The FastDay Forum

@Lil thanks so much for the smile. I just love teal. My bathroom décor is in shades of teal and celery/cream and cobalt blue. It is very pleasing. Off to a ladies card night. Lots of nice ladies and food:(.

Enjoy yourself@clairemarie You deserve it. See you next week

Hoping to catch up with you later on @clairemarie No loss or gain for me today - 'maintained' as we used to say at Slimming world. I'm happy with that after last weeks weigh in. We are having very mixed weather at the moment but I have managed to get into the garden for a while. I have nearly finished weeding the second of the big herbaceous borders at the back - the front garden awaits. My zinnias and antirrhinums are sprouting - will need pricking out soon but still too cold to sow outdoors.
I have some gammon (?ham) steaks for tonight - I think I will make some sort of stew and include some beans or lentils with them.
How is your jumper coming along?

Well @Lil it's a decent loss for me this week. 1.5 pounds despite all the naughty foods at ladies night. Tonight I am having lentils and veg. I can actually see some grass now as snow is slowly melting away. And in some newly emerging pots little chive sprouts are peeping through. There is hope. Yesterday Bentley and I joined another one of my sons and his bloodhound pup to a lovely ocean side dog park to romp around. Lots of people and their dogs were there. The park is surrounded by the ocean and the dogs are allowed to frolick without their leashes. It was a great afternoon except my little pup was sowing his oats around every female he could find. It was very embarrassing so I guess I will have get in touch with the vet soon. I named him Mr Bentley in honor of Downton Abby but he is more of a James Dean right now lol.

Great news @clairemarie Hopefully that's you back on track again. I'm glad spring is trying to put in an appearance - March is nearly done!
I presume Bentley is your dog ( I hope it's not your son )
So we've both had lentils today. I would be happy to have them with veg but my hubby likes to see some meat or fish on the plate!

Well it's Wednesday so it's fast day again. It's evening here and we had turkey stir fry - I had it with konyaku noodles. Got some spare calories for some strawberries later and a hot chocolate!
Lots of good stuff on TV at the moment. Look out for Poldark . It was a series here years ago but they've just remade it - worth a watch . There is also a series called Indian summer which I am enjoying although not always following the plot. We also have Masterchef going on at the moment and also a painting challenge ( that has actually finished I think but I am a bit behind) Plenty to keep me occupied while I make pompoms.
We have some family coming for a brief stay for Easter Saturday/Sunday - my sons, my 2 sisters and possibly my niece. We have had big Easter gatherings in the past but as they get older several of the younger generation are otherwise occupied.My daughter has started a placement with the main TV company in Berlin today so she won't be home. She will be back for the hen do sometime - June I think. Not sure I'm going to fast on Monday as it is a holiday here - I shall see how it goes.

@Lil this is the first Easter that I have nothing planned which is ok by me. I would like to go to Mass in the morning and then check out what is in the nursery's. If the weather is nice I would like to take Bentley for a very long walk at the beach. A day of solitude would really be nice. I had a hard boiled egg this am and a few turkey rollups for dinner. No work tomorrow, yippee! So I will be working on my 'jumper' and heading to the salon for my spring hairstyle. I am starting to concentrate on my five eating days so that I am making non carb choices.
How many pom poms have you made so far?

Hi there@clairemarie I hope you had a good Easter. Although brief we had a very enjoyable time with family. We painted some eggs which is a tradition with us. In the past we have built an 'egg run' like a large marble racer and sent them down that. This year we didn't have the time or numbers to do that but the pub we went to for lunch had a steep driveway so we rolled them down that much to the amusement of the other customers. Not a good weigh in for me this week but things are coming back under control now - I may have put on 1lb ( quite a lot of that alcohol related I think)
Our younger son has this week off work so has been around which is nice - he and his girlfriend have just set off to go back to Oxford. The weather is very pleasant here at the moment and most of the perennials have started to show their heads in the garden. It's predicted to get cooler again at the weekend so I think I'll hold off planting my annual seeds a little while longer.
I'm going to do a chorizo, prawn and butter bean stew for dinner tonight

