Thanks FFS, that’s what it is I guess. I’vee seen this weight redistribution happen before over the years but thought I’d gotten past it – not so it seems!

I don’t think I am far behind you Fast and in fact I may be in front 😂, I’m 68.

What’s really annoying me is the wardrobe! A style that looked nice on me before now doesn’t look so good. I really do not want to go to all the bother of a whole new wardrobe, so soon after updating everything in my wardrobe post 5:2. Agh 1st world problems hey. Best I just get on with it 😄

Oh yes, don’t get me started on the hair loss Purple! Lucky mine was thick too. I was at the dermatologist this morning and mentioned hair loss to her, asking if there was anything I could take. She said just normal thinning due to age and she didn’t know why I was worried because I still had plenty of hair!

Oh god, I’ve woken up to a scary vision of my future – a thinning-haired belted-duvet! Thanks Ladies 😀 On a serious note, I didn’t realise that the shape-changing continued? I thought it was something that took effect in the immediate post-menopause years.

Well in addition to the fast, I skipped an evening meal this week. OH was unexpectedly delayed and neither of us wanted to eat at 21.30. That has dropped me 0.5kg under, not much wriggle room for forthcoming meals out but it will have to do!

Maria,

Welcome. This is a thread primarily about the trials and tribulations of trying to maintain at goal weight, i.e. once you’ve lost your excess. 60kg or thereabouts is where I want to maintain, hence when I go over 60kg I fast/ get stricter.

Are you new to fasting? Have you got much weight to lose?

71 and, having been 2lb under bottom wriggle room for most of the summer, I’m struggling to keep under top. Maybe I’m just less active. Apart from the week that the bits were here, I can’t see a great difference.

Looking at next week, I see days of meals out. I think being vegetarian can make it harder, as often the on,y options are pasta or risotto.

Interesting, P. We’re omnivorous, but don’t eat a lot of meat, and I cook veggie/ vegan quite a lot, and often choose those options for preference if eating out. I find vegan, especially when out, much the hardest to combine with my low carb regime – lots of creativity, imagination and forward planning needed. Currently planning a 2 day break in Bruges with a vegan friend, which will be interesting – we may end up living on beer and dark chocolate!

Not to mention waffles and chips with mayo, Fast.
On a visit to Bruges a few years back, before I became seriously carb-conscious, I ruined an otherwise happy day by choosing waffles and subsequently causing a bit of a domestic when I felt too Moby Dick (for non-Londoners, Cockney rhyming slang for “sick”) to even look at dinner. Old Iron Guts still can’t fathom that some of us can’t eat what we jolly well like without less-than-pleasant consequences.

Gosh, here in Aus, vegetarian food is almost always good. They seem to put more creativity into it.
We were at a function today where a light buffet luncheon was offered. They had some delicious veg sandwiches, as well as ham and cheese, and dips with carrot and celery, but many people were filling their plates with mini pies and sausage rolls. I couldn’t believe it!

That’s one of the few advantages of the massive population growth we’ve had in Sydney in recent years, Carol. We have a huge range of foods available in the suburbs now, and at extended hours too. It works well when you have a mate to share with too. We buy a couple of healthy starters, one being salad sans dressing.P

Good girl FM! Pity you don’t have compulsory voting like us. Then you put all your effort into WHO to vote for, not having to convince people to get out and vote!

‘Stupidification’ is a wonderful word, for so many people and situations. Many of us shake our heads and wonder how our country got into this current mind-set. Sure hope the ship can right itself in these turbulent seas.

Predicted storm turned out to be no big deal, tho one of our trees came down on the wires and knocked out the neighborhood’s electricity for about 3 hours. We did have some snow in the morning, but then rain. Usually snow on the ground in October means a winter that will have less snow than usual. What we don’t need is a warm winter.

Weight us up and won’t come down to where it should be. 🙁 Must work harder.

Oh I do hope the House of Representatives will flip to the Dems! And a few more Democrats in the Senate would be a boon. Beto looks like a good candidate. So much new bad news crashing down on us — how will that affect the election???

