I had my weekly weigh-in yesterday and I was down to an all-time low weight for me. I tipped the scales at 86.6 kilos. My ultimate goal is 85 kilos so only 1.6 kilos away now.
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Well done, Neil. Now the hard bit…long term maintenance.
We started in 2013. Lost about 30kg each, reaching our goals in 12 months, and have maintained this, more or less. We keep experimenting with different approaches (5:2, 6:2, 18:6 etc). It seems to require constant revamping to stay focused.
How are you going to approach the long term? P
I’m comfortable with 6:1 at the moment. I weigh myself weekly so my plan is to keep monitoring my weight, and if it starts to slip, I’ll go back to recording my food and up the fast days. I think the key will be to keep weighing myself. In the past I’ve lost 15-20 kilos and then stopped weighing myself, slipped back to my old eating habits and gained it all back.
We (Mr P and I) weigh every morning, habitually. Not monitoring, taking your eye off the ball, is the biggest contributor to regaining.
We have kept up 5:2 for years as I find the twice weekly “reset” is what keeps us on the track. For medical reasons, we stopped 6 months ago. We have been doing 18:6 instead. It really is not as effective, long term.
We are in our late 60s. It seems the older you get, the less and less food you need. 🤔 P
Morning everyone. I hope you’re all safe in these surreal times. We’re finding no problem with our 16:8 daily routine, but from the boredom of staying in, my mind is straying to chocolate. I’m set on top wriggle room, but that’s ok.
I do feel that Johnson and the Tories are seeing their chickens come home to roost, with their running down of the NHS over the last ten years.
Take care, everyone.
Seems I’ve been locked out again for quite a while. I thought you were all quiet! 😊
I haven’t weighed for a while (I’m depressed enough), but can tell from my clothes I’m ok. I’m still following 16:8 and as gym has now closed my husband and I are doing a long walk each day, to relieve boredom but also to keep the weight under a bit of control.
I’ve been thinking of chocolate a bit too but so far resisting.
I hope everyone is going as well as they can be right now. Polly, I hope your family in the US are ok.
We’re all ostracized now, borders closed even amongst the states here in Aus so no contact with family til god knows when. We were 3 days out from flying to Canada when they closed their borders but probably a blessing in hindsight. I wonder if we’ll ever get over there again 😥
I agree, you were lucky with timing, Carol. For the past two years we were were in America in March, OH’s birthday and Mothers’ Day there. The boys have been off school for a fortnight, son and wife working from home and taking turns to teach and entertain. Luckily they have a huge garden. I’m also worrying whether we’ll ever see them again.
We did tai chi via a zoom site this morning. It was great to see people, especially since I’ve missed the last two. It’s a gorgeous day here, do I need to do a bit in the garden. Don’t feel like it, as I had a night of worrying last night.
Take care, everyone.
Ditto here Poll. 4am now, but I’ve been lying here, worrying for 2 hours. I get the feeling we are all just waiting to catch the virus at some point, and hope it isn’t a severe infection for us (Or anyone else!) That IS the reality until they develop a vaccine, and can somehow administer it, or everyone just stops by themselves until the virus dies out. Neither scenario seems likely.
Sorry gang. Wee small hours…you know what it’s like! P
Hi All,
Scary surreal times for everyone! I’ve not been sleeping well either and I’m making no headway at all with my weight. I’m currently sitting between 2-3kg over my (former) upper maintenance limit despite 2 fasts per week and more exercise.
Luckily I’m in lockdown at home, which means gardening and long walks over the fields… not hard to socially distance when you live in the middle of nowhere.
Of course it does mean that the OH and I won’t be going our separate ways for maybe a year (unless one of us dies…!). But at least the weather’s picked up so we won’t be trapped in the house together….
Stay safe everyone!
These times are tough enough when you are isolated with someone you, usually, enjoy spending time with. Fingers crossed you get good weather to hang out with the chickens, Happy.
