Lovely catching up with posts. I chuckled over the political commentaries as of course I’d the benefit of hindsight. So agreed with them though. I’m not doing well with fasting at the mo, do well till evening then strong irresistible urges for cheese or peanut butter, taking me up to 800 cals. I’m so busy at the mo, my eye is off the ball, but at least I’m maintaining. Just off to a concert tonight, then back for pond building, then off to France. My stepD and husband have been remodelling my garden, turning a sloping site into terraces with long shallow steps and some raised beds. They found two colonies of newts! So we’re making a wildlife pond with a nice little beach for creatures and some planting that I hope will help dragon or damsel flies. So Ill keep my eye on what you’re all up to but will be off 5:2 for a few weeks! Hope I can continue to maintain. I bought some rather tight jeans in anticipation of further loss! They’ll warn me if weight starts upwards. 😒. Enjoy the warmth all those that can!

I hope you haven’t turned into a little grease spot, Herm? 35 in London! Woohoo! P

I’m still alive and well, P, having spent much of yesterday in air-conditioned places. It was the annual theatre outing with my gorgeous great-nephew, to see Sunny Afternoon, the amazing – and exceedingly loud – musical about the Kinks, who originated in this very same neck of the woods and who still have their studio a few doors away from us. So first it was a nice cool dark pub for a pre-show drink, nice cool theatre and then nice cool Pizza Express. And outside the rush hour even the Tube was bearable.

Right now, I’m in our loft office where it’s still uncomfortably warm, but temperatures are about to drop to the mid-20s, which will be a lot easier to bear.

I did another easy 24 hour fast yesterday. I just need to master the non-fast daytimr eating now! When I’m in the office, I take my food for the day and that’s all I will eat. When I work at home it’s too easy to go back to the fridge…or to put slightly too much food on my lunch plate to begin with. I’m wondering if making a packed lunch even when I work at home would make me more disciplined.

The hot sunny weather has certainly moved things along in the garden. The strawberries are nearly over, thank God, but the raspberries are ripening. We have an unruly wild stand, probably 10 x 10m, in a rough paddock. The hens follow me, some stand around waiting for me to throw fruit to thrm, and some know to jump up to pick their own from bent over canes. They disappear into the undergrowth, but you hear the little thuds as they land and see the raspberry canes shaking. Or at least I’m hoping it’s the hens…!

Ditto Happy
I’m doing 3 fasts this week as bracket creep seems to be happening. I agree, the fasts aren’t the hard part. I know we are eating the right food (low carb, full fat) but portion size is the issue. What’s more frustrating is that Mr P has not gained anything this winter, while I have crept up to my trigger point. Grrrr…I’m skipping breakfasts while he gets to eat on NF days.
Your berries sound wonderful. We are only getting rubbish from Queensland now. Not worth buying. P

“One for Happy, one for the chooks, one for the basket. ..” What about Grumpy? 😦

Hmmm…I wonder what 72 year old Ray Davies looks like now? Some have weathered well and others not so. How Keith Richards is still alive and Mick has just fathered another child beggars belief!

Lucky Grumpy 😆😆🍷🍷🍷

Ah, Metallica. ….there was a time when DS1 and DS2 had bedrooms across the landing in a smallish house, and would play Metallica in one, Iron Maiden in the other, at the same time and both at top volume, usually while I was listening to someone’s woes in the study below or trying to write an address….Happy days – thank God they’re over!!!

I’ve not been posting lately as a lot of other stuff has demanded my attention. However, the horribly hot humid weather, coupled with a certain amount of stress, has knocked off another kilo.
Although it’s taken 3 1/2 years and several long – dishearteningly long – plateaux, almost one fifth of me has “gone the way of all flesh”, so to speak. I’ve now shed nearly 20% (19 point something) of my starting weight, which I believe is seen as a tremendous health boost. Maybe someone out there who knows about these things can confirm this. Five or six more kilos wouldn’t go amiss, but that requires a miracle. Meanwhile, I’m more than a little chuffed with the result so far.
BTW P, did/does your old boy include Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in his repertoire? I heard it for the very first time a couple of years ago watching Shrek 1, but it’s been a favourite ever since.

Ah, now that’s a problem isn’t it Purple – not having enough padding! 😊

I hope those bruises heal quickly.

I’m a massive fan of Hallelujah. My favourite is KD langs but I am going to look for the Jeff Buckley because I don’t believe I’ve heard that.

My husband is a massive Cohen fan and through default I have become a bit of a fan too. We travelled to Sydney to see him perform.

Congrats on the further weight loss hermaj. Slowly but surely. All sensible weight loss is good for our health. Being overweight is one of the most significant contributors to morbidity and mortality.

We leave tomorrow on the annual pilgrimage to Canada. Am seriously debating buying travel scales. I think scales would stop me fretting so much about wether I am putting on weight but then I think will I fret more if I do put some on? Does that make sense?

Does anyone know if Bay actually came back from Hawaii? 😊

Nope, Bay never came back, Carol. 😉😉😬😬

After Hawaii we went to Canada and we are now in Brooklyn. Fabulous and exhausting. 🍷🍷☕️☕️😍😍
We have averaged 20,000 steps a day and fall into bed each evening with gratitude.

Have not missed the Winter and am really enjoying the heat. Visited the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Design museum, the American Musum of Natural History, the City of NY Museum and the NY City Transport Museum, all fantastic places. And We have seen Coney Island and New Jersey and walked miles all over Brooklyn. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, easily the worlds most attractive bridge.

