Sassy's story……

This topic contains 70 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by yuxi 2 years, 11 months ago.

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PreciousBooBoo

7:42 pm
7 Nov 13
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Hello Sassy

Where are you today? Has someone chopped your fingers off? because you haven’t posted today and that is unusual!

I hope you don’t think I am inappropriate or presumptuous in starting a thread for you to tell us your fast diet story; but I still don’t know what made you start the FD, how you first heard of it, how much you weighed when you started (if you wish to tell us that) or even how much you’ve lost!

And I thought today, since I am fasting and keeping out of the kitchen and have a bit more time to spare; I’d like to check out Sassy…..and you still don’t have a post where people can communicate with you directly.

So I would really like you to take this thread over; but if you don’t want to step up to the plate then just leave it all lonely and sad and without a host.

PreciousBooBoo

dumpling

3:37 am
9 Nov 13
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Owww, yes, I would like to know as well.

Sassy

12:35 am
11 Nov 13
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Thanks PreciousBooBoo for starting this topic – very kind and thoughtful, and not presumptuous at all – and thanks dumpling for your interest 🙂

I first posted on 15 October, and have extracted this from one of my first posts:

“I have been reading the forum for a while but only started posting today. I started 5:2 in April. I had read about it in a short article in a British women’s magazine the previous month, at the hairdressers (my hairdresser always gives me the UK mags to read, as we are both English but migrated to Australia with our parents when we were children). It sounded like something I could do, after years of unsuccessful dieting. But my motivation to start was when I had to measure myself for a costume…I was horrified by the numbers!!! I gave up paid work at the end of last year, and I was doing my best to ignore the fact that I was putting on weight, but those numbers were a reality check.

So I started 5:2, and am SO pleased I did. I needed to lose a stone to get within ok BMI, that happened quite quickly in 2 months. I have then continued to set new goals – get under the next stone marker (ie 9st something rather than 10st something), get to my pre-children weight; now I am up to aiming to fit into my wedding dress (note added later – which some of you know I have now done), and keep going from there – see where 5:2, or 4:3, takes me.

I didn’t find this forum until a month or so ago – I had been going it totally alone, with no more than the 2-page article as guidance. For ages I didn’t even tell my family (3 very unobservant males!!!!) as I felt I might jinx myself if I did. But after a while I had to share my joy with others. My husband was sort of aware that I had lost weight, but I guess I am lucky?? that it doesn’t matter to him how I look… And 20yo and 18yo sons certainly don’t spend time looking at their mother! Younger son has been quite ‘interactive’ with me on this, now that he knows. He calls the fasting days my ‘starvey’ days.”

I measure weight, body fat and body water once a week, same time same situation, and take other measurements about once a month. For me, how clothes fit is not a sensitive enough measure, but I of course am very pleased to fit into smaller items. 🙂

I have certainly had a number of lapses since April, but finding the forum has helped a lot with keeping motivated. Making sure I don’t exceed the fast day cals seems to have been critical for me. I have lost 16kg so far, with a reasonably even loss over time, tho it is slowing now. I had a knee reconstruction 6 weeks ago, which has severely limited the exercise I can do – ie nothing beyond the physiotherapy exercises that I have been given. So my TDEE is only 1400 cals…

My goal at the moment is to make sure I fit into the very tight fitting dress I bought a couple of weeks ago for my son’s high school graduation at the end of next week. It fitted fine then, though sitting down wasn’t quite so comfortable!! It’s quite difficult to lose – even maintain – weight at the moment, as I have had and still have a number of functions to attend. I know I don’t have to eat all the courses provided and that it is my choice that I am eating them – but I have really enjoyed the food as we eat very plainly at home (which has helped with the weight loss up til now, I am sure). So the rest of the time I have been really watching what I eat, doing 4:3, now 5:2 again but with 16:8 – tomorrow is weighing day, and I really don’t know what the scales will say. Last week I put on weight/fat even tho I felt like I had hardly eaten anything (apart from the one time we went out to dinner). As others have mentioned, it is very easy to consume more cals than you think you are… I am a bit scared to try the dress on again, tho I probably should.

Anyhow, I think that is enough of my story to start. Very happy to provide any more details that anyone is interested in.

Best wishes to all 😀
Sassy

Nika

1:16 am
11 Nov 13
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16 kg is amazing ^^ Great work on that. It must make recovering from your knee surgery a lot easier as well, seeing how there’s a lot less weight pressing down on the joint!

Can you still go for walks, or drive a bike? Or not yet? I think those are the least stressing for your knees (unless you count a handbike).
1400 cals TDEE is very do-able I think! Are you eating three meals a day? If yes, why not do two? It makes you feel fuller after each meal as you can simply eat more ^^ (Also do you do 16:8 on fast or normal days? Which would answer my three meal-question… x) )

Sassy

2:04 am
11 Nov 13
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Hi Nika
Thanks for your reply and your suggestions 🙂 I agree that the lost weight would be helping my recovery! 😀

Unfortunately I can’t walk distances or bike ride yet – it may be months before I can because apparently I can’t risk twisting my knee… I am still walking with crutches if there is greater risk of stumbling.