We are having daily cooking experiments. One meal each. Must be appetizing, varied and healthy. Now that I’ve found an online food shop (not many groceries, but mainly fruit, veg and meats) we can experiment a bit, but don’t have to leave home. It also gives me a break to do something else for part of the day!
Lots of video calls with family is also saving my sanity, a bit.
Keep safe folks. P
Dear all, an update from Down Under. We are in the third day of a national lockdown, only essential services open, a handful of people in ICU. On Tuesday we moved into our new home, so grateful that we managed this before the movers were forced to cease work. We are well set up, comfortable and functional, so I will just empty one or two boxes each day. We have 3,000 sqm of lawn and garden, so plenty there to keep me busy. We were going to buy the vendors’ ride-on mower, but it conked out just before we settled, and with the lockdown we cannot either buy a replacement or hire anyone to mow the grass, so will be making hay in a month!
After a rotten row of nights, I have finally had a good night’s sleep. Long may it last – I did improve in that department six months ago when we first moved north, so fingers crossed.
I have been hearing a bit about Zoom, Polly, must have a look once we have internet connected! 🙁 Not until next Wednesday, drat it, so currently using phone data.
Permission to facilitate your OH’s demise, Happy, if really pushed 🙂
Stay safe, all.
Zoom is brilliant, B. Easy to sign up, and when you “start a meeting” it will send an email to one of your contacts. They don’t need to download an app, just click on the link! You can have up to 4 people in the meeting. We’ve had quite a few family “meetings” across the country.
I’m finding it such a relief to be able to actually see everyone in their home environment, interacting. It is a fantastic resource. I hope you get connected and can join the fun. Cheers P
Wow, Barata, you will be busy! We’ve got a bit more land, but part of it is a small grassy paddock that the hens use, and I find the rest of it fairly overwhelming to keep on top of! I guess it’s very early days in the new home to know what plans you’ve got for it but you will enjoy being outside getting familiar with it.
I’m just having an early breakfast (porridge) before getting out. I’ve got a large compost bin to empty and barrow the contents up a slope to the veg patch… with hindsight, it might have been better to build the compost bins at the top of the garden…! By which time my arms will be done in (my upper body weedy after winter inactivity!). But if I can still move I have vegetable seeds to sow.
I’m feeling surprisingly positive, I guess the garden and polytunnel have given me a focus and purpose in these uncertain times.
Fasting went well this week, although I’m still nearly 3kg over where I want to be.
All of the land is in lawn or garden, Happy, so nothing urgently needs tending at the moment. I am weeding, cleared the veggie garden yesterday. Today I found my seeds, but unfortunately have thrown out most of them as being well past expiry. Sowed some mixed mesculun, cress and rocket. The flower seeds I will sow in the garden in spring.
I’m loving pottering, especially with my variable sleep (bad again last night 🙁 ). Found the compost bins today also, so not sure what’s in the wooden bin on the western boundary. My suspicion is that the bins are household waste, and the wooden bin garden waste.
We are also enjoying the bird life, what with the mature trees, water feature, bird bath and feeders (I have been well trained by the birds/previous owners – birds fed regularly, birdbath cleaned and replenished today.) The previous owners mentioned that the sugar water for the tui should be refreshed each four days. Today (day five) I did so, found out why, it was gently fermenting. No wonder the tui were singing happily in the trees. 🙂
We had our first corona death today, an elderly (what am I at 68?) woman with other health issues. Brings it closer.
Barata,
We have always fed the birds wherever we’ve been, but the previous occupiers of this house left instructions and about £50 worth of wild bird food when they left (to get us started!). No drunk birds here, although in autumn the wasps get drunk on fermenting fallen fruit 🤣
I saw NZ recorded it’s first covid death. Hopefully you have implemented measures quickly enough to avoid the catastrophe that is now unfolding in so many countries, including the UK.
The previous owners left brown sugar for the tui, and seeds for the wild birds, Happy. Plenty of sugar for the duration, and we see the local supermarket can supply the seeds, so no birds need go hungry 🙂 . However, given the disinterest of the ring-necked doves yesterday morning I suspect they are breakfasting at other places as well.