Well@clairemarie it's Monday and time for another fast. I see that unlike me you had a good weigh in last week. Despite being away overnight on Saturday I seem to have regained the ground I lost last week I hope your family life is not being too difficult at the moment. Looks like your weather is finally starting to behave itself. We've had some lovely days but it was frosty this morning so I am holding off planting my annuals a little longer. I have to finish my book for book club tonight before I do anything else It is called Elizabeth is Missing and is written in the voice of a woman with dementia so becomes more vague and difficult to follow as the plot progresses but I am enjoying it.
Not sure what we are having tonight but I have an aubergine ( eggplant) in the fridge that needs using so something to incorporate that

No loss for me this week @Lil. I ended up having family for dinner on Easter but kept it very low key as I was originally planning a day to myself. it was very nice though. It is amazing to me that any bit of sugar from the spoon, a shaft of wheat or alcohol immediately turns to weight gain. It seems very unfair that you fast and behave most of the week and one such indulgence turns to a gain. Is it an inflammatory response or fat? Anyway life is to be lived and enjoyed so if you/I enjoy a little something then so be it! Currently, I have enjoyed a rum drink. I make a coconut pineapple flavored carbonated water with my sodastream, a slice of lemon/lime and a good pour of rum. It is really very tasty. I think I will have a veg and egg scramble tonight. It is a beautiful 70 degrees here today and I have tomorrow off, yea! There will be a lot of raking in the yard I think. My plan is stating a good compost heap. Fingers crossed that it breaks down quickly in time for the veg garden which is stil a good month out for fear of a rogue frost. I have one little pile of snow left.

I does seem strange that we don't seem to both get a good loss in the same week doesn't it @clairemarie You have maintained your good loss from last week so there's only one way to go. We're going away again next weekend - this time with some friends so it will be a bit of a challenge so it will probably be your turn next week.
I enjoy a fizzy drink on a fast evening. I have bought some gin flavoured essence which I have with slim line tonic. In the past I have had rum essence with diet coke as well but gin is my favoured tipple.
I have resisted all the nice biscuits at book club tonight and now I am off to bed. See you Wednesday!

Dear @Lil, I have spectacular news. My son in Ireland who is graduating this year has just accepted a job offer for a firm in Cambridge, England. I am silly with excitement for him. He and his girlfriend will be at home with me for the summer and then to Cambridge in September. He will be working for an international company so I am sure sometime in the future it will bring him back to the states. What a lucky boy! And who knows if I visit him in the future we may just meet in person.

Great news@clairemarie I feel honoured that you rushed here on a Tuesday to tell me. Cambridge is a lovely place. One of my hubby's old school friends lives there now and we have been over occasionally to see him. What is your son studying? It is lovely when our children do well isn't it?

@Lil It is nice to have good news and I am so proud of him. I always fantasied as a young girl of having a career that allowed me to live all around the world. Ironic, to me, that it would be my son instead. So his accomplishment is extra joyous for me. He was a very poor student as a boy and the teachers just threw up their hands and now tops in his class. I must find his primary school principal and let her know.
Well today is supposed to be a fast day and I have failed miserably. I have today free from work and am out doing yard work so tomorrow will be a better day for the fast. Are you able to sow your seeds yet?

Hi@clairemarie I am glad that you have good news. I've just had my dinner - fish with a spicy mixture of veg and cannellini beans plus more veg. It's been lovely weather today and I have managed a little gardening - cutting back the dead daffodils and tying up the clematis. We had a frost one morning this week so I am going to leave it till next week to plant the seeds. The zinnias ans antirrhinums that I planted indoors are doing well. I have also planted some cerinthe . I saw a packet of seeds and liked the look. 4 plants have come up out of 9 seeds sown so not too bad.
We are going to Bristol this weekend to see a big Morris dancing get together. Morris is a traditional form of dancing in this country. I used to belong to a group. We are going with some old friends - one of the women used to dance as well. We will be eating out all weekend so not really looking forward to Monday's weigh in. Are you going to try and fast tomorrow or just go easy. I find it easier to fast on my home days because i can distract myself with internet, shopping etc. Where I work people often bring in goodies so makes it difficult.
A bit of TV and pom poms for me now I think!