I have been doing 16:8 every day for the last week. I have given up breakfast (for the moment at least) and am having protein and salad for lunch and protein and steamed veggies for dinner, plus some fruit, as the basic diet on most days, then supplementing with whatever (nuts, good quality yoghurt, and – to be honest – a little chocolate) to take me to 1400. But I do feel hungry most of the time… Which I didn’t when I could have 1800 cals a day… But it is worth it 😀 :D.

What I should be doing is finding some more interesting lower calorie meals to prepare; certainly I do find soups, stews etc more filling. My excuse is that the rest of the family don’t really like these, and as my 20yo eats appallingly apart from dinner (and needless to say he is the skinny one), I am reluctant to make changes. Occasionally I do have something different from the rest of the family but generally can’t be bothered to make separate meals. Laziness is the only excuse for that..!!!!

Thanks again 🙂
Sassy

Nika

4:12 am
11 Nov 13
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Why not make “deductable” meals? I call them that because when I was living with my parents I did a lot of the cooking and they weren’t dieting as I was. So I would make some form of potatoes, meat and veggies and then just don’t have any potatoes myself. Or make a ton of small side dishes and let everyone choose their own salad filling by putting croutons seperately on the table (and bacon, cheese, egg, whatever). Basically any kind of meal is fine. You could also make some sort of lasagna / macaroni and get a bit out of the pan for yourself before you add the cheese and other stuff like that. That way you don’t have to eat seperately.
OR just have a smaller portion yourself and eat a side salad for extra filling.

The possibilities are endless 😀

dumpling

5:22 am
11 Nov 13
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Sassy, thanks for your story.

Can you tell me how you put On so much weight? Was it a kilo a year over 20 yrs or 10 kgs all of a sudden etc?
I am interested in how people get ‘ huge’ ( I watched secret eaters…oh my!) and if something happened in their lives for their body to then start storing ( abuse, trama etc) like the Gabriel method. ( he is in Perth) he says until you deal with why the body is holding wright, it won’t be released.
How did yours get released, when it was going on over time.?
5:2 was really all that changed?
Or did you forgive someone, or let go of hurt etc and then you found 5:2 and then it dropped off…

Just being nosy really!
If you don’t want to say just say pigs trotters.

Nika

5:37 am
11 Nov 13
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Hmm for me I really just gained 23 kilo’s over a matter of months due to binge eating. I do think losing weight goes best when you’re balanced hormonally (so stress and stuff is really bad for you). Maybe it’s related to this “letting go” talk, al though it does sound a little… uhm… I don’t know a good english word x) Guru-ish?

dumpling

5:52 am
11 Nov 13
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I don’t know…I had a ‘ moment’ when I thought about mine. Cried a bit …I know people do and it kind of is an acknowledgment.
If you can cry.
Like you are really ‘ feeling’ your body telling you why it was trying to protect you.

I know a few people say they put on weight at 4, always been big as a kid etc and when you ask them what was happening then, they say my cousin started touching me, so your body thought..if I make her fat, he won’t touch her etc and until you deal with the trauma it is hard to move forward.
And hard for your body to know you are now safe and it is ok to release the weight.

Just wondered about sassy, cos 16 kilos is brilliant.
That would be so empowering to shed all that ( I would think!?)

Nika

5:59 am
11 Nov 13
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I dunno, a lot of stuff went down when I gained weight – but I don’t think the body thinks “if I make her fat stuff will go away”. Making me fat didn’t make my sister not want to run away from home, or cause my mum to stop drinking.
I think a more logical reason would be that your body, as seen from evolution, just wants to survive. So when you’re having a lot of stress, your body assumes it as a “famine” (because that was the main thing people stressed about, really) and it goes into panic mode, excreting the wrong hormones and storing as much nutrients as it can in your fat.
Then when you relax your hormones get balanced again.

Well, that makes more sense to me at least.

Sassy

6:26 am
11 Nov 13
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First, thanks Nika for those range of ideas. I will use those as motivation to do something different! 🙂

dumpling, very happy to share my ‘weight’ history, will try not to be too long, but I am sure you know by now that I tend to write longer rather than shorter posts!!

I was an average size child (though on the slightly above rather than slightly below average size, ie never skinny). I was late to start puberty (not sure if that may have been a factor in later weight gain) and when almost 17yo I went on a holiday to the UK (our first trip back) and put on 1 1/2 stone in 6 weeks!! (I have read in this forum of others who have put on even more in less time, but I still think it was pretty exceptional.)