Yes, the first death today. We have the great fortune of being very isolated from the rest of the world, and for having the benefit of seeing what is happening in there. We have, as our PM says, “gone early, and gone hard”. So a full lockdown last Wednesday, but of course there will always be tinkering at the edges. Why exclude the butchers and greengrocers and bakers from operation, which means the supermarkets get all trade, and, strangely, manage to sneak prices ever upwards. I think there will be changes in the next few days, especially as there have been complains about lack of availability of halal meats, and given Jacinda’s sympathy in that direction…
Strange to know that our grandchildren have been attending school and daycare in Sydney all week. This is likely to change, but again, late!
Our older son is a driver, and the transport organisation has publicised that drivers have been denied access to toilet and café facilities during their essential trips, while the police do have access. More to be sorted!
B, I’m very surprised your Aussie grandkids are still at school. Ours have been home since 20th March. All schools requested parents to keep children home if they could. This way, only the children of priority workers, who could not be cared for at home during the day, would be at school. Schools in NSW had been preparing for this for over a month and began comprehensive online programs last week. Not all states were ready to go, but are now realising the need. If your kids can, they should be keeping them at home. It is far from ideal to expect teachers, a good percentage of whom are in the at-risk age group, to be exposed, without any protection, in close quarters every day with little disease incubators. Distancing is impossible in a school setting. Our PM, who interestingly hasn’t sent his kids to school,keeps saying “We haven’t closed schools”, but then adds you should keep them home! The issue is more that Scottie from Marketing, is a poor communicator! P
The Aussie grandchildren are all at school / daycare this week too, although my daughter in Queensland says there were only three in her son’s class yesterday. She and her partner are both still working. In Sydney son and DiL are both working from home.
We are meeting more of the neighbours – from a safe distance, of course. 😁 We live on a private lane with five houses.
My sleep is still rubbish. Solid while it lasts, then I’m awake far too early and feeling drained. So a restful day today, no boxes need emptying urgently.
Love the sound of your new garden Barata!
I feed the wild birds also and love the sound of them in the garden but especially enjoy them having their little squabbles when there’s a group of them all on the feeder together.
Our grandkids are still going to school also although class numbers are 5 and 10 for each of them. Our DIL is a teacher so she’s required and my son’s job is still operating as per normal. If you haven’t got family there to help there’s not much choice but I know they’re all looking forward to next week when DIL and kids will be home.
I’m hoping this might get them thinking about coming back here. So hard without support.
Happy, pleased you’re in a happy space 😊
Hi Carol,
Thanks, yes, in a happy space…although currently STILL taking up more of that space than I want to!
My weight is stuck, frustratingly, despite 2 fasts a week and a long walk every day. I can but try! So. Fasting again today. Although I have been exhausted the last couple of days, so my willpower is on low battery at the moment…
P, good sleep hygiene and regular sleep time habits are so important aren’t they? At least I don’t have to put up with anyone snoring/ stealing the duvet/ elbowing or kicking me anymore 😁
Greetings, all. We continue in our lockdown, end of the second week today. Still only the one death luckily, and it would appear that our increase in numbers is reducing.
Sleep – can it get worse? I’m waking nearly every night now, for a couple of hours. Reading rather than on the computer, and getting back to sleep okay thereafter, and fortunately I don’t need to get up in the morning – only the birds waiting to be fed 🙂
Grandson in Queensland is in holiday care over the next two weeks, his mother is still working. And GS in Sydney continues at daycare – they are desperate to keep the place open.
Stay well, everyone.
Hi Barata, we’re still self-isolating here. Numbers of cases are low but Easter will be the real test!
My sleep is crazy too – I blame the stress of our current situation plus we went off daylight saving last weekend. Takes a while to adjust. I am regularly waking at 4:30am and no possibility of going back to sleep. 💤
Our grandkids are now at home and not sure if they will be going back to school after the holidays because schools still haven’t been closed. Our DIL is a teacher and her school has set up for teaching online from home. So not really sure what’s happening there. They’re in Brisbane and restrictions seem much tougher up there than down here. I feel sorry for them. They’re not even allowed to take the kids for a drive in the car. It’s not recommended in SA for us to get out and about but you can if you want to.
