The Second Annual Silly Season Challenge

This topic contains 391 replies, has 21 voices, and was last updated by  thinatlast 6 years, 3 months ago.

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  • LJ.. No reason why a Shepherd should not be affectionate, although I accept that even at my six and a half feet they are a lap-full. When we lived in a midlands village I had a Doberman who was a hard dog – in six years I think we were the only people in the village not to have nocturnal thieves. Even so, first thing every day I had to sit on the floor so he could tuck his head under my arm for his morning cuddle.

    Good day all, I love reading your posts and catching a glimpse of your lives. Big dogs can be cuddle babies and very fierce as well I once had a huge male lab that was 110 lbs and very protective and territorial outside but inside he was a lover, always setting his head on our laps as we sat and the children would constantly be on the floor with him cuddling or playing.

    Birthday dinner was very good. We tried a new Italian place. We shared two appetizers, fried zucchini flowers and grilled octopus. My main course was short rib cavatelli. A glass of prosecco with the appys and a very nice barberra with the main. Although the portions where reasonably sized I took half of my cavatelli home. I didn’t order dessert but the OH tipped them off that it was my birthday and they brought a tiramisu and we shared it. I felt stuffed even though I didn’t eat that much.

    My next 6 days will be NFD. We are traveling to Santa FE NM and will be eating out each evening. I plan to eat in moderation most likely just one meal a day plus a nutrition shake on the days I hit the gym.

    Penguin & Diverdog, you’ve both described my B-I-Ls german shepherd to a T. He was a big sook but incredibly protective of his people. The thing is when a dog that big decides he wants to be on your lap he’s too big to argue with. You just sit there and pat him until someone comes to help remove him.

    My FD went fairly well yesterday, although I had trouble sleeping and ended up making a hot drink with low cal almond milk at about 1:30am. I had enough calories available to cover it but I always worry that I’m disrupting the fasting process when I do this – it was about 50cals. On the plus side it did help me get to sleep soon afterward.

    I have one more pre-christmas FD planned for Sunday. Then two days of christmas meals at homes of various family. At this stage I’m planning FDs Wens & Fri which I’m hoping will be enough to deal with any excess from christmas and boxing days. If not then I can always do a final FD on Sunday 31st as well.

    Utmost respect to you Penguin for choosing rescue dogs. No breed is without issues and complications as a result of that breeding, some are downright cruel (the currently popular brachycephalics are a case in point). No dog will give you as much loyalty and love as the mutt you’ve rescued from bad circumstances.

    Your birthday dinner sounds tasty diverdog. Safe travels to New Mexico. Will we hear from you while you’re away? If not, Merry Christmas. (This post will likely be removed now.)

    LJ, I was trying to decide between fasting on Saturday or Sunday. There are a few stray neighbours around this year and I was thinking of inviting them over on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, I’d eat mince pies (plural) and drink rum & egg nog while wrapping presents after DD had gone to bed. Nowadays I go to bed several hours before she does.

    Asaasrgh… I had a post written, bumped the screen and lost it before I could press send,

    Anyway, up 300gms today on my hosts scales, and have decided to switch to Alternate Day Fasting to get me through the Silly Season except Chrisymas Day and Boxing day. So another FD today.

    Back later, hope all are going well.

    Merry, good luck with the AD, I hope it gets you to the weight you want.

    Thin, I decided on Sunday as my next FD specifically to avoid overindulging on christmas eve, in addition to the following 2 days. There is likely to be some family socialisation on Sunday and I decided I needed to draw a line somewhere. Regardless of what I do Sunday I’ll be happy with a glass of water or a mug of tea. I knew that if I didn’t do that, I’d likely end up with 3 continuous days of feasting and I know just how quickly my weight can balloon. A gain of 1-2kg every feast day is not unusual for me. That would lead to a very depressing post-christmas period trying to get it off again.

    Diverdog, those appetizers sound lovely. Stuffed zucchini flowers and octopus are both things I love. One of the things I enjoyed about growing my own veg was having easy access to ingredients like zucchini flowers.

    I’ve just finished off the last of my hummus, with salad in mountain bread. Very nice NFD lunch.

    Today, Thursday was a FD for me and it is going well and almost over. My scale surprised me this morning with a 58.7 reading. I guess the plateau has finally let me go! That’s only 700 grams over my final goal, so lit will be a good incentive to take it a little easy on Sat, Sun & Monday. It would be nice to reach my final goal by the end of the year.