Went to WW on my return, shed most of it, but the next year I went away to uni and stayed at a hall of residence. Through a combination of availability of lots of food and eating due to loneliness and related issues, I put on about 3 stone in my first year. At the end of my second year, I lost most of that, partially as a consequence of some surgery I had, tho I am really not sure how I lost so much weight.

Over the next couple of years I put back about a stone, but maintained my weight at around 10 – 10 1/2 stone during my 20’s, never worrying about what I ate. I was in a stable relationship then, and moderately active, both of which would have helped with stable weight.

As I approached 30yo, I was starting to put on again, so embarked on a vigorous exercise program – no change to diet. Then my relationship broke up, and the stress of everything that was happening then meant I lost quite a bit of weight, and was down to around 9 stone, even less.

I then began to incorporate lots of exercise in my life – cycled everywhere, did aerobics – didn’t have to worry about diet then either. Stayed that way until after my second child, and then did not shift the weight put on at pregnancy – around 11 1/2 stone – I was not exercising, and eating more as a result of being home with young children and lots of cakes at mum’s groups!!

Over the last 18 years I have managed to lose weight on a couple of occasions, by doing extreme exercise – never by dieting. I refused to pay money to WW and the like, but any attempts on my own to eat less would only last a short while before I would gradually add back in the foods I had cut out or reduced.

I had a job that I found very stressful in later years (one of the many reasons why I decided to stop paid work) and food was my comfort, even though I knew it was not a good thing (I have posted on this a bit in the Sabotaged! topic). And that takes you to the start of my story, above.

Like Nika, I think bingeing (over-indulgence in chocolate in particular for me) is responsible for most of my weight gain, as my basic diet is very plain and has always been (since uni anyway). So I would eat very healthily all day, then in the evening sit in front of the tele and stuff myself.

I believe that 5:2 is the only thing that has been responsible for my weight loss – tho once I had lost quite a bit of weight, my ‘willpower’ seemed to be stronger, and I certainly am pleased with how I look now and want to stay this way. And this forum has been great motivation in times of weakness.

I warned you about the essay!!
But thanks for asking 😀
Cheers
Sassy

dumpling

6:29 am
11 Nov 13
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Re Nika,
Which is exactly what I said!!??
When you are stressed you get fat ( stress can be anything but the body just sees it as flight or famine…those 2 things, so if it is flight it keeps you thin ready to run… From enemies, from a tiger . If it is famine it keeps you ‘ full’)
It doesn’t know the difference between maybe losing my job and no money…famine.
To our crops failed 400 yrs ago.
All it knows it it needs to protect you,

And it does it the best way it knows how..by storing food.

Once you stop stressing about something, or forgiving that person, or keeping your job and the cortisol stops flowing, it can then release the weight.,.

If you give it the right tools. The RIGht food, the stuff it needs to survive, cos eating the wrong processed crap doesn’t make your body shed anything, cos it still is waiting for ‘ real nutrients’ to then realise you are ok ..food, is coming, we don’t need to store…

Highjack over…

dumpling

6:34 am
11 Nov 13
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That’s great sassy, thank you.
1 1/2 stone in 6 weeks..you eat those pork pies my friend!!

That is a great story though and shows you can lose weight and now this way of life is keeping it off and dropping.
Will you do 6:1 eventually?

Nika

7:02 am
11 Nov 13
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Re Ling, I guess we’re on about the same thing, just in different words then 😛

And Re Sassy, good story! And not such a long read. And like said, those must’ve been a lot of English breakfasts 😉 I dare kid about it because you’ve clearly found something that’s going to keep the weight off for you!

Sassy

12:12 pm
11 Nov 13
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Hi gals

Re the 1 1/2 stone in 6 weeks… The main culprit was the snack shops on the railway stations – we travelled by train everywhere, and bought a choc bar every trip… And of course we did spend a lot if time visiting friends and relatives, and they fed us lots of goodies. There were probably lovely Melton Mowbray pork pies (THE best pork pies in the world) as well, I am sure.

But I am still amazed at the weight I put on – neither my mother or sister gained much weight at all that holiday, and they would have eaten similar to me, tho not quite as much perhaps… I do think there was something hormonal going on.

Re maintenance of my weight, I think I will wait til post Christmas (ie post functions and other festivities – nothing will stop me eating my mum’s Christmas dinner with all the trimmings!!!) to see what is happening with my weight once I get back into the normal 5:2 routine (I may throw in 16:8 as well on some days). Will keep you posted 🙂

Thanks again for your interest 🙂
Sassy

PreciousBooBoo

3:35 pm
11 Nov 13
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Well Hello Sassy – there you are!!!

(Hello to Nika and Dumpling too)

I was beginning to think I had upset you Sassy and you were quietly and politely ignoring this post!
I don’t know why you didn’t just start one yourself; having said that I started a post last Friday about ‘Thank God-it’s Friday!!!’ because I fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays and by Friday I am seriously looking forward to some wine and a nice meal and only one person responded!

