Hi ladies,

Nice to see some “chatting” finally going on here (Esther, ahem! I wasn’t one of the silent majority! 😉 I was trying to keep it alive here!)

I’m with you Tilly on that roller coaster ride…for me it’s up 1-3 lbs and back down all in the course of 2-4 weeks. Oh well, better than the continuous uphill climb, right?

Hi Elizbeth (Carolina), Glad to hear you’re not dead! Yes, I’m interested to know, what is the apple squash European reference? I’m not on HRT. I’m 10 years post menopause so I don’t think they recommend it if you’ve not started following the first year or two after menopause? Anyhow, for the most part I don’t think I need it anymore, except for maybe vanity (keeping skin nice) and maybe longevity? I’m seeing a new naturopath next week and it will be interesting to get his take on it all.

Hey Lori, Yeah the skin that’s left after the fat has left is discouraging! The weight lifting should help I’d think, but you’re already so fit with the Boot Camps you do! Yes, off to Hawaii again for 12 days for some alone “bliss” before the rest of the family joins me for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’ll be there just under a month total.

Good luck again Beady and Time to Change! I think you’ll see more success with the lower carb way of eating when not fasting. And darn it, Beady! Don’t you just hate it when those carbs just fly into your mouth! 😉 Seriously, I have a hard time with them too!

Esther, congrats on the new jobs! And the travel too! That makes it more fun and interesting I bet!

Just back today from getting my gastro issues checked out. Had to do the fecal test this morning and a pelvic ultra sound. Keep me in your prayers please that it’s figured out quickly (before I leave next week) and that it’s not anything major…I can deal with a bug of some sort, but a blockage…eeek!

Have a good day all! 🙂

Sherry

14 days until Florida holiday… 10 pounds down, 5 to go. Still doing the low carb plan for now, until I get to Florida – 3 weeks, staying in Naples with family. I read the book yesterday, so ready for 5:2 when I start it in FL. The low carb plan is very much like fasting every day as my calorie intake is low hence quick weight loss, so hoping the FD transition will be easy.

With the combination of 1. I do not like to eat a lot in warm weather and 2. our hostess is a health nut, I am not expecting a gain.

Still loving the high energy levels!! honestly, are carbs sedatives or what!?

ARM FLAB got you down?

Ha ha – hate it!! why does it happen? Anyway, in January, I started my mission of “I will wear sleeveless tops in FL and I have to say, with diet and arm exercises, I WILL wear sleeveless tops in FL. I still have a remaining little pocket of fab, but all in all, my arms are ok.

Exercise: Google “Using weights to lose bingo wings” – heavier the weight the better, but do build up to it.

Smoked salmon chunks and cherry tomatoes for lunch yummmm

Add me in for crepe-y skin….my hands look as if I’m 70. I personally think it’s sun damage. My mom never went in the sun and she had great skin. I should have listened to her when she told me not to get a tan, haha. Sherry do let us know how the tool works!!!

Beady, glad you had some luck with the arms. In a way that is what gets me down because I always had skinny arms until recently.

I’m fairly happy with how this week went. If I can keep it up and not blow it over the weekend, I’ll be making progress at least. I’ve decided that crackers are the devil….they SEEM better than chips but they’re not really, haha. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sherry, have a safe trip to Hawaii and enjoy your days of solitude. Hope you get rid of whatever is “bugging” you! Sounds like you’ve had lots of tests already. The micro needle thing sounds “interesting”…..and a little painful! Wonder if it would work for my saggy upper arms? Since I lost the last 10-15 lbs, my arms are not looking good. I guess the saggy skin is better than fat.

I’ve not been as strict on my Keto plan lately as I need to be. I need to stop the treats and get serious. I would like to lose another 10 lbs, so need to get on it. Here comes more saggy skin, I suppose. Sigh….

Hope you’re all having a good week!

Hi! Popping in for a mid-week check in.

