You were wise to escape the winter, Carol. Make the most of your time with the grandies.
I see my new little darling every few days. Irresistible! 😏😏

Polly, P and I are a couple – both of us have increased since the initial success of 5:2, drat it 🙁

And yes to Wales at No.1 (for the moment, just wait until next weekend). Congrats to the Wallabies, they played the better game.

Very well, we were told, P, about 40 people – including a few nosey neighbours, but that’s inevitable 🙂 The rain and wind held off, thankfully. Another two weeks, then we will assess what offers may have been made.

Hi,

Of the tips from the US I favour eating breakfast as a way to maintain weight, as long as one is not already rather full from a meal the night before. Breakfast seems to give a nice boost and helps with blood sugar maintenance and food choices through the day.

In order to keep bloodsugars steady, skipping breakfast and limiting high gi foods are the 2 most important tips. I’m totally with Polly. A late brunch and early dinner of satiating, healthy, fresh foods are the way to go. Frequent eating certainly stimulates the appetite, causing overeating. P

Yes Happy, she has been very busy, all afternoon, dropping posts into a variety of threads, undermining fasting, and yet she seems to have understood the principles a year ago. Very strange. I wonder what the back story is?
P

Apparently eat as much, and as often, as you like and you’ll be ok. It brings a whole new understanding to “weight maintenance “. Eat what you like and you WILL “maintain” your weight. Just a shame it is in the obesity range!!

Lol are you being facetious Purple?

We’re having a good time although the summer weather has been disappointing, cool days with a few days in the low 20’s. I’ve packed all the wrong clothes so had to do a quick purchase of a few items 😉

No idea what my weight is but clothes still ok and I seem to have slipped into a 2 meals a day pattern, so not unduly worried. I still did my FD on Monday. Plenty of time to lose it when I get home If I’ve put it on.

Hope the weather is starting to fine up a bit at home. 🌲🇨🇦

Purple, you seem to be having British weather – something different every day. We are stuck weight wise, I’m on top wriggle room as there’s always an excuse for some treat. Yesterday I had poetry group at my house and a friend brought a delicious lemon drizzle cake. OH just can’t get under that 16st.

Shame about your weather, carol. Good excuse to buy clothes, though. 😄.

Great game of rugby last week. It’s a good feeling to be #1, albeit very briefly. I wonder if there’s too many warm up games, though.

Pol.

Hi everyone, I’m back from Canada, 300g above my top trigger point which is a miracle really considering the amount of CHO I ate. I was actually too scared to get on the scales but eventually got the courage.
Canadian food is very much carbo based and sadly, once I’d had some of it I was hooked on it again. I missed one FD because I just couldn’t do it. I tried, but it was just too hard. Generally walking compensated for the extra calories consumed on holidays but didn’t happen this time.

Since I’ve been home it’s just been a slow increase and now I’m heavier than what I was when I got home although I’ve been eating healthy, fasted and done a 16:8.

MM was being interviewed on Adelaide radio this week and he’s now promoting 16:8, consuming 800 calories/day.

I just feel I’m now on this crazy weight merry-go-round which was my main motivation for doing 5:2 anyway. Do I go to 16:8/800 calories or do I just keep persevering knowing I’m probably just going to have a slow steady weight gain until my body gets to where it wants to be.

Feeling very despondent ATM. ☹️

Hi Happy, it’s just the weight that’s depressing me!😊. And it’s not so much the weight as the impact – already I’ve noticed a couple of pairs of pants are not as comfortable as they were because I put the weight straight on to my stomach and back of the hips.

So easy to see why there is such a weight problem in North America when you see the food that’s consumed. I know Australia is also a nation of fatties but we look positively slim compared to the people I saw in Canada.

I think you’re probably right about the non FD’s too. Although I eat salad most days, I add a few nice little pieces like cheese and pickled onions. Plus, it’s probably a bigger serve than I really need.

I’m turning into a grumpy old woman 😂

Hope all is going well for you Happy.

Good morning, ladies. Carol, you are not on your own! Back from a week in Cyprus late on Wednesday and a pound over target – that’s after really trying to be sensible when confronted by fabulous food choices. We had breakfast, included of course, and our evening meal, but no lunch. We managed on a drink and the accompanying little pot of nuts and seeds. I also ate fabulous salads every day. Unfortunately, we discovered the olive bread. I could have wolfed a loaf.

To cap it OH went and bought an olive loaf yesterday, so breakfast at 1pm was salad and a slice, then wine group last night with some lovely cheese, which had to be accompanied by bread! Another pound on the scales today, 😣.

So it’s back to a calorie counting 16:8 life, although a couple of FDs needed to kick start discipline, I think.

World Cup starts today! Luckily most of our games will be in the morning. Australia will be our biggest test in the pool stages, I think. There’s going to be a sedentary few weeks ahead!

Enjoy it 🏉🏉🏉

After 6 years of fasting for 24 hours on Mondays and Thursdays, I’m enjoying the change to 16:8 every day. I just did a mental comparison…not counting the 12 hour normal overnight fasting, fasting twice a week gives an extra 24 hours; not eating until at least 11 every day gives an extra 24.5 hours!
I AM enjoying not having to think about which day of the week it is, as it is easy to not eat until lunch.
Food for thought! 🥭🍏🍓🍅🍆🥕🥦🌽 P 😋

