Hey @russetfox: lucky you having a handy mountain nearby to exercise on…and isn’t it a lovely day today too?

Day 10 Herefordshire U.K. FD

Going again today, yesterday was not a good FD but not a disaster either, will keep practicing! Hope my fellow yesterday fasters did better than me especially @jaifaim (yes I managed to swerve the FF sandwich, phew!) and @at who are also struggling.

Good luck @russetfox climbing your mountain, I can if the weather is good see the outline of Pen Y Fan in the distance on my drive to Hay to do my shopping. Not attempted the climb yet but building up to it.

Good luck and joy to everyone with what ever you’re getting up to.

Ta x

Day 10 Pocket List
@betsylee
@arelkade
@dingping

Day 10 UK NFD

Day 10 USA (Illinois) NFD

Quick check in before Silver Sneakers and work at the museum. Going to a friend’s church with her this evening for a dinner and musical program. It will be good to spend time with her.

Onward and downward.

Day 10, VA, USA, WFD B2B

Kneeling for strength, this weekend is Mamaw’s Mean Cobbler release, This is a beer from Hardwood “A Belgian-style Peach Tripel Ale with vanilla, cinnamon, coconut, and milk sugar additions delivering the classic flavors of a southern-style peach cobbler baked fresh in grandma’s kitchen.” THIS was my FAVORITE beer they made last year and YES it does taste like peach cobbler. I’m soooooooo not fasting on Saturday! Or maybe I’ll just do a Beer Fast! Prayers for not drinking myself into oblivion this weekend.

This morning very breezy and pretty. Birds are singing their butts off! I’m going to do house chores & take on a challenge set by my SO – 15 minutes with my hoop! Usually I do about 10 min. Interesting info is that my Fitbit says that anytime I’m doing the hoop it counts those minutes as Cardio. Yet I teach AND do yoga about 4 times a day and those minutes don’t show up on mines any kind of workout, it counts yoga as walking. *I have the most basic Fitbit that does not calculate heart beat, it only knows when I move fast or of course walk.

Today I will mess around with my glow gloves. I need to order some faux fur fabric to make plush light up scarves, but so far my search on the inter-webs has proven to be a bit scarce (sp).

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Extra NOTE on the Keto Waffle
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
– I halved the recipe, totally forgot to say that. AND it said that they freeze well, which is good b/c I had to save the other 1/2 of my waffle. (Which I put in the freezer for a future date.) I would say just pop it out the freezer when you get to Breakfast duties/coffee making and all that, pre-heat your waffle iron and pop it back into the iron. (When I do this – I’ll try and give an update as to how that process went.)

@rafiki44 – lol 😂, I’m glad.

@gretta – WOW I’m impressed. I would just have to steer away, maybe just drink black coffee. The control it takes to do what you did, you win the (willpower) W award on your shirt!

@ciren2 – ooooo what kind of books (if you don’t mind me inquiring.) I’m all about mental preparation as well as processing. I write ceremonies and help folks with transitions/changes/challenges.

@georgia83 – yes let me know when you make it and what you think of it. AND HECK yeah on the BMI I was excited just not to be considered obese. You must be close to your goal weight!

@daffodil2010 – ooooooo kitchen in the VAN! I’m super excited.

@betsylee – I think we are getting all of your rain. We have had a VERY rainy season. And I LOVE the rain, but dang my plants are going to drown if it keeps up. I’ll try and mentally send the rain your way 😉 and I was super excited not to be considered obese too! You’ll get there, mine only happened I think last month!

@funshipfreddie – ha love it when my Fitbit calls me an ‘overachiever’! It usually happens when I go dancing! I’ll dance for hours and not hardly even rest. Oh My – I think our Dads are bothers! My dad LOVES a slice of white bread covered in margarine, I always like real butter, but my Dad wasn’t much on being patient so he loved how he could take his margarine from the fridge in that 1/2 gallon tub and just spread it on! Oh Childhood memories. PS love your quote “I’m not losing weight, I’m getting rid of it. I have no intention of finding it again.”

