀
The articles make interesting reading but do they really tell us anything new?
Of course it’s difficult to make a decision without much more detail on exactly what people ate, and it relies on people relating what they’ve eaten which raises a huge question mark over accuracy.
The other questions it raises are how accurate is a prediction of how long we are likely to live and how happy/miserable eating a particular diet makes us and what effect that has on our lifespan.
From personal experience since starting 5:2 I’ve found that too few carbs is detrimental to compliance. After the initial success of losing 58lbs it’s taken me 3 years of gaining, losing and gaining weight to realise that when I was eating FD meals that contained a small amount of rice, pasta or potatoes, I was finding it easier both to fast and to refrain from over-eating on non FDs. I’ve gone back to eating similar amounts of carbs to when I first started 5:2 (although I eat meat far less often these days) and it seems to be working.
It is so hard to make the right choices especially in light of the huge amount of often conflicting opinion available via the media, much of which cannot be termed “evidence”.
I spent yesterday afternoon in the kitchen. I have a large drawer/cupboard arrangement underneath the oven and the door had become detached so I couldn’t use it. I finally got my act together and repaired it which as usual took longer than expected and resulted in much swearing and a cut finger, but it is now fixed 😁
The repair was followed by a long overdue rearranging of the contents of some of the cupboards.
Everything is very tidy but I know that in a couple of weeks I’ll have a tantrum because I cannot remember where I’ve put something 😆
Have a good weekend everybody 😜
• I really Enjoyed your Friday Funnies Barata thanks so much yes I welcome the OH into the fold and whatever the actual food component is that creates compliance then I’m all for it..OMAD M-Thrs That’s a win….one size does not fit all and your OH 5-2 experience is very similar to Yfee.!!
• After all we are not seeking perfection we are seeking improvement. So
When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
Confucius
All power to the cause.
I Say
Peace RT
Indeed RT, we all have to find our own way and in our own time. Frustrating though when you are forced to observe your nearest and dearest patently neglecting their health or walking an increasingly divergent path.
My OH is a healthy weight, but has had some health issues. He has now also decided that eating more meat not less is the way forward. As you know, I find this view (particularly from someone who does actually care about the environment and wildlife) incomprehensible. I guess he’s demonstrating cognitive dissonance in action!
Anyhow, it’s the weekend, yeay. The weather’s rubbish here, but at least I’m not working.
Morning/evening all,
I’ve just read a report stating that in England and Wales T2 diabetes has increased in children and under 25s by almost 50% in the last four years
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45224668
The jolly old impartial BBC doesn’t mention what the governments austerity programmes has meant to health and education or how the remainder of many policies have affected, employment and wages…………
I’ve no idea where this week went or what I did but it’s Saturday already which means only 2 weeks until I see one of my old friends who will be stopping off in London on her way home to Australia after attending a wedding in Ireland, and only 3 weeks until my trip to Africa 😃
Have a good one everybody 😜
Amazon,
The article says it’s more likely amongst those in deprived areas, but I guess while we can speculate about links to the government’s austerity programme it will take some ‘research’ to tease out the causes…which the government will just deny if it points back to government policy!
Shocking to read that 1 in 5 of 10 to 11 year olds are now obese!
You have to wonder where it will all end.
Happy,
I read the article but decided it would be easier to add the link than quote the whole thing.
It is a complex issue but IMHO the cause is a diet rich in processed carbs which as we all know are cheap and plentiful making them necessities to those with limited means/time who have a family to feed, combined with a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition.
Time and money needs to be invested in so many areas, housing, wages, health, education but unless we have a change in government and/or a drastic change in policy, things are only going to get worse.
Hi everyone,
It’s a cloudy but very warm day today and when the sun comes out it is HOT 🌞🌞🌞
I’ve been at the gym this morning and had a great workout followed by a swim. It’s the first time I’ve been for a few weeks and it was really enjoyable 😀
I feel the need for some meat so I went to the butcher on the way home. Steak and salad for my FD dinner this evening and a nice shoulder of lamb for the BH weekend, with lots of leftovers to make lovely FD meals the following week.
Have a good one everybody 😜
Amazon,
The weather here is murky! Visibility maybe 200 feet. Reasonably mild, but not feeling like August!
I went for a run/ walk last night, skilfully coinciding it with the only rain we had all day… even so, it lifted my mood and I feel quite chirpy today despite the gloom outside!
Re: feeling the need for meat. Do you think it’s psychological or physiological? I don’t get the urge to eat meat, but then I do eat it once or twice a week. I get the urge not to eat meat 😀
Morning/evening all,
Happy,
I’ve no idea whether it’s psychological or physiological. What I do know is that I thoroughly enjoyed my steak and salad yesterday.
I wouldn’t call myself fortunate to be living alone but it does mean I can eat what I like when I like and that means plant based with the occasional slab of flesh chucked in………..
The forecast for this week says mostly overcast and warm and there was much more sunshine yesterday than I expected and I’m guessing today will be the same.