    We have a rescue dog who is all cuddled up next to me tonight because it’s been so cold here today. When I woke up this morning it was under 1 degree C. It got a little warmer when the sun came out, but still cold. Lots of fleece clothing this time of year.

    Diverdog, your birthday dinner sounds wonderful. Food tastes so much better after fasting. It makes you appreciate every mouthful rather than just shoveling it in without much thought.

    Merry, you can never trust scales other than your own. And even our own are really only good for comparing one day to another.

    Fab result CalifD. You are really inspiring me to try harder. I am struggling just below my trigger weight and can’t seem to get to the lower end of 60.0kg. I see a low reading right after my walk and then it goes straight back up. That alcohol at the party last weekend did me in. Absolutely not worth the pain. I’m loving the rescue dog stories.

    LJ, I had planned a Xmas Eve FD all along as that’s my normal day anyway and I thought it a good way of avoiding mince pies and egg nog. Now I’m really feeling like I want another FD tomorrow. I’ve decided to have Sunday’s FD miso soup tonight. So today will be a CD (nothing except breakfast and the miso soup). I’m going to make tomorrow a proper FD and prepare a family fast meal. On Xmas Eve, I will try and fast all day and just let the evening take me where it takes me.

    On Christmas Day, I intend to enjoy whatever’s on offer as it’s my year ‘off’. But that doesn’t extend to alcohol. If I have any at all, I’ll limit it to two drinks all day at most.

    LJ, we just made a field trip to the cheese factory as I call it. It’s an Italian family owned farm well south of Perth where they hand make cheeses and sell to the public at wholesale. Not as healthy as your cherry trip. A little voice belonging to fatrabbit did come to mind as I was driving there. Should I be continuing this tradition? We bought some vacuum packed cheeses to save for after Christmas, a variety of cheeses to make into platters for Xmas Eve & NYE (meaning I won’t be eating most of it hopefully) and some to give away to my neighbours. No wonder I’m over 60kg with that kind of shopping list.

    Merry, note to self, don’t forget travel scales! I thought all these people were descending on you so I was pleased to learn that you are guests yourselves. Now that it’s 22nd December, I am beginning to feel slightly Christmassy. Just a little.

    If your postie left you a Christmas card in your mailbox, would you think she is hinting for a tip? Do any of you leave a tip for service people? I’m interested in everyone’s thoughts but especially the Aussie response since we tend not to tip here.

    Thin, enjoy those cheeses. This week I wandered past the cheese counter several times deciding whether to buy any. In the end I thought – do I need more high cal foods in my fridge after christmas? Especially cheese – which is something that I have absolutely no “off switch” with.
    But enjoy, I can live vicariously through your enjoyment of your farm fresh cheeses.

    Hi everyone,

    A friend took me to Kew Gardens last night for their Christmas event, which is basically a walk through part of the gardens which has been lit up and decorated, plus a laser show projected across the lake onto one of the glass houses. It’s a really nice way to spend an evening at this time of year. They have pop-up stall selling chestnuts, candyfloss, mulled wine etc and some more substantial food is sold in the cafe. We had some mulled wine as we strolled round and then went to a local pub for dinner which was very good.

    I’m planning on not eating until dinner today and if all goes to plan it’ll be a FD meal when I get home from visiting some relatives, but I’m not sure if they are planning on asking me to stay for dinner. I’ll play it by ear.

    My weight shows no sign of shifting despite my efforts but this often happens and it comes off eventually so I’ll just keep going.

    I love cheese 🙂

    Day 22. The grandchildren are still here and OH is still in Grandma mode which means that whenever they are hungry they get fed – about every hour and a half. Those were not the rules for their father at that age, nor at their home, but Grandma mode over-rides normal rules. Today they go home for a couple of days, returning on Christmas Day when they are back for another stay. so I will have a chance to get back on track before the goose.

    Thinatlast. Not an Aussie response but I tip the Postie, as long as it is our regular guy who does a very good job. Their rules say that if I am out large packages have to go back to the sorting office in the next town and I have to collect them. Somehow that doesn’t happen. Otherwise only normally in restaurants.