@jaifaim – Yay! I had to make up for not posting for 4 days 😉 when I was on vacation. You’re doing great at checkin in with us! Thanks again being our host.

@emma – oh vacation there, I would eat ALLLLL the bread!

Day 10 Pocket List
@betsylee
@arelkade
@dingping
@rabbette B2B

Slow and steady wins the race!

@rabbette: You Can Think Yourself Thin (Ursula James) which includes a CD, and The Every Other Day Diet, (Krista Varaldi). Maybe I can be inspired and motivated to get back on the wagon,eh? Worth trying anyway.

Day 10 – Rochester, NY – FD

Greetings from Rochester, NY! It’s 3:30pm where I am and I’m well into my fasting day. It hasn’t been hard today, probably because I significantly overate yesterday. (I’m still burning through all those extra calories – ugh!) I’ve been playing around with intermittent fasting for years, but now I’d like to be more structured and thoughtful (and accountable!) with my plan.

I’m going to fast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with the goal of eating my 500 calories at dinnertime. On non-fasting days, I will eat at or slightly under my calorie requirement. (The controlled eating day goal of 1200 calories is a good one for me, since at only 5’1″ tall, eating 1200 calories/day is not too much of a deficit.)

I like this method of controlling my food intake because it’s so darn easy in the sense that I don’t have to weigh, measure, or track every bite that goes into my mouth. (I find I burn out on doing that after awhile.) All I have to do when I’m fasting is not eat! Easier said than done – I know. 😉

I have a wicked sweet tooth and I know that after a week or two without sweets my cravings significantly dissapate. So in addition to the fasting regimen above, I commit to ditching processed, sugary foods.

I hope everyone has had a lovely Friday!

Day 10- Eastern WA USA- NFD

It’s an eating day. Just closing out my eating window with some cauliflower chicken mac ‘n cheese and a yummy salad.

@georgia83 – enjoy your vacation

@michelinme- I do hope you move towards good health & don’t take as long as your friend to get well

Enjoy the weekend, including Mother’s Day for some of us 🙂

Day 11, Emden Germany, NFD

on day 7 of the new diet, it’s a real challenge. I have to keep my blood suger level stable, potassium intake >4000 mg, carbs at ~130 g, sodium low (no problem, sodium is mostly too low in blood serum). I’m supposed to have 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. It’s not easy, every meal or snack should include protein, which make me feel overly full all the time. Yesterday I managed to eat 2 meals and 2 snacks and ended at ~90 g carbs, 3500 mg potassium and 2000 mg sodium. Had to take 600 mg potassium extra. Total calories ~1750, that’s too much. It’s difficult but it seems to help, my hand seems to improve but it may be wishful thinking. Next bloodtest will be on Monday.

@annemarilyn, @rabbette, @gretta and @at the athmosphere at the Australian Masterchef is totally different, not only the contestants are nicer but the judges also. I realy dislike the way this Joe looks at people trying to do their best. They are home cooks not professionals.

@rabbette thanks for the brain games, they are all so difficult to do, I’ll have to practice. Thanks for the waffle recipe also.

@michelinme I hope your health will improve and the cough will be gone soon. Do you have to go back to work with a full schedule next week? Can you manage that?

@gretta, @betsylee, @flourbaby I wonder if you can get out of the tube on your own? Perhaps better not to think about that!

@georgia83 well done on getting back to a normal BMI and enjoy your holiday!

@funshipfreddie I can’t remember overweight classmates either, I grew up in the Netherlands. At home only my mother was chubby, my dad and my 3 siblings all had normal weights, I was normal too. My sibling are still slim. I’m realy thankful my parents never forced us to eat, we all put our own food on the plate. In restaurants we were allowed to leave food on our plate because often portion were to large.