What are your thoughts on Daylight Savings Time? I think it is dumb and should be outlawed. We should do what Morocco has done. I read that 84% of EU residents want to scrap it. Some US states do not observe it, and our Easternmost state, Maine, wants to change time zones altogether and join Atlantic Time. That would help New Hampshire as well.

Pol, I guess your grandsons observe Hallowe’en instead of Guy Fawkes day, eh? I’d be curious to know your son’s politics, especially since you say his wife is a T___p fan. Another recent statistic says that T___p is very unpopular among white, educated, suburban women. Hope that bodes well for us.

PVE, how does your country force people to vote? How do they deal with that??

Fasting today: Eggs Baked in Ham Cups for breakfast. Mackerel in Puttanesca Sauce for dinner.

Raining AGAIN today. It used to be that November was the cloudy/rainy month. Now it is October. Lots of wild turkeys come to visit — a flock of 14 shows up almost daily. So huge!

Australia has always had compulsory voting. We take our democratic right to vote very seriously here. There are fines for not voting, but I’ve never heard of anyone being fined. Everyone registers on the electoral roll at 18. Some idiots don’t, so they just never get to vote…a very small minority. Elections are on Saturdays, with postal voting and prepoll voting available for 2 weeks before. Plenty of opportunity to have your say. Some people turn up and get signed off (probably for the famous election sausage sizzle…local charity groups sell bbqed sausages on bread with tomato sauce and onions), and then put in an informal vote. These are either blank or with smart alec comments on them, thus not a vote! People are dying all over the world for the right to vote. Turning up for a few minutes every couple of years is a wonderful responsibility.
Re daylight savings…I love it. The sun is up at 5:30am (Daylight Savings Time) now in early spring. I would not want to be woken at 4:30. Then we get lovely longer light evenings. Queensland, the state to our north, has never had it. They think it fades the curtains. 😀😀
Tuesday morning after a fast. Excellent weight drop! Woohoo! P

I find it staggering that other countries don’t have compulsory voting. It seems so incredible that effort has to be expended convincing people to vote, rather than having a dialogue on the benefits and disadvantages of various candidates.
Stunning spring weather here today. Our azaleas are stunning this year, obviously our heavy rain a month ago was perfectly timed. P

It’s like giving equal time to climate change deniers! I guess flat earthers too. What is the point of giving nutters an equal say?

Herm, you’ve made me laugh. Son’s ma in law is a very meek woman, really. She just has these simplistic views! My mother-in-law was a plank! Luckily, OH was brought up by his grandmother, whom I loved.

It looks like we are having a new Tai Chi teacher. He’s one of Steve’s students who is just finishing his instructor training. I’d met him previously on Qui Gong Day when we demonstrated on the Green in Wrexham. He was a bit diffident yesterday, knowing that some of us have done it for longer than he. But I think he’ll be fine. Hope things work out for your OH.

Had treat, courtesy of John Lewis, yesterday. A coffee and slice of lemon meringue pie. I chose the smallest. 😏

Kale crisps, F-M? Break into small pieces, dress lightly with olive oil, put into hot oven on a baking tray for c10 mins. Healthier than spuds!
Or sauté in oil or butter according to taste, adding pine nuts/seeds etc at last minute.
Or just steam – briefly!!
All delicious – some better for the waistline than others…

FM, I pick my kale (a wide range of varieties) and slice up to add to a mixed slaw (purple cabbage, corn, capsicum, grated carrot, even apple..thanks Bay 😉) It sits in the fridge and a bit grabbed to ‘plate up’ and top with aioli for an easy meal…which is most!
Yes, ‘running a banker’ is a very old fashioned Aussie expression. Reflective of our ‘droughts and flooding rains’ weather. 😏 We had torrential rain last night, after a very, hot, humid 36 deg day. I was still wearing bedsocks and singlets days ago!!
Surely NH residents understand that they are only free BECAUSE they vote (“No taxation without representation “!!!) Compulsory voting is not an onerous imposition, it is a reminder that we are so lucky to have the right to vote. ☺
Dinner out tonight, little black dress and heels ‘do’, so limited eating during the day. 😶
Have a good weekend MCs.