I would have thought that that was a sentiment lots of people could identify with; but just one person responded and that was rockyromero who didn’t agree anyway! Bless him. Strange though….

Anyway, now when someone wants to leave you a message Sassy; they can just come on to this thread and you are guaranteed to see it.

I have already learned more about you in the first post than in all the other posts. I must tell you that I was convinced you were English because of the Jane Austen references (though I know that some of the biggest JA fans are in America!) but now I know you are a Pomm,
living in Oz.

Oh and yes; just so I can make a fast diet reference – 16kg that is fantastic! I bet you can appreciate how despondent I get with my torturously slow weight loss?

Sassy

5:51 am
12 Nov 13
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Hi PreciousBooBoo

I have been looking forward to hearing from you 😀

One of the problems with text only communication, and emails and text messaging on phones are a good example of this too, is that it can be easy to misinterpret lack of response as being due to something one has done – when most often it is not! I am guilty of thinking this all the time…. I didn’t want to bore you with all the reasons I had not been on the forum much, but they had nothing to do with the forum!! And I really appreciate having you and a few others with whom I can keep in (reasonably regular!!) contact 😀

Agree that I should have started my own topic when I first began posting, but thought that there were already so many topics that it would be better to just join an existing one. Wrong! But I do note your point about not getting much response to a topic you recently created. This may be because with so many new topics being created, it is easy to miss them. When I look at the recent topics page, I generally don’t scroll down very far, as there are already too many topics that I would ideally like to contribute to, so have to limit myself (I already spend far too much time in this forum, but at the moment I can use the excuse that I am giving my knee a rest. At some stage I will have to start doing other things again!!).

Despite having lived in Oz for 50 years, I think of myself as English. But my English relatives see me as a dinky-di (not that that is a term that is used much anymore) Aussie. Australia is a great country tho, and I am very glad to live here 🙂

You really do need to find a solution to your sleep problem (I know I don’t have to tell you that). Do try the melatonin, tho given the ‘extremeness’ (don’t think that is a word, but can’t think of the right one) of your condition, I think you should be seeking professional help. Why not try a sleep centre, or hypnotherapy? It does seem very possible that your lack of weight loss is associated with poor sleep.

I have just watched the MM doco ‘Eat, fast and live longer’ which was broadcast on our TV last night (I just love the catch-up facility TV stations have now, I use it all the time). Thought it was great, and I now understand all the IGF1 discussions that I read about when I first joined this forum. I liked that the emphasis of the program was on healthy ageing, rather than just weight loss.

I certainly understand how despondent you must get with your lack of weight loss – I need to remind myself of all the other details of your situation. I will browse through all your replies when I get a chance (tho I know there are lots) so I can refresh my memory. 🙂

Have you had any weight loss of late?

Cheers
Sassy 😀

dumpling

8:42 am
12 Nov 13
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That is a lot of chocolate bars, ( 1 1/2 stones worth) but seriously..the choc over there is seriously the bomb.
I got married and in 2 weeks Put on half a stone. Nothing fitted!!
It was just a feeling of happiness, eating together , and not just cereal at night, eating out, , hot chocs with whipped cream each night, I was very under weight when I married, due to first hubby up and leaving me and the 5 mth old so lost a lot of weight as so stressed.
…now I wasn’t.

Hormones went, right, let’s store food in case she is on her own again!! ( the kid was 4 by now,..and the body continued to store for the next 19 yrs and 4 more kids!! Thank you body, you can stop now.. )

Yours went..right, before she goes back to Ozzie, let’s give her something to remember her wonderful trip by!!

Sassy

11:42 am
12 Nov 13
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Hi dumpling
Stress and happiness both have a lot of responsibility re weight don’t they? Did hubby no. 2 also put on weight?? What was your weight like when you were young? I must check out your posts for more info on your history too 😀 (Won’t have much time in the next few days for this tho.)
Cheers
Sassy

dumpling

11:55 am
12 Nov 13
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Let’s just say, we married 30 kgs ago.
He had to get his wedding band up sized…fair enough.
His hands are like little bananas.

The first time, 8 sizes, the next 2, 4 sizes each. That is 16 ring sizes!!! In 19 yrs.
He is not huge though, but his dad had banana hands too…lucky he got a thick wedding band to start with!

For his age ( 47) when you compare him to other men, he doesn’t have a beer belly, he walks, he teaches, so he often coaches rugby or refs etc so he runs each day…but when we met he was 10 stone! 5 FT 11
Very under weight as he was doing triathlons.. You could see ribs!
We got married…we Became Wayne and waynetta. But really…we ain’t huge.
We were just under weight ( I got to 8 1/2 stone, all from not eating….or not eating properly. I had a 5 mth old, I was feeding him and eating ice cream.)
Win win
I lost that pregnancy weight straight away.
4 yrs later when I met hubby I was 9 stone,

Now we are 100 kilos him as he is in France and has lost 7 kilos.
And I am 83
But would like to be mid 70’s or a size 12 jeans,
I’m a 16 now,
( although they are loose..so prob a tight 14)

I was normal weight growing up, always have been. Only the last 6 yrs really I have put on 2 kilos a year ( as I always lost baby weight, as I walked or did Susan powter etc) so there is 12 kilos without thinking. Now I am thinking..and want the cycle to stop.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings!!