@jaifaim I had to look up the Darkness to Daylight walk, being aware of mental illnesses is so important.

@russetfox had to look up Pen y Fan also, that must have been a climb. I looked at the webcam, it seemed to be a cloudy, rainy day. Hope you enjoyed it.

@daffodil2010 you always sounded so happy working in the greenhouse (apart from the chef). I’m wondering how @cornish-jane and her greens and B&B plans are doing?

@flourbaby the doctors that order the MRI get the results next day or when needed the same day. My DH ordered the MRI (I don’t have a GP) so the neuroradiologist decided to go through the result with both of us.

@ciren2 good news on your OH, but how are you doing, any improvement yet? I hope the books will be helpful, I read the Every other day one but decided it was something I didn’t want to do, it would change my life too much.

@at well done on the B2B, seems you’re back on track again.

@debster251 and @emma-taylor welcome back again!

@dj757575 never give up, this WOL works as you see! We all have our not so good days.

@songbirdme you’re such a busy bee!

@betsylee my Wilbur is called Tamme, his favourite place to be is my lap!

@dingping so you have a large house and an annexe also, not bad. Do you plan to do it as a B&B or have the ones that rent it have to take care of themselves, does it have a kitchen? Do you have to renovate it? So many questions but it’s so interesting to hear. I’m missing my Saturday’s fast, I got so used to it, this morning I had breakfast at 7:30 am.

Have a nice day everyone!

Day 11 (already!!!) Herefordshire U.K. FD

Just lost my post so copy and pasting again, apology if it appears twice!

I’m a slow learner but not giving up and practicing again! That will be three tepid FD’s in a row where did my restart resolve go? I’m also being very naughty at bed time, I’m taking niacin and using MO but deliberately seem to be keeping myself awake fiddling on my phone. The last two nights I’ve been awake during the niacin flush and it’s not a pleasant experience when trying to get to sleep! Note to self don’t take phone to bed and keep to a reasonable sleep time as I’m all out of kilter due to self sabotage! No wonder my FD’s are so tepid!!

@at – well done

@russetfox – we had so many on and off heavy showers yesterday I fear you must have got drenched. How was the climb?

@georgia83 – congratulations.

@jaifaim – good luck and well done, what a perfect title for such a great cause.

@snowflake56 – wow what a challenge you have, it sounds tough but if anyone can do it you can and what a perfect team you and OH must make. Your dietary changes seem the opposite of fasting, big changes as you know take a while to sink in but must be a helpful focus. Is OH eating likewise? Good luck with the continuing challenge and all my fingers and toes are crossed for a positive change, well done x
Re – annexe it’s one bed and in good condition, we will let it as self catering, I’m not up to the serious hard work of a BnB! I’ve also wondered how @cornish-jane is getting on with her BnB ideas.
How do you pronounce Tamme, I’ve been reading it as Tammy like the country singer Tammy Wynette but notice your little chap is a chap! Our Wilbur and Tamme is called Millie (she’s a she)
@snowflake56 – love your love of people and interest in all, especially whilst going through tough times yourself, I feel very self obsessed compared to the great communicators on here but love reading yours and others gentle exploration into all our lives.

@michelinme (another great communicator) hope your feeling brighter and shaking off those bugs. Take care x

To everyone have a good day and be brilliant at least in one thing you do today.

Ta x

Pocket List Day 11
@dingping

Day 11 Wales FD

Pocket List Day 11
@dingping
@russetfox
just double trouble so far, lol x

@snowflake your diet sounds like a lot to get your head around, but if anyone can do it, you can!! Hope your blood tests show a change x

At 49 I have just learnt something about myself, I don’t do altitude, lol. I can walk 15 miles on normal terrain, but got 2/3rds of the way up Pen Y Fan and got very sick. Nausea,dizzyness, earache, headache and apparently white as a sheet so OH made us come back down. I don’t know if it was the altitude or down to my ears as had lots of problems with them when I was younger. We will try again in a few weeks and see what happens. I will conquer the mountain, if it is safe for me to do so,lol

Hope you are all having a good weekend x

Day 11 California. FD

Got to get out of the house so the workers can do more kitchen stuff – perhaps that’s a good thing on a fast day! This will be my last fast day until I come back from vacation so I want to do a good job.