    We tip our gardener and hairdresser (who does hair for all of us) at Christmas. (We tip the hairdresser when we get our hair done too.) Both do an excellent job throughout the year and are reasonably priced. We have a fairly steep hill in front of the house that’s hard to maintain as we get older. (And a thankless job.) The gardeners mainly take care of that and keeping the driveway clear of leaves. We do all the planting of flowers and vegetables.

    Penguin, it’s in the grandmother’s bill of rights that they are allowed to spoil the grandkids and respond to every wish and whim. You can’t argue with that, it’s the law! 😁

    Califdreamer. I forgot about the lass who cuts my hair, as you say, every time. As for arguing with Grandma, I have been married to her for 51 years. I know when I can’t win.

    Also taxi drivers on the few occasions I use them.

    I do enjoy not having to think about tipping. It’s often awkward knowing how much to give under pressure and having the right money available. The flip side is that there’s little incentive to provide great service.

    I have to admit I’m clueless when it comes to tipping, probably because it’s just not the way things are done here. When overseas I usually ask others with a better idea what I should be tipping as I don’t want to offend someone and I know that salary structures are different, with tipping being essential to bring some workers up to a reasonable wage.
    Rather than tipping, I tend to do what my parents did – give produce or baking. So this year I put some homemade shortbread into a nicely presented cellophane bag and give them that with my christmas wishes. If I’ve made jams then some years I’ll give a jar of that. My mum would also have handled this situation by giving baking or preserves, my dad would have done it with either a box of homegrown fruit or a bottle of beer.

    Penguin, learning which battles to fight is a very useful skill to have.
    When I read your description of hungry grandkids I had an image of a nest of baby birds with contstantly open beaks, waiting impatiently for the next meal to arrive.

    I was pleasantly surprised this morning by my measurements. They are all on the low side, with the exception of my knees. My knees are up by over 2cm which indicates my inflammation levels are up a bit. I’ve been measuring approx weekly over December to keep an eye on how my weight is going. It’s a helpful guide, without the unhelpful reactions I have from weighing myself.

    Another NFD for me. I was tempted by sourdough toast with vegemite for breakfast but I resisted. Eating bread that early in the day rarely leads to a good outcome so I just made my usual pot of tea and decided to be satisfied with that.

    Hope those of you squeezing another FD in this weekend before christmas have success with it.

    FD is going OK although it feels odd on a Saturday as my fast days rarely change. I am enjoying feeling a bit hungry in the hope that I’ll continue to see a decrease in weight before Monday. My stomach is really rumbling and it’s only 11.30am.

    Amazon, the evening at Kew Gardens sounds lovely.

    Day23. Fasting today and tomorrow – the family won’t arrive until the afternoon of Christmas Day so I should be able to retain control until then. Off now to join the panic stricken throng of last minute shoppers. That should be fun.

    Hi Everyone,

    Please enlighten me. Is NFD a Normal Food Day or does it mean something else?

    It’s another FD for us today. I’m at work today and it’s quiet busy. The smart phone app says I’ve nearly done 2500 steps and I’m only two and a half hours into the shift. I’ve got another nine and a half to go before I finish.
    We are shutting down for Xmas so I’m not back at work until the second.

    We’re going to go and watch the Star Wars film tomorrow and then go to a nearby steakhouse afterwards.

    I’m looking forward to standing on the scales tomorrow morning.

    Hi Westwings, Normal Food Day sounds better really but it’s generally accepted as non-fast day. Or Feast Day as I like to call it. I’m fasting today too and finding it hard. I’m sure I’m doing something resembling a B2B fast – it feels like it anyway because I haven’t eaten a normal meal since breakfast yesterday and it’s dinner time here now. I am really looking forward to my FD dinner which I usually have at 5pm but I’m waiting for DD to get home from work so maybe another hour to go.

    Have fun shopping Penguin. Oh dear, is it really day 23?

    Hi everyone,

    I didn’t fast yeaterday but only ate at dinner last night/ I wasn’t feeling too good so had an early night and woke up this morning feeling good and without the virue that has been lurking all week.
    A good result.

    I’m fasting today and the plan is not to berak my fast until my CE dinner tomorrow. I’m planning on prawns, smoked salmon, avocado and salad with a glass of champagne on the side 🙂

    Have a great Christmas everyone, try to stay on track and if you eat/drink it enjoy it don’t regret it. You know you have the tools to deal with it 🎄🎄🎄⭐⭐⭐ 😊

    Westwings. I have just been into Ross for the last minute shopping. Three times around the car park looking for a slot, checkout queues backed up down the aisle – you are better out of it. Everyone was surprisingly good natured.