PreciousBooBoo

8:20 pm
12 Nov 13
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Hi Sassy and all

I am going to research Melatonin but I’m already wary of it being only suitable for short term use. If it doesn’t sort out your problem short term then what do you do? I can totally understand your colleague taking it for jet lag etc but that is only sporadic.

No, I haven’t tried asking about a sleep clinic; I usually only go to my G.P if I am seriously worried about something otherwise I avoid them. Though I might give it a look see.

Looking at your posts Dumpling (though I prefer Dumpy!) and many other posts usually from women; I would recommend reading a book called ‘Fat, Fuzzy and Frazzled’ – I’m sorry I don’t have the authors name to hand.

It’s a book by an Amercian doctor about the affect of unbalanced hormones on women. The book is packed away so I cannot consult it, but the bit I always remember is he likens the three main hormone types to a three legged stool; and when one type is out of sync then the other two are automatically too.

He profiles three types of women to illustrate his theories; one menopausal, one with very bad PMT and I can’t remember the other example.
It’s a while since I bought it but I would think it’s still worth a read.

I feel, and this is my personal theory, that most weight problems people have are due to unbalanced hormones. I feel strongly that some women’s menopausal symptoms are much worse and harder to bear than others due to exactly the same thing.

Denise Welch in England (an actress); famously suffered for about 20 years from depression amongst other things. In order to function she turned to drugs, alcohol and food for most of those years.
Then someone told her about a Doctor in London who specialises in treating women with hormonal problems and she is a new woman. He is called Professor John Studd and practices in Harley Street.
You have to have mighty deep pockets to consult him but he changes women’s lives as Denise will attest.

I am just thinking this post should really have gone on to my
‘Help – All Ladies of a Certain Age – Please respond!’ thread!

dumpling

9:20 pm
12 Nov 13
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Just copy and paste it over there cos it is excellent!

When I went to the chemist Monday for scripts for diabetic type one son, I asked about my itchy neck..and the lady said, have you tried a new perfume, I said I had and I got it about 5 hrs later, but that was 3 weeks ago..surely it still can’t be an allergy to it ( I’m not allergic to anything) it’s my neck and upper chest.

She said..it can still be in your system. Well who knew! Must be careful at duty free where I spray liberally.
I’m reading the silent passage gail sheehy and also dr Phil’s wife Robyn’s book mentioned getting your hormones checked. Although oestrogen is stored in your fat cells so the more fat cells you have the easier menopause can be!!

Anyway, I bought some cream for prickly heat, mozzie bites and some antihistamine tablets took one and in 30 mins it didn’t feel like ants were crawling all over me and I was wearing an itchy wool scarf.
Wednesday it is a lot calmer and doesn’t look like a tiger scratched me up in the night ( nighttime was worse…)

All menopause Blogs mention itchy thin skin.
But maybe mine isn’t due to that…but perfume.

I’m hoping for perfume!
Thanks for the recommendation though, will look on book depository.

Aussienow

3:35 am
13 Nov 13
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Wow Sassy, you are such an inspiration 🙂

Nika

4:17 am
14 Nov 13
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I’m so glad I’m 22.

PreciousBooBoo

8:32 pm
19 Nov 13
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Hello Sassy

How are you? I’m sorry I’ve taken so long to respond to you but I think you now know how hard it is to keep up with the topics you are interested in and to respond to other posters too. It might be a little easier to now appreciate how your posts went unanswered on Lindy’s thread – there are only so many hours in a day.

But I’ve come onto the forum especially to say hello to you (and Nika and Dumpling – where are you?) and to tell you that I’ve actually lost some weight. I can’t remember exactly how much, a couple of lbs since coming back from my holiday but that’s great for me. And I decided to keep a much closer eye on my TDEE than I have been and some of the meals I thought were okay regarding calories were off the scale!

Anyway, we are moving next week (hoorahhh!!) and so I am extra busy and will be on the forum even less; so don’t wonder why I haven’t gotten back to you.
You don’t actually need someone to post on your thread for you to keep us up to date with stuff that you want to tell us – like how are Darcy and LizzY?