Pocket List Day 11
@dingping
@russetfox
@rafiki44

Day 10, VA, USA, NFD

Today I started off with Shrimp and Grits (I did not grow up on southern food, I have northern parents and we didn’t know what a ‘grit’ was *think of the movie ‘my cousin vinny’ and you have us pegged pretty good. Haha) I saw this dish on a cooking show in my mid 20’s and had to try and make it! I have been making it ever since – or some variation of it such as when I was vegetarian I swapped out the bacon & shrimp for seitan or thinly peeled carrots marinated in liquid smoke and braggs aminos. I know these were not the same, but I still liked the process and challenge of making this dish.

Well, I have encounter yet another way to challenge myself with this dish, since I have slowly transitioned to a LCHF(low carb high fat) kind of diet. I need to re-invent my grits! I did not try and do it today, but it is on my list for possibly next week (I only make this dish once a week, usually Sat or Sun) I see there is a cauliflower version out there – has anyone tried it? OR any recommendations for a LC kind of “grits”

@at – way to go – B2B can be (for me) a stress reliever, b/c then I don’t need to think about food. *I do lightly plan out if I am going to have a small dinner, but I do it mostly in advance so that I don’t suddenly fall off the wagon b/c hunger has just blown my brain out of my head.

@snowflake56 – practice the brain games slowly and try different ones, there are many more on that site with videos how to do them. Different folks will find some of them easier to do than others. Its important to build the neuron strength but also not wear yourself out that you hate the brain game. So only try for a few moments and give yourself a break. These “Brain Games/ Brain Breaks” help refocus your mind and also strengthen your neurons that are working to move your hands. Please feel free to contact me in some way that you could have my e-mail or something if you would like more detail and help with these gentle practices.

@dingping – I also take my phone to bed ;-( I need to find an alternative way to read my books… but I’m dyslexic so all of my books are digital and I read them on my phone. I do have my phone brightness ALLLLLL the way down and use the built in assist to make everything black and white at night AND use the night shift.

@ciren2 – dang the pain in the butt. Do you have any topical anti-inflammatory you could rub on. I find they are very helpful in at least easing some of my pain that I have in my legs.

@russetfox – Ah yes altitude CAN have those terrible effects. It can take the body 2-5 days to adjust to altitude. So if you are sensitive, I would say maybe just try and visit a place that has only a little bit of the higher altitude and let yourself adjust to that. I’m sorry you felt like that, I had altitude sickness in Peru when I got to Cusco at 3,400 m and it is tough. Drink lots of water and rest.

@flourbaby – yes get rid of those things! Cheese Puffs are dangerous around me too. I just don’t buy them anymore.

@rafiki44 – Yay vacation – have fun!

Cheers! Hopefully I don’t get tooooooo done-in from the Peach cobbler beer, but if I do I will enjoy EVERY LAST DROP and not feel bad, it is a limited release so taking time to enjoy the temporary.

There is only this moment, to be present in this moment!

2nd post

Well another tepid FD but I’m hoping for better next week at least I’m eating well below my TDEE.
Lovely to have some fasting company today even if I did let the side down a bit for seasoned pros @russetfox and @rafiki44 but ta for being here.

@ciren2 – You’ve a lot going on with the worst house sell in history, OH’s recovery, your back problems and still adjusting to DD going to Oz so don’t be too hard on yourself, your time is coming and you’ll know when its right to get back on the wagon.

@russetfox – shame about the altitude sickness but at least you gave it a go and can build up to it next time.