Heaven knows when this will all end. I read in the paper this morning the experts are expecting Aus to peak in a few months 😳, whereas when the virus first arose they said we’d peak in May.
Happy Easter all 🐣
The peak has been delayed because we are isolating, Carol. So far, so good. We aren’t allowed to just go for a drive either. Stay home, unless exercising, locally, going to shops, work or medical appointments. Now that the borders are shut, the rises have slowed. Our curve has flattened, but we need to be vigilant.
Hi Carol, I don’t see restrictions being tougher in Brisbane, unless the Gold Coast and Brisbane operate under different rules. Grandson has been in school until this week when he is in vacation care, while daughter and her partner are still working – her in aged care placement and him in retail.
We went off daylight saving last weekend also, fortunately have adapted very quickly. OH wants to keep barbequing, I am moving towards more winter meals so have brought out the slow cooker for today. It’s tricky trying to supply veggies for salads and winter meals at the same time, especially for just the two of us.
Lots of folks who have holiday homes are expecting to travel there for Easter. They are being told not to, not least because they will be putting undue pressure on limited local medical facilities, and creating excessive demand on food provision in small towns.
We seem to have flattened the curve substantially in NZ, with only one death and reducing numbers of positive cases. Hopeful that we will be able to reconsider the restrictions shortly, particularly in specific regions.
Kia kaha, all.
We will stop in at the supermarket this morning to stock up on barbeque meats (and wine!) on the way back from the doctors’ surgery to get our annual ‘flu jabs. So more salad greens needed. The left-over broccoli (OH doesn’t eat this – or not so he notices 🙂 ) can be saved for Monday’s FD soup. Last night’s slow-cooked casserole has enough leftovers for probably two more meals.
We each take our own lists, and go in separately. He can’t be trusted to get fruit and veggies, and I don’t attempt to choose his beer!
Hi, everyone. It’s our 4 year anniversary today of starting IF. Came back from a trip to Ireland, where we’d almost been force-fed, heavier than in either pregnancy. A friend called on 18th but refused a Welsh cake as she was on a Fast Day. I was inspired, read Michael’s book from cover to cover the next day, convinced OH and here we are: me 2 stone lighter, him 3. It took me to September to reach target of stone and a half, then lost more.
I seem to have settled at the top of my 3lb wriggle room now. It’s very hard to be strict with ourselves in these horrible circumstances and carbs are creeping in. Using up everything in the fridge sometimes means having a sandwich or soup, with a roll. Luckily we have a big garden, so not too stir-crazy yet. Doing tai chi and poetry group on line.
How are you all doing? Are you on lockdown in Australia? New Zealand seems to have had the fastest action. Hope it’s working.
PS. As I went to post, I saw that the notification box was not ticked. I’m behind. Going to read back now.
Take care everyone.
Barata, I’m so impressed with what’s happening in New Zealand. We have clowns in charge , who allowed big events to take place when problems were clearly building and the evidence from Italy was terrifying. Umpteen premier league games, two Six Nations games and the Cheltenham Festival, which attracts quarter of a million. It’s not just belting in one place, but the travelling back and forth.
School are much the same here. They’ve been open over the Easter holidays, staffed by volunteers and t new term, starting today, will only be in hub schools for children of key workers.
One of the biggest balls up here is over testing: rather than have small, accessible sites in lots of places, they have turned stadiums into huge sites with zigzag queue markers. They are virtually unused as they’re inconvenient for busy people working long shifts.
Hi Polly
Well done on your 4 year anniversary. We celebrate our 8th on 24th. Like you, we are struggling during these trying times. Carbs have crept in and I cannot bring myself to do full fasts while life is on hold. Instead, I am strictly following 16:8 to limit the damage.