I’ve been mixing business & pleasure- a lot of walking by the beach and some work/ visiting clients. Trying hard to maintain that loss that got me into the 116 lbs range and it hasn’t been very easy- not able to eat much and stay there so we will see. Hoping my body starts to settle in there & then I’ll start to gradually up the food intake. I’m just trying to keep calories low too until the family gets into town next week when I know it will be harder to eat well!

Ok, it’s a pleasure day today- heading to my favorite Hawaii beach, Kailua, for a nice walk, then lunch & some grocery shopping at Whole Foods out there.

How is everyone out there holding up? Hope to hear from you all this week!

Aloha, 🏝

Sherry

i, I’m popping back in – have been sticking to 5:2, but haven’t seemed to have the time to go on here and post and catch up with everyone!

Hope you’re enjoying Hawaii, Sherry, my sister and niece were there in September and loved it, I think it really impressed them both.

Lori, we are also expecting “weather” this week, and some snow, Hawaii sounds wonderful!!

I’m still hovering around the same weight as I have been for a few months, I’m still happy bc I look much better than I did, feel better and still seem to be losing inches even if the scale is moving up and down over the same few pounds on a weekly basis. I know it’s bc I eat too much on non-fast days and it seems every week I am going out to eat somewhere. Trying to get to yoga a couple times a week and hikes on teh weekend and moving around at work, too.

I started meditating over a month ago – have found it amazingly improves my sleep length and quality as well as my episodes of “random” anxiety. I use an app Insight Timer, free, you can just have it time you or you can do guided meditations, I find the guided ones help me focus and also think about things I don’t normally think about, deeper stuff, lol.

Hope all are well – as Tilly always says “just keep swimming”….
sue

Hi all!

Carolina…strict Keto is total carbs below 20 grams, moderate protein and fat to satiety. I have not been really strict lately, so consequently, my weight is stable and the last 10 lbs are still hanging on. I’ve been allowing too many treat days and not being strict. Anyway…..I like the fasting as well, when it works with my schedule.

Good luck!

Oh Sue, meant to say hi to you too! I envy you that you actually have started meditating! Beginning a mediation practice has been on my To Do list for a long time- which tells you I really NEED to do it, right?! Good job!

Hi All, Esther it’s very ANNOYING about men!!!! Hubby and I tried the South Beach diet years ago, I followed strictly, lost maybe 2.5lbs in a couple week, husband continued eating cookies and other forbidden foods, lost 16 pounds, mind you he’s long since gained it all back. He works nights, owns a restaurant, but will eat maybe around 11am, then not all day,then eats around 10pm when he gets home, but will also eat a whole bag of chips, candy, once I found a box from frozen cinnabons in the recycling bin… I am quite strict with myself and only slowly lose weight – it’s hormones, age and men carry more muscle and have a higher metabolism than women – unfair, yes, but typically we DO live longer!

Both yoga and meditation are really helping – actually was able to control myself the other night when hubs and I had a spat…interesting how it took the wind out of his sails when I wasn’t reacting or coming right back at him with comments. The meditation app Insight Timer works well for me bc it’s guided so there’s music and some talking and some really helpful talks, too, I just do 10 minutes in the morning before getting out of bed and sometimes after work and always before bed. I started with a “100 day challenge” I signed up for through a blogger Matt Trinetti, we’re all having different goals, mine was daily meditation.

Sometimes you just end up with weeks where you eat out or have “occasions” more than others – it’s hard to manage – not so easy to say “no” to higher calorie foods in restaurants, at least it’s hard for me to say “no” lol.

HOpe you all have a great weekend!
Sue

Hi all,

Quickly popping in to say hello. Haven’t been able to join in here since family came to town- too busy! Happy late Thanksgiving to the U.S. ladies! We went out to eat & it was great unlike what often happens when you go out to eat on holidays! 😉

My eating of course has gotten more out of whack with the family here- oh well. Will get it together here soon. Leaving mid week for home & then the Christmas craziness begins!

Hope you’re all well!

😘🏄🌺🌴

Sherry

Hi Lori & Salma and you other ladies out there!

