Hi!

‘”What you are already is so much more than anything you are trying to become”- that’s the quote my wellness counselor texted me after our meeting yesterday. I think it’s a good one for us all!

So the meeting was good. We concentrated on meditating, which I’m horrible at but have been assured that practice over time makes one better at it. Also was counseled on how to carve out “me” time from the kids, etc. – the meditation is supposed to “open up space” for me so that I don’t feel so stressed & crunched for time. I’m supposed to text her daily (if I want- no pressure) to say how if & how long I meditated so I can get in the habit & get a virtual ” high five” from her!

She was actually very kind about my bad eating episode and told me I’m really doing very well ( I think she already knew I’d been beating myself up over that anyhow!) . So all & all a good meeting.

Finally had the guts to weigh myself this morn & I’m up 4 lbs since mid-December (and that’s after being pretty good with the eating over the last week!). Oh well! Like I said, I’ll be doing the cleanse next week when I get back so hopefully that will get rid of most of the excess😁!

Hello & good luck to Goodie! Hoping you make your goal by the wedding! That’s strong motivation!

Cinque, glad the soybean advice sounds appealing to you! You must let me know if it works!

Lori & Salma, well, I like chocolate AND peanut butter- mostly together… So I’m in real trouble! Sometimes as a treat, I’ll take a teaspoon of peanut butter and sprinkle some stevia-sweetened Lily’s chocolate chips on it & eat that- YUM!

At the Honolulu zoo again with kids. Went to the Aquarium with them earlier. It’s about an hour walk from our condo to the zoo & aquarium so it’s good exercise for us all! Btw, Noreen, we’re have you been?! I’m using your real name to get your attention 😉! Bye for now!

Good Morning!

Another cold start to our day. Brrr…….It’s supposed to get pretty nice till this afternoon. I’ll pop out for lunch to run some errands when the sun is high and the temperatures are not so brutal. I’ll bundle up and head out for boot camp in a few minutes.

Fast day for me today. I’m actually looking forward to it. We went out for dinner last night after I got home from the dentist and my stomach has not felt “right” since. I didn’t make the best choice and I suffered for it. Oh well..live and learn.

Sherry…glad you had a good meeting. How long will you be in Hawaii? Do your kids have to be back to CA for school soon? Or maybe you home school? I don’t remember if you said.

I’m drawing a blank on doing personals, so I’ll just send hugs to everyone and wishes for a good day!

Hi Salma, you must have skipped Sherry’s post at the top of the page!

It does sound like a lovely consultation Sherry. Great quote!

It reminds me of when I worked in a women’s refuge. We had so much to do and about 6 crises happening at once all the time, it felt like I was running from the moment I got to work, til the moment I went home.
A very wise counsellor started a group for women workers in the town, as there were so many of us working in stressful positions. I went along very ambivalently, thinking ‘how I am going to make my busy life better by adding another thing in?’
But it was great and I learnt so many good techniques and got so much support, and I was able to make my work more manageable.

I need to practice mindfulness and meditation too. My brain does not find it easy!

So glad you are doing lovely things with the kids too! Precious times!
Are you still being woken through the night with your daughter’s diabetes signals?

Susie, congratulations on the lovely food and eating plan you have ready. Enjoy the juicing machine! Fresh juices are just so delicious!
I am a bit careful buying gadgets: small kitchen – and I really would love to be a minimalist (wouldn’t know it by looking around here though! ;( )
But I do have a deep fryer and an icecream maker in the cupboard that I haven’t used for at least 5 years. Still can’t bear to give them away though. I was so excited when I bought them and used them.

I skipped through that article Salma, (too long for my level of concentration at the moment) but I did like it. My food project is all about giving people healthy options: but to encourage them to eat them is often a change of eating habits, and we hope to remind people of healthy meals they loved in their childhood (if there were any) and make meals that are only a small step from their usual diet. So tricky!

Lori I hope your tummy has settled down, maybe the fast day will fix it. What a lot of busy active things to do too, did the sun shine?

Another nice day here. I have hurt my shoulder watering the garden (have to do it by hand and I have been filling the watering can too full I think). My nice upstairs neighbours will probably help me out til my shoulders stop hurting.
Off to make coffee (won’t be looking for roasted soybeans til I am in Thornbury next Tuesday).

Good wishes everyone!

Love golden milk! Turmeric has been amazing for me.