@flourbaby – the niacin flush is full on, shivering and itching all over and for a prolonged time, I must be empty of of Vit B3!

@rabbette & @jaifaim – re phone, I’m going to keep my sticky fingers off it tonight!

@jaifaim – well done, sounded a beautiful way to start the day and all for a good cause, well deserved Hula Hoops!

@rabbette – enjoy you beer.

Off to bed, up early to drive to London tomorrow morning, goodnight all.
Ta x

Day 11 USA (Illinois) NFD

Doing my best to move a lot as well as keep under TDEE.

Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday to all you who are mothers!

Onward and downward.

Day 12 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – NFD

Not doing great on food choices this weekend and feel puffy. What is it about this month?

Have a great Sunday all. Back to the FD grindstone for sure tomorrow for me

Day 12 UK NFD

Hear what you’re saying ladies @daffodil2010 & @flourbaby
My week started disastrously on bank holiday Monday and went downhill from there but I’m getting back to normal fasting tomorrow and I’m really going to give it a go next week x

Day 12 Melb Aust NFD
Day 11 NFD

Weighed in yesterday morning half a kg lighter, but have enjoyed some indulgences since then. Don’t seem to have fully recovered from my cold, and just so tired all the time. It doesn’t help the self-control. Still, one positive, I had an Easter chocolate rabbit still in the fridge, and I just crushed it into the garbage bin, about half an hour ago. That’s one thing at least which won’t be a temptation any more.

@russetfox, I also have problems with altitude, which I didn’t realise until one summer when I was in China. I was part of a medical team (I was the lab person) that went up to work on the Tibetan plateau. I was most ineffective because for the first several days I had abnormal heart beats and had to not carry anything and only move very slowly. I was just starting to adjust when our week there finished. My doctor back home here in Australia basically told me I shouldn’t ever go to that height again, unless I lost a significant amount of weight, and even then it might not be safe. Mind you, we were at about 3700 metres, which is around 12,000 feet, I think, so more like the height that @rabbette was at.

@snowflake56, what kind of cat is your Tamme? Yes, Wilbur loves my lap, but he’s a real tomcat, very independent. If I lift him onto my lap, he immediately jumps down again. He has to decide for himself that he wants to be on my lap, and that’s regardless of whether it’s convenient for me! I’ve spent many evenings (including now 🙂 ) twisted towards my laptop sitting on the arm of the couch as he doesn’t want to shift from my lap!!! Okay, I’m soft; I could make him move if I really wanted to!
By the way, how are you fitting your new diet into 5:2? It sounds like the old dietary recommendations which just encouraged weight gain because the body has no chance to rest from food. You have to try it, because your hand situation needs to improve, but …… I’ll be praying for your hand to improve!

Too tired to write more comments, sorry, but keep on keeping on everyone.

Day 13 – Melbourne Aus – FD/CD/800cal?

Spent the weekend with the family over in Adelaide to visit my grandma, did a working bee in the garden for her for mothers day. I think she loved it. She’s not very well, but enjoyed having everyone there – especially watching us do plenty of manual labour.

Was an EFS day yesterday, first one like that in a while. It’s all been pretty sad watching her health deteriorate so quickly, and as a result I stuffed my face with bread and a bit of chocolate!

Meant to be going out for dinner tonight with the DH and inlaws, so had planned to move my FD to tomorrow, but honestly just think I need a night in, so might just do a FD, might go for 800cal or a CD, I’ll just see how I go.

