The FastDay Forum

snap steph, we just posted simultanously.

Hi again ladies, it's good to all be here at the same time again.
I'm glad it's going better for you today Ieramul. I must confess to eating junk for my lunch today but I plan on having a healthy dinner which should even it out a bit, I haven't decided what yet. I read through cook books sometimes but hardly ever follow the recipes. I get ideas of what to eat though. Does it make a difference when we talk about food when you are fasting? It doesn't worry me, I can read those cook books while fasting and not be tempted ...because it's a fast day!!! Hahaaa
You must take note of all the advice we have given each other since we became buddies - and follow the steps on your list.

Nice to see you again Steph, as to the weather, the sun has just peeped out after the most horrendous rain storm. We had a muddy river running down the drive and making a deep puddle at the back of the house, we have a Cornish stone hedge at the side of the garden which has a hole built in to let out the water into a little stream on the other side, we have to make sure it is kept clear or we would be flooded. Luckily that has never happened since we've lived here. One of the joys of living at the bottom of a hill in a rural area.
I've been thinking about your fast day evenings, have you tried joining in the fasting today threads? There might be someone there from Canada or the USA who will be awake at the same time as you to talk to when we are not here. You might already do that!
This was going to be a few words and I've got carried away again, talk again soon

So good to hear you are faring better today Ieramul. I imagine it is close to supper time for you two. I'm curious to hear what you both had. I like reading through cookbooks and rarely follow recipes unless I am totally unfamiliar with the spice combinations, I just like the ideas. I picked up a few more cookbooks last night, one of them is Jamie Oliver's America. Is he as popular there as he is here?
I had a good time at school today working with the little ones. I'm very happy when the teacher has specific learning tasks set out for me. Makes me feel useful and proud when the child finally "gets" a concept under my tutelage.
Just finishing my lunch, early today, only 1 pm instead of my usual 3 pm, but I tend to get hungry earlier when I wake up earlier in the morning. Today, though my stomach has felt queasy and I've have been having some stomach cramps. I'm hoping the banana I'm eating now settles my stomach.
I don't have any problems with talking about food or looking through cookbooks or even watching cooking shows when I'm fasting, at least I haven't yet.
Isn't the sun wonderful coffee? It is supposed to rain again tonight and/or perhaps snow. I'll take the rain any day! Hard to believe it will cloud over later as it is so absolutely beautiful out now and some of the trees are still in their bold, beautiful leafy colours and it of course it is so fun crunching through the ones on the ground.
I'm off to the dentist for a cleaning. Talk again soon!

Hi both of you. Coffee, I just realised that I missed your first post this morning - only saw your ten o'clock one where you talk about the weighing. congratulations for dropping 1.5lbs this morning. That is excellent news and must be very encouraging.

I am so impressed about your OU courses, too. but you are right there comes the point where it all becomes very mathematical - especially physics. But it is good to have interests and keep the mind active. I used to have lots of plans to do adult education classes in the evening but when I get home from work in the evening, I just don't want to leave the house any more. I just want to sit back and relax. I must be getting older but I am contemplating to do a distance learning course.

I don't mind if you talk about food during fasting - I can even watch a cooking programmes, no problem. My fast went well today - not very hungry - had two mugs of boullions at work but wanted to eat as soon as I got through my front door at 6pm. So, steph do you really want to know what I had? It's not very inspiring. DH is away (no temptation) and so I boiled myself some mixed vegetables from the freezer with two boiled eggs (from yesterday) with it. To make it a bit more palatable I put a tsp of mayo over the vegetables. For desert I had a banana. The vegetables completely filled my plate which psychologically helps my mind accept that I should be full. Long may it last.

Tomorrow I plan to have a very late breakfast (11am) and then eat to TDEE but absolutely no white sugar and only natural carbs and sugars as in fruit and vegetables. So tonight I will have to plan food for tomorrow as I can't cook at work and sandwiches are off menu too. Are you going to join me on the no sugar front? (You can alway have carbs I just do that to help me not crave sugar).

Have a great evening both of you. speak soon.