Must go – see you

Sassy

9:16 pm
19 Nov 13
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Lovely to hear from you PreciousBooBoo 😀

Fantastic news re your weight loss!! You must feel so pleased 🙂 🙂 it’s a good point that you make re checking your usual meals against your TDEE – it is very easy to consume more cals that you need. I have wondered if one reason for my success with 5:2 is that my basic diet is just that BASIC (and boring…). Tuna or salmon salad for lunch, and steamed veggies and protein source for dinner. Used to have cereal for brekkie, but now rarely have that – though once the Year 12 graduation is over, I may reintroduce (am concerned I am not having enough calcium).

For those of you who are lucky to eat more interesting meals, I think smaller portion sizes are the key – so you can still have the nice meals, just less of them!

Moving, wow, that will keep you busy! Thanks for letting us know. Trust it all goes smoothly 🙂

I had been waiting til after the Year 12 graduation to,post here so that I could report on how wearing ‘that dress’ went!! Only 2 days away now, and I am pretty hopeful of it fitting fine. Tho I do need to fast today, and really watch what I eat up til then, after another night of indulgence last night…

I went to a reunion of our Nursing Mothers group – it’s over 10 years since we last all met. Unfortunately one of the members has breast cancer but this did finally motivate us to have the get-together we kept saying we would. (Our friend is having a mastectomy and reconstruction next week; it seems like the cancer has not spread further, so hopefully this will fix it.)

The food was magnificent!!! So much for this WOL reducing my appetite… I think I ate double what everyone else did… 🙁 Partly due to so much on offer and it being such a change to my boring regular diet…!!!!)

After 3 beautiful warm days, we are now back to winter weather. Darcy and Lizzie are curled up on the bed with me, OH is getting ready for work, sons are still asleep – they have both finished their academic year (yeah! Exams supposedly weren’t too bad, but the results will be more telling!).

I have a quiet day today (tho need to go shopping for some sparkly silver shoes to match that dress) so thought I would try to catch up on some posting too. It does take time tho, as you say 🙂

Very best wishes 😀
Sassy
PS Nika is certainly around, she was posting heaps yesterday

Nika

2:32 am
20 Nov 13
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Haha yeah I’m still alive, and I did post a lot before you made that post wondering where I was BooBoo! Feels good to know I’m missed when I’m in Hong Kong and not posting a few days over the weekend though 😉 I tend to just post at work and spend my weekends watching movies and relaxing. Saving the posting for work means the time goes by faster (and that’s something I really, REALLY want it do in this hellhole!)

Nice to hear how you gals are coming along. Sorry to hear about your Nursing buddy Sassy, I hope the mastectomy removes all the tumors and she’ll be able to grow old and fat (okay maybe not fat).

Why is your diet so boring? Eat a little more interesting foods if you think you only eat boring stuff! The great thing about this diet is eating what you want, so why keep it on the low key? I get it, I do it myself as well – but I’m happy with it for now and enjoy my food so don’t think it’s very boring.

Grats on the weight loss by the way BooBoo!

Sassy

4:23 am
20 Nov 13
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Hiya Nika

Thanks for your wishes re my friend. (One thing I don’t think she’ll be is fat – she looked fantastic – slim, stylish and healthier looking than the rest of us… And she is a professional chef!!)

I have ‘always’ had boring food, cos that is all the menfolk in my family will eat, and I generally can’t be bothered to make myself something different!! (I think I may have said to dumpling in a post somewhere that I really should make the effort to try some of the wonderful recipes that others have posted… )

That being said, I don’t mind the boring food most of the time…

Cheers! 😀

Nika

4:54 am
20 Nov 13
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Maybe join a cooking workshop or something? I was never able to cook well (always asked my mum “HOW MANY MINUTES DOES THIS NEED TO BOIL OH GOD”) until I started working at some sort of restaurant. There we had to work strictly from a recipe, but people played around with it a bit sometimes and I learned how to taste something and then smell ingredients to see what it missed… sounds weird but it worked for me. Just by practice!

PreciousBooBoo

7:19 pm
20 Nov 13
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Hi Sassy and all

Thank you for congratulating me on my weight loss; it’s a little thing but it does matter especially when it is so hard won (or should that be lost?).

Anyways I love the sound of sparkly shoes to go with your fab dress that you can only contemplate because of the fast diet!

People say animals are dumb; I have never subscribed to that viewpoint – Darcy and Lizzy are snuggled up in bed on a winters day – how sensible is that?

I forgot to ask yesterday; I know you are quite a prolific poster and there is a fast diet contingent on facebook. Are you on that too?

And Nika, Hi what on earth do you do for a living because I want a job at your place! You do all your posting when you are at work and keep your weekend for ‘Me time’ – Not bad at all matey!

Sassy

9:53 pm
20 Nov 13
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Hi PreciousBooBoo

Just a quick reply, as I have finished my cuppa and really need to get the chores out of the way before I spend time on the forum (I do tend to do the forum before other things…)

I am not on Facebook… Maybe I will someday, but as I inferred, I already spend too much time on forums…

Shoes ended up just silver, not sparkly, but the accompanying bling is very sparkly!!