@ciren2 glad to hear your DH is on the mend. And back on the road! Woo! How frustrating regarding the sale, hope it resolves soon so you can move on! Good luck getting back to work, the first few days after a break I always find challenging.
@emmataylor sounds like a great trip. I have that exact mentality to travel – plus enjoying new and interesting foods is something about travel that I absolutely love.
@georgia83 congrats on the healthy BMI! What a great achievement!
@rabbette that beer sounds delicious! I’m off to the Great Australian Beer Spectapular this Friday, hoping to try some yummy ones there (180 beers and ciders on tap…). Thanks re: the willpower!! I think it really helps that I tell people that I’m trying to avoid sugar – I think saying it out loud also reminds me haha.
@michelinme too many carbs always make me puffy (especially bread, probably helped by the sodium in bread…). Luckily it seems to go away after I cut back on carbs in a day or so. Hope you feel better soon – rest up!
@at that sounds like a strong reset! Good work!
@snowflake glad to hear you’re finding some improvement, even if the prescribed diet is not totally ideal.

Day 13 UK FD

Aim to take it a day at a time Fasting today want a 500 ish cals and then start to plan the rest of the week . Onwards……

Day 13, Emden Germany, NFD

My hand is getting better, the new diet is going well, weight stayed the same despite 6 meals a day. But I’m disappointed about the results of the blood test this morning, potassium went up from 3.5 to 3.7, we hoped I would be over 4.0 after having >4000 mg daily. I’ll have to go over that it seems. I’ll get there.

@dingping I don’t think you’re self obsessed, not everyone likes to post much and not everyone is interested in the lives of others, but you are. I just want everyone to feel well and I’m fascinated by the different life every one of us leads. My DH doesn’t eat what I eat, he mostly has 2 white buns with quark and a thick layer of mayonnaise for breakfast, I always have my vegatables steamed, he prefers to cook his in the oven with olive oil. But he hardly eats any sweets or ice cream. I couldn’t find the IPA symbols for “Tamme”, the “a” is like barn, the “e” is like rush. I think your annexe will be great for a book lover after brousing the book shops, you’ll need a good reading chair and footstool them to curl up in. And a good light, difficult to find good ones. Is it also painted in Purbeck stone?

@ciren2 good news on your DH, I hope your tendon problems are getting better. Is the house you want to sell off the market during the time of the negociations?

@russetfox what a pity. Is it possible to train altitude sickness? I never climbed a high mountain, I’m a flatlander, I always lived at low altitude, I need space and wide views.

@rafiki44 when will your kitchen be finished? Holiday sounds good, any plans?

@rabbette thanks for your kind offer, I will get back to it if I’m stuck. The thumb/pink one is difficult but I can do the ear/nose one without any effort. I’ll practice the other ones, I want to be able to do them all. I love Belgian beer, esp. Lambic Kriek, a cherry one, and Trappist, a darker beer with more alcohol. I’m not a fan of German beers.

@jaifaim I’m doing well and feel good, it’s just the hand.

@betsylee our cat is a ordinary house cat, no special breed. I can’t pick Tamme up, he’s afraid of hands but as soon as I’m sitting down, he’ll jump on my lap. He’s the most talkative cat we had so far, he has a lot to say. He has to stay inside, he gets beaten up by the cats living around us but he likes to be on the balcony. He has a girlfriend who comes by almost every day. They have a chat through the window so he’s always informed what’s going on the neighbourhood. The diet I’m on is not compatible with 5:2 but if it works I’ll try to extend the time between evening snack and breakfast.

@daffodil2010 lovely to hear your Dad is doing so well!

@ktcaroline welcome back!!!

Long post, feel free to skip it!

Have a nice day everyone!

Day 13. London UK. FD ( first for ages…)

Our Basque country trip involved Bordeaux, Biarritz, San Sebastián, Bilbao and then onto Madrid. Mostly travelling by bus because it seems to be the preferred option – easier than by train. We absolutely loved it. If you’ve never been, go! Everybody was met was just lovely, the seafood was fantastic, and cheap, the places were just delightful, amazing beaches, lush scenery. We had a blast. Weather round there is affected by the Atlantic, obviously, so very unpredictable, not unlike UK weather but more changeable. So, back to the fasting grindstone ( not really. I like fasting). Let’s hope it’s easy on, easy off…

Sorry to be a pain. Please can someone add me to the pocket list? H