I’ve been trying to get my rear in gear and get used to the two hour time change between here and Hawaii. Still haven’t unpacked yet but sadly, that’s not too unusual! We’ve managed to get the Christmas tree up and decorated and the house lights on so we at least feel good about that. Now on to the crazy shopping for the kids and others. I think we’re making it easy this year by telling the kids to get on Amazon and make lists and then we’ll choose from the lists for the presents and have them shipped! No crazy mall shopping (or very little of it!).

Lori, I was just typing a question as to where you were working and saw your post pop up! Yeah, retail during the holiday season is brutal. My friend is the manager of the Macy’s in Waikiki and her family doesn’t really see her until after the holidays! Don’t wear yourself out and lose all the benefits of being retired! I’m with you…I’m really going to try not to gain a bunch this holiday season. It’s getting too hard and depressing to deal with time and again. I’m swearing I’m cutting way back on the number of items I bake this year (and then unfortunately snack on) and more of what I am making will be healthier versions. Not to mention, the older I get the more my back hurts standing all day baking!!!

Salma, good to see you again. I just saw that Lori asked this too, but where in the U.S. did you end up and what graduate program are you doing? Are you just here for another 6 months and then back home or will you be staying here? I envy that you can even get your grey matter working…mine feels like it’s shriveling up some days! That or the kids/stress are killing my brain cells! 😉 Are either of your boys married yet? I’ve hit my goal range of 115-117 lbs twice now, once a year ago (then the holidays hit and I went back up about 5-6 lbs) and again recently. I have yet to get back on the scale since we returned from our annual holiday trip to HI. As you may remember, I do that bone broth plus other healthy foods for four days monthly and I’m due for a round this week, so I’ll probably weigh after that.

Hey all of you other friends out there, stop in and say “hello”! 🙂

Sherry

Hi Sue and everyone else.

Got the courage to get on the scale prior to beginning the 4 day monthly cleanse and it’s not too too bad…119.0. I had actually seen the 115’s a few times while in HI so hoping at the end of the 4 days I’ll be back near there. This was the first time in my life that I lost some weight before a trip knowing I’d be eating out, etc., gain a little on the trip but still be ok. Usually it’s starving before I leave so I can fit in a bathing suit, etc. and then coming back much fatter. I had a skinny friend who used to always go on a mini diet before her vacations so she wouldn’t have a gain beyond what she normally weighed when she got back…that’s smart, but like I said, I’ve never had that luxury because I never really was at my goal weight to begin with! 😉

No, Sue, I’m still not totally recovered from the time change and still very little unpacking has happened!:( I’m so happy for you that you’re still losing slowly but able to enjoy your non-fast day treats and best of all you look/feel good, so that’s what matters most! I guess I’m fasting with you today being that I started my cleanse which is pretty equal in calories to a fast day. So good to hear from you! 🙂

Have a wonderful start to the week girls!

Sherry

Hi all,

As some of you may have heard, we are battling fires out here in Southern California (yet again). The one nearest to me is the “Lilac fire” which is in the town right next to ours. No containment yet in that one and the winds are starting to pick up again. Friends of ours have been evacuated and their mother’s house burned down. 🙁 All the local schools are closed due to the fires. We were going to take the kids to Disneyland later today to see it decorated for Christmas…really quite beautiful, the blow “snow” around at night and everything smells like gingerbread! Anyhow, we now feel its not such a good idea with fires looming nearby. A change in the wind and it could be in our backyard. Right now there’s what looks to be an injured coyote in the neighbor’s yard about a 1/2 acre away. Wondering if it was due to the fire…he’s not moving much and those things are usually very skittish.

On a different note, I just finished my 4 day cleanse and I’m down 3 lbs. to 116.2. Yay! I love doing the cleanse because it’s always good for 2-3 lbs. Of course to maintain it, I have to eat very lightly for a few days afterward. Best thing is, it keeps me on track. By doing it once a month I’ve been able to lose weight and now at least take care of any careless eating I participated in that month! 😉 It’s my way of doing maintenance now. So, rather that a weekly fasting program, I pretty much do the 4 day cleanse each month and eat reasonably (most of the time) the rest of the month. It works for me! Now to just maintain over the crazy Christmas eating season!