We’ve had a fair amount of rain this month, sufficient for me not to have to water the garden but not prolonged enough to stop me getting out into the fresh air.
Another FD beckons. I’m aiming for ADF but my social life means I have to keep swapping my FDs around which is a nice problem to have 😃
Have a good one everybody 😜
Amazon really powerful your take on carbs and one that is certainly interesting to me rather than zero tolerance you are enjoying and allowing some in to your food choices this point alone is to my untrained eye not to be undervalued because sometimes I think the fasting mechanisms are passed over and the entire weight loss journey is superficially sabotaged by one glorious crispy outside and fluffy on the inside roast potato cooked in lamb fat possibly from a slow cooked shoulder roast.
With garlic onions and rosemary.
Which is simply not true or correct
Your visit to a quality butcher and steak and lamb shoulder for the weekend has me wondering what a BH weekend may be.
Yes I was wondering what BH is too. Amazon used the acronym too.
Paris is not a foodie town, Jojo. That’s Lyon.
Glad you enjoyed Paris anyway.
Here so warm and sunny still. We are going camping in Spain next week, but only if it’s cooler. Sleeping in a tent is unpleasant if there is no air, though we could take a fan.
Absurd though!
Fasting going well, and the kgs are disappearing again. We all know it- how easy to gain, how not so easy to lose.
I am having an admin week, and even though I have lived in France for more than 25 years, it’s not easy to get the papers one needs. When you ask friends and neighbours, they don’t seem to know either.
Breaking the fast with melon and ham from a rural Auvergne market, then a small quantity of rather alarming looking artisanal cheeses we bought there. In Auvergne there are cheeses which are matured with microscopic maggots on the surface- looking like moving parmesan. The ones we bought are goat, covered with a greyish crust, nice underneath of course.
I love this late summer warmth. The grapes hanging over the deck are up to size now and will be ripe in 4 weeks. We are only just south of the 45th north parallel, but enough to be in the sunny zone of Europe.
We are avoiding Italy at present because of the difficulties of getting through Genoa. I am still so sad about that too. I live in France but really love Italy.
Ciao,
Wiwi
Indeed, bank holiday. And RT was similarly asking Amazon what BH stands for.
Re: vegetarian and vegan in Paris. The HappyCow website lists plenty of eateries. The problem is presumably more to do with the company Jo keeps and their choice of restaurant.
Lucky you’re only a part-time vegan though Jo, else you’d have been eating by yourself all weekend!
Bank Holidays, steeped in tradition and history as with most things in the UK
https://www.learnenglish.de/culture/bankholidays.html
August Bank Holiday is always on a Monday and to many these days it signifies the end of summer holidays as the school year starts in early September.
For me it signals that summer is almost gone and I need to make the most of any sunshine I see, and also prepare for the winter.
Traditional things such as making chutney, freezing summer veggies, filling up the freezer with comforting meals etc are things I enjoy at this time of year but I also do things such as get the boiler serviced (don’t need that this year 😃 ) and check the condition of external paintwork, the roof, the gutters and drainpipes and all the other boring stuff that means I’ll spend the winter feeling safe rather than sorry.
Jo,
I cannot believe that there was such a poor standard of food in Paris that decent food for a less than extortionate price could not be found without too much effort. Paris may not be a haven for foodies but there must be plenty of good eateries. As with any city, it’s all about steering clear of hotel chain dining rooms and being prepared to walk a couple of blocks from the tourist areas. And I’ve always found the coffee in France to be very good. You need to drag your friends off the beaten track, maybe appeal to their spirit of adventure, so you can find good food when you are travelling.
I’ve been making blackcurrant ice cream and blackcurrant and apple compote. I’m having friends round for dinner next week and decided I wanted to use seasonal English produce and blackcurrants are perfect as the moment.
I’ll need to knock a few calories off my dinner total this evening as I needed to taste both for sweetness and I must confess to more than a mouthful of ice cream as I was transferring it from my faithful old machine to tub 😆
RT,
For me, compliance is easier if I don’t completely eliminate foods I enjoy from my diet. I’m happy never to eat biscuits (cookies) unless I make some for a special occasion, and only eat really good cake or pastries that are either from a patisserie or homemade, but I would not be able to give them up permanently as it would make me miserable. The same goes for bread and potatoes which are eaten less often and in much smaller quantities. I could happily survive without another grain of rice, and I eat pasts 3 or 4 times a year so no need to cut down on it.
It would have been much more difficult to make effective changes if I had previously been eating a diet full of processed carbs, sugary drinks, takeaways etc, but I’ve always loved to cook and it didn’t take long to realise that I could make much nicer food and save money which meant all I needed to do was tweak the balance of ingredients and make a few substitutions.
It’s a glorious afternoon with blue sky and wall-to-wall sunshine 🌞😀
I’m with you, Amazon. I don’t care about biscuits or rice, (or chocolate and lollies too).