    Snippet heard on the car radio. “When dieting , Queen Victoria ate what her doctors suggested in addition to what she normally ate.”

    Amazon, your Xmas Eve dinner plans sound really good. Although anything would probably sound good just at the moment. I usually find FDs so easy. So, your family member invited you to stay for dinner last night. Good that you have escaped any lurgy. You three in Britain will be keeping each other company fasting for the rest of the day, and beyond in some cases.

    So true Amazon, we need to really enjoy whatever we eat and make it count. There’s no point eating it if it isn’t absolutely fantastic.

    Glad I’m not doing any last minute shopping Penguin. DD has only just finished work and only had tomorrow to do her shopping but has now been asked to go back in to work in the afternoon. Her Christmas holiday is shrinking.

    Penguin,
    Morrisons has been rammed for the past two days, so much so that we did our food shop in Sainsbury’s yesterday. It was a lot quieter in there.

    Have you tried the new wine shop at the top end of town just beyond Lloyds bank?

    We went to the Alma at Linton on Thursday. The starter was good but we had to send our mains back. It was supposed to be brisket of beef that had been cooked long and slow. We were expecting it to just fall apart and be truly unctuous. Unfortunately it was tough as old boots. Still, they recovered well and gave us another bottle of wine on the house and their profuse apologies.
    Disappointing, but we would go again to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    Yesterday was a travel day with 10 hours spent in the car. Breakfast was 2 eggs, sourdough toast and bacon. Dinner was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten, venison with wild rice and greens. A couple of glasses of Rhone wine and a dark chocolate cake. Just amazing.

    We saw two really terrible accidents on the way. One car was cut in half by a semi. Just gruesome! I’m so grateful to have traveled safely.

    Today I’ll fast till dinner and then eat what I desire. Today will be spent in art galleries and museums. Lots of walking

    The fact that my back pain dissipated after water fasting for 2 days got me thinking. I always assumed that the pain was wear and tear damage but perhaps it is inflammation? Coincidentally I watched a pod cast on Dr. Mercola’s site on the “plant paradox” of lectins damaging the gut. I read the book and it makes a lot of sense to me.

    January will be a food exclusion month for me. Eliminating foods that could be compromising my gut barrier and adding those that will feed my good gut microbes along with fasting. It will be challenging because I have a cruise scheduled! LOL

    Diverdog, how awful that you had to come across 2 bad accidents on your drive yesterday. And how tragic for the people involved and for their families. A split second can change everything. We need to remember to be thankful for each day we have. Sante Fe has s a beautiful town and has wonderful restaurants and shops. What a great place to spend Christmas! Do you have family there?

    My scale said 59.1 this morning, up 400 grams. Not unexpected after a normal eating day yesterday. I’m not eating anything until our family dinner out tonight. We’re going to our favorite Italian restaurant because we all like it and it’s close. I almost always have the eggplant parmigiana which is topped with loads of melted cheese because it’s my favorite thing. That restaurant does it better than any other I have been to. Slow simmered sauces, good cheese, etc. I plan to thoroughly enjoy every bite along with the garlic cheese bread and a salad with the dressing not-on-the-side! I will, however, not eat beyond fullness. The new 5:2 me knows what “satisfied and full” feels like, and that “stuffed” doesn’t feel good. I will have them box whatever I don’t finish and take it home for another meal.

    Tomorrow we’re leaving early for nieces house which is about 2.5 hours away on a good day. Traffic will probably be bad with last minute Christmas shoppers if we leave early. We’re bringing along our old flat screen TV. They are the ones who lost everything in the fire a couple months ago.

    Well, off to finish last minute food shopping and put the bows on the staircase garlands that I have put off until the last minute. Yeah, I know if I had time to be posting here, I’ve had time to do it for the last several weeks. But we all have our priorities, right? 😁

    Diverdog, good that you’ve made it safely to your destination and sad for the families whose Christmas will never be the same. I enjoyed your post and would like to read more around those topics. I’ve had OA knees since the age of 26. It’s only since I started fasting that I’ve noticed the puffiness has decreased a little and wondered if my body really does go into repair mode for that brief time. Regardless of that, since getting the weight off, I have no joint pain and can do things like kneel or get out of the bath easily for the first time in decades. Not that I really want to do either of those things but I can if I want to.

