I reported the previous one.
How are you doing, Herm?
This topic contains 11,642 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by Pollypenny 2 weeks, 6 days ago.
Ditto, Polly. 🙂
I’ve managed 2 days of 10,000 steps again! So pleased. With my 2 fasts a week, I might get control again.
I was thinking about you, Polly, as I walked. I spend a lot of time, these days, simply staring down at the paving in front of me, looking for hazzards, so very little sticky bearing! 🙂 It is just nice to be out and moving again. We don’t appreciate things until they’re gone, do we? P
I’m in pretty good shape, Poll, thanks for asking. Having become flavour of recent months with my best client – out there in the good old EU I’m pleased to say – another big translation assignment has just been launched, with another small one due to start in mid May. So I’m not overly bothered by lockdown, plus it’s good exercise for the addled brain. Even so, I’m very sad about not seeing friends and family.
8 year check in and still 5:2ing OK.
BMI target is 22.5. Over the years it has been:-
2013 Average 23.2 (21.6 – 27.0)
2014 Average 22.2 (21.6 – 23.0)
2015 Average 22.8 (22.2 – 23.6)
2016 Average 23.1 (22.2 – 23.7)
2017 Average 23.3 (22.7 – 23.9)
2018 Average 23.2 (22.1 – 24.1)
2019 Average 23.0 (22.4 – 23.6)
2020 Average 22.4 (21.9 – 23.2)
Today 22.7.
More time to do a long daily walk in 2020 thanks to lockdowns and furlough periods.
Still trying to shift a little bit of Christmas excess. Not helped by sinusitis laying me low for 2 weeks.
Excellent work Mr Data
You seem to be the only one who hasn’t crept up. 😏
Good luck with the sinusitis. I’ve had problems all year since the terrible smoke from the bushfires in Jan 2020. It’s hard to convince sinuses that they really don’t need to overreact!
All the best for 2021. Purple Vegie Eater
Mr Data, tracking BMI instead of weight is really a more sensible way to keep track, less emotional.
Ive been doing this for so long now IF has almost become the norm rather than the weird thing it was when I started. I’m doing fine also. I’ve now gone to low carb along with 16:8 and I’m finding that weight is stabilized with that, rather than the yo-yo effect when I was eating so many carbs.
Pleased to hear you’re ok Purple, Hermaj , Polly. It’s still a wild crazy time across the world. Thankfully we’re all still here maintaining 😊
Hi Carol
Funnily enough, I was wondering how you are travelling, only this morning!
I’m pleased you are happy with your dietary regemin. Well done!
As to me, the only maintenance is continued IF, not keeping to the low weights I saw in the past. 😑 But then, life’s too short to stress about every detail. 🙂
I know if I ate as I was 10 years ago, I’d look like an elephant. 😍🤣🤣
Keep the flag flying guys. P
Hi FFS
At least the interloper dragged you out into the ooen! 🙂
We’ve all been very quiet on this thread, haven’t we? Shell shock after 2020? Utter failure on eating control? Or, hopefully, busy, active lives? 😅😅
Winter has hit here so I can hide the extra kilos, but also have much more difficulty avoiding the warming effect of eating. Keep vigilant, Purple!
Hope you are managing to come out of lockdown into the warmth of your spring. P
Absolutely awful! I posted that OH had had a wake-up call. We did well for a couple of weeks, but this week and yesterday in particular has unlined it all.
Yesterday was my birthday and the first chance for my sister to visit since the summer. We prepared far too much food, with bread for cheeses. Then to cap it all, my lovely neighbour ordered a box of ‘artisan cheeses’ for us both, as she missed his birthday. The fridge is now groaning with food, most of which won’t do us much good. I can’t eat cheese without bread
5 year anniversary on Monday. 😲
How are you all?
Hi! I’m still here 😊
My 7 year anniversary 25/4. Pretty amazing really. Still doing 16:8 and low carb but not over the top about low carb. Maintaining weight. Some days I feel like stating ‘stuff it’ but I get over it. I’m finding this whole damm virus thing quite depressing now. No idea when we will see our youngest son and his family again. But, we’re healthy and very unaffected here in SA, managing to catch up with son and family in Brisbane so can’t complain. PS I’ve been locked out, seems to happen a lot for some reason.
Pleased to hear you’re going okay FFS, Polly and Purple 😊
Hi All – what a long silence! I’ve assumed we were all as ok as was possible in the circumstances, or otherwise preoccupied, but it’s good to hear from people again.