NY is a wonderful place. Best Buy was a weekly Metro Travel Card that allows unlimited travel. This means we walk for at least 20,000 steps and then clamber aboard the subway and gratefully grab a seat to ride home.

I have eaten and drunk lots and have put on weight. I will fast and do lots of floor scrubbing when I get home. 😬😉😉. Thanks for the shout out Happy. 🌞🌞🌺🌺

Congratulations Hermaj, you amazing person. What will power and a great result for all your perseverance. 🌷🌷🎉🎉🌺🌺

Cheers, all, Bay 🌞🌞😄😄

Hi Purple

Should be back in Oz by mid August and then we have commitments interstate until October, so that takes care of Winter. 😄😄

Cheers, Bay

PS It was a relief to have no internet while in Canada, weird at first, then truly liberating.

Hermaj, great news on the gradual shrink!

Bay, great to hear more of your travels, sounds fantastic. Sounds like you’ll have avoided several months of cleaning by the time you get home 😀

I don’t know KD Lang’s version, and I’m not a Cohen fan. My vote goes to Jeff Buckley 🎸

No fasting for me this week while on leave. I’ve been out walking most days, including a 20 km walk today in the mountains, rising to maybe 650m max. I may have undone the benefits with a few too many biscuits 😊

The bp thing is strange Herm. It seems there are two distinct reasons for high bp….environmental and inherent.
Take away stress and overweight and some people can successfully give up bp meds. However, some of us, even with these variables removed, chose the wrong parents.
I was able to reduce my bp meds right down after I reached my goal weight, but a year later, it has risen back up. I monitored myself over a 3 week period, many times a day, and conceded that I will need to continue with the medication. I am not a gambler and having stroke is something I simply don’t want to risk. Hypertension is the silent killer. No warning signs. 😡
On a cheerier note…noone but Dylan can song Positively 4th Street!!! 😊
P

Didn’t mean to scare you, Herm. Keep an eye on it, like everything else, we are living organisms. Things change. Good luck.
I’m surprised you don’t know Positively 4th Street. It’s one of the best songs ever. Written to Joan Baez. The words say it all ☺☺
P

Welcome home Bay!

Good to hear that you can slip back into fasting after such a long break.

So is it spring at home or still winter? It’s supposedly summer here, but it’s a bit unreliable in northern England….

I’m currently just over my upper maintenance limit, after just one week’s holiday, and despite two fasts last week 🙁 I’ve had a stinking cold all week and not done any exercise, so I’m hopeful I’ll be able to drop the weight when I get my lungs back!

Hi Bay et al, I’m fasting here in Canada. Been enjoying the odd cake or two so thought it about time to get back into the swing! Had 6 almonds at 6pm and about to have some salmon and salad for tea.
Think I fasted about 23 hours. Lots of emotional eating while I’m here 😞 🍁🍁🍁

Hi Bay, Carol and Happy
You are doing well, Bay 😀
We are on a road trip north. Just spent a few days “off grid”…marvellous!
Fasting today as Monday was in a cabin in the bush with a roaring fire and full cooking facilities. Too good to miss food! Tonight is a basic motel, so much easier to not eat 😊 Don’t you love this flexibility?
Great weather, gorgeous sunny days, cool nights. P

Happy

Well done on not letting your weight blow out. 🎉🎉☀️☀️

We have a dog, so there is always some floor cleaning to do. I’ve been paying bills and reading, and generally putting myself and the paperwork in order. 😏😏. Also sitting in the warm sunshine.

I had some homemade vegetable soup mid afternoon, and a few almonds. Fasted for 20 hours today. Fasted for 23 hours on Sunday, and havent had any wheat products on any day since Saturday. Looking forward to fresh salmon and green beans for dinner.

Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺🌺

What would we do without salmon and salad??! Good to see a flurry of new activity – and especially that everyone’s doing so well.
I finally had my big surgery last Friday. Apparently the op went well, and I was extremely well looked after. Now home, with several kinds of mega painkiller and multiple alarms set on my phone, to remind me which to take when. I look about 6 months pregnant because my abdominal organs are all bruised and swollen (and full of gas, gradually escaping – lovely!) but weight is stable. Off fasting for the moment, but a good challenge to keep super-nourished / get insides working / maintain weight.
Sleeping a LOT! Love to all.

Take care, Fast 🌺🌺☀️☀️🍏🍏

I think that some of us share a sense of humour. 😄😄.

Tonight I watched The Katering Show. Two young women called Kate are taking the p**s out of lifestyle and food shows. Tonight they made me laugh by putting themselves on the Paleo diet, the raw food diet, and the 5:2. It’s only 10 minutes long, and they used to make the show for the Internet. It is now being screened on our ABC TV. Worth a laugh!

Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺🌺🌺

Hi, all. I am thinking about maintenance now. Just 3lbs to go. When I last dieted, 20 years ago, I found I could not stop the weight loss. This was the F Plan and healthy eating. I ended up scrawny.

This time I’m thinking perhaps allow a little more on NFDs and try 6:1. My quick read here suggests that more of you stick to 5:2, though.

Any advice would be appreciated. I’m 5’2″ and now at 9st 10. Target 9 &1/2. I’m 69 so don’t want thin.

Hit my target weight in March. Been doing 6:1 since then. I operate within a 1kg window. Usually I tend to creep downward with my weight, if that’s the case I tend to eat a little more before my fast day which is a Monday. On the couple of occasions that my weight has crept up a little Ive backed off what I eat the two days prior to my fast day. Works very well.