So glad that today's fast went well Ieramul, what a difference a day makes. Just realised that's another song!
I'm doing the free MOOCs, they are short online courses and the beauty of them for me is that I don't have to do the assignments if I don't want to and if they are not suitable I can just un-enroll and go on to the next one. I like the Coursera and the FutureLearn courses best, there are so many subjects to choose from. The only downside is that the only way to get to know your fellow learners is online. I can post the links if you are interested.
For my evening meal I had a veggie burger from the freezer which I made a few weeks ago and with that I had a huge pile of vegetables, then I had a couple of squares of the dark chocolate. I can't believe how it is lasting, there is still some left for tomorrow.
We didn't have sun for very long Steph, it soon turned dull and wet again but you are right it is wonderful especially at this time of year. All of the fallen leaves are a soggy mess, no crunching here I'm afraid. There are still some hanging on the trees so perhaps if the weather (and the mud) dries out I'll be able to have fun crunching them. I'm sure my few neighbours think I'm nuts stamping on the leaves at my age but I don't care!
I hope your stomach soon settles, take care.

More money!!!! Jeepers, I went to the dentist and gave them my insurance card. My insurance will only pay for new patient exams every five years. I wanted to change dentists because I had no confidence in my old one who was recommended to me two years ago. My son is extremely anxious when it comes to dentists, he has had tons of work done on his teeth over the years, starting when he was just 3. This dentist is much nicer, a woman, and is very thorough in her exam, which I just had, to the tune of $77. Groan. My meager savings are quickly depleting. I have to pay the same for Adam's exam tomorrow. I haven't even bought a birthday present for Adam yet! Good thing I get paid on Friday!
Cripes, what a sob story LOL.
You two eat way better than me, with all of your vegetables! Today I ate a large salami sandwich and a banana and now some crackers (oh lordy, I've started again on the carbs!). I didn't get that salad after all.
I'll be joining you in wading through the muck of leaves by tomorrow morning I fear Coffee.
Way to go Ieramul! Just a few more hours to go and then you can sleep through the rest of your fast . I'll do my best to limit sugar (and no diet coke!) tomorrow and see how it goes. I have to eat healthier on non fast days or the scale will certainly go up! It was nice to fit into these pants again today. They didn't fit over the weekend.
Have a good evening!

Well done coffee you seem to be in control today. I would be interested in your home made veggie burger recipe and also the link to the distance/online learning. Would like to check it out.
steph maybe you should consider teaching as a career.

That chocolate sure is lasting a long time, coffee, what self control!
Ieramul doing a teaching degree is pricey but I may be able to get a government program to help pay for some online learning for an ECE - early childhood educator- diploma. I am looking into it .

Hi steph, so sorry to hear about your financial troubles - everything seems to come together for you right now.

Steph your tagine sounds very healthy, too and it seems you are a very good cook, better than I.
I think we ALL have to strive to eat healthy and controlled on eating days so that our fasting days bear more fruit. After all they are not exactly easy so why undo it again? It's finding that balance where we treat ourselves occasionally but not so much that we undo all the efforts of fasting.

Steph and coffee I always love your stories. keep writing.

Hi again Ieramul, I didn't have a recipe for the burgers, I just put some nuts and beans in the food processor until they were like breadcrumbs not powder and mixed them with some left over brown rice, some herbs, and I think I put in a little bit of courgette and red or green peppers, onion, garlic granules, a little salt and pepper, I put some bouillon powder in too, mixed it all together and shaped it into burgers. I think that was all but they are different each time, it depends what is in the fridge at the time.
Here are the links, there are more courses to choose from on Coursera, FutureLearn has only been going for about a year but the OU started it and I'm used to their way of teaching.
https://www.coursera.org/about/
https://www.futurelearn.com/about
Well your fast day is nearly over now, I'm so pleased for you that it was better than yesterday.

Hi Steph, the chocolate is very dark and I can't eat too much at a time - well I could but wouldn't enjoy it.
Good luck if you decide to go for the teaching diploma, you seem to love helping to teach the little ones, what a lovely thing to do.
Oh and I forgot to say earlier, Jamie Oliver has always been popular in the UK, a few years ago on a TV series he helped change the food served in UK schools from cheap junk to healthy meals. I don't know what it's like now with all the cuts, I hope the children are still getting healthy food at school.
It's getting late now and I've left a pile of washing up till the last minute again, so I'll do that and then I'm off to bed. Enjoy your evening.