Salma, so happy for you that you’re getting back on track. I find it’s the little day to day victories with regard to eating that finally get you where you want to be. For example, yesterday I chaperoned my son’s field trip and instead of eating out while there, I brought a thermos of broth, veggies, meat with me. And you’re right, there’s never a perfect time to lose weight and better to get a grip on it now then after the holidays! Funny, I did find that for me, finishing up menopause actually made it easier for me to lose weight than when I was younger. No monthly hormonal fluctuations to mess with my weight.

Happy weekend everyone!

Sherry

Hi ladies,
It’s been a while.
Sherry it is so scary with those fires, stay safe. We are just coming into our fire season ie summer. We live on the edge of a national park with lots of eucalyptus trees, and they are saying it will be a high fire danger year !
We nearly had to be evacuated a few years back, the day of our daughters wedding in 2013 it was very hot, 42deg Celsius. We came out of the chapel at the venue after the ceremony to be confronted by the event planner saying we had a five minute warning we may need to be evacuated (130 people) as fires had started over the other side of the hill ! Fortunately it was burning away from us, but it was a tense couple of hours. A memorable wedding 😳
We have however just had a week of torrential rain, over 160mm (6 1/2inches) in a week. The garden is looking very green for the start of summer.
On the 5:2 front staying the same. Would love to get rid of another couple of kilos but not sure what else I can do. Can’t increase the exercise, and there is no room to decrease the caloric intake. Might have to try Sherry’s cleanse 🤔
Stay safe Sherry, and just keep swimming ladies,
Love Tilly xx

Hi everyone,

Well, it seems my town has come out unscathed by those horrible local fires thank God, though I feel so badly for all those that lost homes and are still fighting the fires up north of us in the Santa Barbara area. Our weather in Southern California right now is unbelievably warm, and that, and the winds have undoubtedly contributed to this bad fire season. It is, in fact, warmer here lately than it was in Hawaii (at least during the day; the nights are still chilly) when I was there a few weeks ago!

My weight thankfully is pretty much holding in the 116’s; I haven’t been too hungry lately, probably due to all the crazy running around for Christmas related activities and shopping. That’s good though, because in the next week I will start my baking and that will begin the real weight maintenance challenge!

Lori, how are you doing with the holiday challenges? Still working a lot at Dick’s Sporting Goods for the Christmas season? Are you still able to do your workouts?

Tilly, yes you all in Australia often face the same challenges with fires as we do in So. Cal. So very scary! Thank God your daughter’s wedding was spared during that fire!

Salma, congrats on finishing up the exams! How are your parents doing? Do you have family or a caregiver in place to assist them now that you are gone? Have fun in Montreal (didn’t you say you used to live there?) and back home for the holidays. Are the men in the family doing the cooking like they did on your vacation a few years back or will the women in the family be slaving away in the kitchen? 😉 Anyhow, good luck avoiding some of those food “dangers”!

Time to shower and then bed…a long day tomorrow of my three youngest’s Christmas performance, a hair appointment, shopping, wrapping, and then my sister’s house for her birthday dinner…PHEW!

Have a wonderful weekend if I don’t get a chance to pop in before then! 🙂

Sherry

Hi Lori and everyone,

Lori, you have my sympathy! I worked retail during a non-Xmas period of time and it was tough. I can’t imagine doing it at Christmas! Good luck! I hope you’re getting a nice respite hanging out with your sis!

I’m doing well. Weight is steady. I’m continuing my walks and pilates and trying to eat well. I haven’t yet started the baking yet! Today I made the list of all the ingredients I need to buy and just looking at that exhausted me. I think I really need to scale back (I told you all I have a problem with that!).

So, I found and made a great recipe for fast days in particular. Very simple. I tried to copy and paste it here for you but it wasn’t cooperating! Anyhow, if you’re interested, it’s called “Homemade Egg Drop Soup” from the website “Veggie Balance”. It’s only 60 calories a cup and very filling! I hope you try it; if so let me know! 🙂

Hope to hear from you all and how you’re holding up during the holiday season! We all need any tips we can get! 😉

Talk you soon!