Hi all! Forgive any typos pls.- I’m on my phone & w/out glasses! Heading back from a day at Kailua Beach, one of my favorites. The trees in the jungle along the side of the road are randomly decorated with large Christnas ornaments (still)! It’s our last weekend here and I’m sad about it !

My eating was good yesterday till the end of the day and then we had an employee dinner meeting at a local Chinese restaurant. I love their egg foo young, and I probably would have been ok if I hadn’t dipped into the sweet & sour pork, lemon chicken, and chow mien noodles- and let’s not forget the mini red velvet cupcakes. So, back to the drawing board today! I’ve been good so far.

No luck thus far finding a unique dining set – unless we want to pay at least $5k for a handmade one. Not prepared to pay that much 😖!

Cinque, Amy is such a funny comedian- someone who appeals to younger & older women alike!

Salma, sounds like you navigated the get together with your friends well! It seems you’re having a good start to your new year of eating well! Yes, the main message, from my meeting, which is not new to most of us, is practicing mindfulness/meditating= making better food choices & less stress in our lives overall.

Milena, have a great trip & be careful on the horse ( if I’m reading you correctly?).

Lori, how was the golden milk now that you have all your spices? Did you sweeten it at all?

Ok, off to shop for dinner food as the frig is getting quite bare! Tomorrow hubby & I are going shopping for those paddle boards! Wish us luck that we find good ones for not too much $!

Good Morning!

Remember how I said my cat was content to lie on the foot of our bed now that we have the electric mattress pad on? HA! She never came to bed last night and got me up at 3:45 this morning. 🙁 It’s a never ending saga.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep to my eating window today or not. Since I’m up so early with nothing to do, I’ll be starving by 6AM. I will try to stay low carb at any rate. DH is going away for the day, so I’ll be left to my own devices. What to do, what to do? I have some TV shows to catch up on that I saved to the DVR this week, that will take a couple hours.

This time of year gets quite depressing for me. Spring/Summer, my weekends are full with playing golf and being active, but the Winter drags on and on. I have things I could get into inside, like cleaning closets, getting rid of clothes I no longer wear, but that doesn’t sound like much fun!

I hope you all have a good weekend whatever you may be up to!

Sounds like a plan Cinque! 😛

Good morning everyone,
Start of a hot day, but not too hot. Apart from making mango icecream and portalling it over to Lori, I am going to have another quiet pottering around Fast Day I hope.

Sherry, how did you manage less mistakes in your post than I do on my big computer keyboard! Impressive. Did you get your paddle boards?
The unique 5k handmade dining set does sound wonderful…. I hope one that is just a little bit cheaper turns up for you!
You must have been so full after that wonderful Chinese food (and red velvet cupcakes) that you are ready for a bit of an austere time. Coasting on the good memories.
Enjoy your last weekend!

You must be coming up to your free eating Sunday Salma. I hope it is a wonderful one.
I love being in an ordered groove too! There is still interest and excitement in making lovely things happen (food and otherwise) but not the stress and anxiety. (Which will turn up eventually no doubt!)
Cheers for your resolutions.

Hi Sherry I hope it was a good trip home and that the kids are looking after you.
Just heard the news that David Bowie has died. All us mid-fifties are likely to be touched by his music and mayhem.

Hi

well, I’m back, it was very cold! And I sneezed and snotted all weekend, had a high fever which broke early Saturday morning, hubby was quite pleased as I’d had the window open all night and it was well below freezing, the small lake we walked across to get to the fair was frozen. My vintage Wallis cashmere coat was amazingly warm – twenty quid off eBay.

Flight took off in a snowstorm, cool.

Lots of amazing jewellery bought. Easy part done – now to sell it, hopefully for a fair bit more than I paid, next fair tomorrow.

And now back on the horse! Actually still in bed, sonot too difficult keeping away from food. Hubby is on 5:2, some of you may remember he did it with me for a few weeks last year. Lost about 4kilos in about 4 weeks, as men seem to do!! Mainly due to their blinkered determination, so I won’t be allowed any cheating! On balance a good thing, though mine will act like a martyr until he loses the few pounds he has put on, then it will be back to eating bacon sarnies and croissants in front of me!

I’ll read the articles, Salma and Cinque, when I get to the computer, sounds interesting.

Have a great day, everyone!

Travel hopefully….