Hope all is ready for your move 🙂
Cheers
Sassy

Nika

2:11 am
21 Nov 13
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Would love to see a picture of those shoes and dress Sassy!

Hey BooBoo, I do an internship at a gaming company, so I play games and analyze and stuff most of the day. Well, and I spend a lot of time being extremely bored and hanging out online. Like, 50/50 between those 2 things.
And don’t forget the hours spent wishing for the day to be over and counting days until I can get out of here!

Sounds great to have 2 dogs curl up with me, being so lonely here it would be awesome to have something to snuggle with. ^^

dumpling

2:35 am
21 Nov 13
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Gaming!!? Cool, my kids would die for that, they are selling their ps3 and hoping to get a ps4 while travelling.
Can you get us one!?

Nika

4:17 am
21 Nov 13
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Tell them to hold out on selling their ps3 and buying a ps4 for starters! The first release of a new console almost always contains bugs, so they’d be very, very smart to wait a few months until they release a new version which will be better, may contain more internal memory space and will be a lot cheaper value wise. There is already talk about the ps4 crashing at times, so yeah.
Maybe I’ll buy a ps4 when I get back home August next year, but I may just invest in a gaming PC instead… I’ll see.

So no, I can’t get you one as I don’t work at Sony 😛 And even if I did I probably couldn’t. I work at a company that makes online strategy games for the Arabian market… sounded a lot better when I wasn’t here yet.

dumpling

4:55 am
21 Nov 13
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Arabian market….is it different then!?

I heard 4000. Ps4’s were showing a blue light, out of a million sold.
I’ll try and tell them but to be honest, I think they will just stick their fingers in their ears and get one.
Prob best to get it here, though, so they can return it if it goes pear shape after a few months.
Thanks x

Nika

5:00 am
21 Nov 13
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How are they planning on taking a ps4 with them from France to New Zealand? o.O

And yeah it works best for the warranty as well. Anyway, I bought a first generation PS3 when it just came out years back for 680 euro’s (yulp). Then a few months later there were smaller, slimmer, stronger, better and cheaper versions. My ps3 was unable to play some later games without crashing. So yeah, I learned.

dumpling

5:54 am
21 Nov 13
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They were going to get it in the uk,
Or America, but I have told them to wait. Get it in the January sales when we get back

Nika

6:41 am
21 Nov 13
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Aye, sounds like a good idea.

Damn this day is long! It goes so slow! Still 3 hours and 19 minutes to go… Ugh!

PreciousBooBoo

8:38 pm
21 Nov 13
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Hi Sassy and Nika and Dumpy(!) and Uncle Tom Cobbley…

Sass – I think you should post a photo of you in your ‘graduation’ dress and the silver shoes. It will give us others some motivation.
Are you still wanting to lose more weight or are you now going to maintain?

Hey Nika – to a lot of us your job and the location sounds positively exotic; not to mention popping off to Hong Kong for the weekend (as you do….not, I told you Sainsburys).
It’s sad that you are lonely though – roll on your parents coming to visit and then New Zealand.
Hopefully you will be much happier there.
Are you on the facebook fast diet forum? Since you are a forum junkie?

And Dumpy – Savoir bien? (not sure if I’m spelling that right – our french phrase book has been packed like most of our house!)

dumpling

8:56 pm
21 Nov 13
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Over my head! Something good….ha ha

dumpling

9:32 pm
21 Nov 13
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And I see what you did there…dumpy..
Should have thought of dimples or something ‘ pretty’!

Nika

1:55 am
22 Nov 13
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Dimpy! … Hmm sounds like one of the 7 dwarves.

I expect to be a lot happier in New Zealand! I understand how it all sounds like a dream, being here.. but I just make 45 hour weeks at a desk doing boring work, then in the weekend I try to get out on my bike but the air is quite polluted, the traffic is a nightmare and I’ve seen most of the sights around here.
Plus, last time I was spontaneous I accidentally ended up on a military parcel and was chased away at gunpoint (and those loaded submachine guns are quite intimidating when aimed at your chest).
After this just 8 more weeks though, so I’m taking it one week at a time and hopefully it’ll be over before I realize it (not likely as I cross off each day from the calendar, but you know).

PreciousBooBoo

5:31 pm
22 Nov 13
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Hi girls

Just a quick word to you Dumpy(!)

My little note meant to say Ca Va?
(How are you?) and I actually gave the answer to that greeting but with the wrong spelling.
It should have been Ca Va bien! (I am good)

You’ll be fluent in french shortly Dumpy so you can give all us interested parties french lessons.

dumpling

7:10 pm
22 Nov 13
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I even know that saying!!!

Sassy, hope the evening was fantastic. I also have a son who had a grad dinner last week. ( last yr of school)
The food was a buffet…yummy!
I am sure you felt a million bucks last night.

