So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Evening all,

NSD here today. I popped to see Dad and partner and we went for a quick walk. Otherwise, it's been a house-y kind of day. We were both very tired after a bad night's sleep, so basic housework rather than DIY. Lunch was the penultimate unclaimed Olio baguette (they're getting refreshed in the oven now, but still remarkably OK) - with Olio roast chicken slices for Mr MV and PB&J for me. Dinner was hm pizza, with hm sauce to use up the end of a jar of passata, the last roast chicken slices, some hg pepper slices from freezer and (for Mr MV) some Christmas brie. Lunch tomorrow will be paninis with the last of the brie/cheddar for me. We'll have the second lot of chilli from last night for dinner tomorrow as I've picked up an extra Olio collection from the big Tesco (my usual one is the Express). Walk tomorrow morning and friend may pop round for a cuppa in the afternoon.

MS things:
* Y Live surveys x 2 - and tipped me over the payout threshold
* YG survey
* pennies on HW, clicks done
* Continue to find meals from what we have in/Olio stuff

Gratitudes:
* Nice to see Dad and partner and to get a short walk in
* HM pizza
* Chance at an extra Olio collection - it's rare to get one these days and we have room in fridge and freezer for some goodies.

Have a good day all!

try_harder

I am at £47 on the Y Live surveys .Pity the cheque takes so long though once you have reached the £50 target

themadvix

Morning all,

I hadn't noticed that TH, tbh - probably because it'll just get subsumed into my main income as it has to go through the books. You'll be there soon though! 

Heading off for a walk shortly, but have done clicks and HW (a nice few pennies this morning, although I definitely need to retire one of the games as it's never actually won anything for me and I'm stuck at £4.88). Weighed myself this morning and pleased to see I'm now below my pre-Christmas weight. Still a few kgs to go before I'm back at my pre-pandemic weight, but I'm heading in the right direction and basically it's due to cutting out most snacks by having breakfast later (and thereby also having a longer fast) and moving a bit more, so entirely maintainable and not unpleasant. I'm generally feeling much better for it too. 

If I have time, I may go down to the allotment this afternoon  - now I have my gloves I have no excuse for not planting broad beans! Also want to photo the strimmer and get it on Ebay. Will try to get some other lingering bits on there today as there's the 80% off FVF offer.

Looking forward to/intrigued by what I'll get in my Olio collection tonight - it's been a long time since I've done one at a bigger store.

Have a good Sunday all!

Karmacat

I've noticed when you mention breaking fast later - there are some days I could do it, but I'm dubious - but I'm also dubious about my general willpower around food at *all* times, in any case 🤣

themadvix

The key, I've found, Karma, is to have a drink when you first start to feel hungry/get up. You might do this anyway, so it might not work for you, but I've found that the tea stops me feeling hungry (because I'm actually feeling thirsty). And a second cuppa does the trick too. It's definitely got much easier as the weeks have passed and it's also reset my other eating habits too - today I had breakfast about 10.30 and then we went for a walk, to the pub for a drink and I've only just now (at 3pm) had lunch and I wasn't even 'hungry'. Previously I'd've needed topping up with a snack in the middle, at the very least, but I didn't have a single hunger pang. I was getting into the habit of grazing more and more and knew it wasn't healthy, so I'm really pleased that it's been this easy to change my habits - I don't feel deprived (I love my breakfast, so I'm not ready to skip it entirely), and if I fancy something mid-late afternoon, I'll have a single piece of chocolate (the Ferrero Rocher - which you'll remember is my favourite - lasted until the end of this week) and that's enough! I love food, so I didn't want to feel deprived, and this way I don't.

Karmacat

I'm loving that!  Yes, I have a cuppa as soon as I get up - but its often an hour before I eat anything.  Maybe I'll consciously try to make that last until 10, or even 9.30 at first.  I like the idea.

themadvix

It’s definitely a process - it gets easier as you do it more. I remember listening to a podcast with a man who was fully into it and he basically has one meal a day - I remember thinking that's madness and I could never do it, but after today, I can see that it might be possible. The longer fast is meant to be good for reducing inflammation too.