We have been ok in lockdown – OH is temperamentally perfectly suited to it, and will have to be coaxed out after our second vaccinations next Tuesday. We fell foul of the virus back in November, as did our daughter, who doesn’t live with us but is bubbled with us. I think she and I picked it up in the same place, and then I passed it to OH before I realised I was infectious. We both had a fairly torrid 10 days; he then recovered completely, and I’ve taken a bit longer- still get the occasional ‘non-day’ when I’m ziltched , and have been left with bad arthritis in my hands. We lost 8lbs each: I’ve regained about 3lbs of mine, while OH has regained it all, and more – due, I suspect, to the urge to mainline carbs it seems to leave in its wake. Contrary to stereotype, DD was much more badly affected – spent a week in hospital on oxygen and has only just returned to working full time. Very scary indeed, and not to be recommended to a friend – or even an enemy.
Other than that, we’re fine – looking forward to properly getting to know our great grandson, who will be a year old tomorrow, and whom we’ve seen briefly twice, but not yet held (his dad has been shielding) and seeing friends without compulsory walking, however enjoyable that is. My weight is unchanged from this time last year, which is surprising; OH’s, we don’t talk about! I have a distressing familiarity with zoom – but the plus side is that I’ve done some brilliant short courses which I’d never have been able to afford, or travel to, in real life, and discovered that I love ballet barre and boxercise – neither of which I’d have had the confidence to try in a real class. So, we have been very fortunate, and are very aware that we’ve had it much, much easier than many.
Good to be back in touch. Virtual hugs to all, as we begin to emerge..
Of FFS, how terrible! I’m so pleased you all seem to be coming out the other end. It certainly seems a nasty, fickle virus.
As Carol says, we in Aus have been relatively unscathed, but have been through a lonely time cut off from the world and even other states. Our vaccination roll out is moving exceptionally slowly. Until it happens, many people are out of work, or hanging on grimly for the borders to open.
I personally only know of 2 friends who had COVID, and both were in the UK.
Like your OH, Mr P is very well suited to lockdown and isolation, so, other than mask wearing, he is relatively unaffected. I’m more the social butterfly and hungered for hugs with family. We haven’t seen over half our grandchildren since early 2020, so Zoom skills here have been honed also.
I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity of humans for social contact. The very reason the virus spreads so easily is what we all ache for. We are definitely social beings.
Treasure what you all have. P 💓
Today is 8 years since we started 5:2.
Mr P is still drug free and in control of his Type 2 Diabetes. He also maintains a healthy weight, but part of that is the complicated health issues he now has.
I, however, have crept up the scales, ever so slowly, in spite of 2 good 24 hour fasts a day and a veg heavy diet. I know my total calorie count is higher than it was 8 years ago when I lost 30kg, but well below what I ate in the years before. My BMI is at the top of normal. I’m pleased that I have shifted towards a much healthier diet, that I really enjoy, but terribly disappointed in the expanding waistline.
I feel I am no longer eligible to be a maintainer and am unwilling to go back to the deprivation that I did in 2013. Life is too short…this last year has certainly taught us that!..and I am unwilling to be constantly feeling that I have to say no to most food.
Cheers to all the successful maintainers. PVE
Congratulations on the anniversary, P, and to both of you on your improved health and changes in BMI. I’m really sorry you’re feeling so down – but please don’t be too hard on yourself. Things fluctuate, it does get much harder as we get older (the waistline changes, even if the weight doesn’t) – and the stress of the last year will have played havoc with cortisol levels, sleep quality etc. And it’s not all about weight – as you say, you’re eating more healthily, you’ve done wonders in helping and encouraging mr p – and the rest of us, when we’ve needed it. Now it’s time to be kind to your body, remembering that to undernourish it is as cruel as to overstuff it – but stay with us, lease! We’d miss you if you went! Hugs x
Ooh, P, Both if us with an anniversary this week. I remember telling my husband about your’s and his success coming off diabetes meds. He was impressed, but didn’t make it, although dosage was lowered. When he eventually has a face to face consultation the doctor, or practice nurse, will be putting things up again.
I’ve had the same fasting experience as you. Three days on no carbs at all, no alcohol, but no weight loss. I will have to stick to a 5:2 pattern, though to keep himself in line and hopefully lose the 2st + he’s gained.
Like you I’m wondering whether to set my target a little higher. I originally aimed for 21lbs, but lost 28. Like you, I’m wary about up-creep. ( new term).