Nika

2:19 am
25 Nov 13
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Haha oui, ca va.

And of course who doesn’t know the famous line “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?”

Sassy

2:17 am
27 Nov 13
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Hi all 🙂

I thought I should put an update here as well as the Southern Hemispherites topic…!!! I know some of you read both, so apologies for repetition.

Year 12 graduation went well; dress fitted fine. Our meal was of the “chicken or beef – whatever is put in front of you” variety, and no choice for entree or dessert, but was very nice all the same. Alcohol free event, so that was probably good. Was able to catch up with people I rarely see nowadays, so that was good too.

As for posting a photo – don’t know how to do it, and there would go my anonymity!! Tho if there is anyone on the forum who does actually know me, I am sure I have divulged enough to identify me 😀

Re my WOL plan from now on, I will continue with 5:2 over the festive season to help compensate for the extra I know I am going to eat… And will probably continue with 5:2 in the New Year while I see what happens to my weight as I resume “normal” eating on non-fast days. Although my BMI is a healthy 21 now, tummy, hips and thighs are still very well padded and it would be nice to lose a bit more from there (getting “greedy”?!!!!!).

We have another lovely warm day here today; have just finished spring cleaning younger son’s bedroom while he is at schoolies. Captured and released outside 3 horrible black spiders hiding in the detritus – I don’t think they were particularly poisonous ones, which is why I let them live 🙂

Have a reasonably quiet rest of the week, then off to Adelaide on Monday to spend a week with my parents. Gives mum a break from caring for dad…

Cheers
Sassy
PS PreciousBooBoo, how’s thing? (I have seen recent posts from dumpling and Nika, but not caught up with any from you yet…)

Nika

5:41 am
29 Nov 13
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Actually I only read here, seeing how I’m not a Southern Hemispherite x)

Only in Australia would you worry about the spiders being ‘particularly poisonous’…

Anyway, sounds good! And great that you fit into your dress, that was a mini-goal for you right?

Sassy

8:38 am
29 Nov 13
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Hey Nika, I guess you can’t read everything – although you do seem to read and comment on so many topics! 🙂 don’t know how you find so much time (tho I know you post while at work…!) it generally takes me ages to write a post…

Yes, the dress was a mini goal, tho I did only buy it a month before I needed to wear it.

Younger son is home how – a relief!! Seems to have enjoyed schoolies, without TOO much alcohol consumed, tho not much sleep, but managed to get to a cinema to see the Dr Who movie in 3D.

I have enjoyed another day of normal eating at home after a fast day yesterday. Will fast on Sunday rather than on Monday when I am traveling 😀

Anyone reading this – enjoy your weekend 🙂 and this WOL 🙂 🙂

Nika

4:29 pm
29 Nov 13
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The Dr Who episode wasn’t a movie, just a longer 50th anniversary episode. And it was awesome. Just… Too awesome. I’m a total Whovian and absolutely adored David Tennant as the Doctor, so watching him leave with those words again… Damn.

Anyway. Yeah I post from work, this is one of the first times I’m actually at my laptop at the apartment. And it’s actually getting late x)
What I basically do is I go to “Browse all recent topics”, and then open all of them in a new tab. Well, the ones that don’t have my name behind them as last poster at least. I do tend to skip a lot of the medical condition topics because I simply have no clue about them and much rather blab away motivating people or making them laugh. Or just goof around.

Don’t really care for most of those “look at this new study” or people posting articles they find either, so I ignore those as well. But other than that I’m EVERYWHERE… *you suddenly have the urge to look over your shoulder*

Sassy

2:14 am
30 Nov 13
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Hi again Nika 🙂

It’s great to have someone looking after so many new topics; I started trying to contribute to these, but found it just takes too much time. I only manage the occasional comment now. So good for you 😀

It cost $25 to see Dr Who at the cinema, so that makes it a movie in my books!! The audience got a lot of other features (such as DT and MS introducing the 3D version) which we didn’t get on the TV, plus of course lots of the audience had dressed up, so it was quite an event 😀 I like lots of the Drs, but do agree there is something special about DT – he’s good in whatever he does (loved him in Broadchurch).

Another non-fast day today. Overindulged In cheese and biscuits last night while watching multiple episodes of Modern Family Season 4. (Even tho in general I greatly prefer UK to US comedy shows, I do love MF! My kids feel the same.) And today I have also already had sweet biscuits and buttered bun at an event – and now am suffering from carb-hunger and bloated belly… Just as well tomorrow is a fast day!! Must try not to overindulge any more today too… Might be hard. Will fill up on salad and other veggies with lunch, plus some good protein, hope that helps with the hunger. And will drink lots of herbal tea – just discovered orange and cinnamon and it is divine! So was interested to read that cinnamon is a good weight loss “food”.

Time to prepare that lunch!
Cheers
Sassy
NB this is sort of turning into a blog….