Like you, I love cooking and value good food. There seems little point in eating anything else. The main thing I’ve learnt is that over the years my serving sizes had grown. 5:2 taught me a lot about more appropriate portions (and frequency). Mind you, it is a constant stuggle to ensure the portions don’t start enlarging again once maintenance is reached. 😶
We have a public holiday (Australia Day) at the end of January. It always made me sad, when I was teaching, as it was the end of summer. In reality, we get warm weather right through to April, put life just gets serious after the start of Feb. P
Morning/evening all,
Purple,
I forgot to mention reducing the extra large portion sizes that were on my plate for something that resembles what slim people eat.
The only confectionary I ever really liked had to be covered in chocolate but I rarely eat it now. I bought 4 bars of very good quality chocolate in Ecuador back in February. I ate one of them, used another in a dessert and took the other 2 to Herefordshire when I went a couple of weeks ago or they would still be sitting in the fridge at C*******s!
I like risotto, paella and pilaf style dishes but a pile of rice does nothing for me, something that caused consternation when I was in Cambodia, India and Myanmar as the locals cannot comprehend eating without rice and all thought there must be something wrong with me 😆
I’m going out with a friend this afternoon to a National Trust property near Wimbledon that I’ve not visited before. Hopefully we’ll get a good walk in the sunshine although it’s overcast at the moment.
We’ll be eating out this evening so I intend to fast until then.
Have a good one everybody 😜
I have just come across these, and, in case I lose them, post for your enjoyment. Don’t think I am treading on your Friday toes, RT!
GOOD HUNTING
“Well, farmer, you told us that your place was a good place for hunting, but now we have tramped it for 3 hours, and we have found no game!”
“Exactly,” said the farmer. “As a general rule, the less game there is, the more hunting you have.”
NOTHING A-MISSED
“I don’t miss church so much as you may suppose,” said a lady to her minister, who called on her during her illness. “I make my daughter sit in the window as soon as the bells begin to chime, and she tells me who is going to church and whether they’re wearing anything new.”
I DIDN’T DO IT
“Papa,” said the small boy, “should the teacher punish me for something I didn’t do?”
“Certainly not, my boy!”
“Well, today he laid into me for not doing my lesson.”
UP IN SMOKE
A lady was once declaring that she could not understand how gentlemen could smoke. “It certainly shortens their lives,” said she.
“I don’t know that,” exclaimed a gentleman. “There’s my father, who smokes every day, and he’s 70 years old.”
“Well,” was the reply, “if he had never smoked, he might have been 80 by this time.”
NEVER AGAIN
A politician, in writing a letter of condolence to the wife of a deceased member of the legislature, said, “I can not tell you how pained I was to hear that your husband had gone to heaven. We were bosom friends, but now we shall never meet again.”
DISPUTING DEACONS
Two deacons in a country town were arguing over the merits of a particular graveyard.
“Well,” said one, “I’ll never be buried in that graveyard as long as I live.”
“What an obstinate man!” replied the other. “If the Lord spares my life, I will!”
Yay, it’s my weekend. Fine weather (11 degrees tomorrow), end of winter, and only another three more prime ministers in Australia before C******s.
Glad you weren’t in Genoa on a certain sad day, Wi. Was thinking of you travelling.
Morning/evening all,
Happy,
You forgot Liam Fox and Dominic Raab and the vicar’s daughter!
We had a lovely day out yesterday visiting Morden Hall Park. It was a lovely day and the park was full of families spending the day out in the fresh air.
The Hall itself isn’t open to the public but the grounds are extensive and it is a lovely peaceful place to walk in. They use heavy horses in the summer for hay cutting and we saw a pair being worked, such beautiful animals.
We went to Wimbledon village for a pub dinner and I had a mushroom burger which was nice but could have been better and it gave me some ideas to try out at home.
We’ve just had a heavy shower of rain and the forecast (and the sky) inform me that sunshine is on the way 😃
Have a good one everybody 😜
Trouble is, Wi, she returned to work too early to be fully breastfeeding. Not a good example for others. 😐
😂😂Thanks B, we needed that, although the present political situation is bringing out the comedians, and they aren’t all in parliament!!
We ate out with a friend at an inner city pub last night. Excellent vegetarian/vegan plates…and good prices too! The world IS changing. P
How could we have missed out Michael Gove who at present is doing his utmost to convince us he cares 🤔
Barata, our pots crossed. Thanks for the funnies, I especially like the boy who didn’t do his homework 😆
I’m working up a FD sweat doing some overdue chores and I’m forced to take five until the floors are dry……
You must be logged in to reply.
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
Michael looks at the Horizon special, "What's the Right Diet for You" and tells us which diet they say is best for him.
in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 1 hour, 14 minutes ago by Merryapple
in Weight loss • updated 8 hours, 10 minutes ago by Brads27
in Top tips • updated 10 hours, 41 minutes ago by Busbyx
10:31 pm
14 Aug 18