I think I’ll have to do that with my overabundant crop of kale abd spinach/silverbeet, Carol. It all looked very limp in the heat yesterday, but the overnight rain will have bucked them all up. I’ll then have to freeze it for winter dishes next year.

I’ve had some of these sort of plants that lived for years, even transplanted. I call them cut and come again plants. Unfortunately, I planted too many this year, so I can’t keep up!!

Thanks, both.

FFS can’t help with your kale question sorry as our winters are much milder than yours. If spinach is OK outside in your climate maybe kale will be too?

Have been using the kale in my daily Green Milk and that works well. Also sneaking some into salads. Have frozen some for later. Thanks for all the ideas!

good Fast Day yesterday: Prosciutto-Melon Plate for breakfast — surprisingly filling! Salad Nicoise for dinner. Had to clear the vegetable drawer as we leave tomorrow for Sunny California to visit #1 Son. He has elaborate plans for the meals he will cook for us: 3 meals a day! With white rice, yet. It is sure to be delicious and, for us, an adventure in the cuisine of SW Asia. But sure to be TONS of food. I hope he won’t be insulted if I am abstemious, taking small portions…

Raining again. Very heavy rains predicted for this afternoon, adding to the already swollen rivers. Sun for the next 5 days will get things back to normal.
We just voted. The CheckList Supervisors said there were many new voters registering today. And the Voter Check-out Supervisor said it was a very large turn-out. She said she hoped that would be a good thing [she couldn’t say that she wished they were all Democrats, but that’s what she meant]

PVE, do you plant marigolds in with your greens/cabbages? That can deter the beasties.

Have a great week, and keep your fingers crossed for the future of the American Democracy.

Hi, everyone! Woke up to good news about the chance to curtail the orange poltroon! Good for the world, as well as America! Of course, Trump is calling it ‘a success’ – the man does George Orwell’s Newspeak.

We’ve taken our veg pots down now. Sadly courgettes were a disappointment as the squirrels got at them. Aubergines, which we’ve grown for the first time, were not bad. Peppers and tomatoes did well.

Still hovering around top wriggle room, but an awkward weekend. I did a stupid thing on Sunday- we needed a snack for the journey home and I chose a pasta salad with feta. Sounds healthy, but it was 450 calories! Realise that we’ve got out of the calorie checking habit!

Posting in disgust at myself. I’m a pound over top wriggle room! I have become complacent and give in to things. Yesterday, I had a ice cream at the cinema, then we went to Prezzo to eat. OH wanted to share a starter, so I did. I had a ‘light meal’ choice, pasta with pesto and salad. Didn’t finish it, but I know I didn’t need either the ice cream or the starter.

Trying to fast all day today – until wine group, of course! Will have some cheese and bread. Very little, though. It’s so strange that all summer I was trying to stop myself going under my bottom wriggle room. 😕

Herm, the trees still look,wonderful here. We’ve had far less wind than usual, so the trees have retained their glory. Many pavements are dodgy with thick layers of leaves,,though.

PVE, we are still smiling about our win on Saturday! 🏉🏉🏉. Strange game without a single try, though.

Tell us what your regime is, P – I am in need of some help. I had plateaued at four – FOUR – kgs above my long-time minimum. Have now got down to the three above level with a lot of hard work – yesterday’s FD resulting in 100gms, for instance – and am going to continue to be strict. I will show my metabolism who’s in control!

We have just enjoyed a lovely summer week, but winter is returning next week. Gale, rain and snow in the mountain passes are forecast. I know spring is changeable in the Roaring Forties, but come on! Back to tights and woollies, then.

I went for my first swim in over a year this morning, and realise it wasn’t a good move. I have had an inflamed knee (no idea why) for a couple of weeks, and swimming didn’t help. Pleased to know I could go straight back to my regular 24 laps without issue, though. 🙂

It should be a good game in Dublin on Saturday, Polly, after our narrow scrape through against England.