Absolutely, Carol. The ritual of eating is a vital social occassion. I find I have to go outside and garden or hang out washing when Mr P eats his breakfast porridge. I DO miss doing crosswords together over breakfast. At least we can sit over a long lunch and dinner every day now.
My pattern is a black coffee, at about 9am and again at 11:30; lunch at about 12 and dinner about 6:30. I carry a small apple and water with me if I’m out and may be tempted. I have a mix of salad (red cabbage, grated carrot, shredded kale and spinach, capsicum, chilli, corn, sesame and pupmkin seeds…with many variations), mixed up in the fridge. I simply add some protein, depending what Mr P is eating..hard boiled egg, smoked or fresh fish, prawns, chicken or fish skewers (with onion, eggplant, capsicum etc on it). I find it quite simple to cook his and use part for me. Another favourite is meat sauce, veg layers, lasagne (no pasta). I eat a little, with my slaw. I also have a small bowl of fresh berries, nuts and plain yoghurt in the evening. I have a glass of wine every day, too!
I don’t count calories and I find I simply don’t sleep if I don’t have an evening meal. The slaw based meals really keep me satiated and breakfast is easy to skip.
When eating out, I simply choose a dish that has maximum veg and minimum carbs.
I think we all need to do a rejig occassionally to keep on our toes.
Good luck. P

I just have coffee when I get up, two cups with a splash of milk and maybe another later in the morning if I need it. Breakfast is usually 12.30 to 1, usually porridge with a banana or berries. Our evening meal is about 6.30, usually something from Mimi’s recipe books, so lots of veg, some meat or fish for OH, but hardly any carbs.

Aubergine dishes are great, layered as lasagne, pans of ratatouille usually do two days and one portion frozen for another day. Desserts are usually yoghurt with a couple of satsumas, very time-consuming to peel and depith. My weekly treat is ice cream, usually on Saturday, but I had it yesterday instead. Confession – too much ice cream last night, as there was not enough in the box to split, but once I’d eaten it I realised it was too much to eat. Of course, I did! 😌.

I don’t have a FD usually.

Thanks Polly, that sounds good too. I like the idea of a weekly treat. 😊

I think I’ll have a go at the aubergine/eggplant lasagne tomorrow night.

Barata,

Great news on the house! Not long now til your next chapter begins. Fingers crossed it also marks a turning point sleep- and weight-wise for you.

Here, work continues to be nearly overwhelmingly hard. And not made easier by my domestic situation and the lack of support. Unfortunately, as a result I’m doing too much stress eating. And I’m definitely going to have to ban granola from the house…😊 Fasting has so far failed two days in a row, so I’m probably going to try for a back to hack or maybe 3 days of OMAD this week. Still just treading water in the 61-62 range.

Thanks, ladies. I will give serious thought to the idea of retirement. I just thought working would give me a bridge of activity while we get up to speed in a new community, especially as there will be no close family in town. But a bit of research has uncovered a diagnosis of adrenal fatigue, which seems to cover my symptoms. It’s not recognised by the mainstream medical authorities, but we know how much respect we have for them – did I mention that a colleague’s daughter is being taught in medical school that carbohydrates are essential for brain health?

I have made contact with the oldest grandson, and will get to catch up with him to say adieu on Friday 🙂

Sorry things are so hard for you at the moment, Happy, just hope they can improve soon.

One meal a day!

Gosh, seems many of us are in a slump at present 😟

Barata, great news on the house, bad news on the sleeping and weight.

You present a sound argument re work filling a gap for you when you first move. Do you work full or part-time because if it’s full time that will affect your ability to get out and get immersed in the community, if it’s part-time I’d say do both until youve got yourself established there. Retirement for me has been a double edged sword. I miss the company and structure and accountability work brings but love having the freedom to choose what I do with my time and when. What town will you be in?

I have a nutrition degree and I can assure you we are all taught CHO is the preferred fuel of the brain (which it is if you look at the ingredients of breast milk). Problem is we don’t eat unprocessed CHO and we eat too much of them. And if I’m right that person studying medicine will receive about 4 hours nutrition education. 🧐

Happy, sorry to hear your situation hasn’t improved yet. I empathize with the stress eating.
My friend is doing OMAD and lost a lot of weight but I also wonder how she will maintain and what the long term effect will be for her, bearing in mind the five year anniversary seems to trip a lot of us up.

Purple, nothing like the little ones to keep us grounded is there! I envy you with your constant contact with yours, especially that new little bubby. 💗

We are booking flights to fly to Brisbane to bring our grandies down for the Christmas pageant in November. The Adelaide Christmas pageant is something pretty special.

As we both approach our 70th year I think more and more about wether we should move up to Brisbane. I still have my dad here in Adelaide, he’s 97, and won’t be here that much longer I’m sure. We’ve lived in this house though for 40 years and have a great network of friends but I really miss family time.

We all have our trials and tribulations. One foot in front of the other, we’re all doing a great job! 💐

Carol, I work three days a week now, would be happy with up to 20 hours. Perhaps I will offer to start with that, then ease off (and out) at the end of the year when the work reduces. Paypacket is the second motivator, P!

I thought the main ingredient in breast milk was fat?

Poor you, Barata. You seem in a bad cycle. But, as Purple said you’re selling your house and moving to a completely new area. No wonder you’re stressed. And, ironically, worrying about not sleeping stops one sleeping. Just over 10 st doesn’t seem so bad. I think I remember that you’re quite tall. Same for Happy. Every pound won’t show as it does on a shorty like me.

Regarding work, although you would be working remotely, would you still have to be out and about, making links within the new area? Maybe see how it goes for a year.

Happy, I’m so sorry to hear things are still bad for you. Sometimes work can be a distraction from personal woes. I think I’d stress eat, too, as I hate cooking, so it would be baked potatoes- just add another. What does OMAD stand for? Sorry for being thick.

Are you all enjoying the rugby? None of our times has had a big challenge yet, though. Wales v Australia will be our hurdle. England has a soft pool, with basically just France to challenge them.

Polly – OMAD/ one meal a day 😊

It will be 6:45pm here. Excellent time 😊

P,

I’m watching 😀