    CalifD, I’m mixed up with the date stamp. You say you’re driving to a niece’s tomorrow but you’re the host for other people on Christmas Day. Is the Italian meal for the 23rd, the niece’s place Christmas Eve?

    I’ve been rewarded on the scales by what I’m loosely calling a B2B fast. It’s the closest I’m likely to come to doing one. My last meal was breakfast on Friday morning. This is Sunday morning and I’m having a frothy coffee. Boy, am I enjoying it too. I am just off for a walk as we have a 33C day forecast. I’m not feeling hungry so I will see how long I can last before eating today realising that a B2B would probably be 60 hours and preferably starting the evening before I started mine. Is that correct?

    I had been looking forward to spending today with DD but when she arrived home from work last night she informed us that she’s working another half day today at the vet hospital where she’s held a Saturday job since high school. She has to get up early, head into town to do her Xmas shopping and then go straight to work. She couldn’t resist the holiday pay rates. Five days off and then straight back into rotations, not much of a break for a uni student. Most of her friends have 3 months off for the summer.

    Thin, glad your extended fast got the desired result.
    Your daughter may have given up her holidays for working at the vet hospital, but she’ll finish uni with valuable work experience as well, her competitors who’ve spent summer at the beach won’t. I worked every university vacation and didn’t regret it.

    Cali, I can’t remember the last time I had eggplant parmigiana. It one of my favourite “special” meals when I used to be vegetarian. Enjoy.

    Diverdog, that dinner sounds delicious and the accidents awful. I’m doing my long distance driving christmas day so it’s a timely reminder to take care and watch my speed.

    FD for me in preparation for two feast days.
    I’ve just finished a pot of tea. It was one of those mornings where I go back to the pot for a second cup, only to be disappointed, because I’ve already drunk the second cup and didn’t realise it. I’m left wondering if I can squeeze a third from the sodden tea leaves. 🙁

    I can’t believe it’s taken me nearly 4 hours to wrap presents. And that doesn’t include the shortbread boxes, I’d already done those on Friday. But I’m finally done, and things are now in piles in the hallway near the front door so I don’t leave without them. I’d hate to get all the way to the Riverland tomorrow only to realise I’d left the gifts behind.

    I’m just sitting down to a pot of tea. Not hungry yet, but I’m sure I’ll be ready for my FD veggies in a couple of hours.

    Day 24. The weight is bouncing up and down this month as the days vary. At this rate I will end up pretty much where I started.

    I endorse those comments about the impact of fasting on pain. In my 30s I damaged my spine. As I got older and fatter the pain and lack of mobility got worse, culminating in my 60s in the inability to walk more than a few hundred yards and pretty constant pain requiring medication. Now in my 70s, 5:2 has taken me down to the weight I was in my 20s. I have no pain, no medication and can do pretty much what I want. Which means walking several miles most days, preferably over the hills, and a variety of outdoor activities, I don’t know if this is due to a reduction in inflammation or just the pressure of the extra body mass. The problem is that the body doesn’t always believe me when I tell it it is only 45.

    Cinque, have a gentle Christmas. This is one year you have to accept the priority is you.

    Westwings. My favourite book shop is at that end of town. I’ll keep my eyes open.

    A quiet day today. If there is to be a last minute panic there is no sign of it yet, unless you count the realisation that we have no brandy to set fire to the Christmas Pudding..

    Cali D – you have your priorities right – keeping yourself healthy. Everything else pivots around our health. It’s worth fighting for.

    Lovely to read how you’re all going prepping for Christmas. We are having a fairly simple Christmas amid some amazing wildlife . The geckoes are chirruping away (little pale browny ones). One is resident in our bedroom and comes out in the evening. It’s a juvenile and a bit shy but ch-ch-ch-ch-chs away anyway. This morning there was a tiny scorpion at the bottom of the stairs. That’s a first for me. There was a black snake about 30mts from the house that slithered quickly away under foliage – there’s bush on the property. Not sure if it was an OK one or not. We’ve been feeding the kookaburras little bits of sausage meat. They swoop down and get it and feed a baby up in a gum tree. I feel a song coming on – ‘ Singing – Give me a home among the gum trees ‘etc, no plum trees but there is a mulberry tree, mango tree, but we have to go past the snake to get any so we bought a tray of Kensington Pride ones instead. We get woken in the morning by a whip bird close to the house. And 4 kookaburras sitting on 1 branch laughing away all at once in the afternoon was quite deafening! I won’t go into the various insects, or you might never come to visit down under!