When I started IF you were one of the kind supporters and advisers. You know you can do things and that silly aspects of our bodies, like transition, can make our efforts seem futile. Then things seem to click. .
.
Listen to auntie Fast and auntie Polly. You’re a good ‘un.
Take care.
Hi All,
FFS, glad to hear that you survived covid, albeit you were left with long covid. It seems that men more commonly die, but women get the long tail of it.
P, so sorry your weight continues to head in the wrong direction. So frustrating, particularly when it continues to works so well for Mr P ….and it’s you that feeds you both! I don’t have any words of wisdom, except don’t be too hard on yourself! I’ve had a couple of frustrating years with no reward on the scales for effort, so I know well you can’t force it unless the planets have aligned or you know witchcraft!
Purple, I understand where you’re coming from. I’m also aware of a very very slow but still upward creep. I think FFS is right, COVID has to have some Impact, even if it’s just on our motivation. But just like you I’m not going to restrict myself anymore than I have been. We’re only here once! Maybe we need to form a new group – upper limit maintainers 😂. Don’t know if you got the Anzac holiday or not like we did but have a nice weekend.
I thought it was time I popped my head above the parapet just to prove I’m alive and well and (so far, fingers crossed) have escaped the worst of Covid-19 and the resulting lockdowns.
I and Him Indoors have both had our two jabs. His first left him a wee bit woozy – nothing that a short afternoon kip couldn’t cure. Meanwhile, I swear that first time around they filled the syringe with weapons-grade G&T. The hangover reminiscent of my time as a (mature) student lasted 4 days but on the plus side it lost me close on 2 kilos as I couldn’t bear the sight of food.
Second time around, he felt not a thing and the side effect of my jab with the hard stuff only lasted 2 days, perhaps because of a lower dose of Mother’s Ruin. I should point out I haven’t touched the stuff for nearly 20 years after giving up smoking. If I couldn’t have the ciggie I didn’t want the booze.
In bad times I have the good fortune of being prone to comfort fasting rather than comfort eating. Don’t know why that is. So weight-wise, I’m within spitting distance of BMI 24 and a bit, i.e.no longer heavy enough for some doc telling me to give up on stuff I don’t eat in the first place. I do so sympathise with everyone stuck at the same weight however hard they try. My worst result was taking a year (my second on 5:2)in to lose 1.5 kilos. It might take two years to lose the final three.
If we had to be anywhere to go through all the palaver, Cambridge is infinitely better than North London would have been. Close to home and across the eerily empty hosts and hosts of golden daffodils (all now looking a bit weary), trees in blossom – including the two magnolias we inherited – then turning leafy green. I’m also experiencing what a good gardener Himself is, and how much pleasure he gets out of it. I love looking at gardens, including our own which we didn’t have in N8, and strolling around big public ones, but to me gardening itself is outdoor housework.
Still, I’ve been helping to earn our keep thanks to two large and long-lasting translation projects in fairly swift succession, which are unaffected by lockdown. Which reminds me. I’d better get on with it. 🙂 Lovely “talking” to you all.
Great to hear from you Herm. Which vacc did you have? Sounds like a powerful reaction. 😒
I can just imagine you in overalls, wellies (gum boots here) and a big hat, manning a spade in the compost! What an image!
The autumn blooms here (camelias and lassiandras) have been a joy this year.
We are on a road trip, travelling through the high country with the absolutely stunning autumn colours glorious in the late afternoon sun. The flooding rains last month have left the countryside bright green and the creeks full of fallen and washed down trees.
It is an amazing world. P
Hermaj,
Great to hear from you, and that neither you nor him regret your move! Its many years since we left Cambridgeshire, but I can imagine how lovely it would look without the students and the tourists…!
After hanging on to a few extra kilos for the last couple of years, the scales have been kind to me recently too. I’m not really sure what’s caused the shift but its given me a boost.
P, enjoy your trip! I’m planning trips in my head, bit weird though thinking of places to go by myself but if I don’t get into the habit of travelling alone I won’t be going anywhere!
Greetings, all. Good to hear you are all still surviving, albeit at different rates of success.
We are just back from a week’s break in the lower South Island, small group guided tour, great scenery and good crowd. So appreciate being able to mix and mingle without restrictions. There are a couple of kgs to be removed from both of us, but I am giving it a week before I take more serious action. Back to 20 degrees and glorious autumn sunshine. Cold nights, though. Must rake the lawn again!