Sherry

Hi, ladies!!!

It’s been a while since I popped on.

Salma, so very good to hear from you!! I’m envious of your college experience and your trip to Montreal!!!!! That sounds perfect. We are thinking of buying a ski condo in Canada as a rental/second home type thing and I was looking at Quebec, which is affordable and so classy, but my husband things the cold would be too much and I don’t know how the skiing compares to out West.

Lori, I’ll think of you when I go to Dick’s!!

SherryAnn, so glad you are safe from the fires.

Tilly, let us know how the cleanse goes if you try it.

Sue, congrats on your slow and steady progress. I am envious, haha. I do not feel good about the way I look.

Esther, hope you are well! Your life sounds very exciting!!!

I kind of went off the rails over Thanksgiving and haven’t fully recovered yet. I’m resigned to a fresh start after my son leaves. He has finished everything a semester early and is, he tells us, a graduate but I haven’t seen the diploma yet so we haven’t had a big party or anything. It’s kind of disorienting for him and us!!! He is going to take an English style “grand tour” for the spring semester and then start his job in California in June or July. He plans to go to Argentina but that too is a little tentative–he hasn’t booked the tickets yet. He has done the application for the program and believes he’s accepted. Meanwhile he has had some times of depression–broke up with his girlfriend from his freshman year, etc, etc. So I have some stress as he is home and that’s always chaotic and we are concerned about this kind of indefinite period of time for him. Meanwhile my daughter had a crazy few weeks with dance and school! All this to say, I’ve lost control of eating once again, but I do plan to turn it around before too long!

If I don’t get back on, I hope everybody enjoys the winter holidays, no matter which one they are celebrating!!! Lots of cozy times with family and friends and meaningful ceremonies and beauty and light and all that!!!!! I’ll be back!!!

Hi All & happy New Year 2018!!!

Ugh, I don’t know about you all but I’m feeling rather bloated after the holidays! So much for watching it this year! I start my 4 day cleanse on Friday so hoping to quickly wipe out most of the damage! How’d you all do?

Kids started back at school today…Phew! It’s a bit of a relief as I feel I can finally get some cleaning and organizing accomplished (hopefully!) since they’re not home constantly bugging me for something to do or somewhere to take them. Weather here today is rather dreary so it should be a good day to get some stuff done in the house. Getting organized is my major New Year’s goal for 2018!

My hubby leaves for Hawaii for business soon so not looking forward to the solo parenting thing and the stress it brings, but I suppose I’m used to it! I actually get to go there at the end of February and a long-time friend will join me for a week of my stay. I’m looking forward to showing her around, but I’ll also have some solo time there to just “do my thing”!

Hope to hear how you’re all doing soon and what your goals/plans are for 2018!

Love ya!

Sherry

Hi girls! So is anyone going to be dropping in to say hello in 2018? Where are you all? I hope you’re starting your new year off right and happily fasting! I’m finishing up on a 5 day cleanse tomorrow and starting to feel a lot less bloated/more normal thank God!

Hubby left today for HI business trip. Solo parenting yet again (sigh). Good thing is that I don’t have to prep as “elaborate” (not that they were actually that elaborate!) meals while he’s gone! The kids are happy with pasta, pizza, burgers…typical kid friendly food. I can easily just have roasted veggies or simple egg drop soup while they eat their stuff. That will help a lot! My hubby finished his 4 day fast yesterday and lost 6.5lbs! Lucky dog! He’s feeling much lighter/happier having lost this holiday fluff before leaving for HI.

Anyhow, I hope you are all well and starting of 2018 with a BANG! Pop in and let me know how you’re doing! Lori, are you done with retail yet now that the holidays are over?

HUGS!