    Food wise I’m managing quite well. I think I’m the same weight as when I left home . Clothes fit about the same. I’ve been having an evening meal each day – bigger or smaller depending on if it’s a FD or not.

    Well, the children are asleep and Carols at the Myer Bowl in Melbourne has just come on the TV so time to wrap pressies while we sing along or listen. One of my children sang at these carols a few years ago, so we’ll watch that with the kids on Youtube tomorrow..

    I wish you all a wonderful Christmas Day full of joy, love and may peace be spread throughout you and yours as you celebrate the day.

    Merry & Mr M

    Merry, you’ve put me off just with the mention of the snake.

    Sorry LJ, I replied to your post above on the wrong thread.

    Penguin, oh dear, perhaps one of your guests can bring some brandy from their house. I’ve got DD on a home movie age 3 enquiring of our family friends if they’re setting the Christmas Pudding on fire to ‘get it warmed up’.

    Amazon, I followed your lead tonight and had prawns and avocado for dinner with a colourful salad.

    Safe travels to those on the road.

    Have a fabulous day everyone! Eat, drink & be merry. (especially you Merry). But make it all count. We eat less so we deserve the very best.

    Day 23 enjoyed some pistachios as a snack. Another fabulous dinner, mushroom and truffle ravioli with leek sauce, calf’s liver and truffle fries with a very nice Bordeaux. Apple tart for dessert. Although the portions were not large I felt stuffed
    Spent 4 hours walking canyon road art galleries in cold and crisp weather

    Pretty much the same for today except a choral concert and midnight mass.

    I’m really excited about the knowledge I’ve gained from reading the Plant Paradox. It really tied together a bunch of information I already knew about gut health and inflammation

    Time for more self experimentation

    Merry Christmas everyone,
    Thanks Penguin 🙂
    Merry, I wonder if the kookaburras will find the snake?
    Cheers

    I’m home from christmas in the Riverland. It was 4 hour round trip which is about the maximum driving I can handle in one day.
    Lunch was cold meats, seafood and salads. The only hot food was the bread rolls. We had lunch on the verandah looking at the Murray River which was only about 20m away. Not at all “traditional” but very Australian.

    I ate too much, especially of the nuts and sweet snacks before and after lunch. I’m not worried, it’s christmas day and a bit of feasting is ok, I had expected it. I have some post-christmas FDs planned that will hopefully deal with all those salted cashews that I ate.

    I hope you are all enjoying your christmas.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

    I hope that you and yours have a wonderful day.

    Happy holidays all!

    I decided to have savory crepes for lunch and then went all out with a napoleon for desert. Dinner was an outrageously good lamb shank. I’m going lighter tonight with seafood. B2B water fast will start after tonights dinner. 10 hours in the car tomorrow will make it easy not to snack on anything.

    I haven’t been anywhere near a scale but my skinny clothes still fit fine.

    I feel absurdly tired today. It’s amazing that a few hours of driving can tire me out – after all it’s an activity done sitting down.
    Tiredness has reduced my will power. I gave into the desire for vegemite toast for a late breakfast. I had planned to skip breakfast today. I did at least skip dinner last night – I was too full to contemplate any more food and settled for a pot of tea.

    Diverdog, your dinner descriptions lately have been making me salivate. They sound amazing – well, except for the calf’s liver – I don’t do offal, ever! Enjoy you lovely gourmet meals. 🙂

    LJoyce, I did a little over 2 hours driving back from Santa Rosa yesterday. OH drove the way there. Driving is tiring. I think because there’s a certain amount of stress, staying alert and mindful of traffic and hoping there won’t be any accidents or stalls to slow things down. I felt tired after the drive.