Sweet dreams Salma,
I hope you fall asleep easily, and wake up feeling really good.

Lori your winter is so hard! I hope you can find things you love to do that are in-house! Our winters are so mild I don’t really have an understanding of living in such cold. (not that it stops me from complaining in our winter 😉 )

Mushrooms, yum!

Milena I am so glad your health is better, take care while you keep recuperating, won’t you. I had to look up Wallis cashmere coat and ooh there are lovely ones!

Good luck to your husband with 5:2 and I hope you can keep up with him!

The jewelry sounds lovely. What a gorgeous business to be in.

I’m off, in a bit, to shop with my friend Lin (who does 5:2) I am looking forward to buy the lovely summer produce, and may break my no fruit rule for some watermelon as tomorrow the forecast is 41C (nearly 106 in Fahrenheit). Watermelon is one of the lower sugar fruits and I have to eat a lot for it to effect me. Oh dear, I might eat a lot.

Best wishes for a good night and a good day.

Sherry, can you pop up from underneath the pile of crazy kids?

Hi all
FD with juice, and soup tonight for me- weighed in yest and had a small loss, only 1 but better off than on. With 40 lbs to lose I am here for the long haul and sometimes its better to be the tortoise not the hare. I keep trying to be positive- I find social occasions and alcohol difficult to police but am getting better at walking more and planning meals, and not missing the workplace chocs / cakes / biscuits etc.
No mid week meal out this week as hubby is away, so that will help. Susie

The day was hot, the watermelon was lovely!
A big cool change, and now it is cool and rainy. I’Ve looked at my tiny garden through the window, and all the wilted things have popped back up, string and juicy looking.

Susie, I am one for the tortoise way too. All we need to do is keep going. In fact I like presuming that it will take a few weeks before I notice the next difference, because then I get a lovely surprise when a piece of clothing is looser.

Lori! A busy day at work! How exciting.

It is fast day here. I’m starting it with a nice cup of tea.

Good Morning!

The beginning of a fast day here. I have my “meals” planned, so should have no trouble sticking to it. Fingers crossed as I have weigh in tomorrow.

The husband is still sick and I have no idea why I am not. I’m attributing it to a few things. Not eating sugar, IF, and I drink a glass of vinegar water every morning. I have the apple cider vinegar with the “mother”, which just means it is raw and unpasteurized. I splash some into a cup and fill it with water first thing each morning. I know vinegar water gargle is the best thing for a sore throat, so maybe my drinking it is giving my immune system a boost?

Nothing planned for the weekend but cooking! DH has requested a meatloaf and I want to make some low carb things so I have lunches ready to go next week. I don’t want to have to resort to a fast food salad or burger without the bun. Today will be spent going thru some of my low carb cookbooks and making a grocery list.

Have a great day everyone!

Hi everyone

where is Makica – hope you are ok!!
Nearly over my malaise – still snotty but cough getting better, did second fast today, went well, hubby moaning he hasn’t lost weight – who bought and ate the two shop bought rhubarb pies, I asked – and was told not many calories in rhubarb and I wasn’t supporting him!!! Men!

So sad about Alan Rickman, gorgeous man – and just after David Bowie, was a fan from the start, saw him in ’72! Lot to be said about living every day as if its your last – and real wealth is good health!

A good reason to get stuck into 5:2 this year, I do think you are right Lori, there are things we can do to avert sickness, and to recover quickly! Though I blame being susceptible to chest infections on my mother and step dad – smoking while pregnant, keeping kids in smoke filled homes and cars – she never understood that I refused to have Robert in the same room when she smoked!

Will try the vinegar! Is it better than lemon?

Planning some warm meals, its freezing here – literally! Though too cold for snow!

Son has just started a week job in the local supermarket, not fit enough to apply for the job he wants but its a start, good to see him on the mend, hubby was in out-patients today, the cyst they removed from his head was just that! No more fairs until the end of the month – so can stay home in the warmth, peddling my wares on ebay as usual (all last weeks purchases to sell! – buying is so very much the easy part!)

Cinque, the Wallis coat I have is, I think, from the eighties, certainly vintage! And soo warm!

Off to bed, hope y’all have a great Friday.

travel hopefully …..

Hi all! Sorry to be AWOL for so long. Still recuperating plus there’s the fact I’m solo parenting 4 which is never easy, especially w/getting used to the time change! It’s only 2 hrs difference this
time of the year but it still gets me at this age!

