Nice pics. Save them and then you can make a progression collage. One of my fasting traditions is taking a new profile picture after the end of every prolonged fast. My last one that I posted in the FB group was my most popular post. Its also a great motivation tool to see how far you’ve come on your journey.
Antipodean"s Daily Journal
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I will do. I think I’ll take a new pic every couple of months, so hopefully I’ll be able to see some changes each time I take one!
Family and friends are saying I’m looking better, which is nice. The big changes I’m noticing are my skin and eyes - the dryness and soreness is all but gone. I’m still getting the itchies at night, but things are improving. I figure it took me many years to mess up my body to this extent, so it’s not surprising it’ll take a while to un-mess things and get me back to health.
Also starting to pay more attention to the healthiness of my surroundings - didn’t realize quite how much I hunched over when going through my spreadsheets at work until a workmate commented on it. Realized that would explain the sore back and shoulders! Now I’ve adjusted everything for height, and that’s helping a lot.
Modern living really does mess our bodies up, doesn’t it!
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Yes. When I was training clients, the first thing I worked on was correcting postural imbalances before moving on to strength training.
Typical office worker imbalances are forward tilted head, forward hunched shoulders, tight pecs, weak upper back, arched lower back, tight hamstrings, weak quads & glutes, and finally pronated ankles.
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3 July 2020…random thoughts… Just realized we’re more than half way through the year, and I’ve got less than five months until I hit a half century. YIKES!!
It really doesn’t seem that long ago I was studying, and figuring out all my Grand Plans for my life…lol.
And now here I am, getting crusty, fighting off the diseases of old age, and generally working to make sure my next fifty years are as healthy and happy as the first fifty have been.
My daughter, who is 13 and NOT overweight, asked me what was the best diet to be on. I said the best diet was to Not Get Fat in the first place! It sounds so simple and sensible, but its so hard to do for so many of us.
Our government is talking about adding a sugar tax to the many many taxes it already charges us. We do have a huge (pardon the pun) obesity problem in this country, especially among our Maori and islander population.
But I can’t help thinking a better way forward would be to take taxes OFF healthy foods (meat, milk, eggs, cheese, vegetables, fruit), so real food is cheaper for families to buy and they don’t spend so much money on junk. Because it’s true that junk food is often cheaper than healthy food. It’s true that often families can’t afford vegetables and fruit for their kids. And it’s true that coke is cheaper than milk.
I’m probably getting a bit too political for this forum, and I don’t want to do that, but I can’t help thinking we need to make it easier for families to eat well. Another tax won’t do that.
My partner and I are very fortunate. We eat well, and provide well for our kids. We also hunt and fish and provide great quality food that way. And I’m putting in a food garden as part of our property renovation.
But it isn’t cheap to eat well. The price of food in New Zealand - a food producing country - is outrageous, and our incomes are low compared with other developed Nations. The average income in New Zealand is about US$35K. And living costs are much higher than the US. House prices in my town (Dunedin) average NZ$500K, about US$400K. Auckland prices are double that.
People struggle and work long hours. No wonder junk food seems an attractive option at the end of a 10 hour day!
I’m rabbiting on here, but I can’t help thinking that the problems of ill health and obesity are much bigger than a sugar tax can solve.
In the meantime, I do think that fasting is certainly one solution that is accessible for everyone. It’s working for me.
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When I visited New Zealand back in 1990 for 3 weeks, I interviewed with a corporate placement firm since my profession was on the OPL. He assured me he could line up 3 interviews the next day. I seriously thought about it as a surfer friend of mine had left the US for Australia. But I decided against it as I thought I’d get island fever and felt there were too many opportunities in the US. Turned out I was right as 2 years later I moved to Seattle and broke into the software engineering business.
Still I do wonder “what if”…especially with the current resident in the Oval Office. Sigh…
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New Zealand is a lovely place to live. I’m originally from Australia, and migrated here over a decade ago. Now my partner is a Kiwi, my kids call this home (and his kids are kiwis) and I can’t imagine ever wanting to return to Australia.
But I can absolutely recommend coming for a holiday if you ever have the chance 
Best things to do here? Wildlife walks if you’re visiting. And just enjoying a beach of your own, with nobody else on it…
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Yes, would love to re-visit. You live on North or South Island?
In the south island. Dunedin. Crazy place settled by the Scots, with lots of wonky roads, big hills and - at the moment - icy weather.
Jealous of you in the northern hemisphere, in summer…oh, to have sunshine again…
Yeah, we’re entering the “hot” part of our summer season here in Southern California.
I’m currently in exile inland so I get subjected to the summer heat. Averages 32 to 38 Celsius. It gets bad when we get the monsoonal moisture up from Mexico and South America which goes from late July through September.
7 July 2020: Day 3 of fasting again. Feeling great and not hungry any more really. Occasionally I get stomach growls but that’s about all for symptoms.
I’m finding ginger tea is helping with my unsettled stomach.
Hoping to do at least 5 days again, but more if I don’t have dizzy spells. Here’s hoping! 
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WELL! THAT WAS INTERESTING!
My jeans fell off! Like, fell off of me! Luckily I was at home in the kitchen, and not out and about.
I think it might be time to go shopping…
Tonight is a bit tough, for the first time during this fast. My partner was cooking a big hunk of red meat for dinner tonight and it looked really appealing, and I almost weakened.
But I’m still here. Still fasting. My darling man is making me a cup of tea, and that should help with the cravings.
I’m going out to a pub tomorrow night, which will be challenging, to meet with a politician we support who stands to do very well in the coming election (New Zealand elections are in a few weeks time). It will be hard - everybody else will be there with pints of Guinness (it’s an Irish pub) and I’ll be there with my sparkling water. This will test my resolve!
At least work is quite easy to manage. I usually have errands to run, so having time to actually eat is difficult at the best of times. So while I’m fasting I just dont eat 
I’m going to try to at least fast for five day again, and then see how I go beyond that. I’m quite happy keeping to short five day fasts. They seem to suit me, I’m losing weight, and I’m feeling much better. I know I should try for longer - and I truly admire everyone on this forum who has gone much longer than I have - but I’m a “work in progress”. I’m content with where I am, right at this point in time. I know I’m losing weight, and getting much healthier. And that can only be good.
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I can relate to the pants falling off. I had it happen yesterday in my driveaway in front of the neighbors when I was putting my car cover on! I caught them just as they slipped past my ass. LOL. My problem is 2 fold. I don’t like wearing my pants below my stomach and I have no butt, so if I don’t cinch them up tight enough I’m in trouble. Too many times I’ve been walking fast at a grocery store, one hand holding a shopping basket, the other trying to hold my pants up!
My ex gf’s parents are british & introduced me to the shandy. Guiness is too bitter for me straight but mixed with 7up or Sprite? Love it!
Good luck with the pub! I was in that situation Sunday night & went overboard on the alcohol. Which really annoys me because I’d rather over indulge in yummy food than alcohol!
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