Good morning! I trust you both slept well!
I'm still getting through the evening here Jamie also did a similar project in the US changing the food served in school cafeterias. Right now his "15 Minute Meals" show runs on the Food Network channel on tv. I watch it sometimes. He is exuberant and so fun to watch.
My day has gone to pot. I had a little nap and woke up feeling gloomy and lazy.
I didn't eat a proper supper but have been "snacking" for hours. Started with the crackers after which I was very full but I went out and bought some grapes, thinking I could have them tomorrow on my no sweet day, I also bought some trail mix with nuts and seeds. So, even though I was uncomfortably full I ate all the grapes and over a cup of trail mix, then started in on some sugary cereal. I feel absolutely gross now . Why don't I listen when my body so clearly doesn't want any more to eat? I did resist the chocolate and the donuts at the store, though, so small victory there .
I have to make some supper for when Adam gets home from work. Don't feel like doing that at all. I get into these spots where I lose all motivation, or "umph" as I prefer to call it. It just disappears and then the whole day is wasted. Well, to be fair I did have a good morning.
Ieramul, I don't usually cook much of anything for myself other than eggs, potatoes and a few vegetables or a salad, sometimes mixing it up with a bit of chicken and rice. Cooking the tagine was out of the ordinary for me. I can go weeks without cooking much of anything really other than frozen stuff or pasta. It isn't very good for Adam but I did give him sloppy joes for snack when he got home. He will have to settle for frozen chicken nuggets and roasted potatoes. Speaking of which I need to get it all in the oven. (And maybe brush my teeth and floss to keep the munchies at bay).
Blah, blah, blah

Sorry to hear that Steph, but it might not be as bad as you imagine. You don't have breakfast and had an early lunch, when you think about what you ate all day and even it out you could have had no more calories than if you had eaten three meals. Do you just weigh once a week? It would be interesting to see if when you wake up you really have put on extra weight.
Since being on maintenance I weigh more often, this morning I've lost another lb after eating lots of rubbish at lunchtime yesterday, I didn't eat the biscuits but finished all the chocolate before bedtime so one day of bad eating doesn't always make a difference.
It's a new day today and your half fast, you will have a goal to work towards and hopefully that will help you to stick to your TDEE. You CAN do it Steph.

Good morning Ieramul, I hope the scales tell you something good this morning.
I have to go out soon so will catch up later. Must dash....

Good morning, I hope you are both OK. Coffee, I am very pleased to hear you have lost another pound. Well done!!!
Yesterday my weight was up by a lb after Monday's binge, and is the same today after the fast. However I am aware that 1lb could just be water or food/drink inside me or my Monday weigh in was unusual. Who knows, as long as I stay within 3 lbs and don't go above a certain weight, I am happy.

Thank you, coffee for the veggie burger recipe and the two links you sent me yesterday. I have checked them out and they look very interesting.

I will try out some vegetable burgers soon. Whilst I am not vegetarian, I prefer not to eat meat every day.

Steph, I am not a foodie which is great in some respect as food is not always on my mind, unlike my DH who plans the next meal before the end of the last meal. I often ask him how he can think of the next meal when he is full? The problem with not planning ahead is that we just grab what is at hand WHEN we get hungry and that is not always healthy. When you only think of food when you are hungry then you don't have the time for cooking. I WANT SOMETHING NOW.

I have been thinking about a solution this morning. A good plan might be to cook larger quantities and freeze individual portions that can be defrosted quickly. Tagines, mince meat, casseroles, burgers etc can be defrosted and heated through within 15 minutes whilst the vegetables are prepared or defrosted and cooked. It is important to only ever freeze one portion so if you need a meal for Adam and yourself then de-frost 2 portions. The smaller portions de-frost quicker and are more versatile when Adam is not here to eat with you. I think the smaller the family unit the bigger the freezer should be. (Ours is far too small)

Also try and not to have unhealthy snacks in the house and don't worry about Adam, he seems to buy plenty of unhealthy food for himself anyway.

Now have a great day. Speak soon