    Looking at pictures on the internet and the news of the British Royal Family stepping out to church, this year with the addition of Prince Harry’s fiancé, Meghan Markle. It seems so strange, after watching the show “Suits” for several years and seeing her character as a law office secretary and later an associate, and later the fiancé of one of the characters. Seeing her stepping out with the Royal Family just seems odd. But in a nice way, since it seems they are both very happy. I may become a “royal watcher”. 🇬🇧😁

    I wasn’t game to weight this morning, but I did take measurements. My waist is up almost 4cm from last Saturday. Needless to say the rest of this week is going to be a combination of FD’s and CD’s. Today and Friday will be FDs. The other days I need to stay in control and aim to be well under my TDEE.
    I have hidden all of the high calorie treats I recieved for christmas – that’s those that I didn’t manage to eat over the last two days.
    I’m planning low calorie dinners every day and will try to start eating as late in the day as possible even on the CDs.
    I might make some hummus and cut up carrots and celery so that I have a healthy snack on hand for mid afternoon when my appetite usually hits.

    I hope the rest of you have not experienced too much damage on the scales from Christmas.

    Xmas eating was OK. Out to dinner again and I had mushroom soup, surf & turf with pumpkin pie for dessert and although the portions where appropriate I felt stuffed. All in all reasonable eating for the whole holiday season. I’ll weigh in my usual time in the AM on the 27th.

    Got up at 5:00 AM 26th and drove 10 hours / 620 miles home to Vegas. I’m doing a B2B water fast and although I’m not physically hungry, boy do I want to eat something!

    We missed a white Christmas by one day. The snow came yesterday evening. By the middle of the night, when I got up to check the heating, we had about six inches. Fortunately it is going as quickly as it arrived and our power is back on, although there are still 14,000 properties across Wales and the Midlands without it. I hope the weight I gained over Christmas goes as quickly.

    That’s a lot of driving in one go, diverdog. Glad you had safe trips both ways. Lots of good food too.

    Penguin, that would have been lovely to look outside to find six inches of snow. With your fasting acumen, I’m sure there will be no lasting damage.

    LJ, how is it even possible to gain 4cm in one measurement since Saturday? There must a lot of margin for error with measuring by tape? I bet it’s not that bad. Pull the ends a bit tighter!

    CalifD, I’d never heard of ‘Suits’ before Harry got engaged to whatshername. Struggling to work out how a seasoned, mature member of the royal family could possibly have caused offence by wearing a beautiful centuries-old brooch depicting a black king adorned in gold head gear and clothing at a royal family Christmas banquet. The BBC suggests it was ‘racist’. Wondering just how much more absurd PC can possibly become. I would argue that it’s the critics on social media who have been disrespectful of the royal family, a centuries old British institution.

    Back to fasting & feasting, it seems we have all enjoyed the season’s offerings without any feeling of deprivation. I’m fasting today and looking forward to trying to meet my Silly Season Challenge goal by 1 January. Today, I’m back where I started which is a bonus in itself compared to the years where I would have gained 3kgs over Christmas and then felt depressed in January trying in vain to do something about it. Nevertheless, I do plan to join CalifD in the under 60s range. I did without my 2pm feeding as I was distracted by taking OH to the airport at the time so have only just had my first food at 5.30pm.

    Hi everyone,

    I hope everyone had a great time.

    I’ve not been near the scales. I know I’ve eaten too much but it is much less than any other Christmas in living memory!
    In the past I would have eaten from the minute I got up until bedtime and since starting this WOL I’ve been paring it down year on year. I don’t miss any of the things I no longer buy and I’m unable to eat anywhere near as much as before which is a blessing.
    I’ve also been mindful of how much alcohol I consumed.

    The plan is to fast Friday and Saturday then get back into my usual fasting routine on Monday.

    No-one cares about Princess Michael’s brooch apart from a couple of sad journalists looking for a story and a few people who want the past to be erased, and use every example they can regardless of whether it is appropriate to try to quell free speech and freedom of expression.
    I might add that Princess Michael isn’t one of the most popular members of the royal family amongst those who are in the slightest bit interested.
    I have nothing against them, the Queen has worked as hard as it is possible for someone in her position to do, and has dedicated her life to serving her country. They are an unending source of income from tourists both from the UK and elsewehere in the world, but I shy away from the newpapers that attempt to feed us a daily does of the minutiae of their daily lives which are of little interest to most.