As I have previously mentioned, my weight started to go up again after plateauing at a level never seen since early teenage years with the benefit of finding 5:2. Nothing I could do to stop the increase – 5:2, low carbs, two meals a day… So depressing. That’s why I have moved on to DDF, which is working well. OH continues to follow 5:2, no weight loss these days but apart from Mondays and Thursdays he doesn’t make any effort to restrict himself! 🙁 My BMI sits at 21-22, so I’m pretty happy with where I am, eating twice a day, avoiding bread (mostly) and most carbs.
Our region has moved to allow over 50s to get the vaccination, so I will make contact to arrange the first jab. OH had his ‘flu protection yesterday, so will need to wait a little longer. Northland has a lot of poverty and deprivation, and vaccination rates are low here, hence the early lowering of the age limit. The whole country is using the Pfizer brand.
Cheers, B.
Morning, everyone. Wow, Herm, that really hit you. I’m wondering which vaccine you had, too. I’m certainly with you about gardening as outdoor housework, but I do like a tidy garden. There’s nothing like some aggressive pruning to work off frustration, though. No need to worry if your BMI is under 25.
Happy, there are a few companies that do single only holidays, varying from tours to just resort based. We can only dream at the moment, though, eh. I envy you your kind scales. Just like Barata, I’m fasting twice a week and the damn things are stuck! I’m still at BMI 23 and two pounds over top wriggle. I don’t mind it really, but I’m supporting OH who has regained a horrible gut.
Barata, what is DDF? New Zealand has been brilliant over Covid, no surprise that you’re a little slower with the vaccines. Or are you? Maybe it’s that the U.K., Wales, in particular, has been unusually effective and efficient.
Daughter is coming today and staying over for the first time. We will probably go for a walk. It was her 50th on Monday. We went to Chester Zoo, where she’s not been since she was a kid, so she had a shock. We walked miles. Sadly, we also ate a big lunch, including the best chips I’ve ever had. Might be an answer to our stuck scales, there. 🥴
Pol, it was the Pfizer/BioNTech, which I believe is one of the most effective. The NHS website tells us that side effects can last “for a few days”, so I guess my experience was pretty well normal.
I do agree about tidy gardens although I confess I don’t try very hard to clear them up. Last year, Himself decided to sow an area of lawn with wild flowers in order to take care of the bees. Result, a complete mess which said bees largely ignored and a few whinges from me. This year, he has actually dug up a carefully measured area of the lawn, overlooked by the patio he paved with his own lily-white hands last summer. The neatly dug area is about to be sown with poppy and other wild flower seeds.
We had the Pfizer as well, Herm. No side effects whatsoever other than a sore arm for that day.
Our gardening problem is that a large part of it is out of easy sight, so out of mind, then out of control. This morning I’ve just been asking a 93 year old neighbour for advice! She rang requesting husband’s help to retune her television – a regular occurrence.
We put down wild flower seeds years ago. Unfortunately, the pretty ones did not survive. But we are plagued with lords and ladies, nettles in corners and damn cleavers, all of which I hate. I like daisies and buttercups, love yellow Welsh poppies.
Polly, you might be interested in this:
http://www.intermittentfastingstories.com/episode145martykendall
I find Gin Stephens is a good source of info too, but Marty’s the man!
Hi Happy,
Just my pennyworth on solo travelling. Go for it! I’ve done quite a bit of travelling alone, firstly when I was very much younger.
More recently I made a couple of solo trips to Glasgow while working on a project for the MA History of Art. I also went on a 2-day visit to Berlin to see an exhibition about which I had done a long series of translations and wanted to catch before it went on a world tour.
Unsociable and – would you believe – very shy in groups – being part of a bunch of singles or otherwise is not for me. And Purple is absolutely right in saying if you are not in a group you have greater possibilities of meeting people on your wavelength.
Thanks Hermaj,
I’ve travelled alone for work purposes so I’m not sure why doing it personally (I won’t say socially/ socially!) should be a big deal, except that I won’t have the ‘comfort blanket’ of a (bad) relationship to come home to!
And not forgetting that I’ve now reached the age, according to the media, where I am invisible in society… so I can look forward to slipping silently around the country, largely unnoticed 🤣
Invisibility has so many advantages, Happy – observing unobserved and earwigging without discovery are great , and I find I now happily walk alone at times and in places where I might previously have felt nervous. Enjoy your trip to the full, make the most of the ability to make your own choices without all the usual compromises.. No comfort blanket needed, other than your own courage, which you’ve already shown you have! I wish you joy
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