Olio done, and I think probably all that's going tonight is going. Was a relatively big collection compared to my normal one - kept 9 items as my 10% and there's a few use by bits in the fridge that I suspect we'll be keeping too (as well as loads more baguettes, but I have a contact who will take these - there's only so much stale bread I can eat). Lunches tomorrow covered (veggie gyoza!) and lunches for two more days for me (Mr MV is out and about Tuesday and office on Weds). Large tub of mini sausage rolls split and frozen, restocked our veg drawers which were looking shockingly bare - potatoes, baby corn and mangetout, peppers and cavolo nero. Not a bad haul, at all!

Suffolk_lass

I have fallen into morning fasting on most days too. I unload the dishwasher, do any food prep for the evening, get anything I need out of the freezer to defrost and then sit with two cups, sometimes three, of black coffee at my computer screen before moving to the day's activities. It is usually a soup lunch in winter, but sometimes we work through until 3-4pm before stopping for tea and a sandwich or cup of soup. We did find that this late one often messed with our evening meal and we were going for convenience, like beans on toast after a 4pm brunch so I do try and stop before 2pm for soup now. No weight loss, but probably too sedentary here

themadvix

Morning all,

Impressive fasting SL, and I love how you say you're probably too sedentary and then on your diary describe quite a lot of very physical activity - with the tree removal and then the log stacking (and gymnastics!). I suspect the main reason it works for me as a weight loss thing and doesn't for you might be our respective ages (sorry). I intend to up my physical activity further this week - am going to attempt a run for the first time since Covid.

As expected no one came for any more of the use by Olio stuff, so I have added another tub of soup, three packs of vegan ham and a 'veg soup mix' bag to the freezer. All will come in handy (looking forward to the ready-made soup, although less so to the other bits). Had an appointment at the drs this morning, so posted RM survey item on way and picked up some bananas from an Olioer on the way back - she gave me loads! Am now debating whether I should cancel the veg box again this week, although I think I'll probably just do a custom order instead as there's bits we need - onions, garlic, ginger etc. - that a veg box either won't deliver or won't deliver in sufficient quantity. Friend who was meant to be coming for dinner on Friday has postponed - it looks like it'll either be end of Feb now or some time in April due to our diaries!

I'm still busy with my work and I'll have Cambridge stuff to do - although after a weekend of not thinking about it, I really can't remember what!

Lunch will be gyoza and a pasta pot from Olio, dinner might be chow mein, using some of the veg, but I've not decided yet.

MS things:
* Octopus saving session this morning (all this meant was no boiling the kettle during the hour as the battery covered the rest).
* Clicks and HW done - a few pennies earned
* Free bananas (and other food)
* Small ebay sale - I'll convert the postage cost into cash

Gratitudes:
* Drs appointment was reassuring
* Fresh air and exercise getting to surgery - and good combining with other activities (also spoke to mum and listened to a podcast)
* Yesterday was a very soothing and enjoyable Sunday (and even the Olio collection didn't stress me out).

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

We have just discovered a rather large wet patch on our living room wall.... (Excuse for not noticing is that it is visible in artificial light and I think the sun being out helped as well). Two cracked tiles on our single-storey roof look to be to blame, courtesy of the solar scaffolders. 😡 Our 'we should complain to Eon about poor installers' letter has just become a 'we want compensation from Eon for their poor installers' letter. Our trusted roofer is coming round tomorrow to take a look. Obviously we need to get the tiles replaced asap and hope that there's not invisible damage under the tiles.... Oh joy!

Work is going well, and our free lunch was nice (until we spotted the wet patch). Evening activities will now be cleaning the wall and the carpet (cat sick 🙄) and writing that complaint letter. I've also been to the allotment and taken photos of strimmer ready for ebaying.