Susie, I’m right there with you! Congrats on doing well! On Wednesday I started my cleanse with the homemade bone broth ( made from the carcass & leftovers I froze from our yummy organic brined Xmas turkey!), fresh blended & strained ginger/tumeric tea, green smoothies & lots of organic veggies, poultry & berries. Starting to feel better as of today- the first two days aren’t fun!

I know I shouldn’t complain given how cold it is where many of you are, but it’s cold here in not-so-sunny Southern Cal! Especially since I’m coming off of 82-85 degree Farenheit days!

Lori, congrats on the weight loss! 2lbs! Great! What do you most attribute your success to? The window? The low carb?

Cinque, I’m so out if it and busy that I hadn’t seen the TV& that those gentlemen had passed! So sad! I loved David Bowie’s music when I was a teen! His poor wife, Iman. Didn’t they have a child together? You and I would gave fun hanging out! I too love perusing recipes ( I have giant stacks I’ve printed off the Internet blogs plus cookbooks- much to my poor husband’s chagrin) & making & of course eating them! Hmmm! Maybe we’d be dangerous togehter on second thought! But of course we’d only make healthy things!😏

Salma, good luck banking the good eating days before you leave for business travel. Will you have to eat out w/clients or on your own? Obviously on your own is easier because you can plan better. This is something I need to do better! So many times when I go out to eat or there’s a holiday, I just say ” the heck with it” & end up eating badly! I need to make a sensible plan prior & stick to it

It is quiet around here lately! Normally after being gone fir a few days I’d be waaaay behind in catching up! Have a great Friday/wknd ladies 😘!

Sherry

Good morning everyone! It is an absolutely beautiful morning here. I am drinking my darling coffee (yes, I have been looking for roasted soy beans, haven’t found them yet) and doing some nice pottering around (well I was before I sat down at the computer!).

When I went shopping with my good friend Lin, on Tuesday, and she mentioned her beautiful winter coat that she has had for decades (she came to Australia from Britain about 20 years ago), I said “Ooh is it a Wallis coat?” And she looked surprised and said yes.
Don’t I learn heaps on this thread!

I am so glad you are getting better and better Milena. You will feel fab when you are finally over it. And hopefully the magic of 5:2 (and the judicious use of vinegar) will mean no more illness this year.

I keep hoping it might help my ongoing, low level hayfever, but no sign of that yet.

Good news for your son and your husband. It is all up in your house! (if only husband can just stick to rhubarb and skip the ‘pie’ bit 😉 )

Congrats on your loss Lori, and I hope the shredded cheese doesn’t cancel out the lack of carbs! ….My treat is tortilla chips with grated cheese melted in the microwave, and guacamole for accompaniment. (Mmm fat and carbs! I do try to keep it a ‘sometimes’ snack).

Sherry, hooray! You managed to poke your head up from under that scrum of children! Don’t worry about typos, very good to hear from you!

Yes it was two big shocks to hear about David Bowie and the Alan Rickman. I read that David has a 15 year old daughter. I know there is no good age to lose a parent, but my heart aches for her at 15. It is such a tricky age, poised at the step into adulthood.

I wish we could hang out! Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a couple of days to share recipes and do a load of cooking for everyone here, so we all went home with plenty of fabulous meals to make life easier, and more delicious. We would be completely sensible of course, and eat small portions!!!!!
I think we should all meet at your Hawaiian place!

Oh dear, coffee is finished. Off to do more pottering around, and have a leisurely breakfast. And then maybe more coffee. It is that sort of day.

Yes, it’s me again (sorry!), making up for my lost time this week! Lori, since you’re eating low carb-ish, check out the website, Slender Kitchen under heading “Twenty five Whole30 dinner recipes! Lists 30 yummy sounding low carb dinners. Cinque, I’ve just substantially added to my pile of printed recipes…ahhh! 🙁

Good morning from a quiet Sunday Melbourne morning, with pigeons cooing and the radio on.

I will keep making noises about meeting with you all in Hawaii, but I am afraid it will all be a pipe dream (even though Hawaii is so nicely positioned for us!). My horrible illness restricts everything. I am quite close to being housebound (but I am not, yay!). I only make it to Sydney because my daughter can organise everything so well for me.
But if the rest of you make it, I will join in on skype!