    As for Harry and Meghan, opinion on the ground is that it is wonderful that he has finally found someone to share his life with. He’s had a hard time dealing with the way things have gone in his life, and no amount of money and privelige makes up for losing your Mum when you are still a child, and it is great to see him looking so happy.

    LESSON LEARNED! Although I ate quite reasonably over my four day Christmas holiday I added things I don’t normally eat much of: grains, pulses, sugars and cows milk to my diet. Yesterday was a WFD and in the evening I had huge cravings for guess what? Grains and sugars, even though I wasn’t really hungry. Since I don’t have those things in the house I didn’t eat anything. But my brain was begging me to go get some of those awesome drugs I had been taking! LOL I’m continuing my B2B WFD today and the cravings have passed. I also noticed some discomfort in my knees. Inflammation??

    Weight today is 163.0 lbs equal to my all time low.

    Done. it again! Longish post gone. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

    Anyhoo…….

    Trust you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed your Christmas NFDs.

    My 2 NFDs stretched to 3 when I found pout visitors had been invited, and this was a bit of a ‘bonding’ meal, so I decided to not do yesterdays planned FD. However, the food was not calling me, and I had small portions of the lower cal stuff, on a small plate. I tripped up late in the day as we looked at what was left before leaving this morning, and I had banana with pecans, custard, a little bit of icecream and a couple of teaspoonfulls of double cream. That was the only time I over ate over the past 4 days, and I felt sick afterwards. Really, the only reason I had it was because we were using things up, and dinner was a get your own mix of things. I’d already had enough, an elegant sufficiency let’s say, and really, the banana and co. was a return to eating for the wrong reasons – tiredness, not wanting to waste food, and I like bananas and pecans. If I’d just stopped at those, it wouldn’t have been so bad. I don’t even like cream! Ridiculuous, but lesson learned.

    So….today is a FD, going well, and I’m going back to Alternate Day Fasting so 30th Dec and Jan 1st will be FDs as well.

    What was really good was having nearly like-minded others in aiming for a moderate food Christmas. The ham was bought on Christmas Eve. The turkey breast was bought sliced. There were lovely healthy salads, fruit and vegetables. We had some only-at -Christmas things but only small quantities and only on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Our 6yr old was really interested to learn about the traditional things were, and the difference between mince pies and fruit mince pies.

    We swam, played family games, did jigsaws and other games, and it was just a lovely family time together, which was very happy and relaxing. The things memories are made of.

    Onwards and downwards,
    Merry

    diverdog, inflammation from the grains would be a possible culprit. Wheat gives me inflammation in joints, especially hands and wrists, and I know a few other people who get it too.

    Yesterday’s FD went well.
    I’m aiming for a controlled day today, hopefully just eating a normal dinner. Then another FD tomorrow. I definitely added weight over christmas and boxing day and it’s mostly still there.
    I hid all of the food treats I was given for christmas – out of sight works quite well for me most of the time.
    I’m planning all days to be either controlled or fasting, with no added treats at all until new year. My minimum acceptable goal for December was to be no more than 80kg by Jan 1st. It’s going to take some careful eating between now and then to achieve that.

    Merry, it sounds like you and your family had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day. Don’t beat yourself up over what you eat on NFD. You’ll make up for it on your next FD. I don’t see anything wrong with any of it except for eating something that you don’t like to avoid wasting it. It’s ok to dump food you don’t like if there are no other takers. 😁

    Diverdog, it sounds like your trip went well and all the holiday food was worth it. Sante Fe sounds like a great place for the holidays and a great place for eating. I always loved going to the Nambe outlet there.

    Amazon, I agree that your social media commentators can be quite cruel in their remarks about the royal family. I guess that goes with the territory since the monarchy is more of a social institution these days. They certainly bring in a lot of tourist money and help the economy with all the social interest keepsakes sold. I think the idea of a royal family is so romantic and the type of thing fairy tales were made of. One of my earliest memories was watching the broadcast of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on TV. I guess it was televised in the US after the fact, but it was a very big deal for my mom. I thought it was a wedding because of all the elegant dresses. I guess at that age I didn’t understand the concept of coronations. My mom kept telling me I was watching history being made. Anyway, I think it’s lovely that Harry is marrying an American woman and that they are marrying for love. It’s so romantic. She seems very familiar because of her role in that “Suits” TV show. And she looks sort of like Kate Middleton to me.

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