Australia, like NZ, had the advantage of being an island country. Once the borders were closed and lockdown began, infection numbers began dropping. We have a population of 25M, with only 71 deaths, most from returning tourists or elderly in care homes, after exposure to returned travellers. We have weeks now with infection numbers dropping to extremely low levels. With testing levels being large, they are able to do contact tracing successfully. From people I know who’ve been tested, our centres are very well run, with no contact between people, no long queues and a brisk, efficient system. It would be very dangerous to do it any other way.
Australia and NZ, by acting quickly, have managed low rates. However, this is only sustainable while borders remain closed. The future is still unknown.
Stay safe. P
Happy fasting anniversary, Polly. Isn’t it great? But like P, I do time-restricted eating rather than fast days. Stupid scales, down a kg yesterday morning, up again today 🙁
I pulled out the sourdough recipe last week and made a loaf that turned out beautifully. This helped to nudge the scales up. Another loaf is in the oven as I write. It hasn’t risen as well as last week’s, either because of the cooler temperatures, or the increase in wholemeal flour as I was running out of everything else.
Yes, we are pleased with the results of the lockdown on our cases and mortality – except for the naysayers, conspiracy theorists and general Jacinda-hating mob – and are moving up to level 3 next Monday, after the long weekend when it was generally agreed that the idiots would want to travel to their holiday homes/family/other excuses with the extra day. Single-figure new cases each day, all related to existing groups, and only a dozen deaths. I have just had a case of wine delivered, wine being an essential product!
Goodness knows when borders will be re-opened, not in the short-term I am sure. The virus still has to do its worst in Africa, South America, and all the war zones and refugee camps around the world where health care is negligible to non-existent, and social distancing impossible. There is so much worse to come… 🙁
Hi, Barata and Purple, I’m envious of your government’s action. Hard to realise we are an island, too. There were no restrictions on or tests of people returning from skiing in Italy, no tests on returning from other countries either. Now we’re up to 16,000 deaths, not including care homes!
Second homes are a real problem here as well. Doctors in rural Wales were asking people not to visit either homes or caravan sites weeks before the government made it part of their instructions. Trouble is, so many idiots think it’s ok for them to go somewhere quiet – forgetting that the world and his wife have the same idea. We’re 5 minutes from lovely walks in the Clwydian Range, 20 minutes from the Welsh Coastal Path, but our exercise has been gardening and a walk around the block.
We have managed a single FD, but 16:8 keeps us on target – more or less – literally, by a pound, in my case. 😄
It’s my anniversary too April 25th. I know I’m behind you Purple but can’t remember if it’s 1 or 2 years, whatever it’s a damm good effort! Fantastic results for you and husband Polly! Interesting what motivated us all to start. For me it was a friend who said her husband was IF and I thought if he could do it I certainly could!
Somehow I’m maintaining at first trigger point, doing 16:8. I got a bit below at one stage but came back up. I’m surprised I’m maintaining because I’ve been indulging myself a bit with the CHO. Comfort and boredom eating and they always slip in for me!
So far we’ve had beautiful weather all the time of iso but our first day of rain today. Lovely for the garden and I’ve been hoping for it for days but it reminds me I’m not going to enjoy this iso when our winter arrives!
Our rates in SA are very low and for a few days have had zero new cases but Premier isn’t easing restrictions yet. As you say Purple, probably all good until they open up domestic borders. I see NSW is doing well now though too.
My comfort activity is baking. Of course I never do it unless I’m baking for visitors or going to give it away because if it’s in the house I’ll eat it! Trying to feed my addiction I made yummy healthy muffins for a friends birthday, dropped them off at her door but I’m sure her husband didn’t let her eat them because of risk of getting CV 😳. I don’t understand that myself but there you go. I’d love to make Anzac biscuits but once again don’t want them in my possession. I’ve messaged my neighbour who has 2 teenage sons and if she says she’ll take some I’m going to make them.
People in Australia have been very sensible about the restrictions and thankfully appear to be taken seriously and general adherence. Heaven help America – what a nightmare. And of course the third world countries who are yet to feel the full effects, where it will inevitably be devastating.
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10:49 pm
26 Feb 20