I melted the gasket in my coffee machine yesterday (put it back on the flame, idiot me), so I am going coffee free today, and without the roasted soy beans to help! You might get a very irritated post from me at the end of the day!

It is fast day and I am a bit hungry all ready (9am). I’ll take that as meaning it will be a really good fast day, with my body doing its wonderful fasting thing, and lots of progress made.

I hope you had a lovely time with your grandson Lori. Wow, 12 years old! Isn’t it extraordinary having the next generation growing up. My granddaughter is a toddler, but my sister has grandchildren who are adults now. It makes me feel that I look at everything from such a long perspective!

Best wishes for today.

Good Morning,

Oh Cinque…I, too, am sad that your illness keeps you from going places. As Sherry said, you have such a good attitude. Keep that sunny outlook and enjoy each small outing you are able to do.

Another sleep in for me! 5:30! I’ll enjoy a few hours of sipping coffee and catching up on line and then start laundry and cooking. Today is meatloaf and meatballs, along with some roasted cauliflower. My sausage egg cups turned out awesome and I’m looking forward to 1…or 2 for breakfast. On the weekends I don’t do the eating window, I just eat when hungry.

Hope you all enjoy your Sunday!

Hi Cinque

was reading the threads – why do I do it online, my brain can’t cope with backwards threads – just logged in to give you a cyber hug – you make me count my blessings! Then I read your post about the Wallis coat! Made me laugh out loud! You’ll all be hunting down Wallis coats on ebay next!

Sherry – sorry to be a bit lax, busting a gut to list all the stuff I bought last week – trying to get back to Copenhagen in March and OH won’t entertain it unless we sell this lot.

Gets me in front of the television a lot – was watching James Martin Home comforts and made the Coq au Vin for dinner today! Blummin’ amazing!

OH and I have now decided to have Sundays off!!! Yay! – except if its sunny (photos), except when we have fairs (always on a Sunday!) and, I imagine, except when we are skint! – or haven’t finished the tax returns next week!!!

Well, I can dream. But we have decided to have a day of ‘proper’ food! And he is doing fish and chips next week – home made chips ( well, wait until he sees the price of duck fat – he watched Tom Kerridge do the thrice cooked chips)! And despite living in a country surrounded by 6,000 miles of coastline (10 thousand if you include the islands) never found anywhere that sells decent fish!

Yearning for the days I used to put out sett lines at this time of year, on the beach at Tynemouth, of course if the tide didn’t go back far enough we had to wade into the sea – your legs really do go blue with cold! Some lovely cod though! Will tell you one day about the time I knocked myself out catching lobster!

Anyway back to dinners on Sundays!

This way madness? Hope not – I reckon I can keep to 5:2 really well if I can dangle a carrot (caramalised preferably!), something to look forward to every week.

Might have something to do with seeing Mr Martin making chocolate eclairs! Reckon I can have a go if I do a 4 fast week first – though is it worth fasting for an extra two days just to have two chocolate eclairs – yup!

Salma will be so proud of me – for the newbies this thread was started by Salma as Foodies Anonymous – sorry if I had you all salivating but there you go!!! My hair shirt has been washed and will be worn from tomorrow! Moving fast day to Tuesday as I will be making soup tomorrow with bones left over from jointing the chicken – has anyone actually jointed a chicken? I highly recommend it as a pretty good substitute for an hour in the gym! Bloody hard work!

Roasted bones are now soaking in water, stock and then soup will be made as soon a we get veggies tomorrow, eaten Tuesday! Yum!

Must get back to work, need to find a way to get the air fare to Hawaii, Sherry!

Travel hopefully ……… and have a great week!

Up and ready for boot camp….I guess. I did something to my hip yesterday and I’m not sure how it will go to exercise, but I’m going to give it a go. It does seem a bit better this morning, but still sore.

I stuck to my low carb plan all weekend. Today is a fast day along with low carb. Should be ok as I have my eating planned. I made some yummy recipes over the weekend so I have good food for the week.

We have auditors at work all week, so they’ll be bothering me periodically asking for this and that. This is my last audit to get through, YAY! It is never too bad as we keep good records and balancing reports each month so there is never anything for them to find. More work each month, but makes for an easy audit at year end.

Well, that’s my boring world. At the end of the week, they’re calling for a big storm so we have that to look forward to. HA!

Have a good start to your week!