Sherry

Hi everyone,
Happy New Year !!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break, for those who didn’t get a break commiserations 😩
Well managing to hold my own with the 5:2. Just not going down still. I’m trying something new at the moment in that I am avoiding sugar. So hard. Especially when you love to bake! We have dinner guests tonight and I am not eating dessert even though it’s a favourite. Meringue roll filed with lemon and mascarpone ahhhhh Although the sugar content is known in this one since I’m putting it there haha You don’t realise how much hidden sugar is in our foods. But I am persevering. Hoping to see some movement downwards soon.
Good luck with the solo parenting Sherry, hope it goes well.
Summer holidays here in Australia, so the kids are on holidays. My grown kids who are teachers are also on holidays haha. Our daughter and her husband are both teachers so they are enjoying a holiday in Indonesia for two weeks. 😎 Our eldest son doesn’t take his holidays until next month after school goes back, he and his wife are heading to Japan.
We head off on our first trip next month, camping in the mountains (so long as there are no bushfires) only for a week with some friends. Then in March we head to New Zealand for two weeks with some other friends, then at the end of May we head off on our big trip across the country to The Kimberley in Western Australia for approx 10weeks! (It’s a long way from Melbourne) Lots of 4wd dirt road etc 😬 also with friends. Going to be challenging with the eating but because we will be quite remote temptation will also be remote haha at least I hope so.
Sounds like you will be busy too Esther like Sherry. Hope it goes well for you too.
Bless you all for this New Year
Love Tilly xx

Hi all!

Lori retail is crazy at the holiday season – locally most stores don’t allow returns until a couple weeks after Cmas to prevent the Boxing Day shoppers and “returners” from clashing lol…
Sherry I hope you are coping ok as a single parent for now? My husband works nights and weekends, so it’s mostly just been me, BUT, I only have one son and he is over 14 now, so much easier, more independent etc. Hubs was home way too much over the holidays which meant more eating as he’s cooking full meals, meat, starch, veg, gravy or some type of sauce etc and gets offended if I say “no” to any part of it…

I got lucky and don’t seem to have gained over the holidays, lucky bc I really only had 1-2 fast days. Back to work and 4 interviews this week and I’m on the committee which means a “brought in” lunch those 4 days; today I am managing a fast day bc we aren’t interviewing anyone.

The bitter cold has abated up here – we had a lot of snow, but it’s winter and Canada, lol, and more expected this weekend.

Tilly – is it still insanely hot where you live?

Managed 2 yoga classes this week – one is yin, more contemplative and stretching but last night was a tough work out! Was dripping sweat!

HOpe all are well! Stay warm! Or cool!
Sue

Hi all,

Such a crazy day for my poor husband who’s in Hawaii working. He was on the golf course today (Saturday) playing with a friend when they got warnings on their cell phones that missles were headed for Hawaii and to take cover, saying this is not a drill, this is REAL!-then the cell phones went dead! They looked around and all there was to take cover was bridges that the golf carts use to drive over the course so they figured they could go there if need be. They heard a police car going through the neighborhood near them broadcasting a message, but all the could hear of it was the word “emergency”! Then they realized there was no warning siren going off (they have different sirens there for tidal waves vs missle attacks) so they had an idea it might not be real. Thank God it wasn’t real as they heard about 20 minutes later from a friend who his buddy got through to that worked for the Honolulu PD who told him so!

On other fronts, got my breath test result back and I do in fact have SIBO in my gut so the docs want to give me antibiotics which I’ve read don’t usually work for long, I found that there’s some natural remedies that use oregano oil, peppermint oil, etc. that work as well if not better than the antibiotics according to Johns Hopkins University studies so I think I will try that route first! There will probably be temporary diet changes to in order to starve the bacteria. I have to go to my naturopath to determine the full course of action. Thankfully I do not think I have it that bad because most people have bloating, abdominal pain, loose stools, etc. All I have is occasional gassiness. I think because I already eat pretty close to the recommended diet guidelines I’ve read about and consume bone broth as well, that it’s helped it not get too out of control. Nice to know now officially what is up though!

Weight hanging out at 0.6 above post-cleanse level so I’m good with that! Hope you all are having a less “exciting” weekend than me! 😉

Sherry